watches or iPhones or whatever thrash is here. So, we have a full slate. So, uh without further ado, would you join me in the pledge of allegiance? Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Welcome everybody to the first meeting of the capital improvement planning committee. First meeting of the I'll call it the season.
It's technically not the first meeting of the year because we were meeting at the end of last year and earlier this year. Welcome everybody aboard. We have pretty much the same batting order except for Chris joining us as a school representative. I think everybody else
has been here before. So, uh, we'll try to move along a pace. First thing I wanted to talk about was in terms of maintenance, housekeeping, chores. Is this time frame good for for everybody? Generally speaking, I know
we've flip-flopped it a lot in the past. If we could go with Wednesdays at 3 p.m., if it works most of you, then then fine, we'll stay with that. And we generally meet what pretty much every two weeks. Yeah, for the first week. So that may change to, you know, every week
later on if depend depending on how it goes. But I think last year we did it every other week and that worked out fine. So welcome aboard everybody. And uh the first item is uh committee reorganization. Um I'd be interested in a couple of
positions if I don't think we need a vice chair, but we do need a chair. I've been the chair for a while. I'm not tired of it. But if I don't want to get in the way of other people trying to improve their resumes, so if there's a nomination to approve,
Mr. Brewer for chair. Second. Second. That is that it? Any discussion? Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Thank you. Thank you for your vote of confidence. Um, we don't have a
secretary. We had uh Muriel here for a long time and uh that changed. Uh I don't know if Muriel's up to the task or if anybody else you still can't write. Yeah. Chicken feed. Okay. All right. Well, unless somebody
else wants to come forth. My own writing. Yeah. Jim and I were doing this and I think we rotated it took last year. So, uh so if I don't hear anybody saying, "Yay, I want to be the uh secretary." will just go on on that same basis which
seemed to work anyway. We don't have that many meetings and I don't think I don't even think everybody got a chance to be the secretary for a day. So, um Jim, I'll ask if you could do the minutes for this meeting and I'll do next week and then we can decide after that
and it's not too oppressive. We we move through that pretty quick. All right. So the uh the process here is one where we entertain the requests from the departments per the earlier memo from Jim to all the department heads and we
don't make any decisions yet put it all in the hopper um and then try to set priorities also keeping in mind funding sources obviously ones that have funding sources uh more helpful to to have that
and to approve those as opposed to the ones without. But anyway, we try to try to do what we can with the limited resources we have. There are always uh more requests than there is money,
but we we do the best we can and we do the same thing every year and it seems to work to the extent that we can. Uh Jim, maybe later at another meeting you'll have that spreadsheet with you know the next five years whatever we have according to the capital plan. I
would call attention to the capital plan to keep that in your minds and reading it and referring to it because it does have some I think some insightful things in there and that's sort of like our our not bylaws but it's sort of our
guideposts I guess you'd call that. So anyway, uh unless there's further discussion or questions, uh we do try to last thing we we do try to do these meetings generally in an hour or so. Sometimes it goes a little longer, but I don't think we've ever had
one that's been more than say 90 minutes and I'm told today there's a ball game at 90 minutes from now. So I I'll have to keep that in mind. Well, welcome everybody. U so we'll get right into it unless there are questions. I
think everything's clear. We've all been at this before a few times and Mr. Farship, I'm sure you'll get the hang of this real real quickly. Um, so these are in no particular order other than what the town administrator put them in for whatever reason. And the first one on the list, this is uh needs
to be under item number two, 2 A, B, C, and D. 2A is the board of health. So I'd ask I believe Madame Mendo, the executive director of the board of health is here to present his capital needs. All right, Matt, welcome aboard. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm here uh today to um seek a request for funding for the replacement of an aging animal control vehicle that is no longer meeting the operational safety and welfare needs of the department. Um a new reliable vehicle is essential to maintain timely responses, ensure humane
transport of animals, and protect both the officers and the public. So, I had given everybody uh a packet at their um chairs. I mean, I can go through this whole document. I can read it if you'd like or um it just kind of goes through um a justification for what we're asking
for. Plus, I have some notes here from the animal control officer. Okay. It's up to you as you make your presentation. A brief presentation is always in in vogue around here. But, all right. I'll uh I'll summarize as best I can. So just a justification is you know the operation operational
reliability the current vehicle is nearly 12 years old and has experienced breakdowns and costly repairs over the last few years. You know that's been causing delays in response uh to to call outs increased vehicle downtime. Um you
know a newer vehicle would ensure consistent dependable service and reduce maintenance related disruptions. Animal welfare. The vehicle is used daily to transport sick, injured, stray, or aggressive animals. Humane transport requires. Climate control compartments, which we don't currently have, secure
containment systems, which we have a containment system, but it's not secure. The latch has been faulty and we've brought it to the dealer several times and they can't get the part, etc. And um cleanable and durable interiors. And we have some peeling paint issues going on
in there where the animals can um you know may cause sick if they you know eat get a hold and ingest it. And um you know just cost efficiency um I know the vehicle requires a significant upfront investment um but continued use of the
uh vehicle that we have now. We continue to pay for repairs. It seems like you know there's something going wrong all the time with it. um it's not very f uh fuel efficient and if it goes down for an extended period of time, we're going to have to lease or rent a vehicle to continue um to be able to operate and I
don't you know that's not going to be cheap. Uh so I think a new vehicle would significantly reduce maintenance costs over the next 5 to 10 years and provide a great greater uh fuel efficiency amongst other things. So basically that's that and um just
some notes from the animal control officer. You know um the vehicle has limited functionality with only one medium-sized cage. It's unsafe. It's in an unsafe open area where um there's a large opening in the back and aggressive animals are transported without proper
containment. The lack of uh you know secure uh security for the doors has led to you know pretty dangerous situations. We've had a couple of animals escape on us last year. Um, and as therefore mentioned, there's peeling paint
mechanically. Um, it's either the air conditioner is breaking down, which has been costly to, you know, keep up with. Um, replacing it just doesn't seem like a viable option for the air conditioning. U, the engine makes a knocking sound now, which it didn't make
previously. It, you know, goes and comes and goes. Um, so did you mention how many miles it had on it? Uh, yeah, it's on another document. It's on the my original request um that I emailed over. I believe
there's some hard copies of all the requests if anybody needs a hard copy. You can't. I didn't see that. Well, I the vehicle is 12 years old. So, you got you've racked up some miles. Yeah. I was just going to give you some audit
here because the police are there list of vehicles. 120,000 miles. 119,000. I was trying to see if you you could match that. Um I could email that all to Yeah, it's all right. I'm just being funny. Anyway, um what is the
pleasure of the committee? Do you have some questions on that on this item? Just a just a quick point that this vehicle that we're replacing was didn't cost us any money was because it was a donation from a town's person. Um and uh
so I mean this would be the first time we're putting out money for anything any kind of vehicle or anything for the uh animal control Oh, that was good news to have that without cost urgent. Other questions, comments, thoughts?
So, this is the uh the most competitive bid. Yeah, I I went through the state bid list and that's was the best one that we came back with. 79,000. Okay. Well, I mean I think it's a very
reasonable request after all these years. We are concerned about safety. So anyway, any further questions, comments? I just any other type of vehicle that would work like the existing van is not this is a pretty heavy duty vehicle, right?
Yeah, this the existing van is we'd need something larger, more durable, and um something that can get us through better, get us through inclement weather, but um we're also down in the sand quite a bit, it seems like, and
getting stuck. So, something a little beefier. Okay, it any further comments? Well, okay. Well, we'll put this in the hopper, as they say, and uh be thinking about it and ranking it later later on. Appreciate your
presentation today, Matt. And good luck. Thank you. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Okay. Uh the next category is 2B. This will be the police department. Chief Nun, good afternoon everyone. Good to see you. We have the package here and please feel free to comment as
you see fit. Which presentation would you like you start with first? Makes no difference to us where I think the easier one right now for me would be the the cruisers because we've traditionally have done that. Just want to thank the committee for last year. They endorsed three cruisers. Right now
they're being currently outfitted. We anticipate delivery at the end of the year. This just two vehicles goes with our continued replacement with our fleet maintenance program. Right now we have um 30 police officers, 29 of which live in town, so they have take home cars.
The one individual who lives out of town commutes. Um as you can see in appendix A in red, we have eight police cruisers that over 100,000 miles. Um an additional three just below it that have over 80,000 miles. So we have 11 of our
fleet that have over 80,000 miles. So we're just looking to continue with our fleet maintenance program. Um, with the two cruisers, I think we traditionally have gone with a 323 method. We had three cruisers one year, two the next. Last year we was three. So this year we're respectively requesting two
two police cars. The bid u, we went through the state bid list. However, um, we're still waiting for final pricing has yet to be confirmed, but we doing our diligence contacting the agency. It's the same agency we used last year. Um, same type of package of police cruiser, I believe in uniformity with
parts. Um, so this is the the request that we have for the three, I'm sorry, for the two police cruisers. These would be the top two on the list in the red or is it by mileage or is uh so yes. So car 317 and has like
120,000 miles. Car 316 has 119,000 and then it goes down. So pretty much the blue, darker blue, lighter blue are newer police cars. Mhm. cruisers which the the bottom three were the ones that we purchased last year through CIPC
which is car 723 923 and 623. Okay. U questions and comments from the committee. Pretty straightforward it is and it's been pretty consistent uh how we handle this. Is this the same
model Ford? Uh, no. These are Dodge Durango. Okay. We've switched over to Dodge Durango in the past three years or four years. They meet the EPA specifications. Yeah. You pleased with them? Yes, very much so. Okay.
I'm not most technical or car person, but I rely on Officer Booya who does a great job and he's very pleased with them along with the maintenance that goes with them. Great. Well, this is uh pretty much a routine request. These cars are constantly getting more miles on them and we
entertain, as you pointed out a minute ago, three one year, two the next year and so on and so forth. And if that works for you, that seems to work for us. But this is always given a lot of consideration because of the importance of public safety.
