All right. All right. Good evening everybody. Um I am going to call the board of selectman meeting for Tuesday, January 27th to order. The time now is 6:10 and we're going to get started with the pledge of allegiance.
Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, we have a few announcements
for tonight. 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. Um, financial assistance applications are available on the town's website and or by calling the
selectman's office. Um, for anyone interested in volunteering, we say this a lot, we have plenty of vacancies on v various committees and boards. Uh, to see a complete list of the openings, please visit our website at kingstonmma.gov. Also, check out our website for any
additional events or notices. Um, I also want to take this time to thank our highway department, fire department, police, everybody um who did uh quite a bit of work this past weekend with our um larger than normal storm. Um we've had some pretty big storms in the past,
but um this was the first biggest one I think we've had in in se several years. >> Yeah. Yeah. I had a Facebook memory that popped up over the weekend where we had something like 20 something inches back then. I had pictures of my front yard. I'm like >> 15 maybe. Yeah. Yeah.
>> And we've got more coming this weekend. >> Good luck. >> Good luck, Sean. Um, any other announcements from the board? >> I >> Thank you. >> All right. All right. Uh, open form. Is there anybody here who wanted to speak for
open forum? Eric, >> can you do? >> We do need roll call. Thank you. All right. We're gonna do a roll call. Uh, Eric here, >> Missy here, >> Kyle Pike here. him here. >> Don here. >> Thank you, Will. You're >> welcome.
>> All right. Uh, is anybody here to speak uh for open forum? Go ahead, Will. >> Hello, everyone. I just want to remind everyone that that to that there is still about four open pos we need for
about five to 13 members for the commission on disability. So I just want to remind everyone if anybody needs if anybody wants to join we have openings right now. Thank you >> and thank you hire department for
everything you guys and police and fire this week for everything you did this weekend. Thank you. >> Thanks Will. Anybody else? Is there anybody online who wanted to speak? I can't see hands up.
No. Okay. All right. on to our appointments. Um, I'm going to do this first one for the ADA transition plan and then I'm going to take an item out of order um uh for the uh police department. Um, but first we're going to do the uh public comment for the town's
uh draft ADA transition plan. All right. Um, so the draft ADA plan has been on the website since December and the public meeting uh notice was placed in the paper earlier um in January uh looking for input into the town's ADA
transition uh plan. So, uh, the Kingston Board of Selectmen will hold a public hearing at the Kingston Townhouse, 26 Evergreen Street, Kingston, Mass, on Tuesday, January 27th, 2026 at 6 p.m. to present and receive uh public comment on
the town's uh draft ADA transition plan created by the Institute for Human Center Design. This plan identifies barriers to accessibility in public facilities and outlines steps the town can take uh to bring its services, programs, and facilities
uh into compliance with the Americans um with Disabilities Act. A link to the draft ADA transition plan is located on the town's website at um kingston.gov184planning. Uh this hearing will be conducted in person and accessible remotely via Zoom.
Please see the town's website for the Zoom link. All interested residents, community members, stakeholders are encouraged to attend and public um uh feedback is an important part of the planning process to ensure accessibility for all residents. Um can I get a motion
to um Oh, wait a minute. Do we we don't need to open up the the hearing. >> Is that right? >> We do. >> I think we do, but it's not there. >> Okay. Does somebody want to make a motion that we open our um >> I'll make a motion
>> open the public hearing. >> Can you hear me twice? >> Do you have a Do I have a second? >> Second. >> All right. All those in favor? I >> I >> Eric I Don I. >> Yep. Thank you. >> K Pike I.
>> All right. Um Am I >> Do we have uh is anybody here to present on it? Val, are you presenting on it or are we just here for comment? >> I'm Eric. >> Yep. >> Hi. I want to introduce We have our the
two uh people who wrote the plan for us in in charge of the plan. Um David West and Megan D Fresn for Human Center Design. They're here to do a an overview of the plan for you. Okay.
>> And and Okay. >> The sound is weird. All right, you have the floor. Is anybody speaking? They might be muted. >> I think Megan will begin speaking in a moment. And she's just preparing to share her screen.
>> Got it. Yep, we see her screen here. So, David, did you want to start? >> Oh, okay. Um, yes. Uh, sorry, I I misremembered. I thought you were starting off. Uh, but I'll do it. Um, hi everyone. Uh, it's a pleasure to join
you this evening. As uh Valerie just mentioned, uh my my name is David West, and I'm here with my colleague uh Megan Drain, and we're um here to talk about uh the uh transition plan uh that was uh just prepared for the town of Kingston.
Uh next slide, please. Great. Um so uh Kingston of course is a town and uh title there are five titles of the ADA and uh title two of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that uh state and local governments
don't discriminate against people with disabilities in their programs, services and activities. their their public facing program, services and activities and uh state uh that governments, state and local governments must take steps to look at their programs, examine them and
establish a plan for compliance uh with the ADA and the state code and and that's uh what we uh the Institute for Human Center design working with um uh the town of Kingston have have just been involved in. Next slide, please.
