i will call the March 17th uh meeting of the finance committee to order Uh present we have Steve Paul Bonnie Paula Zach Gavin Brandon Kevin Um Bill is online and that is it So Trace is absent
today Um do we want to um take some other We have a few people here Do we want to take out order and get the the people who came that's fine with me Okay So um you want to do we'll move right to
the council on aging budget to salute the flag Thank you Sure I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands One nation
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Okay So all right So we can move to the council on aging budget Let me [Applause] uh share my screen
[Music] Just want to make sure I'm sharing on the Zoom house Thank [Applause] you I don't think that person Huh
i don't think I was on first No reorder it so that people who Cuz you're here Cuz you're here So we don't have to make your way around front row Are you waiting for the people to come oh I don't know I don't know how There were a bunch of people who thought who were going to come Okay we can we can hold
off then Okay All right Want to go to We'll go to the town clerk Okay The town the town clerk's budget So the town clerk uh there's two full-time staff people the clerk and the
assistant town clerk and one part-time person So um those salaries are reflected in the full-time position and then we have the part-time position uh $22,162 And
um expenses uh there was a increase in expenses The request is uh an increase from 1,800 to 2500 for seminars and conferences And then uh dues and membership slight increase
and office supplies an increase of uh 2,000 uh $200 excuse me Any town clerk is here I don't has everyone met Jill yes Yes I met Jill No No Come on up Jill
Hi I'm Jill Sappa the town clerk It's nice to meet you Can I answer any questions for you questions the other budget that Jill um has is under elections and again this year uh there isn't a presidential election So
um the budget last year was 47,200 This year the request is for $26,100 and um $700 in salary and the personal services and then the various expenses um that you see um obviously the
election cost that's where you see the major decrease because there's only uh the state election not the presidential primary presidential election Madam Chair Yes sir Does this include any expenses for town meetings
no Is that a separate someplace else yeah we we usually don't have any costs for town meetings We have volunteers Okay The people checking everybody in those volunteers
Yes Okay Anyone else with questions madam Chair yes Mike with the favorability it looks like here to date are you anticipating any turnbacks from this department um I I can't say that we
would Anyone else all right I think we're good Thanks Thank you for your time Is there any chance of of hearing a little bit of her resume because I'm seeing her meeting Do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself um
sure I um was the clerk in East Providence Rhode Island And before that I worked in the clerk's office on um New Shorum out of Black Island And I recently relocated to Rentham which um coming to Massachusetts
I was interested in relocating because the drive over the Washington Bridge um became too cumbersome And I'm glad that I did I love being here in Norton and in Massachusetts And um I'm learning a lot about the differences between Rhode Island and
Massachusetts The clerk's community here in Massachusetts has been really embracing and helpful and supportive and being here in Norton and under Mr Un's direction has been a really great introduction Really enjoyed being here
Thank you Welcome Thank you Welcome to Right Thanks some more Can we go to recreation and uh under the recreation uh department budget here uh the request
is right now the recreation director uh works 25 hours and this would be uh increasing that to 30 hours a week under the salary And the only salary we have is the part-time agent who's going to come up right here right the part-time
director Um and under expenses uh there's a increase um of just under $400 for electricity Um decrease in the water and sewer requests and also the repair
maintenance of equipment request a slight increase in uh repair maintenance of buildings and uh decrease in repair maintenance of grounds So the total um charges and expenditures
go from 23,140 down to 21,890 And the director is here if I have questions Thanks for coming in No problem Anybody have any questions for me
yes I'm just um can you play a little bit driving the increased hours from 30 from 25 to 30 um I've also been charged with helping with put on founders day and at 25 hours I can do the park and rep job
primarily I'm usually always over a little bit but it balances out But having had have had founders day put on my plate I can't do that given the 25 hours that was allotted And I guess my other question is for Mike Is this now
benefits at 30 hours or was it benefits before it would be benefits at 25 hours too And roughly what's the additional cost for benefits um well if someone as benefits it already has benefit eligible
Um and benefits of health insurance costs the town about $21,000 a year for this No for just this one position If if family plan if someone goes on a family plan it cost a ton of about
21,000 a year and you you become benefit eligible um over 18 and 1/2 hours So thank you Any other questions sorry that was kind of Anybody else with questions all
right Quiet tonight Thanks Sorry Quick question I I remember you speaking last year about repair repairs to the pool That was Neo Would that be under your capital requests nope We actually took care of that last year The pool guy went in there um had someone dive We found
the little leak that was there that's been there for years So that's the decrease in the water Oh great We paid for it It was about $600 to fix the fix the leak And so we saved up water this year So then I I um adjusted the water request for this year Great Thank you
You're welcome Madam Chair Yes sir Refresh my memory I thought you had some other repairs that didn't meet the criteria of capital that weren't high enough Is that somewhere in here oh yes So that was that would go back under the
um the article We're doing an article to paint Everett Leonard because we did repairs to it last year under an earmark So um that's outside of the regular budget cuz it doesn't happen every year Um and then there was some other like at
tsentennial and a couple of the other parks is to kind of beef them up and give them love and attention and and that kind of stuff So that's been put into the budget under repairs and maintenance for equipment grounds and building
So article 16 on the ward is um painting of the Everlant Park building How much is that about don't hold me to it by right around 5,000 and it really needs it Like we spent the money to earmark it and fix
the rod around the bottom but now it's two multi-tonones Like we've got the the repairs on the bottom They took down the the lean two sheds So that's all like a different color Um I went out there and and um primed the the new wood so that's
another color We had gutters put on so those look nice but then the building just it needs to be scraped and painted professionally um to take care of all the the stuff that we did to it last year Like let's we put the money into it to fix it Let's kind of keep it going so
it stays nice Madam Chair so the $5,000 why wouldn't that fall under capital or just be put into your budget under the repairs and equipment and buildings cuz I was told capital is over $10,000 per project Okay And with
Why would it be put in your budget then the like under the repairs and building and equipment Mike can you help me with that i think as she said earlier because it's like it's kind of a one-time expense It's not something that should be doing every year Okay That's kind of
like what we do with the wood chips for the playground I ask for them every 3 years So we do that as an article or a capital word Did we do that as article capital i don't remember I don't remember off the top of my head but that's a separate ask because it's every three years So we
don't I don't necessarily think we want to put it in the budget Okay Because then you'll give it to me every year which would be great if you want to do that Yeah Thank you Thanks Anybody else okay thanks Thank you everybody I
appreciate it [Music] Um let's see Want to do the veterans budget sure [Applause] [Applause] Okay And the the veterans services
budget you have um one full-time staff person and one part-time person Um so those are um two union positions Cena A and Ashley
Clerical And then um the expenses there's a slight increase um looking for $500 more Last year for seminars and conferences it was $500 and this year
looking for a,000 and office supplies went up $50 So the expenses went from 31 3,150 to 3,700 and then veterans benefits
um remain the same at 150,000 and we do receive reimbursement from the state for some of the expense out of the veterans benefits Any other questions on that budget Madam Chair yes What is our veterans
outreach you know how do we make sure that our veterans are aware of the services that the town provides um I know that uh Stella is out in the community all the time and she's um all always contacting department heads
especially police and fire um to let them know if they have any encounters with people that they think are veterans to let her know and um you know she's on top of it all the time I I just don't see a line item dedicated
to the outreach or mailing or postage Uh we get notification of a veteran entering the town if it's Can I answer um Estelle puts a page in my newsletter which goes out to every
resident 60 plus Um so that's one way She partners with me as company And there is a copy of my newsletter in the packet that I gave you As you can see there's one page dedicated to veteran service Just kidding That's right And do we know based on the
last census for the number of veterans that we've identified what percent were servicing or taking advantage of the town services um I don't have that Um still I have to get back to you Okay Thank you And the state does reimburse
