good evening everyone My name is and I will bring the meeting of the board to order 2025 at 6 p.m President would you join me in the pledge of allegiance please I am seated
I know that you're respectful I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all
I'd like to continue to thank our veterans as well as those currently serving to protect their country as well as our emergency response um individuals and their families
Um I also want to continue to thank all the town hall employees and all of those in town who are lending their comments to us as we go through our budget process
Um Veronica did you have any comments Uh no I did not Okay This meeting is being recorded and uploaded to YouTube Uh is there anyone else
recording Is there anyone online recording Anybody else Uh I do not have any agenda Do not have any chairman's resolutions at this time
1.5 Um we have two sets of minutes to approve Could we take one at a time Sure Which one do you want to do first February Yeah All right Um I move that we approve the meeting minutes for 218
2025 um with uh changes as noted in the um hard copy Okay And um I will second that as well as
um I have hard copy changes as well and I've already given them to Sabrina I will do my Is there anything you want to discuss on there Uh no Most of these were you know take a d
off of of a you know ed Um you know something that was past tense It didn't have to be a comma That could have been a slash Um this is this is the February 18th I did have a question about discuss
articles for special town meeting Uh the last paragraph in that motion was made by Veronica Cell and seconded by V Shiffron Moved second What number Uh 4.7 Thank you So just the paragraph just above 4.8 Okay Um motion was made by
Veronica seconded by Mars Seconded too Yeah I saw that I wasn't sure what the fix should be but that needs correct Oh toss it out Um and it should be fine And uh so that that's it Um you know there's
the for Hannes Road says Hannes Rod and it's SLWallis Hill Road For the THT properties that's in 5.2 the THT report presentation So it's nothing that is
okay You know I didn't catch that one Um so I have a a Okay maybe two questions Mhm was the one-year extension on the 63,000 I thought it was 62,000 62 Okay
So that's I mark I had that mark And then see at least we're not asleep Um so also wonder your report Veronica on 5.2 Yeah the one we were just talking
about Yeah So for our question does Alwood acres really go back to market rate at at 2029 Yes The answer to that is yes but the
question is does it revert to market rate or is HUD going to keep it um keep it uh affordable And we don't know because we do not own that property right So the housing authority which we do not have an active housing authority
right now is really their um that's in their purview to look at But yes that it's the way the mortgage was written It isn't anything nefarious or anything like that It's just the way the mortgages for affordability were being written through
HUD at that time Um and so the and it reverts back It's like a 30-year and it reverts back It um the affordability goes away unless something is done to keep it
affordable And that's really within the purview of Hod and AR Yeah So um but there are things that can be done that housing authorities can we should be working with them We should
be asking the question now We need to get somebody in there Um yes volunteers to do we we don't have a quorum We only have two people on a fivep person board and so they can't meet So until that changes
um it's it's not the housing trusts it's not under our umbrella right You know and I say our because I'm the select board rep to the house It's not under that umbrella It's under the housing authority umbrella Okay And so um other
this has happened to other um you know developments of the same type in like Cambridge and Somerville and other places that were all developed at the same time that this was done So I have a question Things are different now Yeah you know but that's when it was
developed so that's what it is So the last um so this is within the trust So the last paragraph where it says the planning board does not exercise the affordability clause RFP planned hopefully development within two to three
years and that is by the housing trust That's correct That sentence So could we just put that in there by the housing trust Um sure I just have a note we need to straighten this out That doesn't go on the minutes but that was my note This has to be
straightened out Okay Um and that's about it on that So having discussed whatever changes and given them to Sabrina uh any further
discussion No I don't have anything Hearing none verif uh with changes as um uh noted in our comments to Sabrina Okay And I second [Music]
that And I have very few on this I have very few as well but m mine are more questions than changes Um yeah mine were more like a comment or
a question like under um your updates for climate action plan for town and open space for creation Um who's doing that um someone doing it
is so um the person's name Michelle Zelena she um is working um for um three other towns Um so it's us Littleton Prol
and Gr I'm sorry Dunster Um so um her salary the grant correct Yep So it's only for one year Okay So you know we have you know basically 25% of her time And um
it's funny you bring it up because I was hoping to have her um at the next select board's meeting next Tuesday um to introduce herself um you know just to see that you were going to submit information to her So yep Yeah that
would be Yeah I've already submitted a bunch of stuff that we already had um like on the shelf you know like the our master plan um the MVP plan Yep You know the open space you know um and recreation plan along with a few other
documents that we've um you know paid for and you know had completed over the years Um so she's going to look through all those documents and take out certain pieces that are you know related to climate action and then you know put
together a document afterwards Um so um but it's not just climate action right Those all those talks Well it's all those all those documents and plans and reports she'll take certain pieces out to to come up with with a climate action
plan Um so um so yes I'll put her on the agenda for next Tuesday's select board meeting um for her And there's a great because this is also something that's mandated by the state No this is not mandated No this is all
voluntary Yep So okay It it was that um it it stemmed from that climate action committee that got started maybe four or five years ago and met regularly and this is the result of that
And you know we we went in on it with three other communities to um because you know there's probably not enough work for one person full-time in one community So splitting it up four ways you know and with a grant is fine
at this point Yep Um I only had a comment under the um special town meeting and only that the lights were still an issue for me Was it too bright or too
wasn't too dark Well no In January it was actually a little dark because um that's what Tam had said because because some of those overhead lights actually were not turned on for the January stuff which we did end up turning it on in March So you're saying it's a little too
bright then Yeah And I thought the lights were too bright in at the first meeting but that was only because the slideshow thing It was very the I think it was the lights that face the stage Yes Yeah Because I didn't
turn them down for the um presentation presentation and that made a huge difference Okay So just to have the overhead lights Yeah But yeah you know we there was a concern after the January one that was actually too um it wasn't
bright enough for um for team purposes Oh right Yeah you know when when it's filming it or whatever Exactly So we we turned it up in March and I guess that was too bright So we'll we'll figure out what the happy uh compromise might be So
I didn't realize it was too bright for you guys Oh yeah Yeah The lights were just shining And I think it it's hard for the moderator to see out in the audience to call on people Okay That makes a difference too Okay Uh we'll need to go back to the drawing board
then to see what's the what's the compromise I'm good if you are Yeah I am My changes are you know renewal should be renewable There's the safe that should be saved The you know it's it's nothing huge
contentwise So it's good All right So roll call Uh Veronica Yes Very Yes [Music] 10 Oops Three Uh one Kathy Spartford as the
temporary town clerk effective April 28th 2025 through May 2nd 2025 Kathy's here You want to come to the table or Kathy and I did sort of speak on that
earlier and um the dates are still the same Nothing really changes I think we agreed on 32 hours at your whatever your hourly rate of would be Exactly And we thought that would be sufficient to to
close out the um uh annual election Right So I have a question Why can't the assistant town clerk She can She can She can Yes And we're paying her her salary anyway
Or would this be something over and above her salary Um that's between you and her Well well but but she's already an employee so why would there be um above and beyond in terms of her compensation
or would you mean because she'd be acting as counselor Oh right Yeah I I mean yeah that might be a separate conversation you know cuz she'll be Have
you had conversation with her and she works for you um we've talked about it She's more comfortable to have me there She's she's uh very capable of running the election itself It's the after pieces that she's
not sure of Okay So that's entirely your call on that I I I think K you know this should be your last harrah you know you know because it kind of is only 16 hour day Yeah I know right You know so I I'm in
favor of you know you know this being like your last like big official you know Yeah thing that you work on So when does the new town clerk then get sworn in I mean how does that work When does he get paid So or she as the case might
be they're running Yeah the person Um so according to Mass General law she she or he starts um a week after the election So it would be the Monday after unless otherwise
qualified So if he was sworn in she was sworn in earlier could start The only thing is with that they cannot close out the election Okay Because they weren't whoever is in charge of the election closes out the election has to sign off
on everything Okay So if I'm not here I don't sign off on it It would be if Jess ran it it would be Jess that would sign off on it Okay On all the paperwork Does she ever run an election Not by herself No Okay She's very good at elections
I'll say that much for her But no she has not And she hasn't done the the after paperwork and everything So then so I'm just talking No that's whatever
Is it okay or possible to have the new town clerk start on May 3rd So May 3rd is a Saturday Well not May 3rd Yeah So the earliest conceivably would be Monday May 5th I
would say as soon as the election is signed off on they could start Yep And they have to be sworn in right So are they missing a training opportunity by not being there for They could come in whoever it is They could
both But they wouldn't be paid But they wouldn't be paid That sort of thing Yeah Yeah They wouldn't be paid That would be all right Yeah They could do that But realistically the the new town clerk would be sworn in um Monday May 5th like
that you know Well a lot of times we swear them in because they're excited the night of Oh yeah Um and it's supposed to be the um a justice of the peace to the town moderator to swear in I'm a justice of
the peace so I could swear them in whether I'm the town clerk or not Okay Um so they could get sworn in but their their duties wouldn't begin yet Right Okay So so it would just be Oh okay So
that's all right So it' be just cleaner to swear them in the the day that they start Yeah Or the later in the week before right Okay But it doesn't mean that they can't come in right I mean they've been elected so
they can come in and show them different things right I mean Jess will be there too to help him but that wouldn't that wouldn't um affect you know um Kathy's temporary appointment you know as right Right For that week would that be 1099
work then not payroll work Because she would she's retiring so she's off the payroll at the point that she retires I mean my that's May 2nd My last date my official date of retirement is April
30th with Middle Sex County retirement It's a little bit different date because I had to retire before the election give you that notice of retirement right But I waited till the end of the month so it would be for
Middle Sex County Um she Kathy wouldn't have to be a 1099 because I don't think so Yeah Because there we have employ employees that are well Ross was a interim Yeah And and he was I don't think he was on a 1099 was he
No When Ross was the interim he was played as an employee Yeah Um but what I'm I'm wondering about is um my understanding was that we couldn't have two town clerks at the same time
You you wouldn't we wouldn't No Okay Because the start date is the following Monday So even though the person is elected on the 28th they do not become the town clerk until after Right you're
out Okay Right All right Yep But um yeah so I don't think a 1099 would be really necessary or needed You just need to fill out a um employee status form to change that Correct Yeah You you'll
you'll be um your title will be temporary tax versus interim Yeah Well there's actually a difference apparently um interim versus temporary And I I had actually um Adam corrected me a few
times in the in my emails Um apparently there is a there is a distinction I mean it doesn't matter to you because there's still Oh because there's an elected one or is is that why that might be the the distinction but but the word temporary
and interim means two different things Yeah So okay Um I I I guess I just want to make sure that it's taken care of on the that there aren't any um anything just make sure it's taken
care of as far as payroll goes Yeah that's Yep We we'll do that behind the scenes and figure out what that would look like Um you know some sort of employee action form and if there's anything else we we'll figure it out So but Yep
