##VIDEO ID:giVccZjbeO4## hello everybody I would like to welcome you to the select boys meeting um for December 17 uh 2024 we will start the meeting with a roll call vote Laura shiff present Veronica Cal present and Teresa a mo present please stand for the pledge allegiance to the flag for the United States of America to the stands one nation under God individual with liberty and justice for all I like to thank everybody who's volunteering this holiday season and all those who serve the town of [Music] town I need to announce that this meeting is being recorded and uploaded to YouTube for chairin and Del uh additions and deletions we are deleting the minutes from 1220 1212 2024 and we'll move those to January 7th's meeting um we like I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the meeting minutes for 123 Veronica move second okay any discussion um I I do have one um this is under 5.0 um the ARA projects um the paragraph that begins Veronica Kell advocated for um that should be for new fire department trucks needing equipment as the use of ARA is how I would restate that okay Sabrina can you make that change and can we approve those motions with that change I accept the amendment okay all those in favor of the motion it will have to be a roll call vote for shiing yes Veronica Cal yes and Teresa a mo yes okay moving on to appointments of official Personnel we're going to appoint the following entertain a motion to appoint the following volunteers to the team a team with the effective date sorry my screen think effective date and start date of 1217 2024 Elizabeth B Bowman Rebecca Bowman Emma gra graer Jasmine Brook Andrew Hackett Pamela devani Sally kenob Paul joser Timmy ginsky oh no and I'm sorry Timmy it's will'll end at Paul go is that right the last two were still waiting on on checks uh yeah um correct they they they have not provided uh the necessary quy forms so to make sure Timothy and Mary are included um the last two that are on the uh in the agenda are waiting on so the motion ends at Mary Alexander and did you say Timothy's full name I I I want to make sure that wasinski okay okay thank you so all 10 except for Marcel binker and LA cousin de blinka are paed with Corey correct correct I so move uh Veronica Cel second any further discussion okay roll call vote Laura shiffon yes Veronica C yes teres Moes and I would like to welcome all those and glad to see you there team building strong neck good luck to you with them all thank you you're welcome you okay moving on I entertain a motion to amend the minutes or excuse me amend the meeting of 12:3 and which we created the cable advisory committee to a six member committee to include you just jumped down to 43 Teresa I think you might have jumped uh oh I'm sorry I apologize okay we're on 3.2 yeah sorry I I intimate a motion to appoint as a um to appoint a select board member to the m Advisory Board effective 1217 uh I'm willing to do that I don't know if anybody else okay so let's make the motion actually say your name so I make entertain a motion to appoint Veronica Kel as select representative toat um hang on one minute Teresa you can do it if you want it doesn't matter to me I just thought if you had it's it's it's easy I I I can fit it right in because it's part of mrpc and n and I attended today oh okay I attended their advisory today all right then um uh I move that uh we appoint Lara schiffren to serve as the select board member of Representative to the Mart Advisory Board effective 127 2024 mo i AC did we second that was a second Teresa okay second I thought okay I thought you made the motion okay I did make the motion so I moved it and and Lauren can Stu second it I'm totally confused now let's start again um okay I intimate a motion to appoint La Sheen as select board representative to the mod Advisory Board effective 1217 2024 is that a motion did you make the motion then I started with I entertain a motion so yes okay I thought it was I move um okay okay um did you did you move it are you there you just say I moved the I so moved is there a I'll I'll accept it second it okay any further discussion okay roll call vote flern Veronica Kell I and teres say a mo yes okay this is a uh 4.1 review and discuss Warren articles this is a review no motions for v no motions for votes needed to be taken yet this is for this will be done on January 7th 2025 meeting so this is um uh motion uh basically to discuss the warrant I articles that the submission for those closed tomorrow correct um okay so I have a a procedural question if the warrant um closes tomorrow and we haven't voted are we reopening the warrant in order to vote on the Articles because in previously when I've served on the board we voted on the Articles so you mean after the warrant has closed no I mean before the warant closes okay um if I remember correctly I could be wrong yeah no we we have to wait we said the Warren closed 1218 so we'd have to vote to to them on the Jan you're right you do have to vote on them but that wouldn't be till the January 7th meeting but here's the thing if we've already closed the warrant and we choose not to elect uh not to approve one of the items on the agenda do we have to reopen the warrant to remove it no we've done that several times the warrant was closed we just can't accept on that January 7th meeting we wouldn't accept any new warrant articles we can't accept any new warrant articles after tomorrow because but if we decide not to approve one of those that came in and we decide not to approve it on the second uh a negative vote does not require reopening I just a question Don haes can I be recognized Madam chair sure um just to to point out it it could be that you're going to do it in the motion the motion would be to take no action on a warrant article that was vote that would be on the four that would be on the four but that's what you can you rather than change it or delete it you determine that you you you don't want to take any action on that warrant article you yeah but we can make that motion but that doesn't have to it it has to be V voted it then has to be voted on the floor correct and the town's people could decide to take action they could say they could turn that down I I I have I'm sorry teres I've never seen it where we uh voted on warranted articles after the warrant was closed I thought once the warrant was closed it was set other than we can say we need the wording for such and such right you know and we can put that in but we couldn't add or remove anything if the warrant is closed when does it go to print like when does it get published it has to be so many days before the meeting two weeks before weeks correct so um with fall town meeting on January 28th we need to finalize it by January 14th unless we're going to reopen the warrant for the purpose of the meeting only if if you open does it need to be open for two weeks a two week period again that's a good question I don't know the warrant no I don't I don't think there's any um there's no minimum it needs to be open for it could be open for a day yeah exactly it can be open for a day because we have opened the warrant and closed it you for the purpose of voting yeah on um you know adding something to the warrant after the fact correct um um which would be noticed in a posting of the meeting yes correct um Madame chair more yes if votes are taken today just keep