all right all right good even good evening everyone and welcome to the select board meeting for Monday March 10th 20125 here at 6 PM held in the land use hearing room um this meeting is being held in hybrid fashion and present this evening
is myself chairman Jason prone Vice chair Diane Gale clerk Mr Doug mowan ceao Nicole Parker and assistant CEO naen sigon so with the Pledge of Allegiance missa would you all be willing to do the
Pledge of Allegiance I to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation God indivisible and justice for all thank
you we are on to public comments is there anyone in the audience that would like to make a public comment sir2 Road South Mass I'm GNA wait a week said he didn't have enough cops on tonight and he didn't want to have to
arrest me so we'll talk next week about my public thank you okay anybody on Zoom that has a public comment that being said we are on to new business new business item a we need to acknowledge and approve the $80 donation
from P baseski and H Heiden to be deposited in the southvic animal control medical gift fund make a motion to approve that $80 donation Animal Control gift fund second roll call vote Jason
I yes so Item B is acknowledge and approve the $100 donation from The Linc family to be deposited in the sou Police Department K9 gift account make a motion to accept that donation of $100 to the
K9 GI second roll call Jason Peron I yes we need to item C acknowledge and approve the $50 donation from Jacqueline
Lavoy in the south of Police Department police gift account make a motion to accept the $50 donation to the south at police gift account and acknowledge we have very generous residents second roll call vote Jason Peron I Doug M item D Lake management
committee appointment Paul yok do you want to come up there's no chairs but can one up got it welcome hello how are you sir I'm well and yourself oh not too bad so like to be on
the Lake management committee why would you like to do that U well I've been working with him off and on over the past few years and Deb decided to dump the committee so I figured I ought to step up I'm sure you've heard an earful from her
and have a good knowledge base actually I just figured I'd get a little bit more involved than I have okay excent have you served on a border Commission in our town before no I have not not even one no fantastic it's taken several people
must really have dirt on you anything else you'd like to I don't have any other questions I would like to thank you for stepping up and volunteering to fill that void thank you very much and with that I'll make a motion to appoint Paul
Yokum to the vacancy on Lake management committee which term expires approximately we should have looked that up checking checking
checking me to and to make this more efficient in the future we will post the termination date on the agenda when we're appointing people that would make more sense what you find looks to me like it's
June of this year okay June and then you'll have to come back just to be reappointed in okay July two months you still want to do itary per so that was a very long motion to appoint Paul yum the remainder of the
term stream that's it second roll call vote Jason Peron i d i Doug mlin yes thank thanks for coming tonight thank you item e is to discuss the vote bid uh discuss and vote for the bid for Town
Hall elevator modernization project from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Nicole Yep this is part of the CBG Grant um we have a a broken piece I I'm not really sure but
to bring it up to code uh we need to fix a component of the elevator it it before it'll pass our state inspection they've given us a waiver um we did get notification that once this is executed we have a 10-week lead time but once
that happen once that the parts come in then it should just be two to three weeks and should be complete and it's $9,709 particular one so well we're coming right up against budget season again this year but at least was getting it done so that's all good it was on last
year's bdbg Appropriations correct yeah okay we factored it into the application and took it out of the budget so we need to vote to approve that approve an authorization to sign
the contract so I will make that motion uh second okay roll call vote Jason phone I Doug M yes item f is to be discussed the open space and Recreation Committee in recruitment do we have anybody that came
in no I don't know why that's on here so last week or when the Conservation Commission was in and it was like who's recruiting how many do we have oh so what we did on that in the meantime what we did on that was I did have Chris right up kind of a a recruiting
statement what he's looking for for that and then I did talk to you about putting on the town website we have an employment opportunities page uh we'll also have a volunteers opportunity page and fill that with all the vacancies on
boards and commissions not just this one going forward and christe's working on that list right now we can okay and were you able to determine exactly how many members because Margaret went back and looked at 2018 there were seven members and then last August when this was
discussed um I'm sure I have something written in my notes from our round of appointments so I will check that item G is to discuss and vote on the planning board request for public hearing for potential modifications to
chapter 185 section 37 site Plan reviews look how anxious he is timely how about that hi everybody uh good evening John Godard John Goddard Southwick planning and DPW uh today but nonetheless uh at
the last planning board meeting uh the planning board authorized me to submit a request uh to hold a public hearing to modify 18537 as you know the planning board continues to develop byaw to manage
accessory dwelling units the intention is to drive accessory dwelling units towards the site plan review process for those byright circumstances uh I picked up a little bit later in the process that our access excuse me our site plan review process
exempts accessory structures from site plan review itself so we're going to say if it's non-residential it can remain exempt um has an a residential purpose for the accessory structure then it needs to go through site plan review so just looking for authorization
to hold a public hearing to that effect hopefully uh quickly open close and squeeze that in on the warrant for this may understood questions yeah I think that the um probably better to have a longer
discussion at some point about accessory buildings as to as it would comply with accessory dwelling units accessory building when you first read that to me I'm thinking a shed not thinking of a place where someone's living and has
parking and all that and I read the the state law it's pretty owner anyway so you really don't have a lot of say in it so it's probably water under the bridge um but worth having a discussion around the intention of the word um accessory
buildings because um 230 years ago or so a former planning board had a discussion to try to allow accessory dwelling units in town and we we they
labored for a year or more um and were unable to come up with a workable bylaw at the time they got hung up mostly around at the time the intent was for people to be able to age in place or have family come with them or they would
live with their extended family um and that was kind of the intent of the bylaw at the time and uh the board spent I don't know I want to say it was three months trying to Define family under the laws of the Commonwealth right um the
idea now I mean that whole thing is evolved to where you're trying to increase housing stock not necessarily the original intent of the Southwick law was to allow you know folks to you know family units to kind of Stay Together as as people come back or or want to live
near um parents and so on and so forth and the concern of the board at that time was once that premise is fulfilled trying to put that the politest way possible that you just don't have a