And uh so any other comments on these uh police vehicle requests? Okay, we'll we'll take those under adisement as we say and uh see where we go with all of our capital needs. But you have more.
I do. This is more of an unanticipated request. I'm going to do my best to kind of do this chronologically so the committee can understand it. Um so Keith Novo, our IT director, has done a great job um for both police and fire with grants updating our five towers in town
that we use or repeaters that we use to communicate. So basically a radio transmission comes in, bounces off the most nearest tower that then goes to the police or the fire station. Um in doing his so-called upgrade with a a company called CyberCom, um CyberCom wanted to
meet with myself, Chief Baldwin, and Keith Novo regarding our current uh dispatch consoles both in the uh the police station as well as uh station one, the fire station on Hicksbridge Road. Um so we met with them in August. Um, at the time it was told to us by
Cybercom that our dispatch dispatch consoles are so-called end of life. And I can get into that a little bit more in a second. Um, so we myself and Chief Baldwin are going to work together to present um a request, a mutual request from the two of us. However, we had a
lightning strike at the police and fire station which disabled the fire department consoles. So they are in turn getting consoles, hopefully getting consoles through insurance money. So this is why I'm here today just for representing the police department. Um so first thing I guess is what what do
the consoles do? Our dispatch consoles. So u they dispatch police, fire, EMS. They also talk to we have a Bristol County regional radio which means we talk to all police departments in Bristol County. We also talk to Tividan, Little Compton, State Police. Um we also
in turn helps out with our 911 system. So when we get a 911 call, there's a GPS location that gets pinged as to the general vicinity of the 911 call, which helps us out with missing persons. Um, you know, so we it's not only radio communications, like I said, we handle within our department and with police
and fire and EMS, it's also within our county. Um, so what does end of life mean? So this is something I had to get educated on quite a bit. So I don't know if anybody has this packet here. If not, I can kind of walk. Yeah. So this is the
console that was purchased in 2017 prior to approximately 2017 prior to them building the new police station. That's one of the first questions I had to the people were uh cybercom was why we had an end to life stage after seven years or eight years within um communications.
It just seemed very short to me. So they kind of brought out a timeline for me. So on page two you'll see in the middle of the page say final or order date October 13th 2019. That was when Motorola would accept any final orders for the current console we that we purchased back in 2017, which was your
run run run run-of-the-mill standard console. It was a good console. Um, it wasn't lavish. It wasn't cheap. It was just what was purchased at the time. So, the final order date was October 19th with a final ship date of December 31st, 2019. Meaning they would not ship out this console any further after December
30th, 2019. And you look down in the end at the bottom, it says end of release of support, December 31st, 2021. meaning Motorola would no longer support this console whatsoever. They would not make any parts. They would not service. They would not provide any help.
So, uh, Cybercom has been very helpful with us. And when they mean end of life, meaning if you have a car that's break down, you would go to a junkyard and get a part. There are no parts left. Um, so that's what it means by end of life. So, currently we have two desk two dispatch
consoles in our police station and it's based on redundancy, which is great. So, one operates for one 8 hours, one operates in the other 8 hours, and they flip-flop back and forth. So, if one goes down, the second one, we have we still have operations that we can work. However, with this end of life now and
the fact that there's no additional parts, if one goes down, we're down to one. If two goes down, we're down to none. And I felt this was a time to be proactive and ask for this request. So, if one goes down, now we're down to one. Meaning, you know, one headlight goes
down, you always say you want to fix both headlights. is what I was taught. But if two go down now, we can incur a significant cost to the town because now we have to get consoles which could be at an emergency expense um to the town. So I did receive a quote. Um I went back
and forth with them. There's some things I thought uh we did not need. Um this is the the quote from CyberCom that I think best reflects what we need for our department. Um and it also uh will interface with with the fire department as well. It's the same company that's doing the same um project for the fire
department. And yeah, just by replacing these consoles reduce long-term maintenance costs since these consoles, they're more well what it's been told to me these consoles are more software upgradable than hardware upgradeable, which means we'll have hopefully more of a life expectancy than
the past seven or eight years that we had with the current system that we have in place. What is the cost? I got a lot of numbers here. I just saw this for the first time. page three, two, no on this blue
colored exhibit, we on page 105 where it has the uh ABTE two positions. So this is this is just a breakdown of everything that they do. So you'll see um the first one quantity two that's the
console positions of itself. So we have two consoles, we need two console positions. That's why it's at 12,835* 2 is the 25670. So they broke down everything that they feel as though we need within it.
So is the 25670 the price cuz I see other numbers over here. I see 44,000 with some other I don't know what what is the exact request here. So that would be the subtotal of kind of the first 1 2 3 1 2
3 3 4 5. That would be the subtotal 40. If you add those up, that would equal 44,024. Okay? Because that's one section of the console. And then they would have a whole another section of the console which you see from gateways and endpoint hardware. So if you look page one, you
see a tech two positions right here. underneath it you'll see console operator position hardware software. So those items and then that totals 44,024. Then you look at the gateway and endpoint hardware software that's on page two that goes all the way down to
the middle of or then pages three that totals 26,019. Okay, I see that. Then you go racking equipment that totals and then that totals and then it goes it goes down from there. So the grand total that you need is1 120
$120,11. Yes, that's the grand total. And this is to replace two two consoles. Both both consoles. Okay. Yes. I think it's beneficial if you replace one, you might as well replace two. So would this be considered the priority
too? Now, chief, I would I would deem this critical. Yeah. Yeah, it would definitely be a priority. Did we talk about this last year at all? No, we did not. No, this was this was again this was unanticipated for us. This was brought up to us by the company and Keith Novo
back in August with myself and Chief Baldwin. And that's when we decided to move on it and then the lightning strike happened and we kind of Chief Baldwin went for the insurance which rightfully so and I I'm here today. Yeah. Questions, comments, thoughts from
everybody? Is there insurance money for the police as well or just Not for the dispatch consoles. We did not suffer damage to the dispatch consoles. It was the camera, couple doors, phones, our automatic transfer switch for our generator, and a couple
other minor things that that's what we're going through for insurance. Okay. And has Keith looked into any other grants or any kind of He has he hasn't gotten back to me. I can I can I can circle back with him. I mean, there could be a grant that comes up in November that we don't know about
yet, but that's something we're uh, you know, obviously we will definitely explore if that becomes available and I'll let Mr. Hartin know or members of the committee know if that if that grant becomes available. Okay. And uh with the
the police vehicles, the total would be uh I believe it was 78,000 for the two. So we're looking about 275 grand for both requests. Yes. I'm just in the adding right now it's like 298. 298 maybe.
Okay. Yeah. Yep. Okay. All right. Well, we understand the need. Uh it's unfortunate that we have to do this now. It's kind of unlike
the vehicles that this was a sudden request. So we sure no plan for it. That doesn't really change anything. If you need it, you need it and that's make a case accordingly which you are making very effectively of it.
So on this item uh which we'll call priority two, we'll uh just take note and do what we normally do and add them up. But you have other priorities here too. I see it's just the two priorities. One is the the what I feel is critical is the
communication consoles and then we have the two police cruisers. Okay. The two the two different requests. But you have in the narrative I see u an earlier prior priority 2 PFAS EFAS's and then priority three emergency response truck.
I think you're into the fire. This is fire. Okay. Moving ahead. These are all Yeah, they're all blended together. Yeah. Got it. Okay. Well, that's that's good to know. Okay. Any further questions on this? Okay. Well, thank you, Chief.
Thank you for your time. The best we can. Appreciate. Have a nice Thank you. Okay, I think the next is uh fire chief. Got a lot of papers floating around here. Get my agenda. Walden, welcome once again.
Thank you. How's everybody doing? I'm relieved to see that I don't have the biggest dollar amounts on the screen there. Normally, I'm in a very very hot seat. Um, having said that, I just uh I do want to just briefly provide uh an update and
thank the committee for the fire engine. As you know, that's a a very long-term investment, 25, 30 years typically in the town of Westport. Um, that engine is due in the next week or two. Um price came in very well. We were able to outfit it. I think it's an awesome piece
of equipment. Purchased from Bulldog Fire apparatus right here in Westport. So that's even better. Um viewed the truck last week. Progress is moving forward and it's going to be a nice vehicle and it's going to put us in excellent position. Probably the best position this department's been in as far as equipment and apparatus in in I
want to say decades. I've been here for three of them. So, um, that's that's well, um, we continue to do what we can to offset the need for capital items, making small purchases. Uh, we did finally purchase a small 15'6 in
inflatable rigid bottom boat for under $10,000 at the end of last fiscal year. Um, it was deployed last week in its first mission. Um, not a not a great mission. Uh, mental health issue. Somebody uh in the water. Um person was
found not in the water but uh on land. Um so already the vehicle's had a use working with the hob master. We've already uh been in the water with that vessel. Again, not meant for the ocean, but um desperately needed explained in the past. Um and I think we're going to
be good for now as far as the fire department goes. Working with the hob master on um maybe bigger um purchases for the river and the ocean. We did recently receive last week a $56,000 federal grant um to offset EMS
equipment, three stair chairs, um which again will um just only continue to improve the equipment that we use to uh deliver services, quality services to the residents of Westport. Uh there is a small 5% match which is going to come out of our EMS um fund, right around
$2,800. Um, we going looking longterm, the next vehicle that we would need, which I'm not asking for and hope to not ask for, would be a tanker. Um, it's about a $500,000 piece of equipment. The tanker that we have now is about 20 years old. It's still in good shape. Have some
minor electrical issues on it that we can get through. The good news is, as I've explained in the past, um the federal grant program, assistance firefighter program, uh they issue about 2,000 awards a year, about 150 if a vehicle is very, very hard to get. The
good news is that what we currently have is an 18,800-gallon tanker pumper. Okay, fire apparatus is classified into different um classifications. They do not consider the tanker pumper that we have to be a tanker. So on paper, the town of Westport, which does not have hydrants, does not have a
tanker. That's very good news because when I write a grant next year for a 3,000galon tanker, which we need, and we have proven to need, as every other community around us has at least 3,000, I think we're going to be in really good position to potentially get that award. Um, we got an award for a ladder truck
through FEMA when, uh, Deputy Sam Manley was here simply because the town did not have a ladder truck. So, not having a tanker, I think, puts us in really good position. And uh obviously if I can write a grant and get a half a million dollar truck and that would be would be really good. Um so we're gonna we're going to work on that and I think you
know one to five years. Uh you typically you put in for a grant the first time maybe maybe doesn't work out but usually usually it does. So um in other words we're going to continue to move forward. Uh we are going to need a new ambulance. We're going to start specking one out. delivery times for an ambulance if placed today would not be till late
2028, early 2029, which is crazy, but three or four years out uh approaching half a million dollars. The good thing about that is that the EMS revolving supports that purchase and I would not need to come to the capital committee or to the taxpayer. Uh EMS revolving is funded through insurance uh
reimbursements, billing. So, um that's what we've always done in the past. Um that's what we're going to do. We're going to The good thing too is you build up the ambulance, you lock in the price, you pay upon delivery. We wouldn't have to pay for four years. Uh we've made
some projections based on our EMS revolving income expected expenditures and where we'll be in 2029. We would be able to pay for the ambulance and still have a healthy balance um to continue our operations. So I think again really good position.