in count that there is another day that um a submission can happen so that would be right still one a those possibly coming in yeah because we usually closed it right at the end of the meeting we didn't usually keep it open for one more day yeah I think the timing this time was a little bit Yeah but I don't anticipate a a plethora of Articles between now and tomorrow at 4 pm um so we can certainly discuss this with the um with the possibility my my suggestion would be to check with Town Council and find out what the since we aren't voting on any of the warrant articles today um check with Town Council and see what our options are okay but you but you still want to discuss things oh yeah yeah okay okay not voting but if we have questions now might be the time right yeah okay um you want me to see if Adam could join the call um yeah if you want for the question if he could if he could answer a question yeah he's actually sending emails I just literally gotten one from him five seconds ago he was just sending me an email on someone yeah you can try uh but I mean we can start talking about the Articles while Sabrina gets try to get Adam on line um okay I'll I'll I'll start us off um article one we had uh two bills from FY 24 that popped up on our radar they're with the fire department um and it was two separate invoices to and they had purchased some um ambulance medical supplies so the total is 2127 um see article too that that's an interesting one um this is related to the kids country playground um we had received um several uh two grants uh one is the PC Grant Park grant for $100,000 and we received $250,000 from the the Massachusetts office on disabilities um and we also received a um guess you call it a grant from the kids country playground committee um the reason we're still trying to figure out why this language because if you read it it's it's asking the voters to transfer from free cash the sum of $500,000 of which you know and then it goes on to describe those those grants I talked about so it's it's certainly very confusing to the uh the voters when they hear it's not free cash right exactly Grant yeah so there is a free cash component to this um because the grants alone are not going to be enough to fund the project we think it's somewhere in the in the neighborhood of $32,000 um that's how much we would need from free cash to um to complete the project um I can work with Aaron and Town Council to tighten up this language a little bit because the way it read now I think people are see that $500,000 amount in free cash and they're just I won't vote for it I mean the way it's written here I would not vote for this I would want to see it um say to see if the town of Townson will vote to spend 32k of free cash um um to add to the 100,000 from the park Grant the 250 from the um Mass office on disabilities Grant 15K from the kids country playground fundraisers or whatever and um to replace the current playground with an ADA Compliant I would not say 500k from free grant free cash because that's not what it is right yep so uh will work uh to tighten up that language to make sure it reads more clearly um so I'll work with um Town Council and eron on that okay thank you looks like Adam has joined us so what um Veronica just said U makes sense yeah I agree and I thought it looked really weird too when I first saw it um I think there was a reason why um it was done that way but yeah I agree the way it's written out it's so confusing um under the description it says which will be reimbursed up to 68k by the park I thought we had 100,000 Park money uh we did but I think that's like sort of our component so I'll uh I will get clarification on that um and we'll we'll revise that description if needed this this just seems wrong the the whole and a total of 167 would be provided by the town I can't do that um we just can't do that so um hold on I'll I'll work to really clean this up okay well you have him so ask him about the procedure question yeah um Adam uh can you hear and see us I can good evening good evening uh we had a procedural question um so the um fall to meeting warrant doesn't close until 400 pm tomorrow um but we have a whole bunch of um articles in front of us so you know can we vote on all these articles after the warrant has closed um or you know timing wise you know what is or isn't allowed so so I I I got that same question Sabrina had texted me and and coincidentally I was joining your meeting even before I got Sabrina's text because I knew you had multiple items in your agenda tonight and though I wasn't planning to be in attendance um Nelson you and I have gone back and forth on several items all of which have been relatively quick turnarounds and I wanted to just be present for a short while in case board members had questions like you've got a contract on you've got the warrant and several zoning bylaw revisions and I've actually been emailing you Nelson for the past 45 minutes but but you're you're in the meeting so I have seen those emails so I haven't had time to put them into the packet but uh I put a placeholder there um with the stipulation that you know we're getting the actual language from Town Council so um I have seen those emails okay that that's great so in terms of the the process and procedure the opening and closing dates of the warrant are really internal uh communities uh select boards do this for their own convenience uh for the benefit of the public knowing when they have permission to submit articles that could come in by way of citizens petition in sufficient time to allow them to make it onto the warrant um but also to inform boards commissions committees uh when they ought to get their proposed uh articles to the select board but it's really for internal purposes it's not statutory uh it doesn't tie into your obligations in terms of when you uh when you post or publish the warrant so your requirement is to post and publish the warrant 14 days prior to a special town meeting so if the special town meeting is scheduled for the 28th you're cut off as we talked about uh Nelson by email earlier today uh is January 14th and you can vote the warrant anytime up until uh up until the 13th of January um generally my experience in in in municipal government is that usually the warrant is is not voted uh certainly not voted until such time as it is it is quote unquote closed Ed by the select board because you don't know what else might be coming in if the weren't still open so I do think it would be wise especially in light of some of the emails I just sent you and the status of some of these zoning bylaw revisions which require some further work um I think it makes makes some sense to not vote the warrant at least for another week or two and if you're not meeting again until the 7th um that'll be fine you'll still have a week Beyond the 7th or 6 days beyond the 7th to um to finalize the warrant and uh get it ready for for posting I was wrong and we're going to have public hearings about the zoning on the 13th January okay right I I actually suggested and and again you wouldn't know this because it was just in the text of my email uh to to Nelson 15 or 20 minutes ago but um what we're looking at and and you know this um because you chair the planning board and because we've had some discussions over the past couple of meetings we're looking at three potential bylaw