Good evening any everyone. This is the finance committee meeting. Today is Tuesday, June 17, 2025. It is 6:32. I'd like to call the meeting to order with a pledge of allegiance. I pledge of allegiance to the flag to the flag of the United of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under Godis, indivisible, with liberty, justice for all.
On March 28th, go uh under Mass General Law Chapter 38 section 20. This meeting is being recorded. On March 28th, 2025, Governor Haley signed into law a bill which extends the temporary provisions pertaining to open meeting law to June
30th, 2027. Specifically, this further extension allows for public bodies to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the body physically present at the meeting location and to provide adequate alternative access for remote meetings. This language does not
make any substantial changes to the open meeting law other than extending the expiration date of the temporary provisions regarding remote meetings from March 31st, 2025 to June 30th, 2027. All right. Well, welcome everyone. Nice
to see everyone. It's feels like it's been months, but it's only been one month. Um, so uh our first item that we have on the agenda tonight is to uh discuss and take action for year end transfers. So
just to um we had a number of transfers that were on the town warrant and sometimes after town after the warrant gets prepared and town meeting is done um some additional transfers uh come up and um if both the finance committee and
the select board need to approve the year and transfers and so uh we're here tonight to discuss those. So, there were uh five of the transfers were discussed last night at the select board and they approved them all and tonight is for us
to discuss them and approve if we do. And then there was one more that came late today. So, that was not on the agenda, but we can certainly talk about that tonight if we want to u do that. So, um we have Deputy Rebell here. U hi,
how are you? Thank you for coming. Good. Thank you. Nice to see everyone today. Thank you. So, we will uh I'm just trying to find my Give me a second. I'm trying to find the warrant articles. Okay, there we go. So, we have I think
three that are for the police department. So, we'll start with the first one and I'll read that off and then maybe um you can help us understand what that is. Sure. It is uh it is a transfer for the amount of 15,955.
It's going from the police department professional services to the police department's uh equipment uh department. And it says um well I can certainly let let uh you read that if you want to describe what
this is for. Sure. So in FY25 the police department had a surplus uh due to personnel services. We had six full-time officer positions that weren't filled. Um so that left us with a surplus of funding. Um last year, uh through your good graces, we were able to put into
all of our patrol units, um mobile data terminals that allow our officers to utilize those on car stops and investigations, things of that nature. What we weren't able to do last year was to get our detectives up to speed with uh the electronic devices that our patrol officers had. So this brings
everybody now up to speed. Uh the example that the chief gave last night at the select board meeting was that the we had a semat call out not too long ago on Robert Street. The detective that was in charge of that couldn't stay on scene because they didn't have the electronics
necess or that were necessary. They had to come back here to the station and do their work. So they were missing out on key information that they needed for their search warrants and rather than being there which would have been ideal if they didn't have the MDT to do that. So, this is just funding that would allow all of our detectives to stay out
in the field and do what they need to do in the field and not have to come back back and forth um to complete whatever task they have to do. All right, thank you. Um does anyone have any questions or I'll go we'll go
through each one first? Just just Karen, I just have a a quick uh question for the deputy and I'll state it up front. I'm for this, so this is not a a negative, but in the in the prior year when you were budgeting, did you know
that there were um not going to be six positions filled? You know, maybe one or two, but six positions is pretty, you know, pretty aggressive. And so I just wanted I just want to get a feel for that because um you know it is
important. I mean you know you your you budget on on your best information but maybe it was a little too aggressive for the police department to uh you know fully fund six positions. Right. So this the budget that we the chief and I were
working off it was previous administration had submitted that budget. This budget that's coming up this year is the first budget that we've put together. Um we did lose some people due to retirement and positions that just weren't filled for one reason or another. Um but we've decided that that's the route that we want to go.
We're currently at 30. Um we're assigned to 31. We're looking to fill that position. Uh we've got two people going to the academy in August and that and then we've got a retirement coming up in March. So with the transition it will end up being we be a full compleiment um sometime in the middle of next year. By
July next year be a full compliment. But then again, we have more retirements coming up in August of next year. So, it's we're constantly chasing our tail with trying to keep up with full staff because of the length of the academy and then the length of uh field training as well. Okay, okay, fair enough. I I just
wanted to ask the question. This is not your budget. You're you're you're moving it forward. There's excess funds. The town meeting approved your overall budget. This is excess and this is to upgrade these
Pardon me. Three different uh things are set to upgrade your your um equipment, handguns, whatever it might be. Right. Correct. Yes. Okay. That's great news. I mean, I don't think, you know, we have to to be a full
compliment. There's a lot of departments, I think, you know, around around the area that are not anywhere close. I think that's really good news. A lot of the departments are really struggling, especially the bigger cities, and they're leaving in in droves to go to smaller towns. And we've definitely benefited tremendously by
having some of the uh officers transfer in um lateral transfer in. So, it saves us on training and and we get a lot of expertise with that and it's really it's really been a benefit to the town. Yeah, a lot of towns are doing the lateral moves now, which is great. Correct. Good job. Thanks. Sure. No problem.
Unless, Gary, unless you're the town that they're laterally moving out of, right? I make a motion to approve. Are we gonna Do you want a motion, Karen? Um, no, we can do that now. That's fine. Okay. I'd make a motion that we approve the transfer. I'll second. Karen, you had
his hand up, though. Oh, okay. Yeah. I just Thank you. I just wanted to point out I think one of the things that helped and dep will probably will confirm this for us. They modified the residential requirement last year. Used to be solely
Westport, right? I was very much I was part of the public safety committee as you may know. We were very much in favor of that because of the elements of the police and part of the community and that sort of thing. But the recruiting was a problem. The modification was, I
believe, 20 miles and that really has been a a 10 strike because that's close enough. So, it really doesn't make all that much difference that I was talking about, but it certainly is increased the pool. The deputy will confirm the new
people I think are pretty much coming from Westport. So even though the residency requirement has been relaxed and increases the pool, I don't think it's really had any adverse effects. No. To the best of my knowledge is I believe off the cuff, I think there's
only two people that are outside of Westport. One's in Fall River and then one's in uh Freetown. Okay. Before we uh before we go, I wanted to um I I'm I guess I'm a little rusty. I was remissed to um do a roll call. I
need to identify all the members that are here. So, um, myself, Karen Rouse is here, Hugh Morton is here, Al Le, Gary Carrero, Duncan Law, Cindy Brown, uh, Zach Leu joined us at 6:37, and
Christopher Thrasher is also here, so we're all present. So, um, just want to let everyone know they're here. And Christopher, you've got your hand up, so go ahead. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just had one quick question. So are we is this motion for items A, B, and C? All three
of the police department transfers are going to the same. This motion is just for this article that we had spoken of that for a item a just for item A. That's what that's my question. It's just the there's three police transfers listed. I just want to clarify dealing
with correct. We've Yes, we've only discussed the first one the the 15,955 from salaries to expenses. Okay, thank you. I do I did have a question as well. Go ahead, Cindy. Um,
also I I will preface this also by saying I'm I'm very much in favor of this uh as well for your ability to fully equip your staff. Uh, were any of these items brought up before CIPC? Are you aware? I know deputy, you were not
necessarily the um I know it was the chief that went before uh CIPC, but perhaps you attended as well. Were any of the items that are listed here, had they gone before the capital improvement committee prior to this? Do you know?
