Monday March 31st good evening everyone and welcome to the selectboard meeting for Monday March 31st 2025 at 6 PM being held here in the L use hearing room this meeting is being held in a hybrid fashion and present
this evening is myself chairman Jason prone Vice chair Diane Gale Mr Doug mlin CEO Nicole Parker and assistant CEO naen signon Norm would you please do the pledge of
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy thank you sir item three is going to be public
comments is there anyone in the audience could you just state your name and address for the record please Kimberly Lamar 27 Granville Road South with mass 01077 so I am here to discuss the informational meeting that we had about
our new Municipal uh in internet providing so first of all having been a victim of the sewer problem I feel very strongly about this and I looked at the
online questionnaire and I found it ambiguous at most and misleading at the worst just for my opinion number one the tone of the meeting my perception is that the selectman who was in favor of this
municipally owned service he tried to end the meeting early even though there were more questions to be asked many questions were glossed over or were simply not answered number three is this a municipally owned service whip City
can raise rates turn off at will rates will go up approximately 3% perom is what is what I understood Westfield has remained the same because of towns and cities that are paying more thus enabling them not
to raise ra the rates on their own town number four take rates it is estimated that between 50 and 55% take rates will be the break even Point are we sure we can attain that if not taxes will have
to be paid to make up the difference which was never clearly stated in my opinion nor were any numbers stated in the survey I don't want to subsidize those who take many can get the internet at the same or lower rates but of course at lower speeds granted
their service would be better than the present Services we have however not all have the need for these higher speeds why should be subsidized businesses three of the most ferent
speakers there were very excited to have this service but they had one thing in common they were all businesses why should I as a citizen subsidize their business overhead number five jobs no
new jobs for the town people will be had the justification for This Promise was that this fiber system would uh cause new businesses to come to town thereby creating new jobs why are we going to have to
subsidize this number six there was no mention of other ways that people who have phones can use their internet such as casting from their phone to their TV to allow streaming no
answer got ahead of myself there no answer was given I think I missed a whole page oh goodness Mr Mar can I ask how many pages you do have well I have one more okay I lost the other one it must be at home I was a
little upset when I was writing this so according to the town we have 58 miles oh it was about West Springfield right now West Springfield only has 300 takers in the town of West Springfield also the
17 million dollar is in and we're stuck in there not like the sewer where only the residents have to the users have to pay for it so if we do not get enough takers then we will see an increase in our taxes according to the town we have
58 miles of road that is 36,24120 feet which equals 244.00 PS so I I would like to know if we are going to have to pay any money during the interim of the building
which may have been mentioned but I was not clear and like I said earlier there are other avenues that cost in between the two price ranges that were on that survey so it's not saving as much money
as people may think and not many in these days less and less people have $89 a month to pay and I just feel again that those who choose not to use it will either impact our uh take rates thereby
impa impacting our town taxes and I don't feel that this issue has been spread with the actual figures enough for everyone to be able to make an honest decision on what this
Municipal uh facility this Municipal infrastructure has which I'm not even sure it's a municipal one for us considering we have little control over it thank you thank you very much Marsh thank
you does anyone sir 33 Depot Street I have a friend up in Chesterfield that I was talking to the other day and he has Westfield fiber and his bill went down $10 when they first started anyone
else anyone on Zoom interested in a public comment seeing no takers we will move on on to new business item 4A we need to acknowledge and approve the $75 donation from Andrea
bugby and James Wong to be deposited into the library's gift account make a motion to accept that donation to the library gift account Doug Mogan will second the motion roll call vote Jason Peron I Doug Mogan
yes for B we need to approve the nonunion pay rates for fiscal year year 2026 questions did you want to just recap what you're yeah just you do want to just give an update um I did send you the Excel and I sent you the revised one
today but it's um just approving the FY 26 non-union cost of livings at 3% it's been pretty much across the board with contracts with all the union contracts so forth she M anything I did not have a
chance to review the ones from today okay to hold on to this for next meeting or it's got to be in the budget anyway so I I don't know that we need to do we need to take a vote on these or it just get loaded in the budget line
items because that's what the legislative body that appropriates the funds is tell me anyway Lauren just told me that you need to affer these rates so the the only change was the one that was missing and it's just in a 3% I couldn't hear you what the there
was one missing and it's in at 3% on the revised that's the highlighted one in yellow no no that one's just going to R it because we had an agreement yes to yes revert to that or we can just approve it next week if
we whatever is The Bu of the chair um I have no problem moving forward with it I'd be looking for a motion motion to approve the 3% for the non-union pay rates for fiscal
26 second roll call vote Jason prone I I Dougan yes and like I said these have to get programmed into the budget and then voted on a town meeting item C we need to review and approval of processes for master plan
action item modifications speak to that most certainly sir you step on up and state your name did you pick the trick chair or the regular chair find out in a minute oh we got rid of the trick one oh
no we put it back from lucky we put it in crafted spot for certain people to grab it thank you for uh allowing me to speak my first question is did you get a copy of the presentation if not I have
a all right so we've the mic organization is add some inkling of making changes to the master plan and as a result we put together our our thought process on on a
number of different areas that could could be requested to change and we'd like the approval from the planning board and the select board to do those changes so in this document we're going to talk