revisions I I did just draft and send Nelson more than just placeholders the actual text of what the warrant articles themselves will look like uh two of those three articles are missing the the the bulk of the text which is inserting the final version or close to final version of the proposed bylaw uh new bylaw revised bylaw whatever it might be um having said that after completing the review that I just completed it it it looks to me like there's you know a fair a fair amount of work that probably needs to be done to to two of these three bylaws and um what I suggested in the email is maybe even that uh the planning board convene if it has the ability to do so sometime before that meeting on the would you say it was the 13th of of January um to talk through some of these some of these revisions um not just with me but with Joseph Bole the the mrpc rep who was responsible for drafting them so we can get them into a a close to final form um waiting until the 13th to do that when uh the warrant will need to be posted the following day um is is not really going to work we could post um in the warrant the current versions of the bylaws but again based on my recommendations I think that the changes are probably too substantial um we could we could pose them as floor amendments but we all sort of know how that works when you show up with a floor amendment that know is three pages long it confuses the town meeting uh goers even more than maybe they were already confused by the the substance of the bylaw and that makes it less likely to pass so um there is a January 6 the week before so maybe um the planning board can have a work session before the 13th in reference to those and that would still give us time I think part of the thinking was too as far as the public hearing and those bylaw changes was that we we would still have the ability after the public hearing if there were things that had to be changed or tweaked be before the two weeks notice of the fall meeting um right so there there's when did you say your planning board public hearing is scheduled 13th right so so you wouldn't really have much of an opportunity right because uh literally the next day is when the warrant needs to be posted so the warrant really has to be ready on the 13th so that it can be provided to um the Constable to post on the 14th and if it's going to be ready on the 13th it's going to be ready prior to your meeting the other thing is that while it's very true that as a consequence of the planning board public hearing sometimes minor adjustments occur to the text of a bylaw because the planning board considers something further or a member of the public attends the public hearing and makes remarks that the planning board thinks ought to result in a change to the bylaw but what we always are trying to avoid through the planning board public hearing process are wholesale changes to the bylaw because then you put into question the sufficiency of the notice of the planning board public hearing if the whole substance of what came before the planning board changed now again I don't know that my suggested revisions and the areas of concern I have are so incredibly substantive uh that they would would raise a notice issue but it to the extent that the planning board has some flexibility some ability to schedule a meeting it doesn't need to be the public hearing but just a meeting of the board as the proponent of of the these bylaws sometime earlier in January I know you mentioned the 6th um coincidentally it looks like I'm available in the evening of the 6 so I could attend um that may be wise um and certainly I can work with uh Mr Bole prior to that meeting um to try to fine-tune some of my my comments or suggestions and bring something to the board that the board could be prepared to um to to give us a thumbs up or thumbs down on that we could then um transmit to the to the select board okay because I'm not I'm not privy to what what you've done as far I did again you're in your meeting but I did I did copy you on the email I just sent to Nelson knowing that you're the the planning board so you can review it at your leisure okay thank you so if there's I just have a question if there's a public hearing then on the 6th do you have enough time to notice the public hearing between now and then it wouldn't be a public hearing on the 6th it would just be a meeting of the planning board to further discuss what it's been discussing the public hearing would still proceed on the 13th and what about changes any changes that might need to be made based on the input from the public I know planning board before we've made changes based on that to put in the warrant right so that's always an issue um when we're trying to squeeze uh bylaw revisions into a condensed time frame in an ideal world you would hold the planning board public hearing six weeks before town meeting um whether it's a special town meeting or an annual town meeting it often doesn't work that way in municipalities especially when you're trying to make adjustments to your bylaw to to address things like changes in state law which is what a lot of these are doing the adus for example so we we we're stuck with what we're stuck with in terms of a time frame if there are changes that result from that meeting on the 13th and In fairness they would really have to be something brought forward by the public um that was new because the the planning board is the sponsor of these articles and so we've you've discussed these your planning board has discussed these on multiple occasions already and so it's going to have to be something coming forward from the public but if were a minor revision or two or three that was the result of the public hearing on the 13th those would need to be floor amendments brought forward at special town meeting okay okay um Lori so you guys don't have a meeting scheduled for December 23rd um the planning board because yeah we do oh we have Adam we do have one I'm not here but I'll be virtual there there is a planning board board meeting on December 23rd I I'm I'm that's a very quiet week for me so I'm I'm available uh on the 23rd as well so if that's preferable you could still update that agenda as late as uh Thursday so if you'd prefer to have me on the 23rd um I can do that too the real issue is I don't know that I'll have much of an opportunity well I guess I've got three days but between now and the 23rd to go back and forth with Mr Bole at mrpc who's the author of two of these three articles and I also don't know about his availability on the 23rd but it I think the the the wisest thing when the planning board reconvenes whether it's on the 23rd or the 6 would be to do so with me and with Mr Bole so we can talk through the changes uh he's the principal author I'm just making some suggested revisions um from a from a strictly legal perspective for the 23 okay well let should know to I'm going to look at what you sent to as well tonight and we'll know tomorrow but they're meeting on the 23rd so it's very likely that we can put you on for that [Music] um I'm glad I brought yeah thank you um I'll look at it first and then um perhaps give you a call or send you an an email of whether or not um I'd like to maybe talk to Mr Doyle with you depends on what you wrote up and what what he's got okay all right thank you of course um see okay so uh so uh the the um the draft