meeting of the Lunenburgg Select Board. Today is Tuesday, January 6th. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. In accordance with the requirements of the open meeting law, please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and broadcast live over the Lunberg public access channel on Facebook Live on the public access Facebook page and will be
uploaded to the Lunberg Access YouTube channel after the meeting. The agenda lists all the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and are those reasonably anticipated by the chair. Votes may be taken as a result of these discussions. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for
discussion to the extent permitted by the open meeting law. We're going to begin tonight with announcements and I have one. The town clerk's office sent out census forms that are arriving soon with the 2026 dog license applications. Please make sure your dog's license is current before returning the new
application. There are any prior years outstanding. They will be processed first and you will be notified of the balance and fines due. If you're returning your application by mail, you must include the proper fee and the self-ress stamped envelope with 2 ounce of postage to have your license mailed
back to you. If it's not included, your application will not be processed until you go to pick it up in person. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the town clerk's office. All right, public comment. Any public comment from the public? Mrs. Lockwood, come on up.
>> Good evening. Um, on the Lockwood, 91 Main Street. I think later today you guys going to be discussing the nomination process and part of the earlier discussion you know you guys have discussed um have talked about maybe meeting privately
with candidates or I don't know where it is so I would like to just make my >> I'm going to just answer real quickly. So it would still happen in an open meeting. We did consider having some sort of subcommittee where we would do some sort of initial screening if candidates had several committees that they were interested in. That would it
wasn't going to be private. That would still be an open meeting and then they would still come before the select board and have an actual interview and discussion with us and still have to be appointed here. >> Okay. >> Just just so you know and we haven't decided on that.
>> Right. So so thank you. Um so yeah so my comment is I I remember one of the comments that was is you know maybe some people are not necessarily comfortable coming to meeting but you know you are appointing them to attend public meetings um so so if someone is not
comfortable coming here they won't be comfortable um also servicing uh people right so all these committees a lot of times interact with residents in town and they need to be comfortable interacting with other residents and being a public figure So um so I you
know I I hear you about the multiple committees but I think that might be something that maybe the town manager can do it on the side to just fail. I just I really like the transparency of government all happen in one meeting and it's already difficult to keep track of
all the meetings that happens in town. It's about I think like 10 plus hours every week. So if you could just keep it, you know, modify it around it, but you know, have a all concise one meeting, very transparent. Um, I think that's whatever way you guys decide. That's the best in my opinion.
>> No, I understand. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Have a good night. Happy new year. >> Happy new year. >> All right. I'm not seeing anyone on Zoom. There's no one else in the room. Any public comment from the board? >> None. >> Nope. >> Okay. Moving on to appointments,
ratifications, and resignations. The first is Sleuthboard's appointment of Jennifer Sanderson to the APDC as a historical commission representative and this is termed to expire June 2027. So the historical commission um discussed this and voted uh for uh Mrs. Anderson
to be their delegate to the APDC. Um I'm comfortable uh making this appointment tonight. I don't know if other members uh would like to request that she comes in uh for an interview. If that's the case, that's fine. Um, any issues with making this appointment tonight?
>> I'm comfortable with I have one question. If the website's right, her term on the historical commission is up in June of this year. >> One shake >> of this year or 2026. >> It says June 2026. >> Oh, her
>> her historical historical commission. >> Yeah. Um, I would like to think that she's planning on seeking reappoint because the APDC appointment expires 2027. >> Right. >> Right. >> I mean, it's just it's not a blocker,
but it's just something >> to be aware >> to be aware of. >> Okay. Yeah, I know that's fair to bring up. Um, >> that's assuming our website's correct. >> Well, we will we will find out in the next one that it's not always correct. Um, okay. Okay. Anything else?
>> Nope. Okay. So, I'll move to appoint Jennifer Sanderson to the APDC as the historical commission representative term to expire June 2027. >> Second. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed? No. Motion passes unanimously. All right. Good segue into
the next one. Select boards appointment of Shirley McBride, Democrat to the register of of voters term to expire March 31st, 2028. So, the website listed um her term incorrectly. So, we missed her um reappoint this past year. Um so,
we just really need to correct that. Anyone have any issues um with this appointment or do we want to bring Shirley in? >> I'm fine with it. >> Yep, I'm fine with that. >> Okay. So, I will move to appoint Shirley McBride to the register of voters term to expire March 31st, 2028.
