Hardwick Select Board Advances Infrastructure, Budget, and Community Initiatives

[00:00:00] the 20th of May,
[00:00:02] 2025 and 27th of May. 27th of May.
[00:00:07] It's it's 2024
[00:00:10] 2025 at 6:30 p.m. on the petition of
[00:00:14] National Grid Verizon New England.
[00:00:17] Request permission to locate poles,
[00:00:19] wires, and fixtures, including the
[00:00:21] necessary sustaining and protecting
[00:00:24] fixtures along and across the public
[00:00:26] way, that being Charity Hill Road.
[00:00:30] This hearing is open and you sir I
[00:00:34] believe Ken Creel from National Grid
[00:00:38] and uh we're looking to install one new
[00:00:41] jointly owned pole on Charity Hill Road
[00:00:44] number 2-50 about 470 ft north of the
[00:00:47] center line of Old Petersham Road for a
[00:00:50] new service to Ewell School. Thank you.
[00:00:54] Anybody want to say anything about this?
[00:00:56] Anybody for or against?
[00:00:59] Mr. Chair, you'll see um that the
[00:01:01] butters were notified um and it was
[00:01:03] posted in accordance with the law.
[00:01:06] Okay. Thank you.
[00:01:13] Questions. Um just curious what
[00:01:16] construction's going on.
[00:01:19] Uh they're having underground primary to
[00:01:21] a pad. I believe they put a couple homes
[00:01:23] in there. Okay. This is for
[00:01:26] the Go ahead. Um, this is for the new
[00:01:29] construction. Uh, service will be
[00:01:31] entering off of Charity Hill Road,
[00:01:37] not too far off the big old. Okay. Y
[00:01:41] believe they're putting a driveway and I
[00:01:43] believe three homes. Could be four.
[00:01:45] Could be road. Correct. Four homes.
[00:01:47] Okay.
[00:01:51] Questions? All right. It's pretty
[00:01:53] straightforward as far as I'm seeing. Go
[00:01:56] ahead. No, I mean that's my question.
[00:01:59] Okay.
[00:02:00] Yeah. Actually, just the question I was
[00:02:03] going to ask just the four homes that
[00:02:04] are um that have been um I guess
[00:02:07] approved by the building inspector on
[00:02:09] Charity Hill Road. So, this is going to
[00:02:11] move a telephone pole I think just shift
[00:02:13] it over a little bit and then from there
[00:02:15] it'll run on to our lawn in one
[00:02:16] direction. Okay.
[00:02:22] Make a motion. Please make a motion to
[00:02:25] approve national grid the pole on Cherry
[00:02:28] Hill Road.
[00:02:31] I'll second that. All in favor? I I
[00:02:36] thank you, sir. We'll make sure that
[00:02:38] gets over to you as well.
[00:02:42] Visitors
[00:02:45] comments. Visitors.
[00:02:51] Okay. Uh, new business, discussion on
[00:02:53] vacancies on the master plan steering
[00:02:57] committee. I know that they were looking
[00:03:00] to bring down the number of people on
[00:03:03] the committee. Um, so we just had uh
[00:03:06] Devin and Owen Rudd has resigned from
[00:03:09] the committee. Um, so I just it's on
[00:03:11] here um just to accept their resignation
[00:03:14] and we can start posting to fill it. I
[00:03:16] haven't heard anything about them
[00:03:18] wanting to bring down the number, but I
[00:03:19] just wanted the board to know that uh
[00:03:21] two members have resigned from the
[00:03:22] committee.
[00:03:24] They have been uh suggesting a smaller
[00:03:27] number. There's 13 designated and 11
[00:03:31] would be easier to get the quarums on,
[00:03:36] but that would be a different issue. I I
[00:03:39] believe we addressed that phone, did we?
[00:03:41] Yeah. So, we're 11 now. Okay. Oh, you're
[00:03:43] right. That's a good point. Um, so this
[00:03:45] is two people uh from that 11 that's two
[00:03:47] people residing. So now we're down to
[00:03:50] nine. That's it. So I'd recommend
[00:03:52] somebody give me a motion to accept
[00:03:55] their resignation. I'll make a motion to
[00:03:58] for the master plan steering committee
[00:04:01] to accept the two Owen and Deon's
[00:04:04] resignation from that committee. I'll
[00:04:06] second. All in favor? I I
[00:04:10] vote to approve mowing contract for the
[00:04:12] cemetery commission to Lori Creier.