75% of uh the ex veterans benefits Anyone else with questions all right I can present mic Um Shane are you unmuted why do you want me to unmute okay [Applause]
And uh Estella also uh the other part of our budget go the other part of our budget is I don't know if I have it on here but I do have it
um is memorial and vets which is uh $2,000 same as last year and that's for the purchase of uh town flags from the town common pine street and the cemeteries
and uh veteran flag holders in the cemeteries and expenses associated with Memorial Day and Veterans Day [Applause] parades Anyone have any questions on that question
uh where it says FY2024 in the first column with numbers that should be 23 So it just says 2024 twice where it is on the others What was the question on the memorial
events page 2024 twice and two columns yeah I'm not sure why that was What was the question about that should be 23 probably Oh okay I'm sorry Yeah the first one should be Thank you
Any other questions for Memorial what you do [Applause] conservation are the conservation budget Uh there's two full-time staff people once again Cena A and ask me [Applause]
clerical and uh on the expenses uh the expenses went up uh $550 I believe $600 and um it went up $500 under professional
services That was the main uh increase in 150 under dues and memberships And I think the conservation agent is on if we have questions Anyone have questions on conservation
budget madam Chair Yes Um Camp Edith Reed is there a separate budget for that or to maintain does campus read have a rolling account Mike
no it doesn't No Okay Mr Thomas maybe can let us know where that stands Good evening everybody John Thomas here Um with the Edith Reed account um unfortunately
um we have about $6,800 to use towards maintenance of all uh parks and well not parks yeah land use uh areas open space and ED3 is one
of those And uh we do have some money um left over in the ED3 account Uh but it's not really um at this time uh going to be used for anything in the future as we are still looking to find ways on how to
establish and I guess re re I guess rehab the facility itself We're looking at opportunities uh to see if it could be something in the future with and we're also doing that with our open space plan So um we're looking to see what we can do with the property uh
moving forward but it's definitely something that we're looking to do for the property in the future John Thomas are you I know at one point there was talk about renting it out Um are there groups using it currently um is there is there any money um being
received from any rentals uh as of right now we are not using it as a rental Um there was the opportunity a couple years ago to do that We weren't getting much support for for getting that in and um kind of using that
facility Um there's a lot of things that we need to do There's some potential work that we need to do to the uh lodge itself Um but it is something in the future that we're looking to do uh there is the potential of uh rehabbing the facility and be a campground but
unfortunately at this time um you know the the challenges are that having that fully staffed or partially staffed um for it to be used would probably be on the weekends and I currently in my current uh lifestyle am not able to be
out there on the weekends So we have to look into doing something similar like every hunter does with having staff at their facility And unfortunately that's going to cost money And we need to make sure that we have enough um I guess rentals or we need to have enough um I
guess opportunities that present themselves to really get us kind of in the opportunity where we have more of a positive than a negative So at this point um you know it's definitely something in the future that we're looking to do Um but at this point I just don't have the capacity uh or the
um ability to really I guess dive into that to make it something uh on my priority list Thank you Madam Chair yes ma'am
Um have have we tried to figure out how much it would cost to staff it um cuz again going back years the reason we got this was it it
was going to make money It you know it wasn't just going to be a black hole So now we have this facility and we're not using it for how we sold it to the town
So what does it need to get into a positive light was that a question for John Thomas or for Mike anybody want to give it a go but I think a good example that you could use is basically
look at what the parks and director does for um Ever Leonard facility something similar to that and kind of engage as to what the use and everything of that property is Um you know currently the property itself I mean it used to have a
pool It no longer has a pool Um it used to have a park ranger um facility It no longer has that And um unfortunately you know there really is the camping platforms need upgrades if we're going to basically bring it back into fruition
for a campground or day campground area Um but I guess to think about it I mean it's it's more so with kind of figuring out what the I guess end result goal is of this property I mean I came into this job in this profession and and there was
no real plan for the property and I did the plan at the time was to have it for an environmental center but um you know I just don't know how that's going to if you're having it rented out a couple times a year that's not going to um you know really uh might we might keep the lights on but it's not really going to
make you a a good profit margin So I guess my my stance is if we're looking at something like we want to do similar to Ever Leonard um we can definitely you know look into doing something like that but like the you know like the parks and rec director has I mean we're going to
have to basically have it staffed uh on the weekends and um we're to facilitate whatever the uses for that to to be a profit game Could you say that the lodge itself um is needs needs a lot more work
because I know that there was a lot of work done on it already There there was a lot a lot of work done on it but um you know I just don't know what the intended use would be for it to be I mean if it's going to be a um just a place where people can convene and have
a function um I would say it's good for that Um I don't know if anyone has seen the lodge or has been to the lodge but um I'm more than happy to to show um whoever's interested to kind of uh take a look at it but right now it's currently ported up Um the the
electricity is the only thing that we have going through it right now Um the Wi-Fi has been disconnected and um you know there's a lot of I I would like the new building inspector to take a look at the facility as well before we start bringing people in there So um you know
it's just it for me I think I I'd rather be a you know a good good look at and also for the board of health because I think there's a a leeching pit at the top for that lodge and I'm I'm a little hesitant to have that being the active
um I guess toilet being used for rentals Madam Chair yes John I will say that it's a very active um dog walking facility The parking lot's always full It is It is We actually just had a couple dog walkers out there this um you
know this past week and they reported that there was a down power line So I quickly got on the phone with National Grid and called them So um yeah it it's good that there are people that are actively using the property You know I appreciate the people that are out there Um you know during storms like we had
today the rear of the property does flood so be cautious if you're heading out there Um but yeah I mean there there are some challenges some environmental challenges with the property Um but there's also some other things that I'd like to really address and kind of look
at with a fine tooth comb before we we open the doors to the public again Madam Chair yes sir Can I ask what did we pay for this property i don't have those numbers off the top
of my head I don't remember either And why was it put my my next question why was it put into conservation and not the parks of recreation uh because I believe it was our self-help grant but I wasn't the one that was here with the process so I can't really explain that to you Um
believe it was Jennifer Carino that was here and she was the leading um person that was in charge of uh I guess spearheading this initiative It was purchased from the grant fund So that was why Okay Could you could it be transferred at this at this juncture um I'd have to
look at that with John I'm not sure whether it's article 97 or not Transferred as I mean to to be perfectly I want my dog up there once in a while and it's just a neglected property I mean it's uh we bought it We're not going to do
something with it Yeah I don't I don't What is it you would like to do with the property i I don't know What was the intended purpose we we bought it to begin with That wasn't my decision I'm just asking We got a property there It's under conservation What are we doing with it we're just going to leave it
there Make it down far if that's the case Just let it go and throw back Tear down the building A lot of properties in town that are neglected And unfortunately I don't have the luxury of getting out to all these properties because we have over 1,800 acres of open
space land And majority of them have been neglected So E3 is the number one property that we are focusing on to try to make it a better place It's just unfortunately with the amount of funds and the availability for me I I'm lucky to basically get somebody out there to
mow the grass Mark did you say it was under article 97 or you're not sure i don't know Okay Itself is under article 97 It is Okay So it couldn't be transferred over to recreation was Zach's question Well it's in passive recreation so you
can't transfer it over to recreation Okay It was bought with a self-help grant for passive purpose only Unless it decided a side of relief back there
All right Anyone else have questions madam Chair is there a is there a followup to this or we can ask for a business plan to see what it would take to rehab ETH3 what are the potential uses for it just just to kind of follow up with that
