this government meeting is brought to you by Eastworks and our local cable subscribers Let us call to order the meeting of the Southampton Select Board for April 15th 2025 at 6:00 p.m If we could start by
saying the pledge of allegiance please Pledge 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 Thank
you Okay All right Do we have anybody here for citizen speak that is not on the agenda yeah Robert evening Robert Floyd College Highway Town Moderator Town meetings in three
weeks And the town moderator annual town meeting warrant information session is Thursday April 24th 7:00 in this room And technically your last date to sign a
warrant is Monday the 28th but I understand you'll be posting the warrant sooner Should be I believe in honesty and integrity It's important to me to be honest but I'm not on board in all with
one vote for the budget I believe in dividing the question as we've been doing for about 15 years now and having everybody vote on a certain section of the budget Once we finish that we there's no need to vote on the budget
again And it's worked It's less chaotic It gives people a feeling of more uh voice And I believe that's very important Just refresh our brains What happens when a particular category or department gets voted down for example i
don't know if we've had that but what would happen hypothetically um all the others would pass and that would be voted down because we're doing each section individually And when we do each section individually there's no need to vote
again on all the sections But but then doesn't that mean we don't have a budget yes Correct So there's no budget and Yeah So I I assume we'd go to a oneth budget because there'd be no way to hold another vote right yeah So the citizens
as a whole would be slow Somebody was quick enough to make a motion but that's Yeah Mhm Yeah Generally that would go to a special town meeting Okay Okay Thank you Anything else yep Mhm Yeah Tammy
Tammy Wunas 298 College Highway Um I have a a couple questions um in regards to the land use and the proposal of the $3.2 $2
million for the design phase Has did anyone look into putting addition on the end of this building for the police department and then only having to build a new fire department
cuz this building already has a basement with elevators at work Bathroom When you tear down the fire station it would give you plenty of parking Did anybody look into that while I was on the board i don't rec on
the committee I don't think so You may have done that before me Yeah I don't think that would be feasible because we have wetlands right there and extending it further that way It just wouldn't be enough space or room to actually move anything We couldn't build on the end of here The end of the building up here Not
up there Here There's a stream that goes underneath the parking lot Yeah That's why it's wet down at the college highway all the time So I think Tammy's referring to the end of that building over there not the COA side Not the COA side the other
end where the building department or the permit planning board department is that end that jogs out Mhm I don't don't know that anything has happened I do know that there's issues with water even under the parking lot
though So that may be a challenge Okay There's even our septic there So All right Not that I'm aware of All right Um and my second question is um we obviously know that this town is
growing We have seniors that are passing away and more families coming in and the north school is going to be too small Um was it ever proposed to have a new school built on
the the land and turn Norah school into the fire department police department and senior centers so that you had everything right there with all of that land behind it for fields and walking areas And it
already has a commercial kitchen It already has a septic system that withstands 500 plus students The idea of putting a school over on the college highway
property it's not in use all year round So you know yes there's a septic issue and that yes there's a a a drainage issue but I mean who's going
to benefit more all the kids coming into town I do want a safety complex I just wonder if anybody looked into the North School being turned into it I don't know that I've heard that from you I have not
heard that from other meetings I've attended and I haven't been part of the land use planning in detail to know that that has been looked at but all the all the work that has been done with the land use planning has been shared with the public and has been online So I don't recall that that has been done and I think when we first that first got
raised the idea was that there may need to be some sort of a study for Norris to see exactly what levels are going to be achieved by at what time And there was talk about doing a study at some point about whether that was really as bad as
we thought it might be and at what point So we're just going to keep doing studies So that study never happened to my knowledge Okay Um so at this point in time the the public safety building committee the senior center building committee have looked at lands all over town I'm
not 100% sure that they've looked at every uh addition of buildings but maybe Cindy can enlighten me because she's been on the committees longer than I have So my third question would be how does one go about getting a petition to
have an article added to one of the special town meetings do we need 500 do we need a thousand signatures how does how does it go about to get this on so that the town looks at it
okay question I don't know Citizen petition One of them I believe it's a special needs 100 signatures and the annual needs 10 Could be reversed but at this present moment that's my feeling 10 Okay Cindy Um Cindy Palmer and I've been
on the this iteration of the building public safety building committee since its inception And uh the answer is we did look at 207 College Highway for uses Now we didn't specifically say could it be added on could a police department be added on to this current building but
the whole 207 College High which the address here was looked at very closely for any of the uses of the public safety building committee So I think that would answer that Okay Thank you Okay one more then we'll get on to the agenda Go
ahead Margaret Larson Nine David Street I'm a member of the Norris School Committee as well as the representative to Hampshire Regional So first I want to thank you for your continued support of the Hampshire Regional budget And um I'm here tonight to ask you to support the
override for the Norris school budget If we need to stick with the 4% increase that's going to be devastating for staff for students Class sizes will increase Um I'm worried about our students losing
enrichment opportunities and I'm also worried about our students getting behind as they move through the rest of the grades because the number of students in the classroom and the possibility that they may not get assistance they need particularly
for our special ed students We don't have Oh sorry I don't know what it's like I'm also at another meeting so technology Sorry I'll digest it Yes indeed Um and then
the other thing that I would like to ask is that the select board considers for chapter 70 funds that they um you apply those to directly to the school budget rather than to the general fund So those are the the two requests I
have going forward Obviously I know that's not an opportunity for this year Let me get back to my meeting Thank you All right Okay Assuming nobody else is here for open time for the public we have uh just to reiterate who we have in front of us
here tonight So um we have Doug Doug Doug is on Yes Doug Okay So we have the finance committee Uh would you guys like to call yourselves to order please you have a quorum Uh I don't you have your full committee I don't see Doug Doug was there Doug was
there Oh there's Doug Dougl Yeah Okay Yes So we have a quorum It is 610 Okay You can just have that mic closer to you That's all All right So we have the finance committee Reggie Doug and Becky And we have Chris John and Stephen
on zooming in on hybrid And I'm not positive on Dan yet He may join us Um so with that we've all got our our quorums Okay All right Let us move forward Make a motion to take up the 10 appointments All for election
workers All terms to expire in May of 2026 for the following people Mary Robinson Bunny Huntley Kathy Ingram Ellen Hamill Marian Hamill Elizabeth Grassy Jane Howard Susan Seabolt Stacy
Schmeidle and Joanne Purier Mhm Okay Uh I'll second that Um could we have uh a vote please select board so Stephen uh roll call vote please All those in favor johnson All right F's eye Okay All right
That's taken care of Thank you All right Scott briefly town administrator report Anything in particular besides budget issues uh last week I was able to take Chris Mason who's the representative for the um office of energy on the state level just to go see the um green energy
projects and sign off on the on the projects Uh today we met with the uh land use planning uh advisory committee Uh we're looking for May 10th to probably do our next big public one May 10th May 10th Um it's a Saturday morning
And also uh we met with capital last week so we're going to probably have one more capital meeting in the next week or two just to finalize everything with that Okay Isn't May 10th uh No May 11th is Mother's Day right okay Okay All right
How about um any select board reports John anything from your end other committees all Norris in the budget All Norris Okay Stephen anything from any of your committees um Scott covered it Land use Okay All set All right I'm not seeing
Dan I've got just a couple things Um the um um grants committee did put in a grant request for the MVP project and we won't hear about that until July Uh and that is a feasibility study to look at Norris
uh possibly being a cooling center and also to look at not only the inside but the outside of Norris where there's a lot of pavement and especially around the playground areas that generate a lot of heat back toward the building Uh there's not much of HVAC in Norris except for the office and the library Uh
and not enough space even for the kids on a super hot day when they need to cool down So this is just a feasibility study Um no clue whether we're a candidate or not It's pretty competitive grant uh but just to find out whether it's even possible given the structure of Norris to modify anything to make a
couple of rooms uh at least more uh air efficient uh and act as a cooling center during the hot months which would benefit not only the kids while they're still there in June but also anybody else in town uh especially seniors that would need perhaps air conditioning on a super super hot stretch of weather that
we might have Other than that we've been very busy with the 250th uh anniversary campaign Uh we've got Earth Day uh litter cleanup coming up April 22nd So again a lot of things are out on the website You're seeing them on hopefully on the town's um 250th anniversary
Facebook page It's on Instagram It's also on the Southampton community page and certainly on the website And then we'll have posters around town So there's an Earth Day cleanup April 22nd 10 to 12 looking for any and all volunteers Uh students at Norris maybe you can get some uh extra hours earned
for your credit hours if you need some Uh we're going to have three locations in town and you can read about that on the information that's provided but it'll be from 10:00 to 12 We'll provide the uh the goodies to use to pick up all the trash and uh have uh probably a