warant articles that Adam was referring to they sort of at the very end of the uh the list um but as he mentioned you know he just sent some stuff to us now and I had just put very generic placeholders there they are for article number 17 and 18 and it seems like there might even be a third one that he wants to put on so um I think we just um table the issue so to speak until we we get um you can work on I know what my question was in in reference to these changes um and the I didn't get to attend the workshop for on the draft State guidelines did you and Mr Bole take those into consideration in so I I I I don't think that Mr Bole did because his his the drafts that he prepared were prepared I'm not sure weeks ago I didn't see them for the first time until a week ago I think you know you know that cuz I was at your meeting a week ago Monday night and said I hadn't seen them yet and so uh it was Lance MCN that sent them to me that evening um and so I've had them only for about a week I don't know when they were drafted but uh presumably they were drafted in large part prior to those draft regulations issuing which only issued 10 days ago um having said that I did take them into consideration when I reviewed when I reviewed and made my comment so um I there are a few things that could potentially run a foul of the regulations but we're in this no man's land because those regulations are still only in draft form and one thing that became clear as the result of that that webinar that you referred to as well as some discussions that my office has had uh with the with the uh executive office of Housing and liberable communities and the AG's office is that um many who have reviewed those ulations have taken issue with certain Provisions um and are submitting comments about how those ought to be adjusted and so I think it's safe to say the finished product is going to look somewhat different than the draft uh product that we're we're currently working with okay well we'll have to talk about that because there may be no sense to some of this being brought up now and I know that some of the communities around us have already approved their versions before this came out and they do surround us here but once the state guidelines come out they're going to overrule anything local right well that that's overrule the state no you you can't overrule the state but there there's there's um there's a gray area so the the legislature has spoken we know what the legislation the special act says um it mandates certain things it uh ties the town's hands in certain ways and identifies certain things as a community you can do with respect to adus um and that's not going to change uh nothing in the regulations can alter what the legislature has said they can they can fine-tune they can provide additional detail um but they're not going to alter any of that so we know we know the framework and we know that in the event that there is a conflict between that framework and what exists any community that the framework is going to control um what we don't know is there are some gaps in that framework that's what the regulations are meant to fill in and those regulations are not completed yet so municipalities have taken one of two approaches going back to August when this Adu uh legislation was adopted and signed by the governor one approach has been we want to amend our bylaws as quickly as possible to bring it into compliance with state law and if we have to amend end it a second time because the forthcoming regulations or practical experience tells us that something is still um out of compliance or doesn't quite jive with state law we will do that that's been one approach the other approach has been we're going to wait we're not going to keep going back to town meeting to try and make adjustments we're just going to wait until we know what we're dealing with from the state and then we'll make revisions to our bylaws and the communities that are opting for that second path are likely going to be waiting until there Spring Town meetings you've kind of you've kind of split the difference here and you're bringing this forward at the January town meeting because you happen to be having a late falltime meeting that's fine but we still don't know with certainty what these regulations are going to say and although I saw something today about a cut off with respect to these regulations looking through my emails now I think the date was uh I want to say mid January uh was the cut off date um there's a public hearing on January 10th the cuto off for comments is December 20th that's three days from now um after the public hearing is when eohc would consider comments from that public hearing and would work to amend revise and ultimately finalize their regulations so I think it's safe to say those regulations may not be in final form by January 28th they certainly won't be by the 14th four days after the public hearing when you have to post your warrant so there may still be a bit of uncertainty concerning adus um having said that I think that what has been drafted by Mr Bole and what I've reviewed um with some adjustments that I'm recommending be made um Can can get us can get us um a a a solid bylaw that um more likely than not will pass mustard with the attorney general um with the cavey out that there may be a tweak or two that needs to be made at a future town meeting maybe the Spring Town Meeting uh depending upon what the what the final regulations do say okay I'm good so so the three articles that we're adding or that are planning board articles are article 17 for Abus article 18 for age restriced and Article 19 mpta communities is that what we're looking at even though Article 19 isn't on this warrant I was going to say I don't see my team uh yeah because Adam just brought up that there's potentially three articles originally was um was just the two the adus and the age restricted development but um you know I think with Adam review seems like a third um article will need to be added that makesense so what what was presented I'm simply this is nothing I've created I'm just reviewing what was sent to me I received three potential bylaw revisions the adus which is actually not adus it's called accessory Apartments um I also re received a separate but related bylaw that was site plan approval for adus but that's a whole separate self-contained bylaw and then the third one was the age restricted development so I I I've not heard anything about MBTA communities proceeding next month so it's site plan approval correct doing well yeah there's a separate site plan reviewal bylaw that's going to apply I thought to everything so that would be maybe article 18 and Article 19 would be the age restricted what are the three bu laws I guess I think that plan is the 19 yeah that yeah so I'll add that to the list that you know just came up you okay few minutes ago so see so and then articles 9 [Music] through uh 11 are all related to properties that we want to off at the a recent select board meeting you guys voted to put it to town meeting so each article is for uh individual Lots with the exception of article three that was recommended by the properties committee that those three lots be sold um together so that's the only article where there's multiple Lots uh involved other than that that's um so article four is is of the properties committee the