[00:04:17] Anybody here to speak about that?
[00:04:20] Um Paul here looking right at right. And
[00:04:25] so we sent out the um scope of services
[00:04:28] to three
[00:04:29] different
[00:04:31] businesses and um Lori Creger was the
[00:04:34] only one to
[00:04:36] respond. And um they have had the the um
[00:04:41] contract probably for the last four or
[00:04:43] five
[00:04:44] years and um if you look at their bid,
[00:04:47] their bid is the same as it was last
[00:04:49] year. They didn't go up in the amount.
[00:04:52] So, um, the cemetery commissioner met
[00:04:55] and opened up the bids and recommending
[00:04:59] to the selectman to accept the bid of
[00:05:02] Lori Creier. I think it's for $249.99,
[00:05:06] which is the same bid as last year,
[00:05:09] it's listed as $24,900,
[00:05:12] but we'll find the 99.
[00:05:15] Well, we could amend it right now like
[00:05:18] it. All right, we'll leave it.
[00:05:21] amendment. So, this is perfect. Okay.
[00:05:26] Yeah. Right. And so, the cemetery
[00:05:29] commission has no issues whatsoever
[00:05:32] accepting it. No. Okay.
[00:05:34] I'll move to
[00:05:36] uh award the contract to uh Lori Krebier
[00:05:41] to Mole
[00:05:44] uh at the Hardwood Cemetery and common
[00:05:47] area and common area fiscal year 26.
[00:05:52] So moved. All right. Second. All in
[00:05:56] favor?
[00:05:59] I you could ask question. Sure. Uh do
[00:06:03] you we're basically down to two members
[00:06:05] on our board trying to do the cemetery.
[00:06:08] So we're kind of looking for hoping that
[00:06:11] you have other people fill the third
[00:06:13] position or possibly have a couple more
[00:06:16] people that'd be interested in
[00:06:17] helping. It's a volunteer position that
[00:06:20] pays nothing and it takes quite a bit of
[00:06:22] work to do it all. So, we're you're
[00:06:25] asking us to go to the volunteer closet
[00:06:27] and
[00:06:30] or I know sometimes the town clerk used
[00:06:33] to keep lists of people that were
[00:06:35] interested or looking to help out, you
[00:06:36] know. Yeah. Sometimes it comes in on the
[00:06:38] census and stuff. Yeah. I figured I'd
[00:06:40] just put in our two bits there and we're
[00:06:43] doing what we can, but there's only so
[00:06:44] much we can do and because of our fiscal
[00:06:47] what we have, we only have so much money
[00:06:50] and we only have so much time. There are
[00:06:52] only two of you for Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah.
[00:06:55] And I work, so I That means I can only
[00:06:57] do it either in the evenings or on the
[00:06:58] weekend. And if the weather means it's
[00:07:00] raining, it means nothing gets done. How
[00:07:02] many uh seats normally on the
[00:07:05] commission? It's only been three for a
[00:07:06] while. Three. Okay. So, you're just
[00:07:09] missing one essentially.
[00:07:11] Benny uh Hansen resigned. Okay.
[00:07:15] Well, if you can find somebody, I mean,
[00:07:17] you'd be traditionally you'd be sending
[00:07:20] a letter asking us to appoint somebody
[00:07:23] you like. We can find somebody, but uh
[00:07:26] we'll all look together. Okay. Yeah.
[00:07:29] Doesn't pay anything, does it? No.
[00:07:31] Goodwill, a tan.
[00:07:34] A lot of people think we get paid and
[00:07:36] don't understand why we can't return the
[00:07:38] phone calls during the middle of the day
[00:07:40] when I'm at work and I
[00:07:43] can't help. You know what that's about.
[00:07:46] Thank you. You're welcome.
[00:07:49] Okay. Um discussion and vote on special
[00:07:52] event for a vintage softball game on
[00:07:55] June the 7th, 2025 at 100 p.m.
[00:08:02] Yes, we came with a poster.