question one of the primary things that I'm working on right now is um retooling and refocusing the open space plan with the help of the open space committee And one of the primary things is developing a land use management plan for year three Unfortunately this stuff takes
time I know that And we'd like to move forward with kind of figuring out a plan for how we're going to basically bring this property back into its glory days or something that the community is really going to be able to appreciate in the future Is the open space committee there have
they are they working on it right now or is that something what's the timeline for that that is something that the open space committee and myself are working on to I guess uh codify and also um reshape Um I think it was 350 pages
We're trying to cut it down and uh have something a little more solidified hopefully by the next town meeting but um unfortunately things take time and we're also going to need some outside source help and money is tight as we all know
So I don't know the deadline or the time frame of when it's going to be complete at this time We we appreciate you looking into it and I think that would um the open space plan would be a good first step to seeing what we can do with
this property Is is town meeting a good timeline to have some kind of deliverable back we can look at sorry what you saying is town meeting enough time for you to go through the 350 some odd page
document and come back with some formal deliverable our goal is to have some draft available Um I can't make any promises but that's what we're working towards It's a goal that we're working on Any other questions for
conservation all right Thank you John Thank you Next is planning in the planning department Um there's two full-time staff people and those are
um once again SEMA A and uh ask me clerical and their expenses uh the same this year as they were last year and Paul is on if uh you have any questions
Anyone have questions for Paul madam Chair Yes sir No additional expenses to deal with this uh overlay this MBT overlay situation Um Paul
I'm sorry I couldn't quite hear the answer of that The question was no expenses to deal with the MBTA overlay Correct No no expenses associated with that Thank you [Music]
Yes I'm just curious I was looking against the personnel here and I think Mike said there was two full-time positions one 40 hours one 37 12 Is that standard or why not both of 40 the clerical union is 37
and 12 hours It's been that full time since I started here Thank you Anyone else with questions all right Looks nice Mike Uh next is uh the zoning budget
Um unzoning is uh $300 No Next question I think we should spend an hour talking about that They might attempt and that's just for office supplies Any big questions on
that all right All right So oh one other thing with the planning I forgot I'm sorry There's zoning 300 and also um our assessment to the Southeast Regional Planning Agency
um $4,17259 [Applause] Any questions on that [Applause] all right Council on aging And so the Council on
Aging this budget um calls for a new full-time staff person um and uh the part-time clerical to be full-time So there would be uh full full-time director
full-time assistant director um full-time clerical and a part-time outreach counselor And uh we've been fortunate over the last few years to be able to use some ARPA money for some of these
positions but that that is ending So and under the expenses you'll see uh we're working on this Uh you'll see um the director has put under electricity 60,000 based on what the
bills are Now um we're working right now to uh reaportion our solar credits So um we'll be greatly reducing that 60,000 um once we get this uh
completed with the solar company and the electric company Mike do you know what the timeline is on that um we'll definitely probably have we'll definitely have it done by town meeting Any questions from Council on
Aging yes I guess the same question How that I was asking for veterans How is our outreach how does that work and do we know the percentage of the seniors that we're that are utilizing the services that we have um yeah So we have an out
an outreach worker whose job is to sort of work in conjunction with Bristol Services and other departments to identify seniors who cannot get out of their homes and need those inh home services So that's something we're on top of all the time and our parttime
outreach worker is responsible for that And do you know based on the last census how many percentwise are we servicing how many seniors are we servicing overall so I I did a quick um statistics today I
ran this in um from the beginning of this fiscal year to now we've reached 1,440 unduplicated residents senior residents Um in each of those people we've had 21,000 swipes That means they've swiped into the center 21,000
times Uh we're seeing an active average daily attendance of 100 plus Um and we've had 600 people sign up to be active members since we moved in in October 1st We're seeing which
is there are 4,900 seniors and we're we're capturing um 1,400 of those A senior is um defined as somebody 60 and older So as we know there are a lot of people who are working up into
their 70s So that portion we don't see as much Um but we're seeing the majority of people 70s and 80s And just curious overall how are you are you satisfied with this new senior center um yes she's she's a beautiful building
It's um yeah we're able to do a lot of things all at once Um I wish we had more parking I wish we've already outgrown um a lot of the fitness rooms we've outgrown We've had to move them to the big rooms So in the past we used to do a lot of setting up tables taking down
tables We were hoping to alleviate that at the new facility but the majority of our bigger programs are now in the big rooms and we're still we're still doing a lot of that Madam Chair Yes So so your budget as you requested has two full-time positions It
has one full-time one new position So that's the full-time assistant director the marketing and event coordinator Oh no That's just it's it's just one position that we for a total of 145 for those two positions
I think on your list Yeah that's on that's on this chart here But on the budget itself it's it's not 145 It was just for one position That's what we originally wanted Just a full-time assistant then The assistant director Yeah So I I think that what I
want to say is what a lot of people don't know is even though my department is called the Council on Aging my title is the director of human services and the Council on Aging So I've been here for 10 years and for the last 10 years I've been doing two distinct jobs Um in
your packet you'll see sort of a list of everything I do You'll also see um a chart that shows the different staff that our surrounding towns have Um human services has grown and what human services is if you don't know
that's helping anyone in the community regardless of age um when they're in need So things like fuel assistance like getting people signed up for SNAP I've helped a few people get on social security disability Last week I worked with a man who was living out of his car
Um I also work with there are those are the types of people and they require one-on-one appointments um with me as the only sort of qualified person to do that in the building At the same time my other hat is the director of the senior
center in the council on Egypt So we're running multiple programs um at the same time balancing four five six rooms going on at one time I'm managing over 50 volunteers um an additional full-time person two
part-time people 50 volunteers four student interns and some senior work off people Um I'm one person and it's to the point now where it's not realistic to do
two jobs anymore So the assistant um is vital Madam Chair Yes Beth Um I know of self-help and Attalboroough Do they serve Norton and how is how do how do you overlap with what self-help does so
I'm a a self-help partner an agency partner So I do what the self-help people do So people come people from Norton can come to our department and we will sit down with them and help them fill out their fuel assistance applications If somebody is in
um in crisis we can expedite that I have a direct line right to to self-help But um residents of Noring can go directly to self-help though right can they in theor in theory in reality it's a lot more difficult
than that Um it's harder to get an appointment People I talk to in Norton they can't get through on the phone to self-help No So so we're it And you know my philosophy ever since I've been here is I don't want any of Norton's people to feel like a number or to feel less
than So if somebody is in crisis I'm not going to send them to self-help if I can we can do it in our department and take care of them Chair yes Can you tell us a little bit about the the the building repairing yes
$10,000 for a brand new building And then so that's a number where money may get turned back I just left it there because it's this new building is an unknown We do not have a uh facilities manager and to be honest with you um
it's not my strong suit buildings and building buildings Um that was a number that we came upon last year and I just didn't change it Will some of that go back to the town probably And where is the cleaning do they have
clean purchase of service so we do have a cleaning company um that comes in I believe it's three times a week and it looks like right now so for 25 we move that up to from say 2500
roughly to 19,000 Do we feel like with the new building that's So that was the same as as last year's We kept it the same right but we're expending for 1231 $2,400 thus far And I assume what else goes in there other than the janitorial
services So that's the janitorial I believe that may also be the uh pest control and we also have a rug service Do you expect projecting out through the end of the year what do you think you'll spend this year if you're at
roughly a little $2,400 through 1231 i'm not sure Have we expended more up to this date do you know yes I don't know how much that Okay Yeah those numbers look like too So we Yeah we benchmark that's what we're looking
