##VIDEO ID:Uokyb-Q2s_w## I have [Music] it iedge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all hi everyone did you have the baby chair you did and that was our first item on the agenda is public comment we're going to receive oral Communications from members of the public members of the public May address the select board for up to three minutes longer with the permission of the chair the select board shall not engage in discussion on topics raised during public comment but may choose to add the topic to a future agenda this agenda segment will be limited to 15 minutes unless extended at the discretion of the chair do we have any public comment tonight okay moving right along grants gifts and donations we have um approval on behalf of the Council on Aging to accept a donation um we have 40 uh we have 1 2 3 four five six in a row and if it's okay with the board I'll read them off and we'll take them as one vote is that okay with the the board yes okay so we have approval um these are all for Council on on Aging we have a donation of $40 from Bob and Shila Haynes we have a donation of $15 from June Brogan we have a donation of $500 from Kathy and Shan Malone we have a donation of $30 from Mary Gil we have a donation of $25 from Josephine Cohen and a don of $100 from Janette is Isabella can I make a motion to accept all the donations that were read for the Council on Aging you have you missed oh the I'm sorry the last one's the police department did the same thing is there a second I'll second that second okay any discussion all in favor I I the next one yeah thank you everyone um the next one we have an approval um on of the police department to accept a donation of $250 from Allan and Tracy Lamport motion to accept Sor okay any discussion on this one okay I'd like to thank all of our well vote yeah all in favor I I would like to thank all of our donors that for the town of Newbury thank you okay under new business we have cultural Council plans 2020 um five presented by Ryan Kelly and I know Ryan is here hi Ryan L up ran Kelly schol dist Street and you're on the cultural Council right I am on the cultural councel I would like to wish everybody a Happy New Year and say on behalf of the cultural Council that we as the Newbury cultural Council are proposing to bring back a scaled down version of Newbery Town day on August 16th as an eight member appointed committee by the we will be managing the event we would like to use the Central Street Fields grounds and building pending approval from the rec committee we are planning to have open artist Studios music and cultural performances food and beverages Sports and games and children and family activities we are looking for approval endorsement and support of the event and any help to connect with the rec committee and any other local resources to help with the community event we are also looking for funding from the town celebration account as it has supported our mission in the past we don't have a final budget yet but we are working hard to pull numbers and plans together over the coming months thank you for your time and we look forward to working together with our town resources to have a fantastic Community event thank you thank you um I know we do have a small budget for celebrations there are some items that do come out of that there's the flags I think that come out of that for Memorial Day Memorial Day um but we absolutely can he Mark some for this I I want to thank the Council on Aging for taking this one aging the cultural Council on taking this back um I know it started with you guys and then it kind of evolved and morphed into its own little thing and then it kind of fizzled out and died and now you're bringing it back and I really am appreciative of you guys I think you'll Breathe new life into it um I'm really looking forward to it um is there any questions or is there a committee a committee for the newb Town day or is it falling under the cultural counsel it's going to come under the cultural Council committee they're going to pick it up so there we're not going to do it cuz I know we talked about the financing you know because when we used to do the newb Town day the budgeting aspects of it are we going to have so you guys have your a c the cultural Council has an account a you know the cultural Council has their own grant money that they can decide to spend award some of their grant money I wouldn't award all of it they have so yeah so we're not going to be using yeah sorry I shouldn't have walked back yeah that's okay I'm new um so we as the eight person cultural Council that will be the committee we're not bringing in different community members and so we'll just have that and then we have um our own like we're not using the state funding for the culture Council we're not allowed to only use a certain percentage of that for anything like this so we'll just be doing any sponsorships and fundraising and kind of doing everything um as cost effectively as possible it's not going to deal with anything from the state granted funds those go to the nonprofits that we give it to okay so there's a small the town of newb has a small blind item in our budget right yeah I'm aware of that that so that's the one that they would do do we have any money left over from two years ago it all went to the food pantry it all went to the that's right it all went to the food pantry okay thank you for doing this $5,000 bu yeah the the grants you get from the state yeah you can only use a certain percentage of it for this event no so we it does it's not earmarked for any kind of event so when you get money from the state there's a little bit that you can always keep behind to help with Administration to help with fundraising or anything like that um some cultural councils will actually fundraise and get even more additional money to put towards that or host local cultural events so we can put we put almost all the money towards the people that apply to GR we had like 27 different people that applied this year um and like 19 of them get it so the money for that will be that that's my second question if I'm not mistaken some of the grants the cultural accounts committee gives is to other towns what do you mean by that other activities in other towns you support events in other towns depending on the reach of that event we prioritize as much like hyper sensitive events there's actually an entire list of kind of categories of things we look for when you when we apply for Grants i i i acknowledge an event and new report might help culturally people in New to participate yeah we we most of the ones that get denied are like it's in Winchester or it's in Salem or something like that because there's so many local cultural councils we as a board of the eight of us we actually were where you're sitting like two months ago and we purposefully choose just the events that are like as hyper local as possible yeah Newport will get something maybe Georgetown but there's we really focus on nuber cultural grants to Newbery most likely go to the Council