ones that we voted the other day correct correct what about Article Five why does it say submitted by highway department oh I need to okay that's not that's a select okay and six is a a lot seven so articles 4 through 11 are single lots to auction article three is three set one correct okay um article 12 um we're going to use some free cash to pay for the two copiers that we uh I had originally wanted to go through arpa but that um got reallocated because of the deficits so I put a article just for the two copers that we have spoken about um Article 13 the uh Accounting Office uh wanted to transfer $1,250 from free cash to replace a um failing printer copy or scanner in their office as well as um to use some um money to shred some documents that they have um article 14 um this is for the town clerk's office um they need some they think they need some additional funds to implement the new Charter we kind of spoke about that at the arpa meeting as well um what do you mean by implement uh we need to get on to the website so that requires so it's the ecode so that requires um the so for website that money is for website it's for General code it's the eode that um when you go on and you look at the bylaws and all that of the Town that's maintained by a company and it gets put you have to pay that company to put that stuff in the TT U um stuff isn't in there even though we had a bylaw that was approved at town meeting two years ago because it was voted down a tell meeting not to fund putting stuff into ecode um the last annual T meeting so there are bylaws that have been passed including the charter that are not in Ecco yet so there's a if you make those changes why wasn't that budgeted or you know I mean why why should that be free cash because there isn't anywhere else to get it from really well I mean why is why is it not incorporated into those budgets that produce it's it's not a standard budget you're not constantly updating to that company so it hasn't effect you could probably put it into Professional Services right that that seems like the line it would probably add yeah but we would need um an infusion from from the free yeah to for whatever reason it wasn't anticipated okay yeah yeah I think there's there's 5,800 left in Professional Services for the town clerk but there are other things that that gets used for yeah so so uh the town clerk is might use a little bit of that uh if we can get some free cash for them and I think they there's even a special article somewhere um for um that purpose as well so um the off the town clerk is GNA use multiple funds to to you know pay for this um oh so it's thousands more dollars than what this is yes uh yeah and yeah and we don't have a good quote at the moment for how much it would cost but we're thinking $2,500 in in a free cash would uh should get them through the whole project um there's like 4,000 in an old um uh town meeting article that was for the charter that's still there um there there are different little pieces of money sitting around that can be put towards this yeah so this is just the I can't remember the numbers but it was something like 12,000 for they ecode people to go through and update our bylaws to where they should be so will they do them on or just the charter I don't know what she's doing definitely Charter that's what she's asking for this for um whether more is included in what she's getting a clot for I don't know well who's responsible for making sure they get on the bylaw changes Town Clark oh well hopefully they would all get done and updated hopefully I'll I I can I can Circle back to to to chck on that um but this is um sort of the request to get them through the whole project um Article 15 um this was requested by the building department um so in their budget and in their operations they have a alternate um Building Commissioner that this individual does uh do work um on behalf of the town here and there um there is a budget for it but my understanding is um the building department had um received some money from the water department um related to inspections and uh for the new um water department treatment plan that was um that just came online um so the building department received um some money for inspections and whatnot you know to inspect the new plant and this is just sort of to um replenish um their their operating budget for for the purpose of uh you know the the alternate um Building Commissioner so well I'm looking at this and right now it looks like I I don't quite understand what costs associated with the wages of the alternate going Commission but it looks like we have 1,885 left in there for the alternate Building Commissioner um as far as the construction and the additional um um inspections that were done by the building department yeah I thought that there was money already set aside in the water Department's budget yeah for the additional inspections yeah in the water department um did um did pay the town 20 grand or something yeah I think it was like 10 and 10 so I think um the water department has paid 10,000 um towards the inspection um so the building department um is just looking to recoup some of that back because that money was deposited into the the general fund um oh okay and not given to the building department that's my understanding yes I'm not sure why um it was done that way um but they're just looking to transfer um some of that um some of that fee back into their to their project and they have isolated the alternate Building Commissioner as a the line item they wanted um that money to go towards I remember that me that discussion at the town meeting and I remember 20,000 yeah so it was 10 and 10 so I think uh the water department has um pay 10 and there's another 10 coming I think there's some accounting here that needs to be looked at of how they transfer funds because this is probably not the only one I mean obviously we've seen other things that are voted and not gotten onto the record in the right place yeah I I mean we don't even know if we're going to spend everything that's on that line item for the building in the alternate building inspector at this point in time um so and and we knew last year about the inspections that were needed for the other so I'm confused why they didn't why I'm just confused as to why there's a a perceived deficit at this point in time um I can get some more clarification from the bilding Department okay on that that would be good but but yeah it sound like there was some arrangement previously regarding you know the the fees that uh the Water Department would pay the town so I don't really know the the history behind that Madam chair I yes um can I if I can put some um history on this uh item I think I can give some input on how this um not right now let me just hear the end conversation thank you okay okay um in terms of Article 15 I don't have anything else to add so um I'm good with just getting more information yep um so Teresa if you want you can recognize uh Cindy I think and she can may go ahead Cindy quickly though please okay I'm sorry I just unmuted okay yeah I just wanted to just the history on uh dealing with the water department and any expenses in town um they they contribute uh they have a a stien sort of thing that they send to the town for basic expenses payroll and a lot of administration the treasur department receives costs of processing