[00:08:06] This is a poster of the event. Uh
[00:08:09] oldtime baseball. It's a Hardwick
[00:08:12] playing the U Westfield Wheelman from
[00:08:16] Westfield, Massachusetts. They'll be
[00:08:19] in antique period. Yeah. Vintage garb.
[00:08:24] It's free.
[00:08:27] And we'd like to have hot dogs and
[00:08:29] popcorn, which are traditional to uh
[00:08:32] baseball games. Uh served. Get to watch
[00:08:36] me embarrass myself.
[00:08:40] Yeah, I think she is.
[00:08:43] Can we keep that to hang up here? Sure.
[00:08:46] Great. Yeah. Thank you. They did get
[00:08:47] their signatures and uh Dr. Mott is here
[00:08:49] for the board of health. Dr. Mott is
[00:08:52] here for the board of health. Uh so
[00:08:55] um nothing's ever easy. Uh so uh the
[00:09:01] library organized a hot dog vendor
[00:09:05] uh for serving hot dogs at the game. Uh
[00:09:09] they apparently backed out once they
[00:09:11] discovered that the library wouldn't
[00:09:13] guarantee them 500 bucks fails. Uh so
[00:09:17] they had to switch to Mimi's. Uh Mimi's
[00:09:21] has filled out an application. Uh but
[00:09:24] there's some minor technical issue with
[00:09:27] it about how they're going to do the hot
[00:09:30] dogs and which kind of permit it is. The
[00:09:32] fee is the same for Mimi. So we're fine
[00:09:34] with that.
[00:09:36] Um I'm happy
[00:09:40] to sign off conditionally on it. I have
[00:09:43] to speak with the proprietor at meetings
[00:09:47] tomorrow to guarantee we understand how
[00:09:50] they're going to do the process or we
[00:09:52] have the right permitting for it which
[00:09:55] uh is to say it's it's all a
[00:09:57] technicality that I think is not really
[00:10:01] um critical to proceeding with the
[00:10:04] event. Okay. So if uh one thing the
[00:10:08] board wishes me to sign off on the board
[00:10:11] of health lines for the event, I'm
[00:10:13] willing to go ahead and do that now uh
[00:10:16] with the understanding of the uh
[00:10:19] contingency which is assumed to progress
[00:10:22] just fine. Okay.
[00:10:26] Okay. No issues. Thank you. Doctor, did
[00:10:28] you need me to
[00:10:34] Sorry. Make a motion.
[00:10:37] Make a motion to approve the special
[00:10:39] event for the vintage softball game on
[00:10:41] June 7th, 2025 at 1 p.m. I'll second.
[00:10:47] Further
[00:10:48] discussion. All in favor?
[00:10:52] I Okay.
[00:10:55] I'm going to do so good. Yes, you are.
[00:11:01] And so everyone come the home run derby.
[00:11:08] Okay. Um sewer project update.
[00:11:13] Okay. Can I have that?
[00:11:18] Mr. Chair, if that's fine, please. Okay.
[00:11:20] The update on the sewer project. The
[00:11:24] overall contract price is
[00:11:30] $27,728,500 and it's three projects.
[00:11:33] It's project one, Hardwick Road pumping
[00:11:35] station. Uh project 2A, which is
[00:11:38] Willight Wastewater Pollution Control
[00:11:41] Facility, and project 2B, which is
[00:11:44] Gilbertville Wastewater Control
[00:11:46] Facility. And each one of those
[00:11:49] projects, the first project, project
[00:11:52] one, which is Hudwick Road, that is 88%
[00:11:57] complete. The project 2A, which is
[00:12:01] Wheelright, that's 91%
[00:12:04] complete. And the project 2B, which is
[00:12:08] Gilbertville, that's 49% complete. So
[00:12:11] overall, they're at 69% complete. and
[00:12:14] they have a contingency fund of
[00:12:18] $1,956,000 which goes to upgrades and
[00:12:21] certain things. Um, and some of that is
[00:12:25] going for a potential, we haven't
[00:12:28] approved it yet, but it's an office
[00:12:30] facility at Gilbertville, a module
[00:12:32] office facility. Um, it's not like a
[00:12:36] trailer, it's a building. It's going to
[00:12:37] be laid on a foundation. It's going to
[00:12:40] be a separate structure. Um, and so out
[00:12:43] of that contingency, we've we've
[00:12:45] allocated about $1.2 million. We have a
[00:12:50] remaining 600,000 and some change, which
[00:12:54] one of the pending things is a um
[00:12:56] wastewater treatment facility, pumping
[00:12:58] station, right? The wheel right, which
[00:13:01] is also in the process. It was alternate
[00:13:04] number one
[00:13:06] and at big time it was $900 and
[00:13:09] something
[00:13:10] thousand and they re-engineered it. They
[00:13:13] value engineered it and now it's down to
[00:13:15] about $600 and something thousand. So
[00:13:17] they've saved over over $300,000 doing
[00:13:20] that. Um like I said, it hasn't been
[00:13:22] approved yet. It's in the final things,
[00:13:25] but that's where the contingency money
[00:13:26] and stuff like that has been. And that's
[00:13:29] pretty much the update right now. you
[00:13:32] have any questions? So with
[00:13:35] 38% not complete, what's the dollar
[00:13:38] value of that? The dollar value is
[00:13:42] remaining would be $8,72,000.