No. And it was my understanding through him that they weren't only because they didn't meet the $50,000 threshold. I know that there is going to be one that is over that, but it's kind of a combination of uh items as well as ammunition. So, it wasn't a one-shot deal, and he didn't feel it appropriate
to bring it to the CIPC. Okay, great. Thank you. No pun intended on the on the on the oneshot deal, right? Oh, you're still really shocked at 7 o' There we go.
All right. So, um we have a motion in a second. So, any other comments on this article? We can go ahead and and uh do a roll call to All right. I will do a roll call. So, Al L Al Le. H Morton. Morton. I Gary. Yes.
Duncan. Duncan Law. I Cindy. Cindy Brown. I Zack. Zach Brew. I uh Christopher, you're on mute. Christopher. You must have stepped away. Oh, there
you are. Frozen computer for a second. Chris and Karen Rouse. I thank you. All right. So the second um the second transfer is 56,107.14 and that's going from the police
department professional to the police department ammunition guns. Um and um I'll let I'll let you uh someone's got some noise. Someone's got a background noise. Yeah.
Is there a TV or something? All right, that's better. All right, great. Thank you. Uh, Deputy, I'll let you uh explain this one. Sure. So, with this is just an upgrade of our weapon platform. Um, it's becoming the industry standard. Massachusetts State Police
have transitioned to this already. Other local agency have transitioned to a different firearm. Um, MPTC, the Massachusetts Police Training Committee. They're now incorporating into their curriculum, into what our new recruits are getting, this weapon platform. So everybody's transitioning to this with
the red dot optic on it. Um so this is just bringing us it's eventually at some point in time going to be industry standard and because we have the funding available, we're looking to get ahead of the game here and get everybody up to speed with um what's going to be coming down the pike very soon.
All right, thank you. And Cindy, you've got your hand up. Is that from last time or this time? Sorry, forgot to put it down. Sorry. Okay. Uh any questions on that for anybody? All right. So, if no questions, if entertain a motion.
So, moved. Second. Second. Thank you. Any other further discussion on this item? Nope. Okay. We'll do a roll call. Q. Morton. I l pardon me. Ali. Gary. Yes. Duncan. Got a
background noise. I don't know. Duncan. Hi. Thank you, Cindy. Cindy Brown. I Zack Zach Lew. I Christopher Christopher. I'm sorry, I didn't hear that.
Mr. Thresher. Hi. Thank you. And Karen Rosan. Thank you. Uh, all right. So, the third transfer is from the police department. It's for 13,283.15 and it is from the police department professional to police department
replace equipment. Um deputy, I'll let you do a brief explanation on that as well. Sure. So along with the firearms, we need holsters for those firearms to reside in while we're carrying them around. Myself and three other individuals went up to New Hampshire up to Sig Sauer to fire
these firearms. And then while talking to the individual up there, we used to work with one company for our holsters. It seemed kind of um the quality wasn't there. They broke a lot. A lot of agencies were having difficulty with it. So we were looking at other agencies to go with or other u organizations to go
with for their holsters. And this organization is the organization we picked to it's a more robust holster. It'll hold up. It's a lot more sturdy. Um but this is what that transfer is for just for the holsters for the firearms. Great. Thank you. Any questions for the deputy?
Uh, someone's got the I just have a I I just have a brief comment. In speaking with the chief a few months ago, one of the one of the one of the things that that I believe you're trying to do, Deputy, is to unilaterally
have all the firearms in all of the vehicles and with all of the um the officers have the same stuff. I mean, I guess that's the only way to put it. right now, or at least in in the in the not
too distant past, there was a variety of different firearms in in a variety of different vehicles on a variety of different and there was no uniformity there. there was uh and and so this is a way of just upgrading it not only to uh state police standards but just in
general so that when an officer comes from the south end to pick a place to the north end they know that if they need to pick up something they're dealing with the same firearm or holster or whatever it might be is is that a fair and accurate
statement that is sir yep it was primarily with our rifles before um there was some people that had their own rifles and things with our training, we train to a certain standard and that standard is met. Um we need everything standardized like you said so that way if something
unfortunate does happen we're able to switch equipment easily and quickly and still get the job done and not have somebody try to figure out how to use a piece of equipment when the time is necessary to use it. So um yeah that's exactly what's going on. Thank you. Okay, fair enough. Thank you. Sure.
Absolutely. Thank you. Go ahead, Zach. You've got your hand up. Yeah, just out of curiosity, um, for the holsters, and I I guess this this question is a a little bit late, but also for the previous firearms, how long was the previous models used, and kind of how
long do you expect this replacement to last? We estimated that I was here when the last uh firearm switch happened. It was about eight years ago. Um, we're looking for these to hopefully last a little bit longer than that um so that we don't have to go
through this again. Um, the longer the better in my my opinion. Yeah. No, that's a long time. Just just curious. Thanks. Sure. Absolutely. Go ahead, Cindy. Uh, one one other uh question. Um, is there uh a tradein
allowance on these? Like what what happens to the what happens to the uh firearms that you currently have? Sure. I'm glad you brought that up. So the price, this price that you're seeing, although it is quite expensive, our old firearms are being sold back to the
company. Um, so that defers the cost of buying the new firearms, it does cut it down substantially. Um, so those will be going back and they'll be they'll in essence be buying them from us, but for a credit for the new firearm. Yes. Is it like 10% 20%. I mean, how about how much
of a credit do you get towards it? Uh, um, I could do the math real quick. I'm trying to figure it out. No, no, no. I was just curious as to how much how much they're worth, how much the residual value is uh to be put towards the It's in the tens of thousands of dollars range. I'm not exactly sure the exact
number. I could get it for you if you'd like, but it's going to take me a little bit. That That's fine. Thank you. Interesting. Thank you. Any other questions for deputy? Karen, I have one question. I just can't find the hand. Um, is this part of is this built into the normal
operating budget for the police? Is or is this above and beyond what we needed for equipment in this line item? I want I just like going forward. Is that built in? This isn't normally something we budget in. We we don't expect to change out firearms. It's just that with with all the changes that are coming up,
especially at the MPTC with training requirements that we thought it beneficial to do this now while funding was available. This is not something that we would normally budget for and not something that we would normally want to do. Okay, I'll make a motion to approve it.