exactly why we need HR All right So uh do we need a motion I believe so We do All right Um I move that we appoint Kathy Swafford as the temporary town clerk effective
428 25 through 5225 I second Any further discussion No Hearing none Roll call Veronica Yes Laura Shipper Yes Okay Very good Thank you Kathy Thank you very much Of course
Thank you Green community grant presentation Oh I just saw wrong I did just see like literally a minute ago Is there anything in our folder Are you guys here for an appointment
Let me join Let me see if I can find Oh we do have the table No we put you on as one of the early uh items Hello I do I don't know what information you
provided with out of what I emailed but the uh what I'm up there Great You got the whole thing All right Um the energy committee met today to talk about the uh competitive grant
green communities Um we've been doing this for for some years now Um um Mike Brown and I met this afternoon to try to determine which of the uh items would most likely
survive competitive tests In other words there's some things that we could have done that might have saved $1,000 a year but if we had chosen those things it would have brought our uh compet competitive nature of our application down such that we didn't
think we would we we would risk losing a thousand you know the $30,000 annual savings from the lighting projects We'd lose the whole thing if we added that So we took out the uh three police potential police
projects Um the grants we left in the uh right not walking on them Yeah if you walk on that would be a problem All right Um down hall the traditional uh retrocommissioning study uh
retrocommissioning study is a very detailed study of the heating system Uh we did a project like this for the library senior center that was uh completed in August Um it uh made many recommendations which
uh don't save money until you execute them So there's there's no savings in this until you uh are completed and execute But it should give us a long-term uh a view a detailed view of this structure The proposal was to try
to do this um is to do this um uh on the town hall Um the HBAC evaluation will provide us with information going forward that you know there may be over the next 10 years a
million dollars worth of work needs to be done on the heating system here So it's a good idea to have guidance up front and that's what this is about Um the two uh school lighting
projects we are limited to $100,000 in total uh school lighting projects per contract year That's why this comes out to that And actually to make it come we were about $1,300 higher than that on the quote and uh Rise Engineering saw
that little amount and basically reduced their quote so it would all fit in with no uh community contribution Uh also the uh Mi MCP our administrative assistance is
available uh and it's a $3,000 uh which I highly recommend Uh we can't do all of the detailed reporting and stuff ourselves It's handled professionally and uh so the um grant funding
uh for these projects comes up to the 125500 with uh if you can move our spreadsheet over that way a little bit Community contribution is zero Nothing for us to contribute
And um there's there's more detail on the sheet but if you don't need it there's no reason to get into it here More technical stuff reasons why we made our decisions Okay that's our recommendation and it was
unanimously people Um who does who uh applies for the grant Who puts in the application Is it Kieran or is it MRPC MRPC MRPC So that $3,000 will um that would cover um the
cost of um submitting the application as well as reporting that's um associated with that which al you know there that's an annual fee Yeah So there's a you know submitting the application and then there's there might be I don't know if
there's necessarily quarterly reporting but there's certainly a uh close out um when the project is over that the program asks for uh progress reports and the um and then there's the annual
report at the other end Yeah Yep So there's a bunch of reporting that needs to be done for this grant That is my report and our request So do we need a vote to um put in the application for the green
communities based on the recommendation of the energy committee It's need to be done uh applied by April 4th this week Friday That's what I um so I I move that we
um uh go forward with the green communities um grant application as determined by the energy committee and um forwarded to MRPC so that the
application is put in by April 4th I will second that Any further discussion Sounds doable for me Okay Roll call Uh for yes Yes Thank you very much Thanks for being appreciate your
work Okay 4.2 Is that your jacket That is I thought I left it outside Thank you I do stuff Um do we have the warrant on the I haven't seen it Do we have a copy
of the warrant to look at or are we just opening and clo If we're opening and closing it we're just opening and closing it There's So there's not one written up yet This is just to open for it the special right Yes We're opening
and closing it today and we don't have anything populating in it No we're opening it tomorrow when it's closing on the 14th Uh do I might not have Oh here This is the the current Yeah with the motion All right I have what was in
SharePoint All right Uh I have I have it from here down but I didn't have come up here Oh sorry Yeah I won't concentrate on Okay Is there a motion Um I move we open
the special town meeting warrant on April 2nd 2025 Um and close it on April 14th 2025 And I second Any further discussion No
Okay Um well yes maybe there is Um because we need to have Do we know what's going in that yet I know the capital planning has at least two articles in it Um on the special Well we have one on the special town meeting The
other one is probably on the regular town meeting Um I I don't have a good sense of what's going to be in the special town meeting at the moment what articles Um but we we certainly Is that enough time though for you to get it together do you think Well absolutely I thought we already did that like at the
end of February that we said these need to go on Oh yeah No we did But in terms of any additional ones I I can't think of any at the moment So we should revisit that list that we had done up Yeah Yeah that's what I I kept waiting
for it to appear in the SharePoint and it didn't So Okay Yep All right Yeah we're just opening it We're not um ready to discuss populate it Okay Yep Um maybe we can have an update at um
next week's meeting Sure I can do that We're not dealing with all that in two weeks Yeah So did you guys actually We have not voted yet I'm waiting No And how do how does the agenda disappear
This isn't the one that got handed to me just now with it I I hope not cuz I don't have I gave you the agenda with the motion language Um I know I just showed it Yeah Oh is is this
it Well no She I gave her a copy too I think you must have shuffled it and everything Is it turned upside down over there Must be Those are the two minutes Um Sabrina has another copy if you want
to reference that April 1st Sorry it's me Oh it's me Okay You got it Yeah it's me My fault Okay [Music] Um if there's no further discussion on
4.2 to open and close the special town meeting warrant by April 14th I'll take a roll call Veronica Cow yes Laura yes 4.3 Review and sign annual town election warrant for annual town
election on April 28th Okay Um I move uh to sign the annual town election warrant for the annual town election on April 28th 2025 I'm just making sure I made those
changes and I um I alert I alerted Kathy of them So I provided her with a copy of um did is she who provided you with the first ballot The the article
um yeah the the the the things the election warrant Yeah And the things we had to correct was um the the select board members it was like a previous board and the dates date was like 2023 or something right and uh it it it
reference the select me now the select board so um I made those changes and the correct version is on shareepoint so right so we can you know sign it on a session so that we can post the
so so should I amend to say and sign out of session Uh yeah that'll be great Do you want me to read the motion again please Good I move to sign the annual town election warn for the annual town election on 428
2025 Um out of session I'll second Any further discussion No Roll call Veronica Ke Yes [Music] Yes
Contract for [Music] engineering [Music] country Is there a motion Um I move that we designate Nelson Muay town administrator as signatory on the
contract with Kimley Horn to to provide design and engineering services for the kids country playground project And I second discussion No I have no roll call Veronica Ke Yes Laura Shiff
Yes 4.5 renewal of Guardian IT services Is there a motion Uh yes line Um I move that we um designate Nelson Muy Town Administrator as signatory
uh to contract with Guardian Information Technologies Incorporated to provide towns with virtual IT services endpoint detection and response services managed Office 365 bundle and Microsoft Exchange
365 email services and managed firewall services Second discussion Um yeah I wanted to know the total on these See here I I saw three unless things have gone in
There's more in now There's Yeah there's four Yeah So I can uh Yep I can speak to them and then we just pull them up I pulled up the three that were in there when I went over things probably Sunday
night Yeah I I put something in uh yesterday uh around 11:30 in the morning Okay Um so let me just warm up So [Music] the so the first one I guess you could
call it the the base contract It's current it's labeled as um uh virtual IT services This is really like the the base base contract that um Guardian provides to us And let me just
see And it says something went wrong on SharePoint And I'll bring up the total for everyone So um the base um uh service that they provide uh totals
um 8173 a month So that you know $8,173 or $817 $8,173 Um so you know that's
to cover all the you know the laptops that we have all the servers and um other pieces of equipment Um and there's als it's also capped at um at the moment 40 hours a month Um in the past actually
was closer to 50 but they actually did us a solid and figured out that we actually weren't any any approaching anywhere near the 50 hours um a month So they actually bumped it down to 40 which actually saves us um you know a bunch of
money Um 40 is a um that's kind of what we've been averaging here and there um some months might be a little bit less and I think they're they carry over those hours into into the following
months as well Um so I would say yeah 40 hours a month is what we're you know averaging in terms of our IT needs Okay So so that's sort of the the the base um
uh level service that they provide And then there's uh other auxiliary services that they they provide are just as critical I would say One is uh managing the firewall That's sort of what protects us from the outside and you
know nefarious Is there a separate contract for that There is Yep So that one is um yeah $441.94 um a month So that is um just for
managing our firewall Okay [Music] And the other one is a year Which one It's a month just said it's monthly
They're both monthly Yeah Everything is like ordered monthly Um yeah But see how this one has the yearly right But there's also a monthly fee Yeah So it's it's just quoted a little bit differently but you can break it
down like on a monthly basis Um so there's so that's the base plus the firewall And then the next one up is um the the Microsoft services So you know we're a Microsoft Office
um you know environment So you know anything from Microsoft Word PowerPoint Excel um you know the there like subscription fee based now So there's a fee involved with that You know email as well So um you know that ends up
being you know $13,524 just the Microsoft environment that we're in Okay And then the final one
is what do they call it Um endpoint Yeah the the EDR the endpoint detection and response Um so that has a lot to do with um you know uh virus protection
um you know um security related aspects of of it Um so uh that that's all part of that as well And that's so this was reviewed by Adam [Music]
Um these are these are his uh guardians terms So I would need to um you know uh include uh Adam Yeah So I would need to uh include
Adam's um terms you know with this to uh in particular for the virtual IT services I would for sure Okay the ones the Microsoft bundles those are pretty much standard but the IT service I think
for sure um that needs to be run by okay I'll yeah and and Adam has a he has a standard form for whether it's goods or services so you it's pretty boilerplate stuff so we kind of populate that
include the statement of work that guardian has and and that package should you know sufficient for Adam So I'll I'll make sure that's included So I get a total of 122664 Does that sound about right Uh
yeah For all of these Okay Other discussion No And we have none other than what's already been said Roll Yes Yes Six Update to emergency funds policy first
reading All right I did want to um make one change Um the uh Abram French um committee reviewed
uh and got back to me this morning um and so uh two things one is on number three Um they would like it to be either or the um what I'm calling the liaison
but um I think we should change that to participant as a participant from the select board Uhhuh On the emergency assistance program So let me just back up and say that this is needed because we no longer
have a community services coordinator And so um uh what we did is go through and change um where there was a community services coordinator previously to select board select board member or select board representative or
select board administrative assistant in order to get the same work done So um let me go ahead and read it I am going to change where it says liaison to participant because liaison means
something in the liaison policy which this is not you know you are actually on the committee Okay that makes a determination You are not a liaison someone who doesn't participate So this is should it just be member