[00:13:48] So you
[00:13:49] have 600,000 free contingency on $8
[00:13:53] million yet? No, we have
[00:13:56] 1.9 right now on $8 million. Um, I
[00:14:02] thought I heard you said you committed
[00:14:04] that to an office though. No, I said the
[00:14:08] office and other other pro uh other
[00:14:12] change orders that are in here um is 1.2
[00:14:17] million of that 1.9 million contingency.
[00:14:22] So that leads you to the balance that's
[00:14:25] available as a true contingency because
[00:14:27] the 1.2 is committed now, right?
[00:14:30] It it's not 100% committed. No, they
[00:14:32] haven't signed off on it. They haven't
[00:14:34] improved it. But there's there's been
[00:14:37] proposed change orders. I I guess my
[00:14:39] point is I'm just asking if if you
[00:14:42] commit the 1.2 Mhm. and you have 8
[00:14:45] million left to build. Y you're left
[00:14:48] with 600,000 to as contingency to cover
[00:14:52] any problems in the 8 million. So less
[00:14:55] than 10%. Yes.
[00:14:57] And um is that a good way to go or
[00:15:01] should you really wait to commit on the
[00:15:02] office until you've closed out the 8
[00:15:04] million and know that you don't need any
[00:15:06] more money? Um I would say no because
[00:15:10] you you're going right to the end of the
[00:15:12] contract and they're going to be done
[00:15:13] and then they're going to be waiting for
[00:15:15] a facility that's going to take time to
[00:15:16] build cuz it's going to be all pre
[00:15:19] prefabbed in a factory and then
[00:15:22] shipped. So it's not going to be built
[00:15:24] on site. So, this is something that is
[00:15:27] is a a fairly not a long long lead item.
[00:15:31] I can find out what that lead item will
[00:15:33] be, but it's not something you can just
[00:15:35] readily take off the shelf. No, I I get
[00:15:37] that. Um my back that's a little bit
[00:15:39] different topic. I'm just saying that
[00:15:41] you're left with 600,000 to cover 8
[00:15:43] million. Mhm. And I would just say then
[00:15:48] what managing that 8 million pretty
[00:15:50] tight then is of an importance, right?
[00:15:53] because you don't have a lot of room now
[00:15:55] to cover a problem cuz you you're
[00:15:58] spending the 1.2. Well, for the most
[00:16:01] part, they've gone past the point of any
[00:16:03] unforeseen conditions that might cause
[00:16:06] any
[00:16:07] additional proposed change orders or or
[00:16:10] things like that. So, they're past that
[00:16:12] stage of unforeseen conditions. So, and
[00:16:16] they have this money. So, they're
[00:16:18] projecting that this project will be
[00:16:20] 100% complete by December of this year.
[00:16:23] if that helps.
[00:16:25] So, um, also too is the contractors are
[00:16:29] working on this project. They know we
[00:16:31] don't have any extra money. So, we we
[00:16:33] have if if what you're saying if we have
[00:16:35] that
[00:16:36] $600,000, that's it. So, they know that.