Second. Second. Yeah, second. Thank you. Any other discussion on it? No. Gotcha. Cindy, you did. All right. I go for a roll call. Hugh. Hugh. Morton. I Gary. Yes. Duncan. Duncan. I Cindy Cindy
Brown. I Zack Zach Lew. I Christopher Christopher Thrasher. I thank you and Karen Ross. I Well, thank you, Deputy. We appreciate you coming to explain these. Um, thank you very much. Not a problem. Thank you so much. Appreciate this. Thank you so much.
All right. So, we will continue on. The fourth item, um, is the library. It's $23,000 even going from the library's personnel to library repair and maintenance. And the instruction says
due to staffing changes and temporary staffing shortages, the library did not use the entirety of the personnel budget. I believe someone from the library is or was with us. Did I see somebody here? Yep. Bonnie, thank you. Thank you.
I thought I saw Bonnie, you're here. So, if you could introduce yourself and maybe give us an uh just discuss a little bit with what's going on with this what you're intending to use this funds for. We can't hear you.
No, we can't hear you, Bonnie. No, you're not on mute, but you have no sound. Wait, do you hear? Go like this. Nope. Still, still no sound, Bonnie.
Yeah, you got a point. Now it looks like mute. So mute can be cleared. Is that 10% chance? Can you clear that? I cannot. Um I can only mute someone. I cannot unmute someone. One way. It doesn't doesn't show that she's
on mute, does it? Yes, I see the icon. Oh, okay. I can't I can't see. Yeah, now it says unmute. Try it now, Bonnie. No, now it's showing mute. Yeah. Well, Bonnie, you have the option to um you
can call in. So, um if that might be easier, you can call in on the phone. Um if you go right to the town's website, there's the call-in information and then you can um communicate with us that way if you'd like to do that.
Uh, Laura has her hand up. Go ahead, Laura. You're on mute, Laura. Can you hear me now? Yes. Yes. Hi, I'm Laura Bennett. I am the chair of the board of trustees at the Westport Free
Public Library. Great. And Bonnie presented a proposal to the board at our latest meeting. She has presented it in the past, but now she with the extra funding that she has found in the budget, the unused portion,
she had the idea of purchasing study carols that are like separate booths, almost like phone booths that could be set up within the body of the library. And with that, it's a quiet space
available for one person. Uh, and she thought with the 20, what is it 23,000 or I don't have Yeah, around 23,000, right? That we could get two of them and put them back to back within the library. So, in effect, we're
creating two new study rooms without having to build an addition to the library. And we have a lot of requests for study space, um, which we can't always accommodate. The only quiet room we have is the local
history room and that's used a great deal. So this was a great idea. A number of other libraries in the state are using this. There is a model that she told all of us trustees to go see in New Bedford
in some new business center. So we're all in process of going to that. But we did vote to approve the purchase. It seemed like a great idea to increase our services, not blowing the budget because the money is there, been approved.
So that is what we're using it for. Thank you for the explanation. Um Ally, you have your hand up. I do. I do. So, a study corral, as I understand it, and when I went to uh college, was a little
cubicle with a little seat with a little area and a couple of bookshelves where people could stuff their books in. Question number one is that I I'm I find it hard to believe that each one of
those costs $12,000. Perhaps I use the wrong terminology. Okay. Um it's more like an enclosed soundproof space. More I haven't seen it personally. Bonnie described it. Uh, but
it's more like a soundproof phone booth that I think has a desk. Um, I imagine you could put a desk and a chair in there, but not like the study carols that I remember from school that were right. The carols, that's a better better term. Yeah. It looks like Bonnie
is back. Bonnie, can you you're still on mute. Could you see if you can unmute yourself and try to speak this time? But you are on mute so we can't unmute you.
No, no, you still unmute. Can you see on the bottom of your screen where you can unmute yourself? It's a little microphone. Yeah, you're still on mute. So Sorry. Were you not able to call in on the
phone line? Oh, there you go. Okay, she's dialing in now. So Laura, just just to get back briefly until uh and and you know until hopefully we have a connection. You're not talking about just a a simple little
desktop with a with a chair and a corral of some kind, but a soundproof room. A soundproof uh not room but but but yeah. Okay, Carol. All right. So, we'll we'll
see if she can get back in. So, and how many requests I'm sorry, Cindy. Just just very very quickly, how many requests is is is this a wish or a want or a need? I would classify it as a
need. I have been a library director in Rahobath for over 22 years. Mhm. Know I know when Bonnie is asking for something, she doesn't ask for anything frivolous. And we do need a quiet space.
We get sometimes many, many, many students coming over after school. Some are just hanging out with their friends, but some are looking for a quiet space to do homework. Okay. And we
don't have the space. and we don't have the quiet. So, Bonnie, is that your number, a 401 number? Okay. So, you're you're also on mute on your phone. So, you have to unmute yourself on the phone. So, it it should
be right there on your speak on your on your phone. It should be you should be able to unmute yourself. No, for some reason you're not being allowed to speak today. We're trying.
Your voice does not want to be heard today. Uh I have a question for uh Nicole uh regarding this uh item. I see Nicole is back on the line here. Uh Nicole, do they have to have an actual purchase order in hand for these funds
to be encumbered uh for June 30th? Right. It depends on how much they spend. Um 23 23,000 23,000. Yes, they would have to put a purchase order through. But the the items have to be purchased in hand
or ordered. So like they have to have an order form that says that they ordered it in June. Um if if the invoice if they don't get the invoice until July. Um, and then once they order, they have to put a purchase order through as well. And the purchase order will roll over um
the funds. Um, but we do have them fill out a form that says, I bought, you know, x number of dollars from all these different places. If there's a purchase order or not, they put it on the form so that I know what to roll forward uh into the next fiscal year.
Okay. I I I bring it all to be procured, right? But with 23,000, all we need is three quotes. Either written or three written quotes anywhere between 10 and 50. They need three written quotes. Oh, it's it's 23%
of all of it. Okay. Right. So I guess my my question to Laura I guess to Bonnie through Laura to some degree if if Laura you had indicated that you and perhaps some other library trustees were going
to visit uh a location where the these are um are displayed. Are you going to be in a position where you can order and have these things you with a competitive pricing within the next two weeks?