um a participant in the I'm going to go with participant All right So let me just go to the top and you can tell me if it makes sense Towns and emergency assistance
fund policies policy This is policy um number 052023 which replaced policy number 2014-01 So this is an amendment to
policy 052023 towns and emergency assistant funds policy purpose The town holds several trust funds the proceeds of which are to aid the town's needy Residents facing financial hardship may apply to the town for assistance from
such emergency assistance funds formerly termed worthy funds Requests for assistance shall be administered in accordance with the administration process outlined here Administration process number one
This is an addition The select board will assign annually a select board member to serve as participant on the emergency assistance program Number two applicants are
referred to the emergency assistant program assistance program by the select board administrative assistant or other public entity Number three an assigne by the select board
emergency assistant participant No I want to this is what I want to change The select board emergency assistance program participant or a member of the Abram S French committee
will conduct an application interview with the resident Previously it had been the community services coordinator or an assigne by the community services coordinator So now it's the select board emergency assistance program
participant or a member of the Abram s French committee will conduct an application interview with the resident A this should be completed either in person with the applicant or over the phone Those
conducting the assistant funds assistance funds interview should complete the form during the interview B During the interview as much information as possible is collected to help build the narrative for the applicant's needs And number C the completed interview
sheet is submitted to the select board administrative assistant Number four applicants will receive a hard copy of the emergency assistance funding request form following the application interview A applicants need
to provide all the information listed on the request B all materials should be submitted to the select board administrative assistant C the select board administrative assistant will create a confidential file for the applicant including all materials
Five After the confidential applicant file has been completed an emergency assistance program meeting will be coordinated by the select board administrative assistant and the applicant request will be reviewed discussed and put to a vote This meeting
must include a the select board emergency fund participant b one member of the Abram S French Fund Committee C the Town Administrator or a designate and D If this committee
approves the request by majority vote in full or in part it shall identify the fund from which the dispersement will be made and it shall cause a warrant to be processed for payment Six the select board
administrative assistant will complete the warrant and submit it to the accountant's office A the town accountant will need in the warrant an original copy of the bill to be be paid out for the applicant and B the select board
administrative assistant will receive a copy of the bill and sign the warrant to complete the submission process Six once the warrant has been processed the assigne by the select board participant from the No I have to
change this Once the warrant has been processed either I I should just say the person who conducted the interview will perform a followup with the applicant Has her hand up Yes The board signature
is usually the town administrator Um okay Yeah The select board administration assistant will receive a copy of the bill and the town administrator You're right And the TA will sign the warrant
to complete the submission process Six Once the warrant has been processed the um person who conducted the interview will perform a follow-up with the applicant So what was pointed out to me was it's
possible that the person from the Abram French committee may not be available They could be on vacation There might be somebody who can't conduct it So that's why they requested that either the select board participant that someone
else besides them be included in the stream of people that could conduct the interview So that's why I changed that to the participant Um and and technically that is number seven You have two number
sixes Oh do I Yeah Oh that's Yeah thank you Thank you Yeah that is number seven All right So we'll need to make those edits when we accept the changes The um attachment A which is the interview
request form did not need to be changed It stays as is Um and attachment B or attachment two the emergency funds funding request This is the form that gets sent in um number
four Uh the only thing we needed to change was the wording board of selectment to select board We have to update all our policies to do that So um we'll just do them as we're making those you know changes
And eventually we'll get them all done or we'll do a blast through and change all board of selectment to select board So that is the first reading of the policy amendment Very good
Um and uh so the second reading will be updated with everything today Yeah Also all the titles and all will be changed Yeah
New letter heading So are we are we replacing the policy or are we amending the policy I guess that's the next question Should we just replace the policy There were a lot of amendments Yeah And ma and make this I don't know if there have
been other policies this year in 2025 No Then it would be number 01 2025 because it's the first one this year 2025 Yeah Or for this year Yeah
Okay So not amended Yes we had other readings We did the um they were amendments the constable public in the constable and the um and we didn't get rid of that It was
just amended Amended Um this one we're really replacing it because we even added one number Yeah Okay So I'll call it number 012025 but maybe check that Sabrina and see what we did with the
cost constable as far as um numbering went So we're replacing Was that Was that it This is the third one this year Uh we didn't do the public records policy We haven't done that yet We
haven't finished that No it's not finished But we did start policy change Okay Yeah So maybe this becomes 03 I don't know Okay Amendments The other two The other two are amendments Numberings Yeah Okay If
it's November Okay I'll give you this Sabrina as I Y I did that online too Okay So I think that's all we have to do for that Correct Just part of the All
right If there's nothing else do we need We don't need to motion First meeting is over Uh when will we do the second meeting Uh we can do it next week if you want Okay up to you That's fine
Um and then we'll do the motion after the second reading Yes 4.7 discussion of ARPA funding and HR manager position I received some correspondence Um I guess it's a remark
that I made It's the same response to a remark that somebody else made So with um if it's okay with I'm going to read this first and then you can speak with to it or speak to Okay Um cuz one of the things I did
was I pulled your report in 2024 to kind of get a review of what we had here going in town Um but anyway I received a um email today We got a letter uh dated
April 1st to myself as chair of the towns and slug board and said dear uh chair and regarding your recent statement Thursday March 27th
2025 where you asserted a quote I'm not quite sure when this was because I can't remember yesterday but our HR person can't be combined with the high school They are two different entities with different
needs That was my quote Um as I understand the topic of human uh resources this is not me The quote was just what I read HR is scheduled for discussion on
the board of selectments agenda today Therefore my letter is timely and you should be able to address this during your discussion Given the significance of this issue its potential impact on the structure and efficiency of town
operations and the long-term budget implications I respectfully request that you clarify the basis for your statement Specifically I ask that you provide one any statutory regulatory or policy references whether local state or
federal that prohibit or otherwise preclude the sharing of HR functions between municipal entities including town and the schools Two any factual legal or operational rationale
supporting the assertion that these HR functions cannot be combined beyond generated generalized statements about the entities differing needs Three documentation or precedent demonstrating
that such an arrangement would violate legal contractual or governance requirements Four evidence of other steps to mitigate the budget impacts of the continuation of the HR position I'm going to go back and read the one
sentence that I made Our HR person can't be combined with the with the high school There are two different entities with different needs I didn't say it was against the law I didn't say that there was any regulations against it
I don't know of any that are What I do know is that the human resource person has been a great of great assistance to the town Granted it was under the ARA funds What I do know is
that there is HR at the high school for the three districts Three towns three towns So for the three towns and the other two towns do not have
their employees in that calculation They have HR people I don't know about but uh Pebble has their own full-time HR person for their town running the town of course versus the
high school So they are not intertwined Um this is an important discussion not only for the select board but for taxpayers and residents of towns and who deserve transparency and fact based
rationale when structural decisions are made I believe we're doing that I could be wrong I think that that's what we're trying to accomplish I respectfully request that you respond to this inquire both in writing and provide
clarification verbally during today's meeting so that the discussion can be informed by facts legal framework and best practices in municipal operations I do not know of having this situation
occur by which may end up costing us something anyway They're not going to do it for nothing Um how this situation Number one again I know of nothing illegal about it I'm just that saying
that I don't believe it's going to be a fair situation and that it's still going to cost us money Um I believe that my statements here on YouTube will be exactly uh what I feel and um hopefully that is
enough so that I do not have to put it in writing and hopefully the thank you for your attention to this request I look forward to your detailed response regards Kim
Craraven So those are my statements and uh Veronica did you want to say something before Calie Um I will just say that um Kim was at the I was I attended the um finance committee
meeting a week ago I guess it was And uh Kim Craraven had attended that meeting and one of the things that she had said was that the school could provide it And my response to that was I had seen nothing from the schools where they were
offering to provide those services to the town Um I I will say that well I I guess I'll just go on this letter Yeah Well I think Nelson has also um reached out to the school I
reached out to uh Brad Morgan you know as well as um you know the HR director over there I I only recently did it So I don't have um any concrete facts to to present to to the select board in terms of whether
this arrangement is um feasible or not Um their HR department is only two people So I don't know from a workload perspective if they could take on all their HR responsibilities and still do
it with the two people they have You know once you add another body at that point um you're not really saving any money So why why even bother going down that route Um and I thought about something
earlier today which was um those two HR um uh individuals you know they're paid for by the school budget which means Ashb and Pepper are also paying
for those individuals salaries So if suddenly um Townsen were to offload our HR responsibilities onto these individuals you know wouldn't Ashby or Pepper come back and say you know you've
just received more services So you know we're going to ask for a reduction in our um assessment and that would in turn increase Townsen's school assessment So
you know again I I'm not sure you know what kind of savings would be had in in farming out our HR you know to to the school district HR office So
those are a lot of things to sort of take into consideration Um I'll certainly continue to um have the conversation with the school district to see uh if it's possible and if it is does it mean uh you know an additional
person they need to hire or maybe a part-time person uh as well as if uh Townsen's school assessment is going to go up because now we are utilizing these services that they were not providing
before Um so I I feel like you know at that point we probably would have uh the full picture and we can you know go from there But um you know you know Cali will will speak in a few minutes you know about
you know what she brings to the table and sort of um the services and skill sets that she provides that you know a lot of us here at town hall simply don't have Um you know there's a lot of blind spots that
we might not be aware of if this position were to go away and I'm I'm not in favor of it going away uh in any shape or form Um so you know with that said I I'll um so I'll let Calie have the floor and you know she
can speak more on you know Veronica did you have anything else you wanted to say Let's let Callie talk and I I may it depends on Okay Hi Callie Hi Good evening everyone in the room and everyone signing in virtually as am I My
name is Callie Huff I am the HR manager for the town of towns and municipal departments Um I was invited to this meeting in response to the letter uh which they were just discussing from Kim Craraven um within which there are four
uh inquiries And uh first of all I want to say that I I do appreciate all the work that Kim does for the town and obviously we all want full transparency and I know that's that's simply uh what she's after here She wants some information to make better decisions and