>> Second. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. I. Those opposed, no. The motion passes unanimously. Okay. Hi. Town manager's appointment of Herurland Jamie as conservation agent and approval of step five salary. >> Yes. So, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am
thrilled to provide for your consideration this evening the appointment of Heron Jamie as our next conservation agent. Hurland has been assisting the town of Lunenburgg in an interim capacity um since the spring when we had a vacancy in the position. Um since that she works uh full-time for
the currently for the city of Fitchburg um as their conservation agent. Um but she had been had the capacity to help us out in her additional time. Since she has come on board uh with us, I think that she has provided a uh level of
professionalism and expertise that I believe the conservation commission truly appreciates. Um but based on her education and experience, I wanted to seek the approval of a step five for her >> this evening. And I I see uh >> yeah, Mary
>> Mary and I don't know if from a conservation commissioner perspective if the board was interested in hearing from you. >> Yeah. Do you want to come up, Mary? >> Thank you, Mr. uh chair. >> Uh yes, thank you. My name is Mary
Wilson and I uh live at 138 Whiting Street. I am currently appointed as conservation commissioner. Um Jenny Puther, who is the current conservation commission chair, uh was not able to be here tonight and so she wanted wanted me to come and speak on her behalf. Um and
the uh endorsement that I'm putting forward is uh reflective of both her and my uh opinions and assessment of uh her land and we are hugely in favor of this hire. Uh and I credit Jen for finding such a wonderful resource. Um she's been
she's been fabulous. Um even though she's been working in a uh temporary uh perspective, uh it's clear that she has mastered the uh an efficient conservation commission workflow. You may know that we have a ton of documentation that has to flow through
the office, has to throw flow through with very strict um time requirements and uh we have not missed a beat. uh even though she's just been working on a temporary basis, uh she's uh very comprehensive in her sitewalk um
assessments. Um her project reviews uh are very complete, very impressive turnaround time. Uh her project uh summary and communications are articulate and concise, very easy to understand. when she makes recommendations or has a concern, uh she
very often cites regulatory um references, right, which is beneficial to the conservation commission. Um her recommendations are uh always include actionable next steps and uh that has the effect of streamlining the decision-making process for the entire
conservation commission. um her e expertise um and for lack of a better word business acumen has been a huge um improvement for the conservation um office. Uh so uh both Jenny and I think a decision to appoint Herurllin would be
a huge win for Lunberg's conservation commission. >> Great. Well, thank you so much and I'm glad to hear that Herllin's doing such a great job and that um you know we get to keep that resource for even longer. >> Thank you. I'm also glad that we can um approve the step five salary too. That's exciting as well.
>> That's huge. Yeah. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Yeah. So, thanks for the um endorsement, Mary. Thanks for coming in. >> Thanks, Mary. Klin also assisted us in finding Melissa Richard, our executive assistant. >> Yes. >> Well, kudos for that as well.
>> Um okay. So, uh I will move to ratify the town manager's appointment of Herin Jamie as conservation agent and approve uh step five salary. Second. >> Those in favor say I. >> I. >> Those opposed, no. The motion passes unanimously. And lastly, we are acknowledging the library director and the assistant town manager's appointment
of Debbie Lefond as a part-time staff librarian. >> Yes. Although Miss Lefond needs no intro introduction to the community. Um there are um a number of uh temporary vacancies due to some health issues over at the library and and Miss Debbie is
willing and able to come back and help out and cover some of that staffing. >> Awesome. >> That's fantastic. >> Well, good. Okay. Town manager report. >> Okay. Right. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and through you to the public that is watching. Happy new year to everybody.
Can't believe we are here already. Um I'm going to start with an update on the transition in the finance department. Uh so Katie McKenna's service to the town concluded on December 31st and retired finance director, town accountant Karen Brochu is back officially serving as
town the town's interim finance director and town accountant. Although she's back in that capacity, her primary focus is reconciling on closing fiscal year 25. Um the assistant town accountant continues in her training which is progressing very well. However, the
operational impact of not having a full-time finance director town accountant on staff cannot be overstated. Um so she is we had originally uh talked about the January 31st date for closing. I haven't heard any changes to that, but
I do know in speaking with Karen today she is correcting a number of items um in FY25. Um, as the board is aware, the town has been working with Robert Half to help um with both the recruitment for the finance director and accountant position and the payroll and benefits position.
Unfortunately, they have not presented any uh candidates for the director position at this time. Uh so I signed this morning an agreement with Complete Staffing Solutions who recently completed a similar recruitment uh up in NSHA, New Hampshire where Amunus was
required and um they believe that they may have some candidates from over the border that we might be interested in that might be interested in us. Um both Robert Half and Complete Staffing Solutions are only compensated if they produce a candidate that is successful.