Um, we received $130,000 EMach from Senator Rogers's office to offset the cost of three new cardiac monitors. Cardiac monitors are used multiple times throughout the day on our EMS calls are $65,000 a piece. Um, he we originally asked for funding for one. He doubled it
to two. Negotiating with the vendor. We've got the price down. We're going to require a little bit of money out of the EMS revolving, which is why it's there to purchase the third. Again, uh, these are 8 to 10 year units. Um, and we've were able to find a way without going through capital or the taxpayer, which
is one of our main goals. Um, so as you know, uh, every year we provide an extensive packet which was sent electronically to the town administrator. I do have one packet here if anybody needs it. Uh, I'll go over, uh, some of the items on on it. Um, this year, pretty straightforward. I I do feel it's important. We are a large
operation. We are a large department. We have a we have two buildings. We have a large um we have a large variety of equipment and apparatus. Um so I separated out into um operations which includes apparatus and equipment
and facilities. Um priority one to me would be replacing the fire prevention officer's vehicle. It's a 2017 Ford Explorer. It has over 100,000 miles. It's still in good shape. Uh we maintain our vehicles. We have a a robust um preventative maintenance
program. Uh he conducts about 1,700 inspections, visits, tours, pre-plans a year. He's also a lieutenant and a paramedic. So in addition to his FPO duties, which he's a day position, so he's Monday through Friday, he also responds to anything whether motor
vehicle crash, building, fire, alarm, activation, etc. Um he brings in about $25,000 at least annually in revenue through inspections and permitting fees. Um I have presented a couple of times and I I do intend to present it again. The
establishment of a revolving account. Um minimal amount of money from those fees, maybe 5 to 10,000 to offset the cost of a vehicle. I haven't made it to the warrant yet, but I'll keep trying. Um that way I wouldn't have to come here and ask for 75,000 for a vehicle for
him. Um, we're looking to pick up trucks because for the fire service, they're much more versatile. We can put extra hose in there following off a call. We can plow if needed. A lot of times he visits sites that are under construction requiring the use of four-wheel drive, ground clearance, etc. Um, and again, he
is a responder, so snow, etc. He's he's out there. So, pickup truck, I think, is more applicable for our our line of work. I actually kind of like to see us get away from the SUVs. I think they're they limit what we are able to do. And then what we tend to do and what we would do with his vehicle being that it is still roadw worthy is that would fall
back into a scaledback role in in day-to-day use a care program potentially EMA division uh training etc. It's a backup vehicle if something's out getting an oil change or his vehicle is getting an oil change and he needs something. We probably can sneak a few more years out of it but it
is time to start looking at at replacing it. Um, do you want me to stop at each pri at each priority if any good questions in case anybody has any questions on particular item? I think this one is fairly easy to understand. I don't see any questions. So, feel free to
Okay. Go ahead. The next one is a little bit interesting. Um, and I'll be as brief as I can on it. So, five sets of PASF free firefighting turnout gear for new hires. Okay. Not a big deal. Seems like a normal request. There's a little little
twist to this though. Um I I hope to obviously go to the town once again and ask to increase our staffing level. Uh we're still too short from our 2008 plan. Okay. So I'm hoping um I'm hoping we get there this year. And we also could use some new call firefighters as well. Um Passfree gear, whether it's PAS
free or not PASF free, it's still averaging 5 to $6,000 uh for a set of gear. Um we able to hire four new common this past year thanks to a grant. I will try again for a grant, but we did get a grant um in this past fiscal year. we just came out of for for firefighting
gear. But I can't I couldn't hire them without that grant. And we desperately need staffing. So I can't say, "Well, geez, if we get the, you know, the gear, we'll be able to hire staff." We we need the staff. The PAS free gear is a new legislation that's come out in the state of Massachusetts, probably expanding
nationwide if it hasn't already. um after 2027 manufacturer can no longer sell gear that has PAS in it because of the cancer uh risk that it's creating within the fire service. At some point, and our
union members have have been um understanding to this point and they understand situations that we're in, we're going to have to face the need to replace everybody's gear. Everybody is going to have to get out of this PAS free gear because studies are showing that it's causing cancer in the fire service. You you put it on, your body
heats up, it off gases. Um and that's why this legislation is there. What I'm hoping is that I'm not going to have to come here next year or after 2027 and ask for 30 new sets of firefighting gear. And typically everybody gets two. So really 60 times 5 to 6,000 and there
we have 360 grand, right? So, we're hoping that there's going to be some funding from either the federal government, state government. I know FKM, the fire chief's association is working with with, you know, Boston as far as what that's all going to look like right now. That's not there. Um,
but any gear that we purchase moving forward would be PASF free, which is why I'm just pointing out why it says PAS free in this. It is not. It is twofold. It's because I need to start transitioning my members to PAS, whether there's grant money or not. You know, one of the biggest things as a as a fire chief is I say, "Who do I who do I pick
to replace the gear first?" You know, I top top guys, oh, you're a senior, so you get the gear, but the bottom guys, you're still at risk. You know, that's one of the issues I have with this this whole legislation. It's putting us in a very difficult position where we have to almost pick and choose who gets the gear first. That's that's not right. Um, but
let's let's hope there's some grant money coming down the pipe. Um, regardless though, I we our our call firefighter levels have dropped below 10. Um the pool of applicants for full-time jobs across the state is very tough right now. Um and having call good
call firefighting force is really the foundation for building up our career force. We need to strengthen that. Um our call volumes continue to climb and our staffing remain stagnant. So I'm hoping a to get funding for to add to the career line, but at the very least add at least two or three um new call
firefighters, which we've been drawing from that explorer program. So, you know, it's it's a really a good we have a good plan in place, you know, to increase our staffing. We're giving kids a future in, you know, some sort of career path in this this world that we're in now. Um, and that's where we're
at there. About 30 grand, so it's coming into about $6,000 a set of gear. Back when I got on, it was 2,000 and you paid for your own gear when I got on. You bought it, you know, short of soldier commitment to the department. But now to ask a call firefighter who might not even make $6,000 a year to spend $6,000
a year in gear is kind of it's kind of a lot, you know. So, um, that's the first time we've entered that into our requests in several years. Is there any questions? Chief, I have a question. So, this is five sets that five employees or is that? Yeah, it would be five. It would be five. I'm looking to hopefully get five
employees whether they're five callmen combination you know the two additional career that we're seeking and three and three call or you know five call whatever whatever I can whatever staffing level I can get the town to support so whatever we uh would help to offset that cost
yeah assuming we we don't have any grants would this be like every year we need five sets to get to so what we have been doing is if I can any gear that I can pull out of the replace equipment line in our budget we do That cost has also risen substantially though. But we we have
been we've been replacing gear on a fairly regular basis. Couple sets a year. We have a replacement schedule. Um which in some ways is almost disappointing because it's worked out so well. And now this PAS which I understand the whole reason for the PAS free. I support it. Um but we work so hard at giving
everybody. So NFPA says if your gear is over 10 years old it's no longer compliant. So for years we were running we were in gear that's 17 19 years old. you're not even allowed to go to the fire academy and participate in a live burn unless your gear is compliant. So, we've we've now cycled everybody through where everybody's got a set of
compliant gear. Some of us still have a set of non-compliant as a secondary backup. If they have a building fire or they're exposed to a chemical of some sort, whatever it is, gasoline spill, and their gear has to be sent out to be cleaned or even cleaned in the station and then hung to dry and they're still on duty, they have to have a second set
to fall back in. Um, so we getting very close to that and now this PAS comes out. So in other words, we have in my opinion what's perfectly good gear that may not be accepted by a standard. And then to even get rid of that gear, they're now calling it hazardous material. So there's a hazardous material disposal fee to get rid of the
gear that we're putting on our bodies. So this is a result of legislations you point out here, correct? It was effective January 1st and 25. Yeah. And Yeah. And so the as of January 1st,
27, the PASES will be at that equipment will be prohibited statewide, right? To sell. It doesn't mean we can't wear it. Yeah. I think that'll be the next step. And obviously the employees, you would expect, are going to stop saying, "Why am I still wearing this cancer-causing?"
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Any questions on this item for the chief? Okay. Purchased an EMA truck. So, our EMA division um is a small group of employees, a couple of which are volunteers um some are mostly retired
call firefighters and full-time firefighters that uh provide rehab services. They would be uh staffing um shelters. They would be providing assisting police and fire with road blockages during certain storms, hurricanes especially, etc. Things of
that nature. Um the only vehicle that they have to use is a bus that was donated many years ago by um Whailing City Transit I want to say on Sanford Road. It's standby.