bunch of rental units on in residential zones that were never intended to carry that the streets were never meant to support that there's no parking for that septic yada y y so um these new laws strictly say you cannot prohibit that
correct so I get it I just make a note of it for this is you know the state once again being very very heavy-handed with how they went went and approached this in my opinion are you saying that this needs a little bit further definition of a
dwelling versus accessory I just think when you if you're going to have a public hearing on it it it should come up in discussion to make sure that you're accommodating the purpose on which you're trying to do it and at someone doesn't argue that an accessory building is as I said a shed or the pool house or
something other than a residential accessory dwelling unit because the the bylaw is an accessory dwelling unit you know it's it's not quite an accessory building so planning board as you know there's tons of case law on the meaning of the
word this and that and shall right accessory dwelling unit anywhere in our currents not yet theoretically in anyway theoretically in May there will be an entire section devoted uh just to that in managing if you will that state
mandate giving it a process for review and identifying at least under this section and duly noted we we will explore uh the intention of the BW in- depth but at least making sure that when we talk about it in 187
18537 any ex exempt accessory um building is non-residential and making sure that residential accessory buildings are indeed subject to site plan review at a minimum
perfect I have none so you need a motion to send this to the to back to the planning board to hold a public hearing potential modification 18537 so move second roll call vote Jason Peron I Doug M yes thank you all so much for
your time item H discuss approve one-day Electro license application South Civic fund for Ban Jam on March 15 and April 12 2025 you want say sure how you doing tonight good how are you Mr
mrch he should be offended you should take great offense to that comment so we have two concerts coming up at the Civic fund at the old church um the cultural council is funding the ban part of it and uh we're going to try to try to attempt to put
some music over there other than the elderly folks that practice on Thursday night so that's where it's at than welcome awesome right around the corner so maybe I will try and make
that if I'm not back to work already sound like my brother-in-law now you're never going up uh the insurance has been applied for a farm family has they have to pick it up and drop it off um I believe there's a map there showing you where the alcohol will res served everything is inside the building
nothing's allowed to leave the building that that motion to approve the one day liquor license for Southwick Civic fund for March 5 and April 12 we both dates on
here yes March 15 and April 12 2025 second roll call vote Jason Peron i d Doug mlan yesk you item I is to discuss and approved the one-day liquor license application
for the cultural Council art show meet the artistry April 25th 2025 is this like the 20th annual one how long have they been doing this where did I just see that I don't know I was guessing at 20 but it's probably really
close and they have it down with science I just saw that some sometimes and I don't see anybody here for that so um make a motion to approve the one-day liquor license for cultural Council Arts Show April 25th
2025 I'll gladly second it R call vote Jason BR I DK I Doug M yes item J is to acknowledge the winter storm reports from February 13 2025 February 15th and 16th 2025 and February 17
2025 guys were busy yes they were and still are yeah now they deal with the aftermath of the Pooles right yep but they were out right away with that as well so to date that is a total of 240
242 for those interested 240 242 240,000 242 through that last storm yeah big money 7 $11,000 February 15th to 16th don't take much is it for listed new business um
item five is other new business I have none at this point none I have one just got to find my not got buried in all of this other stuff uh the public information session for
municipal fiber will be March 25th 2025 6:30 p.m. Town Hall believe it's in the auditorium um and there's also going to be two mailers going out within the next
week um regarding s are those two separate mailers or two mailing split two separate mail links about it oh cool good excellent and uh I
received uh we're going to have a email alas on there too that'll go to town hall if somebody has any questions that they would like answered good from that ahead of the meeting or if they can't make the meeting or what have you good yeah right on to Old business so I'm
going to bring up um so we got the lpp all sorted out um and I think I might have misunderstood when we did the uh the board authorized me to
negotiate it um it was my understanding but obviously I might have been Mis misunderstood it that it was my uh I was authorized to negotiate and sign it but to um make sure this is taken care of uh Miss Parker wanted to make sure that we um did a vote to ratify the
execution of the lpp in public so everyone was well aware that this occurred so um as everyone fully looked over that lpp I have Mr M I have I just would like to
mention that the it's a progressive amount each year the final year um is based on they did accept the Botto and address inventory that Norm worked on so hard they finally did accept that
as yeah they appreciate so so that was good that was a long time yes on everybody's part so um just would like to take a vote motion to ratify vote to matterif I
it so I think I have no equiv with the contract I if only minor would be on the audit section and it doesn't it's not clear as to who would pay for an audit but I think we're going to be okay but I think what the what you're looking for
is a motion for the chair to sign that's the motion I'm looking for then you have it sir second all roll call Jason Peron I than I Doug Mogan yes and again I apologize to the board I misunderstood when we that but all good
and I chumped the gun so just wanted to get that you were excited again yes I was very happy that it was finally what was the F name of the first coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers John M John McKay right it
was McKay I think yeah someone after they lost every single game that's first season 0 and 14 or ow and correct and they said wow you know it wasn't a horrible game this last game what do you think of your team's execution and he
said I'm absolutely in favor of it are you trying to send no but you you we had to execute the doc brought ex and it was just easy little levity on the select board
on a Monday night that's quite all right see that's the big one I had um di I got a bit sorry um common street names that were
brought up by Miss harth a few weeks ago um when I was meeting with Chief bandish and Lieutenant tager on the master plan we talked about this um and he's here he could talk about it but he advised that the current 911 system has location
identification and mapping as well as specific driving instructions um with their computerated dispatch so they feel that it's pretty well identified so just wanted to report back
on that a little bit Mr R since I got you right here was your biggest concern for the public safety issues or was it yes because our address is three Shore Road but you have to come up on another Street to get to our driveway I run into the something
similar in my place of appointment over Hampton Ponds I won't say where that is but uh we have SE several residences like that on like Pequot Point area that they're actually driveways that go here to there so I understand your concerns
um what Chief banish those are all annotated like that like this I know we actually have one street up there that literally is cut in half one side is Southampton one side is Westfield so are these driveway issues Pro problematic or
they haven't been for the most part um we've got several houses that you have to access off of different roads in town um you know if we've got ones that are consistently coming up we can't add them to our site files to basically say the