I I honestly don't know. I've been leaving the negotiations to Bonnie. Okay. I imagine she's been making her best efforts, but I don't know what stage it's at as of today. Right. And Bonnie
is is so frustrated at this point, I'm sure, because she can hear us and we can't hear her. So, um, anyway, so Bonnie, that that's something you're going to have to keep in mind if this committee moves forward with that. You're going to have to keep that in
mind that you have to have make sure you have the right paperwork to the town accountant prior to the end of June. And whether that's a a real purchase order or some documentation that you know that you've done the competitive
process if that's necessary. So, I I just wanted to bring it up because I know this isn't a common occurrence for the library to do this. So, I just want to make sure that you are aware what had to be done prior to June 30th. Okay. Yeah. And and and and I would just tag
on to what Cindy is saying. I don't think anybody is is opposed. It's about the process. And once you do the process for for this, if you deviate from the process, it it it it has a ripple effect
throughout um the entire town. So possibly Karen, and I am not looking for, you know, another another meeting before the end of the year, but maybe what we need to do is to get all the ducks in a row and just have a quick and
dirty approval or denial of of you know, the the the the uh the expense before June 30th. I'm just tossing that out. I don't know whether it's practical or makes sense, but it's
it just seems it's $23,000 on a $55 million budget. All right. So, I mean, we're not talking about, you know, big numbers. It probably makes sense, but it's about the process. That that's that's what I'm
concerned about. Oh, go ahead, Hugh. I have to say I sort of feel the same way as Al. It's not against it, but sort of a little bit of pig in the poke at the moment in terms of knowing exactly what's happening, etc. And one question I have at the back
of my mind, maybe others know better, is what effect is it going to have on the library in terms of other uses, location, etc. I'm sure it's not going to be like a couple of telephone booths at the entrance, but there's still a question
when you when you put something in, it takes space away from something else. Fine. But I don't don't think we know anything about that. Right now, as I understand it, Bonnie plans to remove a
desk that was a reference desk that really is not being used to any extent and putting the booths within that space where the desk was. Yeah, that's sort of my point. I think that's very helpful. So if so I I'm sort of with Al on this
in the sense that there's no reason I think it has to be done tonight. I'm not against it but that we do a very brief meeting next week week after when we have actually these this information to
look at. Oh okay. So Bonnie you're saying there are too many people with their mics open. Is that the feedback you're getting? Okay. So, if we if the rest of us mute ourselves, let's see if that works for you.
No, because we've never had that instance of a problem. Um, she is messaging messaging us Karen in the Oh, she Okay. Uh, I can't really read it. Let's see. Let me see. I can um I h I have all the
information for Nicole. There are too many people with their mics open. Okay. And Google says it's unmuted on her end, so that's frustrating. Okay. Well, that's unfortunate, but sometimes that
happens. I don't even see that. I don't even see that message. I don't know where Oh, you you don't see her messages? No, I see a message that says there are too many people on the mics open. Then before that it says um yes, I
do have all that information for Nicole. Okay. Uh six minutes ago, Google says it's un it unmuted me. I'm not sure what is happening. Okay. Um so she said that she does she does have a purchase order. Okay. Yeah. I'm inclined to make a
motion to vote on this and and here's the reason why. I think that, you know, the library is kind of unique where they get state funding and they have uh state aid from libraries. They have to meet that minimum. And if they feel that this is a program that will enhance that, I I
I don't know that we should probably uh maybe delay that for for them. I think that they, you know, they they said that they've looked at other libraries. Maybe maybe we're one of the few libraries that are doing this. Um you know, I I think it's positive. Uh, and so I
wouldn't want to hinder that for the library. Um, you know, as long as it's not disruptive to other members that are there. I think that's the only concern that I would have. I to I totally agree with you, Gary. Totally. We We should not be fooling around with this. All right.
I'll make a motion to I'll make a motion to approve it. I'll second the motion. Okay. Great. Any further discussion? Nope. All right. Great. Um All right. So, I will do a roll call. Q. Uh, you Morton, you're on mute. Morton,
I ali. Gary, yes. Duncan, Duncan, I Cindy Cindy Brown. I Zack.
Zach Lew. I Christopher Christopher I. That was an I. And Karen Rose. Great. Thank you. All right. Well, Bonnie, we hope to next time we meet, you'll figure out your technology. Thanks for trying.
Thank you. Thank you for Laura for jumping in. So, thank you for being here. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Okay. So, the next transfer is going it's $13,000. It's going from
employee benefits health insurance to the beach enterprise personnel services and it says to fund the lifeguard payroll for the remainder of fiscal 25. Uh I believe Sean Leech is here. So this one's a little bit different because
each of the previous transfers were within its own department going from personnel to expenses. So they were within their department. this one is is looking to uh get gather some funds outside of their department to use for
the department. So Sean, you are here. Can you I think we may have some of us may have read the shorelines article that discussed this, but if not, I'll let you um talk about this. Okay. Uh Sean Leech, I'm the chairman of the
beach committee. Uh as you know we we run a a different type of uh operation where our revenue comes in calendar year as opposed to fiscal year and as do our expenses. We run you know we open up typically we open up in June and we
allocate the money the year before hoping that you know we guess right for the next year essentially. So last year we gave a significant raise because we had to to attract lifeguards to the lifeguards. uh most of about 40% increase
in the basically the cost of the lifeguards. And then we had a couple of other expenses that kind of took us back a little bit. One was the pipe and clothing monitoring that went from 8,000 to 12,000. Uh and basically we got to a
point where we just ran out of money. And because it was last year's budget, not this year's town meeting, uh we built it in for next year. Uh, so you won't have to see me again next year. But in order to open up, which we did last Saturday, and fully staff until the
beginning of the first school year when the funds will be available on July 1st, uh, we need this money, and it was suggested or recommended that we we take it from this from the town administrator. Uh, I know it's kind of an unusual thing. We do have an
enterprise fund uh, that funds our entire operation. Uh but at this point because of the increase in salaries and whatnot, we just basically ran out of money in order to open up for two and a half weeks prior to the fiscal year starting on July 1st.
Thanks, Sean. So, I just have a I have a question first. So, from reading the the article in the Shorelines and it it sounds like it was last fall's overtime, right? So, it was last season, correct? Well, you've known
about this budget overage for quite some time, right? Uh up to a certain point where we got the contract for we were expecting to transfer from basically expenses to personnel. We thought we'd have enough money in the expense left over in the
expense items to change it over from expenses to personnel. Uh we didn't. We had to get a new lifeguard chair which Diamond Regional Vocational built it. But the cost of the materials, aluminum, believe it or not, uh I'm not sure if it was due to anything other than the cost
was $3,000 to build a lifeguard chair, which is what I thought was fairly expensive, but it is what it is. We needed the chair. And then additionally, there was some training required at the beginning of this year uh for the lifeguards uh which even though it was only three
hours, it basically ran $1,000. So, you know, pennies make dollars, and it added up, and we saw that we had about $6,000 left total for this year's budget. Uh, and we just would we made a decision either we
asked for this transfer or we just wouldn't open up until the week before July 1st. Right now, we did open. We have paid for essentially four days. uh to this not go through. We're just going to not open up until basically the last week in June.