the bills and things like that and then also I'm going to compare this to when we were building the high school that the building department when they're doing doing things for other departments that aren't um part of the town's people getting their houses permitted and things like that they're doing another department that's not part of the regular budget so they're and all of the inspectors in the building department are on stipend so they get paid by the the permit apply application person whoever's making the application for permit inspections has to fund that so the building department doesn't have it in their budget to pay the statens for the water department because the water department and the department the water department paid it sounds like try is trying to transfer money to the building department to pay those slipons but they just can't do it because they had to they can only send it into the town and they're just the building department is asking for that stiping money to come back to the building department and okay thank thank you that's it okay thank you Cindy let's get more information I will yeah because that that was voted it was voted at a town meeting and clarified then that the water department was giving that to for inspections to the building department so that was how they were funding their inspections for that job which was separate from their normal what was talking about their normal transfer to the town corre correct so just just get more information we'll do um and I think the last article really is number 16 um I'm requesting um 6605 um in free cash to um fund um additional cost for the annual audit of the town's Workers Compensation Program so the way I understand it is um there's an audit that the um the workers compensation company does um you know they look at our roster um maybe uh pass claims in the last year or two so they because they want to see uh you know are we um you know putting in a lot of claims or you know high dollar values or things of that nature so every year when they do do this audit um you know if they think that you know we're um exceeding their expected cost then they're going to readjust the premiums that are charged to town and um so this is this increase is sort of above and beyond anything we've um um budgeted for um so um I'm requesting um money from free cash to handle this uh you know unbudgeted um amount I guess my question is it is annual and sometimes we get adjusted down for that as opposed to adjust it up it depends really that's happened that has happened um and and um I guess my question is why wasn't it budgeted um in the coming year for this fiscal year the the audits that were budgeted and known are in the treasurers department and it it's done with for selling car but this one is us I understand that but this one is usually done out of the board of selectman's office and has been it's separate from the audit that we went out for bid for so if it was it probably should have either been in the insurance section or inment section it's usually in Professional Services and I'm looking here um and I don't see anything I I do see Professional Services but there's only $791 left on that line item and it wasn't even budgeted enough to cover for this so I don't know how it got missed but I guess I guess I would agree with the article and I would say that that's something we have to pay attention to to make sure it gets put in the budget budget yeah so I think when they do these audits um you're right you know some years they'll go down you know activity yeah actually got money back I think in 2020 yeah so it all depend and that was probably a you know a slow year so to speak with claims and things like that so it fluctuates and you know it's really hard to predict what what kind of claims we're going to get for you know that particular year so when these come when they come up it's it really is unanticipated um because you know how can you say how can you predict what the you know the activity is going to look like for the year so so I have 62k coming out of free cash if all the articles are as such a little bit less than that but and is that including the playground for 32 32 for the playground okay so um I did 40 32 for the playground 14 for a copier another 12250 for a copier um 5,000 for the wages um 6605 for this audit and that Prett much cover so we will have free cash left over oh yeah CU for cash we don't have it certified yet but it's anticipated to be over 500 so and then my numbers for what comes out is right around 500 otherwise should we be giving back that for the Fire Equipment town meeting that's something we talk about at Ann time okay not discussion yes but I would favor that okay all right so yeah we have um some work to do uh with these articles but I think we're in pretty good shape uh Adam sent us you know a bunch of his comments and language to insert so I think at the uh January 7th select board meeting um we should be able to button up the the list and this would be reviewed correct for like the conveying of the properties yep yeah I'll I'll um we're in pretty good shape where I once I do a little clean up I can probably send it to Adam to to review you know the language here so and on the zoning stuff hopefully we'll have some more comments after the 23rd of [Music] December okay we ready to move 4.2 I believe so okay um this is to discuss Town H Hall hours for New Year's Eve which is a Tuesday um 12:31 are they looking to close at noon time um so normally Tuesday is uh the late night for folks so right we normally close at 6 so if we did a half day we're probably um shooting for 2: p.m I would say okay to close so I'll entertain a motion to amend Town Hall hours for New Year's Eve 1231 2024 to close at 3 pm uh 2m. 2m. 2 p.m 2 p.m so moved Madam chair c second any discussion um I just wanted to make sure that this is allowable under contracts and that it won't cause um unions that may not be able to take off at 2m to grieve the fact that um the town was closed and that they should be receiving time or time and a half for these additional four hours Adam um yes so uh Nelson I have spoken about this um I'm not your labor Council um so I'm I'm cautious about uh treading into these very deep Waters um but I have consulted with Jane uh she and I spoke on Friday um she told me what um you always hate to hear from your lawyer which is um on the one hand it would not be a basis for a legitimate grievance um on the other hand we can't ever guarantee that something is not going to be grieved so um she was not concerned this is done in communities with some regularity um and recognition uh or with a realization that by providing let's say town hall or town office employees with a a half day or a part day you're not able to afford that same benefit typically to your Public Safety officials but um but that's something that is you know their work hours uh their holidays and so forth are governed by uh their contractual negotiations that are collectively bargained and so um she didn't have any concern okay okay to okay any further discussion okay call vote I Veronica and Teresa a I I entertain a motion to amend the 1231 creation of the cable advisory committee CAC to a six member committee to include one member from the Council on Aging and to change the deadline to fill the committee to 16 2025 uh you mean the 1231 