So um there is no uh there is no uh financial obligation here. Um an interview is also scheduled with a candidate for finance director uh this Thursday uh who did not come through uh either of the recruiters. So I am
looking forward to that candidate and uh speaking with them and seeing where that goes. Uh payroll and benefits. Uh Nancy Aor had retired at the end of October and the town has faced uh pretty significant challenges filling this position. A
professional temp has been in the role since prior to NY's retirement. Um the school staff has been training to assume payroll responsibilities and have now begun to process the school payroll and Miss Oork has been assisting with the training of the school staff and the school staff has been fabulous in their
uh collaboration. Uh the town did conduct another round of interviews for the position and is doing their diligence before extending an offer which we hope to extend this week to fill that position. However, the operational impacts from these changes are being felt by all
departments across the organization both town and school. This is especially true as we enter into a budget season that is anticipated to be challenging financially without the operational impact. Just to put a finer point on that, um, you know, this morning I had
planned to spend the first two hours of my morning working on some budgetary material for the tri board meeting uh before going to fire negotiations and the an hour and a half of that was taken by payroll issue. So this is what continues to happen um day-to-day across
the organization depending on the department involved. Okay, little bit better news maybe water billing. So, notification was sent to the 11 customers who receive water bills from the town uh yesterday. They were informed that water utility bills for certain properties were not issued
during the regular quarterly schedule due to a breakdown in administrative billing procedures during a period of staff transition. They were notified that they will be receiving a catch-up bill reflecting water usage from January 2025 through November 2025. and they uh have also been notified that
the select board will be considering a rate adjustment in accordance with that contract um and speaking with the chairman uh earlier. I believe we'll have that on for next Tuesday likely. Um Melissa Richard, our executive assistant, is preparing and processing uh the bulk of those bills and help
hopes to send them out this week but no later than next, but folks are getting basically almost a full year of bill billing um at once. I did in include in the letter uh recognized that this may be a financial challenge for folks and invited them if they need to speak to me
to reach out. Uh master plan update. The master plan steering committee working with overunder has completed the first draft of their master plan. Um the draft has been shared with the select board if anybody would like to uh provide feedback. I looked at it briefly and I must say that I am impressed with what I
saw initially. I think that it is a it actually um I must say I am impressed with the product and I did not think I was going to be. So, all right. Uh next up, the Nshoba Associated Boards of Health um completed their 2025 community health needs
assessment. Folks may recall the survey that was going around um in the fall. The document is on our website, Facebook, and their website. There is a ton of data contained within this report together with the survey findings from residents. um and Noba has announced that they're going to be using this data
to help um with public health programming as they move forward. But um if anybody is looking for interesting demographics on the town of Lunberg, there are a ton of demographics contained within this report that that um are well outside the traditional
public health scope. So interesting. Um, also related to Nishoba Associated Boards of Health, which is not good news in my opinion, is that they uh voted to raise their assessments by 30%. So, traditionally their annual assessment
has been a 10% increase. Um, but they cited in their notification a structural issue with their funding model because their funding relies heavily on land use activities which are down. Um, and so they're not generating the revenue that they once were generating. They also
were partially funding uh their nursing program with COVID uh related grants which are expiring and they're facing the same raising health insurance and employment cost costs as everybody else. But um overall in the scheme of things it's not a whole heck of a lot of money.
It's a $13,946 increase over what we were anticipating. But that brings the total NHOBA assessment to a little over $90,000 which is substantial. >> 13 over what we were already anticipating. >> 13 over what we were anticipating. Yeah.
Um interesting uh governance model with the Nshobo Associated Boards of Health in that it's a it's it's governed by members of each community's boards of health and there's no um there's no executive functioning of town management
or town administrators um in this decision-making process which isn't how all of these associations work but nonetheless >> this is our assessment for you. >> Okay. current recruitments. We have our young adult staff, librarian positions still open. We know we have a finance
director and payroll and benefits position open. Um recreation director at 19 hours per week. I am going to try to look in the camera and I am talking to you residents. Um we are getting close to not being able to run a recreation
program if we do not get somebody in this position. So, uh, we actually start ramping up for the summer programs, uh, in early spring. Uh, this is a 19-hour a week position. Um, I think that if you have an interest in recreation and have
the capacity and maybe some, um, translatable skills, you should strongly consider putting in an application. Okay. Uh, dietary aid is still posted at nine hours per week. Um, I do believe we have an applicant for that position. and the outreach coordinator position, the job description has been revised and
that has been posted for the adult activity center at 36 hours per week. Um, the board and committee vacancies remain the same. I'm not going to read through all of them tonight. And one that is not on here, but I believe is forthcoming is there is likely a vacancy
on the school committee, but the town has not received official notification of the same. >> Right. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank Thank you. >> Any questions for the town manager? >> I don't have a question, but can I make a comment? >> Yeah. >> Um, I just want to stress the what the town
manager um stated about the finance department transition and the impact this has. I saw the draft schedule for the budget calendar and it's it's aggressive under the best of times. >> Um, considering I mean the the vacancies are known and the ripple effect of that.