house is on you know off of a different Road even though it's number to whatever Shore Road it's accessed this way maybe we should look in at putting something out there for residents that are concerned to get that to you
so that's that's you know not a bad idea we could have our dispatch under to those yeah it's not a big push to do yeah sometimes you follow Google if you put in Noble steeve Crossing you end up trying to go into the solar field so
you have to fli Xing okay so we'll see if we can get some is that the only one mechanism for me no no no no oh conflicting I mean we have two Evergreens I think right was the other one something yeah I had a list of them
but um just to reinforce what Chief Bish is saying the site files are updated constantly so whenever we come across something that's unique we get that right through dispatches add in sight file it's a one andone if there's a conflict okay we have the street numbering which has helped quite a
bit which for numbering and things like that but the comparison of the Evergreens and things like that they're well aware of all of that we I actually just heard today on the scanner some call that said access the house via this way so I I they do have I
do hear that yeah but we can find a mechanism where residents can update their info if they need I put my neck on the line and say I bet you most of them have already contacted dispatch at one point or another where they have a concern and it's been reported so I you
know Again Estate lots and things like that get complicated and we try to add those as they get developed fall too but yeah it certainly wouldn't hurt to put it out there for peace of mind I think a lot of them have already been addressed thank you Chief okay I have a
couple um like have AR is on the agenda a lot today I also spoke with with Nicole's help spoke with Jonathan tche who is the senior deputy director of boards and commissions of the Commonwealth um and we
Debb's uh application rolling uh everything we needed to submit and he was going to try to fast trck uh the background check and and get that rolling so we hopefully can get that done real soon back background
check oh North Pond um I have received a quote from the original fence installer for $950 to reconfigure the parking area I did consult with Randy Brown to see if
um his crew would have time to do that work themselves and of course it's pothole season and um I asked him to review that he said for that price it was reasonable so um and and he just doesn't have the Manpower right now so
Nicole was going to confirm the quote with the guy and get a tenative schedule um and if we need to make an approval for that expenditure I don't know do we or do we just find where the where it
comes from it's got to come from conservation I was going to say come from Conservation Commission it's their facility although the parking are say the parking lot belongs to us so yeah yeah so I don't know where that how that
proceeds so I guess I'm looking where would the money the book I would find it let's at least get the com it confirmed and attentative schedule and we can and I'll come back I'll come back with the source and and ask for your approval for that that's
okay so do we approve that 950 based on it being a firm quote or do we wait I would and then would we have to approve it it's the first time I stuck my nose into this business so I don't know I'll just confirm I'll find the
funding source and I'll come back to you at the next me okay we're get the date did the other guy work off all of his fines that did it the first time fines for one for that Eric the guy who put up the fence and did the other work was
actually did a a I would want to call it but in lie of implementing a fine that he owed the town he we traded in kind for services oh is that how to do it way better use of that than him writing a check that would go into the general
fund for about 900 bucks and get I think we'd have that's another one we'd have to check on concom and see if that was did the work he did it he did so you wave that so you asking if he has more I'm yeah I'm not saying that we go out and find him tomorrow but I'm saying
does he have any more anybody there inance that we should be going after as far as I know of what I know with that no I don't believe so at this time doesn't mean okay well there's a piece of information I didn't know all right also related to North
Pond we had voted to install rope floats in the shallow water um and I'm actually seeking to resend that vote for two reasons um I've had continuing conversations with a number of parties
on the subject of erosion um and I have learned that erosion doesn't occur on Sandy Bottoms um with long gentle slopes into the water it does occur where there are
undercuts right up against a an Abrupt slope not protected um comparing the Baseline photos in the CR it looks essentially the same today
as it did then other than when the person goes in and cleans things up um it essentially looks the same and and we have authorized other measures to counter that situation of
disturbance more importantly I've also been convinced that anchoring all of those boats further out um putting them a drift and subject to
wakes is a bigger danger to those people children and dogs in a wake a boat can come up and crush anybody um or you know toss them into a propeller or toss them out of a
boat um and I'm at right now not willing to put people into that kind of risk for the sake of floats so I'm also scheduled to participate with
LMC on Thursday to discuss the um comprehensive bylaw and how that will assimilate into their activities and this was one of the things we were kind of going to push them to do so I I'm looking to resend that vote
at least temporarily we have not spent anything we haven't sourced the things yet this is where I have a tough one with this when I first got on this board that's always been one of the complaints
was the um the access and boats and we're not talking about that we're just talking about we were going to put floats out there and we're going to create a different potentially more hazardous situation and and I I want to resend my
vote and I'm asking if we can do that to not have which was one of the what one of the findings of the task force one of the recommendations that we voted to implement which is about I don't know $300 $400 worth of fls and stuff but
then it had to be somebody had to install it and anchor it and stuff you would have had to come back in front of the board for the money anyway so I think it's kind of I I don't have any objection to it if you've got data that says it's a better idea to leave it how it was as long as
it's not a contributory to the issue that we had at North Pond because that's that's really correct correct but we're going to get into the other stuff in a moment but um but that was something we had voted
to move forward with I would request that those people convince me what I would like to be convinced of those things as well what I would like to see the data that shows all that type of stuff which are the the safety yes
the safety issues there it's this is this whole topic is difficult topic but just two there's two of you that are all right with it so you've got 15 people out 15 boats out there Anchored In The
Water people on and off in a wake I understand the Wake situation I just think it at least when they're in the shallow they're not subject to the wake situation or the boat drifting into a
child didn't to um um if you want to take a vote I think you can come back instead of coming back for the money and I just like to discuss gang a bunch absolutely gang a bunch of things together because there's other issues that you know I I
brought so we'll just hold on the expenditure yeah let's just hold on the expenditure perpetually the same thing yeah so prefer to get all the issues ironed out at once for the conservation and then speaking of all of