We didn't know about this. I guess the answer to your question is yes, we did know about this come about February when we looked at when we go for the budget for next year and we're trying to figure out where we could get the money from transfer. So, is there not funds in your enterprise fund that can pay for this?
Yes, there is. And I think I believe there is and I think Nicole can verify that and that's what we you know for next year obviously we upped all our uh amounts for personnel to cover this particular overage but uh it's my understanding we've had to transfer from
the health care. I don't know why we couldn't transfer it from the enterprise fund. I think there is help available. Okay Nicole is here and she has her hand up. So Nicole maybe you can help help answer that question for us. So the retained earnings that get certified every single year when we certify free
cash can only be allocated at town meeting just like free cash. So the only place we can fund the enterprise fund for this shortfall is from some other department. And that's what we did. We took that
some uh a small amount of excess money in our health insurance line and we gave it to the beach so that they could fund these uh salaries because it was not brought to my attention before town meeting so we couldn't put it on the warrant. Right.
And I think that's goes back to my first question that it sounds like we knew of that that it could have been on the town warrant and it could have stayed within the beach enterprise without having to come out, right? I'm just I'm just trying to Yes, we could have we could
have taken it from retained earnings at town meeting, but we it wasn't I didn't discover it and it wasn't brought to my attention prior to when the warrant was uh being done, but again, the warrant was closed back in January and this
wasn't discovered until February. So, we could have made some changes, you know, uh, after that, but it just didn't work out that way. Right. The the warrant wasn't closed until April for transfers. So, Right. Right. No, January. It was,
like I said, it wasn't it wasn't brought to my attention to make sure that it was in my transfer numbers. Um, yeah. So, hopefully next year, um, it'll be better. It's going to be better for sure. Yeah, we definitely we definitely set it up.
The the other thing that I noticed too is there's two other things that that caused this was one is the stipens that weren't budgeted for uh that they get at the end of the season. And I'm 99.9% sure that the salaries that they are
starting with this season are with the increases um that we usually do July 1st. So that's also causing some of this. Mhm. Karen, can I ask a question? I can't I don't have the hand. So, um, hi
Sean. Uh, um, are we still having issues with competing with lifeguard salaries or hourly rates with like uh, Horseneck? Are we still having that problem and recruiting lifeguards? I I would think that no. Well, this year, no. The answer the answer to that short answer is no.
We are competing with the state uh, for lifeguards because they do pay more than we do. uh and we just can't keep up with them. We don't have the resources to, you know, chase that. And right now, I mean, early on in our enterprise fund, we always had a little bit of money left
over to play with. We're running at a point now where we're breaking even uh with cost and salaries as to what we're bringing in uh due to a decrease in the number of passes that we are selling. So, okay. And the question is, this
question is for Nicole. Um, do we have to get permission from the Department of Revenue to move money from the general fund to an enterprise fund? No, we don't. No, we don't. Okay. All right. Thank you. That's it. I make a motion to
approve it. Uh, one second. Um, no, go ahead. You can do that, but we can go into deliberation because there's more. There's someone else with a question. So, go ahead. Well, we have H have Yeah, Hugh has a question. Yeah, we'll go into if someone wants to second the motion, we can certainly go into deliberation with more questions. So, we won't go
right to a vote. I'll second the motion and then you can ask. Great. Thank you. We're in discussions now. So, go ahead, Hugh. You you're on mute. You Oh, he's muted. You're muted. Uh you Sean I understand that Sean and his
colleagues are sort of flailing around falling short of this looking in the in the couch to see if they had some extra knowledge and so forth and by the time they came to the conclusion that these other things weren't going to work. It wasn't all that long ago. Yeah. Had it
come to their attention earlier, it should have got on the warrant come out of the stables. made out of the enterprise fund etc. But hindsight is great and rather than stiff the beach for a couple two or
three weeks in June, I think it's a it's a reasonable thing to let it go ahead if technically you might find of the procedure. I think the end result is reasonable. Thank you, Hugh. Um yeah, I just want to just add to the discussion. So, um, you
know, I I don't want to stand in the way of not having the beach open fully or having lifeguards there, but I think this this just definitely did come a little late. And Sean, I think for whatever reason, we never got you scheduled to come in for the our budget
season. And so maybe this would have come up in when you if you would have come in front of us in the February time frame. So, let's just put a note on our calendar to make sure that you get yourself scheduled to come in and talk about your budget so we're all um
cognizant of what's happening because we might not we might have heard heard from your challenges um if you came in to see us back then. I I I I don't disagree with that at all and I apologize for this this inconvenience. Uh it wasn't just a
certain item. There were a couple items that all of a sudden came in like the lifeguard chair and uh the increase for the autobond to monitor the beaches was kind of a sticker shock. So we ran through a lot of our expense items that we did transfer at town some of the things we did transfer at town meeting
but uh yeah I mean I'm at the mercy of the town in this particular point and uh the committee kind of understood that and we did find out kind of late to get it on the warrant article. So, I don't know. Next year, uh, with the help of town administrator, we made sure we
budgeted plenty of money because we just wanted to make sure, you know, if something comes up again, we're we're ready. I I don't like asking for any more money than we have to. And, you know, the enterprise fund does have a a
small bank account left, but like I said, we are running right now, we're running 400 passes lower than we are were last year at this time. Uh we're hoping that's a weather thing, but we have noticed that there has been precipitate drop off in the number of fasts. Great. All right. Thank you. Um
Zach, go ahead. You've got your hand up. Yeah, I would just say I'm in total support of this and honestly, as a as a citizen of the town, one of the things I'm proud of is our beaches. Um it's it's quite awesome. When the the
increase in the beach pass went from the 35 to the 50, I was like, I would pay more because our beaches are beautiful and I I enjoy it. But just like not seeing the you on the budget meeting and just out of personal curiosity, I am
wondering I know you mentioned that the the pass count was down, but have you seen a positive um impact on the increase of our beach passes? because I know the number was getting pretty pretty high there in terms of how many passes were sold. How has that impacted
um your your funds? Okay. So, for you know, right now we charge $50 for non senior citizens. Uh you know, senior citizens get I believe 25 uh charge 25. We are an aging town, so we're having a
twofold attack here on our beach revenue. Uh I hate to say it, you know, I can type now my senior citizen path. Uh uh but you know, we are seeing, you know, a dent where people getting older, they're paying half as much as a regular
pass. And we are seeing that some people when we increased aren't getting the multiple passes you usually get in a household, you know, where you may get four, you may get three. and you know a teenager for instance may say
well I don't know if $50 is worth it uh for the number of times I go down there I'm not sure what the year the revenue is about the same because although we increased each passes by about 25% we're down about 25% in the number of passes
and this year I checked with Carla at the county clerk's office just the other day we're down about 400 which is unusual because all this money now until July 1st goes to the fund. That's when we sell usually the most passes. We were up to 4600 passes give or take during the
pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, we sold 2,700 passes to give you an idea how much we jumped up during the pandemic. Now we're dropping down to the 4,000 range and we're at 3,000 right now uh for this particular year, which is below.