I think town manager gave a good example of what happened today and that's happening on a just so the public knows that's happening on a very regular basis. I I know it happens to me at work. You go in, I don't have any meetings today. I'm going to get some work done and then all it hits a fan. Um
but even when these are filled, it's not like flipping a light switch. We're not going to be able to like, oh, we got these positions filled. Someone's sitting at that desk. We're good to go. No. No. It's going to take time to get people onboarded. Um, so all of that is to say that this impact is going to be
felt for quite some time. It's going to be a rough budget season. Not going to sugar coat it. It's been rough the last two years. Not going to get any easier this year. Um, so one is I want to urge the public to stay in in tune as much as you can. you know, watch meetings, keep
your, you know, eyes and ears open because things are going to happen fast. >> Um, given the aggressive timeline and for people on boards and committees, that means information is going to be coming fast. It's going to be short notice. There's going to be changes.
Um, everyone really needs to to chip in. I mean, it's I know our staff has really been chipping in and going above and beyond wearing more than one hat. Um we we need to everyone we need to all row you know same direction step up and uh
and we'll get through it but it's not going to be fun. Uh so I just want to stress that it to say oh they have vacancies it has an impact we cannot overstate the significance of that impact. It's rough. So I don't think the public can see
behind the curtain. >> Yeah. And >> trust me when organizationwide. >> Yeah. >> It it it is it is impacting every single department. So, and thank you uh Renee for for recognizing because I I was
remiss in not doing so myself, the contributions of the staff and stepping up across the organization because it is everybody from department heads to admins that process bills who are all just having to answer questions that they normally wouldn't answer, verify
things that they wouldn't normally verify, watch things that they wouldn't normally watch, make corrections. I mean >> and it takes longer because we've lost a lot of institutional knowledge with the turnover in the transition. So >> I guess I ask for the public's patience understanding and also for them to to
you know to to commit to some extent to you know put the effort forward to pay attention if there's a public forum and you want to you know express an opinion you know we need to hear from you. Um, so
that's all I have to say, but thank you. And and there is some good news. >> Yes, we have an interview on >> potential. Yes. So, >> very good news. >> I'll also just piggy back to um another thank you to Karen to come back and, you know, even her focus is on closing the
year. Having that institutional knowledge back for a little bit is is awesome. >> It's huge. Um, you know, one of the things that when I spoke to Karen today that really struck me is she said, you know, I love Lunenburgg. >> And it's true because I don't think that somebody who's retired, if they didn't
really have the love for the community >> would be coming back, but it means that it's it's the yes, we have consultants in and they're doing great work, but that personal connection to seeing the success in something that you worked with for decades really makes a true
difference. that that loyalty and commitment is invaluable. Yeah. >> All right. Thank you. New business. So, first we have the uh ABCC Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission annual certification. So, there's two parts of this two certifications. The first is a seasonal
population increase estimation form uh which is none. And the renewal certification form for 2026. So, that's um licences who didn't renew. Uh we only have one smoke stack roers. Um and then
l C's disapproved uh which is none. Um anything else you want to add on this that is important to point out? Okay. Any questions? >> Nope. >> Okay. So I will move to approve the um two forms for the ABCC annual
certification. >> Second. >> Those in favor say I. I. >> I. Those opposed, no. The motion passes unanimously. And we do have to sign this too. I'll just pass it down now. Um so you can sign it while we uh move on here.
>> It's hot in here. >> What did you say? >> It's hot in here. Yeah. >> Oh, it is hot in here now. >> It was cold and now why I wore short sleeves. >> He's making me cold. >> I'm not hot. No, I'm cold. >> That space that space heater definitely has some power to it.