this stuff um I am also going to be meeting with Chris Pratt chair of conservation to clarify all those other recommendations we did not vote on because we felt they were their responsibilities to do I just wanted to sit down with him and clarify
all that they're all a bit confused as to what they are so I just want to clarify that that help them prioritize those things Etc and I assume you're all okay with that sure okay um they're confused as to what but their responsibilities are what
we're asking them to do so I'll just walk them through it all right and just as an FYI none of those recommendations that carry a cost have been considered in their budget either because they were kind of not aware they were doing anything but some of it had money
attached and that's not in their budgets either so I'll try to identify those at the same time and I've also been invited to crc's April meeting to provide a status report on the entire task force recommendations including the proposed bylaws and the
status that we're going to talk about shortly also related to concom there is confusion about the sofield drain that was installed in Southwick um they're confused whether it's just a matter of a maintenance agreement or
more than that that we had asked for so again with your agreement uh while I'm with Chris I will clarify that we wanted suffield's DPW and conservation to come before them with their design work etc and review that project with them
through the normal process and communicate that they're empowered to enforce remedies if they are so needed speaking with them on this what's been going on with them oh there is an easement agreement that I had asked
safield to send to us that then I forwarded um you know for our Lake and our residents and and the association um approval from our Council which they've given so I communicated that back to Colin and that I just said I believe
your concom still needs to come in front of our concom for this whole situation and that's where I left it and then there is a maintenance agreement that's the agreement was approved by the easement and maintenance agreement was approved by uh our Council
okay I think it's the town of Suffield it doesn't have to be their concom necessarily somebody the town is the app would is installed it I don't think their conom I said they're DPW but they want to may want to bring their that we have
Rel I just want to put them on the spot because they're gonna go I why I'm here because someone told me to be here but so with your agreement I'll review that with Chris as well absolutely okay yeah Chris was actually in agreement with myself when I mentioned it like I don't get how we're
gonna let somebody just skate on doing that that close to the lake I know it doesn't matter whom it is they did the work in the town of Southwick if that had been an average homeowner that did that there'd be hell to pay so we should make sure that we follow the process through for anyone who's doing that work
okay okay and then now on the proposed bylaw and then I will be done um what I gave what I gave you I got your input thank you your comments concerns I inserted them into one
master and highlighted those and in red in bold red is the suggested change that um hopefully resolves questions and concerns or we
can word Smith them a little bit more if we need to if there's any dispute on a topic let's just put it aside and we'll address that separately the next time we me but get through what we can hear in an orderly fashion so purpose those were
the enh the the extra wording that duck had recommended and I inserted this chapter is in addition to Southwick biolog chapter to be determined public nuisance should Jason's be uh
adopted are you on page one I numbered your pages oh page two actually this is Page Three this is no this is the most recent so here's where inserted but I just wanted to give more words in this is to incorporate yours should it be
adopted Ben Doug had a am I GNA run to too fast I'm good so then Doug had a question about the audio surveillance which Chief banish had
inserted excluding audio surveillance um I don't know if uh that needs to come out or leave in Chief you know if it's clearly demarked that it's
audio and video we usually can record there would be no issue none I know all areas that we do any sort of audio and video it's clearly stated that you you're subject to audio and video recording it just has to be
clearly posted on all the rules and any sort of signature or signage and [Music] um becomes a problem it's C yes anything cver you have to be as you know you have to be be aware that you're being recorded okay so you don't have a
problem with taking out the exclusion of audio as long as we have it on the sign as long as person knows so signage says video and audio maybe yeah my my intent wasn't to allow audio record according my chel was if it's legal we can do it so if you have to post it to do it or
and we decide to do it that's great there's just all kinds of stuff in this whole space with surveillance and security okay the laws are changing the technolog is changing and if you start putting stuff like that in a bylaw you're going to run a foul of your own bylaw at some point or another I assure
you okay so in section three and in some of the other preambles to address um some concerns Doug had I put in specific rules and regulations of the governing body of the
area um just as a reminder it's specific to a location a property um we took out tables and benches because they are movable um in B confirm no ball fields are in
resource areas um section 3i addresses proper maintenance of property so I think that doesn't impact that but I did insert in that section and maintenance by the governing bodies to address
that um if you have anything else that it doesn't that it doesn't address that shout out in defacing property etc etc section B I
just put in approved I inserted approved areas designated and marked in section four wildlife fishing Doug had a
question not necessary and I don't know why you thought that was not necessary I I just don't think that fishing was never an issue at North Pond Conservation Area for in as part of this and then you know this went into a Park
Pond which we don't have today and I you know people have to get a fishing license there's places you can fish there's places marked no fishing and if I could just back up for one second you know I've thought about this a lot and a lot of this is I think that this
bylaw is trying to a lot of things in a lot of different places with a lot of different uses and it's almost like the bylaw should be very generic and you post the rules at the
entrance to the facility itself at which you're dealing with because trying to make you know the thing I struggle with I brought it up I know like eight or nine or t times in here you know Wally Park versus North Pond Conservation Area two totally different things two totally
different types of recreation two totally different types of activities that happen at these two places and almost by their definition of the North Pond Conservation Area you're not going to have pickle ball right and at Wally Park you're not going to have you know a ton of hiking except on the trail around
it almost seems to me like that this bylaw could be dramatically reduced to like yeah can't do this and you know this is the general bylaw sub to the rules as adopted by the controlling party and clearly posted at
the entrance to said facility and everyone's got to go through an entrance to get to a place if you have to have more than one you have more than one sign but it will tell you what you can and can't do on the place and give the relevant you know responsible Authority in order the ability to enforce because
I you know like I said I think we were you know the other thing that caught my eye and you know feel free to roll me in Gale was you know there was certain other things about that and one of them was around firearms and stuff like that and it was like well you know I'm sure I
would wager uh that a person who's duly licensed to carry in the Commonwealth may be in possession of their firearm on the rail Tria that we'll get to that you know and like and I get that and and I also thought about like at baramad
