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Hardwick Select Board: Event Policy and Project Updates
Original title: 9/23/24 - Hardwick, MA Select Board Meeting
These meeting notes are AI-generated and unofficial. They are provided for convenience and are not official Town records or approved municipal minutes. Verify all details using the source video and official Town documents.
Summary
The Hardwick Select Board convened on September 23, 2024, addressing a range of municipal issues. Key discussions included the ongoing challenges in financing a new fire truck and exploring grant opportunities, as well as the need for an updated post-community agreement to advance the 94 Main Street project. Significant time was dedicated to reviewing a new, extensive event form for activities on the Town Common, with residents expressing concerns about liability waivers and the burden on volunteers, leading to a decision to revisit the form. The Board also approved appointments to the Highway Department and the Healthcare Task Force, discussed the maturing Morse Scholarship CD, and addressed a critical issue with the town's non-911 compliant phone system, necessitating a new warrant article for funding. Various administrative updates, project statuses, and upcoming civic events were also reported.
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Discussion Highlights
- Resident Jeff Smith inquired about progress on recommendations for financing the fire truck, noting it was not on the current agenda.
- The 94 Main Street project has halted due to a state requirement for an updated post-community agreement, which differs from the town attorney's interpretation based on previous law.
- Resident Paula raised concerns about a new, extensive event form required for activities on the Town Common, citing its length, requirements (contacting multiple departments, tent payments), and a new waiver making signers personally responsible for injuries/bills.
- The Chair explained that such forms are standard in nearly all Commonwealth towns and are necessary to protect the town from liability, especially since town insurance would likely be involved regardless of a waiver.
- Event organizers expressed discomfort with being solely responsible for liability for community events like 'Trick-or-Treat' and 'Christmas on the Common,' with one speaker stating they would not sign such waivers.
- The Hardwick Fair representative detailed the significant burden placed on volunteers by existing event planning and how new requirements, such as door-to-door abutter notification, would add to this.
- The form's complexity was explained as an attempt to cover diverse event needs (e.g., dumpsters, police detail), but this complexity makes it cumbersome for smaller events.
- The possibility of a town department, such as Parks and Recreation, sponsoring events to cover liability, was discussed as a potential solution.
- Town officials reiterated their primary responsibility to protect the town from liability while also expressing a desire to support community events, clarifying that the new procedure was implemented out of necessity.
- The board currently 'okays' employment hires after internal processes involving investigation and background checks.
- A new, complex item like a 50-page contract requires more than 48 hours for proper review.
- All town phones were down for approximately three hours a week prior, and the current phone system equipment is at the end of its life and almost beyond repair.
- The town's phone system is not 911 compliant, meaning emergency calls from within town buildings cannot be precisely located.
- Legal counsel (KP Law) advised that while no illegal activity was identified, it is considered best practice for the Selectboard not to be directly involved in fundraising activities for the fire truck.
- Discussion centered on the significant cost of a new fire truck ($850,000) and the challenge of raising such funds, with a suggestion to aim for a lower amount ($200,000 - $450,000) to make it more palatable to voters.
- The Fire Department has consistently sought competitive grants for equipment.
- The current fire truck is the first of two vehicles needing replacement soon, highlighting an ongoing financial need.
- The town's Hazard Mitigation Plan has been approved by FEMA, opening access to grants, including the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant.
Transcript (11,112 words)
Lightly cleaned for readability. Each timestamp opens the video at that point.
- 00:00:03
Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America stands God indivisible and justice for thank you
- 00:00:23
Everybody hi have a SE good how are you I'll open discussion for visitor comments at this point so I I taking the gentleman no no goad okay just Jeff Smith thank you from upper Church Street um at a previous
- 00:00:41
Meeting uh Mr Tinker brought up a lot of recommendations about how the town might go about financing the fir Tru and I didn't see it on the agenda for tonight I haven't heard anything since so I was just curious if there's any action or inaction relative to those recomend we've been discussing it and actually
- 00:01:00
I'm going to bring it up during selectman round D awesome thank you thank you anybody else sir yes I'm Ezra pach I am a consultant for George Lang here who is doing the 94 main building of the canabas project at 94 Main Street and uh we just wanted to we
- 00:01:19
May need to be on the agenda to have a longer discussion period but we just wanted to inform the select board that the state has uh required an update dated post Community agreement and the town attorney is working on it and and George's attorney is working on it
- 00:01:38
As well um but we've stopped making progress on it because we're not sure whether to move forward on the project based on uh whether we can actually get a new contract so some contracts have have um spread out to many months
- 00:01:56
And delayed companies and so it's a risk it's a risk for for George and the money he's put into it so we're just bringing that to the board that uh in order for us to move forward on that project we should have a discussion on on just making sure that the poost community agreement is in line with what the state