Uh the overall uh scope of work is uh first to evaluate the program services and activities of the town. Uh also uh working with the town, we selected a series of uh facilities to survey uh for
for um accessibility and compliance. And uh that all leads to the self evaluation which is comprehensive information about the current state of compliance and um what the process does uh hopefully is
identify issues that need to be corrected and if there are any gaps in your policies and procedures that need to be addressed. Next slide please. Uh the basis for the self-evaluation is
the uh what are called the 2010 standards for accessible design. Uh those became effective March 15, 2012. um if something was in compliance with the earlier standards, the 1991 standards, and um that element hadn't
been u modified or or built before March 15th of 20 uh 2012, uh it could comply um it would be okay as long as it complied with the 91 standards. And then there's also the state accessibility code uh 521 CMR and those the uh
regulations of the Massachusetts architectural access board and uh we check for compliance with both and uh in the rare instances where the codes have a disagreement um we opt for the uh greatest compliance the greatest
accessibility. Next slide please. So, uh, the goal of the, uh, transition plan and and this self-evaluation is that all of Kingston's, uh, programs, services, and activities when viewed in
their entirety are readily accessible and usable by people with disabilities. Uh so for example, if you have um four or five uh parks uh in the town that are uh very similar in terms of what they offer and they're geographically
distributed, um you don't necessarily have to have every single element at all of the parks completely accessible, but you have to have um at least one of of each of the elements uh accessible and perhaps a few more than that. So there's
geographic distribution so that the program that's offered whether it's a a swimming pool or a hiking path or whatever the case may be uh is accessible and usable by people with disabilities and everyone else in the town. Um the priorities to ensure what
we call program access with the goal of equal participation of people um for people with disabilities. And um we want the imple implementation strategy, the the plan to address uh things that need
to be corrected um integrated into town planning and budgeting. um as we'll talk about a bit more later, there um are a number of things that are just uh can be a matter of routine maintenance or the ordinary course of events that are easy to correct. uh other more expensive
things um you know may uh require uh some longer term planning and uh an investment and should be part of uh the town budget and planning and um and then the overall goal is that all residents of Kingston regardless of ability feel
that they know about and can participate in all that the town has to offer. Next slide please. Uh so we're going to talk a little bit about uh what we did to evaluate your program services and activities. Thanks Megan. Uh this is what we call our our
part B report. We provided three executive summary reports uh and u information pertinent to assessing uh the particularly the services and activities that you provide. uh was based on an online questionnaire uh that
was returned by uh 22 uh municipal departments that have public facing programs and that's a really good uh rate of return for a town the size of Kingston. Um it was also based on information we gathered from the town's website uh and from information we got
uh from town employees and other people who helped us like Valerie and others. Uh next slide please. Uh so uh some of the key findings uh first uh and and this is terrific uh Kingston has appointed an ADA
coordinator uh Paul Armstrong and it's important to have that uh person in place and Kingston does uh you need to have a grievance procedure uh both for employees and for members of the public. You can be the same procedure, but there
has to be something uh available uh both to employees and members of the public who may um have an issue uh either with an employment issue um most of which there falls under title one of the ADA although certain elements fall under title two uh and also for members of the
public uh who may have an issue with a program service or activity. Um, and we did not find a grievance procedure uh that appeared to be intended for members of the public and that's something that should be addressed. Uh, from what I
remember, our part B uh reports or report executive summary report we're talking about now u probably uh has some uh simple sample uh grievance procedure text uh that from that could be used for members of the public that Kingston
could look to as a starting point. Uh there also needs to be uh notice uh uh that uh the town doesn't discriminate uh against people with disabilities and hiring and and otherwise. Um and that is mentioned online. Uh however uh it
wasn't easy to find the not notice and it didn't include the name and contact information for the ADA coordinator which it should and uh with responses uh to the survey um many uh town staff mentioned um that the notices were not
uh posted in their departments and u they should be uh and that's something else that Kingston can address. Next slide please. uh in terms of uh what's cons what's called a reasonable modification of your
policies, practices and procedures for people with disabilities. Uh the town has definitely taken initial steps to uh comply with this aspect of the ADA. However, the majority of the departments uh who responded uh to the survey have
not uh developed written policies or procedures within their department uh and also did not mention a townwide policy. Um if there's a a townwide policy to deal with this uh element and uh the departments know about it, uh
that that can be sufficient. Um and uh it seems like uh probably some additional work could be done um to uh clarify um the reasonable modification policy and and make sure that appropriate employees in in municipal
departments know about it. uh in terms of uh employment and and what's called a reasonable account accommodation. Um the uh town wage and personal personnel bylaw does not reference a non-discrimination policy um reasonable
accommodation policies or non-discrimination in selection criteria and the administration of tests. Uh however the majority of respondents from uh municipal departments indicated that their department has developed a non-discrimination policy. Uh so again
maybe some additional clarification and perhaps a bit of uh education for some employees who um uh are public facing and may not uh know the details of of this. Um in terms of effective communication um uh this is something that's uh
important. Uh you may uh for example uh at a town meeting uh have a request for a sign language interpreter. Uh there may be a need to caption uh public meetings if if they're posted online. Uh
perhaps provide uh information in in large print. Uh that that kind of thing. uh and and and take steps to provide uh effective communication uh in the ways that uh people who need or request it uh let you know uh is likely to work for
them. Um but from the responses to the surveys um it seemed that uh clarifying the procedures for providing effective communication and what can be done and uh how issues that may come up can be addressed for uh certain town residents.