we can all appreciate that Um so my first I think reaction to the letter because it was written to the select board uh just today Um and uh the inquiries within the letter all appear to me to be sort of operational in
nature which I think fall would fall under the judgment and juris u under the judgment of the TA um along with the select board Uh neither of which are equipped to answer the questions within the inquiry on such short notice and it
was my day off so I didn't have time to to uh really take a look and at all of it Um I will say that off the uh you know off the cuff I do not know of any particular legal reasons why they couldn't I'm not saying there aren't
some I mean obviously this should be explored Um but my you know my first reaction to this is that perhaps the best idea would be since there won't be decisions formed as a result of gathering this information now and
because it's all very important that we get adequate information to Kim and and all of the voters out there and accurate information um you know that maybe Kim and I take this conversation offline I'm more than happy to answer all of those
questions once I have time to really uh disseminate all of the elements within each of those four inquiries Um also um to discuss all the essential functions of my role Now uh to answer
the question as far as can the HR manager from the school district assume the responsibilities of of the municipal employees Maybe I don't I mean I don't know But I think my my question to that would be whether
or not when approached as to whether she would be willing to do that if she were given accurate information there is some misleading information being circulated out there online and through a particular website where um the facts
are just um you know they're a little bit mislead well some of them are a lot misleading for example I'll give you one I'm I'm not here to defend my job and thank you Nelson for giving me an opportunity to explain everything I do for the town but it's just but you know
this meeting would it would get too long um but I I question whether or not the school realizes or district realizes or the person in charge there realizes that we have 245 employees and not 40 as is
stated out there online within social media and the website Now you might think part-time employees don't matter I mean that's a horrible thing to think Of course everyone here matters and but from an HR standpoint uh my point is
only that they require the same amount of work they require I mean for recruiting it's often harder to recruit someone for part-time work You have to vet them just as you vet a full-time employee You have to onboard them Same amount of work there except for health
insurance or like life insurance That's basically the only difference there um they have uh workplace injuries they have complaints about other employees they have to request ADA accommodations and you know if they're
part-time they wouldn't qualify for FMLA but we still go through the exercise of doing um that analysis I mean so and then they offboard the same way So they we don't have 40 employees and even if we had 40 full employee full-time
employees which actually we have 76 so it's inaccurate anyway um you know it I would like to know whether or not um that individual is aware of that and if so God bless her if she can take on 245 more employees
Um and like I said I'm not I'm not saying that she couldn't Perhaps she can and legally I I don't know I don't know the answer to those questions that you're asking Uh Kim so Kelly that that was sort of to my point earlier which was uh you know there's only two people
in the school district doing HR functions at the moment Can they can they realistically take on all these you know 200 plus employees of varying status and you know you know and whether
they're on call PDM part-time full-time fractional you know that's that that's over yeah seasonal that's over 200 plus employees um you know can they do that with two people I mean the answer is no
in most circumstances and you And if they can't you know how many more people do they need to hire to to uh to accommodate that workload Is it um half a person Is it three quarters of a person You know is it one or even more
people Um so you know and those are the conversations like I said I'll I'll have with the school district I'm more than willing to have those conversations Um but you know these are just like questions we're thinking out loud and you know I think as we dive deeper you
know we're we're probably going to find out that it's not as simple as handing it off to the school district And um well let me answer that question for you Actually I'm sorry to interrupt you Um I have somebody who's needing
something So I'm I'm gonna but let me answer that question from what I what how I can answer it from my perspective So generally speaking the ratio to HR um professionals to number
of employees is somewhere between 1.5 is the low end and 2.7 which I think is excessive I don't think you should need 2.7 in a world where so many things are automated but even 1.5 um would would feel low We have 245
employees and you have me I'm one and our ratio is 041 Um and those other communities that are at the 1.5 ratio the minimum 1.5 ratio are outsourcing things like COBRA uh FMLA
ADA accommodations things of that nature Um open enrollments things like that Um whereas we actually do every single one of those things in house There isn't one thing that we outsource Um and that's to save
the town money In fact we we were outsourcing some things when I came and I said "I'll I can do it you know." So um there's a lot we we do it all manually too So I they probably have HRIS system I would imagine So that would make life easier But even with
that program if they have two employees and I don't know how many employees are in the the school district do you know I mean I could do a quick calculation but I think you're getting my point The answer is probably no I don't think they I mean I
don't think they could do it well I guess they you could probably do it but um the the problem with HR not doing HR well is that you might as well not do it at all then If you're not doing it fully then you're leaving yourself at risk
It's the it's one of the areas of any institution or local government that is very um high risk You have uh legal suits You have fines Um I mean HR is not about uh we do employee wellness
programs and all that stuff when we try to put the smiles on people's faces and keep the morale up and all that stuff but but that's about maybe like 8% of of what we do Um the rest of is negotiating with service providers and uh union
negotiations and um you know addressing up to 30 labor laws and avoiding penalties regulatory penalties for not following certain procedures Um doing workplace injuries and I I mean the list
goes on and on I like I said I don't want to I don't want to have to list everything that I do here today But as I had already at least pointed out one one piece of misleading information that being the number of employees um I
might as well go ahead and address a few others if I can I have the floor to address perhaps a few other um pieces of information I believe should be corrected for the record please Okay So another thing and I think uh
Lori you addressed this too about not um that other towns don't have HR managers when in fact they do Graten does as you said Pepel does Um and because Ashb or Dunable don't have HR
managers um I mean they're not our peer group We have nearly 10,000 residents 245 employees It's just um you know they they could probably benefit maybe not them cuz they're not next to each other but some towns like that could benefit
from regionalizing HR or having a fractional HR person come on occasion or something like that but um but it's it's just not it's not we're you know it's not apples to oranges So that's just not a fair assessment Um another rumor or
myth circulating is that we've never had HR here before So why why do we need it now You know um I love that answer though You know the whole this is not the way we always did it thing But um in fact they did have an HR person and I'm
not referring to um the person who um her name was Carol and she was uh you know she was straddled with doing all kinds of things She has so many things uh going on and um and I'm amazed that she she took it all on really But I mean
when I'm we're talking about just pure HR Um yeah they did have someone do HR before Uh so that's also a myth I think that was 200 I forget I was talking to Jodie I believe she knows her name Um
let's see Other departments do HR Another myth circulating out there that the departments um do their own HR That simply isn't the case The departments do interviewing um which of course is
um I mean I would not take that for I don't know what a water technician does or you know what would be required of that position Of course they're involved in the interviewing process and um but that's about it I mean even their candidate selection uh notes and
everything come to HR to because we keep all of that in the event someone comes back and says hey that's not fair you know age discrimination or I had uh you know uh certification this person didn't and it was require required of the job like so from the very beginning from
recruiting to um presenting the um documentation to onboarding them vetting them um you know bringing them all that stuff is HR The departments do not do HR They interview candidates Um another
myth circulating we don't need HR Well okay I mean that's kind of like the top tier umbrella here that encompasses maybe all of this discussion But um so okay let's say hypothetically we don't need HR Then who who will do the COBRA
FMLA ADA OSHA the union negotiation I mean etc et etc etc uh adhere to all of these uh compliance and regulatory laws and acts um and you I don't you know you can't really break this stuff up because
there are tracking uh there's a lot of tracking and reporting that goes that is involved in in these things um and nobody has time frankly that's my daughter sneaking by under a blanket because I told her I would be on
a meeting sorry about Uh okay Um okay Another myth Uh other towns don't have HR We already addressed that Um well we already kind of addressed that Uh okay We can outsource HR Oh yeah
you can Sure go ahead But that's going to cost you far more than your than my salary at the town Um you know another myth I've heard HR makes too much money Uh well that I'm not even going to address that I'm I work for the town for other reasons but I can tell you I work
I get paid less than my counterparts elsewhere but I don't mind that because I'm doing it It's a labor of love It's convenient for me It's it's not an issue But um you know if if
I let me let me digress Um okay And then the the question I think of today is whether HR can be done by the school district Um like I said I don't know the legal uh answer to that I don't know um
if if the information they were fed led them to agree to that because perhaps that information was inaccurate Um I would like for them to confirm whether they think that um 245 more employees
would um would be adequately managed by HR by two individuals there plus the employees at the school Um again not saying they can't do it just saying they you know it would be nearly impossible to do all of it right That's the flatout
truth And I'm and I'm certain if she's worked in HR for as long as I have that she would agree with that Um but you know as far as the other essential functions of my role I you know like I said I respect Kim for uh
getting you know attempting to get the truth out there I just want to make sure our truths are the same you know and I have the information she needs I have invited her um to lunch Actually I'm waiting for her reply Last week I invited her to lunch because a lot of
this discussion can be had offline and uh I think that is all that I have to contribute at this point unless someone has questions Okay Thank you Cali Um I I guess all I'll say is that um the
the reasons for HR is it provides consistency of services for the employees for all of the things that Cali mentioned whether it's FMLA uh injury on duty um onboarding it is all consistent and
department heads have a place when a new person comes that person goes to Cali to be onboarded is consistent across the board and it protects the town from any liability Um I know uh you know I I know that
there were instances in the past where town employees have come and there are things in uh annual meetings where um I I don't have my life in it my life insurance wasn't paid and you know
asking for the town to please you know pony up the money for their life insurance because for whatever reason the town hadn't paid it uh for longevity um that they never received for other um
health insurance or I think the most recent one that I remember was someone's uh 401k or pension hadn't been paid for by the town and um the idea behind this was that the town did budget for HR
services I I might have said the the years wrong at the um FINCOM meeting but it was probably 2019 and 2020 or it could have been 2020 2021 Those services were never hired and the money was never
spent And um one of the uses of ARPA funds was to um backfill for the town things that you would have liked to have had that you couldn't afford and and HR was that And I will say that at this
point um the town is solid as far as making sure that people's benefits are in play that the um payroll folks do have things coming out as they should There have been no complaints that I
know Of course I haven't been here for I had a gap of almost two years year and a half So I don't know what happened in that frame but I haven't heard anything from November forward and prior to that there were other things you know earlier
that were of concern So everything is administered as it should be as far as um uh negotiating for um rates for health insurance The town paid an a consultant for the first two years
anyway that I was a selectman and the third year there was an ask for the consultant to be paid at the tune of 10,000 a year The company was NFS and so the the um health care piece wasn't done inhouse