at So even your electricity you had 17,500 in the budget you've used 6300 in the new building through the half year and yet you're looking for 60,000 next year that's a huge it is it is huge So you got to re again when we picked these
numbers last year we had no idea since October since being in the new building our electric bills have been between three and $6,000 a month So we've been in the building since October October
December So 3 months was 6,000 Yep Any other questions for that madam Chair Yes I guess I have a question just overall when uh when do we start to discuss these budgets in in details like we're going
over them at a high level you know where we're asking questions but when do we start to I guess deliberate i I mean I think we are you asking like for in terms of the actual recommendations or right now is the time to answer any questions and deliberate over any suggestions or things you have but then
beginning of April Mike is when you give us your recommendations and that's when we'll go back over and we'll use those recommendations to Okay I Does that make sense yeah The the reason why I'm asking is um I know I brought this up before but the schools are have you know they
have union uh discussions right now Um you know they're uh the COA is asking for over 60% increase So if we have that coupled with everything else school contracts my head's like exploding So I just didn't know when we start talking
about that So yeah Well I think next week is the school budget right so that would be the next big budget because I I am part of me forgetting but I think the school budget's what 70% 80% of the town So you know with with
contracts coming up I think that's going to be a huge um hit and um you know again I'm just going through and figuring out the increase and this is over 60% Not saying it's not warranted but we you know where you know what was
shared last meeting if we uh or if we increase the budget by 3% the town's already at deficit by over $600,000 So just so everyone's aware I I also want to make note to the public that nowhere in my budget is any money
spent on the contract fitness instructors that we have come in there the um program supplies aren't there None of any of my activity money is not included That money comes from from grants Um the state formula grant and in
additional grants that I write I think you guys all should know that last year I wrote over $90,000 worth of grants Huge money Um I was one of 12 in the state that won a digital literacy grant
um which was $40,000 which provide computer training to help our residents um bridge the digital divide which is huge Um I also was recently awarded uh $12,000 for um energy to help people who
are um struggling to keep the heat on during the winter I got another $20,000 grant through the attorney general's office Um also for emergency heat I did write a nutrition grant um to get food in there These are grants that I wrote
before moving into the building Um so yeah so none none of the the amounts of money up there are for operating the activities and programs that we run A lot of that is done through grants My big ask now is I can't
do it all I am one person and um I invite there's a lot of new faces here that that I'm sorry I don't know you but I really welcome you to come down to the new facility and take a look around and sit down and talk with me about the amazing work that we do Everything we do
in that building is vital Everything from bingo to fitness to the one-on-one crisis counseling that we do it is all supporting the most vulnerable in our community Um and I can I give a real quick example Just the other day one of
my volunteers who runs the walking group came in and I'm like you know how's it going and she's like oh it's going well And she started telling me about a man who who participates in the uh the walking group And he said you know this is the only time during the week I use my
voice And I'm like wow And he's like no no no don't get me wrong I'm busy I'm doing things all day long I'm I'm I'm busy and I'm active hung out and about He's like "But this is the only time during the week I have somebody to talk to." So our programs are vital Our
walking group is vital Bingo My bingo group is some of my older residents It's the only time they get out of their house So the work we do is important The fitness programs we offer are important If you don't use it you lose it Um I had
one woman who was doing chair yoga and um chair volleyball and she went to her doctors after being involved in the senior center in a year He said "What are you doing?" She's like "I do chair volleyball." He's like "I got to see a picture of that." Her sugar levels were down Her other levels were good It's
like we're making a difference And I think a lot of people when they think senior center they think of people just sitting around yaking or knitting or Yes we have knitting and it's very stimulating if you knit Um everything we do is vital and I know all our
departments are vital Um but I'm very passionate about what I do and I want to do the best job that I can do and I can't physically with the growth that we've had do it by myself anymore So I appreciate all your support and I
appreciate Mike's support Um and seriously if you have any questions feel free to call me feel free to swing by Um I did give you some some information I gave you my newsletter Um one of the the great things we've been doing is is we've partnered with Weaten They're doing a program there which is bringing
new people into our front door You know we offered a wood turning class We've got two billion tables which are getting more men in which is really exciting because you know our men don't like to get out as much as the women and it's they're a little more nervous to do that
Um so please look through the stuff that I gave you and I'm available if you have any questions or whatever anytime Thank you Oh sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I I just wanted to add me bringing up you
know budget and percent increase had nothing to do with you know what you do or or whatnot My neighbor is Ruthie here uh non-stop good stuff So just just so you know um I just like I said I was just mentioning it because
like I said my head is exploding where where you know just wanted to bring it up No noting over you No I understand that that times are tight but I think as a community we need to rally around our most vulnerable and and I know that's
our children but it's also our seniors and our disabled and our poor And you know you measure you measure a community how they treat those people So I appreciate your listening Thank you Beth I just have one quick question for
you Um that might be on the back end I apologize if I missed it I know you mentioned you have was it,400 the number of active um participants at the senior center currently you said you had 4,900 seniors in Norton but 1400 is that
number correct yep Um I think that's right What's the increase um compared to when you were at the old building i'm just curious on the increase So we've had 600 new people register Um we're seeing about a 50% increase in active participation So before when I would
have a movie for example I might have 20 people there Now we're seeing 40 45 Um today was an awesome day at the senior center and happy St Patrick's Day to everybody But we had a a wonderful St Patrick's Day party where we had we served 80 lunches um which is phenomenal
and at the same time we had guys playing pool down the hallway So um Okay great Yeah Thank you Madam Chair Yes All right One last question I got one after you
I was just going to ask and maybe it's in the budget somewhere Maybe it's still under warranty Do you have anything in here preventative maintenance on your major capital equipment like your boilers and your chillers just in terms of the investment i think we should be PMing them I just don't know like you
said facilities isn't your focus Shouldn't be But is that in the budget anywhere in terms of PMing right now it's under warranty and I believe everything's under warranty until January Is that correct Mike yeah Next next a year like next January Um and and
that's stuff that we still need to work out I mean right now I'm in for facilities as well as everything else And um yeah I have a lot to learn Um there's 10,000 under repair maintenance Do you want to be the facilities manager
no thank you for asking No no I don't um you know and and we had another staff person who was thinking of doing that but it's too much It's too much for somebody to do a full-time job and also be the facilities maintenance especially in a new building cuz as you
know a new building it's supposed to be perfect but as we all know when you build stuff it's not And we're we're still fighting We don't have any of our AV equipment yet We you know the the heater was a nightmare the hot water heater Um we
needed to get it totally replaced Um we found ants this morning It's it's always it's always something It's always something Madam Chair um you know food pantry in there It's just I assume this encompasses that budget No separate
budget for that I know it's all volunteers but in regards to utilities and everything else that Yes Yes Yep They're good partners And the only the other thing would be a comment uh piggy backing on what uh what was said
there Uh you got this beautiful town hall brand new You got a beautiful senior center I mean they need to be maintained These are uh you know 30 40 50 year buildings If we don't maintain them it's going to
look like the old uh the old place soon enough So I'm not sure there needs to be a plan for that I agree There needs to be a plan Any other questions arm if no one has questions before leaves just on the revolving fund She mentioned
that the programs she that she's running and they pay for themselves They bring in money Um so we're looking to increase the amount in the revolving fund to $20,000 Um and also that's article 13
And the other one that's looking to go up is um the recycling revolving fund for the highway department to uh 40,000 But those are monies that they bring in There's no town money expended there