>> Okay. The heat has also been repaired downstairs. So, we're maybe getting a little I'm not >> Well, it was really cold like a half hour ago. So, >> just took our heat back. I was enjoying it. >> Okay. >> Moving on. Uh let's see. Vote to open
the annual town meeting warrant um today on Tuesday, January 6th, 2026, and close the warrant on March 16th, 2026. Pretty straightforward. Um any questions? Okay. So I will move to open the annual town meeting warrant on Tuesday, January
6, 2026 and close the warrant on March 16th, 2026. >> Second. >> Those in favor say I. I. Those opposed, no. Motion passes unanimously. And Melissa has the notifications prepared and those will be sent out tomorrow informing people that the warrants open and then it will be closing the
>> Great. All right. Thank you, Melissa. All right, moving on to old business. The first is discussion on special event policy. Um, we decided we were going to workshop this and I think we definitely need to. Um, are members ready to do that next week? I think we should be able to do a workshop on this policy
next week. >> Are we getting any more notes than what we already have from the department heads? >> Um, I don't think so unless there's specific questions. >> Not from department heads, but from attorney Costa. Right. So, um I did reach out to attorney Costa after the last meeting asking if he had any
opinion on the ability to regulate private property and he says that when this came up he had done an extensive amount of research at that time. So, he is looking to find that body of research that he done before. >> Were we still considering a rewrite on this one? >> Yes. >> Okay.
>> Mhm. So, I did uh do like I have a barebones draft of like the bare minimum of what we would need just for us to start off of. Um but everything's going to have to be workshopped and we're going to have to decide um what we want to include. Um so, yeah, that's going to
take some time. So, >> are you able to share that with us before? >> Um I think so, but it's also there's really nothing in there. I took out everything relating to private property and all of the sections that seemed to be I don't know very specific and I
thought maybe we would want to discuss whether or not we wanted to include or modify I kind of just left out. It was just sort of a base for us to have something so that we didn't have literally a blank document to start with when we did our workshop. >> I'm fine with it. So, >> and will that be in addition to or in
place of or of our meeting or what will it be if we're going to workshop it? >> Um, it would be during next Tuesday's meeting. Okay. >> Um, so we should have there's there's a couple things on the agenda. So, it's not going to be the only thing on the agenda, but I think it's light enough where we can definitely do a workshop.
>> I just don't want to be trying to do a workshop of policy at 11 at night. >> Oh, no. We're definitely not going to do that. >> That'd be an awesome policy probably at the end. >> Okay. Okay. So, I guess we can just go ahead with that then. All right.
Appointment policy. So, um Brian sent over some things. Um I don't have it incorporated into um the draft yet, but we can read through this and um work it all inside of the um policy here. Brian,
do you want to um do you want to talk through this? >> Sure. Yeah. So my concern again I think it was brought up in public comment was the the concern of putting people out in front of the public in front of the stage uh in town hall and there's a lot of anxiety I
think that people could have with that. So we were kind of brainstorming and I kind of took that idea to try to come up with uh additions to the policy that would try to make it less stressful. So that was the idea. So I felt like maybe having an intro uh could help. So the
intro that I drafted was the town of Lunberg values resident participation in local government and encourages community members of all backgrounds and experience levels to consider volunteer volunteer service. Appointed boards and committees play a
vital role in shaping the town's future and strengthening civic life. So it's just try to try to find a way to kind of introduce it and make it have like more of a calming demeanor at the beginning versus just kind of getting right into it. I don't know what people thought about having an intro to it.
>> Yeah, I think it's good. Um, I really like when policies have that like introduction. It makes it really easy to, you know, open the policy and understand exactly what it is if it's not exactly clear. Um, as you're reading this, I'm copying it over and uh integrating it into the policy just so
you know. So, you may see some live edits if you guys have the document open. Um, so the the next part that I was considering was again the interview process is the the stressful part. So I wanted to add in a piece something again to try to make it more uh
conversational. So I I stated uh try to add interviews are intended to be conversational and informational providing applicants an opportunity to learn more about the role and allowing the select board to ensure a good fit.
>> Yeah, I think that's good. Um, so I'm going to add that one in, too. Um, I'm thinking I'm going to add it underneath section three, reappoints. That seems to make sense to me. So, it goes uh I just added
introduction, volunteer applications, appointments, reappoints, interviews. What do we think? Or do we think it should go somewhere else? >> Okay, I'll just put it here. If we want to move it, we can do that. >> We don't We don't have Brian's in the draw, do we? It's hard to follow. >> No.
>> Yeah, >> I can email it. >> Yeah, that could work. Do you want it or drop it in the drive or you can drop it in the drive? >> It's not in a document, so I'm going to have to just >> I just >> It's okay. I can do this real quickly. >> All right. So, I'm going to
copy all of this, put it in a document, and drop it. So if you I want to just hang tight for a second. So I can do that and then they can read along. Oh, I don't have a product key for Microsoft Word. So I can't actually do that. Uh let me
>> open a No, I think I can create a document directly in SharePoint. >> Okay. So I'm in the appointment policy document. I just created a Word document. So it should be there. Mhm. >> Okay. You should see it now. >> Yep.