um it was contracted out So there are things like that where we are saving money and I can pretty much guarantee that if we were to transfer or somehow merge HR with the schools there would be
a charge for that It wouldn't be oh yeah it wouldn't be a seamless oh we volunteer to do the municipalities HR So I I am very glad that we have had the
ARPA funds to fund this position and I look forward to it being continued I will say that the FINCOM recommended that this not be continued that the um that the uh select board not fund this
position And I I just find that not funding this position um will open us up to greater problems and I would love to see a way to fund it going forward in fiscal year 27 So I'm
hopeful that the efforts for the schools to be funded equitably with other towns in the state of Massachusetts will come to fruition and we will have more funds available to us in FY27 Okay And having heard some of that
perhaps um Nelson you could look back a few years and see with those examples that we're giving what in fact it did cost us because we didn't have somebody in that position That's a good talking point May I add
one more thing I'm sorry I I forgot to address something Would May I add something Go ahead Um in regard to um them being sort of different functions between the school district and the
municipal departments Um I mean that's nothing that someone couldn't be trained on but but there are stark differences So I the more people you have more employees you have I mean if you have a low ratio to HR to employees things
start to get generalized and like police and fire have specific requirements I like just to give you one example there are many of them but um oh and highway too let's say you know let's say a highway um truck driver runs into
something god forbid we hope that does not ever happen but should they have run into something um and there was a question about liability or there was uh property damage or something hurt I mean
something um somebody put in a claim If there's a police report which there would likely be in that case then that person has to go get um a drug and alcohol screen within a certain number of hours you know after that incident
That's just an example of so one thing that I don't think the school department would probably have to deal with unless they do so for the bus drivers I don't know I think deep bus system probably does all of that but um and there are many more I just so um again not
something they couldn't eventually learn but it is a different it's different Thank you Could I add a couple other things Um you know let's just say we did it did go to the school district You know that
individual would be probably over at the central office there will be no presence here at town hall for any um employees if they have any questions or concerns You know I mean yeah you could probably pick up the phone or send an email but
you know to have someone here um you know to provide that that service you know you know that's you know at the end of the day that's very important I feel to have a presence here And and the second point I want to make is um you
know if we didn't end up using the schools and you know the position was you know unfunded um people here in town hall would have to take that on and you know I hate to say it but you know a lot of I don't
think most people have that skill set to to do it So those are blind spots that we would have you know we would certainly do our best to to to do the job right but you know all it takes is one uh mistake you know certainly not um on purpose or out of malice You know
just a honest mistake that that you make or you overlook or a form isn't filled out properly Um you know that opens you up for all kinds of liability You know um could be a grievance a complaint um could be a lawsuit you know Um so you
know really opens you up to a world of um unknowns that can really um hurting the the town So um I'm I'm absolutely not in favor of the position the position um going away or being um
unfunded Um I'm you know I I think it's a vital function that we need to to continue to have Anybody else Thank you Callie Thank you for joining us Cali Appreciate it My pleasure Good
night everyone I'm going to sign off now Good night So now we're up regarding uh setup organization advertising presentation on Dave is joining us You want to start Dave because um you
had some concerns or questions Is that okay about April 16th at the high school I I don't have any questions other than what are you guys looking for for that night that
TCAM would be able to assist or you know help you with I mean what are you looking to do Do you want to do you want to broadcast this live Do you want to just record it and play it back the next day
or how do you want to handle this You know what what's your vision for what you want to do How is it going to work if we um do want it live and um because they don't have
any equipment there Correct We would TCAM would end up talking to uh PPL PCM Pil Community Media They've got the equipment that they could bring in to assist us with
for doing it live but it would entail their basically us renting their crew and their equipment to set it up and then the signal would end up having to be shot down to PPL station and then from PPL
sent up to Towns and in order for us to show it live on channel 9 here in towns And uh what are we talking about for cost do you think We don't know yet because I talked to the guys from Pepper last week
They need to talk to their executive director and their board of directors to set up uh how we would go about doing that uh basically temporarily hiring their manpower and their renting their
equipment in order for us to do that That would be the high the the middle end or middle part of that would be is that uh we still bring in PPE to help us
record the whole event but we don't go live with it Or number three we don't use PPE at all And that with the equipment we have like you've seen at town meetings we just
simply record the proceedings that night process the video and then get it out to the public on YouTube and channel 9 within a day or so after the event Um may I ask um do you recall the
November um meeting there um the the school committee um budget Um um that was uh recorded and and so was
that using the school's uh staffing and equipment Was that Pepple or do you do you know how that was Yeah I believe that was uh Pepple that budget uh seminar webinar that they did
was actually a uh a Zoom webinar that they hosted and recorded and then gave us a copy of that for us to be able to post on our equipment again after the fact It wasn't
uh it it was live but only because it was being sent down to PPO and then from there up to us afterwards Can I ask a question Yeah Um Dave what I'd like is what I liked about that
um the uh budget talk that the school committee did with um the town administrators was the microphones that were in each aisle that people could line up I think I would um John Barrett is going to be moderating this but I
would like to have people who have questions be able to come up to those mics like they did and line up and ask their questions so that we can get the questions from all the people that have them Not just um you know pointing out
okay you you you you just so do you have the ability to put mics like that in the two aisles so that people can come down and ask their questions Yeah And I'll take it back what I just said I I got confused because there was another uh
school committee budget thing The one that was hosted by the gentleman from Stoton or whatever the TA from Yeah from far That one was entirely perpil They had all their equipment set up in order to send it live That was not a Zoom
session I thought you meant the more recent one that they just did Oh the end of February No I mean the one from November Yeah the one you saw in November We would definitely if we wanted to reproduce that we would have
to have Pepil uh PEG access directly involved in order to do that Yes Uh putting two microphones one in each aisle and having people go up to the microphone would be very easy to do That
would be no problem I I don't have to have it live but I do want it recorded I I recording it is fine If it's if it's not live that's fine too People who can be there live will be there I think the other people
will watch it after the fact So I would want the recording to be available as soon as possible after the meeting Um but I to me it's the two microphones so that everybody who wants to ask the
question can ask a question Okay So this is not a the school budget which was done at the high school which was Ashby Towns and Packle right Yes And we are doing it at the high school And why are we doing it there This is just the
town's in budget because you can get in and out of the door if you're handicapped because there is enough parking for everybody who wants to be there because the acoustics are better than the acoustics in the hall and
because I really want everybody to to be able to understand why we are asking for the funds we're asking for from the capacity the capacity in that room is much greater I think that auditorium holds 600 plus whereas the great hall is
only maybe 400 little over a little under So you'd be able to fit a lot more people in and I'm sure this event will attract a lot of people's interest and they'll show up The school meeting it
was pretty busy It was packed really I mean not every seat was taken It wasn't people there Pardon me You think there were 600 people No there weren't 600 but there were a good number of people It was three towns and there were a good number of people Yeah but this is only going to be
Townsen So do you think that there's going to be 400 people from Townsen that are going to go to the high school I have no idea but I know that it's easier for people to park and get into the high school What about the senior center It's not very big at all There's not The
meeting rooms at the senior center maybe hold like 125 maximum Yeah it's not it's not in there Okay I just wanted to put it out there Yeah No understood What Dave I just said no Understood The
more questions asked the more things that we uh realize okay we can't believe they're all coming out Yeah to ask their questions And uh Dave well um
uh you know we we've been talking about um enlisting Pepper's help Do we need to talk to the the AV guys over at the high school Cuz um I think when I submitted the request to book that um that
auditorium um there is some amount of setup that the internal staff there need to do they'll do it ahead of time but I just wanted to make sure that we're kind of looping them in as well in terms of
our needs and you know what they can um assist us with Yes Uh the the one thing like uh Veronica pointed out the sound system they have in there is a fullblown integrated sound system that they use
for plays and musical productions uh it's it's like a 24 channel mixing board So yes they usually if something's needed for that they usually run that They usually provide a person However I
don't know if that ends up getting paid for by the organization that's hosting the event or I don't know So yes you'll want to contact the school and talk to them If we bring PPL in to help with the filming and uh maybe going live and all
of that they usually end up calling in staff members at the school in order to provide proper sound They have all the equipment We just plug into their internal system Um are you able to interface directly
with the the AV person over at the the high school Um do you need me to make introductions Um how do you want to handle that Well that'll depend on if if we do bring Pepper in to assist you know
with this They've already got the connections and uh introductions they know who to who they would need to talk to Uh otherwise if we don't bring Pepperrol in as part of this joint operation then yes I would need to get
the names and numbers of uh people to talk to from their AV group that would set up equipment down there Okay let's uh let's let's work offline over the next couple days to figure out
what how we want to proceed so we can uh work with the right people on this Okay Yeah Um let me know what's good for you I can contact one or more of the guys down in Pepil and we can all interface and based on what they know what you
want we can piece something together for a good plan Okay Um so I think going live might be nice to have but not actually necessary So So that probably would save us a little bit of um difficulty right
Getting this up and running Yeah The the big thing is is it would be the same it would be the same setup whether we were to go live or not The only difference would as far as what cameras and equipment Pepper would have
to use The only difference would be is making sure that we interface between towns and imperil to go live which if everything else is in place and there's no other troubles unforeseen circumstances It wouldn't be too much of
a stretch beyond adding the let's go live But again we can talk offline with Pepper and they can point out any potential pitfalls uh that we might need to deal with that night on all the different scenarios we
can offer So Dave are you saying that we need pet roll either way and we would have to pay them Well we wouldn't need them either way but if we were to
decide let's go live the setup that they would put up would be the same as if we didn't go live So it it's like the the going live part wouldn't be that much more steps
above having them assist us with with the setup down there as opposed to what we're capable of doing on our own down there So are you recommending that you need them in order to set up to hold this
meeting whether we go live or not Not quite No If we're not going to go live if that's determined right at the uh beginning that we're not even going to try to go live we could probably TCAM
could probably do a setup down there That would be adequate If we were to go live then yes it would mean having to have Peril come in and do the whole nine yard setup in order to go live
I am good with with recording as long as we have the two microphones and we get a decent recording that has sound that people can hear when they watch it at home Yeah Later on after you know they're having it there because their