uh it might be helpful um for some uh additional uh training or communication with public facing staff about this issue. Uh next slide please. >> Uh so next we're going to move on to talking about the evaluation of
facilities >> and I can take over this. Um we looked at many facilities around the town and this included 13 municipal buildings, five school buildings, um six active recreation and outdoor facilities and
nine passive conservation areas. I have a picture of the beach at um Grace Beach Park uh shown. And so when we look at facilities, we have three uh strategies um in order to
uh achieve accessibility um within towns. First, um you have the option to relocate any programs that are in an inaccessible location to an accessible location within the current
facility. You also have um the option to relocate um inaccessible programs to an accessible location at another facility. And um the final uh recom the final
choice is renovating the current facility to ensure program access. And um we've uh given you this option in a number of cases. And so we've submitted a uh narrative
report for each uh building, facility or park that we looked at. And this uh narrative will have a basic information about the background of the facility. Uh the key will talk about the key
accessibility issues. Um we'll provide order of magnitude cost estimates. And the last section that we do um is to give best practice and inclusive design recommendations. And these aren't
required by any code or law, but it's um it's just a best practice um suggestion that we would recommend. Um so the second part to each um report
is what we call a catalog. And the catalog will have uh it will have the location name uh the floor number, a room number if we have it. Uh it will describe exactly what type of element is
out of compliance such as a parking lot or a door or an entrance. Then we'll have a photograph of the issue and then a kind of a description exactly of what the issue is in shorthand. uh that then
any measurements that um go along with this issue and then we'll give a recommendation for addressing each issue that we find along with a quantity um a rough order of magnitude cost estimate.
Um and so that is our um our uh catalog. And um in addition to these building reports and cataloges, we've also submitted um uh self-evaluation reports
um such as the executive summary and uh a legal overview. And uh the key um deliverable is an Excel um spreadsheet that lists kind of every issue that is out of compliance. And um and so this is
all the information from the cataloges that's exported into Excel and it can go on to be a living document that uh you as a town can update as you complete uh renovations. Um there's uh a part on the
left side that is in blue. There's a part on the right side that is in green. And the part in green is um meant to be filled out by the town and where you can list um when you plan to address each issue and who's responsible for
addressing each issue um kind of thing. And this is um a as a document. And it can be sorted in any way you want such as by priorities. So this in this um
document it's a little bit different than the catalog in that we give priorities based on the type of issue that we find. So that say if there's no accessible entrance, this would be a top priority to fix. Um, and we would say
that it's program access. And the lowest priorities would be um what I mentioned earlier, best practice or inclusive design recommendations that aren't um required by law, but um would um allow
for enhanced usability of the site. So, I'm just going over a few examples quickly. This is looking at town hall. a few of the things that we found. The first issue on the the first picture on
the top left shows a gazebo that lacks an accessible route to it. Um it's raised up a few inches. Uh and this is similar at the the elevator the day that we were surveying um was not functioning
u properly to be self-leveling so that there was a step to get into the elevator. Um we often find in many towns that um they lack assistive listening systems in meeting rooms uh for people
who have uh hearing disabilities. Um the first image on the bottom left shows an exit door and um it's lacking tactile exit signage for people who are blind or low vision uh to be able to
find the exit. Um the middle image on the bottom shows a service counter in an office, a town hall. And this is a very simple fix. Um we just where we just recommend clearing all of the equipment
that anything that may be stored in the access accessible lower counter that's um provided for wheelchair users so that you know it's able to be used. And the final image just shows the parking lot.
Um and with that there were a there was a lack of ex access aisles for every accessible parking space and um the signage signs were mounted um lower than is allowed by the code.
Uh so this is we looked at a number of outdoor facilities and um the first image is something we see a lot at um cities and towns around Massachusetts. Um the MAB has um a stricter uh code
than the ADA on accessible routes in playgrounds where they don't um allow engineered wood fiber to serve as an accessible route. Um they recommend roots such as port in place rubber um
for um for children to get from one unique play component to another. Um the second image shows some non-compliant stairs at Al Pachinsky fields. So, these stairs lack handrails on each side and
they also have open risers which can be a safety hazard for many uh people. The third image at the top shows a baseball dugout uh that's um down a few steps and so um there's no accessible route to
this team seating area at Reed Center Fields. Uh the fourth image on the top shows some stairs um surrounded by some rocks. Um and the uh map um requires all
stairs to have handrails. Uh so this is something that we called out. Um, we looked at a number of trails around uh around Kingston and there were many locations where we felt that it wouldn't
um it would be um technically infeasible to make trails accessible. But um there were some places where we felt like it was possible to create accessible trails so that um the town can achieve this um
program access requirement by providing um trails in a few locations. Uh so this first trail has um wood boards which wouldn't be wide enough uh for a wheelchair and they have level changes
um and things like that. Um so this was at Bay Farm and other locations. The second image shows a steep trail. Um, so the I guess the requirements for trails
um allow for a steeper slope than uh they do in um I guess within regular environments. So um so with trails that have steeper slopes, they do
um allow the steeper slopes. However, you need to have a resting interval um for a a a wheelchair user to be able to pull aside and rest in the middle of the slope. So, Silver Lake Sanctuary was one
location we felt that um could be made um could provide an accessible trail to residents. And the final image uh shows a a bench under a trellis at the Boneyard Dog Park. Uh we consider
benches a program of the town and so that one of each one bench in each location uh should have an accessible route to it. This one uh is located in kind of a sandy rocky ground and so it
um wouldn't be considered an accessible route. we'd recommend something more stable uh such as um stone dust uh to be go out to one of the benches in this area. And uh that's pretty much um everything
we have and we're happy to take any questions uh that you have. >> So before I open it up to questions from the board, Val, did you have anything to add or or do you want us to open up with questions? Well, I'll just briefly say
that I think that u IHCD did a fantastic job of doing such a detailed inventory on so many facilities and um we're really excited. This was funded by the state um mod 100% funded by the state
and now by having this plan in place we'll be able to pick off different items that are here and apply for grants and it's a very successful document in that sense and uh we're we have been told that we're not qualified for grants
because we haven't had this plan in place. So, we're thrilled to have worked with uh IHCD to put this together for us. >> Excellent. All right. Any questions from from the board? Um I'll start here.