on Aging and maybe Byfield Community Arts Center I'd have to look through the entire list I forget out of the you know 20 of them or something but you know what let me help sure yeah Robin Lawson n lenway Road I'm chair of the cultural Council the grants for 2025 there are 15 of them that we approved we prioritize as Ryan just said events like Library passes to Strawberry bank for residents and the this year the um Council on Aging programs that the council and agent requests it it doesn't go to the council and agent it goes to the a pro a program yeah program exactly we also fund other requests as appropriate that benefit the residents of Newbery for instance the best example I can think of is the new report Coral Society PE new people attend new new people participate also it's important to note that other local cultural councils will also fund Newbery events it's it's all we all uh appreciate the uh importance of cultural events within one town that affect or uh benefit others does that help sure so what what you're saying is our Council on agent may have or is getting grants from other towns probably not the council and agent probably probably not not the C that's more specific no no they the council and aging the library they'll they will apply only to the new cultural Council yeah but other the but other I was I mean I was just thinking this is such a local event that that uh charity begins at home well to tell you the truth um as Ryan said we can hold back we the cultural Council can hold back a percentage of the Massachusetts cultural Council grant for our local events the we just funded 2025 events in the past there have been actually frankly there have been really a minimal expenses generated by new BR Town day it's mostly website um signage you know the little signs it's not a lot of money but in the past because the town has funded newbur cult on Newber Town day we kind of assumed that the same would happen we were not aware of the fact that we we knew that there was a $5,000 account and I still get the emails from um Eva uh pastor and Ann uh with reports on what's been spent but I actually quite honestly was not aware of the fact that the money had been spent for f fiscal year 2025 so we were we were kind of banking we were we were the me we meaning the cultural Council were expecting that there would be Town support for New Town day because there has in the past am I making sense sure sure that's okay and and this is FY this is FY 26 too we talking about but anyway it's but it's not a lot of money and so what as Ryan just said the plan is that once we start formulating plans and we're doing this step by step so first we needed to decide what we was going to how we were going to do it who was going to part to the to the um uh manage it then we were going to make a presentation to the select board so that's where we are so you know pending approval now we have a meeting on the 27th and we will go back and and flush out the the plans and then we'll be in a much better position to present a budget but as Ryan just said and you can take it back from here Ryan about go ahead this is I am not the boss of this do you want to finish your thought or am I supposed to interject halfway through okay good good point good point what would Judge Judy say I can't think for you you can't think you can't think for me I you don't know exactly what I was I have some colorful now I forgot what I was going to say but um no Ryan just said that that um uh yeah if he read my mind he would have known that was I was about to say is he said there are other possible ways to raise funds besides if it turns out that the town is is it's the budget's tight we can figure out way to raise funds and and as I said we're not talking about a you know thousands of dollars thank you both immensely for what you do and what the cultural Council does for the town of rber yeah pleasure yeah thank you guys we think it's so your next step we have another uh member here too Mary Carlos she's she's also a member of the cultural Council and there are eight of us than for coming eight of us now by the way yeah I know bra awesome it's great um the um your next step is you want to get on the agenda of the wreck committee yeah we want to discuss with them just making sure that date is available and any stipulation so I'm going to ask Joy is our um assistant Town Administrator if she would reach out to um the chair of the rec committee David bro and copy Ryan y to ask him to be put on their agenda whenever their next they usually meet the first Monday of the month I remember Mr volpone saying that yeah yeah perfect so that thank you one more question is this going to be restricted to just Central fields or are we going to do a is it going to be like the old days no so we're purposely trying to keep it really focused on one area um we decided that Central Street Fields with the fact that it has the building on it has the parking lot it has the field it has now the pickleball court and everything we looking back and I'm like obviously a new member so there's a lot of other new members that came in that didn't have the experience that Robin and Heidi had so they with sharing and going through the statistics and everything from the last events we really wanted to hyperf focus on one location execute it well scale down kind of like I said earlier and just be super successful with this and then we can always maybe go from there but we wanted to really just focus on like the key things in one spot well done good strategy yeah I think that's a good place to start yeah and it's the most accommodating we don't have to worry about you know parking super easy that's the one thing about the upper green is it's like really tough with one there so beautiful Spencer little I don't know why it would happen with Spencer little I don't think it's going to work anymore there I think they're I think it's too complicated to host something there now oh the town of Nu owns the property over at Central Street so right and it's a little more closer to here as well beautiful thank you I would like to add one more thing thank you Ryan I just wanted to for Joy's benefit and everybody's benefit we have a new um email address now okay thanks to John Temple it's it's cultural. counil at townof new.org finally thank okay thank you guys well done both of you thank you thank you thank you okay so next we have um revew and approval of the 2025 um annual entertainment license renewal for the Sunset Club at Four fullo Road I'll entertain a motion to approve motion to approve second motion a second any discussion all in favor I I thank you both thank you very much okay next we have a request by the police department for declaration as surplus of 2018 Ford Explorer utility color black bin 1 FM 5k8 a R7 J GC 17755 motion to declare Surplus the 218 for explor utility second discussion I'm just curious how many miles are on that one says right on the form the oh on the the one you yeah thank you you're welcome 11 16,8 110 miles okay all in favor hi hi I have