good evening and welcome to the select board meeting for Monday the lastest Monday in April 29th 20124 6 o'clock p.m. we're here in the select Board conference room this meeting is being held in a hybrid fashion is being recorded if anyone is recording the meeting please make it known to the chair or the vice chair in attendance tonight myself Doug moglin Vice chairman Jason Peron clerk Diane Gale acting CEO Robert Landis assistant ceao nen signon and that's it for us tonight okay let's start with the pledge celest would you lead us in the pledge tonight will I pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay six o'clock public comments if anyone has anything they'd like to address to the select board that's not on our agenda tonight now is your opportunity anyone in the room seeing none anyone on Zoom okay 6:05 PM discussion with attorney Coyle Finance chair Mr deei Town moderator Celeste St jocks to finalize Town warrant article for town meeting version five version five okay so we want to start do we want start with the special CLK wants to record yeah that's F uh uh yes because I think there's the question that come is start time of the meeting yep we had a start time of six o'clock for the annual and the special has a start time of 6:15 pm. typically we do the special before the annual that's correct it's backwards yeah we passed the bylaw that allows us to schedule the annual town meeting no earlier than 5:30 p.m. yep so not sure what time we want to start the annual and then we can back into the special or vice versa what did we agree to last week STM 615 ATM 645 6:30 I thought that's what I thought 6:15 and Celeste suggested I'm sorry Celeste suggested 6:30 that way we're not wasting time I don't know how many articles are on the special but I mean usually it's like a 10-minute thing when do you want to start the special 6:15 6:15 yeah okay right we might start the annual a little bit late but I don't think we'll start it if late 6:45 I think we'll start it at like 6:35 perfect my head that's my thoughts we're not standing around for 10 minutes waiting right we voted STM 615 good okay okay so relative to the contents special Town these are I didn't have any issues with any of the warant Articles contained on here and it's really just end of the year housekeeping stuff like we talk about or like we do every year cleaning up fiscal year 24 before we move into fiscal year 25 I don't the only one I have is on my computer I'm looking at it on my phbe right look at it read I think it was in an email earlier today yeah oh fancy there we go look up biger up there I read without my glasses glass I'm doing this with up close everyone else like I can read that fine five oh okay it's one of the few things I can read without glasses there you go larger okay just down see what coming what's on that door in your way Mr you good more yeah keep going all right that's good there so we're just going to make that six 615 that's correct and then we'll update so V6 is going to say 6:30 yep okay okay on to the annual sounds good to me okay so after that discussion we're going to change start time to 6:30 yeah I don't think I have the electronic of this one right yes yes you do you do it was later this [Music] afternoon they got the special at 348m from Carl oh maybe [Music] uh the only concern I had about the on the warrant and I said this on the last two articles it's requested by the board of selected yeah I I I've noted that Celeste I don't makes a big difference from John and I think he took it from a prior version no but I'll duly noted and those changes will be made but maybe we should start from the top and work our way down because I just want to make sure start with one I didn't I don't have any questions or concerns until article 6 and that's an amendment to the revolving accounts to add an economic development committee revolving fund but I have no detail as to what board or committee or agency is going to be authorized to spend what fees charges or other receipts are going to be credited to it we I basically need to be able to complete this the the chart that's in there okay I thought that this was for uh if they receive any um not just gifts but if they sell tickets or fees to an event that they could hold that money in an account to spent on that on the events themselves was and's on Zoom I saw her okay yep she's on zoom on mute Ina can you hear us yes how are you good I'm traveling hence why I'm not there today no worries so that account we inherited the the revolving gift account and those monies that we have in that account currently were from events that were hosted either at the town hall or at the ranch or other venues where tickets were being sold to participate so I wanted to find find out what can we use that account for but it already it's already in there's already an account that we inherited and right now it has a little bit over $3,000 in it do we know what that that account is currently titled gift account okay so they it's in a gifts account right now correct and I had met with Laura back in October of 23 with Jack Cody our Treasurer and she was going to do some research as to how that account became and that's the information that we have been given okay what was a gift that account revolving account that's the question but it's titled gift account I'm just saying is the gift account a revolving rol revolving that's the question then T typically they're not typically they're separate and I think what they want to do is essentially transfer the funds that are in the gift account to the revolving account based on what I'm hearing right now correct correct so that they can be expended by the committee for and that's what I what do you want to spend it on other like events or programs or it it could be a blend of marketing material Pro U different promotions that we are wanting to host in the community and um it's separate from our website we already have a a line item for our website but this would go right into our general fund to be able to use um as we appropriately see it fit or if we want to keep the account the way that it is currently structured um then I just need to know how I how I can utilize it okay um because it's it's not clearcut okay so so I don't know whether we want to not try to establish a revolving account now or not or figure out more of the Genesis behind this and see exactly how these funds are earmarked I'm looking at the the last report that I got in March and it is labeled account name economic deev gifts okay and it has $3,743 36 in it so there's no written policy or procedure as to how to utilize it anymore is that what I'm trying no and a while back we had discussed authorizing a revolving account and then this account turned up so I think we want to have a revolving account that they can use to bring in you know local businesses to have meetings or you know education programs things like that and be able to use this revolving account to charge to participate and to sponsor those events and and roll if this was already designated to be used a separate one to roll the gift account into it that would be separate right and if you look on article just if you skip ahead one page and look at the existing departmental revolving annual fund spend limit authorization so you can see where they are today some of them so there's the COA revolving fund COA classes revolving fund