Reservoir where they literally search your car before you go in and they take you if you don't if you have something on there that in your car that you're not allowed to bring in they just tell you to go home right so but we don't have the resource nor the the Personnel
nor the configuration of these areas to do that necessarily so you know I I I think I I uh I was a little concerned about some of the confiscation type stuff but I think some of you know some of this may be an over overreach in
the bylaw itself in with the best of intention but that's that can be problematic and I think that maybe this can boil down a little bit to be able to say okay these are General things that you can't do and then the rest of this is subject to the rules and regulations
as adopted and posted at the entrance to um each of these facilities that's just my thought on this because you know I read this over I sent a bunch of notes back I've been but been struggling with it because it's it's a lot part of being
we won't argue it forever but part of the whole discussion of residents of us of the task force is there are it's wild west there are no rules there's vagueness on the
signage which we'll address with conservation um and definitely no definition of what's passive what's active um and this is comprehensive and it is designed this is
if we have one in the future we don't today as you said but what if we have a pond in Wally Park that is stocked with Fish And there's no fishing it it is put on sign at Wally Park and and then we don't have to
rewrite it in the future but but perhap we when we get to our town our community meeting and they'll help us boil it down again just like we did with street signs we start
Broad and boil it down um well Mr I know we've gone back and forth a little bit but M when I went home the first time I really did I I've got my Google doc I what I wrote I'm going to tell
everybody what I wrote specificity is too lengthy people will be defiant and point to specific rules and wordings or statements that would be open interpretation main focus needs to be directed at posted rules specific to the location and be addressed reasonably based on the totality of the circumstances based on the violation in
town of cic resources that were affected it should clearly State at the beginning of all chapters sections subsections that the following rules apply to all land properties building structures and Facilities owned managed maintained or under the control of the town of CICS its departments committees commissions and subdivisions
thereof um and vandalism cond no person shall willfully and or maliciously damaged disturb disrupt interfere with any and all public and or private property located on or within the confines of any property building and structure that is owned managed or maintained by the town of South again
under its Department's committees and divisions uh you want to send me that yeah I'll definitely send you but and that's kind of where I okay so so we okay so we agree it might be a little wordy let's move on and we'll let the people speak as well on that absolutely
but I can guarantee you some of them are going to say they want that use of firearms and weapons it was use of not carry I did strike carry and possess um it was use of you can't use it on the
beach um picnics uh just a note your version was missing the preamble to that section which I inserted subject to the rules specific rules regulations Etc allowing fires Doug you talked about
grills grilling is not allowed at Wally Park I'll be turning myself in after this meeting hopefully the statue limitation several years ago um and I have arrows indicating where that covers your concern there
um and it was by certain things are allowed cookouts and fires in certain locations by permission of the town for organized groups such as Charity drives concerts and I did insert four major events right now it's not allowed
for the Nationals but it may be in the future okay in section six sanitation Doug rightly so said uh B andc could be combined so I struck those and did a shorter combination we go up to
there it six right six yeah sanitation trash B andc okay and it's just combined there in good up to there yep in section seven um Doug said a
through f are overreach as I think you were just trying to explain Jason said you would rather see where allowed and can be restricted based on kind of language so I have inserted
subject to the rules of and subactive recreational Pursuits rather than um particular activities again trying to designate what was the purpose here
active versus passive Recreation those need definition and that is in b as well and I guess since we have another week off you can read these again at depth and come back if there's anything
else yeah or that I like I said I finally figured out how to do the edit know type St so I will send you this version we're on version five um you can see I struck the horse in the water um
why people had a problem with that um and on D I'm not sure why you felt that was overreach dog because that is exactly why the trail sections are being ped off again this was more in Long what I was trying to explain like
you can't break the rules as posted at the entrance to the North Pond conservation because that would be a perfect spot I agree with everything on here for North Pond Conservation Area um but you know you start getting into like you know we mentioned having fishing in Wally Park if they ever
decide to install a COI Pond over there but exaggerating slightly but okay where I don't know where else in town we're going to put one um but then that flotation devices are only allowed at the town beach I don't know what we're going to do when if you know what I mean
it's just we're we're doing one thing and then we're doing another thing I think like I said this could all but boil down to posting of the rules at the premise and not having this much much link but you you're right for North Pond this is
perfect all of it but it you start to try to have to extrapolate all of the other things to other other places and I agree that we should have struck see including the gorge right correct and and this is what I want to
talk to conservation about on the signage is this kind of thing as well but I mean personally I don't think it is an error to posted in a bylaw and then extracted to
signage so um and then a motorized be motorized water craft this one kind of this one is subject to change based on the
danger of certain areas so I I've got a question on that one it's highlighted in yellow we have to think some more on that one I think the electric vehicles uh Doug you had a concern on
that those are allowed at Walden Park and on the rail trail perhaps that is not in their rules but then that should be updated if not agreed um and maybe there's a definition of electrically assisted versus gas powered
I don't know we had this question come up and we check I checked with the perminent expert on the rail trail I think and um they're like yeah they're allowed so okay fair enough I didn't have any objection to it
either I think it's a great those things are a great Innovation to allow people to utilize that linear Park as it were um safely and to enjoy something that they wouldn't be able to enjoy without that assist so under um section
8D uh there was a concern about the definition of party would be hard to Define and enforc we can change that wording to holding social events or Gatherings perhaps think about that um but we all
know what the intent is it's to prevent the crowds [Music] um and in G is where I'm if adopted oh that's just another one we
just may have to update if we adopt this in section nine other pets uh it's dogs and other Pets At Large yes we already have a leash law uh but this was inserted by attorney beglan specifically for emotional
support animals if someone comes in with an ostrich we have to let the ostrich in um and the current dogs at large VI law leashing law does not