pizza meeting afterwards at Kona Pavilion when we're done at noon time Uh the other big one coming up and I know Ian's been all excited about this Um this is Ian's uh Ian's baby who's been working on this one The the big May May 3rd Conan Park competition So we're starting off with which I think is great
Whisker Wars which is the the finale if you will of the beard growing contest So we've had uh one beard contest that people had to enter into the longest growing beard sorry the fastest growing beard uh starting January 15th So there were a few entries there and those would
be judged at that point in time But it's also basically for walk-ins There were three other parts of the contest Uh longest beard most artistic and the mountaineer which nobody had to register for You just need to show up at Conent Park Pavilion May 3rd at 12:30ish 12:15
Uh and we'll set up a a judging uh competition at that point in time Uh that'll be followed by a cornhole tournament uh multiple ages I believe and uh a tugof-war tournament as well Uh those will be about at 1:00 and then a battle of the badges softball game which
will be from what I understand police and fire Uh probably closer to 2:30 uh at at Conent Park So big day Uh and that follows in the afternoon after the little league opening uh for the SYA So that's a big morning and uh followed up
in the afternoon And then the next day on the 4th uh to help celebrate National Bike Day the Friends of the Greenway and the Greenway Committee are sponsoring a walk bike event uh at Coleman Road to walk down Manhattan Trail uh to walk at least as far I think as South Street and
bike even further So that's going to be at 2 p.m on May 4th So again all of these things are posted There'll be flyers around town as well So please join in Um we've got lots of things going on and try to make it available for all ages and get the word out as
best we can So all right So with that we have some new business Scott you want to take us through the very I guess the first one purchase and sale Walcat Road Mountain Waters project Yep So this is the um the purchase sale agreement The uh deed is currently being worked on by
KP Law and Kessle Um and we're just waiting for the survey So hopefully the the closing will happen in the next couple weeks but this would be the first step um for that property All right And this uh in full disclosure this is property that was owned by my
brother at one point in time Uh he is now deceased and so this is from his estate Uh and this is property that was voted on through the man mountain waters project whatever last year sometime right uh during uh one of our town meetings So this is finally coming to an end It's about 19 acres Uh and the total
price is $185,000 and it will be for conservation purposes only to my knowledge So KOM will actually manage this kind of along with Kestrel Is that right i believe Okay So what do we need to do tonight we
need to vote to accept the deed from the fowls Uh sorry Hello Come in Stephen I move that we accept the deed from the estate of fowls for conservation
purposes in perpetuity of purchase and sale Purchase and sale Okay Not the deed but purchase and sale Yep Okay With that amendment Okay Second I stand corrected Thank you All right Any discussion all right Okay Uh then we
will have the original to pass around to sign by the select board Okay That will get one more property for the mountain waters underway which I'm sure they're looking forward to getting taken care of You got to call the vote Chris Yep So that'll be
good Yes No we will So okay So with that all those in favor could we have a roll call vote please stephen Johnson I Johnson Thank you very much All right Motion is approved and we
will sign that momentto before the end of the night Okay Uh next up College Highway Phase one sorry phase two and phase three water main replacement loan 2026 And I think I see Brett here You
want to just give us a couple minutes on that i think we have a general idea but go ahead and give us an update Hello everybody Brett Simmons superintendent water park So you got to bear with me My first time going through this paperwork So uh I'll take any and all guidance Yeah I think
we we've got the the information for the warrant already but just for the public just to tell them what the project is where you've stopped and where you're going to go and what this is about Just Okay So uh this project was an engineering project I started before I took over as a water department Um last in 2023 it finished with the actual
installation of the water man Uh we're laying 12-in main out there uh replace a 1932 win in 1932 6-inch cast iron pipe that's tuberculated old poor shape uh had a couple of main brakes in the last three
to six years um from the best information I could come up with in our files um it's in uh such poor condition that it's not connected out front of town hall which makes for a potential nightmare of a distribution issue you know depending if we have any more
issues um any water mane brakes that we have out there because this mass highway um very expensive to repair The last one that was out here by the fire department it was a leak in February of 2022 that got finished up with well they it got paved
um according to Mass Highway Standards Um and uh the total cost of the project was best guessed between overtime highway repair and private contractor at you know a prevailing wage rate was probably about
$24,000 So any digging we do out there is very expensive Um uh again this engineering project was started before my time So phase two and phase three uh would take up pick up where college uh highway and Clark Street meet Conan Park
Um phase two was initially to get to town hall right out front front of the door here in town hall And phase three was from town hall to Pomeray Meadow where the other section was done I think roughly 2017 The engineering stuff is coming on
5 years old Um so we're going to have to pay a little bit of a fee to restamp it Um would be good for a couple more years after that I believe is what the engineer told me And like what else is Oh so I'm trying to combine phases two and phase three Um
because the SRF money the state fund money is all tied up with lead service inventory and um and POS Yes that's their newest priority those two right and so so because of those two projects taking up all the SRF money the only way
we can go about this is USDA loans um very from what I could tell no nobody wants to use the USDA because it's a very complicated funding and reporting um but uh that there's no other place to really get um you know a low interest
loan Mhm Um at this point to do that project um we were supposed to con do phases two and three in separate phases Um but after talking to engineers and a couple of contractors uh we feel that if we combine phase two and phase three yes
it's going to be for a miserable summerlong project out here to do 4,900 ft of it in one summer Um but probably the cost savings is anywhere between depending on prices of materials that go up now because of all the everything going on with uh materials Um
could potentially save best guesstimate 75 to $100,000 on per per uh unit price per pipe Buying more you get a better price And then uh mobilization cost is a fixed cost of you'll save $40,000 and mobilization cost from one project
dropping everything off picking everything up and then doing it again on phase two So do you have an idea what the cost was cuz I do you have an idea of the cost for the second third phase yeah phases two and phases three to combined and these are conservative
numbers is uh just a little bit over $2 million 2.069 069 million um would be through a 40-year um USDA loan We'd have to get a temporary construction loan um as USDA does not fund the temp the project while
it was going on So it' be a short-term um I've been in talks with uh the tax collector Um she believes that this could potentially go to a cheaper rate than 4.25% and anybody I've talked to said 4.25% 25% was expensive you know a
little higher Um but because of our um per capita income being um well above $100,000 in town for medium home income we fall out of all loan forgiveness grant forgiveness or grants and all opportunities like that So it would
strictly if this project which needs to it's been I'm not saying neglected it's been it's long overdue um based on reports of uh the quality of the pipe and the distribution system out here being the main thorough through our distribution
to get to the southern part of town Um it's uh it's time that it gets done Um the last water department regime had it all planned out Um it's taken me a little longer to get it I We had hoped that it would would have started last year Um
there was just a lot to have to bite off and just stepping into this role and Mhm understanding everything and making sure that And are there any grants available that you're aware of zero Zero So it's strictly going to be sping the rateayers because we had if I'm not mistaken we had put in
about 180,000 or thereabouts from ARPA money I believe it was 332 I believe it was 332,000 Okay We You're right We had two right there was two there was two uh phases Yep Y and so yeah the rest of that project was around 681,000 So the
remainder of the from 681 to 232 was uh um came out of a water department operating budget the enterprise fund Mhm And so what I think I started to say in the beginning um or this a minute ago was um talking to the tax collector we
believe that potentially um because we fall out of the grant forgiveness and through the USDA loan at 4.25% there is a potential chance that um when it goes out to bid it could be
um at a much lower rate You know know what that is I don't know if anybody's got a crystal ball but take some guesses Chris question So Brett the this money isn't going to be paid back through the tax revenue It's going to be paid back through the enterprise account right yep Enterprise Have the water commissioners approved it yes we have We talked about
it last night at last night's meeting And so again our backup thanks for sneaking this in under um short short notice Um it I've uh had this I had a meeting about a week and a half ago to USDA loan specialists and because I've been trying to track them down and uh
the office recently got closed and consolidated and I thought this project was done because that office was closed Turns out they relocated They've consolidated and uh so this has been 6 weeks in the making for this for this kind of schedule and contact for this
meeting with the USDA loan loans officer So and just for clarity you mentioned last time that some of the money came in through the enterprise fund so some will this time as well Well it's it's all going to come through the enterprise fund Um so just explain that for people that are listening Oh yeah And so this is not this is strictly um through the
rate payers you know which is separate from the taxpayers Um this is strictly the water department is run through an enterprise fund meaning all costs incurred will come through the enterprise um fund M madam chair can I
ask you a question is that okay um is the town So the loan from USDA and the short-term loan is the town on the hook for it who who is the borrower is it the enterprise fund with a guarantee from the town i can answer that Because