>> Okay. Go ahead, Brian. >> All right. I was just trying to figure out where the place for the interviews because we do have interviews, but maybe I'm trying to think where it would go. >> I don't think there's a section for it. Unless it's >> not really a section, but it mentions. >> I think we have to create one. >> Yeah, >> I think we talked about that. Like
there's no nothing about the process, >> just the dates, I feel like. That's actually a big gap. >> Yeah. Well, I think the only thing about interviews is probably this part right here, right? When the select board conducts interviews for vacancies, the select board shall interview applicants
seeking reappoint all other seeking appointment. And that's under reappoints. And then the um part above it under appointments where it says a select board by a majority voted its members um can request interviews. Um, I don't think we actually have a section
on interviews, so we can add one. >> Or you could just add that sentence at the end of that section. No. >> Yeah, I feel like almost interviews should go before reappoints. >> Yeah, it does talk about >> It does talk about in the reappoint section only. >> No, above.
>> Oh, above it. Right above it, too. >> The last paragraph before the reappoint section, >> it talks about interviews. And maybe that's a good place to say. >> Yep. Okay. So, that's where I'm going to add it. This is a very colorful document. We have red, we have blue.
>> Okay. >> Yeah, I think that's a good fit for it. >> Yeah. >> Can you guys see me doing this live? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> So, for the reappoints, and again, we had this kind of discussion about reappoints and not being automatic. So I
drafted a sentence or yeah a sentence to fit with this potentially. Uh so it says reappointment reappointment shall not be automatic. However, the select board values continuity of service and will consider each incumbent's contributions,
engagement, and interest in continuing to serve. >> Yeah, I think that's good. Okay, let me copy this over. Um, let's see. Anywhere in there section in particular you think it should go? Let's see. >> It's It seems like it's a
>> an edit of that second sentence. >> That second sentence, right? >> Just if you replace that second sentence maybe. >> Is that what you were thinking? >> Yeah, I think it Yeah, it should replace I don't know. >> Yeah. So, let me I need >> I think just take away that first sentence. It shall not be automatic.
Yeah, that's that's >> And then it's more It's just not so >> Yeah. Well, I think it should replace these first the first two. It could scare people like, "Oh, it's not automatic." >> Yeah, it change. It says the same thing, which would be a much better tone. >> Yeah. I was just trying to make it calmer.
>> Yep. >> Okay. >> Attract more people. And I was trying to find a way to make it so we can get more people um to actually buy. Yeah, I think that's a lot better. >> Okay, >> so another new section that I I thought
would be fitting was trying to I felt like we had a lot of people who had no idea when a committee met what they did and we said, "Oh, go check out the videos or go online and watch a meeting or go to a meeting and check it out." But I thought maybe we could actually
have some information for them so they could just go find that information or point them to the right direction. So a new section committee commitment and summary. Each multi-member body appointed by the select board shall develop and maintain a brief committee commitment and summary statement. This
statement is intended to clearly communicate the purpose, expectations, and culture of the body to current and prospective members. At a minimum, each statement shall include a mission and purpose, a concise description of the committee's role, responsibilities, and
how it how its work supports the town. Time commitment, an estimate of meeting frequency, typical meeting length, and any additional expectations outside of regular meetings. The scope and authority, scope of authority, a clear statement identifying whether the body
is advisory, regulatory or decision-m and to whom it reports. Uh four, skills, experience and interests. A description of helpful skills, lived experience or interests uh with a statement that formal expertise is not required unless
man mandated by law. And then five, term and continuity. A general description of term length, opportunities for reappointment and expectations for attendance and participation. And the committee commitment and summary statement shall be reviewed annually by the multi-member body and updated as needed. The statement shall be submitted
to the town manager's office and made available on the town's website alongside vacancy positions or vacancy postings. >> I think that would be a really good resource. Um I think one thing I would add to is probably because I know like like assessors conservation there's a
lot of education that's required. So maybe we could add a section too that says um you know what sort of training or like how you could prepare yourself to serve on that committee could be a good one too. Uh because I'm would have to assume that a lot of people don't know that information going in either. Um
>> do you want to add that under the skills experience? >> Yeah, skills experience and interest might be a good fit for that >> training. >> Yeah, required training. >> I will say that this would um assist with the number one question that we get
in the office which is >> when do they meet? >> What do they do and how much time does it take? >> Yeah. No, this is really good Brian. Um, I really like this section. Um, okay. Yes, for sure. So, I'm going to copy this over. Yeah, I think just even knowing what day
groups meet, I think, can definitely help people like, oh yeah, I have that date available or, "No, I don't have that date available." >> Let's see. Where do we want to put it? Is there a place in here that you think it makes sense, Brian? Maybe under appointments or should I put it further
down? Let me see. >> Maybe it could fit under the guidance for appointed officials. >> Yeah. >> Or I don't know if it's really appointed officials then. >> I think it it could probably fit right before that section. So, I'll add it
right above it. Okay, let me just change this formatting again. It's all messed up. I don't know why I thought every single line was a heading here.