a finance all right so the finance committee appointment to the capital planning committee Joseph Ali Ali was had uh requested for the uh Capital planning committee this is um uh the select board doesn't appoint these members um if you recall we uh petitioned the state legislature to change our I think it was the act so that finance committee members could appoint other members to the finance to the capital planning committee so the select board appoints two members the Town Administrator sits that as per the act so she sits on it we appointed to and now the finance committee has to appoint to um the finance committee indicated that Joseph Ali was willing to sit on that that's as of right now uh they have to appoint one other but we do not require a vote on this so I'm just not going to ask for that's did you have a second name from er um Richard Keys has also um offer to serve on that committee as well okay y so we we may have two two members we'll have to wait and see how that goes but we're not the appointing authority on that the finance committee is okay next I have review and approve 2025 business license renewals now there are a lot of these is everybody okay with me reading them and we'll take one vote at the end and if there's anyone that you want to put a hold on it just stay hold and I'll mark it and we'll come back to it is the board okay with that approach Jeff are you okay with that Dana yes Bill yes okay so um I will um what I'll do is I'll entertain a motion to approve the following business licenses I think that's what they are um yeah business licenses and then I'll take the motion in the second after I read them all as one okay so just put a hold on them if you decide to Animal Care uh Pamela D the beach Dog Daycare at 96 Newbery Port turnpike there's an auto Marine Auto Repair and sales of related items Stephen ad andreo Andrea wow my is not coming out Steve service at 52 Main Street automarine and sale storage of boats marine supplies and gasoline David and John Molton Riverfront Marine Sports at 292 hot high road automarine and gasoline car repair sale of related Goods Nasser Abu Aid uh AL Prime energy Consulting at 17 Central Street Auto Marine uh Randall Bando bendan trustee old Newbery Boat Club 84 newy Port Turnpike in Auto Marine Andrew Haley Parker River Marine services at 7 newy Neck Road Auto Marine jod Wilkinson willco Marine Restorations at 84 Newport turnpike there's an auto Marine subject to the restrictions and conditions of the special permit issued on 22686 and the variance issued on 11794 by the Newbery Zoning Board of Appeals for the property at 24 Middle Road Barry Davis BD Automotive at 24 Middle Road there's also an auto Marine subject to the restrictions and conditions of the special permit issued on 22686 and the decision of the zoning board of appeals for 8699 for the property at 24 M Middle Road William Cy bills Auto Repair at 24 Middle Road there's an auto repair Gary macheros a applied Automotive Technology Incorporated at 101 Newport Turnpike units 4 to five uh Gary machero Angie service at 101 new report turnpike again unit 405 common vuler James Sullivan Rusty can at 6G Fruit Street common Vic Julia Danver but Butchery Cheryl Molton DBA Newbery Butchery at two morav Comm Vic Julia uh Kim Sue de debero and Brad debero with a Riptide Cafe and bar at 23 P Plum Island Boulevard common Vic Julia Sarah van golden manager alen Roode conference and Retreat Center at 46 Elm Street common Victoria Hank Moore Treasurer old newy golf club at 319 Newberry Port Turnpike Comm Vic juler Jim Sullivan Wyatts Market at 6D Fruit Street common vulia Savannah wi family associate Incorporated um Main Street the miniart and D&J Liquors at 53 Main Street CL big Julia and in Ryan Guthrie Brendon GTH blue in on the beach at 24m way common vuler and parking lot Ron Barrett Plum Island taxpayers Association at 8 Blum Island can I put a hold on that one and I I just want to have a a short discussion about absolutely that's that's all thank you crafts gifs uh Gail gend galini no Gand gandalfi thank you G&G antiques at 160 Hay Street dog grooming Brittany Charles Water Dog Grooming at 94 new report turnpike unit 7A farm products feed and related items Don delorio High tail Acres at 120 High Road General coach consultant Alana mat's done flipping out Enterprises at 109 High Road General business Sharon Pearson Pearson Hardware at 68 Fruit Street General business Richard samon Bridge Road signs at nine G a general business Vivian Anastasia Haron Anastasia's flowers on Main at 56 Main Street General business Neil Deets at Ed and Edward Lynch Jr Deets and Lynch Capital at 28 Green Street General business John Gant Jay Gant Pool and Spa at 96 new report turnpike General business Lyn desan the access clinic for wellness at 19 Central Street sweet C uh General business Henry C Becker Henry C Becker custom building LTD at 8 Riverview Drive General business Alicia Catalano and Brenda Catalano music with the leash Shard 89 Handover Street Unit 1 General business Robin Davies Parker River Dental 3 kentway General business um education Christine and Doug RP Harmony natural Learning Center at 6769 Newport Turnpike General business Horticultural Services Molly jiki care um Molly jiki at 191 High Road General business beauty shop Linda gamh Sadies for hair at 6j Fruit Street General business beauty shop meline Sherwood Circle salon at 65 Newport Turnpike General Business Health and Wellness Elizabeth Michael Holan roots to Wings at 76 new report turnpike General business personal training fit by John care of John somebody help me demaro at 89 Hanover Street Unit 3 uh General business Self Storage William def different Francesco stowaway storage uh doing business as Newberry self storage at 131 Newberry Port Turnpike General business Tree Service stevenh J kille uh SK tree service at 71 Main Street General business vehicle transport Ronald Barrett Barrett Transportation at 18 Hutchins Road General business school bus transportation Steven Gad Salter Transportation at 196 Scotland Road General business retail Package Store Jeffrey Christenson Plum Island Fine Wine and Spirits DBA the cottage Wine and Spirits at 14 Plum Island Boulevard General business surf paddle kayak skate sales and rentals Jeff Christensen Pi Rentals LLC DBA the cottage at 14 Plum Island Boulevard General business Towing Service uh Michael a volpone Treasurer clerk volpone towing service at 86r Newport Turnpike General business automarine gasoline sales automotive repair sales of related Goods Muhammad almad al-madani ampat Inc at 34 High Road motor vehicle junk license class three new Auto Sales James mskin at 60 Newport Turnpike parking lot 77 Southern Boulevard Ryan Guthrie Brendan Guthrie blue in on the beach at 24m way parking lot 11 forom way Ryan gotth three Brendan Guth three blue the in on the beach at 20 forom way parking lot Carla calupo at 26 um Plum Island Boulevard parking lot Jeffrey Christenson Plum Island fine wies and Spirits DBA the cottage Wine and Spirits at 14 Plum Island Boulevard