about how to transfer a lead lead action item we're going to talk about how to cancel how to change a lead action item how to add a new one we already have about five of those how to handle an unfunded local uh
lead action we've had some questions on validity and legality of some of the master plan lead actions so we have we want to address those how to remove a support action
from some of the support groups and we'll talk a little bit about revision control for the entire m plan so the first item is transfer a lead organ lead action item so if any lead or
organization believes that it doesn't belong to them and they want to move it someplace else they got to put a short short document together that justifies the transfer send it to possible transfer organization and to empek if the receiving organization accepts it
the transfer will take place if not then the mic will decide what the change should be and make a recommendation going forward no approval from this one from the select Board of planning board will be required excuse me one sec when
when was this sent to us nor I know I saw it do you remember when it was sent to us it was sent to you I sent it sent it to Margaret and she put it in your that's where I saw I was going to try to share it on the screen for those trying to in the audience or
those following home at home let me see if I can't pull that off I have a copy of it I got you you got it yeah okay good luck here we go okay there you go okay so on the transfer would be no
approval required from the planning board at least that's our opinion or the or the select board the process to cancel a master plan lead item again the lead organization will have to prepare a document and send it into the empe
committee it'll be analyzed and empek will formulate an opinion Pro work Con and pass it forward to the select board and and planning board as we feel they need to make that decision final
decision will be communicated back and a and the metric package will reflect the change next one is to make a significant change to master plan action item I had a question on that that's all right you want to ask a
question by all means anybody who has a question yeah what if the select board and the planning board fundamentally disagree on whether to allow someone to cancel an item has to be approved by both does that mean both of them have to agree to cancel an
item right now according to this document yes but you control that thank you okay there's always been some confusion I get it that's why I was just kind of asking I didn't watch the last meeting yet but
I was reviewing this and that kind of caught my eye like I don't want to set up a there should be a process for well we were we were formed jointly by planning board and select board so that's why we went back this way 100% okay and inde deference to Mr dowy I
know he's no longer on the board but this was quite a contentious issue between himself and myself about this board and I want to do write by what the intention of that process is all right that moves us on to the possibility of adding master plan lead action item as I
said we already have about five that the committee is will be coming forward with if this is approved okay but anybody could submit a new a new lead item and pickle make a recommendation and pass it forward to
planning board and select board for their decision and communicate back with those changes if they are made any questions on adding and we have an extensive form for
justifying an addition yes next item is the process of how to handle an unfunded lead action item we expect that several committees will do the work to accomplish the
lead action item but for whatever reason it won't get funded it doesn't make the budget doesn't get a grant doesn't get the town vote whatever and from a measurement package standpoint they'll
still get the 80% completion goal and we have our measurement package almost done it'll be done by by the probably second meeting in April and we' like to bring that forward for approval at that point in
time but the lead organization will attempt to secure funding for five years okay and each year we keep that running log and put it in front of the select board the planning board and the finance
committee at the end of The Five-Year period we'll bring it back to the select board and planning board decide if they want to drop them off and off the list or keep them going now if decision is made to remove it the lead team that did the work
doesn't lose the 80% they'll never get the 20% for the final two items that had to be accomplished which one was funding and one was bringing in the support groups and he's talking about the scorecard for yeah well you'll get that in
April okay we've had at least one request for leg of of a support item of a from a support group about a lead lead action item and what we'd like to do with this one is they'll again submit a report and
writing with their request they will go to the mic will send it on to the C and deter she will determine whether it's legal or if it's valid and if whatever that decision is we'll
communicate it back obviously if we're doing legality it's got to go through counil yeah here's I just I'm GNA bring up something that's I you know I know the the amount of work that went into this thing was amazing and great but we got you know I
just always people always ask me and if it's if it's an issue in my opinion and of legality it's a guiding document not a not a mandate so we have to remember that say that throughout I know to every party we also bringing it up you have to
remind them these are recommendations these are not orders and we have I just wanted to read one item that's in this one that is personal or pH philosophical changes challenges cannot be considered to all way the community desires outlined in the master
plan okay meaning we're not going to give Nicole um somebody's personal distaste for something for her to investigate we're just going to say there's some questions here can you investigate if
you can't justify it well what or Diane what's a hypothetical one or if you don't want to get into the one that is actually that I mean is there some guiding principle or some point bullet in the master plan that someone says you can't you just can't do that under the
law the specific item was not related to us but we I believe it was related reled to involving personal property that the committee didn't believe was
appropriate have to do with Airbnb on cottages on the lake that's problematic they haven't filled out the paperwork yet so we're not sure it's going to come forward sure that's and the reason I asked is I would think from
the mic's per point of view on that is that should go back to the the Border commission that has the regulatory authority over said action whether in this case be the port of Health fire department yeah
planning board I mean there's like nine people involved with uh short-term rentals for example but um but we would send that to Nicole she would then consult with yeah no absolutely I just was trying I was trying to understand how someone would challenge like a