they're a department of the town even though they're an enterprise they're primary but if they fail it goes on the general revenue Okay So if the commissioners aren't keeping the rates in line to cover the debt we would have to cover a shortfall much like the transfer station
Thank you Yeah Okay Okay Good So So just to follow on that so the the commissioners when they voted on this they looked at their reserves and their rates and they're comfortable with the current rates being charged andor plans for increases that they're going to be able to cover this bill Plans for in
Right Okay It's roughly an 11% increase to our operating budget Okay Okay Do we need to approve it separately or when we get to No I think it's going to be on the warrant as well So I think we just wanted Brett to come and explain a little bit more about it so that we
understood it So thanks Brett for popping in on that Appreciate that Thank you Okay So again being new at this is this So we'll approves it We're going to go through the whole list of everything that's coming up on the warrant We'll get to whichever one that is It's number 14 on the warrant So go article by
article Going to go next Put it in last You got a bump left I guess Yeah So we're going to go through the whole list and see what's on there and understand what we're going to be looking at for annual town meeting So yours is already put in there So you don't need to have any more explanation but thank you for coming on that part That's great Very
helpful Um one last thing I have the continuation I understand And I just want to make it I we just got also in our meeting last night We had to um finalize that overtime policy that has been um in the making Okay And I don't
we'll have to get it back on the agenda Yeah We were waiting to get something from you that we can take a look Just got signed That's fresh off the autograph table last night at the commissioner meeting Okay So good Thank you Yep All right Okay Scott Let's uh tackle the ATM articles I think And
that's what folks we've got here and you've uh got a large packet for us here Um so they're still in very rough uh draft until tomorrow when um I'll be able to kind of finalize everything Um but just going through them Um so the first article consent agenda I don't
think we're actually going to need it So So the page before that has another article one Is that just Oh that's just Yeah it's formatting and scratched up Yeah that's going to be where the um Okay the the list is for the pages Okay I got you Okay Um so we probably won't
need the uh consent agenda um this year Uh the big articles are obviously the annual operating budget for FY26 um depending on how we want to do it So for this one I just copied and pasted what what we did the last time we did an override Um which was for the fire
department Um so I I have to update all the numbers obviously and then that would lead into the next article which would be the supplemental budget override specifically for uh Norris School
So Scott can you confirm like the the $19 million number is not the right number right That's the 20 Is it going to be it's going to be the 23 that you have on the balance budget okay Yep It'll be the
uh where' it go Uh $23,527,388.99 I'll round up uh and then that would lead into the override uh specifically for the um Norris budget So I'll go back to my objection on article two and article three And I I'll to start I'll acknowledge that's how we've
traditionally done it But just because it's how we've always done it matches the definition of insanity I would offer that uh do specifically gives us three different ways to do this And I'll make the same argument that I made the other night is I believe it should be a single
question If you approve it you're approving the override If you don't approve it you're approving the lower number and the override fails I believe while I do believe that the citizens need to be heard on this I believe it needs to be heard at the ballot when the
polls are open for 8 hours and all eligible voters are able to come versus the potential of it being killed by 100 or 120 people at town meeting and I recognize that I may be in the minority on this opinion So you're you're recommending not to do a separate
article for the override for the 897,000 I think it's one question If if it approved the question the one question has the override has the override in it If it fails the override falls out and the budget passes without the override
And I'm I'm going to say and I know I'm not on the slide board but I I disagree with John's position I think it it's makes more sense and I think it's more clear to vote on the budget and then the override Okay I actually agree with John
All right Stephen you have any thoughts or Doug anybody out there sorry Uh yes I agree with John I would second that as a motion and motion discussion Robert Yes
And Doug here I also agree with John as well of what you decide tonight The town moderator and the town still have the right and the prerogative to divide the question at the meeting If if you move to correct me if I'm wrong procedure-wise you'll move to divide the
question without objection So the populace could raise the moderator can divide the question on on the on the moderator's own as the moderator has done the last 15 years If the town wants to divide a question the moderator hasn't divided The town will then vote
on it But once the moderator decides to divide a question there's no vote by the town voters So if the only So if there's only one question before the body you can take that question and break it into multiple parts to create two articles as as
as has been done for the last 15 years There's only been one question for the budget but it's been divided by the moderator Yes because the idea is not to create chaos It's not to create confusion It's to separate two separate issues or three
or four So through the chair can we um find out through legal counsel whether or not what the moderator is proposing to us is actually correct Not that I doubt it but attorney he's not the attorney As you have done maybe 12 years
ago as well Yes certainly the fact that a sole person can override every citizen's I think that's the role of the moderator to my knowledge but we can double check that I mean that's what I think the moderator's role is in town meeting Yes Um but so you're saying that
if I'm understanding that if we did present the one question for the full budget with the override you would still divide it up whatever public safety um I'm forgetting all the different categories Sorry Uh debt etc etc 100% Yes And then one of those categories
would also be the override or as a separate one But but it's part of the same art It's one article right is that right i Well I don't know how it's going to be presented Exactly That's my next point It's be if we don't put the detail on the article he has nothing to divide
If it's this number or this number and it's summary only without the detail below it and there's a handout for it there's nothing to divide So it's what we decide to put on Now traditionally we put the whole spreadsheet on that That happened about 11 10 years ago The moderator was able to find the details and divide the question So I guess we
pass on this and let us do we have the um do we have the one from LA um yeah this is the one I This is the one from before This is Okay let's just take a look for a second about Yeah move that out of the way That that really doesn't help anybody I don't think Um
we then go to the attachment So then there was this there was an attachment right there's an attachment that went to it that had at least the the bigger lines of each category of the various department level budgets right
so highway li I mean sorry uh yeah highway public safety library debt etc and town townwide expenses right those are the some of the typical ones okay and then so this is the one okay this is the one that we did as the
override for the fire department right where this then became not the entire budget again but just a vote on the override part which is option three under the do regulations
Right So you're saying that this part would be all right This this I'm do gives us three options right i'm there's options One of those options right that's one of the options Well yeah but you just asked me if if I was okay with that being the option Okay You're not
I'm not Okay with the D if I may have approach number one which John had mentioned and then we have um approach number two which is the two separate budgets right and then we would
have approach number it's not labeled number three but um separate departmental contingent budget article so Norse would be a Norris is a bud uh department so it would be a specific override for Norris budget and my thought process does here
is what this sets up potentially is because there are two separate questions and the budget would come first before the override If you there wouldn't stop anybody from getting up and slashing $890,000 from
the regular budget before getting that pass So now we're amending this on the floor as long as we have them typed out in two versions We're going we're going we're hacking that There could be a group that wants to hack that budget to save the Norris piece versus let's just wait and
see if the override passes because now the the ship's already out of the harbor when we get to the second question versus it's one question here's the number send it to the ballot box let the 2700 registered voters have 8 hours to vote on this versus a two-hour session Saturday morning at Norris But we would
still have an attached budget that shows every departmental level We can have it as attachment Yeah Okay Yeah I'm thinking Stephen and Doug may have questions You guys Stephen go ahead Um so the example that was shown was
ordinary capital um bonding and not a um a school budget override So difference I believe is debt exclusion Certainly it's the purpose and because we're part of a regional school
system and if we were not to do our due diligence and give all of our citizens an opportunity to weigh in on our part of the regional budget um I I think we'd be failing to do our duty
So um attendance at town meeting is a minority of the voters and participation at the ballot box is at least marginally larger Um that's why I'm with John and I wanted to add this distinction that we
have this regional complication uh on school budget as compared to buying important equipment for the town Yeah Okay Thanks Doug Did you have
something to chime in on no I think John and Steven's um comments really cover my points as well Okay So what does that mean the main thing we got to be sure of is however we vote it for the warrant I mean we have to vote on the ballot question tonight
Tonight is the deadline on that right yep So we have to be very clear in terms of how that ballot question has to match whatever we do in the warrant is my understanding right yes Yep So the ballot question is the deadline is in a couple hours Um and I'm going to give it
right to Lucy whichever the select board decides Um this the actual warrant doesn't have to be done until a week before Um so we have some time but I the earlier the better for the public to to get it out So um but I can still
distribute draft budgets and things like that um while we decide which approach we want to do Well I mean we ought to be able to I mean most of us are here tonight except for Dan so I think we ought to be able to decide one way or another on this So just just to recap I want to be sure that I understand What