sound would be better Exactly We would definitely need the North Middle Sex people that would uh be running the the sound system Okay So but those that's that's offered to us right Or are we paying for that I
don't know So that would be something that talking with Nelson and Pabil and us we can all sit down and see what we I can express to them what we're looking to do and then we can be told "Yeah we can do this we can do that we can do the
other thing." and you'd need to have an NMRS technician there to do their part and the rest of it we can iron out But yeah okay we need to know I'm sorry it's so
confusing Li but yeah we can do anything and if it costs money as long as we can pay for it we can do everything So well we need to know what that is before we say yes we're going to pay for it Um exactly Exactly So but you're settled on
the location and the date and the time and TCAM So it's just a matter if it's going to cost us anything else Yep Okay Good news is it's FY25 and not FY26
because we still have some PNS left Yes Not much Not much Not much but some Okay Um can we talk about the slides Um oh yeah we yeah Um I think you had um like a
rough framework of what it would look like Um we haven't even developed one yet but we certainly have time and we'll you know we'll uh in the coming days you know we have about two weeks from tomorrow Um and so I have I have a
rough outline of what it'll look like Um but what I want to know is um would it be possible to ask each of the department heads if they're willing to um put one slide at least to talk to
um for their department I I can ask that Um see if they're willing to um put something together Um I if they don't want to present we could present You know if they provided us with a slide we could present Yeah Um
and would they sort of be presenting or illustrating the services that they provide What they can provide Yeah And and um without the override what they anticipate not being able to provide
Um Yeah because there will be cuts and they get they're going to know that night this is what we provide This is where we cut back in order to even have the override you know to this is I don't know I think it would be good
The override doesn't give us everything we wanted anyway The the override is still with cuts Yes I and yeah the the cut cuts the the expenses would correct right and you know and the departments have done a
great job of looking through all their expenses and you know uh you know and making those cuts to expenses to get us to the level we're at now which is is greatly appreciated because uh if it wasn't for those cuts that override
amount would be um higher and you know the higher it gets the the less uh likely it would actually pass So you know so you know I I ultimately too we will be meeting with finance again We
will meet jointly probably next week I think because I think they meet on Thursday Thursday Um so I think you know it takes us 48 hours to post So I think realistically the earliest we
could probably meet is Wednesday or Thursday of next week Um but you know we certainly have time to to get together and um iron out some of the the differences that you know um we might have on how have they come up with
um a plan um if we don't get the override finance Oh no They're not No they don't have a plan Well we need they need a plan to tell everyone
they're waiting This is me talking Okay What I see is that there because it is true in the budget process we provide the budget they before town meeting they look at it and recommend that I have not seen
anything proactive as far as um what the budget would look like if there were no override What would a balanced budget look like with no override I haven't seen anything from them on that Well isn't that their
responsibility though too I if they make recommendations they make recommendations on the budget is the selectman's budget So and certainly we were working together Yes we were We were And um and
the so the um the parameters changed at the special town meeting and so we had to look at different things than what we we had been looking at And so they reviewed the budget with this you know the
625 override ask last week I don't know what they're doing on Thursday I really don't Um I'm not sure either but it's more likely than not just continuing the conversation Um and um but to what end I I don't know I
I haven't seen So they didn't come out recommending the 625 override Um there are recom they wanted I was going to cover this in the liaison reports I can do it now if you want me to Um they had
uh recommended that we cut the HR position Um they had recommended that we um we select the trash contract that is pay as pay as you throw with um the the
tipping fees which is the one that we put in the budget We haven't voted on anything yet but we have to wait and see what the override is Um so they the one that we selected as the most cost effective is the one that they recommend But what they want us to do is instead
of um the 300K raise the prices for the bags to $6 for the big bags ones that are now 350 to $6 a piece and um the smaller bags that are what $225 to
$5 I believe is what I heard So they did calculations as to how much they'd have to sell to get what they need to get Well not the you know Dawn mucked around a bit with cells Um and it's just that
there's a a point of as Irene in the I'm sorry she was sitting right where you were Jody In the March 11th meeting if you watch the board of health March 11th meeting starting at 17 minutes for about 45
minutes you can see the whole trash discussion joint that we had joint with board of health and Mr Shaw was here and Irene was here talking about the bags There's a point of diminishing returns Well where if you start to charge too
much for the bags people will just go and um contract their own Um which is fine However if town trash pickup is going to work we really need as much buy in as we
can Sure Um for it to be possible Yeah So at the $6 and $5 proposed pricing um at that point you're going to see you know you know hundreds of households go
private and at that point um you know I don't think there's any five and four could have been five and four but it doesn't matter it's the same we couldn't possibly afford that the trash contract anymore You know
certainly um certainly uh we can afford even less than what we currently are able to now because the the the purple bag revenue doesn't cover the entire trash contract And if you increase the
prices to the levels uh that are being proposed um you know I think um your revenue is going to drop significantly So at that point there's you shouldn't have raised um the tax
those prices to begin with So I I I think it's unfortunately a nonstarter I I can see the why you would want to do that but um it it just doesn't make any sense at that So they're not understanding for my they're really most
of the people are not going to be paying uh there'll be some people who pay less than what their taxes are going to be for the year increased and some people will end up paying
more for the trash than what it would have cost them to just pay the override correct for their homes Yeah and and you know I I think we've already thrown out some of those numbers and we certainly reiterated um certainly at the April
16th public forum as well as other meetings Um you know the tax override at the moment you know it equates to on a for an average you know single family household um you know $182 I think a
year Yeah That works out to $15 a month Right So um and most people pay four to six to 700 a year for private track for track Correct Yeah Because you have to get you have to pay monthly They they they're not going to give it to you for a month or a once a quarter
or just pick up once once in six months That doesn't happen The talking point is the compounding um of the 600k for the override That's the talking point Um but the thing is if if you're going private trash that same
compounding is going to happen right And trash will only get more expensive as time goes on and there are fewer places or methods of disposal So it's it's
um unfortunately yeah I mean the way I see it it's one of those services where um everyone sort of needs everyone needs uh water I mean I suppose you could have a private well Um but you know some
folks may not use the police department or the fire department or the library or the schools but I guarantee you everyone generates trash and you need to lawfully
and legally get rid of it somehow Um so you know I feel like it's one of those services that I want to keep uh offering to residents Um but you know there's a cost to it Um and you know the override
uh you know if it passes that will be preserved Um it's possible that it's five and four as opposed to six and five but it it really doesn't make a big difference It is still o over and above I think it should be preserved Yeah
Without a fee The fee And again the March 11th board of health meeting we talk about the fee That's that becomes um a enforcement nightmare Yeah Um and you know how do you know that the
person paid the fee Well Glenn Shaw doesn't know you would have to provide him with a list and now his drivers are expected to sort of enforce that A nightmare It is You know they they Yeah
They they want to go to each household quickly pick up the trash and move on They they don't have necessarily the time to look at the list You know now is like every other house that they need to skip or not skip Yeah Becomes an
operational nightmare and they're all about being efficient and fast and having a list with them every single day is just going to slow things down um you know significantly Okay Um so
um 4.8 and then advertising advertising I saw the the signs already up um on the common I saw the one on the common coming here today The flashing signs Yeah Okay Um there's one on the harbor Is that a That was the
one I saw today cuz I went I saw the one on the call Yeah I went to get lunch over at Patriot and on my way back I I saw the I saw the sign Um let's see Um you put the popup on the website It's on the website
Um my understanding is the Friends of the Towns and Library um they uh are going to try to promote it Yeah they I've already seen sort of um a rough draft of what their flyer looks like So
they're gonna you know they they are um they're not associated with the the town so they can they have the ability to advocate for something like that You know they certainly couldn't um I think they might be able to I'm not
sure if they can pass it out inside the library or senior center I need They can Okay Yeah library Sure Um so but you know we you know another an actual board or committee uh might not be able to do something like
that because that would be like political campaigning or something We cannot um but yeah but they are an outside entity so they have that you know freedom of doing that So I sort of um they sent me some of the their draft literature It looks pretty good Um
Sabrina did one up um on our end just to promote um the public forum um the annual town election and the annual town meeting That's all we can sort of legally do because we can't advocate it you know um at
least in terms of a flyer which way um someone should vote but we can certainly advertise that these are the dates Can we get it on the town calendar on the website so that April 16th has that highlighted and maybe put the where the
agenda goes put the flyer that Sabrina made or something like that And then on the popup um a link to the budget Yeah When we've Yeah So that popup um I will be adding more information to it um
certainly the flyer and um more in a copy of the the budget as well for for folks to sort of peruse So those are kind of um our ways of getting the word out for
people to to to come to uh I'm sure it'll be on Facebook Uh yeah I think we're gonna So the flyer that um Sabrina did up um maybe you guys can take a look at it and if it's okay with you we'll
we'll um send it We'll make sure all the departments advertise it if they have social media because I think certain um departments do have a social media presence they can just advertise um you know those important dates that
we've highlighted that is part of this and hopefully I just wanted to say before when talking about um finance didn't recommend keeping the human resources person I think when you do an elimination you have to come up with well who's going to take care of this
now so they they need to assign they they need to you can't just have a void and go backwards So anyway in in my mind we have no lawsuits We have no grievances right now Yeah we have things happening
equitably you know for everybody It's I think it's essential Yeah I agree Or figure or or come up with a solution right not just an act Um 4.9 discuss set schedule for union
negotiations and assign select board member for Can I back up just for one second to the um presentation Yeah I'm going to put my PowerPoint together Nelson and then I'll send it to you Yep And then
you know is it what we want And then you're you will add the budget Um Yep And then I'll add a few slides too Um I think um I I think the over the general tone is for me at least is to keep
things kind of very basic and simple Um I while there was a lot of information to digest as we've seen with dozens of hours of um meetings you know but we don't have dozens of hours to go through
everything you know with the public So I I want to keep things you know kind of high level kind of simple and to the point um that you you don't need dozens of hours of viewing the the the meetings in order
to truly understand where we're at and you know um you know what um what the implications are you know Um I'll keep it short Oh yeah No And you know and that's that's that's not like a that's not a criticism for what you plan to do
but I I think that's probably the tone I want to set with the presentation Um well I think the biggest thing is going to be what happened or or the they should want to know is what happens if the override fails Well that kind of
maybe leads us to 4.9 which I think a lot of people are very concerned what the implications are Um I honestly don't know the answer to that at the moment I know what what from a budgetary perspective what that number