COA house numbering program revolving fund okay and then they added the EDC one at the end but the article six creates that article creates that um that account so so it would be the economic development committee uh uh come with a catching name for it the department is obviously economic development committee and then you know you could look at one of the other ones to see where when we created those on how they were what the fees and charges are credited to it and expenses or Economic Development activities or whatever go ahead Ben knowing those parameters I can I can put forth some language in the next version for you guys to review and to fill in those Blanks on the chart correct okay correct I I'll fill them in and then you guys tell me whether or not you want to change it but now I have an understanding of what what you're trying to do with it they want to post this Friday um this does this have to be posted Friday or just the special on Friday no both both right no Ju Just the special has to be but we typically do them both at the same time I'm I plan on sending something out first thing tomorrow morning and we'll just authorize you to approve it I guess review it yeah provided there's nothing else subst there yeah but then you'll have to come in and sign a warrant okay okay thank you yep article seven article seven I'm still waiting for a number you guys typically that's included in there good idea what is article 7 Paving roadway usually DPW I think provides the number yeah he's not this particular authorization comes from Bond Council so this came from Rick Manley and then he just waits for the uh the number to be inserted so just need to get that to for the final version what did we put for Joe so we that's part of our discussion later okay so you'll have it tomorrow morning sir okay we'll fill in problem yeah yeah in a circuit here yeah so then obviously article eight is going to be affected somewhat from what you just yeah you that but that our dozen and I believe that it has been red everybody's waiting on it and it's received approval so I'm going to take that language away to to be reviewed yes so article nine this is just the reauthor the annual reauthorization of the spending limits and I will put in The Economic Development Fund and with a a dollar figure for that as well great do we need to voice that dollar figure for them we need to what the dollar amount for that fund for article 6 and for article n yeah so typically the the limit spending is anywhere as you'll see from five to $50,000 um or 60,000 the inspector's Revol I mean if there's $3,000 in the account we don't know how long it's been there but I would say up to you know maybe a $10,000 spending limit and then we can always revisit it that's a perfect number then we're nodding our heads yes okay article 10 Regional School District budget that number isre was provided to us today that's final now um there is no uh borrowing for the school this year which is unlike any other year that we've had no Capital uh Capital expenditures so I removed that and then kind of renumbered things as as we went along as well okay article 11 took some of this language from other similarly situated towns and what what they're doing um relative to the appropriation and transfer of the previously received fund into um an opioid special Revenue fund that we that can be established under the special act or the acts that were just passed we never established a separate stabilization fund so we don't need to worry about any of that stuff uh article 12 you guys wanted to move up the wholesale water contract before it was at the end and I think at your last meeting you guys wanted it moved up yes so I did that uh Article 13 I know we had talked about a long-term license agreement uh the law has changed over the years where have the authority to enter into long-term leases now without town meeting approval and without special legislation so I don't think my opinion is we don't need town meeting approval to enter into a 10 year license agreement for that parcel or for the lease for that property but if you want to we can we can include it but I think the statute already authorizes you to do it so it would just be giving you the authority to do what you already have the authority to do that I have no problem to strike it any want make a need we need to vote on that probably Ben sure a motion to strike Article 13 as presented motion made second Doug mowan I Jason Peron I than I done and then we're going to just vote on this at the end all these changes yeah this way there's a record of that okay CPA budget yeah the new budget so the I had some questions with regard to this because the numbers don't seem to add up but this is always extremely confusing for people and I think all we really need to do is to establish the total reserves or the the allocation for the different funds rather than have the the this other verbiage which I haven't seen in other municipalities so I just want to conf I what I would rather see us do is just confirm with Sabrina and I think Carl sent her an email earlier saying hey can you let us know what what the appropriate numbers are so I just want to make sure that we can do that and with your permission and in in the draft they sent us this year it didn't include all the other verbiage and by the other verbiage I'm talking about the of the article talks about the estimated revenues equaling the state match so is out correct oh because that doesn't match the 626 400 they're just trying to reconcile it but they didn't reconcile it in this right okay so the the the 626 4 the $626,500 is what was I just want to confirm that as I believe that those were the totals that were provided by the community preservation committee to us to include it's where the other the balance of it is where the issue came in so that's why I'm thinking we just stick with their numbers I would and that make sense I see what you're saying yep yep so just everything below the total we would just strike for the purpose of the warrant right because it's a future number anyway I have no objection Jason none okay and then Article 15 I'm sorry Article 15 I don't have any issues with the U the 5% for the um for the general operating uh budget that's typical and customary so I don't see any issu article 16 the Alum treatment that's been an annual Warren article since we did the bonding for that and it's that's just the payment of the of the uh the interest in princip on that $600,000 Bond again I don't any issue with that as well as [Music] 17 seem I don't have an issue with the expenditure of those funds I think it's an allowable expense same thing with 18 so I I think those should be included as as they presented to us okay Article 19 is zoning bylaw Amendment yeah I received word this afternoon from John G that there were some changes that need to beated into this so that will be included in the version six will be the updates with regard to that PO for meeting on Thursday I think we're going to have to just to vote to accept the I don't see how we don't we'll talk after okay article 20 zoning bylaw amendment to short-term rental attorney beglan reviewed that I don't believe that there's any changes to it and that's in final form um article 21 the acceptance of Lori drive and Cody Lane there was a typo and I think in version five and I apologize that I um it was an auto correct