general tenant of the master plan but I think I I get it now I appreciate that okay the next one which probably won't hit us right away but over time this one will come up that's the process to remove on the sign Suppy support
action um in this case the the support group feels that we never should have been assigned to them to begin with and this this allows them a process to have it removed because they they feel they
can't bring any value to it other than error there were a couple of that misassigned but you just corrected those but if they can't contribute they don't want to be graded negatively for it
even and then the last uh item is talk about revision control our plan is to if approved is to have on the web on the south.of website of re every revision
that's made to the original master plan so that it can be tracked and that will include date of the rision what the original action item was what its number was what the chapter it came from whether it was a deletion a
reassignment a modification cancellation a a revision letter will be assigned and it'll be an ongoing thing on on on the website so five years ago how did item
XYZ get to the this included project and we won know how we got there that's the presentation I said we'd like your approval we think you need that to move forward on on these types of
activities something you should be [Music] with I just wanted to ask you know when you start saying words equility and legality it just makes me wonder it's just a process to check it that's
all so we can let you sit on it for a week and come back and just say I mean most of it's pretty straightforward and makes sense I don't know what Mr m stands on it I don't have an objection to at all I think that mic is going to have to I think they're doing a good job by
establishing kind of rules of their own their own rules of the road for how they want to administer and measure progress of the EK and then measure and hold accountable those assigned tasks under
the by the mic from the master plan I I don't I that's why I was curious on the legality one like I I don't get that there was anything in the master plan that you would just say yeah you can't do that you know maybe could very well be but that
doesn't mean that um portions of it in order to get to the longer term goal of what the master plan kind of envisioned South with 2040 to be there maybe a more a different route to get it and then sometimes you end up down in the weeds
like with short-term rentals or um whatever Municipal white plants blah blah blah and we really don't just want to make a change and not documented that's thing I sense that someone has some
practical experience in this space previous I kind of guess that based on the presentation so are you okay with it too D I don't even think we need to vote on it to be honest with you I think it's just I think you guys your process there's any sort of issues you pretty
much have laid out approv okay thank you very much thank you thank you Mr CH that was Norm CH from the EMP oh I'm sorry I chair of thee all right discuss and vote on the South Lake Police Department Grant request
chief I'll sit back to there come on up sure yes you're asking you got the one with the button was it Mystic Dr Evil ad not that I Dr EV so you want to Grant obviously if
it's a you know I know where this is coming from um it would be a 100% grant for the purchase of two new ATVs and a Polaris side by side to the total of I believe in the
$440,000 range no matching funds or anything like that for the town just the incidentals fuel insurance so on and so forth what is the grant source uh the grant source is Firehouse Subs on this
one the the O the iron yes the grinder place the grinder place or so H or whatever what do they call it in New Jersey grinder or not a grinder hero sber
hero had that and are these in addition these will be in addition or so these will be Replacements to the two that we currently have how old are the ones you have vintage 2004 I think they're old I'm surprised they've served this well quite honestly but they they're starting to break
down fortunately Monty's got came back I we had something in the area but so for my understanding Firehouse Subs does a couple of these grants per year there's also some other grants we may look at if we're not awarded this particular one I have no are you gonna partner with
your neighbor across the street to increase your likelihood of award given the brand name of the chain I don't believe that was discussed I would the UTV
especially you know because you know to the towns of the north where we have you know it's one of those things where we utilize it the building to the S us already has two of them which one the building to the side of I have one I two so got the one I didn't know they had to
to be honest with you um I have no objection and if you're looking for a motion for to apply for Grants from wherever for to replace those two aging pieces of equipment that will be uh you know when the new ones when and
if the new ones come in you have that motion roll call Jason Peroni thank you Doug Mogan yes thank you that was a better word I thank you all right for E discuss the
maintenance agreement and easement for Baker Shore that's that's me that's you uh so as we all know that that pipe was put in and so um they went and made
an agreement with the association this was sent through our Council and uh they see no problem with it so that the town of Suffield will maintain um this infrastructure um in
perpetuity and this is separate from them coming in front of conservation to review the installation yeah so once that happened and we were in communication with Suffield it was like okay um you're going to need an easement and a
maintenance agreement because now you're on private property and you're going to need to come in front of the Conservation Commission just you know if nothing else to make sure that we know what kind of infrastructure is under there we know what it is because we don't know anything and it's been three or four years since they did it so just
you know give us some documentation at least what is there um and that was the extent as far as I was concerned really what we need from Suffield so they completed that they you know did this agreement with the with the association
and we had it reviewed just I think as a courtesy but it also you know it was so kind of convoluted that to make the association do it versus you know the town and where it's at and it through Suffield which is another state it's just like just it took a minute for them
to look at it and um and then to go in from the Conservation Commission I think there's a little bit of a disconnect with me in the Conservation Commission and I need to just go and see them in a meeting because I I don't know open meeting law violations if however many
members there are um but they want a full review of everything that was done on the parcel and um I was sort of under the impression that we would just get you know okay we know you did this we know you didn't mean to let's just get some documentation get it in a file so