It's the only vehicle they have. It's the only vehicle we've never we've never purchased a vehicle for that division. U they never had a payroll allocated for them until last year. Uh we're hearing more and more about the risk of storms, the possible storms, and it's just a division that I feel needs to be, you
know, assisted. Um I'm also looking at I talked to Chief Dunn. Instead of tying up Dartmouth is doing this now. Instead of tying up a police car or a fire engine at a wires down call, especially during thunderstorms where multiple trees come down, Dmit is putting the EMA
people on the road, freeing up other essential public service agencies like police and fire so they can respond to other calls and they're using the EMA personnel to block off roads until Eversauce gets there, etc. The only vehicle that my members have, they're not firefighters anymore. They're not EMS providers anymore. So, putting them
in a piece of fire apparatus is not obviously something that we're going to do or putting them in an ambulance is not something that we're going to do. We put them in a bus and we have them have them head out. Um, they need they need a vehicle. So, again, we're looking at a pickup truck for them. They'd be able to carry lighting. They'd be able to carry
equipment. Uh, they'd be able to tow our um actually could be used to tow our uh D oil spill trailer, which is we house for the state of Massachusetts, which we would use in our waterways. Um, nothing's ever been purchased for them other than maybe some lighting and, you
know, small equipment like that. But as far as a vehicle goes, they they do not have one. Um, and they're asking me on a regular basis for one. Um, I'm looking at potentially, I've never done it, but there's a USDA grant that comes out often and every once in a while that has
to do with rural response, suburban response to emergencies. Um, also, you know, in addition to agriculture. Um, I keep looking to see if that's available, but nothing's come out yet. If it is, I intend to write a grant to provide EMA with a vehicle, but I don't know if
that's even going to be available. So, um, I'm just putting this out there. If you would support it, I would appreciate it. The members would appreciate it. Um, again, it's a department that does not require a lot of a lot of money out of the operating budget, but at some point, the bus, which is rotting, is going to
need to be replaced. Um, I'm sure I have it in my It's a 2006 E350. It's 20 years old and has 102,000 miles. The replacement of vehicle would be a pickup truck, you said? Yeah, I think that would be the best option. We we've talked about a maybe a
transit van, but I think a I think a pickup truck, as I stated earlier, really would have more benefit all the way around. Mhm. Do you know if there's any funding through the Red Cross because I know they work directly with the they work closely with the Red Cross like in emergency situations like that. So I I don't know that and I'll ask
that. Um I know that I just talked to Ann this morning about So we Forever SE we we were getting a grant for the CARES program in combination with Forever. Forever is under some new the EMS side and their EMA side is under some new leadership. they decided to go separate ways and part ways with Westport and as
a result neither Westport nor River got that grant funding for the CARES division. They want to see communities collaborate. So, um we were talking about this this morning and Ann was saying she's even having a tough time getting Red Cross funding just for smoke alarms now. So, I don't know, but I'll ask. Doesn't
hurt. It's a good idea. I didn't I I They may They may have a certain program for vehicles. Um any questions on that? comment. Um, comment going back to Chief Dunn who is
requesting a vehicle for is it the safety officer to and replace their vehicle? Right now there's a vehicle that's being used by
the police safety officer looking to replace it with a Dodge Durango. Yeah. Okay. Right now it's a pickup truck. that would. So I'm wondering if if if the you know if if obviously all the pieces fall into place,
is there a possibility of looking at that secondary vehicle which is what the chief called it? Yep. No, absolutely there is. So So I talk to Chief Dunn all the time and I actually call him up every once in a while and I say if you have a cruiser, you have anything, let me know. Okay. Um m we we got rid of a cruiser this
year. It was Chief Pellet's vehicle was a 2010 Ford Explorer. Uh the with everything else, the frame rotted and it wouldn't pass inspection. It actually got towed behind town hall in July. Um so we do take advantage of whatever the police has to hand hand me down. We do
take advantage of that and I would absolutely grab that truck if if he said I have no use for it. Um and my thought is is that his cruisers would get funded before my EMA truck. So that may work out where and I'll touch base with the just in his ear. Yeah. No, it would it
would definitely be helpful. Um, and so I will run that by him, but we are usually in contact about anything he has. I don't really want his crown victim with you because those are better days. But if he has if he has something else, you'd look good in it. If he has something else, I'll I'll take
it. Um, and so as far as operations go, the cascade cascade system at station one, again, thank the committee for replacing the cascade system at station two. That new system that was approved last year is in place. It is functioning. Um and
uh it's here. The Cascade system at station one. The new fire station, which is now 16 years old, is um still functioning. It did have an issue this summer. Uh it was able to be repaired minimal cost maybe $500, but the vendor did say, "Well, thank god it wasn't the motherboard because that would have been
the end of it." So, we're we're approaching end of life on that unit. Um so, it obviously I would encourage the committee to support it this year. Um maybe we can squeeze another year out of it if the if the funding is just not there. I just want to be honest with everybody and say that you know we may be able to get another year out of it
but we are on borrowed time. Um and the uh we would obviously mimic the same system that we got at station 2. We'd have interoperability between both and um it's 16 years old so it's going to need you know it's going to see its time. That just so everybody knows what
that exactly does that replaces the air the breathing air in our scacks after any call not just a fire smell of gas carbon monoxide anything like that we're on air. and we have to top off the tanks afterwards. So, that's something that would need to be
replaced. Um, facilities. This is a I'm going to label this a very high priority that needs that needs to get done. Um, the air condenser AC condenser for station one, which is the facility on Hicksbridge Road. As you know, it's a large facility. It's got three three
levels. The condenser outside the building has four I'm not an HVAC guy. It's got four units. So, it's got four fans. Half of the unit is leaking in the aluminum fins that can't be fixed, confirmed by two different HVAC contractors. So, two of the fans
subsequently aren't working. So, the building's only running on half power. Um, we made it through the summer, which was good because I was afraid the other half was going to break down. Um, I got a quote from a couple of different vendors, one in town.
We added the we added the prevailing wage numbers and I it's going to come in under 50. Not too much under 50, but it's going to come in under 50. Could be actually closer to 30, but I've learned my lesson about inflation. Um, so we we we bu we
budgeted just to be sure we could cover it. Um, but we are 100% on borrow time with that unit. If that half fails, which the other half already has, the way the system runs, and I don't understand it, but 247 365,
the AC is turned on and the heat is turned on. It's not always calling for one or the other, but it balances the air in the building. When we first moved in, somebody shut off the heat and in two or three days, we had mildo all over the walls in the training room because the
air wasn't balanced. It has to be balanced, you know. So, I'm I was really nervous over the summer that if that failed and even if and and even if it fails and I call town administrator and said, "I need emergency funds or however that works." There's still a process. Got to order the equipment. You got to get it installed. Meanwhile, we got an
issue. Um so, that needs to be replaced. Everything else has been okay. There's been a couple of positive things that have come out of it is that when it did break, we were able to uh dial Keith Novo came and and reup the computer that we found in the HVAC room that controls the whole system. I was able to get in
there and make some modifications to with a with the help of uh somebody that I was um town administrator hooked me up with to um that understands the computer. It's a computer based system. Basically takes the air the air temperature outside and regulates inside and it was stuck at
90°. So it just said if it was 0 degrees the system thought it was 90 degrees outside air that comes in the building and discharges. We were just wasting money and energy is a long story short. So, but now I I do have to get in there and manually make some adjustments because one of the senses that measures the ambient outdoor temperature doesn't
work, but I think we're it maybe saving a little bit of money and and expenses by regulating it better. So, there was a positive that came out of it. We learned of a couple of things, but that needs to be replaced. Again, we're on we're on we're running on borrowed time on that. Um, any questions? We're looking at a
heat pump, too. I don't know much about it, but I guess it saves a lot of cost for the AC unit. It just has to um has to be compatible with the HVAC unit on the second floor. The fuel tanks at station two, last
year's request, I think, was 110. We just got a new request. It's gone up to 120. Those tanks are um showing some wear and some cracking in the cement containment unit. It has no spill protection.
Uh they were installed in 1996. It's primarily used for the apparatus at station two so that way they can stay in their in their area or their district of town. It would also be a secondary means if these pumps were to go down. Uh it was used back back when we had that blizzard when we were measuring snow in
feet and not inches and highway was using it and police department was using it so they didn't have to travel all the way south. Um so it's it's definitely has a use. We use it all the time. Um since I've been here last we've spent $3,000 on the diesel pump which failed.
The gasoline side is the same age. Um the pump mechanics inside an old analog pump you know new pump just spins. Um, we can't we can't read the screen or the you know the rotating numbers anymore on the on the gasoline side at least. We
can now with the new pump. So, we can't track can't track how much gas is going in and out. There's really no security other than a padlock. Um, this unit over here allows us to see what vehicles are using, how much fuel, making sure that nobody with a key is getting in there and doing anything they shouldn't be
doing, which I don't believe that's the case obviously, but you know, we're lacking security in that aspect, lacking spill protection. Um, the longer we wait, the higher the prices are going to go and I think it's something that really should be considered. Um, any
questions from the committee? Any questions here? So, are these tanks exclusively for the use of station number two? Yeah, I mean there would be honestly I think if we were to go to a system similar to station to town hall where we all have a key fob, it could be used for anybody,
any cruiser cruisers in the north end and they need to fill up there rather than come down south and wasting fuel highway department. Um but it is primarily for us that way when we return to quarters the ambulance or the fire apparatus, we don't have to come all the way down to the south end, get a call, and then have to respond back to the north end. So it allows them
to stay in their district. Uh I wasn't I was at the time when they were put in I was just just started here actually in 1995. So I I don't know what the what the original um need was or what what what argument was put forth to say hey we need you know we need these tanks at station two but um they're there and and
I I definitely see the the purpose for them and and the need. Does they any present any environmental hazard? Yeah there's no there's no spill protection. you know, when you go to the filling station like Cland Farms, you have the cement pad with the ridges that
stops the if you were to have a a spill or an overspill um that does not exist. Um there are cracks in the case, the cement it's in a cement case, basically there are cracks in the cement case. Uh which means water's getting in, water's freezing over the winter with each
passing winter, the cracks get bigger. Um I believe I if I don't have pictures, I apologize, but I I thought I may have added some pictures, but I there may not be pictures in this packet. Well, you're looking for that. You How often does the Department of Environmental Protection get involved? Every year we have to submit paperwork.