Missy, Carl, any questions, comments? >> Comment. I usually have uh the cost could be uh extravagant in the long run, I suspect, but I also recognize that these are the types of things that have to be done. And I like hearing uh Val
say that we'll be looking for grants to finance some of these things. >> Yep. Anything else, Missy? >> No, that was my my same comment. Especially Grace Beach. I think there's a there's quite a few different areas that need to be looked at um including
benches and and I know that that's a topic we're talking about too coming up. So, I think we just have to be careful about where we place things and ensure that they're accessible. So, I think it's it's a good working document for us, but um yeah, moving forward, I think we just have to be careful about
different things. >> Kim, anything? >> No, thank you for your hard work. We appreciate it and look forward to seeing more. >> Don, anything? >> No, nothing from me. >> All right. >> Thanks, Val.
>> Um, anybody from the public? Will >> I just >> Hey Will, just don't forget your name and and address. Just for the record, >> Will Kushman, 273 Main Street, also on the Commission on Disability. I just want to let you guys I just want to say thank you to everyone in in the works
with this. I know we right I I did notice that we did have a possible grant opportunity which is the municipal ADA improvement grant for the program and projects. I just want to say thank you for everyone here again. Also c can can
anybody if or Trish can miss Tucker can you send me the presentation for so I just can keep so I can just have it for the commission on disability and and I can probably find all the other
transitional plan stuff on the website under the planning board if I'm right. Is that right V? if that I believe it is. >> So I just want to say thank you guys again for doing all this and I can and I
want to say just thank you super much >> and well thanks thanks for your work towards this as well. So thanks for stepping up for the committee. >> You're welcome. And also it does I just I just read this and it does involve sidewalks as well eventually. So this
might work for my sidewalk project as well. >> There you go. >> Thank you. All right. Thanks. >> This is the only comment about sidewalks tonight. I promise. >> You got it in there. >> Thanks. >> Yeah, we get that in there. >> Yeah. Um, anybody online that wanted to
speak? Didn't look like it. U, anybody else here who wanted to >> if I could just mention one thing. I I know obviously every city and town is uh concerned about cost and and grants can help with things that um, you know, where uh, funding is needed. uh but the
uh transition plan the spreadsheet that Megan mentioned which uh can be sorted uh you'll see that there are a number of things that can be addressed really as part of routine maintenance and would essentially have almost a zero cost. I'll give you just one example. Um, if
you imagine yourself uh as a wheelchair user and uh you come up to a door and the door pulls towards you to uh to get in in inside of a building, say for example, uh you need what's called maneuvering clearance and that's a little bit of space to the side of the
door. Um because otherwise the door would just open right into the front of your wheelchair and you you can't get can't get through. And um that's an issue that comes up a lot in in public buildings. things are stored in that space or uh otherwise you know obstruct
it and and and correcting something like that which can be really important you know for the the right person in the right circumstance is really just a matter of relocating some stored objects and uh uh you know what one one of the things I would suggest thinking about at
least uh is with the transition plan is is to do a sort by cost and look look at all the stuff that that has a zero cost or a near zero cost and and and think about getting to those things as quickly as possible. And then and then for the
stuff that have some expense, you know, obviously that that is a budgeting issue. And I just closed just by saying we we really did enjoy working in Kingston and >> uh we're we're pleased that you underwent this process. hope that it helps you to secure some funding and um
you know wish you the best of luck and and if you have questions in the future about any elements of our reports or recommendations that we made or whatever the case may be uh you should also uh feel free to reach out to IHCD uh if we can be of help. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> All right. Should we uh >> did anybody else have anything to say before we close up the hearing? >> All right. Would someone like to make a motion to close the hearing? >> I move to close the public hearing. >> Second. >> All right. All those in favor? Eric. I.