uh 2024 meeting uh 1203 not 31 okay um we're on 4.3 right she just read about the um I would still move for disc discussion okay okay discussion so we just re uh affirmed this committee right correct yeah at the last meeting okay so what but we I thought we already did this at the last meeting we took out we took out the school and put in library oh the library now you're adding I I think of them as one no they're separate yeah okay my only question is is it a good idea to have a six member committee as opposed to an odd number on the that's my only um issue I don't mind putting it should be five or seven um actually right so is there another uh board that we could what is the list of this now it get it just gets big when you get up to seven it it becomes a lot of people yeah I mean you could what was it before was it five before yes and we just made this the change we made it six and is there an at large there is an at large you can add another at large be adding the senior send because we only added the library the combin building so I like that suggestion of making a two at large um let's let's go ahead and add the Council on Aging and then also um change it from one at large member two and then we have seven and then we have seven and then anybody can apply for the at large correct I think we already have an applicant for the at large don't we yes we doar okay so okay okay so the motion has been amended to read that would have a seven member committee to include a member from the council and agent and increase to two at large members and to change the deadline to fulfill the committee so we can vote on the committee um up till 16 2025 uh second okay okay um any further discussion roll call vote Laura sh I Veronica Cal I and Teresa AOS I okay I entertain a motion to authorize Nelson new to sign the contract with Rob a bitman I can't see my screen anymore and son to hold on I apologize my screen just turned to like 200 size so I have to like scroll over I'll start again I entertain a motion to authorize Town Administrator Nelson mu to sign the contracts for a Bates and Suns for towns in Main Street Route 119 sidewalk construction project I'll move for discussion uh I was second for discussion okay okay go ahead my my discussion is usually it's a board of Selectmen that sign these contracts I don't know if it makes a difference and then also the format of the cont uh I haven't seen the contract the contract that we have in front of us I I just question whether I know it's the um boiler plate that Adam's firm provides to US every year but I would like to see the footer date modified June 2021 MTC removed I would like to see the words contractor removed because that's a boilet plate language and in my view I don't know if it makes a difference maybe Adam can address this but I think that you put in the name of the contractor where it says contractor in the boiler plate and you take out contractor same with contact name for responsible person same with address of the contractor telephone number maybe you put fax next to the fax number email address that's I don't know and then where it tells you to describe the work to be performed or attach agreed upon scope of cices remove those words and put in the scope of services or that it's being attached that's the way I've always used a boorder PL so my my I just found this hard to read I'm look atting going okay it says our bites and Suns but then it says contractor where is the contractor when it's left in the square in other words the things that you fill in you take out the words of the things that need to be filled in that's all I'm saying okay mam chair can I ask questions goe so this is um first off it's dated December 4th um did this was when I i' started working on on things we can certain and then how many bids did we get um I think they were actually the only ones but it was much lower than in the past because I think the first one was like in the $350,000 rate this is so by the way this is the third time we've put this project out the bid um well because it changed right when Mass DOT came in this is a sidewalk thing is this at the harbor yes okay so this changed from like one corner to four well what change the grant was written for one corner when it went out to bid mot said four um and so oh all four ways not just the one and is it all a grant so this isn't we're not we're putting some morea funds into it 53k of ARA funds and that's it um and and the mass Trails Grant there's some match from the town um but that's in Staffing um I don't know how it got bit out in the end but yes and then an additional Mass Trails yeah the um the uh the amendment that you guys had uh I spoke about at the last meeting they were nice enough to increase the mass Trails Grand so that we can actually um um get this project off the without that match or that additional money I think was about 55,000 there's no way we would have had enough money to to do this project so the original Grant was 130 the arpa is 53 and the amendment to mass Trails is 55 and that comes up to 238 um we had had 61 in ARA but we took eight out last Thursday because so that giv us a buffer over the 223 that they bid I think the mass Trails Grant might have been even a little bit higher than 130 it might have been like 150 I want to say so there is a um a a contractor that work working with a GPI I believe it is so they're helping us review the construction documents and they're um seeing this project to the end um their expenses are minimal um but there are some expenses uh with them so we pay for oversight as well yeah they're they're they're assisting us for some of that work to because they're engineering firm and we don't really have the expertise to um okay oversee some of those we didn't have any local bids um no this is a local company they're out in Sterling they're in Sterling we didn't have anybody from Townson no not this go around I can't I don't remember who bid the first or second round but the bids were like so high they were like 350,000 I think it was it was something like twice the budgeted amount um so we were very fortunate that we got this bid still higher than the original estimated amount but within reason that you know we we could have cobbled something together to pay for it but yeah I think they would the only bit so um I I don't see a problem um having the Selectmen sign it like at a session once um Town Council has reviewed it it's with Adam and his office right now to review um we time we we are under a deadline because this needs to be under contract by the end of December as part of its arpa funding so all that needs to be um under contract by then uh I think it's very doable so um I think if you guys um just you know uh voted to uh sign on a session pending um you know uh the revisions that you mentioned as well as um Town Council uh review I think we could probably get this um executed so I amend the motion to say that um we make a motion that we sign the contract with aat and Sun for towns and Main Street Route 119 sidewalk construction project out of session a add after review by Town Council after review by Town Council second and any further discussion okay all those in favor roll call vote do we all have to sign uh yeah or well two the three of us do okay I prefer not to sign all those in favor Veronica Cal I say yes oh I'm sorry Lauren Laura and I to sign out