They physically inspect the tanks. No. Actually, half the time we submit the paper, we don't even get acknowledgement that we fill out the form and send it in. But we are It is a uh D site. They're aware of it. Okay. I guess those are the questions on
that item. You can feel free to put Okay. Um, windows and trim. This is an interesting one in a way because we've been asking for the windows and trim to be replaced for a while. Uh, we did replace the trim on the garage doors out of the operating budget two years ago. Um, we had touched base with Diamond who
did the work on the HVAC system at station 2 and they expressed interest in doing the windows and exterior trim and I'm pretty sure they wanted to do it this school year. I haven't heard from them yet, but if they call me and say that they set aside students in the project, I don't have I didn't get the funding last year, so I don't have the
material. So, I'm kind of hoping that doesn't happen because obviously we'd probably be able to cut this cost in half. So, I'm going to just cross that bridge when it comes. If the school moved on to a different project, then then they won't be calling me. Um,
but I hope in some ways I hope they do call and say that they have the kids available to do the work and then I'll have to figure out what the materials cost and how I can fund it because I think we can shave that price down dramatically. Um, but that's so that was all the all the windows going to PVC.
Um, trim doors. I I definitely included pictures of of that. Um, you can't lock half the windows in the building. So, there's a security issue. Uh, the cold air comes through the cracks. We've used some caul and tried to tried to weather weather proof them, etc. Um, the trim's
rotting off the building. It's beyond paint. Um, we did do the garage doors out of the budget, you know, trying to do what we can in little increments. Um, and honestly, my guys would normally that'd be a job they tackle. There's just too much there to for them to for them to tackle. You know, we're talking about sophets and eaves and everything
else. Um, other than that, the building the vinyl is new, the roof is new, the addition, the Morton side is Morton building is new. So, building's in in in okay shape, but if we want to make it look presentable and and be proud of our facilities in town, we really should
consider doing the trim. Um, again, I'll I'll I'll update the committee if diamond calls and if we put together a material list and it's something that I can somehow swing. Um, I would I would remove this from from the list. Would you be putting some money in the budget uh for materials?
I level I was level funded this year, so no. We'll see what we can do. Even if it's even if I even if I have diamond do a portion of the building. You know, PVC's come down a little bit. So, I'm not sure what it would really cost. We probably wouldn't be doing doors and windows out of the operating budget. That that I can tell you. Yeah.
But maybe some trim. Plus, a lot of the trim there is kind of I don't want to say decorative and fancy, but we were just going to do flat stock, you know, not make it look decent, but flat stock, you know, eliminate some of the the labor, you know. Any idea of the breakout between labor and
material? No. Okay. I I could look that up, but I I can look it up, maybe give you an answer when I sit. You get the call from from Diamond. What are we looking at as far as I can't remember if 1525? I I I have no idea. Just kidding. Okay, I'll try and get that number. Um,
Station One hot water heater. Uh, there's definitely a picture of this. It's It is It's so It's 16 years old. It's exceeded its lifespan for whatever reason. It's $25,000. Uh it's 100 it's a 100-gallon tank. Um I say for whatever reason because a hot water heater in
your regular house is not that much money. But I questioned that when I questioned it too. Um and I probably have it in my narrative. Uh it's a it's the size of the boiler in in the type commercial. I can't quite remember. I'm
sorry. I wish I I wish I did, but uh I don't have it here. I verified the price and I was given it's a it's a it's a certain type of there's a there's a name for it. I'll look it up and I'll let you know. But we're on borrow time with
that. I'm just trying to prevent a disaster. That's all I'm trying to do. That going through right now. Oh, you have a leak, too? I have a disaster. Yes. With a water heater. That's why I know how much they cost. I've been looking for Yeah. Yeah. I replace mine. It was like 1,500 bucks for the heater itself and then you got to add the labor. But um
that is a that is the price that was given by a local a local plumber. Um not a not a commercial plumber or anybody that that's looking to, you know, gouge a municipality or anything like that. Um it's a local guy, but it's a type of it's a type of hot water heater that's in the building just for whatever reason
carries a higher price tag. Um, again, I'm just I'm just worried as you see in the picture, you've already got rusty water dripping out of some of the components on it. Um, and it's just it's just an an older an older I actually wonder if we can get away from that and use something
completely different um to save some some some operating cost. And then the station one sighting. So, I I had a company come to the station within the last couple of weeks. He added a prevailing wage to the number. Um, he came in at 75. add a little bit of a
buffer and put it at 80. Um he thinks in his opinion and he's a commercial painter out in New Bedford. They do large buildings, municipal buildings all the time. Um while there may be some shingles here and there that need to be replaced. He was fairly comfortable that in his words, the
shingles are just thirsty and they dried up and that's why they're curling and look so look so bad. with some preventative maintenance, some power washing, and some staining, we can rejuvenate the life of the shingles and extend the life of the shingles before we are looking at replacement. Some of them weren't flashed right, and they're touching the the asphalt shingles, and
so it's wicking and you're getting some rot, but he said that's minor that they replace them as they go. Um, and so, and I will say that when I first started doing the capital plan, I was new. I didn't understand a lot about procurement and uh prevailing wage and I
thought my number which was given to me by a regular painter uh not including prevailing wage at all was was low and so I expected this guy to come in much much higher than this um and he 100% that's all he does is is commercial and
municipal buildings he was knew exactly what I was looking for price-wise I thought he was going to come in in the hundreds and he came in at 80. I said 75. Actually, I put it up to 80. Um, I just reiterate the fact that it's a newer building. Again, it's only 16
years old already. It's on Hicksbridge Road, highly traveled area in town. We want to maintain it. We want the public to drive by and, you know, proud of their facilities that they that they have that they have funded. Um, and I think we need to do in in return upkeep
buildings that the the taxpayers are paying for um before it gets out of hand. And then the next thing we're doing is replacing shingles, which then you'll have costs in the hundreds. So, um this is the fourth or fifth year I've put this on the on the on the uh on
our list and I understand there's only so much money to go around, but that is a very true number, a very accurate number. Um I I hate to put it at the bottom as number five because I think it's a priority, but things like air conditioning units and fuel tanks need to come first. you know, um, as I
usually say every year, all of our items I feel are are top priority, but you have to put a number to them. That's that's where they fell for me at least. And Chief, does it make any sense to consider what many homeowners in town
do with shingle buildings and do one side a year for four years? Uh I would say tossing it out is it may not the south side for sure gets beat up the most. That is the worst side
without a doubt. Um the north side less so east west you know whatever. I'm just tossing that out as a as a thought to cut the 80 grand into Absolutely. I I would I would support that as a taxpayer. I would support
that. I mean that makes sense to me. I don't have a the north side is in good shape. the southside as you're 100% right is not it's that's the worst that you're the stain is gone right you're seeing bare wood on most of the shingles um and so I would be happy to
contact the u contractor that I spoke with and see if he can break it out a little bit more and send those numbers to the committee over a cash flow of yeah and just see three years four years whatever it might be or even two years not quite four sides but you know mathematic the southside actually has the least amount of shingles because of
all the garage doors, right? You know, so if it's the southside is what they look at first, right? Exactly. So, you start there. It might not be a heavy hit in year one. Maybe it's 20, you know. So, um I'd be happy to do that if anything that's going to get it the ball in motion. Um Okay.
I would support and do what I can do on my end to get you those numbers. Chief, there's two lists here in effect, operations and then facilities and ranked separately. If you would combine them just for the help of the committee,
what would be the priority listing then? Would the air conditioning I mean the overall priority I think the AC needs to be done. I I I don't know anything about Le Legionaire's disease or anything like that, but those are the things that start to worry me about that building.
If we can't balance the air in that building, I don't I don't know what's going to happen to the interior of the building. If we have mold and mildew, we have a health problem. So would that employee problem compared to the other four above? Would that jump up to one or two in that
listing? If you've combined the listings, let's say. Yes. So I would I would say air conditioner priority one, FPO vehicle priority two. He's in the road. He's in the road five days a week and he Annie comes in for five years off duty on the weekends when he's around and night. So um that's one
and two. And it's and his he's his position generates revenue. Mhm. you know, in three years his revenue has offset the cost of that vehicle that he's going to get 10 years out of, as we've proven mult, you know, time again. But I' I'd have to say we really have to get that that AC condenser fixed. I know we don't need air
conditioning like we don't need to be cool. It's not a matter of that. It's not it's not it's not a matter of comfort. We can open windows. It's a matter of what's going to happen in that building if we're not balancing the air. You know, I I'm not an HVAC expert, so I can't tell you, but I I know 100% for a
fact when one of those units was shut down, we had mold and mildew. Sam Manley, if anybody still talks to him, you can attest to it. It was a big shock. Went downstairs on the walls. So, yeah, I don't want to go down that route. What I
would hope that would it usually it doesn't happen immediately is it a long process before it's a basement level that's the issue. Yeah. Uh it's humid very humid and typically the AC would draw the humidity out. So if we lose that right
you know I can't tell you exactly what happened and why it happened so quickly but I I I distinctly remember it. Mhm. Members were actually down there with bleaching water wiping the walls down. questions on all of these items from the committee.
The only other thing I would also just reiterate is I think that outdoor condensing number is probably going to come in a little bit lower. Okay. I don't know how much, but I think a little bit lower. So, and we always return, we're returning about 6,000 out of the cascade system.