>> Missy I. >> Cal Pike. I. >> Kim. I. >> Don. I. >> All right. And would someone like to make a motion to accept the plan? >> I move the board of selectman receive and accept the ADA transition plan as prepared by the Institute for Human
Center Design as presented. >> Second. >> Second. All those in favor? Eric. I. >> Missy. I. Kyle Pike. I >> I think they both said I. >> Yeah, I did. >> All right. All right. So, uh, next up. So, thank
you. Thank you very much for that. >> Um, I'm going to take an item out of order. Uh, number six, the request for authorization to amend DMH grant. Police chief is requesting authorization to amend the DMH grant to allow for an additional clinicians for a total of two
under the DMH. um jail diversion program grant. Um this is to add Hansen and Carver and do a similar intermunicipal agreement as previously with Halifax and Plimpmpton. >> Did I did I miss anything? >> You got it all, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. Uh good evening, honorable
members. Mr. Lambzi, Miss Tucker. Uh, two Fridays ago, myself, Lieutenant Scoa, and uh, DMH contractor Caitlyn Liry, she's a paid consultant to help us through this process, conducted interviews of two candidates for the one position that we had. And at the end of
those, uh, interviews, we had a dilemma. It's a good one, that both of the candidates were phenomenal. One of them is actually online. I think both of them expressed interest in being online. So, they're not hearing anything that we haven't told them ourselves. So, I was actually stuck. I couldn't make a decision and none of us could. So I
said, well, you know what? If we amend the grant and see if we can get a couple of towns on board to have both clinicians become employees of the town of Kingston through the grant and we'd have two clinicians covering five towns instead of one clinician covering three towns. Uh so on the ride
home, I got a a verbal authorization from the grant coordinator from the Department of Mental Health. I reached out to my colleagues, Chief Mike Casey and Hansen and Chief Mark Dufilly from Carver, and they were both pretty excited because they had both had the program before in a different modality as a contractor. Um, I actually just had
a conversation with one of the gentlemen there about the benefits of having a town employee, making it a more permanent program, uh, and how it works, it works a lot more functional, uh, operationally to have them as employees as opposed to going through a contracted company, uh, on the grants. Um, that's
the reason I'm here before you tonight. Um the next steps if you authorize this tonight would be that I would be um we'd be going to the individual towns doing the inter municipal agreement like we've already done with the other two towns and then at some point that intermunicipal agreement will be back
before you for a final signature. >> Any questions, comments, concerns? Uh Missy, I'll since we're semi remote, I'll go through one at a time. >> Uh I don't have any. I um in favor of this. I think that you know it's a good opportunity for us and
we had some you know concerns about Carver and there was an incident and I think that this kind of lends itself to needing something like this. So >> initially I was a little concerned about you know hiring another person when we
uh seem to do a good job of sometimes making these uh projects get extended and become more than what we originally think about. On the other hand I've been a proponent of uh regionalization of you
know different aspects of town services. Um the fact that this one is uh going to be five towns, a possibility of five towns, the fact that um we're getting it funded initially by a grant that I am in
100% in support of doing it at this time. >> All right. Anything Kim or or Don? I had spoken with the chief briefly uh with some questions about whether adding additional towns would um have any
impact on Kingston's uh ability to use this service. He he addressed my questions. Um I don't know, Chief, if you want to talk about a little bit about what you shared with me about some of the schedule scheduling aspects and how that would be shared. >> Yeah, that's uh thanks for bringing that
up. Uh, so the schedule for the one clinician, three towns was going to be 2:00 p.m. to 10 p.m., but they're on call subject to recall for critical incidents, major emergencies. Um, and then you would be on a four on and two off schedule. When you have two clinicians covering
five communities, you have coverage seven days a week with some overlap. And now you have, you know, overlap in the sense of having two clinicians. One goes on vacation. will the other can, you know, ideally cover those other two towns for any kind of call outs or emergencies that happen when they're they're here. So, there's there are some
benefits to it, additional benefits to going this route. >> All right. Uh, would anybody like to make a motion? I move the board of selectman authorize the police chief to amend the DMH jail diversion program grant application to
include funding for an additional clinician and to begin the process to enter the intermunicipal agreements with the towns of Carver and Hansen. The chief is also directed to report back to the board with significant developments with this program. >> Second. >> All right. All those in favor? Eric I.