address uh what I have highlighted there um it and maybe we need to update this one as well it doesn't address in a dog park or other expressly designated offleash areas it does not
address disability laws if you have assistance animals um and it does not dress picking up your dog poo and what to do with it section 10 again I think your version
did not strike entering in intoxicated condition we we struck that because it was difficult for the police to measure that um but we did insert or illegal drug you
can't have illegal drugs that was omitted from the version you had and yes I struck 11b it's covered in the general littering section and then in 12 disordinate conduct in noise I added that free amble
which brings in uh Jason's new his nuisance in addition to the Southwick chapter General blah blah blah whatever it may be public nuisance any enforcement action taken under this section will be based on reasonable
justification Guided by Common Sense and supported by credible evidence and that comes from yours um Jason had a concern about the way noise was written um and I changed that to the
wording that you um suggested um in the Wildlife eras no audible music above a normal conversational volume rather than not audible pedling
um that note in there is to address drug trafficking perhaps on premise or in parking areas contractor signs along the roadways in those preservation conservation and park areas for a number of feet and there are also Advertising
Signs cropping up on the bike trail for businesses which don't belong there um and then in operating policies where you reference this isn't like barstead um that was you know based on reasonable evidence
um RPD did want this in here and allowed Sheriff's d d to Force as well EPA uh EP yeah or whoever is is in charge of that um that provides assistance to them but again that can
you know we can debate that further if it's a strong point and then penalties for offenses in line with what Jason had proposed in his um 150 to 200 and then um triple whammy
is at 350 on that and eager version originally did not include that tel no um so not a lot of disagreement it was a lot some word smithing perhaps you can comprehend that
now that I figured it out I got my notes I'm just yeah take some time we'll come back the next time we meet but um what I want to do in the meantime concurrent to your review over
the next two weeks we the town is waiting for us to do something on this thing um and the time required to coordinate the community meeting and get the parties I want to invite the task force if they want to
participate um I want to get a draft of this out to the public ahead of time so while you're contemplating um I want to start coordinating that community meeting and get that rolling so we can get this done in
time uh to get a bylaw on for the town meeting as well and it's a we'll have to start with again the broad thing and and we'll work it down but informational yeah we need to get that something out definitely want to get
prior to a vote on this or anything like that oh absolutely and even get more some more public inut on that that's what I'm saying so while while you're doing that I'm going to start coordinating the parties and the dates and with Nicole and and start getting something together and then how we're going to get what version at least out
to the public so they can see this this is too much to introduce that night so uh that's my game plan on that not the 25th um correct well we won't be ready for that
and I think that's it for me for old business it just all cated at the same time I think that's it I forgot why I'm here at this anything Mr mlin I'm good all right Nicole any old
business n no addition so we've got other old business is um to discuss and the vote the abcc seasonal population estimate so just bringing that back to you guys so we can send out our report this
week that we'd put you know 10,000 seasonal residents with our two seasonals that we have is that okay with you guys I mean I don't need a vote or anything I just want to kind of relay that and make sure it's okay with you guys I I still am uncomfortable with 10,000 people being seasonal residents
in the town of South with our population seasonal population it doesn't mean they reside it means they visit 10,000 on any day on July ju 15 or any day any given day I mean you can just literally say
your um Motocross Ty that that' be about only day that we come close it doesn't say residance as population on that no I get that but I mean for a town we're 9800 people right so then that's two 200 more people
visiting that day so you're saying all the people plus 200 gets you the 10,000 seasonally or you're saying 10,000 above the 9,800 res saying 10,000 above so in so again in my last town which only had a park it only had like a Wall-E Park
that had Sunday picnics 15,000 exra residents it's based on like a daily influx between a certain period of time or on a day any given day approximately it's very very big and it's all about the it's all about the community and at
this point you do have two seasonal licenses so um in their eyes it's approximately 5,000 F per uh license oh it does say I mean there's a little C there it says temporary increase it does
say resident temporary increased resident 10,000 is a lot then SoCal give as many on premise seasonals as you like in order to give any off
premise seasonal you have to have a number so there is the absolute right there you can give as many on premise for the season April 15th to November 30 as you would like the town on premise
seasonal on premise seasonal seon we can do that today 20 of them and the season being defined as April 15th to November 30th and then to have off premise you must have a seasonal population of and
we're saying 10,000 to get two because 5,000 is one yeah so we have to say 10 it wasn't we don't have to say we don't say anything I guess this is my question and that I brought up at last time is so if you're talking off
premise so be electri so a off premise seasonal license implies that the town is not adequately served with the existing off premise licenses we have
today Fair fa I I honestly don't think we are underserved given the number of licenses that we have today off premise that we have today and I just don't see how no matter how you can
how you'd have to really contort your numbers to get to to 10,000 above you know if Southwick is 9,800 people and even and given that that some of those residents are seasonal
um to put another 10,000 on top of that even cumulatively I always been blank yeah I think so that's it's in that's why we're having this debate 100% because you know the ABC says well you've got to you can say this yeah
entirely up to the town and and if you want to say zero you say zero you can still issue on premise you can still issue uh golf dis golf all the things that happen during the season as many as you wish without any repercussion from the ABC it's
simply it's simply um off premise that is all it is entirely up to the town to decide how many people come into the town if you give your population of your campgrounds and you say four or six I don't want to do that math I don't think that it's necessary um it's entirely up
to you when I when I was speaking with the ABC it was just something that why don't you put you know give us something Zer will from you know um Mr gillo has come to me several times and this has nothing and I
don't care if it was Mr Dee Mr gillo M if it was Mr banish if a constituent comes to me and says I have a business that I'm trying to open and I'm inquiring as to how I can do this we have one and I'm going to be honest we've got one liquor license that's
hanging out in space now for over two years and it's getting to the point where something needs to happen with that one it's not fair to people who want to open businesses in this town and I and I know we've talked about are we adequately served
I'm not a big drinker I don't know but I don't think if if a res a resident or a business owner wants to come in and we can provide a provide a license to that person we can do it either through the special legislative which we've talked about that is and this is how this all came up because you know that person