parking lot David Williamson Plum Island Enterprises at three Northern Boulevard parking lot cooler full of water cooler full of water Thomas Ryan Plum Island beachwalk llc at 49 Northern Boulevard retail Foods common Beeler and crafts Jr Colby and Elizabeth Knight common pastures LLC doing business as Colby farm at 50 Scotland Road Salon Spa KY Le Wicked Wax and skin llc at 65 Newport Turnpike a tattoo shop Katie L Smith local Eclipse tattoo at 65 Newport Turnpike another tattoo shop Elise gu um Boston born Inc at 65 Newport Turnpike and another tattoo shop Tessa Janan jav rink at 6 at 65 Newport turnpike there's a used car dealers license class two ampet Muhammad almad El madani at 34 High Road online sales only used uh car dealers license Class 2 ANM Motors um Anthony barbaras at 4 to6 Newport Turnpike use car dealers license Class 2 Angie service at 101 New Port Turnpike units four and five use car dealers license class two Auto Works of Hampton Falls Michael uh tartoni at 88 Newport Turnpike Ed car dealers license Class 2 carnova LLC Douglas Machado 86 newort ter Pike use car license Class 2 Jaden Auto Jeremy Cohan cohane cohane at six new report turnpike used car dealers license Class 2 Randall band bolian trustee offshore Concepts conservation trust doing business as us Number One Auto and Marine at 84 Newport Turnpike and a used car dealers license class two Steve service Steven and dretta at 52 Main Street so I'll entertain a motion to approve those motion to approve those is there a second except for no second and then discussion second okay Dana second discussion Dana you put a hold on R and biger what Pall basically it's Ronnie p a hall yeah and Ron Ron reached out to me and he they're trying to get their schedule together for 2025 and he would like and obviously everything will go through Tracy uh he would like to get together with all of the department heads in committee folks COA was one in particular to try and get the the entire his annual schedule together for pit Hall uh so I'm just throwing that out there I'm sure he may move forward with you to try and get the folks down there at some point in time and sure have him give me a call I'm happy to set something up right yeah right it's an interesting conversation because I know that Ron Barrett spoke to someone at the Council on Aging who asked to use Peter Hall on St Patrick's Day their St Patrick's Day event which they will publish in their bulletin to press this Friday and Ron said he would not commit until that person who works for a director organized this meeting and Ron was asked why don't you deal directly with Tracy I can't organize a meeting of the directors in newy well that was my advice to him Al and Ron seemed reluctant to the extent he spent an hour with him last night discussing the same topic so it's a it's kind of conditional I'll think about it as long as you set up this meeting I have no objection to a business license for Peter Hall I think it's wonderful that he lets the Council on Aging use it for these events at no cost by the way and it gives him good press when they say that they held the event at at pet Hall but I don't think this's went for negotiation I don't think the DPW stages events at Peter Hall I'm not sure what the Departments are going to yield at this meeting for a schedule other than Council on Aging um as far as I'm aware of the the Council on Aging uses it periodically for their um holiday events the PW I think the only time they may use it is if they're out there plowing they may use the bathroom maybe um police I bathroom now well there's another bathroom now yeah and there's that little Annex um but um during storm events like back in 2013 I know when we had the problems with erosion and the houses um tumbling into the sea we did um Bruce Senator Bruce tar and representatives from the governor's office came and they asked to use it but I don't think we we haven't used it since then I don't know has so we we do First Responders we do use it in um weather situations we also use it when Mass do is going to um do repairs or test the bridge we put First Responders and apparatus on the bridge just in case when they're testing the bridge something go wrong we have First Responders on that side of the bridge we use it um as a as a warming station as a place to gather um we have outdated radios that are down there um as well um that really could use a revamp if we needed them but we haven't needed that room in in years um the difference between pahal for us and we've been grateful over the years to have it um and the new annex is uh the annex provides us confidentiality in conversations pahal has the space to accommodate a larger number of First Responders so it wouldn't be uncommon during a storm between fire medical police newb port and Nu to have anywhere between say four and 10 um first responder is stationed on the island depending the nature of the event um but you know for example during February storms last year we shared the space with a kinera you know so it's not exclusive you know to us when we're using as it a fir as a first responder so whoever rented the hall if they're keeping their event during a bad weather storm they're just told like hey you might see some uniform people hanging out in the kitchen getting warm and that's what we do we benefit greatly from their parking lot we park a lot of apparatus there when we're waiting because sometimes if we're having an Oceanside event Plum Island Center isn't available for us to kind of idle and and take cars there but but that's how we have used it in the last number of years so my question I have a question about that yeah when you stage Vehicles there MH during a storm event yes is that to benefit Peta hall or is that to benefit the whole of Clum Island I view it as benefiting the whole of Clum Island we are responding to number one it's the right thing to do for Public Safety but I would say and correct me if I'm wrong um that the residents of Plum Island you know expect us to be down there you know in an event to make sure we have emergency response for all categories for both newbur and Newport residents um especially if we've got a high tide during a storm and we're going to lose the turnpike which has been happening more and more each season so I I would say our events different from the council on Aging events which I know the COA director she likes to hold events down there we've participated in them because there are people from Plum Island who don't come to Byfield to do events here so she likes to space them out so there's a part of me that would even argue that that um is a mutually beneficial relationship it's it's benefiting the the taxpayers of Plum Island because we have a higher attendance of COA events when we do events down in Plum Island and if they're providing the hall to the COA you know for free as well well then they get the good PR of Hosting that event so so I'd argue that one's even mutually beneficial help me out a little bit Yeah if if if the if the cause of this meeting is for scheduling