is but what that actually means for like staff I I I you know or services right Well that that kind of staff losing services right So um I just you know at the at this moment I I don't know what that really looks like Um there's still
a lot of variables Um okay You know and there I still need to talk to a lot of folks and you know and 4.9 is you know to you know talk to to the unions to get them to the bargaining table Um but I I
I honestly don't um have a solid answer at the moment of what that looks like because And Veronica will you do that Well it's in it's really in terms of where the the cuts would come from Well this has to
select board member for the negotiations right We've always done that We've always had a select board member and and we do I mean I'm doing police negotiations right now Yeah and I have not done them and that's something that I I'm not qualified to do
negotiation Well I can negotiate but not So you want me to be the person do you and you've done it before So I don't think it's a good time for a green
person to okay try to negotiate with unions It's not my forte Okay Um I do think that when we go on the 16 we what I want to avoid
is what I think we have to be is pretty high level We we need 200k or whatever it is that we need Um well more than that it'll be it's $387
$387,000 is needed if the override fails 625 You take out the 300 for trash If the override fails I I don't know about you but I am not comfortable signing a contract with Shaws where we as a town
have to come up with 300,000 and don't have any other funds available to pay for it So trash goes out That's 325K needed plus the pay as you throw grant
which we're offsetting to get to the 625 We're using that as part of the offset So that means you add 62 to 325 and you get $387,000 We've already gone through the departments have and done the expenses
That means it's salary and the question is where So I think we have to say it's 387,000 pretty much salary dollars Now there are some I know Nelson's been working on there are some um positions
that aren't um that are vacant and we have not taken those into consideration in the 625 Um yeah I I know Well yeah I mean some of those and without getting into you
know specifics at the moment Um yeah that's the conversation we need to have were not really able to specify you know at the meeting on April 16th this is this is exactly what's being cut you
know because it it it flies in the face of what is proper and and you know uh within the bounds of you know the the union contract and everything you know but you can you can sort of talk in more generalized terms and And and then later
on that's when you actually go to the bargaining table when you're absolutely certain this is what you want to cut or or or reduce I think it's late Um I think it's late to wait until after the
16 Um well I need to I need to look into it further but everything I've I've um speaking with um town label council
Yeah And even uh you know my counterpart when they kind of had this problem last year Um it doesn't it it's not it's it it should and can be done late after
April 16th Um you know if I know you want it's April 28th We have from April 28th to May 6th That's the window because May 6th we have to go to town town town town meeting with a balanced
budget and that balanced budget will not include the 625,000 for the override if the override fails on April 28th If the override fails on April 28th on May 6th we have
to go to town meeting with a balanced budget And so in my mind we need to be talking to each of the unions earlier I that's my mind but I am not labor council So and you know I just think
it's fair though It's not that um I have an aversion to talking to the union It's more of um we can't be we can't really be talking to the union in very vague and general terms they they want a actual plan
from us to present to them So we literally have to specify this either these are the positions we're going to cut or reduce their salaries or some other um you know
uh something in their contract that we're trying to negotiate Maybe it's longevity or clothing allowance or anything else you know So well that's kind of what I want to know I mean if we do if we do go to the bargaining table with those maybe I'm talking too much
Does is that enough You know will that get us the 387 Because I would like to I would like to um have every employee here I want the
override to pass Yeah me too Um there's we've needed an override for five years Um and uh and we've cut pretty much every year We haven't
replenished capital stabilization We haven't replenished stabilization If you look through the old annual reports you you'll see where we put money into capital stabilization We put money into stabilization pretty much every year
even if it was only 25,000 or 50,000 from free cash right Um now there is and and it isn't and we haven't replenished and now we're right now we have 87,000 in capital state capital stabilization
So to make the capital plan after we do that at town meeting we are going to have I think it's like 19,000 in capital stabilization So we can't buy any more equipment
I mean we we would have to um borrow for it right And we're not in a bad borrowing place We aren't That's why we can get the snow plast But as time goes on and especially given that we have the two fire trucks coming in we're we're
out several years till we can borrow again Yeah Comfortably Yeah Because um some of those out years you know and and it's not even that far out Um you see a a significant spike in our debt payments
And you know debt payments it's that's out of the operating budget Correct If it spikes if it spikes significantly um that leaves you with less money to pay for everything else I think it's three years out three years and four years out where we have that spike Maybe
I'll need to take a look at it again And I've been talking to Melissa to try to smooth out some of those years whether it's we sort of refinance with a longer term because I think some of those were like five or 10 year terms But if if
it's permissible to do like a 15 or 20 year it kind of spreads things out a little bit further I know that means you actually pay more in interest I mean that's just simple math but um you know given the financial situation we're in
um I don't know I I mean you know that that's just one way of um reducing um you know our pay or our payments um in those out years And and it also depends on the the life
expectancy of the equipment that was purchased That that's part of it too You can only you know go out so many years and it still be permissible Um so I'll I'll continue to talk to town
council but everything I have heard is that we need us all a plan to to present to the unions It can't be it can't be brought just you know it can't be in general terms Then we need to work on that plan Maybe we need a couple of executive sessions to do that And I
think that on the 28th that plan needs to be available and the unions should be on um notice that if the override fails we need to have negotiating
sessions the the week of the 28th I I'll talk to town council Yeah I'll have I'll start having some more um detailed conversations And I've been behind the scenes sort of doing what I can with positions that you
know currently there's no one in it or won't be anyone in it Um you know you not filling a vacancy you know that's not hurting anyone because it's vacant Um you know things like that Just every dollar I can save that way It
is hurting the department Well it is but It's not it's not hurting someone personally The town and services being done No of course Um but you know you know yeah that is the the other side of that you know um of that decision It
would be helpful if you could collect all the taxes that were due Well well that um we we do a pretty good job of trying to collect what we can but um that that winds up going free cash next year So um so yeah like I said you
know every every dollar that I can save that doesn't affect an actual person here in town at the moment Um you know that means it's it's one less dollar that would you know affect someone
that's currently there and and and and that would be the priority if the override doesn't pass is how do we preserve um as many people as possible that that are currently employed
So can we start talking in executive sessions Uh yeah I think we can probably start as early as next week I think Um let me let me get a few things together um to to see how
that how that conversation would go in executive session Okay Um but yeah it very well could be as early as um the meeting on the 8th Okay So um that's good Actually gives us two days because we're probably going to post the agenda
on Thursday Yeah Um I guess we can always put it on the agenda and if we can't do it then that's fine you know but um but we don't have any opportunities you know but I'm I'm all for
um given how you know we're kind of up against the deadline We I I wouldn't be surprised if we needed to have um out of cycle meetings you know between now and the end of the month Um which we could probably talk about towards the end Okay
This agenda talk about that Yeah So so do you have anything else So we'll try to get something for next for the next meeting executive Correct Okay Um 5.1 Do you have any other uh administrative
updates or reports Um let me see Um I had two things and I think one I already shared with everyone Um the governor um extended the the remote hybrid
meeting through uh 2027 So another two years and like three months that we'll have I think it's June 30th of 202 correct So I think I shared that with all various departments So so we're good to go and today's actually April 1st So
it's we would have been it would have expired if the governor hadn't signed that bill Um they had the opportunity to do it in perpetuity but they didn't Yeah This is just a temporary measure I was
hoping they would do it as a permanent So but I'll take two years and three months Um the other thing I wanted to make you aware of was um I guess UMass Memorial
has decided to build a new like emergency um a satellite emergency facility in Grten to um to to deal with the closure of Nova
which I need to talk to the maybe the fire chief to have them explain it to me Why would they build a completely new building when there's a perfectly good hospital It has something to do with the
ownership of the land um of the building or both and they're separate is the way to go with that because it needs a lot of work right That too that needs a lot of work That was part of the problem Well but the thing is you know this
facility apparently is not going to be up and running until the end of 2026 So that's it's probably how long it would take to renovate that building Maybe if it was a possibility right So you know those are some of the I like the location Where is it It's across from the yellow
buildings in Grton where Deluxe was Yeah Um right there Oh I believe I not there anymore I put a pen on the map Yes Well they're going to put affordable housing in the back part Yeah they tore down that whole building I believe and it's
all going it's going to be a huge development back there Um with a certain percentage of it affordable and so it's the part towards the front um right by 119 um for town I think it's a good location
for pepper roll for grten It's a It's closer than Yes that spot is closer to Yes it is So anyway I thought it was a good idea I just I didn't know the location in Bratton I knew it was Bratton I took the what was
in the announcement I I took the address and just Google Earth it and that's where it is No that's pretty good So um so yeah apparently it'll be up and running by the end of um 2026 which is about a year and a half from now
So um time flies Um so that was really all the updates I have Okay I have a warning I am So we go right ahead So the energy committee we
already did Uh the paramulation that is April 25th Thank you for coming Yeah Thanks you guys Um April 25th is the plan for walking If there's a rain we'll go Did I I marked
it on my calendar Perfect Okay I'm looking forward to doing that It was like 9:00 I think but there's nothing's been set yet and um was saying getting the van from the prep senior center So we are all together because there's not a lot of parking
along road you know if you go on out there said that about the van and I didn't know that's why there there aren't a lot of places to pull off along the road So if we were all in our own car it would be we might be able to do two cars but anyway Okay Right So that's
that um THT uh the housing trust Um we met uh not last week the week before and um we're going to continue working with Mass Housing Partnership Uh we voted to also hire a
third party to consult with us with a goal to have an RFP out Apparently the best time to put an RFP out is in August Um so that's really pretty quick And uh Kieran says that it can take several
rounds of RFPs till you get the right person So there's if we can get our act together enough to gather data from the community and that's another thing that a consultant and MHP can help us with to you know go out with the concepts see
what people want and then help use that information to inform the RFP But the concept it doesn't have to be the final form of what we go out for So um so
there's that Um the uh finance committee I think we've talked about the three recommendations The one thing and this is my suggestion This is something that I um thought of after the fact that I'm
going to throw out there We had gotten the clear gov software in late 2022 early 2023 which for whatever reason unknown un unbeknownst to me did not work with our budgeting process or the
way our budgets are written So and clear bill of gov software is used by many municipalities to project out and do their budgeting I think it would be a good idea to have some sort of software that does this not relying on
um on uh Excel I mean I mean right now if if you know Dawn does the Excel thing if Dawn isn't available who on that committee picks this up and goes forward with it Yeah And so we are in a bad