came to me and said hey I've been trying to do this I had one you know but it was a uh was it nonprofit whatever the because it was but that wasn't necessarily that's not what that's the kind of two different this is how this is all coming out just because that
wasn't a package store at all this was zero on your forms that you send back to the ABC and that we know that you have some seasonal so why don't you have have a discussion what do you have for seasonal so that's why I wanted that clarification exactly on premises first off premises what are you putting in
your seasonal population because you have seasonal licenses so so I said so what um we have Disco even if we don't have anybody else you know the residents in the town want to play Disc Golf in the summer so we don't
need a seasonal population to have that license and that's where the clarification came from you can issue as many seasonals as you want it when it comes to off premise that's where your per 5,000 per comes into play so it's
exactly right you have all of the authority to say zero you will have zero seasonal lior Source um you can still issue as many on premise as you wanted as as Jason
references with Mr gorillo um has also expressed interest in a possible seasonal license which must be approved by the select board he's fully aware of on premise so there's that that's so that it wasn't necess it definitely
wasn't that that stemmed this but he did I think once the conversation became hey we have a zero on our on our form that we return and the ab says well you do have seasonal should you have a zero just have a conversation about can we table this for one week and
I'll have an Ask yeah can we find out what Agawam Westfield and oh let's say Southampton put on theirs okay sure a Westfield's got H in ponds agam doesn't has has uh Six Flags
right so their seasonal if you're going by their numbers they probably have three million on their seasonal number right I can't even I probably not wrong with that number either exempt no absolutely not you're they have and they have a they probably have a seasonal license because those dates run right
along with their their opening and closing dates maybe but yeah I'd like to understand that and so that we're not outlier because it sounds to me like this is almost like a wink and a nod type of thing that put this on the form and you get this but yeah I think at the
end of the day though from as the market this is where it gets a little money with the market right I'm not a big p big believer in trying to limit the market for a lot of things um you know I
a few years ago more than a few now because he's long deceased you know we manage there would they managed to get a zoning bylaw that put a th000 feet between uh Ed cardio dealerships and that was a b proposed by the owner of
a a new car dealership at the time in town got it right and the the argument was well we don't want to have College Highway to become used you know the used car strip like route five is in West
Sprinfield um and then you know then people proposed the you know there should be no two pizza places 2 200 feet apart right it's you see where this goes right so I think we ALS and we also did have a discussion that went to the abcc
it was appealed we did we were victorious when we we denied an offprem beer and wine because we felt at the time that we were adequately served now a different board now but that was the vote of the
board at the time that was appealed to the abcc the abcc found that we acted in compliance with the law and and our decision stood whether we're right or wrong or whether we're radically served or not that's really a an opinion and I guess one would ask between the three
off premise right I believe it's three off- premise licenses we have today which is what we have under the law are we adequately served even given our burgeoning summer population yeah that's the question that's exactly right so the
ABC says three is enough for you guys for your population however if you're chatam and you have six million people coming into your although they're they're they're exempt but so I don't mean chat them but get you know I don't know have something in the summer
correct and I don't know the the right answer I'm I think in my opinion that I think we are with those with the locations of where they are and and what they're what the market is I think that we are adequately
served so I don't see a need to have a seasonal but I'd like to understand what our neighbors okay around here are doing as far as what they put on that form because it just seems it doesn't seem I'll use the word correct it doesn't seem to correct I mean if you
even if it was cumulative you take the Motocross event three or four other large events that happen in town I I guess we could count Rugged Maniac because those guys all not Rugged Maniac the Iron Man right we get a thousand people come through town for 25 minutes
um while they're riding through I didn't see many of them out front of the package stores but I guess you know you could add that to your number and use it to your advantage if you felt that you were underserved and that there's a market need here that is entirely your prerogative that is exactly question and I
appreciate it I do I just want to make sure we you know I don't like to put my you know when we when we put a number on a form and sign it by the select board I'd like to have some level of believability as to how you get to that number and when does this get
filed we can we can be a little late it's fine is it like now it gets F March 15th like it's totally fine they they'll come after us in April or May if it's not in say where's your form so it's no no big deal okay no big deal at all I
can get those answers okay cool um Item B is discuss assessor job description the two of our assessors here so come on up guys bring chair grab a chair don't want to have
you this is a bring your own seat kind of thing so you that the new essor position we're going to be trying to fill and as we all know it's going to be probably difficult to find who we need and everything like that um I know na you're still working on the exact description
with Sue and stuff like that so um as I try to pay attention to all the meetings that are going on I saw that you guys were there some interest in having some input as to what we're looking for so I just want to get some input from you guys as to hear what it is your yeah
what you guys are to see out of your assessors I'm not really sure where you're going with your description of your job description okay so that's what we wanted you just I'm just here to hear
what you're coming up with okay well that's what this is exactly what I wanted to have you come up I wanted to have you guys come in and say I mean there's there's a lot that that office does yeah that we're you know not Privia to um you know we oversee but we don't
we're not involved in the day-to-day corre you know job operations Nicole and I have had a discussion about the position and uh we had discussed about hiring within the town which we like to do however we're
also looking on the outside as well yeah because I think we're a little uh I wouldn't say strapped but uh time is of the essence press on we don't really have any anybody in that position there's nobody within that office that wants that
position um there was some interest with somebody within the town uh I don't know if it's been posted it has not without a job description right so it hasn't been posted so you know you don't know who uh you
know having somebody from the town will be a little less expensive for the time ultimately uh going outside I think you're going to have to pay a pretty substantial
fee or I wouldn't like to I I mean I wouldn't want to diminish the responsibility of this job which is integral to this entire Town's success um probably one of the most important positions that a municipality can have