do you see as the main advantages of doing it this other way i want to be clear Um it it forces the issue to the ballot box and and it doesn't much like much like the $3.2 million vote that that's a ceremonial vote right although in this case it's going to happen at the ballot
box but no money can be encumbered and no money can be spent until we get the full package based on the way the wording was So having a sole question at town meeting just moves it because if it fails at town meeting the whole budget's out right so the 100 folks that are there this gets to the ballot It's a
simple majority you need 51 to do it It goes to the ballot and now you need the um again now it opens one question cuz the ballot question will be framed in one It's a yes or no at the ballot box right mhm And then the the widest group of
citizens eligible to vote will have the widest opportunity of time to vote on this because polls are open for 8 hours Mhm And there is early voting and couple that with early voting and mail voting too So right Yeah Mailing too Yeah Okay
One other point is I look at a town meeting not as the quantity of vote but the quality of vote so that all voices can be heard out loud to each other and that can be looked at recordings down the road before the election So I look
at the quality of the discussion at the town meeting as more important than the quantity of voters So presenting it this way though does not stop somebody from standing up like you said and saying we don't want this amount for the override right no there's
nothing that prevents it He'll ask for for and against and that stops everything in its tracks right there for what the discussion Well for the for the budget itself because we would we fall back to the our base budget then that didn't have the over No If it failed we would somebody would be in the
corner typing something up Yeah Love it Otherwise I don't and my time in town has never happened but the town meeting would be suspended till the next day or till a time later because you got to have the budget There's got to be a budget Yeah It's never happened
in 20 years Mhm Okay But I think explain you know explaining it even at the let everybody be heard that's there of nay whatever it is But then the argument is is this we're not talking about borrowing money to buy a pickup truck Mhm We're talking about uh in this
particular case the education system which really we're where we are right now not because of anything that happened within the town but it's it's years of other problems that have gone unchecked that have now come home to roost And is it fair to put um the
burden of that on on the on the kids mhm You know as Margaret alluded to it if this fails it's the equivalent of 10 full-time positions That's 11% of the staff Mhm being reduced And I argue that every single person who's registered to
vote should have an opportunity to cast a ballot Mhm Okay Madam Chair people want to have a motion then to uh I I would like to second that motion um strongly Um I
think it's not only a matter of informed participation but access And so this provides access both at town meeting and at the election which ultimately is required I
I think this is the most democratic approach and the reason why I come to this position is it's my strategic judgment that this is most supportive of the school That's that's
where I'm coming from I also think for presentation purposes when we get to the attachment you know it's still the same way as it's normally seen Here's all the lines and departments and here's the here's budget A and budget B and the only line that are going to be different is when you get to Norris Mhm Cuz
everybody else should should match up right mhm Scott Um it should Yeah The 8.97 is sitting on the Norris line item That's going to be visible on the Norris line item only right the extra amount So you have two columns of numbers for the budget presentation It'll it'll be basically
that whole package I sent out So it'll be this it will be this and then the individual the three pages for each department The department overview the personnel services and then the operating costs will be distributed So it'll be a pretty
significant booklet M I believe spreading out the budget and the votes gives people time to spread out their emotions I haven't seen the article of the motion But I imagine
having yay or nay and people are against the override they're going to vote the budget down and then you don't have a budget Correct And you don't have an override Correct So I see that as a high risk And if we vote all the if we did call it by line as you've usually done and and
again just to be clear that if if all the other ones pass but then the override line failed we still don't have a budget right can I show the moderator the sample without the without education robert have you seen this the sample no I haven't seen it This is this is what
Scott is proposing to put forward for your attachment where normally you would all run down you'd have subsections but here it's just each department listed separately Mhm So there there would be one this is the non-override then there'd be one with the override and the
north number would be different All right So I think we have a motion on the floor and do we have a second on that second All right Second Any other discussion on this so I think we understand that we would like to go toward the way I'm hearing the motion would be under this first contingent
non-contingent budget the uh DLS approach number one DLS number one I can author it that way Okay All right That would be what what is the uh the desired change that we would make We would still ask though I guess from what you're saying John that we would just double
check with legal counsel in terms of the ability to still call the call the different uh departmental lines line by line just make sure that that is doable or not doable Mhm Um okay Does that take care of it so so a question Madam Chair
So the finance committee usually weighs in on each each of the items Mhm So in this case we're only offered one item to each article Right Each article rather than two articles we have a single article that's
entire budget now Right The article Yes This is what I'm hearing We like it or we don't Yeah Yeah Right And so the override baked in right the way I'm hearing it it would be the entire budget in one column the base
budget that we know right the contingent budget am I right would have the one with the override in it but the language up in the top would be what a yes vote approves the override A no vote fails the override
And the and the contingent budget goes through Mhm But the override is not a separate item Correct It's just part of the budget It's just part of it's going to be listed in those two columns But it should be evident that as you get down to those
categories that where that extra money is is under the education line right because we're comparing essentially it's the same budget except for the education line for Norris Yep So I'll just add the 897 to it Uhhuh
Okay I think we have a motion in a second And if no further discussion um we'll take a select board vote Uh by roll call please Stephen Johnson I Lumber I
Fouls No Motion passes Okay Next Do do Madam Chair Yes Is this a good time for the finance committee well I'm just wondering about procedure-
wise is that where do you guys normally would chime in on that because you would recommend or not recommend articles right i think we do that We usually have a separate meeting Separate meeting on that though Want to do that separate meeting Separate meeting rather than We have time to do that Yeah Yeah Yeah
Because this Yes That wouldn't affect the the actual warrant part So that'd be fine Okay Yeah The warrant itself doesn't have to be pushed published for another week or so So you're good on that you could Okay All right So that's what we will do And we'll double check on legal counsel in terms of the uh the
breaking down of the budget at town meeting Okay Yep All right Next article Uh next up is a little bit of a change Um generally the elected official salaries are always put into the decisional uh budget This would actually separate out u the two elected uh
compensated officials that we have the town clerk and the treasur collector So is their collective salary going to be in article one yes got a wrong number and that'd be
budgeting for that would be um without article three the elected officials being approved they couldn't be paid that so being budgeted for and then being approved to pay is is different Yeah And they've been budgeted for but you need the town meeting vote
because they're elected to approve them The article numbering is wrong just so you know Yeah There's there's a lot of errors Okay And so that would be for two two people right just two two positions Okay Um next up next is the water prize
enterprise um fiscal year 26 along with the transfer station enterprise Uh the next article these are fairly standard articles that we have Anyway then we have the three articles with the transfers to our three different stabilization funds depending
what the psych board chooses to divide them Uh we have uh rescending previous year capital appropriations Uh the list is going to grow um as as we uh work on it tomorrow So it'll probably be about two
dozen Sorry And can you explain what this is all about why why is this happening so we have um we we we went through all the different accounts that we've had outstanding for our special accounts and our capital expenses There's a lot
there's there's probably about three or four dozen um capital expenditures that have been approved by town meeting that were never expended out of or just a little bit out of So this would essentially take the old votes and nullify them and then we can next year we can actually repurpose the cash
Exactly So So some of them might have been spent but not all the way spent as well I'm guessing the sidewalk repairs with $600 left in it Yeah we probably borrowed approved 5,000 It was $4,400 or something I I think that was the full amount I'm not sure though So yeah it's it's a lot of forensic We have to go
back Um so the ones that are obvious like this year like the computer network service uh from 2019 the $7,500 that we never even touched uh things like that where we check with the department and that they're okay with uh going forward with it So the other stuff there's a lot
of that we're going to have to do a little bit more research on but this will help get clear off hopefully you know a third to half of them So a lot of these were ones where maybe we we did we actually did it but it never it never needed the full amount of money that we thought it would or something like that
And then we also have uh to resend unused borrowing authorizations Um so we're looking for some other ones but the latest one is the 23 Norris Elementary School van Uh they were authorized to borrow $98,000 Uh we ended up uh purchasing that with available
funds so we didn't need that article Um next up is the investment committee for trust funds It's a placeholder I need to uh just talk to John just make sure I get all the right language that he wants and and there's some standardized language I'm going to insert there Um the next two the next
article is for the water department um for a transfer of retained earnings Uh the next one would be uh authorized borrowing for the highway department heating system I'm working with Randall just to get some final numbers but currently it stands it'll
cost between $180,000 to $200,000 uh for the heating system Uh it is failing Um if we don't have it by schedule it by the fall the equipment that we have which runs on diesel the the fuel will essentially gel