we have it for the future it's not like starting the proc the entire process over again and you starting over what is it when you in um something happens after the
fact Oh I thought you had a term um so sorry I thought I thought you had like I thought there was a specific term for that so um you know going after the fact and getting the permitting after the fact so um I I think that we did want them to review
what they put in what is it meant to do is it dumping into the lake which it's not supposed to be we and we don't know any of that and I think that's what we wanted them to come and shut yeah so um and get a retroactive permit okay if need be but
there could be violations that we don't know about and we spent enough money on that Lake we kind of want to know no doubt I'm sure and continue annually to spend money to keep the lake clean yes um uh I
I just I you know I think that the communication between the two between the two towns has broken down a little bit including the relationships um so very lightly treading to try to repair those
relationships um and I will talk to Colin again and Lee who is the DPW director down there and um you know see if not that they're meable to it because if it's what the town wants then it's what it's what they'll do
um I wish my understanding of course this was before me so but my understanding was maybe that we were just going to get um you know the historical documentation and what they did and all and pictures and what however they did it when they thought they were doing it on their own land and
then we'll just have you know and not as simple as all those kinds of things it may be as simple as that so they've agreed to come in to the um Conservation Commission meeting next week I think that's a good start and I I
I know I spoke about this Mrs scale's correct um if this was Joe homeowner in Southwick and they did what the town of subfield did it wouldn't be oh please sign this document and agree to not do this again
um it it would be a lot worser so I thank you I just think that we they need to go through the process to to make it right yeah and maybe it is a matter of you know it doesn't have you know whether
they have to do what is the process not an RDA but a notice of int notice of intent right and go through that process even though it's already done but we cannot as a town and in support the Conservation
Commission as a town allow it because once we've done it everyone else will be in front of Sabrina and the Conservation Commission go I'm sorry right and they'll be begging for forgiveness rather than asking for permission which is their
stewardship under the law um and I think there's a fee for an noi as well you know and you know yeah I mean you know in the grand scheme of things it's not this is not about the money it's really about the Integrity of the process and and what we got to do there to maintain
some Integrity to that process for others that are going to go in front of that commission or if we just give someone a pass why bother because why then have a Conservation Commission just let everybody have at it and let the state eventually figure out why the lakes are dirty or why this stream sto
flowing or what have you they have a job to do under the law and it's their swim Lane we we as a select board first of all shouldn't medle in it let them and and you know I remember I remember this meeting specific because Mr Pratt was here that night and I think he was mildly surprised that he were he and I
were in total in complete agreement on a topic um because it doesn't happen all that often um but you know I think they need to come in front and you know an informal meeting first to determine what did course of action necessary as directed by the Conservation Commission
is required course of action here in my opinion and I joke me and Mr PR get along more often than you know that was discussion and they will be seeing you next week do you want to vote to um have Jason sign this agreement yeah I think we should it was
I'm sorry 100% we should is it for the chair to sign yeah yep okay motion for the chair to sign that um maintenance and easement agreements at Baker Shore I'll second the motion roll call
vote J I dou item 4f to approve the rever fund transfer Mr Brown is on zo he might not even know that this is in front of us tonight
this is The copier that was over $33,000 and he couldn't buy so he went to the he went to the um finance committee and they've approved it and the second one is the bunk room
remodel for $155,000 this say see attached but it's not attached there oh it's of the system for want to do these separately does a
matter two different departments can I ask a question sure what's the difference between the DPW copier printer and the one that we had to go to town meeting
for uh two months he didn't have it in his budget he has it in his budget it was just over $3,000 perfect he's just explains perfect sorry he's moving basically yeah
he was taking it out of the appropriate accounts he was saying some out of water some out of Highway some out of stone water or Wastewater but it exceed this it just ex it's $4,200 and it exceeds the $3,000 threshold so since we're bringing that up no no I got need to
discuss that's why I asked the question there's a lot of questions around that going into we had to call a town meeting we had one anyway but we got this on the on the town meeting agenda we moved money around within the budget the current year
budget to secure and purchase copy or prin or something the police department $8,000 right right this is slightly less expensive but 4,247 is over the threshold we approved the correct and but we're able to do
that via Reserve fund transfer by he had money in the budget for a copier but it exceeded that by how much so $1,247 it's he has trying to keep it square for
everyone playing along at home because it is confusing yes it is Mr chairman so he wasn't short is that what we're saying here Randy was not short he just put it in to buy a new copier with different account numbers so this is one of the things I brought up when we've been discussing this and this
is I know we have to come back to back to this topic um and I know we needed to discuss this with the finance committee at one point or that some involved we definitely need to put it on the agenda to discuss that uh minor
equipment appropriation number um but this is something that I brought up and you know I do believe I see the the chair's signature on this from the finance committee um and my philosophy on this has always been is we give our
department heads a budget if they use it and they you're using it properly to to function and if they've got that money in their budget to purchase item that they said that they need I am not opposed to this at all um maybe there needs to be some
parameters when we discuss this a little bit more but um you know I don't have an issue with this as far as that goes and I did see the finance chair's hand up sir how are you doing um couple of things it's and we'll