And I I don't I I I I want to attribute it to the lousy weather we had in the whole I was hoping the cooler weather was kind of a reason for that and it'll ramp up here pretty soon because it has been chilly. So we're hoping that's the case anyway. Okay. Thank you. Great. Al, go
ahead, Sean. And pardon me. Th this goes for I believe any department within the town. So, we're talking to you right now, but I'm I I I I I think it's applicable. I always looked in my business at a
three-year rolling average. I didn't look at pre and and when when your point about, you know, COVID, precoid, after COVID, whatever the hell it might be. I really do believe that we need to smooth out the curve a little bit and not just look at what might be
the uh the number of tickets or what not tickets but but uh permits in in in in this particular case and and really just look at at at a broader spectrum a little bit to see what is really going on rather than the spikes in the valleys
and and and whatnot. So this is a comment. This is not an indictment. It's not a uh you know you got to do this that and the other but it's it's just a thought. Just a thought. Yeah. I think I think a lot of the things I've noticed
and I'm probably the police uh Lieutenant Rebel was here. Uh we've noticed that people when the passes were really cheap when they were $25 people bought them and they may go once or twice a year and but they bought the
pass anyway. Now we're seeing a trend where like uh or they don't care and they go down and take a chance get getting ticketed in the evening to go for a quick swim or go fishing or whatever the case may be because we get a lot more tickets. Uh
and people I've seen people ask the police while I was standing there, how much is the ticket? And they go, it's $50. So I Well, that's cheaper than you can't take a family afford to the movies for, right? you know, and and it's $35 to go to Horsene Neck. So, are you going
to go to Horsene Neck or spend an extra $15 to go to Cherrywood Beacon? And we think we know what the answer is right there. And that may be the one or two times families in town or whatever the may be. And so, we don't know if the the I mean, this year we'll get a better
idea. And it's hard to judge because if we had a really hot summer, I would guarantee that that number would creep over July and August. It depends on You're dream as of today. You're dreaming about that one. But but it's May was so horrible. We think
that's the problem on Memorial Day. The town clerk's office just gets delused with requests for passes. And this year, Carla was waiting on that Friday before Memorial Day. They've been that the town clerk's office. I got to give them all the credit in the world. It takes a couple of days to get the pass to you,
but what they do is they email you a temporary pass like immediately. So you can go to the beach, put that in your windshield, and you won't get a ticket. That Friday before Memorial Day, that didn't happen. Yeah, that's unusual. That's when most people are running, you know, I forgot to get my pass and it
didn't happen. I don't know. We're looking at the trend to see if, you know, the pandemic was the top of the curve and it's not sliding the other way. And we're also looking at number of senior passes versus number of I regular passes I guess I'll call because uh that
could be part of it also. So I think I'm right but I'm pretty sure I think I'm not you're talking about the pass for web 50 bucks for the season I believe. Correct. And I think the figure you put a horse neck is the daily charge right?
Correct. So you might make an emphasis of that if people are thinking about 35 versus 50. It isn't unless it's just a one day deal. Now you can get a uh I think I think it's 45 for the the DCR pass and in a senior citizen I think
it's free. Pretty close. Yeah. Free or $10 something like that. Had very little money to go to any DCR park. Uh so but I think more people I mean if you've been to Horsene neck and you go to Cherry Web there's a night and day difference
quality of the beach. Uh and people like the family atmosphere of Cherry and Web obviously and they liked you know having the town beach. They did I think it is the number one recreational and asset jewel of the town of Westport. I mean
everybody wants to go to that beach and I think you know we're preserving it as best we can. And I think uh we've done a lot in the last few years. We actually acquired a piece of beach with some of our enterprise fund money last year. Uh we picked up a 54 section. May not seem
like much, but it was 10 grand. Uh and we're hoping to keep continuing that with our enterprise fund. The problem is I think we're running now and it won't be long before we have a deficit and we have to figure out how to figure
some revenue streams. Well, actually the interesting revenue stream would be um parking tickets from the beach could be allocated towards the beach fund. I mean that would be you know and they should jack up the price of the parking ticket
uh particularly on the weekends. I mean it should be $100. Um um so they should, you know, jack that up and, you know, maybe that's something that's worth discussing with the select board going forward that uh those revenues could um
could could be applied towards the uh beach account. But anyway, just I would put that on your pad. We've been talking about it. Yes. Yeah. All right. So, let's uh let's get back to our transfer. So, we have a motion and a second and uh any other conversations on this
transfer? If not, we can go to a roll call. All right. Uh Hugh Martin. I l Al Le. Gary. Yes. Duncan Duncan Law. I Cindy Cindy
Brown. I Zack Zach Lew. I Christopher Christopher I. Thank you. And Karen Rose. All right. Thank you. All right, Sean. Well, thank you for uh coming in, your patience, and uh hopefully we'll talk to you about a budget sometime next
year. Definitely. All right. Thank you. Thank you. All right. See you later. All right. So, uh those were the five transfers that that were presented to us earlier. And uh we have one more that
Nicole sent to us earlier today. Um I have not actually looked at it. I forwarded it to everyone, but I didn't look at it yet. Um, so this was a transfer that just came to to us today, and I'm trying to
open it up. It is uh from the veterans veterans benefits of $2,23248. It's looking to go from the veterans benefits to veterans personnel services. And it says to fund the short in the
salary line for contractual obligation. Um I'm not sure uh Nicole um can you give us a little insight on this and the so let me just say to the committee um we have the option to either um discuss
and vote on it tonight. We have the ability to do it before the select board. Uh so we don't have to be in a particular order. Um, but it's our choice if we wanted to also put this off uh if if it's not urgent and reconvene in another meeting. So, we have some
options. So, Nicole, can you give us a little insight on this? So, I was going over the budgets like I usually do on a bi-weekly basis. And this one I for some reason because her salary line item is
basically her whole salary. I really didn't look at it, but in her contract, she is allowed to take either a comp day or a paid day. So, this would be an extra paid day over and above her salary
for working Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and uh Fourth of July. So, because of all the extra hours she worked for Memorial Day, she chose to get paid out the extra day. So when I looked at it and I'm I said, "Hey, she's not budgeted for that
because her salary is her budget." I noticed that her contract, which was signed last June, June of 2024, was $2,000 higher than what was budgeted. And I hadn't noticed that. And
so that's where the 2,000 comes in. And then the the $282 and change is for that one day, eight hours. Um I I apologize. Carol apologized today. We all went, "What? It's not in the budget." We're
like, "Wait a minute. That's not right." I mean, we could have swung the $200 somewhere, but the 2,000, you know, um and this shortfall will go into place with the next payroll. we there's not
enough in there to cover her payroll for uh June 27th. So, the thing is is if it's not approved tonight by I mean either way, she's going to have a short budget. Um the select men are not meeting again until
July 7th. Um if you so choose, you can approve it on uh July 7th. I mean July 8th, which would be the next night after they approve it. But that would mean you would have to meet out of context because that's the first Tuesday of the
month. Or is it the second Tuesday of the month? No, it is the second Tuesday of the month. Okay. So, it is the second Tuesday. But yeah, so but the problem is is we would we can't not pay her. So, we would have to run her budget negative until that happens. Yeah. So, um, just
just, you know, I'm very sensitive to salary and I just want to say if we push it to a July 8th and then we don't have a quorum, we're in a lot of trouble, right? And so, we're all here right now. Um, so for someone's salary purposes, I
wouldn't want to put something on the line uh, and we're all away on vacation or something happens and um, then then we don't have a quorum to approve it. So, I I wouldn't suggest that wouldn't be my first suggestion of what to do. Um, so I'm sensitive to that.