up if it's not properly heated Um and that equipment would be useless for snow removal Um so we currently have 350,000 in our capital expenditures So if we were to take this out of capital it would essentially wipe out half of it Um
so the idea would be to borrow over you know probably about 5 to 8 years Um it would cost about $40,000 a year to pay for it over that period Um this next year we don't have any capital coming off but the year after we do have some so it'll be a little bit of a hit for
next year Just back on the um water enterprise one that was for maintenance to Glendale well Right That's that one Okay All right Go ahead Uh next would be the replacement that Brett had talked about
for uh the borrowing for the uh college highway Um the the next one would be the unpaid accounts from previous fiscal years Uh so this would tie into the $450,000 central office cost uh that were unaccounted for over the last
couple years uh because it was a previous year's bill or maybe we didn't actually receive the bill but is a previous year cost Um Hampshire to Nor just be clear to people No this is Hampshire Regional not Norris School Um so this is money that's been owed over
the last couple years Uh we're working out an agreement with the school committee um the regional school committee um the hopefully paid over a period of three years but this would allow us to uh pay the previous uh outstanding balance and this is central
office costs for Norris from Hampshire Okay Right It's the portion of central office that got allocated to Southampton Elementary Similar appropriation was made to West Hampton into Williamsburg But to be clear on this this money the town has
this money We budgeted it It wasn't spent It was closed out fell out by free cash went to stabilization went to operation went to OPB and then 25% left So it's this isn't a shortfall right no
just untimely billing right but one that we can stretch out a little bit We don't have to pay the full amount all at once from see how the vote goes tonight So we didn't have we didn't have we didn't have quorum tonight so we were unable to to vote on it at the regional
Okay Um so the question is can this be brought with a number to town meeting and then that's that can be changed on the floor Is that possible well the number will be just for will be the total number for the previous year bills
whether it's two years or three years So does it so whatever it is on the warrant it is on the warrant and then the agreement is separate to divide it out Are you sure i would think if if we're not going to pay it immediately if we're going to spread this debt over multiple years then it's a form of debt that we're voting on So we'd have to specify
that Mhm But I didn't do any research on I'm just thinking cuz normally pay last year's bills Bradley gets the authorization he cuts the check and pays the bill Here we're saying we're going to pay it but we're going to pay it over time therefore creating a debt schedule Yeah
I'm not sure how to do it but I think that should be researched a little bit Okay Okay Yeah I mean I I thought we were going to put just a sum on not the full amount on the uh on the warrant We were going to put a a year year one sum that you were thinking about whatever
the school committee agreed to pay 200,000 or whatever it might be I can check with I can check with Michelle on that All right Thank you Okay We'll get that clarified for you Okay Uh next is the swimming pool safety uh bylaw Yes
there'll be a revision Um did we make the change not yet I'm going to Any any previously permitted work shall we permit it's going to be grandfathered in from from what Ron has told me Do we know where Ron's leaning on the 8ft versus 12T line that was the other Yeah
I think I think all the lot lines he was fine with grandfathering I think from what I heard he What if you purchased the property prior to prior to the vote and you haven't built the pool yet nothing what I understood from him would nothing would take effect until the date
of the town meeting where it's voted on So anything prior to the to the May town meeting right so if you had the parcel and planned on putting a pool in but hadn't pulled the permit yet you would be subject to the new rules afterwards Yeah Okay Yep That's how I understood it
Yeah And you got the latch pen figured out That was the other I think So it's it's doesn't have to be so complicated Yes Yep Uh the next one is a just a placeholder Um this is to align the quorum under our bylaws for the
concom to what the state quorum would be currently I can't won't go into details but basically the state and our local bylaws require different quorums for different um votes on different subject matters So this would align it so that as long as there's that one quorum for
the state would mirror what our bylaws or our bylaws would mirror what the quorum for the state would be And there's a couple other small minor minor language changes as well but not big Um next we have the zoning articles Uh the first one the uh accessory dwelling unit
that was uh presented by the planning board It's a rather long one Um yep The short version of this is this will allow an existing property that has x amount of property to put up to what a
950 foot granny home so to speak or grandparent home might be the better term Yeah it's a a percentage of the main dwelling Okay Uh there is also a update to
site plan uh site plane review and this is another zoning law Yeah these are all zoning bylaws Mhm And then the last one from planning would be a solar bylaw amendment
[Applause] Wait which does what what's the on page 16 yeah that Can you make that bigger again and is the solar bylaw not necessarily being driven but is it being offered in
support of what's going on at Bashishas uh well that's already been that one So whatever have whatever is in here it's not impacting Bashistas right so we do have to the Bashistas pilot will come up later on So we do have to ask town meeting to allow the select board to
negotiate the pilot agreement for that Madam chair Yeah Stephen Um the issue with the solar bylaw is that it was deemed to be burdensome and out of line with our neighboring
communities or things that were um single family scale but not a fixed to the building Yes you can have ground mounted but somehow we got into a whole
lot more rigoral So this simplifies the permitting Mhm Okay Thanks All right Okay So that's planning board So there's three three zoning bylaws from planning board Okay
Mhm CPC would be it It's lengthy Uh next one would be the community community preservation articles which is a traditional budget um matching grant for the greenway design
and that was actually we're we don't need that one anymore 23 we don't need Yeah 23 we don't need That fell out Um oops Actually I did want to add the solar that didn't get in make it in Um
so one art couple of different articles that didn't make it in uh was the solar uh pilot program So with the Bashista o with the Bashista orchards um solar going in uh the town's able to
negotiate a pilot It's very restricted on on what can or can't be in that Anyways um so this would allow the select board to negotiate on behalf of town meeting to enter into the payment in lie of taxes agreement Madam Chair
yes Uh the for the town administrator is this akin to a royalty or a personal property tax or how is it in lie of
taxes Pilot generally means a payment in lie of taxes So I'm not sure exactly what's being proposed Is it similar to what HO has yeah Is it a deferred yeah So it's it's it's in lie of a personal property tax on on Yeah
what the solar panels generate and I I think it's cap too at the dollar amount It is it it's it's like five grand right it it's equal to a certain amount based on like what it would normally be in the the taxes So um yeah
it is is not a lot of wiggle room Um sort of like the cannabis host agreement now There's the state really regulates what can and can't be into it Does that answer your question Stephen not really Um but it's enough for now in
this meeting I mean the rest I could take up with the assessors and I'd be happy also going forward to be the le understand it better We're just trying to go through the highlights of all the uh the articles that would be on
here tonight Yeah Uh the next one would be our revolving fund spinning limits Um one deletion was the uh the board of health from last year So under the new the new old new model Um so it's
going back to uh the town receiving the funds from the inspections for the health department uh and then setting aside a percent uh a set amount for any special contracting services uh for next fiscal year Okay Was this where the finance
committee used to have an an amount or is that different uh that's different Okay Mhm And then there were two more um that I requested um let me just distribute these So this was from the assessors unfortunately
got in the got lost in the email Um but there was a request from the board of assessors to increase the um tax exemption as well as the asset limits um that seniors surviving spouses and other
specific minors can uh receive What it would do is essentially instead of having to go back every year to town meeting uh it hasn't been updated in a number of years the state allows the ceiling of what the exemptions can be and the town is kind of down here right
now So this would allow it to match the state level year after year with the exemptions Cindy I don't know if [Music] u Yeah And fell [Applause] behind it
Is it automatically increased every year is that the way it's written i believe so Yeah Yeah I think so Yeah And more a majority of these are reimbursed by the state A portion of it right yep Not not 100% but the veterans
and the widows and the blind right so the two proposals so one is to raise the exemption amount and one is to raise the asset limits Y to qualify people have to present not every senior is eligible It's bas correct Yeah
So these would be two separate articles to be included Right So the first one the exemption would raise the amount that they can actually um receive and then the asset would be to raise you know how they qualify Exactly Yep Okay Got
it All right So with that we're somewhere we our numbering isn't quite right but we're somewhere in the 26 28 range probably number of articles thereabouts Yes Okay So we definitely have work to do to tidy these all up and get all the
language in there Um we do have another week or so right to get this ready to be posted So I don't really want to wait till the last minute So the sooner the better we can do that Do you need a motion to close the warrant i think we do We should have any more articles coming in Uh I think we'll take the
assessor's one that slid in under the line here So let's go ahead and make a motion to close the warrant Motion to close the ATM warrant Okay I'll second it Second Okay All those in favor stephen
I Lumbery BS I Okay Okay The ATM warrant for the May town meeting is closed for warrant articles Okay great Anything more on that to be dealt with
um so where do we go now with the budget vote that's on our agenda item here um so the Norris budget and the whatever Do we need further votes on that tonight uh yeah Yeah I would I
would appreciate a vote just um to make sure that we're all aligned Um so what I handed out here is just the overall budget and this was the 4% for Norris School Um with that in mind if you approve this then I would