Okay, so that looks good. And now um where am I looking? Okay. Skills, experience, and interests. A description of helpful skills, lived experience or interest with a statement that formal expertise is not required unless mandated by law. Okay. So I would add um
maybe after interests. Um okay. So I'm going to take out or. So, I'm going to do interests and any applicable mandatory training with the statement that formal expertise is not required unless mandated by law.
Okay. What do you think about that? >> That works. >> Okay, cool. Was that it? I think that was it. Yeah, that's all it. >> All right. Yeah, thank you, Brian. I think these were um really good modifications here. >> I like them.
>> Okay. Anything else um members want to discuss on this tonight? Okay. So, we're getting pretty close here. So, we can do um one final review after all of this. Um, and then we can discuss this probably
next week too and see if we're ready to approve or if there's anything else. Um, but I think this is um, starting to look really good. >> Are any changes in in made in here relative to the like the subcommittee? >> Oh, thank you for bringing that up. I actually wanted to come back to that. >> I do agree with the uh, feedback that we
received. >> Yeah, so do I. Um, >> and I do appreciate the the the citizen that emailed us as well as that came up before us because that feedback is critical, right? Renee had mentioned earlier, the engagement of the community is very helpful.
>> Right. All right. Anyone have any issue with that? Because I'm also okay with uh just not really moving forward with that. >> Yeah, I'm fine. >> Not moving forward with the subcommittee. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Yep. I'm fine with that. >> Okay, cool. So, the only thing um that
we discussed that's not captured anywhere here is um modifying the form cuz I don't think I have it. Maybe it's in a drive somewhere. I could look. Um, but I know we wanted to add something for like each committee that they check
off. Um, just explaining like why they're interested in that specific committee. Um, so I think that's the only modification that we can make. I can see if we have access to the form somewhere >> and to make an electronic form too for the website. >> Yeah, we talked about that. >> Yeah, we did. Oh, good point. Maybe we don't even have to do that. Well, I
wonder if maybe we want to also have paper copies too. Yeah, I think we should have both. Yeah. >> Um, I will have Melissa take a look in the drive and see if there's >> the form. >> It's got to be around somewhere.
>> Otherwise, we'll convert it from the PDF. >> Mhm. Which is always a pain, but that's okay. >> All right. Awesome. Anything else on this tonight? >> All right. Thanks again, Brian. Okay. Okay. And the last thing under old business is um select board bylaw for
potential recommendations to bylaw review committee. Um anything that anyone wants to bring up tonight? I'll probably stop including this on the agenda and um invite us all to um continue to read um all of the licensing
related uh bylaws and if anyone has anything that they want to bring up then we can put it back on the agenda. Um, and I'm also, um, you know, obviously going to, uh, invite everyone to participate in the bylaw review committee as well. Um, we're getting to
the point now where we're starting to, um, uh, invite people in. So, if you ever have anything that you want to discuss in your review of the bylaw, you're always welcome to attend those meetings as well. Um, so, anything tonight, though? >> Okay. >> When's the next meeting
>> for the bylaw review committee? >> Yeah. Do you have one scheduled? So we don't because we have been meeting on the first Thursdays of the month and the first Thursday of January was a holiday. Uh we haven't scheduled um our next meeting yet. So uh we will soon. Um so we'll probably try to meet in January.
>> Okay, that was it. Public comment any Oh. Oh, that's weird. I just realized um the agendas I'm going to I'm going to go out of order here. Okay, so minutes. We have um quite a bit here. Uh let's >> Here's the full list. Oh, you got the
full list. Okay. All right. So, we got February 20th, 2024, March 5th, 2024, March 19th, 2024, April 23rd, 2024, August 5th, 2025, October 8th, 2024, December 16th, 2025,
and December 30th, 2025. Have we um read through these yet? Are we ready to start approving them? >> Is the 16th the one that was just added? What was the one that was added this afternoon? I don't. >> It was the 16th. She was Yeah, Melissa was working on that yesterday. >> I didn't look at that one, but I can
look at it real quick. >> It's kind of long. >> Yeah. So, I'm okay with I looked at all the other ones. Which >> were those all you? >> No, there was another Well, thank you. >> So much for all of that work. That was those are a lot. I did review all them.