discuss later that dollar value but at the end of the day most of the folks that have that line item do not have a ton of money in it so even if you put it to 10,000 or 7500 they just don't have that money in it I understand the 3,000 threshold is an issue today get it um
and when you look at some of those departments they've already gone through their money without having their lucky average brought up a little bit some some departments have been crazy this year we still have four months left as far as going to town meeting goes um my personal opinion I think it was
convenient we had a special coming up and we and we put it on there for the young man um I'm not so sure it had to go on there it did not legally it did not right so unfortunately I was out of town um we did what we had to do like I
said luckily there was a special it fit the it fit it it went in in Randy's case the money's there bottom line is that that threshold was three grand he needs 4250 we went round and round for a couple weeks we wasted a lot of time on it he came back in front of my my board
I said the same discussion if you watch the tape you know it's it's above the 3,000 are we okay with it we're okay with it bring it up to you guys real self so yes eventually we'll have to figure out yeah we just I don't see special town meeting every no right I just don't see that happening no and
definitely something that I say I'd like to see addressed before like I said before even if fourth boards agreed with it then we move on her situation that's fine too no one was trying to SC Randy up he just fell in that crack and everyone was a little
busy thank you thank you sir so and we and we vote to allow this process at every town meeing anyway correct 100% and we also have to replenish the reserve account in next
year's budget yeah so that we can afford so we can do this so we can do this right yeah 100% I just wanted I kind of asked a bit of a leading question but it it seemed like we bought two of similar items and have two different processes to get there so
I appreciate the explanation not only for myself but for those that may have questions as to how why that is so are are you making that motion to approve that one I am um would you like me to yes so I'm going to make a motion approve if we're done with discussion to
approve the reserve fund transfer for 4247 for the DPW copier second roll call vote Jason Peron I Danel I Doug M and a motion to approve the reserve fund transfer for the fire
station for $115,000 for for the Sleep awake alarm [Music] portion second roll call vote Jason Fon
I Doug M yes right there other new business um think there is one and probably should have brought this up a few weeks ago
um since this was my uh term and chair um spending more money is not something I know anybody wants to do but based on the research I've done pretty much every chair and it has nothing to do with me wanting more money but I do think in the
future we should discuss possibly the the chair of the board getting a little bit of a pay bone why would I not be surprised by your comments or your yeah your UNS unspoken comment but reaction um I just wanted to
bring this up it's something that I was have been thinking about even prior to my the decision I made um regarding reelection or rerunning but um obviously I'm not not going to be here next year so it was just something
I wanted to discuss I I just wanted to hear if there was any I know it's you know we've got issues with the budget as it is unfortunately I just wanted to bring it up because I've seen it pretty much everywhere where and and I I'm as my first opportunity is
share there is sure as heck a lot more to it then I uh you know Mr Mogan just comes in and signs things no well first of all hold you secondly
um no I mean being the chair is it's a significant ramp up in the workload versus being the the vice chair or the chair however um there is kind of a tradition on the select board and then it's it's not always
perfectly adhere to it I can recall it not being adhered to um with my predecessor on this board where you cycle through right so the first year after if you're elected or reelected you are the clerk CL the second year you are the vice chair and
the third year you're the chair usually the year you're up for um if you choose to stand for re-election you're the chair um I don't think that and well I'll speak for myself I certainly don't sit up here
for the money nope that's not I do this and and I'm saying you are and I and I get where you're coming from and I I don't mean to to put it that way but ABS think that yeah you know the you don't I'm I'm lucky I always I've said this a thousand times I I live in town I work
in town this is you know hopefully my way of being able to give back to the town that I that I live in and I want to try to support the people have been kind enough to send me back here a few times um and uh I've always joked between the
the chicken dinners and and the the Raffles and everything else it's kind of a reinvestment plan on the salary part of things um so don't look at I I don't I don't really I don't think it makes a hill of beans a difference I know the last year when you're the chairman it's brutal right it is it's a full-time job
it really is in in in some aspects weeks there are weeks when you're going to work 40 plus hours a week as a select board member and there's weeks when you don't have to do a ton but you've got to stop in and sign the warrants and do all this other it's a lot um but I
personally would not be in favor of altering the pay scale um because I I just don't I don't see it as the hey it's not the incentive for anyone to run for select board if anybody wants to run for select board for the 5,000 bucks please have a conversation with me
there's about a million other ways to make five grand in a year that take you know if you if you um I think Joe and I have talked you know if you divide the hours by the 5,000 um it's slightly below minimum wage um slightly yeah so
that that's just my take on but I just something I wanted I hear you and I get it you know if you were a full-time you know I know like in in in other other jurisdictions where they have some full-time there's some full-time roles or even at the state legislature where you get a stipend to be a committee
chair or this and that and the other yeah it was just based off some of the discussions I've had with other people and in different places that's just my opinion on the matter I'm not in favor of it either and and I'm working 40 to 50 to 60 hours a week at this job I Didn't Do It For the Money oh no
I did not say anybody next year if I am believe me it was for the money I would have never done it because I can make a lot more standing in the street flapping my arms when I'm actually working if I'm honored to be the chair next year I'm looking forward to sitting back and letting everybody else do the
work and good luck with that I can't imagine doing more but it's what we do well maybe you can't imagine it but doing full plus now you might think about kind of delegating I believe Mr