So, if there's money to return, will we return it? Yeah. I just budgeted 50 because of what I've seen with costs, goods and materials going up, you know, uh, labor costs. I know a mechanic is going to have to go up almost $200 an hour. So, costs are going up for labor. So,
we're when this is to be replaced, we're talking almost nine months from now. So, who knows where we are then. So, I just Oh, we'll just use the numbers you presented. Yep. For the time being. Okay. Any any other question? Any other items you want to talk about? No.
Okay. Is the committee satisfied with that? You would like to thank you. Yeah, thank you. Appreciate it. Good luck. Okay. And last but not least is the marine services. We have a harbor master case with us today.
Well, that sometimes that's a good thing. Those three are tough to follow. Just a quick the picture here is just a stock photo. That's not the boat these guys are looking for. I want to put something on the slides.
We're looking something bigger. All right. I guess we start with the top. Um so the building that I operate out of probably all seen uh is the H master shack. It's down at the town dock.
Uh exterior wise, it's failed just about everywhere. Um we have roof shingles that are missing. Uh we have exterior shingles that are curled up. We have trim that is rotting. We have windows that need to be replaced as well as the
door. And all of this sits in a flood zone. My biggest fear um going forward a couple of years is that if we don't address this now, we're going to have a bigger problem in the future. In other words, uh we
need to address these uh issues to make it weathertight now or we risk losing the whole building. We looked up in there's a small attic and we were looking for uh water egress
or ingress I guess is the word um through the ceiling. We didn't see much of it but it's tough to see. There's a lot of boxes and stuff all stuffed in there which we haven't emptied out yet. Um the bottom line is this this building is in terrible condition and it needs to be addressed. uh the
$100,000 uh fee uh excuse me figure was u a general number that I threw out there as long as well as the $600,000 for the patrol vessel. Um it looks like we would come in in under $100,000. I've got a
couple of estimates. One is from uh D Ro Construction. They do a lot of work over in the harbor. It's a friend of mine came over one day and he said to do the exterior shingles, trim, windows, and doors uh would be about $30,500.
Uh I just got an estimate here today from Richie's insulation to blow in because there's no insulation in this building either. There's no heat in it. Um the insulation is about $1,700. Tomorrow, uh, at noon time, I have the folks from, uh, family heating and HVAC,
the outfit across from the high school. They're going to come down and give us an estimate on what it would cost to heat the building. Just a mini split of some sort wouldn't take much. So, I think the bottom line is that $100,000 number is probably way too high, but I didn't want to lowball it
and then have to kind of backtrack. So, those two numbers are well, let's we'll talk about the second one in a minute. Um, so I suspect somewhere around $75,000 might rehab this building,
insulate it, uh, button it up with some windows and doors and make it, um, operational in the winter. It's been fine over the course of the summer right now, but the colder it gets, the more difficult it is to work in an office environment. and we have to spend a lot
of time administratively with the u the programs that we're working on uh within the department. So um working in that building over the course of the winter on a daily basis is going to be a requirement.
So uh I guess what I can tell all of you is that I'm still working on that bottom line figure. Uh there's one thing I have to plead ignorance on and that is Oh, sorry, Valerie. You missed all that. I got it.
Okay. Um I I'm not familiar with the whole prevailing wage u aspect to all of this. Um I have spoken to a couple of contractors who said uh this is a prevailing wage job. I'm not interested.
I don't know what that means, tell you the truth. I guess it's difficult for them to to price this out. Again, I'm I'm going to plead ignorance on that one, but I can say I think this either way this should come in under $100,000, but I think this is about preserving
this office space uh before it has to be replaced completely. Okay, questions, comments? Well, I live on the point and I I see the it's been there a long time. It's really not adequate for the staff and it's got a number of problems. I've been
wondering myself over the years what what happens to that. It's got to be refurbished at some point or rebuilt. So, I guess this is uh I asked uh Rick Smith to reach out to Garrett Struck because I guess the uh historical committee has to weigh in on this as well.
Yeah. Uh so that may change the dynamics. I don't know where, but um we're putting the pieces together, uh tick, and I I think at some point uh we'll have something more fine-tuned. It's going to take a little bit of time to get all this all these numbers together,
but I think we can safely say it'll be under $100,000. I don't know if this is a question for you or Jim, but could this be eligible for CPC money? Yeah, you know, it possibly could. Yeah, if it's a historical building
historic preservation, that would be greatly helpful. What is the definition of an historic building? How many how what's the age? Well, it's interesting, right? because they they just I think last year they approved funding for the point church
but to do work on the building in the back of the church which is a newer addition because it was in the district and I'm not sure how it qualified or didn't qualify but I would think that well that was that was built in the late 1960s the addition
the Holland Hall is that we're talking about yes which predates the harbor masters building by quite a bit. I I would imagine not quite a bit but predates it. When do you think the Hoba master
building went in? What is it? I bet I know that the chip class designed it was an old friend of mine. He's passed but uh I think it's worth checking out. I I mean I'm not opposed to it. I'm just saying that what what are you know
what's the qualifications for I don't know if that's a question. Is it more about the district or the building itself? I I think that was the argument with the the work they're doing on the church was it it's within the district and um yeah I I think it's something we need to check.
Mhm. Um the other question has it been flooded in the last do you know like Hurricane Bob was that flooded? Was it that was 91? Um, I don't recall it getting up to the floorboards there, uh,
Jim, but uh, just last winter and the winter before there were winter storms, not even hurricanes, uh, that submerged the town dock. So, if the town dock is submerged, then the floor is not too far behind. I mean, it might sit maybe 18
inches above that deck, give or take a few. um that might be all you need, you know, but but if you're going to put 100,000 and we can raise it up two feet and eliminate, you know, 95% of the storms, it might be worth Well, my understanding is if you decide you want to raise it, uh that brings in
a whole new exercise. Um I guess I'm not quite ready to go down that road yet, unless I have to. Um then you could talk about sea sea level rise the whole bit. I mean, it's a vulnerable building. There's no doubt about it.
So, I guess if your question is, is it worth spending $100,000 on a building that could be underwater? The answer is probably no. I don't know if we have an alternative, though, right? We don't have an alternative location. We don't have an alternative building. So, not in the short term.
You might recall when I first got sworn in, I asked you if there was some office space available here in this building. Um, and I think your answer was, "Yeah, maybe in the basement." Um, so at least it's dry down there. At least it's dry. There used to be offices down there.
Water health was down there. Conservation. There was a meeting area. Well, if you have to run from the flood, I think we may have to take you up on that one. Back in the 80s, that's when it it was still there. All the offices were in here. They
didn't have the annex. All of the offices were in here. We made room. Okay, Chief, if this uh were to be approved, would you be replacing this? Let's say we had a complete replacement, would that be on the same footprint or would it be larger?
Well, I mean, there's a little bit of room behind the building if you wanted to expand the building a little bit where it leaches, you know, there's probably 12 to 15 feet there if you wanted a bigger building. If you wanted to go to the ultimate building that's
above any flood plane with maybe two stories where you so you had multiple offices. U I suppose you could do that. I mean there is a little bit of square footage there but not much. Do you know the size of the building?
Not that big. the the the guys from Richie's Insulation just measured it yesterday, but 20 by 12. 20 by 12. About the size of a garden shed, basically. Well, I've been in there. It's not It's not large. I mean, I tell you, it's very small.
I mean, it works. It works. As long as it's dry and it's warm and it's sealed, uh, it'll suffice for a while. But again, I'm afraid that if if we don't address this, then um you know, it's that old commercial pay me now or
pay me later. Yeah. Okay. Are there any questions on this item from the committee? Okay. Well, we appreciate the presentation, but you have something more to talk about. Yeah, we do. All right. So, I think you know from the time I got sworn in here,
I've been doing whatever I can to integrate the Marine Services Department into police, fire, EMS, and I've really enjoyed working uh with the guys who run those two departments. I think Westport
should be uh very proud they have professionals of that level. Uh so that kind of interaction leads to discussions like what can we do together? What can we do and what do you need that I need that we can combine together? Well, this vessel
is exactly that. On my side of things, we you know the marine services department operates six vessels. We have two patrol vessels. One of them was built in 2019. Uh that's the aluminum boat that was built out in Washington state. It's in very good condition. Uh
the other one is a private tier that was built I want to say 1980. Uh clearly it has run its course. Uh we used it this summer. Uh but we just kept it in the river up the east branch. Uh I wouldn't take it outside unless I absolutely had
to. Uh it does have a new outboard engine on it, but the hull itself and the vessel is is in need of replacement. So if if you accept that as true, and I do, uh, and then the fire department says, "Look, we don't have any
firefighting capability on the water in Westport, uh, why don't we put our heads together and see what we can do to solve both of our problems together." A little bit of inter a inter agency cooperation, I think, is is important in this. It's
it's a big number, obviously. Um, but when you consider that vessel would service Dan Baldwin's needs and Bill Chase's needs from the firefighting capability and the patrol and rescue capability
that we clearly have to replace. Uh I think that number doesn't look nearly as daunting as it does on the screen right there. What surprised me and it's been a bit of an education I got to say. I've spoken to three boat builders. One was Pacific Boats, the one the people who
built our current patrol boat. Um, company called Safe Boats. They're also out in Washington State. And Marine Metal Tech, I think is the name they built. This is, by the way, this is um, this is Dartmouth's fireboat.
This boat was $300,000 before COVID. It's now $600,000 for the exact same boat. You know, we have no control over those dynamics. And uh, I I won't sit here and say I can explain why it's that expensive because I can't. Um but the
fact of the matter is if you need equipment of this caliber, that's what it costs. And so I think um Chief Baldwin and I u agree that this is a vessel that could serve uh his needs and
mine as well. Uh because if you just take it one at a time, if say Chief Baldin decided he wanted to approach you for a fireboat on his own, well that's the number that he's going to be looking at. Um if I am going to replace that
privateier, it's probably going to be somewhere around $200,000, I'm guessing. So I would advise you to look at that number in that light that this is an inter agency u proposition for you all and let me give you a little bit of
context about the river itself and why this vessel is important. First of all let me say what we have right now as far as firefighting capabilities on the Westport River for my department is zero.