a session I won't be signing it okay moving on um I entertain a motion to approve the request from the highway superintendent for overtime in addition to the $3,000 stien within ,000 with currently within his Union contract we want to move the question so we can discuss some move to discuss second I'm a little concerned of discussing this in public Nelson isn't this W wages and stuff shouldn't this be discussed in executive session um I had I had thought about that too um but what was the reasoning Adam's gone oh um I I think he was probably done with what he needed to do contract yeah um no I I had the same concerns to Teresa but I can't remember who who said it was probably best that we discuss it um I prefer I don't know about the rest of the group but I prefer we delay this and add it to the next meeting and executive session I'm okay with that I'm okay with that okay so we're going to um defer 4.5 until the next me meeting and we'll put it into executive session moving on to uh section 5.0 Opera projects any updates I don't I think we kind of did I had one question about that did um did we vote to have the contracts signed with uh NM cares and Teo we had the contracts available you have them but I don't know that we ever voted to have those signed um yeah so um for Teo and NM cares uh the way the contract um language the way it was drafted by Town Council it was just just Teo signing it and it was actually me as the counter signatory um so did we have to approve that or was that approved somewhere else did we have to vote on that I mean I think you I think we already pre previously voted on that Veronica like way back when before on okay yeah could be the case but for the NM cares I that was one thing I wanted to bring up um we did vote to um cut their um allocation in our in half in there yeah yeah um so it would be 15,000 this fiscal year 15,000 in FY 26 and 7 and 7527 um and normally they you know get about 30,000 you know that's kind of like you know um not quite enough to get them through sort of those years um I think for us it doesn't really matter if we say cut them a check for the full 375 right now so that they can get through this year and with the you know um with the expectation that they will now need to fund raise um you know for the out years that we you know didn't provide to them so I think that might be um a better timing so to speak of what we end up giving them so um I'm wondering if you guys would approve um just the 375 um given to them right now as a long sum so that they can get through this year um and then you know they can work on um funding that that deficit and the out years I have I have no problem with that I don't either I mean the money is not going to go any place else anywhere anyway right do we need to make a motion for that or is that just transfer funds we shouldn't need to what uh it's I mean it's not a transfer of funds per se but I think um making an official um I would I would feel better about that in okay instead of me making that decision you know I've spoken to would somebody make that motion then please because I don't have the figure in front of me motion that we um authorize the uh payment in full of our contract with uh m m cares M cares M yeah it's I moved it and Veronica seconded I don't think you okay we'll talk about it later um any further discussion no Laur I Veronica K Teresa a mar I okay Town Administrator updates and reports um I didn't have too much um but I did want to say that um the school budget is still getting a lot of chatter um in fact I think when we had an arpa meeting last week on the 12th uh around that same time the school district actually had a in-person press conference uh I would have attended if it wasn't for the arpa meeting my counterpart in peil did attend um so you know there's still a lot of chatter regarding um Ashby and Spalding potentially closing um and you know there's even talks about uh potentially doing another override you know in the springtime um I think the override uh option May um get a lot of um families out to to vote a certain way um but we are considering the possibility instead of closing schools and reducing staff which will then um increase the class sizes they they estimate in the low 30s 30 32 kids per classroom which is quite large um certainly for in recent years so uh that override uh option is still being floated at the moment so do we know what the sizes are of the classes now since we have a reduction in students I think it's in the the 20s I don't know exactly if it's the low mid or high 20s um um I don't know I can certainly find out but uh with the school closures and the uh reduction in staff um the school district has estimated that that's going to result in classroom sizes around 30 32 kids okay anything else uh nope okay any announcements and Communications um I just want to note that the um MMA conference for select boards is in January uh January 24th and 25th I believe it is um and so uh it was previously when I was on the select board it was online because of the pandemic and I did attend um two years and the the sessions were worth it I think it's all it looks like it's all in person this year so um and in Boston and it's in Boston yeah it's called connect 351 um and it's always been pretty good so um I don't know I'm probably not GNA do that um okay so there is a um it's certainly not just for select board members um you know um Town leadership including you know Town managers and T end up going to um I went um finance committee there used to be a lot of finance committee people there when I went I went for the first time um earlier this year when I was in Arlington it was uh I really enjoyed a lot of really good um informational session so I'm hoping to attend that as well um probably the Friday session I I would like to attend yeah so it is a three-day session that's a little bit I really can't devote that much time to it but um I'm probably GNA sign up for the Friday session there's even a Saturday session too so do we have to pay for that us the town the town I meant we the town yes it is a paid oh I paid for mine myself oh okay don't count on it I paid for mine okay and other announcements this will be the last my last meeting I think most of you know it um I want to thank once again all the people of the town of Townson who have been such a support to me throughout my term uh for the 20 years I served the town for the 25 years I served in the military I always felt like I had the support of towns and and I thank you greatly for that the next meeting will be January uary 7 20 it says 24 on my agenda but that's 25 at 6 p.m. I entertain a motion to review and sign B payroll and bills payable warrants out of session so moved Veronica K second I need a roll call Vote Yes Veronica K yes and teres say mo yes I entertain a motion to enter into and adjourn from executive session pursuant to Mass General law 3021 A2 to conduct strategy sessions in PR preparation for negotiations for non union Personnel I.E the treasurer collector so moved second any discussion oh go ahead roll call vote Laura shiffon I Veronica and Teresa a moss I Nelson you want to just call me directly since it doesn't look like my camera is working would that be easier uh hold on let me uh let me or give me a number to call into uh yeah I can do that okay thank you give me a few minutes too right we'll do