steinard would say to me um okay I just that's just something I wanted to touch based on um I don't have any other new business Miss Gale y Mr Mullan not for new business from
mcole yeah so now on item six old business um item a is discuss and vote for the fiscal year 24 annual Town report front and back photo covers I actually put these aside I
can't there a lot of good ones to choose from so these are the three that I liked the most because we used this photo without the snow last year I thought that was kind of neat yes I was either on the back cover I think it was on the back
cover to be honest with you um but these these Lake pictures are are I just want to say to M J who may or not be watching these are very amazing beautiful pictures will they be watermarked on the town report uh we can ask him to remove them
and just give them credit give 100% it should be denoted on the inside in cover front center that and I think next year we should probably do I think we could have a better um I won't say better these are these are awesome pictures and not
taking any and I can never say his name right so I'm not I know thank you um it's a mental thing with me I just can't say I fall in please um you know we should have a contest let people that is exactly what I was just going to let's have a fair yeah I mean they're they're
all be I mean they're all beautiful photos and I just would like to no I did I I didn't see that in my package it's not she missed it I wouldn't be a Mr we've got a front and the back cover I mean of all the decisions we make in
the year is I'm going to die on so if you have a preference go ahead I mean I just like to see something other than the LA one something oh I understand it's not everything and no this picture just is to me it's just something about this
picture the it's just the the way the lake is presented in this picture so that's the back that's the front we've reached consensus that'll work for me carry on done rainbow can I see which one you chose for the back I got the rain are you guys okay with that yeah this is
nice one oh you don't have to just say you're i'mot I know which one give it to me she's got it I know which one it this one that one we have got that one so we discussed and do we we says
vote so second yeah call vote Jason Peron I thank you Doug yes item 6B sewer regulation just want to bring this up this was just regarding well there were two issues one was the grinder pump um reverting back
to the homeowner and the second is the multi multi multiple unit Residential Properties for elderly rates far as the grinder pump thing goes um I know Mr mlin alluded to it
my thought process on that would be is if that property changes hands then it should be the responsibility of the homeowner I I have a significant problem with telling someone that signed off on something that that's what you were
going to get in my opinion you can't change the rules in the middle of the game this wouldn't be in the middle of the game well to me it is if you have to have we said this last week if you have to have your septic tank pumped that's I
I have I get 500 bucks a year perhap every other year that's 4600 to $5,000 over 10 years the rest of the taxpayers are not paying that for
you whereas a grinder pump replaced every 10 to 15 years would be $1,500 and then the rest of the taxpayers do not have to pay that for you I I understand you're coming from that that's being more Equitable but I'm
the I'm of the mindset this is just the way I am it bothered me that we had to pay more on that that ambulance we signed a contract a contract unless there's a clause in there that says otherwise a contract is a contract it's a binding contract this is a regulation
which we have you do realize someone's going to come back at us legally we have the duty to manage the regulations based on current day and future conditions this is for the three of us to decide um if we decide to decide on it today but I
I know where I stand on this and it's just that's where I philosophically feel on a how I feel about contracts if I signed a contract cont well if they signed it when they got it they didn't it's a regulation they didn't there's no
contract there's a regulation I just it's not retroactive you're I feel you're going to be with fire that's just my opinion I know somebody's going to come back at you and you know I don't know and legal council says we have the right to do it as well
okay I know personally I'm I'm not for it as much as it would save us money that's just the way I that's just personally where I sit philosophically on this so Mr Mogan I think I said my piece on this last week I think I think we I saw
won't repeat the whole thing but I think we made the deal with the people in phase one and that was the deal that was made and Mr PR I agree with you if we if we were to ever reconsider it it would be at a change of title to the property because that would be a an an opportune
time to change a deal and it is o in opportune because we've heard discussion that public comment about how everyone else is affected in regards to something else but at that topic always falls back into
this discussion but I you know this is where Mr Me Myself and Mr M stand and Randy was in favor of this is is SE regulation doesn't say we have to vote or approve it today I I I'd be willing to sit on that
sit on it for one more week maybe on your topic then [Music] um could we table that for a week too sure I just feel like I want to have some more information on this and maybe
some alternative language to then insert if we take that out and run by accounts that was my recommendation good thanks well very good little table put it on the agenda for next week okay or the multiple
units oh yeah multiple res residential units yeah so I wasn't in favor of removing it but maybe modifying as needed something that doesn't cause a negative effect on our already problem
that we have with that system so all right we'll discuss that next week all right item six C discuss SL vote on the blanket approval proposal for expending funds from Conservation Commission Wetland feeds Sabrina perer
Miss perer come on up sorry about last week I didn't know was on the agenda hey it happens but I'm here now your or your name in position Sabrina poer southa Conservation Commission coordinator um so I asked for a blanket
approval to use the conservation funds um basically this is in lie of the budget cuts that are proposed for this coming year and I was trying to utilize or figure out how to utilize um the fees that we're com that we're bringing in via the Wetland protection act and our
bylaws um the bylaw uh fees are in the revolving account and that's already appropriated up to $50,000 a year um however for the state funds um it needs to be basically
a Conservation commi Commission approval majority approval as well as the select board approval for expending these funds and the funds are only to be expended by um in lie of administering the weon