Increasing the ceiling Yes Yeah Did we just Did we just increase that recently okay So that but now because we're having so many more people coming in that's a good sign that you're bringing a lot of money in that you Yeah I actually hit the ceiling I think last year I think there's a bunch of
people Anyone else heard that all right I know there were a bunch of people that came for the senior center out May I have your permission to at least speak for five or more minutes
no Did you say no more than five minutes ralph my battery's low Happy St Patrick's Day to everyone My name is Ralph Stefanelli I've lived in town for 53 years I'm familiar with every one of your
jobs I spent 26 years in Serpent I spent 27 years at the Norton Housing Authority I ran for Planner ZBA and one And you never forget how to ride a bike So the things that I'm going to talk
about are positive The first thing that we should be thinking about is to stop calling it a senior center We need to rebrand what that building cost us It's
a senior/ community center So as we talk about the budget and where that money is going and coming from we're taking care of the community not the village That's a
different book But the community involves our children and we haven't even tapped into that So yes we can give you a plan but we can't push that plan outside the
parameters of what we're dealing with in a budget If you're prepared to invest in the long-term success of our residents this is the committee All you have to do is ride by
the old senior center That's all you have to do That's going to be boarded up also I think you're building when you give us money The Nelson Senior Center Is that
correct nelson Community Center I wanted to hear somebody else say it The Nelson Senior and Community Center He donated $1 million to have his name on that building Show me another committee that
can get that kind of money That was his legacy And promise you I promise you in my opinion you will not kick this can
down the road That's a promise cuz I will fight you every step of the way It's our turn And I'm talking as an 86y old senior I know about the can being kicked
down the road It ain't going to happen again So let's look at a positive way We want to be self-sufficient with our programs But in order to offer those
programs to the seniors and the community we need money You cannot put more on our manager I won't allow it and I will
fight you Whatever it takes I will fight you But I am not here to fight with you I'm here to say what Beth has told you We're going to start burying her
She's already ill from the way she's being treated Mike if you would pass this letter down that I presented to the selectman and have and have it entered into the minutes of this meeting We already have
it We have it We have it off Okay good Thank you I'm writing to express the urgent need for additional staffing at the Nelson Senior and Community Center Under the leadership of Beth
Rossy and her dedicated team the center has become a vital resource for our community offering a wide range of services and support However despite their tireless efforts
the current staff is simply not enough to meet the grown demand I need my water and I get nervous Thank you Is By the way before I start uh continue to
read we at the housing authority wrote this letter in the interests of you listening to what Beth had to offer in terms of her budget So this is not pie in the sky
Despite her tireless efforts the current staff is simply not enough to meet the growing demand for assistance from our elderly residents and and families in need You
heard 400 people signed up for the new center 600 600 600 600 Thank you Add 200 of that and it becomes
six Think of what that does to you if you were running that center I hope I hit a nerve because we haven't even reached out to the community to bring them in And when we
do there's more grant money Hm I'd like to double 90k that bre Beth already brought in That would be 180 grand just for our piece of the action It plays a a crucial part in
addressing the issues of healthc care We won't go into the details Heating assistance and other essential services As more people rely on our center for help the need for more hands
on deck has become increasingly clear And I hope that I'm speaking clearly to the issue and not straying as I've been accused of at town meeting I'm sticking to the
facts So you can go home look at all the people who just move their money because we stopped kicking the can down the road But we're brand new We are the Nelson
Senior Community Center I'm not going to read the entire letter I think I made my point If you decide to skip I wrote this down It's only four
lines The easiest way to lose a war and that's what it will become I'm not afraid to say it if you've seen me in action is to pretend you're not at
war You're at war I'm at war I'm sorry Beth I used the wrong term You did But that's me That's my opinion And the last sentence is why there is why way more
people are losing their battles And when you read the entire letter you'll see what I'm talking about I want to thank you for your time and your energy It's a very difficult
committee that you're working on but I ain't kicking the can down the road Period You're looking at the future and we're going to get that money and you're going to help
us So many spirits Amen Thank you Thanks Ralph Did anyone else want to speak come on Good evening My name is Bob Brisco and I live at 3 Road and I've been in town
probably about as long as Ralph and I'm not going to stay up here as long as Ralph Um but I heard you talk about you know the budgets and the cost of things and how tight they are And I want to tell you that it's tight on all of us
everybody in this town And you all know what we got to do to make it easier for the taxpayers in the town which I hope you do You're the finance committee
Um as far as Beth goes um she does an excellent job which I think most of you know that and she works round the clock And you talk about with the money that was just spent in this beautiful
facility here and the one down the street and you talk to her about we need to maintain it We need to take care of it We need to have maintenance contracts on the equipment that's in
there Well money doesn't grow on trees We know we need to do it And she's not able to to put her hands around that I'd like to ask Mr Units what does
it cost to maintain this building brand new Brand new Yeah Yeah So I would say to you that it's critical to look at what our costs are
going to be to actually take care of these buildings properly So we'll be here and uh 50 60 maybe 70 years The red little red one down there may have been around a while right yeah
So that's all I really have to say but I think we need to have somebody in town that works for the town and looks at the uh cost of contracts and maintenance to the
equipment um it's very difficult for the people that are in this building to turn around and come up with a budget when they're doing other things So basically that's what I want
you to think about So I think it's important for all of us and again I have to say the people in town I'd like to thank them for letting us have these new buildings It didn't come easy for me but I see a
lot of things in town about how over the years um how we did business and I'm not very proud of the way business was handled over the years And Mr Stephanelli can tell you
that But hey we're here today and hopefully you'll be here long after I'm gone And I hope we've learned something over the years We have to spend money to keep this place going We need to get
industry in here to keep this town running And we need to focus on that I think we have a lot of young ladies and young men in here that uh a lot smarter than me and Ralph and hopefully we can
we can do this good for our kids Okay that's all I have to say and we'll help you Thank you Thanks Bob Yeah thank you Bob Anyone else any other questions from the board
yes Tom Gada I'm on the council and aging board How many of you have ever been in the old center you'll probably have Paul Okay In there too Some of the two of you And you know if you've been by it you know how small
that building was It was robust There was activity almost every single day Now take that and expand it by about three times the size You've got the same staff running in it Now today we had the lunchon of 80 80 meals The majority of
the volunteers were seniors themselves We don't have young high school kids in there volunteering We don't have 30 somethings 40omes We have 60 and upomes There's only so long that we'll be able to handle that And
eventually we'll start losing that dedicated staff And to have Beth Beth is just you see her on a dayto-day basis pulling her hair out She's going to look like me before long Um she really does a
phenomenal job And the human services piece is the piece no one really sees cuz you can't really talk about it that much It's private information You can see all of our activities that we do on the newsletter that you see It's a robust place every
single day Now take this other piece that's just as strong And I know the budgets are tough We've been dealing with that I've been here 30 years It hasn't changed in 30 years Okay So we understand that We know there are limitations but please
understand she needs some help Thank you Thanks Anyone else come up Peter J Wings you're honoring Mary Norton and I agree But the senior set best has worked
terri both the old and new have been there for both the old and new senior ser and the new senior ser is much better than the old one And I agree what what Tom said Beth needs help She needs help She can't do it all by herself and
she needs help right away Thank you Thanks Peter All right Anyone else that's a good way to end All right Mike What do we have next um
we have some year end transfer [Music] [Applause] [Music] request Uh the first the first request is for uh
postage We're requesting another $10,000 to uh get us through the year on the postage [Applause] [Music] Any questions a question
Madam chair Yes Wait What are we expecting to It's $10,000 It says here that there's $9,400 still in the account and we're we're asking for an additional $10,000 What are we expecting um just