also do another budget and break it out uh with $897,69 put back into the put into the Norris line as well So essentially when we do the um approach number one it would show the two different um budgets
So this non-override budget is a total of 23 million 527 388 and 99 that includes 4 and a or four some some 4% thereabouts for Norris but it does not include the override Correct So one
thing I do want to point out with the budget so um we did receive the vocational tuition So it's going to be at 4 1/2% So that did save a little bit of money Uh we don't have the enrollment yet So I think if we stick at that 4 1/2% I think we'll be okay The letters
are going out this week So that's the that's the one um kind of question mark that's still hanging over And then we also need to know what obviously the Senate and the House does but we have to move forward um with our budget Um a couple different things So I I I know
that the 4% is devastating to North School It's also devastating on the municipal side as well Uh we've used a lot of one-time monies So this would take half of the ambulance stabilization account uh through revenue I was able to
put some of that back in Um additionally um I revised the revenue from 375 for ambulance receipts down to 350 Um the 375 was being very generous based on December's highest revenues ever Um not
the best way to do it So ideally it should be probably closer to 325 $325,000 So um with the saved money from vocational I I reduce that back down to back to 350 Um everything else
um the compensation u adjustment line item was taken out Uh the reserve fund for the finance committee was reduced down to 5,000 Um it does include the appropriation built into each department's budget for the the
percentage increase for um the 2% It does not include any steps or anything like that So it's just a 2% change Um highway highway uh the $55,000 was taken out again Um so hopefully if the
override passes that's going to be something we might not look at in the fall but um it it is difficult um on our side with this So it's really there's not many places to cut u from our side of the budget So we did have to really
tighten our belt and use some creative bookkeeping and and unfortunately you know onetime fees onetime funds to to get to that 4% So does that translate into we're overstaffed because if we have a 2 and
12% limit then how are we I mean I know how we're out of whack on the on the school as a department But if we're if the only place left to cut is staff then by default that means we're overstaffed And I would argue that that's not an accurate statement I would argue that
the 2 and a half override while it was all appropriate at the time it happened needs to come back before the voters on a regular basis And by regular I don't know what that is Every 5 10 15 years But when you have collective bargaining agreements that are two and a half percent is no longer the norm right
they're they're three or four going up and the cost of everything is skyrocketing It's just yeah we you did trim on the other departments but we we need to rightsize the budget and then plan There's also a
lot going on right now right because we've got the public safety building we've got the Council on Aging building we've got the apparatus issue we've got the fact that we've got one ambulance that can't even hold a full tank of gas We we don't have a ladder truck We don't have a tanker that's reliable You know
we we've deferred and deferred and deferred and now the chickens come home to roost I mean this is going to be a big pill to take possibly But as far as staffing I want to just point out that most of our departments our maintenance we have a
part-time custodian Accounting we have a full-time person and a part-time person Uh assessors we have two less than full-time people benefits eligible but less than 30 hours Scott I agree with you We're we're underst staffed And this being underst staffed is exactly what happened at central office at why
central office failed the billow us for $400,000 which is why central office failed to notify the town accountant that they he had to acrew $700,000 worth of stuff that added to all these problems we have because central office for the longest time had complete lack
of transparency and for the record before I get yelled at tomorrow in emails the current administration of central office is doing one hell of a job there all right But the sins of the past have caught up and if we continue to slash and cut and die of a thousand
cuts here at the town side we're going to end up in the same spot Yeah Well and definitely this year we took a bigger hit I think on insurance than we thought we might too So it was close to a 20% increase on insurance costs which we weren't We knew it would be up but I don't know that we were pretty much took
out any flexibility that we have on our on our side because we we pay both the insurance costs for the town uh and the North School employees too So and 10 to 12% on our retirement account for again decades ago when this started and nobody wanted to pay the contribution limits
The next generation would pay for that and pay for that right yep So anyway Okay So what do we need to do for uh a vote for you tonight Scott what you need i would vote on this budget the the 4%
uh budget and then um vote on another budget adding just the 8.97 um amount for the override So we would have both the override amount and the non-override amount in the option number one in the uh article Mhm Okay John want
to make a motion so the override budget is 24,424 4557.99 Okay And then the um budget without the override is 23,527 388.99
Mhm Okay But that but hold on But that's not the um that's not the obligation to the taxpayers Correct Because that 23 million includes it's all revenue
sources right so state aid right so that that 23 million is not the number going to the that is the uh gross number without the offsets that in that includes the
Norris offsets Well I'm thinking for the for the budget Um yeah motor vehicle excise interest penalties payment lo taxes meals tax room tax Can't all those have to get backed out of that number and then we come up with this is the raise an
appropriate tax number Correct This 23 million is everything But that but of that that 23 million is not the amount that's going to be divided amongst the household taxpayers in the town of Southampton because you're going to back out all the cherry
sheet money You're going to back out the the Norris offset You're going to back out the council on aging right the Do we know what that all do we know what that number is um yeah I can Isn't it your budget revenues chair no
So through the chair I think John is exactly right about the budget that we're looking at Um that the pounds outlay town levy is not not the total
but um I'd go back to Scott that I believe we have to pass the total budget wherever the revenue is coming from So So in the past I agree I just wanted I You print a $23 million number out there without any explanation That's what
people think the taxes are going to be So what we've done in the past is the tax impact is important of course Right Okay What we would do is for example the council on aging um a lot of the grants would be used to fund the positions but
the actual positions costs were never actually put into the budget So this is reflective of what the actual costs are to operate the council on an Aging and all the other departments And then it's minus any of the revenues that we might get uh like for example like the communications grant we put in as a
cost 175,000 that we pay to Eastampton every year and then we put in the revenue side the 175,000 that we're going to get from the grant So it balances out but it does increase the total amount of the budget Correct But I I think the form needs to be here's our total Here's all the money we're going
to spend and that's the with the override that's 24,400 and change But of that 24400 from other sources from the state from all these other pots it probably drops it down cuz I have a feeling that our
general budget last year was like around 11 million plus the school which is plus Hampshire which is like five or six So the tax limit that we're going to hit the homeowners on is really 17 million or $18 million right so all the the
costs that were built in was 1.206521 It can't be chapter se chapter 70 itself is 2.1 million That's coming from the state That's not coming from the property owners in town And you've got a re a total revenue for
26 of 17 million What is that i think if you go to your first page personal property real estate you have a number there of 16,166 Mhm That's the tax bill number Right Right So boom
So the 23 if the but if the override fails 24 if it does pass but the impact to the taxpayers is it's either 16,166 or you add the 800 to that and you're talking 17 million in round numbers Right Right Yeah Right But
messaging is important right i nominate John to be chair of this communication Go ahead No just am I thinking of this differently well this is without the override Yeah it's only 16 million So you want me
to approve 16 million and not move 23 million forward if I vote 23 million I'm voting 23 million on the taxpayers In the p in the past we voted on the the cumulative amount that is
going to go out in tax bills So here that's 166 No you have to add the No Go ahead Stephen Override too Can you go a little louder Stephen please he said you have to add the override Um
I I I get Scott's point You have to take the regular annual plus the override The the debt levy is what John is getting at or not the debt levy I'm sorry the total tax levy The levy limit
is in the budget Scott I agree is adding the override and that's all on taxpayer There's not an offset to that Is that correct
right So you somewhere you've got a column of revenue there that totals up to 17 million on that other sheet that you gave us So and that's with the override I've got I've got the math now So I'll I'll make a motion that we approve a cumulative
budget with override of 24,424 457.99 which would have a personal property and real estate tax impact on the community of 17 million63,6163 And if the override was
to fail the total budget would be 23,527 388.99 with 16 million166 532.63 being raised through property taxes You see it on the first page That's good Clarification I'm not sure
that we've I don't recall us voting that way before John but I could be wrong I mean our whole total budget last year was 21 million and that's what we but we've never had all the offsets in here True Which we do now We've shown the Yeah we've shown that we presented the budget which I like but total budget and
then tax issue Yeah Okay Kind of got you Okay Yeah If I may Yeah I I understand what John's doing Um but is there is there even that distinction for the override anymore you've got them combined What happens if the budget fails you just don't have a budget
doesn't it doesn't revert to the 4% budget It doesn't revert to the 16 million It you just don't have a budget period No because the ballot question will be a one well what we voted on will be one question Yes or no Yes Adds the
897 to the foundation No leaves the 8.97 off and the foundation passes I'm using the word foundation I think you're using budget The base budget Base budget It does So it still passes even if it's voted down cuz the vote isn't on the override The votes on
the entire thing unless I'm an affirmative vote passes the override A negative vote passes the budget without the override at town meeting at the ballot At town meeting it would be the same question going both ways At town meeting