protection act so we can't necessarily buy like a new computer what or whatever with these funds it's very specific on what we spend it on what specif like what would your actually use that okay I have an answer for that um so it's basically administrating and enforcing
the wetlands protection act um examples would be cost of engaging a consultant technical assistance review proposed projects administrative or ccal expenses associated processing notices of intent or regulatory decisions in addition
in-house training travel 2 and attendance at external training programs workshops or conferences equipment or M materials related specifically and directly to administering the Wetland protection act that would be like um an augur or soil books they can be up to
like 300 bucks plant ID books cameras uh mileage reimbursement for conducting Wetland protection site visits all wet protection act so what would happen to these funds if they're not expended they sit sit yep how much do we have um in
the revolving account we have about just on under 8,000 I think right now and in the um the state fund it is six a little almost $600 $600 that's the subject of
this this topic yes it will grow it will grow but right now they're 600 I think you could buy a computer with it if you wanted to based on what you read to me yeah but so we don't just do wetland protection act things so I think that's sort of on the iffy
because we would be doing other conservation work with it nothing else on that computer if it was like the Wetland computer I I get it I I don't have a big issue with this I don't think that do I I think we wanted to have you come in and explain it and also the fact that the dollars yeah dollar gous if you
had said oh well we only have you know 6.4 million in that account right now you going to say 6,000 or 6,000 00 in there which one one of them was going to the general fund accidentally going into the general fund this is the one that has it
will grow grow what was it last year that you think went into the general fund on accident the notice of intent fees were accidentally going into the general fund for some period of time
was it a higher loow do we know average do you have any idea I think in total total it was about 21,000 was is pre me over few years over a period of about five years um so so 4K
yeah yeah could yeah and that's about right because sometimes we get noce of intent fees that are around like $1,500 um other ones are like $250 and this would go into that state fund that you're talking about yeah because it's administrative of the
byw con we have the Wetland protection bylaw which is the revolving account from my understanding and then we have the the state conservation feeds which the state conservation fees were for some reason being put into the general account but
so so just to backtrack the revolving is already authorized a town meeting up to 50,000 right so nois go where so we we doubly charge our people so we have the notice of intense goes to
both the state account and then also the local bylaw account putl it in half essentially yeah yeah the state the state uh fee is like $12.50 more or something like that is it like a sear charge on the fee itself that's some State thing that comes back
to us which one that goes no you know sometimes if you ever you ever see a c you know a chart like you go to record a deed at the registry right oh it's $5 to record something and they making it up but then there's $10
for this fund and $10 for that fund and $12 that go into this oh and by the way $18 that go into the CPA on top of your $ five recording fee right that's I'm asking it like your noi is that how it works it's just one flat
rate and then we charge for the bylaw as well so the state doesn't put it because like the example that he's like I'm thinking and I'm looking at the chief we used have $5 for a head and another $5 now for that goes supposed to go into if it actually goes
there who knows into the training for police officers so you know that's I we don't know the answer to that there's a there's a fee schedule so it goes it just depends on the type of project that comes in front of you more more intense projects they need to pay a higher
fee I have an idea we want to here tonight sure I say we authorize it for a year we come back to us in a year with a report income and expense you guys at the budget hearing next year okay
second roll call vote Jason PR i d Doug Mogan yes I'm not gonna have to worry about it anyway thank you guys you never know you might be on the Conservation Commission by might be one Jason you will find a way to serve
your community I have every intention every intention of we're always asking and I'm not going to sit here and say uh we need people and but all right item seven the other old business is that where we are yes
so I wanted to discuss my proposed public Mr mland did you get a chance to really go over it or no I did not okay so let's put that back on for that on for old business next and I am we need I'm going to reach out to
I've been asking Our Town Council to review that two months and I've heard nothing have you called Ben direct I have not personally no sorry attorney foil and I was going through my CAO and apparently I have to start stomping my
feet and doing something so good I'm good luck I'm the type of person that'll drive right to the office so um other than that the military
um did I asked you to print that off for everybody to have M K I know you wanted to look into it yeah yes please thank you s is it all the same def just
f is it def oh see same thing it's all the same you like that okay do you want me to read it here or do you want this is I wanted to make sure everybody had it and I and I I know um another member of another board had a
quizzical look upon his face last week so I wanted to get some copies to anybody who might have want it and uh go over it so they understand it um basically we've been I said last week we this is something that I thought was kind of handled a couple years ago when
we dealt with another situation um but it apparently didn't because there was some belief which we've now determined that it wasn't the case that we had already accepted the the the veterans leave policy through the state um so again my intent is to have you folks
look at this and I would like to see it on the town warrant for the residents of South to make a decision upon obviously it's a state law so you can't readed line and put boxes in I'm writing will'll review this for
town meeting War if we're going to adopt it my intent is to ask to adopt it as written so um but that's why I brought it forward for you guys to look over discuss um and see what you guys have to
say is there some element that you think we are missing the element in what do you mean in in what we have in our policy is it particular my yes I think the law as
written is what we should be giving to our veterans I do some people may disagree with me that's okay um I do know go drives me crazy on it but um yeah I just think this is what I think
compare it compare our policy and the one of the things that I'm going to say just rubbed me the wrong way with it is in our employee handbook we reference this law as ours is based upon that it's in the employee handbook that says Mass