shape budget-wise for that So my thought is and Nelson and Lori you guys can see what you think doesn't have to be clear software there might be other software out there but I was wondering Nelson if the finance team that means the assessor's office the treasurer the
accountant and you whoever wants to do that could could work together evaluate some see what other places use and then um review that budgeting software and recommend commend a purchase with the
hopes that we have enough free cash in the fall December after free cash is certified to go to pick one of those and go forward with it Um what Dawn tells me is it just didn't fit our budgeting process
I mean so to me you manipulate the budget to fit the software and it means that yes you have to talk about it and change how you do things Maybe they have different categories similar to when you go to use Quicken It you know that's an old thing
I guess now but you have to move things around to make it work So I just think it would be good I am tired of hearing that the select board doesn't want to do budget projections when in fact when I
was on the select board previously we very much wanted to do that It should be a program within the town not within somebody's laptop Well I agree with that It should be within It shouldn't be a volunteer who has this It should be somebody who's
um who works here who has it I agree Mhm So um I I just think that looks and if it costs more than 10,000 to keep the software from year to year to year let's get it in our capital plan you know it
for futures you know purchase it with free cash once we've identified what works for the town and then that that's just a thought and but I do think it's something that needs to be brought forward and um you know Cleargov is one
of the the juggernauts out there in the municipal finance world And if we can maybe convince everyone to get on board of Clear Gov again because you know we got Clear Gov through the the grant and I believe those grants it's it's it's
the compact grant and I looked it's no longer available Oh that one's no longer It says it was a best practices grant Oh and and if you go online it says these are no longer available That one is not and it's no longer funded Is no longer
available right You can do IT grants So maybe we can get budgeting software with an IT grant I don't know Um maybe not We actually [Music] um have submitted um for other IT things Yeah Uh the the the
fi the comm the fiber grant The fiber grant Okay that was a phase one of Kieran's working on phase two and I think oh Erin before she left did one for that too Um we were we submitted a grant to digitize some of our records Uh
not all of it because that it was above and beyond the the the scope the scope at least from a budgetary perspective So you know we kind of did like a a good wag you know like you know 15,000 in
this office worth of scanning you know 20,000 here So um you know we'll bring here back but um but yeah before she left um submitted a grant to Okay help
us digitize some of our paper files Okay So Okay So that's just I think that's just something we need to be working on with the goal of having something in place for next year's budget process Um audit committee um Don and I met was
it just last night Yes And I I I sent forward the motion to um have the engagement letter looked at So Sabrina do you have this engagement letter Um did this come to you or to you I think
you sent it to us uh maybe last week Yeah Yeah It just came in last week Yeah Because I think you gave it to me Yeah It's it's the Roselli Yes We had a discussion and I wanted to wait until after Don and I had time to review before it went to town council So it
should be reviewed by town council and then put on the agenda to approve maybe And it Yeah and it gives us our our dollar amounts to put in the budget for the um audits going forward The FY25
audit that will be done in FY26 And remind me that their FY26 um proposal was the 30K that we originally it was 29 We had 30 and that's just for the the operating budget
Oh that's right if we need to have a single audit which I think we do that's another um four to fivek Oh that's right And um and if uh if we need a second single audit which I'll be surprised but
we do have a lot of grant funds but it's federal grant money Um I don't know how much of our grant money is federal If that's the case then an additional single audit will be 1,500 to 2,000 Okay Um yeah I actually forgot to
increase the audit budget to 35 Yeah So I just did it right now Yeah So um so that's what this is Well that just increased the Yes it did didn't it 500 How much Well by 5,000 Um I I looked at
it as what came in from fire versus this It's a wash you know Um anyway So uh so that's audit Um CR the next meeting is
April 10th and uh we're reviewing the um the CR holder I think I said this last time last week um is potentially we have a is potentially fish fishing game and
they have a separate um CR template than the EO EA or whatever it's called now template for that So um yeah and that is it I think Okay So um I do have
something um kind of a little something that we didn't expect at planning and that was um it almost back to square one on the MBTA
I watched not all of that meeting just the beginning part of it I don't know what you guys decided to do Um we withdrew the pre for uh May 6 We withdrew that We
withdrew that I saw the email that went to you to withdraw from that Yep So we um at our next meeting we intend to have like everybody there to get
uh feedback on do we go back to I mean personally I liked one of the other districts but um you know there were pros and cons and people were saying why why this is you know whatever
Uh but what we didn't expect was that the state wasn't going to accept it So the thought of well whatever we put up for the bylaw that's going to be okay was not the case Mhm Um so I I
reached out to um MRPC Glenn as well as um and there's a back you were copied on email from Beth to Mr Yeah
And oil um sorry and uh we're going to redisuss it at the next my only comment on that meeting because he was saying well if you don't do it now you can do it in the at your fall town meeting Our falltown meeting
is in January or has been in January the past couple of years Hopefully we'll try to have it It would have to be we might have to have a special town meeting specifically for that if it has to be by
the end of December of Well we're going to talk more now Yeah we talk more now No it's not going to go to this meeting No not to this one It won't go to this one but we may have to have a a town meeting before free cash is certified
specifically for the MBTA by if there is a hard and fast December deadline If we well if we show good faith in what we're doing between now and then and we're going to be delayed to a January meeting
they're they're not going to crucify us over it Okay So we do have some in fact He said that himself that that was a possibility that this could uh take a little bit longer
but rather than getting shot down uh cuz we had gone for a preapproval kind of thing Yeah And it was not going to come back good So we withdrew the request for the preapproval Okay and and and then after hearing him you know talk
a bit um it's disappointing It's really disappointing So uh it will be the the board hasn't made any decisions We're going to have a discussion on if they want to go back to um one of the other
ones that we already kind of vetted among the board right Um or do they want to find another one I don't know Okay But we need
water It needs water and it needs to be um reasonably suitable rather than having the water and I don't know why this didn't happen Water department and um board of health would not have
approved the site Why we didn't have that before I have no idea Don't ask Okay So um that was very disappointing because you're talking about 18 months of
volunteer work let alone the grant money So I'm not really pleased with the from an MRP MRPC point of view I'm not pleased and I'm not pleased for the town So um we will continue with that but
hopefully come out better because hopefully everything happens for a reason and it's usually better than what you thought it was going to be So that's what I'm going to go with Um and the other thing I wanted to bring up again for everyone there are open positions
there are volunteer positions as well as positions you can be written in for um all of you out there not really knowing what's happening or just listening to one person it would be great if you actually joined us on committees and or
elected Um for those positions that are not written in there will be opportunities to be appointed to those positions And um I'm I'm sure there's a place for everyone and we would like you to join us because we don't want to be doing
this alone Okay that's my pitch there Undereleed and you don't have anything under uh public safety I'm trying to think now where
Okay No we got all the public safety already expense um adjustments Those came in and I I think we're all good Okay Um Sabrina have there been any volunteer forms No
I do need to ask the question All right Now don't Are we going into executive No not today No Oh why didn't I think we were Next week Maybe Next week Oh my I thought I had to do my reports
by today What reports Your reviews Oh no It's next week It's Oh you meant my my performance That's not under executive done that No but we have to get them in to you first right To Cali To Cali Yeah Okay I haven't done one yet
Oh thank you for reminding me Oh yeah You know if we need to punt another to another meeting that's fine But Oh well then I'll talk to Cali I didn't realize I should um Yeah she usually at least in the past she would take them I have no
past Oh that's true This is my first time I looking at the forms going okay let's see three plus months and yeah you know it's been chaos So um I'll talk to Cali Okay I
will too I have to look at that I believe she sent you the the um and Sabrina sent and um Do you want me to just fill it out for you Remind care of it Damn I had to try
So um All right Okay I'll talk to Cali because I again first time in this position right Okay So next meeting is April 8th
at 6 p.m April 15th at 6 p.m And then we meet on the 16th for the forum That's around here but I will put that on here And that is at seven right Yes Correct Are we going to do a dry run beforehand
of the presentation Are we gonna maybe on the 15th Um just a just a bounce through We could I don't see a harm to it Yeah we could Or um I'm trying to think We could do it separately Yeah No Oh I mean I I Yeah
I'm Yeah I wouldn't want to do it in this You don't want to do it in in session Not in session No that would be um No but we might want to on one of our Wednesday afternoons or whenever you two meet if we went over it and then you
went over it Yeah I I I think you know everyone seeing it beforehand obviously makes sense Um but in terms of you know who's we'll figure out who's really talking most of the time right I feel
like I mean I I Not me I I think I'll probably be doing you know a lot of the talking Um that's what I think Um I'm happy to talk I'm always happy to talk So yeah we'll figure out what a good mix is in terms of Okay Um
I mean but for budget and all of that I mean I could do a little background the background the DLS background stuff Yeah Um so you know it'll be part of the planning process of how it's sort of uh the presentation is laid out and we
might want to talk to John too and make sure he knows what we're doing and Yeah Yeah He's moderating Yeah So yeah I I think for um where you know his experience will really come in is during
the the Q&A session Um yeah because that's when I really wanted the the um microphones Yeah So that people so that so that there isn't any Well I wanted to say
something but I didn't get a chance because I wasn't called on Um which which is I used to do that I remember doing that in a hot brook Yeah we we don't have that ability here though to do that really I don't think Well you could have it in the middle of
the two sides And there's a microphone upstairs Somebody wants to get up they can talk the microphone That's true You can Yeah Where there's a world there's a way Okay So yeah So I I think um Sabrina has her handle
mention here that there might be suggestions for other cycle meetings Oh yeah Um I I don't have anything at the moment I mean I think the the joint meeting with finance committee Um but I think the earliest it could probably
happen is next Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest I feel So that would be the 9th or the 10th 9th Um the 10th I have a a CR committee meeting Is that in the
evening 7 PM Okay So the let's target the 9th Yeah For Okay I'm going to write that in here now Which would mean we would need to really we need to post by like Monday morning
9th Yeah I I don't go I could do seven Okay I can't do six Okay Okay
I can probably show up like I can probably try to get here like a quarter of I'll be in Lunenburgg and we'll be here So seventh on the night on the night and that would be with finance Yeah Yeah you know if
they um if they want to Right Correct Or we can you know do something uh you know possibly on the 14th or you know if we have a meeting I don't think I have a meeting on the 7th
but we would need to post by we would need to post by Thursday and and they meet on Thursday night So we would we wouldn't even know the outcome of their meeting Okay Okay Yeah Um so we could even meet on the
14th or we have another selectable meeting on the 15th It' be a joint then [Music] Um but that's you know cutting awfully close with the thing the next day Yeah I mean not that
necessarily we need to be 100% in agreement by the 16th Um but okay So are we putting seven for the um ninth possibility All right
Um so we're going so April 9th Are we doing we have review of those tables Then I need a motion second to roll into table warrants session It says it says executive
session There's nothing Is there a motion Um I move that we uh we uh sign payroll and bills payable once it's out of session Second any
discussion hearing none Veronica Cal I Laura Shipp and I then we can adjourn and 84
8:47 moved second motion I tell I thank you very much thank you all very much for joining Yes