from Lor liquor so but that'll be changed in here as well and then changing requested by the select board in DPW rather than the board of Selectmen yeah article 22 is a temporary easement that language was approved by attorney beging as well I will change requested by select board in DPW where is that stillbrook development court and is that related to article 21 I don't believe that it is let me look that [Music] up let me see if I can look it up quick wa I'm just gonna try to find the plan that it references real quick related to that right I think so well it is off a Lor Drive South longard same page in the registry yeah so my my suggestion to the to the board is yeah and clean my suggestion then would be to move article 22 ahead of 21 because if the if the easement fails we can't take the ways because it's a slope easement for I think I I think you're right and it also impr includes the money for us to lay out the way to then take it when the time is right right correct so that's the the original 20 grand that was in there for the street acceptance y okay this is the I thought this was going to be the year we put the money and then the free the next year we do the acceptance apparently they already have the as builts and everything that they need in order to lay it out as DPW is requesting it yeah and from through via the planning board so that's what it looks like yeah okay and and there's 20 000 bucks in it for for the taking which is usually you have to take the rights away throughout the whole subdivision because everyone owns to M the street you know right but right okay so 20 22 should be 21 and 21 should be 22 correct okay land donation off of perk have yeah from the Brun Family Trust that's 13 Burkshire AV and then there's the description in that as well and I know Ken Albano's been working on that yep and then uh article 24 sorry go ahead yeah article 24 is a recision of a prior borrowing authorization that so it's reing that authorization and its entired that was received by Von correct we never borrowed the money so we're going to resend the authorization borrow yep I get that I'm just looking back at that's the final one corre so in version three we had Riv Ro where' that go see I think that's where we got confused they said that that was not that it was what re r road is was not uh ready to be done as of yet because attorney beglan indicated that we're still waiting for a a plan relative to a portion I believe it's the Northerly portion and the dimensions associated with uh that particular piece okay we'll get there eventually because we already spent the money on the survey and everything else for that pointing to a number of people well it'll come up on the next special if they get her done oh GNA get a few pings on that one okay good thing there was no harah party yet okay and I think that's it so we need a vote to accept all these changes I think we need to when do you think you're going to get these back to us Ben the final um I'm gonna have it back to you guys tomorrow morning with the the one and I just got I got to look at the email from John G just to make sure that it was Final have one if you can bear with me just one second my computer's just being a little slow um but there was one comment in here that I just need to confirm with attorney beglane because he says that he attached an updated version that that reflected Min minor revision suggested by attorney beglane and then in Brackets he has Mark B this version does not reflect content edits to subsequent or to subsections A3 A4 or c1b at the current time so I don't know what he means by that and whether there may be further revisions to those two sections so I need to confirm with him as to what that means and I'll include that in my email tomorrow hopefully he'll respond just to see what it is okay okay uh attorney Coyle do you think it would be prudent for us to schedule a meeting of the select board for Thursday with no other nothing else on the agenda but to sign the warrant yeah I think I think it would probably be good just because we're we may have some more some changes that may be more substantive than not and I mean typically I would say you can close it and but I don't know what I don't know if these changes are going to be substantive or not so I think having another meeting if it's possible would be the best I just you know I don't want anyone to be surprised we're gonna so we'll post for Thursday time to be determined but it should be a dare I say it brief meeting yeah to to execute approve and execute the warrant for posting for Friday okay I think that's I think that's proven have to come in to sign it anyway might as well have a brief meeting why not okay okay so do you guys think you'll sign on the on that day then I'm sorry sir why I asked you do you think you'll sign on a second yes okay because I just need to change that too because we usually put the that you guys sign I'll change because it's on for the third so I'm going to change it to the second okay well usually it's the posting date right great well given our hand given our under our hand at Southwick this blank day of May that's when you sign it okay and then it'll post yeah gotcha okay okay any any other questions you guys have for me you got the um hsic contract one that you forwarded to me yes is that the one you're talking about yep yeah I got it working on it fantastic Brian Sullivan's in the room so I figured I at least get a plugin I like it okay okay anything else for attorney Coyle going once going twice sold thank you sir you thank you thank you talk to you guys soon thank you public comment sure first thing oh I didn't hear but because we were running so far ahead of schedule and I see members of the park and wreck in attendance uh you guys wanted to talk under public comment right that's fine sure because I don't think we had a you don't have any come on so I ran into Dave yesterday on the on the rail trail where everybody runs da we were moving some Mulch and having some good time out there so nice what yeah it was nice floor is yours what's that the floor is yours what do you want to talk about no I just um watching the meeting from last week on the DPW Park and W maintenance thing I think that it would make sense to have some more discussions about it I saw Randy's idea of it but nobody really contacted us about it Randy's been helpful over the years when we've had covers wash out and things that the park and wreck can't take care of or we I have to call Randy anyways to see what we should be doing and they get money for Park and wreck things um but I think the biggest thing I think maintenance keeps getting lumped in with us and making us look bad and we kind of did a a little workaround this year so we're supervising the park maintenance people and the rail trail people which we have really good people this year but it h hasn't always been that way in the past sometimes you have to prod them a little bit and I think we really need somebody like day to day overseeing that type of thing so that might be worthwhile discussing that with Randy a little bit but I know when we had talked to you earlier this year we said we would take care of things this year so the park would run smooth and it's pretty much up to speed now with all the maintenance and the people working there are really good and it's I think it's going to be a good year but if the