great um so I would I mean the last thing that I would think of when I'm hiring somebody is or obviously going through the process to recommend hiring would be to see who would be cheaper because that is a complete service to the town for sure we want to make sure that we have
qualified individuals I want experience such a niche job not everybody can do I can I had assessors 10 years ago all over the place saying you should become an assessor after you do three highest and bests right you it's like this is such an important job
it is such an important job so I wouldn't I just don't want to diminish the importance of the qualifications of of the job that that's you know to say we can hire within it's cheap I mean that I don't know whatever we do I mean
I think the I think the culture of the town is always to try to go within first you know to try to promote from within that is absolutely the core value of of the town's you know employment kind of practice um you know to as long as we
can find somebody very qualified or that can get qualified all the things so um I don't think having somebody from within is bad or good or outside is bad or good but I certainly wouldn't want to qualify that on in inside could be cheaper because that also doesn't help the
incumbent if they're or the person coming in from inside like oh you you know pay a lot more to somebody else but you're going to pay me less and I wouldn't want to diminish that either so I mean I know most times people look at what the salary is of people leaving and not they may not necessarily be that
qualified but yeah I just wanted like I said I try to pay attention and watch as many meetings as I can and I saw that you guys really wanted to have some input and I wanted to get your input as to what was going on and what your your thoughts were I think you're at this point you're
focusing on outside and not internal I think thank you Joe because the time timing of it probably is less than a year yes we have about I believe six months so you what do you mean this
like we're focusing on getting somebody in that office but I'm F so I um I that's why I wanted to get your you guys into so I think I think once you finalize your job description you put it up and it's open for did you interviews do you guys want to come back in when we
have the job description or yeah have some if there's anything you guys want to add in there if you think there's gaps we want to add that to the job or consider that in the job description too if I don't know there's Communications
that are missing or right you know add to that I know Sue was working on on that as n is you know as HR Director she is working on creating that job description with Sue so for Sue's experience and all of her knowledge you
know and then obviously whatever has happened transpired recently if if anything um for for a job description for that position I mean it's we don't have one because it's been filled for decades right so now we have to update it to make it modern and um relevant to
to today so that's what they're absolutely working on and I think they can definitely AFF it to you if you want I think that if they want to have any input or if they want to have any to get you guys inv meeting uh to to make some decisions or naen can send it to you and
you can make yeah you know any any comments and just send it back to naen okay if you make on that sure I mean you discuss it at your Mee post it and discuss it at your meetings too and see what enhancements you might have
to thank you guys very much thank you soon can I ask one more question while you're here yes I've been watching your meetings more on point would be I've been listening to your meetings uh it would be beneficial to
have the video turned on during your meetings when you have them on the hype you guys are using the owl to record the meeting turn the camera on they get posted on YouTube the day after the meeting so people that do want to either join live or or watch them the next day you get a lot of context out of the
meetings from the visual cues that go on I've been a big proponent of hybrid meetings and and allowing people to join meetings hybrid and participate and aside benefit of using the hybrid meetings is to have the recordings on YouTube the day after or a couple days after so again that's just my ask it's
totally the prerogative of the chair but that's always been my ask so I figured since I have it here I'd ask again recorded hav there's been video on a couple of them haven't there I don't I don't think so no okay I mean our Rel relatively our meetings are are rather short and
there's a lot of signings or stamping or whatever you know that's a lot of how can I say airspace right you know what YouTube doesn't charge us by the bik so um we'll bring it up let people see your that's all I'm asking I've been in I've been into a couple meetings over the
years asking same glad that you guys adopted the Hybrid part of it now just take the last step that's all okay we'll do that don't be shy yeah absolutely thank you thank you thank you very much guys thank
you oh these guys are coming I think um any other old business one followup to my note we were talking about the liquor license for the art show and I said I think it's around 20 years thank you very much it's 22nd year
this year so kudos to them and uh it's a great event it's always well attended it tends to cost me a fortune but it's still a great um a great great event for the town it's always well attended and always um for those watching I been to a lot of them and
I've yet to go to one where someone doesn't tell me how beautiful this building is and how wellmaintained it is and how it's a perfect venue for that event so I'm looking forward to that event anybody else any other old business all
right item eight is department head and CAO reports anything significant to pass along I don't think so question I read them you can read them we'll just acknowledge them all right so
knowledg and number nine warrs have any should be should we don't have any I'm GNA take your word for it they'd be on the agenda we don't have any so and last 10 the minutes acknowledge
and approve the Open session meeting minutes from February 24th 2025 and acknowledge and approve the executive session meeting minutes from February 10th 2025 so just a regular session and got updated ones today from Margaret with
just some minor name statement Corrections did you see them no I'm good if you're good I'm Patron's name and okay so I'll make a motion to approve the Open Session minut that's right I got yelled at that three times last week
from February 24th 2025 second roll call V Jason PA I I Doug M yes and then we have no we do oh not minute sorry so we will be going to to
executive session I'll be looking for motion to go into the executive session purum to mgl chapter 30A section 21s 2 and three and section chapter 214 section 1B labor Council I a FF DPW
nonunion staff and clerk Union up seu chief of police and interim Town Administrator executive session regarding Master General Law chapter 3A section 212 and three chapter4 Section 1 B and move to go into executive session to conduct collective bargaining
sessions with non-unit personnel and to not reconvene an open session move to go execution to conduct contract negotiations with non-unit personnel and to not reconvene an open session exception number three is to move to go into executive session discuss strategy with respect to
collective bargaining let the chair move to go in executive session to conduct strategy sessions and preparation for negotiations with non-un Personnel to not reconvene an open session mve to go EX session to discuss strategy with respect to litigation and that the chair declare that an open meeting may have a
detrimental effect on the litigating position of the body and to not reconvene in an open session person shall have a right against unreasonable subanal or serence interference with their privacy and the spirit Court shall have jurisdiction and Equity to enforce such right and in connection there with
to award legal aves i' be looking for a motion motion made motion seconded roll call vote Jason I Dan I you guys don't need me for anything right I don't think so