>> Missy I. >> Kyle Pike I. >> Kim I. >> Don I. Thank you very much. I appreciate taking out of order, too. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> All right. Uh, next up, we're going back to item number three, an update from
Kingston's 300th committee. I think we have, uh, Mr. Bartlett, the committee chair, and also Ken Bra. >> Good evening. >> Yes. Good evening. Um, John Bartlett, 428 Elm Street. Uh, I am the chairman of the Kingston 300 committee. Um so approximately 3 years ago we came in
front of you with the uh historic committee requesting to start um ideas for the town's 300th and we're here. So um figured it's time to give you a brief update. I'm sure you've seen some of the pamphlets that are around with some of our um activities that are coming up. So I just wanted to go through uh we're
starting off this weekend actually for the G on the 31st. Um and then we're going to be moving on into May with an art festival. Oh man. >> There we go. That better. All right. Um, move this out of the way so I don't hit
it. Um, so Ken will be speaking in a minute on the art festival. Um, in June on the 27th, we'll be doing a proclamation and we'll also be doing a um hopefully a dedication of a Revolutionary War memorial. We don't
have one in town and being the 250th anniversary um thinking it was a good idea. Uh so there are two things on this agenda. I just wanted to bring forward to you that um we'll be coming forward with that to find a place. Um some initial thoughts are either on the town green or actually in the old burial
ground itself because there is a veteran section. Uh and we do have many um Revolutionary War veterans that are buried in that cemetery. Um the other thing that um we'll be coming back in front of the board with is we'll be doing a parade on the uh 25th of July. that parade. Right now, I'm currently
working with the uh police and fire departments to come up with an appropriate route um that'll be safe for the town and that we uh are able to divert traffic um on a Saturday in in July. Um the other events that we currently have planned is an old home
day in September. Um that will include um some different um field games um hopefully some food trucks and we'll uh end the night with some fireworks. And then in October, we'll have a historic house tour and a old burial ground tour. Um, this along with um talking with and
working with some of the other departments in town um including the library has a a good plan of events throughout the year. Um I know the reed building is also going to be 100 years old this year. So um there are other departments that have things planned and we look forward to working with them. Um so again, just wanted to give a brief
overview. Um I'll let Ken speak um on the art festival and then we'll take any questions if you have any. Thanks, John. Ken Brack 8, Elm Street. Um, a few of us, um, a work group of the 300th committee just thought it would be
a a great part of the 300th celebration to celebrate artists and creative people, um, throughout in in the town. And um, it's a variety. It's primarily um visual artists. We're thinking of um variety everything from uh illustrators,
oil, acrylics, watercolor, you name it, painters, sculptors, photography, uh metal work, and and other artisans. It it could be a little bit open-ended as people come. Um we're getting our act together in terms of um where uh people can register. Meanwhile, spreading the
word. Um it's not just limited to adults. We're strongly encouraging students um and Charlie Sarrento, many of you may know or maybe you had him as a graphic arts teacher. My two a couple of our our kids did at Silver Lake. Um
he's one of the artists and he's he's reaching out um not only to artists in town um but to teachers and the art departments to try to spread the word. So that'll be a great component. Um thinking of seven venues May 9th it would be 11 to 3 is the idea. Saturday
um one time for those hours. Um hopefully to have seven venues kind of centered at Four Elm Street where we have Hope Floats Healing and Wellness along with the First Parish Church. Um Reverend Emily Bruce of First Parish is
is really the leader of our our group here. Um as well as churches along Main Street hopefully. Um Font School, um the library. So, we're we're putting it together, but just wanted to let uh people know that the arts festival is is underway and really look forward to it.
>> What did you say the date was for that? >> Uh May 9th. >> May 9th. >> Okay. >> So, like Ken said, that's a working group um for that uh art festival. And all of these events have working groups. So, I'd like to thank the committee itself and all the members of the working groups for all the hard work
they've done so far um in bringing these events forward. Um, and if anybody has any questions, be happy to answer them. >> Any questions? >> Kim or Don, do you have anything? >> I'm good. I just want to I was just note that John's been excellent with this.
She runs every meeting and puts a lot of time in it. So, >> thank you. >> No, thank you for all the work that you're doing and we're looking forward to attending all these wonderful events. >> Yeah, agreed. Thank you so much. >> Thanks for everything. You guys have been great.
>> All righty. >> All right. The next item is a request from Hope Floats to hold their 11th annual memory walk on Saturday, April 25th. Uh request was received uh by Ken Brack at Hope Floats to to hold their 11th annual memory walk on Saturday the
25th. Uh April 25th um through the streets of Kingston. Uh police and fire um and highway superintendent have reviewed and and we have their recommendations in our packet. Uh, any questions, comments, or a motion?
>> I can do a motion. I move the board of selectman approve the request from Ken Brack at Hope Floats to hold their 11th annual memory walk on Saturday, April 25th, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. contingent upon scheduling of two police
officers at the designated hightra intersections and secure all permits from Mass Dot to utilize State Highway Route 3A. Second. >> All right. All those in favor? Eric I. >> Missy I. >> Kalpike I. >> Jim I. >> Don I.
>> Great. Thank you Ken. >> Thanks everyone so much. >> All right. Next we have a a request from James Jaffy at Best um I hope I pronounced that right. Um at Best Buddies to hold their 27th annual Best Buddies Challenge on Saturday, May 30th.
Um again this request was sent through uh police and fire and highway superintendent for the review and we have the recommendations. Any questions, comments or a motion? I move the board of selectmen approve the request from
James Jaffy to hold their 27th annual Best Buddies Challenge cycling event on May 30th, 2026 according to the traffic control plan presented with the following conditions. Best Buddies successfully acquires the
proper permits from Mass Department of Transportation. Best Buddies contact the Kingston Police Department for the scheduling of detail officers. >> Second. >> All right. All those in favor? Eric I. >> Missy I. >> Kyle Pike I.
>> Tim I. >> Don I. >> All right. Uh, next up is the review and possible approval of updated harbor and waterways regulations. So, the police chief's requesting the board review and adopt the changes made to the harbor and
waterways regulation. So, we all uh got a copy redlinined with the with the changes. Um, does anybody have any questions, comments? >> Looks fine to me. >> All right. Would anybody like to make a motion?
Sure. >> I move the board of sackman adopt the changes made to the harbor and waterways regulations as presented. >> Second. All those in favor? Eric I. >> Missy I. >> Kyle Pike I. >> Him. I. >> Don I.