purposes in 2025 I don't think that you can say I need to use petah Hall on February 25th April 2nd June 3rd no okay I can tell you that the council doesn't expect that from the police what does he expect I don't don't understand the purpose of I don't know I suggest that that Ron contact Tracy himself I'm happy to okay and and and and I am the sou it has this has no bearing on us approving the business license I'm kind of wondering now if we should hold this building is he asking you to hold approval of this license no until this is happening I don't know no no I don't think that I don't think that's bringing this up at this moment was my idea okay it was not I just thought it would be a an okay time to talk about it because I know it's something that's that's okay in the future something like that Dana I think would better I think the community is better served if that's taken administratively and not publicly because it looks as if you know I don't know what the purpose of this meeting is but you know I think that it would be best for petah Hall and for all of the residents if that conversation was taken yeah thank you thank you thank you Pat thanks Pat thank you okay so I think are we any more discussion on this where did Jeff go he's a business license for his wife coming up okay well he hasn't voted for this one yet so okay so we have a motion in a second do we have any further discussion okay all in favor on those business license say I I I I okay Jeff recused himself I believe from this next one because it's a general business license for Jose Walker Jose's um ads and Loom at 173 High Road motion to remove the license for Joseph Walker is there a second second okay all in any discussion all in favor I okay Selman Walker can come back now had a good sleep you going to walk around excuse me okay the next item on the agenda is an execution of a contract auth authorization in accordance with general laws chapter 41 section 23A to give the Town Administrator the power to execute contracts on behalf of the select board I'll entertain a motion motion to accept to execute the contract execution of uh contract authorization is there a second second okay discussion on this um this is something that the Town Administrator has done for us for years I think the last time the board voted on it was many years ago and Boards change so it's almost like a best practice as this board has changed um that we vote on it annually Town Town council's advice is annually in January because you may have a new board just vote it and this way the whole board is aware of it and it's just cleaner isn't it more of awareness yes out of necessity Town Council said you don't have to do this to vote on it but just as you said for for awareness transparency and yeah okay uh question y uh what contracts like what what all of them except for um I I understand the unions except for you actually execute those so with the exception of collective bargaining agreements and and um your appointees um contracts um pretty much every other Chief the the fire chief the police chief and mine and your well you sign yours but not as us right yeah so what about like what about bids yes I I as the chief procurement officer I execute those so so this I just want to I want I could be wrong about this but just as an example I know that the that the uh law says and correct if I'm wrong that anything over $25,000 that you're going to accept as a bid we are actually supposed to approve however we've given you the authority in the past in the ACT not not to have to do that right so so that so what I said is correct yep the ACT 460 does that right I believe so yeah that's the act that town meeting pass right but but I I I'm I'm correct in saying that all of the contracts above $25,000 with the the board is supposed to approve I I don't know that but we've given you the authority to I I believe the special act gives me the authority to execute on behalf and in further this this vote provides that as well um I I execute probably I don't know maybe five to seven contracts a week you know small things we don't usually sign them we begin here I'll wait sign let me see up to more significant projects procurement projects I just can I keep talking you keep talking because I'm I I just I just want to could you cite that law for me where did you see that that stipulation about $25,000 I I I I don't know I just I just kind of heard about it so I I don't I don't have a doent because if we had that document we could research it on both ends but I I just my my gut feeling about this is that is that I I want to be involved in this you want to be involved in what I want to be you know execution of contract authorization in accordance with BL plate to give the Town Administrator the power to execute contracts on behalf of the select board I would like to Reserve that responsibility if it's mine and not give you the power to execute for me that's just how I feel that's for for all or for a contract that exceed $25,000 I don't know what the law says so that right now it'll be all of them until we figure that out until we figure out what the state law says well is it possible that you can ask the source who gave you this information did you get this inform okay let's let's forget about the information because I could be totally no but I'm wondering if you saw it in an actual law did you see it online at mass.gov like where did you see this I I I did not see it I I did not see it I I it it's it's just something that I don't know if it's true or not but let's just say let's just say it's a it's a $5 contract if if we still have the authority if the select board you know is supposed to approve a $5 contract I want to be invol with that so forget about the 25,000 so you want to like for example the let's just talk about like the roof on the school yep the $55,000 bid on the roof on the school okay you know you accepted that because you have every right to do that but that would be one for that would be an example that I think probably should have that we all could have been involved with before you accepted it the only thing that I would suggest to you uh and that's perfectly fine if the board wants to execute all the contracts I have no issue with that whatsoever um but you will likely have to meet more frequently um because you can't you know there are timelines that you have to adhere to you can expect you this is the act um this is um section 11 the number eight the Town Administrator shall uh appoint the chief procur ger officer of the Town who shall be responsible for the purchase of all supplies and materials and equipment except books and educational materials for schools and books and other media for Li libraries and shall approve the awards of all contracts for all Departments of the town so I believe that the ACT gives you that the chief procurement officer May hold other positions with the town consistent with the officer role here here under Tracy you serve as a chief procurement officer correct correct yeah so the act the chief procurement