If Chief Baldwin called me today and said, "I need a boat here, there, or wherever." What can you provide? All I can do is stand there with a handheld fire extinguisher. We have nothing else. In this port of Westport, there are
1,400 boats. There are three major marinas, and to my best estimation is about 20 miles of shoreline, and most of it is dotted with very nice homes. We have no protection for any of that
right now. And I think whether it's this year or next year, I think this committee really needs to look at that lack of protection because, you know, when you look at it, the harbor masters department, the marine services department is essentially public safety.
That's what we do. And I think that's why it's important for me to try to integrate my activities into police and fire as best we can. So, this is a case where two of us, three of us could work together. You all know that we've had a lot of success working with uh the
Westport Police Department and the Marine Detail this summer. That to me was a terrific experience, a terrific exercise. And so, we've got that inter again that inter agency cooperation that I think makes that $600,000 number
look so daunting. Mhm. But it's a protection that the the port of Westport needs. Uh it's a boat that my department needs and I think uh I would just ask that you look at it from that
from that lens. Yeah, it's it's somewhat hard to imagine for me. I'm not a voter, but I don't recall a lot of instances of fire uh in Westport. I I mean I don't know what the frequency is. I don't know what
it would be in Dartmouth, but is it is that only just one factor? Well, I you know, Dick, I would say look at what happened at Matapoet. It's two years ago, I believe. Mapo boatyard fire. It was just a spark. It took the whole
place down. And not just the boatyard itself, but surrounding homes and everything that was involved. You know, you can say, "Yeah, we haven't had a major fire here in X amount of years." Sure. But it only takes one. Yeah.
And the fact that we don't have any protection from an event like that, I think should give us all a little bit of pause. Does Madam Poet have firefighting uh votes? You know, we've been we've we've done a lot of work getting tied in with the
Buzzers Bay task force and uh Rick Smith has taken the point on all of that. He's met a lot of his cohorts up and down the south coast. I can't tell you exactly what they have. I know this is what Dartmouth has and I've spoken to Steve Bellow over in P Darham
about what he does and how he operates this boat, but I couldn't tell you exactly what Matapoet has. I know Marian has got all the bells and whistles because money seems to be no object over there. Their Marian's patrol boat was $800,000.
My budget is $280,000, my total budget. So, it's it's it's a different world, I guess, as you go east. But to answer your question, Dick, I'm not exactly sure what type and design of fireboat amount of place it has.
Well, I was just looking for some context. Um, and and frequency of events of course would jump out at us. It's if we don't have the frequency of fire emanating from boats or from u the you
know facilities. I I think there'd be some resistance on the part of the public to pay for it if they don't perceive the hazard. Now maybe there is a lot of hazard that we don't we're not aware of. I don't know the boat so I don't really know how to gau I suspect the folks in Mount Poison that
may see a little bit different than we do right now. Yeah. Um, Somerset, Florida River, New Bay Haven District One and the coastal departments east of us. A vessel similar
to that. After a boy of fire, I got on the New Bedford fire control boat speed boatard part of a drill in 45 minutes. Building from the ground in 45 minutes was on fire. In the last couple of years, we had a
couple boats catch on fire off a drift road in the 1400 block as a result most likely fireworks overnight smolded boat on fire broke the lines floating down the river. Uh the only thing that Chris Lennon could do at the time was he went
a circle and created a wave to push the shore. We had a vessel in dry dock up against trips many years ago catch fire over the winter. Albert, you may remember this one. We had a fire at the tripard on the
dock tip on the department many years ago. I want to say a female died, jumped in the water uh fleeing the vessel. A lot of the boats that are tied up at trips seem to never leave the docks. They are house
boats. So in other way, people living, cooking, smoking, whatever they're doing on those boats presents a hazard. Um in addition to firefighting, we're also going to think about fuel spills, oil spills, especially from the lodge of commercial
vessels that are in and out of West Wava. Um my jet ski is not going to tow the boom. We're very limited in what we can do to help the hobby mass to deploy those wounds. I spoke earlier, we have the D field trailer right here at station one, but it doesn't any any good if I can
like park it in the boat ramp and can't deploy those booms. We've had some boom exercises with the D. With that current, it is very hard to deploy those booms up against that current. You need some strong some strong vessels. So, not only does he have a need to replace a patrol boat, I
think we got to look at is that there's that point of it as well. But there are other going to reduce the environmental impact from from spills in the river. I I' I've been on the water for 30 years and the boat traffic now is the greatest it's ever been. There's never been so
much traffic on that river. So just like vehicles traveling up and down 88, you're increasing vehicle crashes, you're increasing the risk of an event to occur on the river. Um big concern with trips, it's very large. There's always a southwest wind.
Any kind of firefighting operation land base would be severely hampered just by the the heat coming off of those buildings. Yeah. Smoke, toxins. Same thing with the point. If we ever have a fire in the point, depending on the wind in close proximity of those houses,
we're going to have to, you know, fire line. That's a loss. And this is where we're going to, it's going to be very challenging. My point having that that water based firefighting vessel an endless supply of water beneath the hull where it would draw the water from most likely would be extremely beneficial.
Not only that, in addition to putting water in the fire, you can also be pumping water to our apparatus for for any any structure along the river. We have two islands on the two homes on islands in the river that we can't get to um with a fire truck. Right now if we
would have any issue we would literally be running to the station off station getting the portable pump that we used to pump out a basement which does not supply the adequate gallons per minute to reduce the BT use created by fire. So we would essentially be putting a
garden hose on excel a couple months ago you need you need to have the capacity put out fires. You do have two homes on the river. Um it's been a while since we've had any kind of brush fire on the islands that I think most of them they've been brought up over the years but when I first got on brush fires on
the island from hunters was common. Um so you know the frequency is not there and thankfully so but I hate to do this but the frequency of 10 people dying in an assisted living facility in forever wasn't there either and look what happened following that fire. All of a sudden they're fusing hundreds of
thousands of dollars into the city of forever and they're going to hire I don't want to It's quite a few firefighters. I thought I heard 100, but it's quite a few firefighters that they're going to be putting on the payroll as a result of what had never happened before. So, I think what myself and Hog Master
are trying to do is be proactive rather than reactive and we need to be coming to you next summer and saying this happened or this you the back Eddie which is a which is a probably a very big driving economic force in this town burnt to the ground and is now closed for the summer. all that summit that was coming in
and all that all that those tax dollars that were coming in, that revenue that was generated is now lost while he rebuilds if he chooses to rebuild. Um Chuck in hyster facility down um another place that's drawn a lot of
customers I assume is bringing revenue into the town. Um you know the one way in one way out fire apparatus. So even though there's a lot of water there, everybody thinks, you know, we can the fire department can draw water from the ocean, from the river. It's not that simple. It doesn't work that way. Um you have to
get close enough, there's a lot of a lot of factors that go into drafting and essentially vacuuming up water. You can only do with maximum 33 feet of pod suction. So you have to get close elevation. There's different things to consider. Um even at trips, there's really only one place where we can put a
piece of fire apparatus to draw water from the river. If the crane's there, we ain't we're not getting water out of the river. We're stuck. We're relying on tankers or with a fire boat. There we go. So, it is it's a big it's a big dollar amount. Even when he told me,
yeah, it's uh you know, but it's something that might be necessary. And again, 50 years, he's trying to replace a book that's 50 years old. So, his department, you know, his predecessors have have proven that they're able to, you know, provide an adequate return on investment. And if you were to take potentially
you know, 50 years, even 30, what is the overall cost each year? You know, when you break it down, probably not, you know, no long in the long term for what it actually does, which potentially save lives. Um, I I would echo Dan's uh comment u
proactive versus reactive, I think, is is the key phrase in all this. Well, I I don't I don't think this would fail at town meeting, but I do think this conversation is useful for a couple of reasons. One is for us to
really comprehend this and uh think about these things which we normally don't talk about. Uh it's also important that the town's people particularly those who go to town meeting and vote on this have have this
understanding because it's an eye openener. I haven't thought about the things that you're enumerating today, but they're very real. Um, so, you know, I hope that all these items pass at town meeting. they all normally do, but I
think this is one where people don't understand the issue, particularly if they're not boat owners, might sort of discount it as being a real issue when yet you look at all the parts, including houses on the shore that could be affected by it and burned uh and loss of life. I mean, this is
becomes it's a little more scarier than you would first imagine. Well, let let me speak to the scary side of things there. Dick. Um, Chief Baldwin called me one morning. He said, "I got to tell you about a little fire we had."
He was at a dock down on Drift Road. It was a small boat, one of these electric powered uh, skiffs. They like to use lithium ion batteries. Now, the advantage to lithium ion is that you can discharge them to zero and you just keep
recharging them back and forth again. Well, they have a real nasty habit of having something called thermal runaway uh when they basically just ignite from within. You might have seen the uh story of that car carrying ship that was
bombed from China to the US with electric vehicles. One of them ignited, the whole ship basically burned and was scuttled in the end. Um so the technology of lithium ion is everywhere. A lot of boats use it now and it would
just take one vessel equipped with that technology and having that thermal runaway happen to ignite the whole marina. So I mean technology is good and it's also risky. This is one of those uh instances where
uh technology can be risky especially from a firefighting point of view. And it also points out the cooperation that we've had uh between the Chief Baldwin's department and myself and and my staff. Uh the things that they share with us has been uh eye openening for us
as well from a firefighting point of view. Yeah. Well, I appreciate these comments because they they're helpful to us and the public. Okay. So, I got one question. And I don't necessarily need an answer now, but I guess my question would be as far as priorities go, right, for
firefighting, where does this fit in the overall firefighting plan? I mean, is it you hate to put one above the other, but there's only so many dollars, right? So, is the fire protection on a boat more critical than say the tanker truck that
we need here in town or the ambulance or something? How do we how do we balance it as a town as a whole as opposed to looking department to department? Well, it's a great question, uh, Jim, and Chief Bald can answer that question better than I. My comment would be this
is a missing link in the chain, and the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If I could use that simple analogy, that's kind of where I see it. But I'm sure Dan's got that. I mean, difficult question to answer. Right now, there's zero firefighting capability on the West.