same people don't come back next year it it could be a different situation um I think as far as having say Cara and the park and wck board under DPW I talked with other members I don't feel that's a good idea Cara is good down at the Town Hall I mean dealing with everybody she has to deal with between baseball teams and everything else I mean people know where to find her and and I think we should be reporting to her if we have to get things done and vice versa if people come to her she usually sends out a text or an email to get a quick answer from one of us but I don't think that should fall under DPW and have another player supervision because I think as the board as a whole I think we do a pretty good job in town I mean having the rail trail and overseeing Wally Park and the beach for the the budget we have I think another discussion we need to have with Randy is um the tree situation I know three years ago and we set this up with the whole maintenance thing we had talked about that and figured the having the maintenance person was going to be our solution to everything but it it didn't really work out the way we had planned but I think we need a discussion again about the whole tree situation when they fall like who's doing what I mean truthly the last couple of years like every time the trees fall I don't know if um maintenance caught him up and left them basically right against the edge of the trailer DPW did but I usually go through on my own time and during the winter or offseason when there's not people out there have a friend at a rail trail or a friend of mine who burns fire would help me just to get all the stuff off of the apron but I mean it's it's just uh I I enjoy doing it I don't mind doing it but I think they should be a better solution I mean I think if the trees were going to be taken down by somebody taking down trees it's probably another half hour hour work to get the stuff off of the trail and throw it in the woods like it's always been done but I think it would be worth having a discussion with Randy about all the fine points of everything I agree a protocol which we kind of had verbally committed to in 2021 after that um Tre fell at Wally Park y well we had that and then we had the the rail trail one as well on so then we kind of had that verbal agreement um and I mean it it was working but I think maybe it needs to be more a set protocol right and something in black and white probably um and then to just pck me back on what Dave's been kind of saying is I think we just need that there needs to be that like a liaison person that comes in between like say a car like the park car the park and reck board Cara and then a a person like um we have an acting maintenance person now is you know if that position is going to be filled that person could oversee the the the heavy lifting of Park and wreck that comes into play that doesn't me to be everything but when we have the issues with the tree or we have an issue that requires that surrounds like someone had mentioned something in an email about liability that that lay person can then communicate with DPW on how that can get done and and just to back up for one second cuz I I I reviewed some of the information from last week and um I wanted to start a discussion about this that's why I brought it I had brought it up in the past and and Randy was thoughtful enough to kind of put together his thoughts on it and yeah and my my so I want to get out in front of my point of view is I never envisioned Park and wreck being a department of DPW right you guys are an elected board yeah and basically and is at some point in the near future is probably going to have a department head that reports to the park and wreck you know you establish policy they Implement your policy my intention was to have buildings and grounds be a division and I hate the word division but a unit of the Department of Public Works right so that that would be able them to bring additional Manpower person power amongst things so when there's a storm you know guys from the water and the sewer are helping to plow snow when there's a storm and trees get knocked over guys from the water and sewer can help you know with with removing trees along the rail trail when there's a um you know some other event the guys from the transfer station can come out and help the water guys with a broken water mate that's where I really see the benefits coming and really having in the very definition of Department of Public works these buildings and grounds fit that very definition so if if if I think it kind of just this is my opinion is I I don't Envision Park you know Park and wreck having a desk up at 61 College Highway and that's because it's a a unit of the the DPW I don't I don't see it that open open for discussion but one of the other things I mentioned in the last meeting was good this is great here's a first pass discussion now let's get you know all the relevant stakeholders to come into a future meeting to start discussing it and I was lucky enough to run into you on the rail trail not literally you know Sunday no absolutely no I appreciate it right because but for I hadn't appreciated the subtlety that that it could have even been perceived that way and if it was if if that's what they're they're talking see where it is I think it's more I don't believe so but if that's how it's perceived we need to correct it because that's not how I had perceived it how about you that's not how I had perceived it but if you looked at that flowchart I could understand where the miscommunication and we did say we wanted have everybody come in we wanted everybody to come back in your know it's just a prop but I think it needs to be again like we said everybody sitting at the table and then you kind of um you um get more specific yeah absolutely but I just wanted to I frankly wanted to discuss the the general theory because I think at some point not not for this annual because the ship is sailed on this this town meeting but in a future town meeting we're going to have to ask for a special act in order to do what we want to do maybe we can do it on an interim basis but to make any permanency to that change we actually need a special act and that's the first step honestly right can't do anything I think you can do it on an interim basis because because I think you can but um think we're all set for longm the RDP exists via a special act and it says it shall consist of two divisions right so if we're going to add a a third leg to the stool we need to authorize via the the legislature and the governor that ability if it's a non-starter of idea I don't want to go through all the work of doing a special act because we all know that that's a pain in the neck right but I think from a Manpower and a resource allocation standpoint from a buildings and grounds instead of having another department head in town that is the the buildings and grounds for Town Hall but then they also have a linear Park and the town beach and Wally Park um and you know perhaps someday you know another you know the DPW building itself and all the other facilities that we have to maintain now in the library you know let's maybe that makes sense to have that be a unit of the DPW and have them take over that discussion so and we want to bring and if and if there's um if it's a good idea great if it's a bad idea okay at least we floated it and got