our our regular um usage to get through the year that 9,400 um will be used up quickly Did we miss something in last year's budget um I think the um election was more than anticipated
in the former Donald Clark went in for it So um we will get reimbursement for that but it goes to the general fund It can't doesn't go into the postage when Jill's working on getting reimbursement from the state for that right now just
to understand I mean why now and and not something later on in the year if we get below this where potentially we're going to be we have 150 and I don't know what we had left in our account after last week 25
right now I can call that 45 come in with some of the higher expenses This like this is postage right across the board Please fire Yes Madam Chair Yes Paul Mike what did you budget this year for postage you're
expecting last week was no election or did we see that yet um [Applause] I don't have that budget figure Other questions
madam Chair Yes I make a motion we go ahead and approve the $10,000 requested for the postage A motion Do I have a second second Thank you Roll call Steve No Paul Yes
Yes Paul No Zack Uh yes Gavin yes Yes Kevin yes Bill yes And I Yes that is a yes to no
Um the other one um is legal and um last week you asked me to get you uh some idea of some of the major expenses Um right now this is um a breakdown just letting you know where some of the major expenses were for
legal um planning board $8,52 Um police department 6,567 town clerk 4,735 town meeting 4,950 Bay Road Solar Project the appeal
that goes on forever Uh or the court case that goes on forever $5,965 and some of the uh marijuana uh HSAs $2,273 Any questions on those numbers
quick math Madam Chair that's like $35,000 I mean just off the top of my head somewhere in there Yeah And what did we allocate last year Mike in the budget 70 So you still have 40 some odd thousand
So So the the rest of um money that's been spent is um general legal services That's for what like town meeting um for um any um things that the fire department Matt
might have uh as far as uh injured on duty questions or and any other departments uh on discipline questions um union negotiation issues things like that and what is the current balance of
that account line is blank in this uh transfer the current balance I'll call it up here right Now uh right now we'd be 9,000 We We're holding a bill right now
Other questions Madam Chair yes So Mike you pay off the nine You still got 45 You got three three and a half months to go Are you forecasting that kind of a need or you just bought it to go back in the general fund if you don't need it um it would go
back to the general fund if we don't need it And based on what the monthly average was that's why we came up with the 55,000 because again that's a that's oneird of the reserve fund plus and uh still a lot of departments feel that
maybe coming back Other questions i know we also did I think this is when we talked about potentially if we wanted to do less now and then supplement later we could always maybe do something like that
Um to the board what how we want to handle that Madam chair Yes Uh to Mike um if we were to fund say 25 of this now and by June the reserve fund is exhausted between other departments
coming back what happens when the bills aren't there they get held for a special talk meeting till it's vote to pay and all that like it becomes a nightmare right um it would because they would be able to get paid till October Friday
bills I think town council is the last person you want to have against you Any other thoughts or questions madam chair yes Are all these invoices to general town council or is it a specialist specialist law firms like who
what what's all in this bucket um so we use KP law So then they have specialists within their firm that handle um the various time you know labor negotiations labor issues or uh planning board issues
Um they have specialists that they put this work to is every I'm not sure who all would call like from a town perspective who all has the authority to get on the phone and call town council
me just you okay Madam Chair wasn't that hash a few years ago that all came up and what was the final verdict on that it was just you So um departments have to come through me to get permission before they
can call counsel cuz that was my concern as if it was a bunch of people picking up the phone and weren't but that's not the case Take it from me He wasn't always easy to get permission Madam chair Yes What was
what's what was budgeted for this account right now 70,000 70 and of the charges that you showed up there we're at 9,000 now What was unanticipated what was a surprise that we didn't factor into the budget came up
um I would say the major surprise uh well there were a couple cases um with the police department that weren't anticipated and we didn't anticipate for appeals decisions by the planning board
Madam Chair yes Mike can you give me the background on the Bay Road solar project that was the one with the solar panels over the cranberry box Yeah Right The neighbors were No And was it voted down by I don't remember Yeah So um the
planning board actually voted it down and it was remanded back to the planning board and there were some amendments to the plan Um after it went uh the the company appealed it and the judge remanded it back to the planning board
Um and then after the remand the planning board approved it and then now uh the plaintiff is called is suing the developer of the project So we're we're
kind of like a third party to the lawsuit when but um it's taking time of legal counsel to handle different issues with it but we're not the main focus of that lawsuit
Right now it's the solo company Yes So Mike I remember having this conversation last time too that that every year we seem to be adding to this So we did your the request is higher this year right to kind of account for that so that we're not going back Um cuz
last year was expended 96,93 So I think 70 was always a little too low to begin with Um Madam Chair yes Make a motion we approve the 55,000 transfer for legal
Motion Do I have a second second Uh Steve yes Paul yes Hi yes Paula yes Zach yes Kevin yes Brandon yes Kevin yes Bill yes And I am a Yes
So put on it But if two people are suing each other and we're incurring legal fees do we have any way to recoup that or are we just catching strays here no not really Um okay that sucks
Deep pockets I just wanted to go back Um this was the request uh talked about last week with the treasury collector and I thought I got kind of confused at some point So I just wanted to go over again um the
reason for this So as as the town said there used to be this part-time position in the uh treasury collector's office and years ago it was uh eliminated Um so the reason we're looking for this
position if you remember the old treasurer collector's office in the town hall uh the staff person um that handles all payroll um and benefits for the entire town Um
she works in that office and she was kind of in an open area Um so if there was a need for her to come to the window even if she was working on the payroll or u meeting with someone she could get up and go to the window and
but didn't that didn't work out well um for various reasons Um you know concentrating on doing the payroll um meeting with people um in a public space rather There were no private spaces in
the old town hall So we set up an office on the second floor here so she can go up there to handle those personal issues And so she not in the office not able to attend to the window So this
7500 would cover the hours that she goes upstairs to do the benefits and payroll issues with people Um cuz she won't be down in the office downstairs I mean her position hasn't changed She's always done that work
Madam Chair Yes ma'am So Mike this 7500 finishes this year Is that a full-time position next year is it a position that's going to require um benefits is it going to be less than a benefit position jim it'll be less than a
benefit position Less than 18 is 18 hours a week Yes The 7500 how many hours would that provide coverage and then my second part what are the type of services that aren't being done
when this person goes to the payroll area it would this would just cover collections at the window And I guess if nobody's at the window we can't collect and we turn people away Well they'd have to wait until someone
is available to come up there and madam chair Yes sir So so I understand this correctly You're saying this request Mike is to add overtime for this the rest of this year
Say that again This request for 70 uh $7,500 is to pay for overtime for the rest of this year to cover that window Yes How many hours is that employee currently working they're not right now We don't have It's not overtime Mike can you be parttime
please you're saying over It's not overtime Okay Okay So you're bringing a contact hour position It's a new five times act Madam chair Yes I guess my opinion on this is for whatever it's worth
is we still don't know what the full impact of the budget on it We've just heard from the council on aging who's drowning sounds like over there and we haven't put an emergency request in for that department but we want to prioritize
this and not even wait for the budget season I just put it nicely I would not support this as it stands without seeing the full budget impact That's why I I think I motioned the table this last week I would like to I would like to put it to
the end of these meetings until we know where we're stand financially between all departments Yeah I would agree Zach I think that was my um my thought last time too is just waiting until after we get your recommendations um for the next fiscal
year Kind of seeing how that fits in the overall um picture And again we talked about not wanting to bring someone on only to have to let them go and not keep them on Um and it's just a you know two three weeks before we get those recommendations if we can just push it
off at least till that point Madam Chair Yes And I I think in my opinion and we're going down this road Mike if we're going to consider these emergency requests you know there should be a consideration to an emergency request from the Council on Aging based