So it Nicole, it sounds reasonable to me. Um, I I don't have any issue with it now that you explain it. I don't have any I don't personally don't have an issue approving it before the select board. Um, since you're saying it's contract and uh that that is what it is.
Yeah. And whether you guys approve it first or the select board approves it. Um, I mean, historically they have approved it first and then you guys, but there is no um there's nothing in writing that says who has to approve it first. It just has to be approved by both of you.
Oh, I see lots of hands up. Okay, I'm going. Nobody's speaking. Who's first? Al, go ahead. And then you next. I I'm I'm I'm just trying to do the math here in in in my head. We've got 2500 bucks plus or minus, what
whatever it might be. How many days are we looking at to uh to to to backfill the payroll? Um that's it's just the one day. It's one day. Well, it's the $2,000 which is shorted in her salary. So, her salary
increased in June of 2024 as of July 1st. What was budgeted for fiscal 25 was $2,000 less than what was in her contract as of July 1st. Okay. So, there's the $2,000. There's the $2,000.
And then the other 200 and change is for one day. Bingo. Okay. Nope. Nope. No more. No more. Yeah, that that that answers my question. It was it was where the $2,000 or plus or minus came from and and and
you answered it. Thank you. Thanks, Al. Go ahead, Hugh. I just going to say clearly an oversight. That's these things happen. Not a major problem. Lady's entitled to the money. Perfectly clear. And thank you, Nicole, for the explanation. I see no reason to postpone
it. Nothing's going to change in the meantime. We understand. and all of whether the the quorum or this or that. Sure, but there's no reason to go that far. So, I know it's inappropriate for a motion while we're discussing it, but I don't see any reason not to approve it
right now. Yep. Agree. Go ahead, Zach. And then, Cindy, motion to approve. There you go. He's calling the question. I I have one I have just one quick question for you, Nicole. Have you verified that the
salary for FY26 was budgeted correctly? I have not, but that is my first agenda tomorrow morning. Um because I was out yesterday and I had a short day today and I have been working on the chart of accounts for our new accounting system.
So um but yeah, that is definitely on my list tomorrow morning to start by 26. just in case when she submitted her budget, she just added the 3% or whatever it was to whatever she saw in
her budget last year. So, if you could just double check and make sure that we'll I'm going to go through and look at everybody's contract and then look at the they just approved the 3% non-union, right, last night. So, I have like a
sheet that I make up with all the pay rates and like the bi-weekly pay and all that stuff. So, um that's on like the agenda as soon as I get the last file over tonight to um Zobrio for the new program. Yeah, that's f that's fine.
Just Yeah, heads up on that. That's all. Yep. Uh I think I did I second Zach's motion? If I didn't second, I'll second Zach's motion. Okay, awesome. Any further discussion? Zach, did you have anything else to add or were you No, that was it. I guess I
should have phrased it correctly. And that's okay. No, that's terrific to the point. All right. So, uh, with no further no further discussion, I'll go to a roll call. Hugh. Hugh. I L Elli.
Gary. Yes. Duncan. Duncan. Law. I Cindy. Cindy Brown. I Zack Zach. I Christopher Christopher Rasher I thank you and Karen Rouse I All right. So that is the
transfers. Uh okay. Um the other items on the agenda was to approve minutes except I realized today that they were never circulated to anyone. So we're going to have to pass on approving the minutes of April 2nd and May 8th because those were not
distributed. I think um they were distri April 8th 22nd. So anyway, we're passing on those. Um Karen, did you take minutes of the May 2nd? Uh they're in my brain. So um yeah, we didn't really discuss
much. I'll jot them down. Yeah. So we don't we had one motion and Yeah. So I've got them in my brain. I'll jot them down. Um and so so we just carrying carrying the regular agenda. If there's anything of substance that uh item three which is
any committee allay us on updates if anyone has anything to add or discuss. Um I I will only bring Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Zach. I don't mind waiting. I'm just Oh, okay. I I guess um in in watching the select
board meeting this week, it reminded me uh when they had the auditor to uh come in, had I updated the committee on the audit committee um the findings of the audit? I believe that I did. Yes. Yeah. When when a while ago, right? Back in
way back in February. All right. All right. All right. So, that's I just All of a sudden I realized that maybe I did or maybe I didn't. So, that's fine. You did. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I have I have no other committee liaison um to report. Nor nor do I right now. I'm sure
there'll be more. You know, there there's there's as as we know the Kirk Fluffle with the new uh maritime uh committee, you know, shellfish and and and har master things. So, I I I'll
square up with with them sooner than later, but right now, let let them do their thing for the summertime. Yep. Perfect. Zack, did you have your hand up for this one? Okay. Go ahead, Zach. I'm kind of
excited because I don't have a huge uh load when it comes to the the committee meetings, but we've got some great news from the energy committee meeting. Um, is anyone familiar with the green communities grant that we had to electrify
um the the town hall? So, we're we're in motion here. Um, definitely a huge thanks thanks to uh Miss Stanley and and Jim Hartnett for all the work they did behind the scenes to to get this moved forward. Right. The long story short of
this project is to get AC um into the the town hall by means of mini splits of course. Um we when we first did a couple analysis of the building, there was a speestous found in the tiles. So we had to go through a specimen abatement. And
I mean I've got a huge list of notes here if you can see that. I'm trying to to make it short, but um finally our hard workers at the town hall should be cool. Um in the summer, unfortunately, I don't think it's going to quite kick in for this summer. There's there's like a
6 to8 uh lead time. Our meeting was on 64. Um so there is a lead time for the equipment. been working with Q um which basically you know helps set up the project and get the equipment
installed. Um we're hoping to kind of complete our install by October, but we won't be able to fully commission the equipment until we get into a heat cycle that we'll have to really use it. Um, so long story short, next
year by the summertime we'll be a lot cooler in the town hall and for the hard work and tight budget that everyone this is nice small but huge and that's been years in the making, right?