officer um shall app shall approve doesn't say may approve it says shall approve the awards of all contracts for all Departments of the town so in Massachusetts general laws supports this act that is a that is a this is a that was adopted as yeah okay so do we so is this a mute point it's just for Trans we're going to vote but it says we're going to vote on it yeah we can vote we give her the power as a board you can vote no but the underlying Mass general laws also gives her the power it's like a belt in suspenders approach yeah doesn't no vot say that you're consciously violating the law you're opposed to the law you're opposed to the law okay well any other discussion I'm voting on what this what this says and it it says to give the Town Administrator the power to execute exe in accordance with General lws chapter in accordance with that law we give the board that we give the Town Administrator this y do we have to vote on this tonight is this something we can do a little bit more uh in depth research this technically we don't even have to vote on I just want to know where Dana got his information from before you know we we jump I guess say um do you want do you want to do you want to say where you got your information from I I don't I don't so even if we hold it you're not going to come back with an answer right well I can I I can do more research too but I I'm I'm not sure it matters okay actually I'm just going to call the vote on this so because it's the underlying I mean for things like let's say the roof the roof where when do you have to go out to public bid what's the figure there's all different depends on supplies and services or okay but then I mean it's a significant number it goes to public usually over 35,000 yeah so I mean it's going out to bid when it hits 35 anyway and lowest bit get but like this is all of our contracts this is like with the um one that we're doing what's the one we're doing right now Joey with the with the municipal aggregation yeah the aggregation she'll sign the contract with that and any contract that the town has she signs and that's that's the ACT there's a reason why the town of Newbury passed the ACT Jeff you live through those those days I mean work pretty well for what 11 12 years it's just that otherwise we would be meeting a lot on trivial items that not only meeting on trivial items this procurement laws that we're not all we don't keep ourselves a breast on all of those things we hire a Town Administrator to keep the taxpayers out of trouble to keep the board out of trouble to keep the town of Newbury um and it has served the town of newbur extremely well when the Town Administrator first came on board we were negative free free cash we were on the brink of rece receivership the town administrator's position turned us around and to start taking first of all to we can't take things away from her um based on this act but it does not serve the town of Newbury at all serve him well at all to start questioning this so I'm going to call a vote on this all in favor ask one more question yes the act itself is that a law that's etched in stone yes we passed it at tell so what we're doing tonight is just to bring the attention of everybody on how this particular program works yeah okay every and moving forward every January we should be voting on it again because the board may or may not change the following spring we have an election Every Spring so we should have we this is just to keep the board of breast and like as Dana is asking questions now he he didn't he wasn't aware and one more thing when we come across one of these things that we have to vote on a lot of people as we sit here don't understand this particular act perhaps we could include a little bit of sidebar note to um kind of educate everybody in our packet when you get your packet on the Thursday before our meeting and you should take the weekend to look through look at through through you have questions like that about certain things that we're going to vote on it's a come in upon the select board member to reach out to me or the Town Administrator or somebody to do your homework so that when we meet as a board we come together and meet as a board we're ready to vote we don't have these discussions and then table everything or we can't keep the town government moving so if you have questions like that like if you didn't if you had questions like that like I I think Leslie honestly I think you're good about this one but if you did have a question on something um please reach out to Joy reach out to Tracy reach out to me and get your answers your questions answered before we meet and come to the table here so we can have a discussion a robust discussion okay good question yes Tracy yes in in your performances contract authoriz ation is there any potential legal exposure if we do it incorrectly yeah yeah and that would pass on to the select board no it passed on to the no I'm saying if we did not if if we not let Tracy do the contract authorizations and had the select board do them all the select board would be legally responsible for any issue with that contract that may come up sure sure and you know when when we're dealing with big contracts like the Comcast negotiation for example you're always very involved in anything that may have you know significant Community impact things like that you're I make you aware of them there was one recently and I can't remember what it was and I think Dana you had even asked me well why are we why are we seeing this do you remember what it was for no but and um there's just certain things that if if I feel like it's significant enough I I certainly will keep you arised of it but commity the community aggregation is one of them we've held multiple meetings on that and then we actually voted to have you sign with it because that's benefits our we have to post 48 hours for a meeting if there's something timely we can't execute a contract if it needs to be signed tomorrow because we need to post a meeting 48 hours in advance it's it's a detriment to the town if we have to it'll slow everything down it puts the tax payer according to what you read it's she can do it by law or anyway so I I'm I'm just I'm I I'm not a lawyer I'm not totally I I don't know what the law says I don't know what the dollars are and but I I the reason why I bring it up is because for example in your report to us at at every board meeting I want to say there probably isn't a contract that you have negotiated or signed or accepted a bid or whatever that you don't tell us about so that that's that that's not that's not the problem I have that because I I really think that you know when we start talking about transparency and stuff I I think we we do a pretty good job at letting the taxpayers know where their money's going thank you that that's good I I just want to throw that out there at at the same time if if I have the authorization to be involved with the contracts I would like to be involved you don't want to give up what you were elected to do I think is