the feedback to understand how it would work and get everyone's everyone to the table to understand how it would or couldn't work um but it it certainly was not and you know I just want to go on record to say it absolutely was not the intent to have this be usurping the the the power or the authority of the park and wreck you guys are an elected board under you know under our government here in the town and no one's looking to take that away from you everyone's looking to just see how we can best bring the resources to Bear whether it's you know I when we talked even the the tree on the rail trail thing is kind of that's the perfect disconnect you know Mother Nature delivers you a tree directly to the rail Tri been a problem ever since I got on the board but then one guy comes and cuts it in half and clears it off and then suddenly it's a different group's job to complete the task well if that is a unit of Department of Public Works well they better come cut the tree up and get it out of there too cuz it's you know it's their deal too well it can be thrown into the woods it's not like truck push it into right finish the job and if um you know and I know you know prior what is it two three years ago now it was the pro protocol was to call Dave D delori to go down there and cut up the tree then we got to the point where after a serious storm the police are supposed of them at a time corre you the police are supposed to at least take a a cruise down the rail trail to make sure that everything's okay and then report into DPW or somewhere to or buildings and grounds to remove said debris right I think we just got to get to that point where you know it becomes much more you know that protocol just takes care of itself they shouldn't have to call a park and wreck commissioner at home or whatever in order to come down and execute to a a protocol that we already have right that that's just my take on it so yeah I would be willing to talk with Randy and fine-tune everything I think as far as the beach goes I don't think that should be under Randy at all only because car has done that for years and has a good rapport with the high school and and getting a stream of kids to come in every year so everywhere else has been short on lifeguards and we always have more than enough and does all the training I think that's something to throw under DPW and have them manage lifeguards and training and everything I she's done that for years and done a great job we've never been short on staff now there no good point and I think those are all frankly I hadn't thought of that so that that's why we have these discussions so nobody thinks about the park at wreck right we're all thinking we all want you know everyone wants Wally Park to be you know the most beautiful park it can be to be utilized and you know become an attraction for folks to come and use it and for you know teams and leagues to come and and utilize those resources and then you know the rail trail I mean it's it's well used you don't want to have you know hazards on it or whatever else so we want to make sure that people use it same for the town beach but also you know from a maintenance point of view is yeah I think that's light guards okay great but maybe there should you know there is a protocol for other stuff that needs to happen at the town beach opening closing ongoing those kind of things but I'm saying Staffing it and day to day that's going to be part of the discussion but I think that's been our biggest headache over the years is like the maintenance things like going from kind of overseeing it with ourselves and care and then going to the maintenance thing and not having things get and then taking it on ourselves I mean it was a lot of work just to get things I've seen more than one park and wck commissioner Andor a selectman or two or three no I'm not get it it shouldn't that's not how it should be right it should be you know once in a while sure but I mean on a general basis there should be the staff to do it and if you have a problem with staff thing for whatever reason if you're part of if that M build you know the grounds maintenance part part of a larger organization the loss of one person isn't devastating to to maintaining the park right or the rail trail right there's other folks that can step up so you know I appreciate you coming in I think this is how we have to deal with this you know on a we have to find a way to go forward and have a productive discussion amongst all the stakeholders this board your board um and anyone else who's got a stake in buildings and grounds and like you know bring up points like the lifeguards or you know how else we're going to do it yeah whatever want to get into more discussions y let us know absolutely excellent okay I think we're good yeah yeah absolutely I done messed up we're getting out of here early right guys all right like the Q word in my use it right right right acknowledge payroll warrant number 2422 dated 423 in the amount of $268,990 36 acknowledge and approved Open session meeting minutes from 422 s back minor Corrections this afternoon I them okay your folded okay there were you were on the table no here put notes on the back all right I just not you have them in here already okay great then I have no issue with these right make a motion to accept those minutes second Doug moan I Jason BR I okay an acknowledge and approve executive session minutes from 422 [Music] no question make a motion to accept the executive session minutes from April 22nd second roll call vote please Doug Mullan I Jason I you okay discussion who did that new business Miss scale my folder is so th this weake not gonna say I'm disappointed about that briefly new business there was the Attorney General um discussion at the the high school this past week on social media safely um which was a pretty good discussion I was critically disappointed if that's a word at the lack of attendance yes ma'am so oh I'm sorry can I is on well because I was interested in this because when my two years ago my daugh is senior she was on The Advisory Board and she went into the younger classrooms and did a presentation is that not going to happen this year because that's what I was curious about because I know they did an evening presentation of that same program it would I don't know if the exact program but I remember her telling me she went into classrooms younger classrooms is that something maybe that could be brought back and that way the kids would at least get the information not at night so I was was talking to another app on Friday night it's like it's so hard to do when the kids have activities at night to go to so can that are they going continue to do that in the classrooms do you have any idea I know someone I can ask okay about that yeah no that's interesting because I don't know if they changed the the functioning of how it was done I specifically and I would I mean there were four of the youth commission there the youth commission did it because my daughter andette was on it and she went into the younger classrooms and did a similar pres I don't know what exact I don't know if they do but I will ask it seems like they maybe just changed it a little bit but the kids kind of maybe missed out out on it and maybe we' get better information out to the kids if they went back to doing that in addition tol the other were you there did you make it