>> All right. Next up vote. >> Thank you. I think the harbor masters there. Thank you for your work on these. Appreciate it. And the chief. >> Yep. Thank you. >> Thanks. All right. Next up, uh, vote on naming
town property a bench in honor of Matt Hamilton. Um, at the January 13th board select meeting, we had a public hearing held in regard to naming a bench after Matt Hamilton at Grace Beach. Per the bylaw, the vote for approval is to take place at the following meeting. Um,
would anybody like to make a motion? I move the board of selectmen approve the request from Paul Gallalagha to place a bench at Grace Beach in honor of Matthew Hamilton with the exact placement of it at Grace Beach Park still
to be determined later by the recreation commission. >> Second. >> All those in favor? Eric I. >> Missy I. >> Kyle Pike I. >> Kim I. >> Don I. All right. Uh, we have approval of multi- multiple one-day liquor
licenses for 42nd Brew Company for February 14th, 2026. Bartending services of New England for March 14th, 2026, and April 4th, 2026. Um, so the the first one, February 14th, is going to be at CrossFit Takeoff. Um,
and then Bartending Services of New England is requesting a one-day beer and wine liquor license for sip and stroll events at the Kingston Collection on March 15th and December 6th. Why does it say 2025? Should be 2026 underneath. Um,
all right. Uh, would anybody like to make a motion? >> I move the board of Slackman approve the following one-day liquor licenses. The Bartending Service of New England LLC for March 14th, 2026 from 12 to 4:00 p.m. at the Kingston Collection for the Sip and Stroll. The Bartending Service
of New England LLC for April 4th, 2026 from 12 to 4:00 p.m. at Kingston Collection for Sip and Stroll Wedding Showcase. And 42nd Brew Company for Saturday, February 14th, 2026 from 10:00 to 4:00 at CrossFit Takeoff for their Cupid Conspiracy event.
I'll second and note that only one out of the three are we starting to drink before noon time. >> Sorry. >> All right. All all those in favor. Eric I. >> Missy I. >> Cal Pike. I >> Jim I. >> Yes.
>> Don I. >> It's five o'clock somewhere. >> Carl. Did you want them more of them earlier? Is that what you were trying to say? >> Always into arresting. >> All right. Under additional items, we have uh to declare town property as
surplus. We have a 1996 emergency one engine and floating docks. So request from the fire department as well as police department to declare town property as surplus. Um any questions, comments or motions. I move the board of selectmen declare
surplus a 1996 emergency 1 fire engine known as engine 4 so that it may be traded towards the purchase of the 2027 Smeal engine and I move the board of selectmen declare surplus floating docks
and approve these be disposed of. >> Second. >> Um do these have to be two separate motions? It's okay. We'll keep them as one. Um, so all those in favor, Eric, I, >> Missy, I, >> Calpy, I, >> Jim, I,
>> Don, I. >> All right. Breezing through. All right. Uh, acceptance of donations to the library, animal control, and council on Aging. Uh, rather than read it, I'll just let someone make the motion which explains it. >> I move the board of selectman approve
the following donations. $500 worth of donations from a number of individuals in memory of uh Gerald Buckley to the Kingston Public Library, $1,000 from a Dog's World unleashed due daycare center to the Kingston Animal Control, and $100
from an anonymous to the Kingston Council on Aging. >> Second. All those in favor? Eric, >> Missy, I. >> Kyle Pike, I >> Don I. >> All righty. Uh, next is appointments of
employment. We have uh are are these all set? Did um Okay. Administrative assistant for um board of selectment IT and HR Danielle King. Less than part-time van driver Timothy Ballinger. Water pump station operator Leo Kazlocus.
Um did I say that right? >> Superintendent of streets Shawn Turner. Um, so all the positions are vacant after the recruitment positions for all the department heads are requesting the appointments to the vacant positions. Do these need to all be separate and
separately voted or can we put them all >> can we put them all can we just read through them all? >> I guess you can read them all >> as one big motion. Okay. All right. Who wants to do that reading? I move the board of selectman appoint Danielle King to the position of administrative
assistant um for the board of selectman HR and IT a full-time grade three step four non-exempt position with wage and personnel effective February 17th 2026 contingent with the terms in the offer letter. I move the board of slackman appoint Timothy Ballinger to the
position of van driver at grade three step three non-exempt position with KTEU labor effective February 2nd 2026 contingent with the terms in this offer letter. I move the board of selectman appoint Leo Kaslcowskis. >> Okay. To the position of pump station
operator, grade five, step two, non-exempt position with KTEU labor effective February 2nd, 2026 contingent with the terms in the offer letter. And I move the board of selectment appoint Shawn Turner to the position of streets, trees, and parks superintendent. A
schedule D13 step 7 exempt position with wage and personnel effective February 2nd, 2026. contingent with the terms in the offer letter. >> Second, and I'll note that we as a board here had hoped to have Shawn Turner
appointed as of January 1st, but February 2nd is better than >> acceptable. >> Agreed. >> Um, did somebody second that? >> No,
those do have to go before. Yes, Carl seconded it. >> I seconded it. Yes. >> Okay. >> Did you say they >> they still do >> they still need to go to wage personnel can was can >> that's why I was asking if it's if it's all set. Okay, I got it. Um so do we
need to put that in there that it's >> it's part of the contingent in the offer? I got it. I understand that person. Okay. >> Um did we get a second? I'm sorry. >> Carl second. >> Yes. Okay. >> I second. >> All right. All those in favor Eric I. >> Missy I. Kpike I >> Tim I
>> Don I >> and I just want to add Sean thank you for stepping into that role for the last 14 months as interim um that was a long time as as an interim and you've done it outstanding you know I love all your Facebook posts especially you know with
these storms um coming up um so thank you so much for filling that position and for um agreeing to um take the helm here. So, uh, I've loved working with you and I'm continue looking forward to
continuing to work with you. >> This is where you say, "Oh, thank you so much." Yeah. Thank you so much. No, it's been a pleasure working with everybody. U, it's been great so far. Police department, fire, every department, you know, it's >> it's been a pleasure working with
everybody and getting stuff done and >> yeah, >> everything's been going well. So, >> and I think >> I want to thank you guys for having trust in me and >> Yep. >> giving me this job. So, >> and you've got plenty of people in in in town between Mark and Brian and and our other department heads that I'm sure
have helped out in the past and will continue to do so. So, >> wonderful. >> Yeah, >> it's been nice to work with them. >> Good. >> And hope to continue that for quite some time. >> Thanks for everything you do. >> Thanks, Sean. >> Thank you. All right. Next up, our
favorite topic, budgets. Uh, we have a timeline and operating budget update. >> Well, before um I just would like to say I did recommend to Sean that he didn't come tonight that he got some sleep because I
think Sean's been going around the clock for a couple days now and uh doing an amazing job. I got to say these roads and parking lots and everything, you guys did a great job. So, um I wish you would get some sleep though because we have more coming. >> I'm on my own.