I don't have any. >> Still a lot more, too. >> Yeah. Aside from the I did not look at the December 16th yet, personally. >> Okay. Anyone else? >> I'm ready for all of them. >> I'm good. Yeah. >> All right. >> I think Melissa, you made the change I sent you. Okay. I'm good.
>> Okay. So, I'm also prepared to um vote on all of these. Um >> Amanda, if you want to vote or abstain, you can. But I guess we'll probably just vote on the December 16th ones, too. >> Uh so, I move to approve all of the sets of minutes that I just read. >> Second. Oh, go ahead.
>> Those in favor said say I. >> I. Those opposed? No. Any abstensions? We just did them all together. >> I'm I'm I'm the abstension. >> You're going to abstain. Okay. The motion is 401. >> Okay. Warrants. I don't think we have any. >> We do.
>> Or do we do? Oh, look at that. [Applause] What do we have? We have an accounts payable warrant in the amount of I have to move this clip. $316,660.36. any action items? >> Yes. Um,
can we add to a relatively soon upcoming agenda the warrant article for the mailer for town? >> Oh, yeah. We're definitely going to do all of that. Yep. That's >> before we get up to our eyeballs and budget meetings.
>> I'm I'm tracking that. I want to um at some point discuss I want to bring that back. I'm assuming that you know at least you do too. So for sure >> I'd like to do >> like flush it out with this board, you know, first and in time to like take it back to the council on aging and whatever else.
>> For sure. Um and we can, you know, work together with them and as their liaison, I'm happy to um if we work on it first and we want to, you know, send me to them to present what we have and then collect feedback. Um, you know, there's all sorts of ways that we can work together on that. Um, so yeah, I'm
tracking that, Renee. >> I don't I don't think it would be a heavy lift agenda item, but >> No, not at all. I don't think so. >> I think the sooner we can do it, the better. >> Yeah, for sure. But yeah, I'm tracking that because I I want to get that done, too. Okay. Any other action items?
Anyone have any committee reports? Stormwaters meeting Thursday. Finance committee meets Thursday. >> Have a couple. >> Uh planning board will be meeting on the 12th. The master plan steering committee of course the draft is out. Uh there was
no on December 17th. I'm sorry. The uh yeah m Yeah. Uh nothing really of note. Open space did meet on December 10th and continue discussion about their draft bylaw becoming a formal committee. Uh next meeting is the 14th. Uh ACOM has a
meeting coming up towards the end of the month and also kind of covered the library board of trustees. >> The board of assessors is meeting tomorrow. The school committee is meeting tomorrow as well. They do have uh
the track turf field design plan discussion planned the a discussion on kids kingdom relocation planned and a FY25 and FY26 budget update as well and a discussion on the future of Turkey Hill as well on the agenda. So pretty
good agenda for tomorrow. I also have an update from December 17th school committee meeting. Um I attended that one and read the uh tri board letter that was addressed to the tri board. Um there was interest in
having a conversation about that. So uh I wouldn't be surprised if we have some discussion on that at the next tri board meeting as well. Um the chair of the school committee also mentioned that member George Yap was uh indicating that he had a job change and
was resigning from the school committee. But as you heard tonight, we haven't had the official uh letter put in yet to the town. Um they are getting a the school's getting a Harvard doctoral resident. Uh they're going to serve as a resident
from July 26th to April 27th. Uh the district's going to host the resident. Um and there is no cost um for Lunberg. So just gaining more experience and the district does not have to pay for that.
Um, there was an winter athletics report and there was a budget workshop. Uh, they did note the budgetary items and corrections. Uh, those are discovery of 10 pair of professionals that were not accounted in the FY26 budget. Also, I got the email today. I can forward it
to everybody else, but that came out today as well that the the superintendent sent that letter out detailing the information about that. And uh the administration recommended the school committee vote on a school budget prior to receiving the town manager's budget number to present a clear ask the town man to the town
manager and the tri board. And that was it. Anyone else? Okay. I don't have any tonight. Upcoming meetings. So we have um two tribard meetings this month. Um, our first one is going to be on January 12th and then
select boards meeting the following Tuesday, January 13th and then we'll have another tri board meeting on January 27th. Okay. Public comment. Any public comment from the board? Any public comment from the town manager? >> No. >> Any public comment from the public? Not
seeing any here tonight and there's no one on Zoom. Okay, with that, is there a motion to adjurnn? I'll make a motion to adjurnn at 7:51 p.m. >> Second. >> Those in favor say I. I. Those opposed, no. The motion passes unanimously and the select board is adjourned.