toight on Tuesday night yeah I didn't did I see you that no I was I don't have kids in school anymore hope told oh I I just I don't either but I just went for the topic um but there were 30 I think I counted 35 people in the room most of them me and my daughter and the school administration and maybe five family units it was shockingly not well attended incredible well you got to hope you helped one really it's really what it comes down I mean those parents actually all of them I believe did have follow-up questions and things so they got something out of it so you got to look at it and that's all I think I have on did you want to address this yeah but that's all this well we can do that now sure sure um is that the amended one no I did send it to Lisa but she's out sick um she got all the attachments the revised letter um and she said she had it ready for Signature but I don't see it out there anywhere so I did incorporate the the chief's comments he blessed that so that's that's the original version not the final nothing changed in the guts however what's the gist oh the gist is that I I propose that they actually Define hardships and to include um physical disability as a hardship as well as a physical topographical restriction being a hardship because in some cases you can't put a dock because conservation won't let you clear the land to put a dock even though you have a deed Frontage some of it you just can't use that's a hardship and then the last component was I I didn't put any language in vot the chief suggested we put in that they address the um uncodified soft rule they have about allowing you know if your neighbors are in harmony of a a non-conforming they let it go but they need to put some criteria to that so to speak what conditions would allow that and how far non-conforming can you go things like though but we left that for them to decide if they wanted to address okay but suggested that they do you want uh So Lisa we'll have a final copy someplace for Signature and then she'll deliver it to conservation with the attachments and if they you think they carry it on their agenda to for discussion or I would hope so that's what we're asking okay so do you do you want us to vote or do you want to wait till we get this next week and vote on it um I don't know when they meet next anyway probably not I asked today I just um they won't take next week anyway I don't think I got it's within two weeks I think if I'm not mistaken all right we'll come back I did see it I and I did want to meeting last week right are we are we in or out next week what's our SCH right hour we're not going to meet I know we start missing some somewhere here but as long yeah we should meet the 6th we probably will meet the 13th but it will be a very very light agenda by Design you'll have a final and then by then not on the 20th okay I mean you already did last week approve it just to include what the chief head wanted and all signatures perfect so I just needed Lisa to update it and put I think the letter all right any other new business Mr PR no we're they trying to wrap up all the old business acting CAO nothing sir okay old business table review the liquor license fees for this week because I think Lisa was working on that yes no maybe appointments process I I gave you the update before the meeting um it's just the website rights issue so no big Scandal but usually by the protocol June 1st is when the administration lets us know the vacancies that will be on the board so we'll be in fine shape for June 1st um and then we we can go and take a look at that application to see if there's anything we want to change and clear out the old stuff and get ready to put in I know we have some letters already we can start to get those in no problem but it's offici it's really official June 1 that we get that uh LT interviews tenative date is May 28th LT being Lieutenant for those who want a definition of your acronyms thank you still on sorry sorry angga um cea director internal posting done external job posting done yes highspeed internet last Tuesday the board voted to send the um contract one back to this board for review and approval uh we didn't get it back from the attorney Brian's gonna be mad he's probably staring daggers at me right now so um but it was there was no substantive changes to what we had previously drafted um but Ben has to go through it now so if either we can cover it next week or I'd rather not carry it on the Thursday agenda just because I I we kind of committed to just having us signing the the warrant so let's cover it next Monday and be able to execute that agreement so that we can get started on all the stuff that we need to get started on for this for this internet stuff but good news we finally got to move on that marijuana dispensary web page posting H process and template RFI evaluation and scoring everything's there people were notified uh I did get communication from some of them with just some basic questions and if it's okay with both of you I I wrote it I can answer those questions I can have them directed to me if least it doesn't know the answer is that okay no problem okay so we'll carry on doing that okay land license for American Legion I think based on the actions tonight I can just go ahead and have Ben draft that license agreement and send it to them to get that done between us and the school and the leg M General 61 61a joint meeting May 4th is that I think that's wrong because a that's a Saturday I'm thinking it's probably June because I think June does June 3rd look like a Monday so it's probably June the 4th yeah thir how am I doing on my M yeah so yeah it's June 3 oh because we had the third or the 10th yeah so it's gonna be June 4th because the third is our it's a week of June 3rd or week of June 10th so they they pick the fourth okay Tuesday and it's non conflicting with maybe the planning board's not meeting that week but okay carrying on uh d-mobile Hometown Grant duly noted yes only need the mayor Mr sheal uh master plan implementation subcommittee shame on myself DPW plan incorporate Park and wreck we talked about that a little bit I could have covered under all business but I let uh Dave and jeie had a had a great conversation with Dave out on the rail trail on Sunday other old business M Mr Peron well we talked about the LT thing last week yep I am still insistent on bringing in an assessment center um I would like the board to allow me to get a propos a proposal or request for proposal to several of these companies and have them come in ahead of time um I talked at length with Mr Stevens and um don't forget the the law enforcement side of MRI a couple weeks ago as I stated this is the way policing is going um and in a professional police force we have to have a process um I am by again I am not saying anything negative towards the process that we've had in the past but part of the post reason for posting is that they want standardization across the board um and this is something I want um I'm going to plant my flag in the sand right now and I am going to request that the board put an assessment center in place and in the near future I'm going to be requesting that at a minimum there be an entry level exam put together these these corporations all put together um corporations based on they can come in here and base them on the towns themselves if it's good enough for the deputy chief of