if if the budget article because it's one article if that fails then the budget fails Yeah The whole thing fails at that point And if it succeeds then it goes to the ballot for the additional money for the the override the A97 which would only happen if that ballot is a yes So it's contingent on the higher
budget is contingent on Prop 2 and a half passing right okay So that was a very long and convoluted motion there Well again I we're adding all the revenue sources which is good It's transparent which is something that we have not usually done in show But if
we're going to do that we need to call out here's the because it also gives credit to the fact that well over 7 million of this is not coming from taxpayers Well between state aid and grants you know we pay it off to the state No but I mean yeah some of it is
you know coming in you know that way or grants or whatever else right that's true All right Are we sort of clear on that i'm getting a little foggy myself I have to admit But we understand the budget of the 23 millionish as the base plus the
$800,000 gets us about a $24 million budget for the figures John has cited So we'll go back and look at his actual figures in our minutes Yeah you can double check my math vote on that Be sure we uh have the math correct but I think so It looked like it was correct um as I did it myself Um so I think we
have a motion Uh Stephen you want to try and second that motion or any discussion regretfully no um because I think it's unduly limiting I think it crosses the boundary between
policy and communications or operations So what would you suggest that u John's very important point about the tax levy uh be excised from the motion but used prominently in the
communication around how we got here and what we're asking of the voters Well I guess Stephen I'm just saying it is 23 million or 24 million I'm just adding additional definition to the minutes to the motion so that it'll be
captured for all of eternity in the motion recorded in the minutes Well and I think that that is duly reliant on forecasts that are outside of our knowledge or control And so
um it you know rather than asking town council for an opinion I'd rather just uh give the uh broader authorization for the total budget and use your excellent reasoning in the um
communications but because regardless of hypothetically the Senate comes in and slashes our cherry sheet money by 50% The assessor's office are not going to be able to change that line item This
the assessors have already certified that's our number Sure That's how we set the tax rate already Right Thank you for the upcoming year Correct Thank you Is stand corrected okay So So
is that a second is that a second then Stephen yes there's only three of us Okay All right I think we've got it So let's uh let's go ahead and do a roll call vote All those in favor of the motion as iterated in great detail by
the vice chair Go ahead A roll call Stephen All those in favor Johnson Lubber I Okay Next Does finance vote on this now or later
um probably later Later Okay All right Then we need a motion regarding the override amount Um the ballot question Oh the ballot question itself Now what do we uh
So do you have the the new version okay So that that is the version you've got right but that's the two that that was assuming there was going to be two articles at town meeting Well there will be No we voted to make it one No but there's the second article is is public safety
Oh I I'm with you I'm with you Yeah there's there's only two 3.2 and then the 897 right for the ballot questions right which has to be read out and approved right so we just have to Wait a minute Yeah I'm with you on the public safety ballot but specifically on the
first ballot all the motion all the ballot question says is an additional 897069 and and I'm saying because of what we're did and formed it in one question Is that that's correct
cuz all all you're asking I'll read it I'm not making a motion but shall the town of Southoun be allowed to assess an additional 897069 in real estate and personal property tax for the purposes of supplementing the funding for the operating budget of the North Elementary School for the fiscal year beginning
July 1st 2025 So that as the ballot question ties with us having the supplemental language article language right so the question is now that we've collapsed the 897 into
a one article on town meeting even though we'll show it side by side right that's the contingent amount is the $897 So if it fails it goes back to the original non-contingent amount right so this is approving $897,699 into the tax levy and then you
can build your budget from that Okay So the language from what you understand from bon everything we've done tonight with with changing around the budget article does not affect the the language in the ballot question No this is from this is from Michelle KP law So they do
this one uh bond council does the borrowing Okay But but nothing we've only budget right now Scott Yeah Right Just the SC so bond why was bond counsel on the budget they're on the borrowing on the borrowing Yeah They're only on the
borrowing So just just to reiterate so instead of breaking it out with the base budget and then a supplemental article we got rid of the supplemental article in our town meeting warrant change right
now and that language between the warrant and the town meeting sorry and the election has to be the same Mhm Have we I just we just want to be sure that we haven't changed anything that messes up the language of the ballot question
because that's this is what was approved by bond council before So that's the ballot that's the ballot question for number two right and we approved option one Number sorry number two Sorry Yep
What so there's the article There's the motion Yep This is a sample motion from DLS Is that the one mhm For telling right yeah Keep going down
So that right there under either Yeah Under either approach Can you make that a little larger has a choice whether to bund bundle all continue appropriations in this particular So there's only one contining appropriation That's the school Right Right
You could if you wanted to do like a menu item or you know the pyramid type of override you could do that as well But this is the 897 for the the nor single purpose question override So the question as it reads now John is what
read out that question It it does Um shall the town of Southampton be allowed to assess an additional 897069 in real estate personal property tax for the purposes of supplementing the funding for the operating budget for the Norris Elementary School for the fiscal year So yeah So it's clear it's just related to
the school Yeah Yeah Seems like it matches I'll make a motion to approve ballot question number one Shall the town which shall read shall the town of Southampton be allowed to assess an additional $897,69 in real estate and personal
property taxes for the purposes of supplementing the funding for the operating budget for the Norse Elementary School for the fiscal year beginning July 1st 2025 yes or no okay Have a second Stephen
second All right Any discussion on that if not we'll do a roll call vote All those in favor stephen I lumber IS Okay Motion passes I make a motion to approve ballot question number two Shall the town of Southampton
be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition 2 and 1/2 so-called the amounts required to pay for the bonds to be issued for engineering architectural services to build a public safety building and all costs incidental and related thereto including an owner's
project manager Yes or no second All right Any discussion on that one and just for the record because it's not here this is deliberately written not to state the dollar amount Not allowed by law from what we've been told but that's generally the question Why
isn't the number there correct Yeah For any of any of the purchases we're not allowed to put in in We're not allowed to put a specific number Put in a dollar amount So this is the this is actually the 3.2 million that was voted on at at special town meeting but we are not Why Why is that do you know i haven't the
faintest idea It's a law that exists It doesn't because you have to know what happened at town meeting Yeah Well I I mean I asked bond council and the reasoning is that the exact amount won't be determined until the actual borrowing of the interest rate is So but I would think you could say the principal to be
no greater than 3.2 Good But got to call your legislature It's at this point Yeah It's the way it is And we we did it too when we purchased the land in Zero College there was nothing in the in the ballot question for land purchase and buildings
you know these kind of borrowings and stuff that the actual amount is actually not in the ballot question itself So it requires an educational campaign to kind of accompany the whole thing So yep All right Uh I'll second that if I don't
remember Stephen did but I'll second it Uh any other thoughts other than that we will take a vote Roll call All those in favor johnson I Lumbery I Okay Motion passes So we will have two
ballot questions for the annual town election Okay Hey Reggie welcome to Massachusetts Probably more um attorneys here than anywhere but New York State I guess Okay Uh next up I
think that takes care of basically special town meeting budget and ballot questions right we're done with all that And you're working on just for public's knowledge you're working on this whole budget book Some of it is already up online Am I correct the budget book unfortunately won't be as robust as I
had originally planned with specifics for each department but it is going to have all the line items from each budget all the personnel cost all of the hourly rates what it's used for So um it's not going to just be a line for everything and that I believe is under under
government and just it's a separate page uh whatever fiscal 26 budget I believe Right Right Yeah It's not tied to select page or or the town administrator page It's a page by itself So just if you go in and just hit the um headings up top for government and you'll see a drop
down for uh 26 budget Okay All right Um land planning update Scott so we had the meeting uh today um with Dodson Flinker and PVPC It was it was a pretty um it was a pretty good
meeting Um a lot of interesting conversations So they are going to be taking the input that the internal committee gave them as well and putting together uh a presentation for May 10th um which will be at North School Saturday morning I think it's 10:00 Uh
so be between 10 and 12 Um so they're going to make several recommendations as well as some alternatives And this is just another chance for the public to go in um see the plans see the designs give some more input Um so it's a constantly evolving process and until really until
the fall where we're going to have a finalized plan Mhm And this incorporates the results of the survey that they had done Mhm Yep Do we have a sense of how how much the survey was responded to or not uh we do I I think it was 174
responses I I have the exact number Um that's fairly fairly low amount unfortunately But at least we'll have another chance to get other input So was that the only date looked at madam chair was happening
that day i would I would second that strongly We had reasonable input from the community but I think it was largely motivated by um the workshop And so I'd really like