what I'm hearing if that's your authorization you don't want to give that up correct wholeheartedly I agree with you 100% because we have a role here we have oversight right absolutely and I know Lesley's had conversations with me like all we do is like do Lial licenses much pretty much we we we appoint the police chief believe it or not we have a very short very limited we're very limited at what we do with the liquor licensing Authority we um contract with the Town Administrator the police and the fire uh we appoint um boards and committees we appoint police officers um we we set policy sometimes we act as the special permit Grant ing Authority not always sometimes that's the planning board but sometimes it rides with the select board um and that's pretty much it that's all we do and that's purposefully done to keep us out of trouble and we hire a professional to run the town of Newbury otherwise that's the difference you either hire a Town Administrator or town manager to run your town or you run it right and none of us are professionals yeah there was way more work and we ran it for a lot of years and we didn't do that well that's why Tracy's here right okay any further discussion all right all in favor I I no okay okay next we have review and approve meeting minutes um we had draft me meeting minutes from the December 10th 2024 um I was the one that was I think I business ATT oh no I'm yeah oh did I miss you sorry I went right over you oh there we go old business to administrative support sorry Tracy that's okay Madam chair um a couple of things just to bring to your attention the DPW is currently looking for plow drivers we're looking for pickups in on tons they're paying $95 an hour for um 9 to 10 foot plows and we're also in need of loaders and skids steers so anyone that is interested can contact the DPW office um you may have noticed that we have moved offices it was a very successful move overall not without issue certainly but also not without catastrophy so that's good um you'll notice new signage in the hallways it was provided by Bridge Road sign um that will help people to navigate the office changes that are in place inspectional Services is now upstairs on the second floor so we have building conservation and health in the suite so people the idea that they can kind of do One-Stop shopping when they're building you know a new residence or doing things of th that nature um planning has joined the select board DPW and administration and finance Suite on the second floor and treasur collector assessing and town clerk remain on the first floor with the senior center uh speaking about the first floor Suite they have been without heat since last Thursday we've had uh representatives from the HVAC company uh vendor wait uh working on it but they're waiting for a part they've um toughed it out for a couple of days but today um we ended up closing the office and asking them to work remotely from home it was just too cold downstairs they were working in Parkers and gloves and hats so uh hopefully like I said we're waiting for them to bring a part if it's um if the part is unavailable RJ Kelly will be bringing him some portable featers so at least people can work comfortably in that space until the the issue is addressed uh residents should begin to see some brochures appearing in their mailboxes soon as the Commonwealth of mass and partnership with Mima and the sebr nuclear power plant have mailed their annual seabook station emergency preparedness brochures residents who don't receive a hard copy can either download one from the PD website or directly from mass.gov Chief Fischer who serves as our Emergency Management director has asked that any residents who would need any kind of um assistance during the emergencies or during an evacuation such as ambulances wheelchair vans TTY notifications Etc complete and mail in the request that's on I guess the back of the brochure appears on the back of the brochure okay um residents in need of assistance completing the form can go to the Newbury COA the police department the fire department and there'll be people there that'll be happy to help them complete it uh the Orchard Street Calvert project uh the Calvert is all in they are now attaching the water M if it hasn't been already this week then they're going to backfill backfill and put down some temporary Paving um basically they you know were running in advance of what their original projections their estimates were completion by the end of December um at this point in time they've had to deal with moving a lot more water than anticipated due to the king Tides they had to heat the temporary water lines had to cover the concrete I think someone had brought that up here at this meeting um encountered larger than expected sizes of Boulders the good news is they're hoping to have the roadway opened within the next two weeks the bad news is they'll need to close the roadway again in the spring for a week for final Paving um loaming seating because they're they're very concerned that if they do it now they'll have problems with it it's just working at this time of year makes everything a little bit more yeah a little bit more difficult so that's where we're at with that um the central seat playground I don't know if any of you have had a chance to see the uh site work was completed they they buttoned up the site um and we won't see them again out there probably until April when the equipment's delivered and they'll work on installing that I have a question I went out there and looked at it and the I think it's where the leion field is is the the mound directly behind it they took a a they took all of the soil that they used to dig it out and they laid it on the side of that hill on on on the backside are they going to do any additional seating and Loom and are they going to I think they'll clean it all up in the spring that's the plan once they do the um installation of all the equipment y yeah they disturb the leeching field right is it the leeching field or part of the septic system well it one and the same this an ominous the tank the septic is the tank the leech ises on it's just it's that it's the hills directly behind the a um it's where the gray water goes it's where the gray water goes but it's not as um sturdy as the rest of the land that surrounds it right um I think I may have mentioned to you already but the library negotiations have concluded so we're we're drafting up a contract um for that um will that come before us so that will be signed by the library trustees I believe under the general laws they have a little bit more Authority um but I'll have to review you know what I may be wrong I think they they contract with the director so that contract will come before you guys yep they contract with the director only not with the Personnel um so that CBA will be before you the um Schoolhouse roof I may I mentioned to you that we had a tie we flipped the coin um ended up in court resulted in a bid protest hearing before the Attorney General's office we did receive