on you know what we're hearing I mean I think that's you know fair Whether we grant it or not is is is one other thing but you know we got a situation where we hear tonight that sounds like Beth is driving over there Uh
Madam Chair yes I'm I'm of the opinion that um we toughen it out until June 30th here and it's either something that we can feel we can fund next year or not So I'm not sure how much we want to keep kicking it down the road because of the time and stuff We're already at the
final final quarter you know Anyone else all right Would you like a motion to approve it and have it voted down or a motion to table it uh for indefinitely did we bring it back up we
could take no action on it tonight right what's that we could take no action on it Yeah We tabled it last week though cuz it's on the table So we're already tabledefinitely until we bring it back up to one of us Sure I'll make a motion
we table it uh indefinitely Second All right Motion a second Steve yes Paul yes Yes Paula yes Zack yes Gavin yes Brandon yes Kevin yes Bill yes And I am
a yes Madam Chair a follow-up comment dealing with the payroll spot for years I will tell you that it is awkward So I understand why the position has been put up in a private room part-time to handle some of the payroll concerns Uh but
again it's something that I think can possibly wait 3 months Yeah And I just wanted to clarify it's not just current employees it's retirees also that she works with All right Do we have any other reserve
fund requests no No Okay All right Did you want to do any articles sure It's article one um that's just authorizing us to spend funds that are
received uh chapter 3 under the chapter 90 program for road improvements Um the select board voted uh three nothing last week to support the article Right now we have a number from
the state but there's no guarantee I wouldn't vote a number I just authorized the expenditure chapter to 90 funds Right now the number is $857,850 but as the governor says that's subject to the state passing the bond
bill So uh until that happens it's not guaranteed Madam Chair is that number higher or lower than It's a lot higher I think it might be about $200,000 higher than it was last year
So do we want to make a motion to go ahead and support the uh chapter 90 use as approved by the state i'll move that Second All right I have a motion and a second Uh Steve yes 12 Yes
Bonnie yes Paula yes Zack yes Yes Brandon yes Kevin yes Bill yes And I am a yes You have 11 tonight or is that 10 10 Um the other
articles the select voted on was um OPED and the stabilization fund They recommended no action We usually handle those in the fall [Music]
Those are articles right now Article 19 is OPED and article 20 is stabilization Madam Chair yes Hey
Mike Why do we why do we even put this on when we normally do OPAD in the fall anyways why do we even waste our time with it we could pull it off Yeah
We always do it this way So you got to pull that Mike or do we need to make We can pull 19 to 20 Well they can recommend no action We just pull it off but I recommend that they be removed
And also um the select board voted no action on an article 22 separation expense seeing as you're setting up the uh trust fund this year Well that can be pulled off too Moving forward we vote on it didn't we um you
did You voted to establish uh compensated absences trust fun So madam chair in the past have we done a lot of voting no actions or um we have
so make a motion for no action on article is it 18 like the oped 19 or the oped you want to just do them all 19 20 and 22 could do that op stabilization and
separation expense I mean no not 22 21 Yeah 22 of separation Vote differently on one versus the other Let's try it this way Okay I make a motion that we um take no action on articles 19 20 and 22
Second All right Motion a second Steve yes Paul yes Bonnie yes Paula yes Zach yes Gavin yes Brandon yes Kevin yes Bill yes And I as well
million something that's all I have for tonight Okay Madam Chair Zack go ahead Other than schools uh what else do we have Mike that we haven't voted on um
capital uh the three schools When are you setting up the capital meeting um I'll get I'll email out a date tomorrow Okay Involving funds and things like that
So do you want to give us a preview of uh what the budget looks like i mean I I did go to the public hearing I know Paula was there also for the uh schools that was here the other day Um I didn't receive anything yet uh
from the school department I think they're looking for 4 4.96 about the 5% And we'll be updating the revenue and expenditure sheet for the next meeting now that we have our health insurance numbers How's that looking
8.2 instead of nine Good Mine was 16.5 I had a change of plan Yeah a lot of them um a lot of the people in Meer went up between 14 18% And I heard Eastern the GIC's gone up
12% every year for like the last 3 years We actually have communities now looking to join our health group And so they're reviewing the actuarials and looking to make sure that's not that we passed down
Madam Chair yes just hearing I'm sorry Go ahead Paul Sorry I was fine Sorry Um my quick question for you So when we review your recommendations and go over all these budgets again in early
April remind me the the column for the expenditures right now it says through 123124 Is that going to be updated like through March 31st or something like that so we have a better idea of what's been spent So we can I'm trying to
remember if you usually update that column We don't but it would it would be really helpful if that could be as updated as possible when we're going through this with things being as tight as they are
Yeah So I didn't get to listen to the school committee meeting or anything like that there but um I'm still getting the undercurrent that there's a thought that there's a lot of money out there that we're not like either showing or doing anything with and stuff And I just uh if
there is Mike I'd like to know Yeah I just I mean no seriously So I'm not sure you know where that's coming from and how that can get this credit and whether James has to do a presentation or something to show that everything's above board because again there's a lot
of innuendos uh out there that say that we're trying to you know hide hide stuff as you can Yeah I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about what the free cash is right it's um I had a conversation with a couple people who were who brought it up and just
explaining the the whole you know you're supposed to have 3 to 5% free cash three 3 to 5% of your budget is free cash and yes we've had a couple you know windfalls so to speak over the last couple years but that's not um that's not the norm Um but you know I think again it's just it's just a lack of
understanding and and once people hear that and and wants you know if if anybody from the schools you know wants to come next week too um along with with uh the superintendent you know I would encourage that so that we you know we can get get any of that cleared up that you know but anybody I've spoken to
would have just explained that to it's it's just been you know a misunderstanding you look at these numbers um and you know you think that there's these millions sitting around um and don't understand why why why free cash is even necessary in the first place and why it's not like oh we didn't
budget well but that's that but that's actually a requirement of the state um so yeah I think I think you know next week will be a a big meeting to sort of answer sheet that shows what the free cash was and where it went so we also think it's it's that's to
Paulo's request it's crucial understand where the expenses are as a certain point because percentwise of last year's turn balance what was that about total free cash I don't know percentage wise but yeah last year was more like 10% or
something so yeah last year was definitely so I think James and and Mike addressed that other side I think these are the unanticipated things that we don't know about that's not budgeted right healthcare holidays and things like that So I think if we have that
conversation we'll at least have a better understanding Okay The other thing Madam Chair um Mr Units um included a letter in our packet tonight and um I think that you know maybe it was
more of a misunderstanding cuz we have some new members on the board and stuff like that I don't think anyone was trying to actually be spirit any of the town employees I think the uh ful do a great job for us and stuff out from speaking out of the line uh down there But um but again I I do think that uh um
that uh James does a great job I know And hopefully he'll be here next week to maybe help us um educate uh some of the school committee members or whatever that might not understand that the money's all accounted for Um but I'm not sure if we need to uh actually enter
this into our minutes as an official document for uh for the record Yeah I think everything from this packet right goes automatically if you would move everything online Is that how it works Mike typically and Mr this if you could see if maybe
James could actually be here in person just to go ahead and try to ear out the the hidden laundry I can't believe is there anyone else this is my first time reading this okay let him read um
and I'm only on second paragraph but uh I did want to point out I wasn't going to bring this up again but uh like in the salary review the the you know I it's just kind
of Bill brought this up It's more of a philosophical question cuz as a new member I see Prop 2 and a half I see the way the town doesn't want an override It doesn't necessarily provide the opportunity for development and so the erosion of town services is going to the result That's the only third option
I see So I kind of see a slow train wreck happening So I'm not really necessarily bringing up any of this to to pick on any individual ever Honestly council agent Beth sounds like she's doing a great job I hope we can hope she gets what she needs I hope everybody gets the salary increase Like probably
every town employee is underpaid but that's not the world we live in And when I looked at the the salary survey you know that particular so we we asked the question where did this employee move in the salary band and last year before the