the fire and it's good enough for the fire chief I want it for the police as well I'm I'm I just I I think we did ourselves a complete disservice by not doing it I think we've got had two great qualified candidates as far as Chief and I think we made the decision that we made but I think our decision would have been a lot uh what's the word I want to use here I don't know um for lack of but decision would let controversial outside of this room if we had to have that place process in place so um this is where I stand and that's what I'd like noted discussion I have to say I'm still a bit muddy on exactly what you want to get out of it that's why I'm requesting that the board have put together allow me to put together an RFP just get some proposals out and get actual proposal or requests for proposals out and get some actra proposals in and have a couple of these these Assessment Center individuals come in and explain exactly what they can give us again I'm not going to go into the whole expertise aspect of it yes I have some expertise in it I am not an expert none of us are an expert police Chang use the term experience in it no you said expertise so and and and I am I have some expertise and experience but no I'm not an expert so you know this is just this is something we should be doing I'm just going to I'm going to this is that's all I'm gonna say about it like I said I don't understand why it was good enough and it was necessary for the Jeopardy Chief and the fire chief but we didn't do it for our own Chief the the lieutenant is the second in command that is that is the guy that's going to be taking over when as Chief Landis knows when he's not there Lieutenant Bish takes over I want some sort of barometer I think if I may something you might want to consider if you're going to go this route is to identify what you exactly wanted to do for you do you want it to just come up with the particular questions do you want it to actually screen people out before it comes to you um you know I've seen different ones out there that do different things are they basically picking your candidate are they prioritizing how that's what I'm saying there there's so many different things you come from a service department that you know based on a test put your people one through whatever it weeds people right totally out of the picture that not necessarily not necessarily a good thing either we understand because they can be very good candidates although maybe their testing correct wasn't as high as the other person and it just seems to be you you you really need to identify what you want to come from this what I want is it gives us a barometer like I said I'm not looking to put together an assessment center to say absolutely absolutely no this can give us a gauge again of where our our candidates coming in are our candidates for promotion are again these are going to be the Command Staff folks that are coming next um and it's it's it's just a good way to to determine other than and I'm going to say it we all have unconscious bias and I don't care what anybody says we all have it so it takes that out of there it allows us to say hey okay I got to take my heart out of it because people you know after our our decision there was some controversy on and people came to me and said look if I went with my heart I would have gone another way if I went with my with my my head I would have gone another way and that's the way I went I I want this is just what we need to do you know I have to say I don't think I put any bias into it I you're called an unconscious bias for reason Dian it's called an unconscious bias for a reason I think I did I have no problem with my decision let me say that I don't have any problem with my decision I am not questioning my decision decision no what we answer to the residents and and the citizens to S with y y and I want them understand some of them are happy with the decision exactly some of them are not nothing to do it didn't matter and no matter it didn't matter in that particular case completely understand because you would have had a diff just a different set of folks calling exactly and you know like I said I've I've had the privilege now of of um I don't know three Chiefs um couple few lieutenants one Chief extension that was highly unpopular SL poopular depending on who you asked when I first was elected to the board and um that was commiserating with the chief this just this past weekend at the pancake breakfast that you know in in my tenure um of nine years on the board you know a serious chunk of the command staff was was while I was on this board and a serious percentage of the police officers that are uh in the employee of the town of Southwick were under my you know while I was on this board and I honestly I per I don't have a single regret um I did on one when I first did it and cuz somebody called me and I thought I had made a huge mistake and I talked to a couple it was being new on the select board when I'd done it and then when um I talked to four other people and they go that that guy's crazy um so I just said all right so I understand it um I hear where you're coming from I I just I think that that's part of the job that we're we're put here to do and and we and and for good or for bad and I I was teasing Diane at the end of the meeting a couple of weeks ago in good natured ribbing like you know it happened to us all some of it's after the first meeting some of it's after the fourth meeting some of it's 10 months in right where you finally have managed to disappoint the entire town with the number of decisions that you make right um but not even a matter about that no but I get it but that's how that's how I I view it and um I'm I think for this process we've kind of already set it in motion um I I can see it I I actually can see it for more at the at the entry level I'm starting to see a little bit more to it because we don't have don't have the res we don't have the Reserves to kind of screen invent and so you may you really do have to kind of look at that and you are making a a significant investment not just the academy it's not it's not dollars and cents it's time um and so I think that there may you know maybe there's more to it to look at it there but from the the command side of things I I don't know I'm I've been pretty comfortable I'm very comfortable with the decisions I've made so far and I don't I don't see it for especially this round here um and then then you know and any of the sergeants by you know when we get to that part of you know this Conga Line's going to move right when we we're going to get together in in exec session and we're going to come out of exec session that you know hopefully we'll create a vacancy which will then be get a vacancy right so and and then you have a retirement which going to create a vacancy which creates a vacancy right so the whole Conga Line's going to keep going um but I could see it I can start to see more of it on you know at the entry side of things is how you're going to you know as part of the recruitment part or a part of I don't even know what that process looks like because like I said what is exactly we're going to look for um in and you know we're in a new world with this post and the lack of reserves we've had very few um officers on the department come to us yet that we not a reserve first a couple now but not too many um and