Yeah. Yeah, it was multiple years ago in the asbestous um that was discovered in this in the floor tile because you know you think of mini splits where's the but it was lines that are going to come through the floor right um so that was
discovered and again there was there was a huge um you know effort on Kathleen Stanley and and Jim Hartnett's part to go through that whole piece um and I mean I don't want to speak to it too much because I you know I'm paraphrasing
the intricacies of this, but the the ultimate goal is um with some net metering credits, we hope that the the additional electricity cost of the equipment, the the mini splits, the HVAC equipment um will actually be cancelled
out. Um and there was also a little bit more on updating how we're being able to track our net metering credits. um we can now use our energy net medium credits that I think we were banking um
and not store them towards the the the electricity bill. So hopefully our electricity bill will be decreased or or you know zero and we'll we'll have uh the electrification project started and
completed by October finally commissioned and all set next year when they can fully test the system. Uh Zack uh Kathleen Stanley has been such a huge asset to the town. I mean, she really knows her way around finding
money and finding grants for all sort sorts of projects here. Um, you know, regarding uh, you know, green green grants, uh, throughout the town. I mean, she did it the high school. She's done it for other buildings in town. I mean,
she's really been um, she's really been great a great asset. And it's not easy, right? There's so much red tape with this and it's such a lengthy process. competitive. I mean, it's very competitive. Yeah. So, it was it was a great meeting
because we don't meet that often and we don't usually have great news. It's normally updates on this. This was like the culmination of work for for many years and um just just good news. That's awesome. That's great. Thank you. That's great
great update, Zach. Thank you. It's good to have good news. Yeah. Uh great. Does anyone else Nicole Nicole has your hand? Oh, go ahead, Nicole. Well, I just have a question for Zach since he's on the energy committee. Has
the energy committee at any time that you've been there discussed anything about the electric charging stations at the town hall in the annex? Yeah, we have. And we've looked into um there's type two and type three chargers. Um
basically they require more consumption for the type three but it's faster. Um I think we are seeing use on the chargers that we have. Um currently I think we're on a
little bit of a standill um until we we get more information on the chargers. So, I had sent a memo probably a year, year and a half ago um because we had received at one point a bill for the
from Eversource for the charger at the annex that we did not know and they had not sent us in like three years and it was close to $8,000. So, we had Kathy Stanley and I had looked into the fact that we don't
charge anybody for use of these chargers and they get a lot of use all summer long. So, I had sent a memo regarding um you know what we can charge and what we can't charge and a decision to be made and I know the selectman had passed it
on to the energy committee. Um so, I didn't know if that was something that was possibly on their agenda for their next meeting. if you think I should send another memo. No. So, I think this was a meeting or two ago that we discussed this. Um, there was a feedback loop
between when we established the chargers and a period of time that we didn't have to worry about that cost and actually getting the bill um from Eversource. It kind of had had built up during this feedback loop. And correct if anyone
knows this further correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding was that we can charge our cost um for providing this electricity but no more otherwise we'd be acting as a power company. So we
did establish um through through a service that that these chargers um will will charge people to use it but only at the cost to us. Does that sound right, Nicole? Uh, I have not gotten any feedback from the
energy committee at all regarding these. Um, but we can charge. So Kathy Stanley and I had discussed charging like whatever the kilowatt hour per kilowatt hour that we are charged ourselves by Eversource, but we can also charge um
additional fees for hooking up or for staying on the charger too long because we've had we've had cars parked at the uh at the town hall on the charger like all day and it only takes like a half an hour to 45 minutes to fully charge a car no matter what size it is. So, um, we
can charge like an over, you know, over the limit charges. There's different things that we can do. Um, but you're right. I mean, we could just charge, you know, what we get charged from Eversauce to recoup some of that cost. Um, because I have yet to add that new electric bill
to our net metering credits because, um, the six months will be up like in July where I need to redo the uh, calculation of the percentages for net metering credits. Okay. And it's still costing us about $7 or $800 a month.
All right. So, it sounds like it sounds like maybe you guys want to take this up as an energy committee. 100%. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. And and your name actually came up, Nicole, and you you also come up on the minutes um
from our last meeting, which was which was um Yeah. So, 5:22. I'm just looking at at the minutes here, but maybe we should um involve you in this and I'm seeing
Yeah. So, keep us in the loop. So, let's um we're we're we're get antsy here. It's almost 8 o'clock. Sorry. I can send you a copy of the memo, Zach, and then we can email. A good point. It's a great point. So, yeah. So, keep us in the loop, Zach. And
hopefully you guys can start uh charging so this way you can recoup the cost. So okay. Um anything else on committee on? Okay. If not, do am I missing any hands? I don't think so.
Nope. Okay. Um next item was correspondence. I have no correspondence. Uh the next item on the agenda was the next meeting and topics for next meeting. So, um, we're kind of in the quiet season. So, we can certainly meet um on July 8th, which is
the second Tuesday of the month. The the normal, uh, thing that we do at the first meeting is to to reorganize to to, you know, chair and vice chair and and that and kind of update our committees
and lay us. We can do that at the July meeting or we can do it at an August meeting. So, could we could we wait to see if the moderator is going to appoint a a new member? That would be a good idea. So, that is a good idea. We should
keep ning him a little bit to um get that done. That's a great idea because it it will be certainly easier with to have uh reallocate the committees with a full list. So, that's a great idea. So, um the date would be July 8th if that's
the meeting. If not, we'll push it off and and that's only not even two weeks away at this point. Yeah. Yeah. August. So, we'll skip July. Go to the beach. Get a beach pass. Buy your beach passes.
Go to the beach. Oh, yeah. I Yeah, I have a beach body. All right. So we'll uh we'll I'll I'll send you guys an email but it'd be the second Tuesday in August would be the plan then. Um okay so we will skip July.
Uh that is it for the agenda. Uh no topics other that came up in 48 hours other than the other than the uh the one we already discussed. So um motion anybody motion to adjurnn. Second. Second. Super. I will do a roll
call. Very nicely. Hugh. He's on mute. Hugh. Morton. Eye. Al. Al. Le. Thank you. Yes. Duncan. The lights are on, but nobody's home.
Yeah, he's still with us. Um, we'll see if you can catch up. Cindy, Cindy Brown, we can adjourn without him. We've got a quorum. Zack. Zach Brew. Hi, Christopher. Christopher.
Thank you. And Karen Ross. I Happy birthday, Al. Thank you. Happy birthday, Al. Thank you. All right. Good night, everyone. Thank you. die. I