salary survey they were at the 90th percentile of the band And then we did the updated salary survey they moved to 80 So I just see 50th percentile percentile here And I don't know if I was necessarily it's necessarily fair to
say we're rehashing any issue about anybody below a 50th percentile percentile cuz the specific thing we discussed that employee was over the 50th percentile for the last 4 years or something Um I could I I also have a
procedural question Can I email you all the stuff or is that cuz we're out of quorum It's not allowed Okay Discuss it You can't discuss it Okay cuz I'll I'll I'll email you a spreadsheet I guess after this meeting and we can Okay I would just ask some context That's the
big thing Gotcha Okay So maybe we can discuss it next week Um cuz I it's a complicated issue right i definitely don't and maybe I'm getting a little defensive here but I definitely think
it's fair for us to ask given what I see is the town dissolving before I get to be as old as as Ralph and get to say I lived here for that long bas you know I hate to see it So anyway and for the record I support overhead and pay
everybody everything So just madam chair Yes sir Just to follow up on that uh I don't agree with you that the town's dissolving but uh um you know our job here we're volunteers and our job is to actually
we're powerless We used to make recommendations to the to the town and just because you know I've been here long enough to be accused of being anti-school anti- senior anti- police
anti- fire anti- everything You know every time you question somebody somebody oh you don't like the police department Oh you don't like the schools We're just here asking questions I mean nobody uh should have thin skin Um we don't know the day-to-day
operations of here We're here x amount of hours a year Uh we're trying to figure it out and make the best recommendations we can with the information that we have It's not personal to anybody James It's not personal to you you're doing a great job
I know he'll he'll watch it I'm sure you know that and if you think it was personal you call me Um but I I think that's my two cents I I think it's hard when you're when you're in the position of being the
salary in the line item right you know it's not like the teachers who are like there's 400 of them you know 200 of them plumped together Um I think it it definitely I'm sure feels more personal But I also as I said last week I think you know we spent three meetings talking about the dog officer's budget So that's
that's so we um we tend to to pick things apart I I don't think I know that then I know the school um the schools have taken it personally too I feel like to your point I think like everybody's taken it um questions personally and feels like we're just asking them the questions And I um I don't I don't see
that I think we're asking everybody the questions and and picking everything apart to minutia and yeah that's it's probably the the kind of people we all are is to sit here and overanalyze every little piece So madam chair yeah it's fine It's what we were asked to do when
we were appointed So um I agree with you that I think it does feel personal when it's one person that's the department or a line Um but yeah I I mean to Zach's point I feel like I've been accused of everything as well and I'm a volunteer I don't get paid and I have been an
employee of this town previously Um so I I mean I know what it's like to be on both sides and um I just you know I don't like having to sit here and talk about $7,500 again for 20 minutes tonight but we did because we have to Um
and if we're going to talk about $7,500 we're going to talk about you know and and there going to be questions asked about all of these things And I would rather we ask these questions now and have a cogent answer for especially for Sandy who has to represent us Um that that discussion was had because it does
come up sometimes where people say "What was what did the finance department say about X Y finance department finance committee say about X Y and Z?" And we're expected to then represent that to town meetings So um I just see it as that we have discussions about a whole
lot of things that seem like a little thing and things that are much bigger and some of it's philosophical and some of it is literally down to numbers So we have to do that and that's what we're going to do Anyone else um I would ask that if anybody has um
further questions information um I've been working um kind of going back and forth with uh superintendent um and the business manager for for different pieces of information If there are specific things that you're looking for um ahead of next meeting Um um again I
have a I have a I have some of those pieces um that I'll that I'll push forward once I have them finalized Um but if there's some specific things you're looking for then I um then I will have be happy to pass that out Right now what I have is a chart that shows um all
the teachers um with their steps and lanes with their current salaries Um their the future salaries are tricky and so um we'll look for some input on this because they're in the middle of negotiation so we don't have future
salaries Um we can certainly give like a here's what it would be with just a a step um increase and nothing else and no other um cola or or lane change You know those are those are numbers we probably get but the you're not going to get a final number on those because they're in
no negotiations Um yeah um and I have also some sums of like I was I've asked how many of each how many do we have of each um in each step in lane the teacher So I have like a that that um summary and I also have that for the paras and
the um uh the the uh speech and language assistance and the occupational therapy assistance So I have those main pieces So if anything else that we're looking for is let's say that madame chair one
of the other articles tonight had a cola and maybe I'm missing something but I know they've had steps they have the slides if they get educational and this wasn't a school thing but um and then you have your
negot negotiated contractual raising negotiate where's the cola come in are we automatically getting 3% 4% % cost of living adjustment I don't I don't remember that as a union employee So there's so this the school department has like a chart right to two two um
across and down So across you know is um your lanes and down is your steps Um and then so with the negotiation typically is it doesn't have to be this but it's typically let's just let's say it's a 1% increase They just throw 1% of every single number in that chart Right they
increase and that's a negotiated contractual rate Correct That's your That's your cola So So like people there's quite a few I was looking at quite there's quite a few of the teachers that have already had the max step So the only thing they're getting is the cola They're not getting any steps or lanes They're already maxed out
So cost of living increases is a contractual negotiation Yeah So I haven't seen that that way listed as a co that almost makes it seem like it's based off of some kind of a a metric Yeah No it's it's a negotiation and I think you know it's the it's if you think about it as it's what those who
are already maxed out it's all what they're getting right that's that's their that's their full increase that they're going to be getting in the next couple years 3 years is usually which if we all get to that point we're going to be golden cuz if we don't have steps of lanes and we just have
col younger teachers you think oh great we're hiring somebody younger who's newer right but then you know you're you're so you're getting a drop that first year but then every year they they their increases especially if they start going you know and getting getting extra um you know courses and degrees and
things they can jump up you know huge So um yeah So like I said just feel free to email me with specific um pieces that you're looking for Um especially those that I didn't just mention uh and I'll pass those along so we can get those In
my in the 42 years Norton has not passed a Proposition 2 and a half over That is correct Peter Madam Chair Yes sir I think you know as a public disclaimer this is going to be the first year that is that I've been on
this uh committee that we're going to pass a school budget and whatever we recommend I have no idea what that comes out to be but it could be that we recommend whatever they want Let's say they get what they they asked
for and without them having a negotiated contract we could be getting well how did we get 18 teachers laid off uh in the in the middle of the summertime because whatever they agree to So I I I think I mean
um what happens with the schools come September I think the disclaimer to the public is it's kind of up in the air what happens through town meeting is just an estimate Um because we don't know what the where they stand in the
negotiations and you know obviously we're not privy to that So um I wouldn't want to be in the superintendent's shoes I'll put it that way Um yeah try to come up with a number when you Yeah You don't know what it is I would I would imagine if 4.96 request
is taking into account some of their contractual there is no contract Well I'm sure it's taken in the steps right some steps but it's it's not you know I don't know that we're going to necessarily be given that information either if this includes the next percent
right that sort of But I mean nobody should be surprised if it goes one way or another They're able to hire back a couple positions or they're they need to lay off 10 more positions you know we don't we don't I think what is safe to say is if they don't get the five I mean we can certainly ask more about this but
if they don't get the 4.9 whatever it was um that there will be some adjustments Yeah Be some adjustments is putting it All right Anyone else questions or comments all right I will take a motion
to adjurnn So moved Second All right Steve yes Paul yes Bonnie yes Paula yes Zack Yes Gavin Yes Brandon Yes Kevin Yes Bill Bill There he
is Not even big He's not as big