to promote the next workshop where people can see that their input uh is represented in the design concepts and there will be several So just like to put that out there Um I think you
mentioned the date Yeah Yeah I don't know in terms of Saturday May was the only date that was selected May May 17th 10 a.m at Nora school right what were you saying Tammy question I was just curious as the May 10th being there's a
road race in town going on there's games going on there's other things happening happening in as we enter spring that's going to be the the case I mean May 3rd is is a huge huge Saturday as well uh with the Little League and then the 250th events as well Um and then the
17th is a giant spring into Southampton So I'm thinking the the 10th is probably the the date that they found that they could make this happen We just get the word out to get more people to come That was taken into account by the committee Mhm Yeah Okay Go ahead Scott You want to
Yep Um so I I don't 178 had answered Um it's it's a very I'm sure we're going to be posting this online soon but it's the results It's uh 28 pages of pretty dense graphs Um so it it's one thing important to me
It looks like it's going to be uh the name is Southampton Commons Oh so a little bit unexited about that but uh Kyle will be he'll be we'll be putting this on the page as soon as uh we get word from PVPC
that it can be distributed publicly Okay And again this is under the special projects page on the website for land use planning Right Right Okay So Southampton Commons sounds like we're moving forward with housing because if it's a big open field with two buildings
on it Yeah I don't know that the name really works So maybe we'll just take it under consideration Yeah Well it's it's it's it's the the uh the the best choice for the moment but not necessarily the definitive choice Can we say that i think it's better than Zero College but I wouldn't I won't disagree with that
but All right Not not my favorite name So all right Okay Anything else on that so that's moving forward Okay Uh very good Um 250th Uh I talked about that a bit but Lucy you want to just show these uh just to let people know we do have
some merchandise folks Going do my little sales pitch So online uh there's an online order form or contact Lucy at town clerk Uh yeah we've got our uh baseball cap is in We've got t-shirts
now Um so you can just kind of I show them Yeah just Well just they're tied up to that camera They're tied up So there's a a red one and a blue one that have got the 250 on the pocket and then the full color one So the u the full
color one and the hat So the range is 15 20 and $25 So contact Lucy if you want them There's other things coming in We've got uh pint glasses a boat bag um stemless wine glasses and coffee coffee mugs Um pottery coffee mugs Well first
of all sort of a more of a um um um metal camping mug that will have the 250th logo on it And those will be in hopefully within the next 10 days or so And then the glass ornament and there's a glass ornament as well uh with
the 250th logo on it And then the women's club is selling their traditional sort of pottery uh coffee mug and that is um their fundraiser and the proceeds for that go to the scholarship fund for the women's club uh that they raise to uh donate
scholarships to and then uh the proceeds for this keep on going for additional activities uh for the 250th celebration all year long And while I have that I will mention that we just uh we had put in a request to East Hampton Savings Bank to maybe help us out with some
funding toward the 250th celebrations And we just received word that East Hampton Savings Bank granted us $1,100 toward the celebration And we will put that toward the two concerts that are coming up one in June and one in August Um can I just mention that at the events
that are coming up the merchandise will be there to be bought if people want to buy stuff there to be bought and if we don't have the right size or something can be order the order forms Yep Very good And we'll be there also for the uh the drug take takeback day on August
sorry on April 26th We'll have the merchandise there too So we'll put in a plug for drug takeout Take not take out take I wish it was I maybe need take out drug takeback day till the end 10 to two All right Perfect Thanks Ian All right Thanks Lucy All
right Okay Let's keep on going Uh any other Madam Madam Chair yes ma'am There's one more big 250th event that's going to be happening 250th event Yes But the big one the big Celebrate Southampton is August 16th
from 11:30 to 400 pm We have three food trucks free popsicles all kinds of kids activities happening There will be a there will be a memory hour at the church from 10 to 11 to start that off
But we have a train coming in that um is our big push along with all the kids stuff that we're doing this year So um and again thanks to East Hampton Savings
Bank bank ESB for their help with that Okay All right Any other business that can't wait until our next meeting on April 29 not aware of anything off hand Uh we have two sets of minutes to approve First of all motion to approve
the minutes of March 4th and March 11th Okay Um I'll do a second on that but there's one correction I would like to make on the minutes for March 4th Uh under article one the public safety building planning bond Um this uh it
says here on this is on page two that the amount of the um the debt debt exclusion will be used for the public safety building feasibility study That is not true Uh it's for the public safety architecture engineering cost in OPM So if you make that correction on
the minutes so with that correction um any corrections from you Stephen or are you okay second Uh that was that was excellent Okay then let's uh have a motion to approve both minutes uh with the one correction on
March 4th minutes Uh roll call please All those in favor i thought you moved it but I will Lumber Eye All right Fouls eye Did I hear you Stephen yeah Okay I think I heard All right Very good Thank
you Yes Okay Got it And then uh one PRF Scott you want to talk about this uh the health agent position mhm Um so Jerry is retiring on April 30th We have been
working with the uh board of health to revise the job description I met with them again last night So they are still they're still making some basic changes Uh the one thing that they voted on and they agreed to move forward with is changing from health director to health agent Um the other thing is making sure
that uh we expand the um minimum certifications and qualifications for the person to ensure that they can do all the wide breath of um required inspection inspections Um so this is
just the not the job description So that's still being worked on although it might be I don't expect it to be that different from the 2017 version Um so we're probably going to revert back to that one But this is just uh to allow it to be advertised um officially and uh to
move forward with interviewing candidates We we are still working on the job description but hopefully by the next meeting that will be done but it shouldn't preclude us from uh moving forward with advertising or interviewing people but it still needs to go to PQB right it does It's on Thursday night's agenda Thursday night assuming there
could be a final product Yeah Okay All right So this is at least what's in the works Nothing that we need to act on right now and then We don't need to uh just the posting Just the posting on that And the posting would just be this front front page Is that all that we do
posting right why is it But why is the select board approving the posting i don't know Eventually they have to with the well RFP Yeah but usually there'll be a PR So the the appointing authority would do the initial documents
So I maybe something's changed but I would think that's the board of health They send it to PPP It gets make sure it's all in alignment there It gets signed off there and then it comes down to here but the select board is not approving the posting
They're approving um the PCF or the PCR right well it was scheduled for last week but the there wasn't a quorum for the uh PQB I gotcha So we just need to approve the the
posting the posting Yes So we don't have the PRF itself right now The the form right without the form you can't post Yeah there's a form form We don't have should be in there or at least I don't have it in my packet
Oh okay There it is Okay So yeah So it may not have Okay It didn't come into my packet Okay So maybe I have it right here But right but if had they met last week this would be appropriate now But you're So would we would we approve it
contingent upon you could be signing at the end of this week or do you want to wait i mean I think they're trying to with Jerry retiring on the 30th I think they're trying not to have too long a gap So if there's extenduating circumstances that can get noticed for the record then I
would support it But if we just I know maybe you just made the point there We're backwards in the process Normally it comes to PQB first before us But my my assumption would be that we've got only two weeks before the current person retires and they'd rather get this out sooner rather than later to post it Um
and then going through the full job description they're still going to go through all that with with PQB if they meet on Thursday or whatever their meeting is Yep So I would like to request that we allow this posting to happen sooner rather than later If we
don't have any objection to that that's a motion I'll second All right Um Stephen any comments thoughts i'm totally in support of this We need to attend to the process but we need to get this critical position filled if we
can Okay All right Yeah I think we you know to hopefully minimize any gaps in um in being able to do this So okay Um with that all those in John sorry lumber I y
is everybody in there okay we got it Anything else Scott we got on the agenda here Um that would be it I think other things that are pending Um uh the ADA door opener came in We just have to install Oh the ADA door opener
Okay great Um and then that that's really about it for those Uh HMP Um I'm just waiting to hear from Mimi on the the final part of that the hazard mitigation plan right and then the capital committee is meeting or
um I have to touch base here going to try to meet this week but maybe it'll probably be next week I'm thinking Okay All right And nothing new on the stormwater enterprise fund or anything Okay And I know the tech committee is still waiting on us to talk about the
broadband committee charge So we've definitely got some hanging issues out there that we've got to sit down and look at And a couple of committees are having issues with their quorums and maybe coming to us to um gonna be revise their charges too Plenty of summer work after the budget Yeah there'll be plenty
of summer work Exactly All right Okay So I think we have nothing more on our agenda Um what does finance want to do are you just going to stay on for your meeting after we adjourn or No I think we're going to res we're going to schedule something Okay Yep I think
it'll be easier with Doug being there Okay All right So we will go ahead and call for an adjournment on our side All right Motion to adjurnn All right Second Stephen All all those in favor
Ste Okay Files I All right Select court is adjourned at 7:50 and finance I I'll make a motion to adjourn I'll second All in favor i I
I 7:50 7 50 50 All right I think we are adjourned for tonight Thank you everybody