>> Thank you for coming. >> Thank you guys again. >> Have a good night. >> Um and that being said, so um as far as the u timeline for the budget goes, we are still working on filling in some of the details. One of the most important parts of the timeline is uh narrowing
down when the finance committee meeting is going to be. So, I've had a little bit of back and forth with the finance committee chair, but we haven't really um locked in those deadlines or those dates yet. The um u capital committee has begun their
meetings. Um we have one tomorrow night. We had one um last week. Um but I do think it's important that we u open up the town meeting warrant regardless and get that open and pick some dates for closing it. So, I I would have I should
have probably had it on tonight's agenda, but I think on February 10th when you meet again, we'll have it on the agenda to open up that warrant and we'll probably be looking to close it um March 24th. So, we'll do whatever we normally do to get that word out. Um so,
beyond that, we are still waiting on some more budget numbers. I have talked with the uh department heads. They are um their budgets are coming in and we're putting them all together. So, I think by February 10th, we'll have um a bit more information from you. We certainly should have the governor's numbers by
then as well. Not that in just to throw something. Uh so, I was at the MMA uh annual conference. We did have um the the governor did address the conference. um she did uh vow to put um increases of 4
point something percent towards local aid uh with the up to 2 and a.5% increase on unrestricted government aid. So I it as those aren't really great numbers for us. Um everything will be
welcome and and needed but that won't really amount to a a lot. >> That's not good news. All right. Um All right. Next up, any questions before we move on? >> Okay. Uh we do have meeting minutes. We
have uh open session meeting uh minutes from January 13th. Would someone like to make a motion? >> I move the board of selectman approve the open session meeting minutes of January 13, 2026 as presented. >> Second. >> All those in favor? Eric I. >> Missy I.
>> Calpike I. >> Him I. >> Thai I. >> All right. Uh, anything else with the town administrator report? >> No. >> Okay. >> Did you guys want to say anything? No, you're just here. >> She's observing.
>> Is it for a mayor badge thing? >> Citizenship in the community. >> Yeah. And communications. >> Nice. I'm an Eagle Scout, too. So, I remember going to my town's meeting. I was so bored out of my mind. Luckily, we've had meetings that have gone three or four hours. So,
>> this is a short one. >> This is a short one. You lucked out. >> Thank you. >> Well, good luck. Um, so, uh, moving on. Any, uh, selectman comments? >> Not from me. >> Uh, Kim, do you have anything? >> Nope. I'm all set. Thank you.
>> And Don, >> I'm all set. Thank you. >> All right. I have no comments other than um uh Oh, well, I do want to make a a point. Um I I I feel like the highway department did a great job with um the storm this past weekend. We have another
potential storm coming up. So um all those piles of snow aren't going to melt by the time that storm happens. So just keep in mind um do what you can to get your we're going to have I'm sure a parking ban if if the storm hits here again. Um, so try to clear out as much
as you can to get your vehicles off the off the main road so that the um highway departments can can get out there and and clean up the roads again. And like I said, there's huge piles, so it's going to be a challenge, but um and this is going to hit our finances, too. So,
we're going to have a big snow and ice um budget hit um before the end of the year, but we'll know whether we'll need to go back to town meeting, >> you know, for funding for for this year or not. Um or if we're going to have to make some uh budgetary midyear decisions
in terms of, you know, hiring freezes or or spending freezes or whatnot. And we'll we'll have a better idea in the next couple weeks, >> couple weeks. >> All of the above. So pray for sunshine and that storm to kind of move out to
sea. Uh and our next regular meeting is February 10th, 2026. And with that, I would take a motion to adjourn. >> I'll make a motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> All right. All those in favor? Eric I. >> Missy I.
>> Alike I. Jim I. >> Don I. All right. We're done. Thank you. Good luck.