notification that the bid protest was denied which was good so now we can proceed with awarding the contract to JJs who was the successful coin toss winner it's cool to see that government so works on a coin TOS yes it does um the de the decision final decision was very favorable to the town and found in our favor on all the protesters arguments so that was good and um you know thanks to me tellman and Costa because in 30 years that's the first time I've ever seen that happen so it was completely new to me um and they made some a great presentation in front of the AG's office so we were real pleased with that that's all I have thank you I have a couple of questions for you to I say sure um the surrounded communities all received a a grant we one of them [Music] for it's not like green Community but was in something that we Reed somewhere around $1,200 you have any idea how we're going to spend that money or what we're spending it on I'm not sure which Grant award it was it was $1,200 yeah it was low would it have come before us to approve usually yeah I I haven't seen seen it yet I'll I'll oh is that the one Kristen kasner posted that on Facebook yeah and IP switch got 12 Grand we got like 1,200 bucks and it had to do with uh like Recycling and green I I saw that too recycling for bins for the bin purchases um well no you can spend it almost any way you any way you want to composting you know it it I I was thinking that once that does come up usually her office reaches out to you doesn't she Tracy and let us know when we have we've been we've been down few days with our computers Facebook it was a she put it on her Facebook page that's it yeah yeah on casner's office okay I'll find out and my other question is reading through the minutes of the historical commission that um their their dollar account um was it was this was all in their minutes that that the money has been extracted from their account and put into uh the general account here in town um so I don't know how much detail you want to go into this now I'm happy to tell you what happened we at the end of each fiscal year um managers that have money available left over in any of their project accounts so special article accounts have do are required to report to the town accountant what in what stage the project is in what your intended purpose did you complete the project you need me to keep this open if they don't report or if they report to her that the project is complete it closes out to free cash there's no reason to keep carrying balances forward that the Project's completed or there's no purpose to move it forward um they were notified of that um didn't didn't provide any response and it was closed to free cash it was a balance of a little over $3,000 as I recall don't quote me on how much4 3400 and meeting as I if I'm I believe I'm accurate it was leftover money from the was it the 300 275th celebration it was some celebration you held years and years ago um my daughter danced the mapole with that one that could be um there was there was money left over in that project account and that's what it was for and there was no need to but it's been carried over there for years MH it kept getting carried forward carried forward carried forward because they'd say you know bring carry it forward and this year they provided no response so it was closed out did they have an intended purpose for it and I don't that's what was reported no they didn't they just mentioned that normally it would be carried over yep but it was taken and put into the general fund y according to them yeah there is there is responsibility on the um board chairman or committee chairman or department manager to provide rationals for you know why the money should be should be carried forward one of the things we had talked about I think at the finance committee level was should we put some kind of a sunset Clause when so when we actually go to town meeting and the residents vote you know $110,000 for this tree planting project if the town doesn't you know do it within three years the money closes back out because you really didn't need that money because you didn't get to do in the project most most projects are pretty urgent equipment purchases things like that they happen relatively quickly um but so that was one option to um you know instead of us having to chase everybody around say hey are you going to spend this are you going to spend this um to put some kind of a sunset clause in the actual motion of the of the um so it doesn't have a NeverEnding rollover at town meeting yep and if there is a purpose that they need that money for there's always um a remedy for that they can come and to to town meeting and they can say oh you know we didn't get our letter in this money closed we need this $3500 for x and we can put a special article in and appropriate the money from free cash so we can always remedy it if there's an error or an Omission at town meeting but it stands how it is for the moment in time yeah it has to free C I mean it was already closed the year end was closed free cash was certified so right now the only way to get that back would be through a special article at town meeting and they would need a intended purpose well I I would imagine someone at town meeting would say what are you going to do with it the finance committee certainly would ask yeah well if they haven't used it in like eight years I I think that I think they would need a new purpose that's what I mean yeah yeah yeah yeah do you have any other questions I do not okay but thank you of course everybody else good okay review and approve meeting minutes approved draft meeting minutes from December 10th 2024 I'll entertain a motion to approve motion to approve the meeting minutes from December 10th 2024 second all favor um a motion to sign War discussion before on the warrants a motion to sign warrants no discussion on the meeting minutes oh go ahead yeah um there was just one typo that I noticed in it was um my initials were LW instead of LM but my apologies do you can you point out where it was for me um if you can it's okay did Market oh I see it under the Christmas tree chipping event Ipswich Al okay that's it good catch lesing okay motion to sign warrants motion to signs second okay all in favor I I motion we have executive session so um executive session pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 38 section 2187 to review for release and or approve the following executive session minutes in accordance with chapter 30A section 22 f and g and to reconvene an open session to vote to release and or approve said minutes these are executive session on December 10th 2024 pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 30A section 21 A7 to review for approval of the the forgoing executive session minutes in accordance with chapter 38 section 22 FG roll call vote Alicia Greco yes Leslie Matthews yes Jeffrey Walker Jeff yes yes Bill Deo Dana Packer yes okay we're in executive session already motion I already we already did that we did oh yeah sorry all in favor I I