we've been fortunate that that's all kind of worked out and I I don't think it's luck I think it's it's it's good interviewing skill and everything else but I could foresee much a little bit more of a robust process around how we get to that because a lot you know frankly as a as a select board member and a police commissioner what we see in front of us is not always you know the candidates that are presented to us is not the whole pool it's the result of a process that was set forth by the police department as part of their vetting process right so and I'm not even going to pretend I know what that is same thing on the fire side um you know they send two or three candidates to us to to consider to hire for one or two spots or whatever on on the police department they might had eight applicants I don't even always know right because they've done their job and and you know whether Bea background check whether it's via the interview whether it's whatever other references that they chose not to go forward with someone so but I I I I think that would be a you know something to think about as we continue to grow that may be something to look at but I'm on for for this process that we're on right now I I don't see a need to change your tradition that's my opinion I'm still looking at the fact we have internal candidates that are know it might be different if we didn't have anybody who stepped up for this and you know if you want to eliminate any kind of bias we can we came up with I came up with questions that were designed to draw those things out of those candidates and have them prove to me there at that minute that day that they were my choice if you want to score those we could ask those questions and we could score those before we debate that's one of the other things the assessment center can do together so can we if you want to I understand you want to ask your own questions done no no no no just like we're doing with the marijuana applicants we're going to score those independently and then come back togethers but it gives you yet another barometer it you a professional outside assessment I'm suggesting we know how to write rank that we can do those questions I'm suggesting we we we do know how to do that but I'm suggesting we can do better with more professional input but so the only thing I'm going to ask here since I've actually never I would like to the board to vote on this yay or nay if that's something we can this is not something I've ever put forward as such uh I think you make a motion then I'd like a motion to uh use an assessment center for the Lieutenant's positions and the Sergeant's positions then the chair would call for a second is there a second motion dies for lack of a second duly voted or not voted because there was no second to the motion any other old business sir no that's it no uh I want to thank the police and fire department for and the police and fire Association and the Civic fund for fantastic event at the police and fire departments yesterday thanks to all the officers and firefighters and call members that came out to support that to support the food pantry and engage with the community they get to see all the shiny stuff and good day yeah it was really great and the weather broke finally last year was it dis rain like you couldn't believe and also thanks to all the folks that came out um also yesterday morning to clean sweep and mulch the rail trail with the friends of the rail trail so they've got a lot of that's a ginormous linear Park when you think about it and a ton of mulch so thanks to all those folks that came out it was good to see Dave D delore was out there and Mr Mrs Heap um oh I forget the young man's name it's Dave Dave spina's son Nick Nick Spina um and um Mrs banish and a few other folks that were out there helping so thanks for everyone else for coming out we are going to go into executive session we are going to reconvene an open session after exec um to potentially vote on a matter that we're going to discuss in exec so entertain a motion to go into executive session to conduct collective bargaining sessions with non-union personnel and to reconvene an open session move to go in executive session to conduct contract negotiations with non-union personnel and to reconvene an open session and the chair declares that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the body and to reconvene an open session move to go in executive session to discuss strategy respect to collective bargaining and the chair moved to go on Executive session to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-un personnel and and to reconvene an open session and to move to go into executive session to discuss strategy with respect to litigation chair declared an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the body and reconvene an open session A person shall have a right against unreasonable substantial or serious interference with their privacy the Superior Court shall have jurisdiction and Equity to enforce such right and in connection therewith to award damages motion to go into executive session um motion second Dougan I Jason I [Music] okay okay time is 8:05 and we are coming back into Open Session and we have only one order of business and I entertain a motion to uh motion to approve the police chief contract for uh r e banish subject to uh a couple of typos that need to be fixed up literally remove uh select Board of Selectmen and change it to select board I make that motion second roll call vote please Doug Mogan I Jason Peron I Dan I okay as I promised that would be the only order of business after we came back from exec I don't see any other business in front of the board tonight correct yeah something real quick we have to no I just want to show you something no it's real simple guys how you doing Joe DD finance committee we'll be in front of you in a couple days hopefully for Monday with the actual budget done so you keep that smile that's a smile we just we're at this on Friday night yeah no I'm just you're not looking at numbers you're just looking at the setup so it does have the percentage in it you follow this this is how the format's going to be this year um it just remember last year was way and you and you flipped and all the craziness so there you go so this is the format that's the yeah got this is it's almost the final we you got to go over a few things real quick but correct um hopefully W look at those negatives yeah and we're going to change it up a little bit this year too I think I'm want to discuss each department as we go through them what the highlights are if there's three so because some people just don't yep people want the so I'll Point them out real quick good or bad and oh good that's great that's good that's good okay so more or less it's just a you know it is what it is but we're getting better why do you have two because I handed them it's just the vision don't go over the numbers it's it's the look of the look of it adult coloring book kids okay just look at the prettiness of it that's the second time I heard for crayons in this meeting so I need him back oh you just gave me two pages out of your book yeah I gu just so you could see you don't want to go landscape and draw lines huh give me the thing okay anything else sir entertain a motion to ad Jour motion made a second all in favor I have a good night all thank you you're folding so