We are the only community that can't put out fire on it waterways. We are the only community community that doesn't actively participate until very recently on a limited scope as part of the Pleasant Bay task force.
the regional [Music] group of vessels out of fire service, Coast Guard, EPO, Hass most of the time, Westport declines. Responses off of our own ocean, off of our coasts are handled by ali agencies.
We don't have a boat that big enough or capable of handling some of the issues that happen out there, which could be a a fire on on boat. I ended up telling me the other day on my boat and small cruise ship went by. Small cruise ship, small cruise ship went by. So, there's a
risk out there off of our own waterways. We have beautiful river that, you know, bisects the town. Coastline, I think it's more like 30 miles of coastline, includ firefighting capability. Your homes with single lane laneways, hundreds, if not hundreds of feet off of
the roadway, very difficult to access, one way, one way off fire apparatus. I I don't know where I'd prioritize. The only I guess I would We have no firefighting capability on the Westport River. Kind of like saying, you know, do you want a fire fighter or a dispatcher? We need both. I need the dispatch to take the call. This is the firefighter
that I need to go to the fire. You know, it' be very hard. I understand. I understand what you guys are up against when it comes to dollars. Um we and the hub master and I spoke extensively about researching any kind of grant that we can possibly get. I know there's a waterway grant. There's
a waterways grant out there whether or not a port like West I don't know if it's G west or a cargo floor, you know, that handles a lot of much more larger traffic. I don't know. Um, and we'll look to that to offset any costs. Um, this is a, you know, this is
an option that would be built overnight, but again, I can't guarantee you a grand either. So, I say you have to look at this. It's always going to cost 600 grand. Um, we have no we have no firefighting. It's bothered me for years. Only recently had I come into the position where I'm responsible for
solely responsible now for addressing it. Um and when we first had a talk, it makes no sense to me to come to you and ask for a vote I asked for last year had nothing to do with firefighting. It was strictly a search and rescue boat basically mainly for the ponds. I'm my concern for the ponds. We have excellent assets in the river for search and
rescue. You know, we would just be an additional asset. Um we have that was not going to address our firefighting needs and frequency is minimal. low risk. I mean, low frequency, high risk is exactly what it is.
And this would not be a vessel that's just going to sit there and wait for the first uh sign of smoke. This would be dual purpose. Yeah. This we would exercise this vessel often. Well, anyway, I seem to be doing all the
talking here. So, any questions or comments from I I have a question. Um, what is the delivery time on a boat like this? And does it fall in the category of let's say the uh the fire truck where lock in a price now and pay for it?
Yeah. Well, for it later on. This this vessel right here, this is a year out. A year. Okay. Uh, the other outfit that I spoke to, Pacific Boat, said they could probably deliver something within six months. All right. So, it's not a uh it's not a
firet truck situation like you're dealing with right now. No, but you bring up a good point. Um, and I don't know if this is possible for for what he deals with. There are lease options pay interest rate know better about that than I, but there are three and fiveyear leases at least for fire
apparatus. Threeear lease to my understanding does not need to go to the floor town meeting. A fiveyear my understanding would. A three can be voted on by the board of selectment and approved as far as I know. Um, So if it was a matter of cost, you could spread out the cost with the understanding that you're going to face some sort of
interest in it to decide whether or not it was worth it. But if you know if we were looking to spread out the cost because just like I know the position he's in to come in here and ask for something that dollar amount, it's not an easy thing for us to do. Um but if that was an issue, you
know, that that would be potentially something to also look at as a as a leasing option to own. That's what we've done with our ambulances in the past. We're in that position now. We don't have to. Um, we had an ambulance failure and we had to get one. I had a cycle. We'd have we didn't have enough money in
the revoling. We had to do a lease. We're off that. I I would prefer not the least because again, you're paying interest. Um, but um sometimes it's the only viable option if you want to spread out cost, but then you have to obviously you guys know you
committed the next three years to finding money. Okay. Great. Thanks. Any other questions? Well, thank you for enlightening us. Really, you have today and uh we'll give this significant consideration, please.
Thank you. Thank you, Chief. Chief invol Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. All right. Well, that completes the agenda there. So, there's the question of uh
topics not reasonably anticipated 48 hours in advance. I don't think there are any for this meeting. Jim, I don't know of any. He's focusing on technology. I'm sorry. Yes, sir. I will assume that the none there are no no topics. Yeah. If you listen to the
recent discussion about firefighting on the water plus the others from the chief uh chief Dunn and all the capital needs here are enormous as we know and it it is a daunting process but we realize
this every year and we just do the best we can but it is uh it's tough it's tough tough calls on these things. Jim, do you have um any idea how many departments are making requests this year? Is it more than
normal or about average? I think we'll have about the same. Okay. It's tough to tell what the dollar amounts like. You can have one department. Yeah. The big dollar amount, you know, six makes small. So, um yeah, we don't we haven't heard from the school department yet. They're still working on it. School department, you know, we're
actually meeting at 5:30 uh or 6:30, excuse me, for this one uh to go over our our uh requests. I will say that we've we've got u several different needs, but we've managed to kind of look for some alternative funding beyond just CIPC. Uh, one request that I I imagine
will be on the approved list that that gets presented uh is the the school the school's request is uh just I think it's like 100,000 for the uh playground where most of that is getting covered by uh
the uh either the community or CPC or or um the uh the same outfit that did that did the uh the annex playground last year. So um that's one example. Then we also have uh some requests that I think we can uh roll into requests with the
school building committee uh for the some funds that that still exist in that account. So, um we're we're going back and forth on a few things, but like I said, we're meeting tonight and plan to okay to pass those on right after. So, do we have a range of
monies that we can work with? Was curious. I learned my lesson last year when I spoke up and said we had we had a certain amount of money and we didn't have quite that amount. So, um we should but but but now but now you're not on the hot seat. I mean, so yeah,
going to follow me out the door. Um I think we're going to have a a fairly decent amount. Okay. Hopefully s something similar to last year. Okay. And we should know within the next couple weeks. Couple of weeks. All right. Fine. So by the next meeting or the meeting after the latest, we'll
we'll know. Okay. That's fine. Um, okay. I do want to talk about the next meeting data. It might I might have a problem with that. But before we do that, we need to approve the minutes of January 21st, 25.
I think they were submitted to us if I recall. Or is this something we have to review? These you reviewed these you did I did review them last year. I'm okay approving them if there's enough. I'd make a motion to approve. Second. Did we get those in the mail? They weren't uh I didn't post them on a
thing, but I do remember reviewing them last year. You did them. You sent them to them last year. I think you sent them at the end the after the last meeting. If you want to review them in more detail, we off the next meeting. Yeah. Well, I would just say what is the pleasure of the committee. If you feel comfortable, these things are fairly
routine. What's there is what took place and that's that's over and done with. So we like a record keeping issue. I don't I'm okay with my motion. I'll second it. And I heard it. I think he I'll second it. I second it. There was a second. Okay. Now discussion. Any discussion on this?
All in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? And I'll express. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Um I said earlier we meet generally meet every
uh couple of weeks. Uh now this is obviously October the 1st. So the 14th or the 15th we won't be able to meet in here, right? You guys Oh yes. interviewing in here. There's another meeting on the 15th. 14th 15th. Yes.
Well, the 14th is what's the Wednesday? The 14th. 15th. 15th 15th. 14th is finish, but that's virtual. 14th and 15th I'll be meeting and this room will be occupied and I know you'll be yes I'll be here I would I have a conflict on the 15th as
well if possible to well uh my my my own conflict is not until the following week so I'm available on the 15th uh and if as long as we have a quorum we prefer to proceed
okay Yeah. L the 22nd I'll be out of town myself. Uh so that would be like if we if we met after
the 29th the 29th that's that's that's almost the month. I mean we could it's early in the game. We're a little earlier this year than we were last year. Yeah. Just out of curiosity, how many more departments do we have you expect to have requests in?
So, we'll have the school and then we have smaller ones. We'll have um town hall selectman's office. We'll have um small cemetery request any highway COA highway and COA I haven't heard yet, but they they always have a couple of requests.
Those are relative library small. Yeah. Again, most of those we can move through pretty quick. Yeah, these are the big ones. Police, fire, tough ones. Police, fire, school. We might be able to get through most if not all at one meeting.
Yeah, this we don't need a lot of meetings. Chris, in the answer to your question, we usually can do all of this in a few meetings or certainly four or five meetings ample. So, it's not fatal if we can't meet again until October the 29th. What did you say? Is that the date?
Yeah. Um, it's really up to the committee. Um how do you how do you feel about that? Does that mean everybody's feel good schedule? Yeah, we'll well we can we can have our meeting mostly we'll be here and you know we we'll be in good shape still
like you say we're starting early so this year and it does move along. We we kind of most of the people on this committee have been here a few rounds and know the drill so it moves along. All right. So seems like a long time away but we know time flies when you're having fun. So,
the next meeting will be Wednesday, October the 29th and September up there, so I can't see that, but anyway, I'll take your word on it. Yes, those who are iPhone literate more so than I am at 3 p.m. right here. And, uh, we look
forward to it. So, with that, uh, motion to adjourn. What about I hear a motion to adjourn. Do I hear a second? Second. Motion made and seconded. You need a This is not an item that we do for discussion. All in favor say I. I. Oppos? No. We are journed. Thank you.
What time What time is the game?