General Law chapter uh 33 or yeah 59 6 I'll make an pointment with naen to go through all of this and understand the differences well you have to adopt it the time yes the has to V to between this and our policies basically the
number of days and it's the number of days we allow okay and as I said as a veteran this one is personal as well and I'm no longer you know I don't Ser serve in the guards of
the reserves anymore but so there's that and I believe that is all I have for other old business I think if anything comes to my mind I'll bring it up at the end Miss Gale I think
you got something from the call today on well just to mention that on Wednesday is the community meeting for the proposed bylaw um and I communicated to Nicole today some
findings from Fish and Wildlife on that that I wanted you all to read because I'm am going to talk about that Wednesday don't want you to be surprised when I'm talking I already read it so that's all I got okay I think that's all
I got right now yes just wanted you to be aware of that okay yeah it covered all my things Mr moldin oh we had a lovely meeting last week um it was better attended than the last special
meeting uh roughly about I I didn't get the final count it was 130 to 140 something I lost and I believe we were what 105 if that at the last special town meeting which is why I made my pitch at the end but um you know the the presentation was made
by U myself and whip City fiber um as to where we are with that project and what we're what the highspeed internet subcommittee at its last meeting like four months ago now i'
asked the select board to do um and I think that there was there were some excellent questions um and there were people in favor of it there's people opposed to it I get it I did kind of a show of hands at the end and um to see where to kind of take the temperature of the room and
I think the majority of the folks in the room a wide majority of the folks in the room were generally in favor of it there's a lot of work to be done um I saw some of the Make Ready numbers for example I saw we got two I sent them to you as well um two of the Make Ready
reports came in I have City coming back to compare with what we estimated versus what they came back at so that could hopefully put some frame around what that make ready estimate is versus what the actual Make Ready is going to be um
because I I can't make heads or taals of the first you know one application yet but it's I think they can based on prior experience um but um I thought it was a great event I thought it was very well you know I said very well attended some of
questions are great um I'll take slight exception I'll be glad to talk to you offline but I'll take great exception that we cut off early I think we left there I didn't leave the town hall till well after N9 o'clock and we answered as many questions in the room as we humanly could plus the ones from
Zoom um because I know that and there was a significant number of folks that attended the meeting remotely I have no idea how many people watched on channel 15 because well we can't we can't measure them um but I will once again again um in fact I'll do it in the form
of a motion is to make a motion that the select board asked the CAO to work with Council to draft the necessary bonding articles for the upcoming town meeting to move this project forward and let the town let town meeting vote on
the bonding for that project I will second that to let the town decide at town meeting if they want that that's pretty much Where I Stood on this thing the whole time it's that's why I made my pitch at the end um and
I'll make it one last time um it is imperative whether you want it or not to be at these meetings um and I'm going to say the same thing I said the other night i' I'm very disappointed in the turnouts and some of your biggest voices
and vocal complainants are the ones that never show up anyways it's easy to be a Monday Morning Quarterback but you know I'm just going to refer back to I several years ago when I decided to run for this position everybody wanted to talk about change nobody wanted to
step up you go Gotta if you're gonna you're gonna sit there and whine about it do something about it so come to town meeting and vote one way or the other I know there's people here that are expressing their opinions and that's a good thing and that's what they're
we're here for um but this is one I I am planning on putting in front of let the residents make this decision so I would be looking for you already made that motion so roll call vote Jason Peron high thank you Doug moglin absolutely
[Music] Lawrence okay so item eight we need to acknowledge payroll warrant number 2520 dated March 24th 2025 in the amount of $284,800 cents minutes were they in the
computer I didn't see any see February 10th reg mon yeah theud had changes okay somebody so somebody didn't bring minutes are one of those things the bane of my
existence and I thought you had to go into executive session i s wrong so no we just don't yeah all good yeah oh these all from oh they're all febrary zo in order zo in order 1024
10 we saw 24 before but there was a request for changes February February sorry okay February 10th okay what's that yes motion to accept executive session minutes from February 10th
2025 second roll call vote Jason per I I motion to table February 24th you want I oh I and a motion to table February 24th second roll call vot Jason Peron I
thank yes you doing both March 10th oh it's March okay so March 10th 210 all right uh I'm not quite sure about the last paragraph but I'll I'll vot for the
first two paragraphs I think that's more of an open session issue okay and that might have been a ation as we were just walking out I think it was yeah so I'll make a motion to approve the March 10th as amended am very good roll call vote jasonone
I it also says he was absent huh said that who was absent you been a while since I missed the meeting he was I believe he had stepped out of the room stepped down oh yeah he was here we
Ste we in the meeting sir um approved nonunion pay rat for an FY 26 I know in the past we've discussed it publicly I guess we don't do that anymore what was the rate we did 3% okay 3% across the board thank you the chair
the chair was probably in the way or we didn't say it loud enough sorry the chair I was going to how did I get we% all of the Union contract agreements for the I just my hearing isn't I'm
sorry okay no it's fine thank you sir that thing on what thing well we spent all that money on there so we are at the end and we need to go have exact session tonight we do do we need to um are we looking to make a motion to go in the
executive session pursuant to Mass General law chap 30A section 21 exception number three is to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if any open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of
the public the public body and the chair so declares we will not be ring in session you only have to read specif Jason