[00:16:38] So, like to Mr. Taker's point, they know
[00:16:41] that needs to take us through to the end
[00:16:42] of December. So, uh, we do meet weekly
[00:16:45] on this project and then monthly the
[00:16:47] engineers and the project consultants do
[00:16:49] come out here. Um, so we are on top of
[00:16:51] it. So, we're not to Mr. Jinger's point,
[00:16:52] we're not anticipating um any big
[00:16:55] changes. Yeah, I know you got
[00:16:57] professionals on the job, right? Usually
[00:16:59] they give you a risk register or risk
[00:17:02] report to say what the probability is of
[00:17:06] running into an overrun on that 8
[00:17:08] million. And by line item, you know
[00:17:11] where the big money
[00:17:13] is. That's just a fun conversation.
[00:17:15] That's all. Oh, fun. Yeah.
[00:17:19] I'm glad you're having fun. Yeah.
[00:17:23] So, does that mean that it should be
[00:17:25] done by the end of the year and that and
[00:17:28] and so that's a good thing that it's all
[00:17:30] finally coming the end of the calendar
[00:17:32] year. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I've been
[00:17:34] bouncing off the walls cuz I thought it
[00:17:36] was the end of the fiscal year and no
[00:17:38] way it's going to be done in a month,
[00:17:40] but this year I got trained today.
[00:17:44] So, so okay. But that's the update. I I
[00:17:48] will continue giving updates. We'll put
[00:17:50] the information online, too. So, if you
[00:17:52] want to see it, you're more than welcome
[00:17:55] to, you know, review it. If you have any
[00:17:57] further questions or you or you like me
[00:17:59] to ask some of these questions for
[00:18:01] clarification, I'll gladly do that.
[00:18:07] Okay. Everything
[00:18:10] um discussion and vote on purchase and
[00:18:13] sale agreement for Calvin Page Building.
[00:18:17] Mr. chair.
[00:18:18] Um, town council has
[00:18:22] um the proposed changes that the group
[00:18:25] has um suggested. Um, so they have that
[00:18:29] and I have not
[00:18:31] um had a chance well actually they
[00:18:34] haven't responded yet so I don't have
[00:18:36] anything for you tonight. Um, so that's
[00:18:38] where that is. But I know um Mr.
[00:18:40] Johnson, do you have anything for us
[00:18:42] tonight?
[00:18:43] I what I we have the um modified LDA and
[00:18:48] the LDA when we got the purses and sale
[00:18:51] agreement, it had the concept of the
[00:18:53] historic preservation restriction and it
[00:18:56] had the LDA on it which the land
[00:18:59] development agreement which is uh a very
[00:19:02] long agreement that we all talked about
[00:19:05] was not good for the town, not good for
[00:19:07] us. It's more of an arrangement between
[00:19:09] a developer and a landlord. and you guys
[00:19:12] don't want to be a landlord and we are
[00:19:13] not a developer. It seemed like
[00:19:17] so removing the LDA is probably much
[00:19:21] more momentous a monumental thing to do
[00:19:25] because you guys want that for future
[00:19:27] things to have some sort of restrictions
[00:19:29] on what you you know as other buildings
[00:19:31] have bought what you guys can control.
[00:19:35] uh we felt that it's and had the
[00:19:37] discussion that it and I um not sure
[00:19:40] Jeff you had a chance to see the uh the
[00:19:42] LDA attachment to it. Uh but what we did
[00:19:46] is we um offered up a change to this 11
[00:19:51] page 12 13 page um to modify cuz what it
[00:19:55] has is it has exit clauses and we wanted
[00:19:58] to give the town a stronger conveyance
[00:20:01] which is guarantees that if we you know
[00:20:03] we can't sell it we can't hold on to it
[00:20:06] for 10 years and do nothing. So we added
[00:20:08] a conveyance clause in there as well and
[00:20:10] I I' I'd like I know town council is
[00:20:13] looking at it. I would really like it if
[00:20:15] you guys could actually and the reason I
[00:20:17] want because I can't talk to people as a
[00:20:20] group unless I'm here. So, I think it's
[00:20:23] real important you take a look at the
[00:20:24] the LDA and understand our concern with
[00:20:28] the original version of it and that it's
[00:20:30] not good for the town. It's it's a
[00:20:32] burden on the town and it's not good for
[00:20:34] us. Um, we kind of expressed that that
[00:20:37] wasn't something we wanted. We are
[00:20:39] willing to do some conveyances that
[00:20:41] guarantees the towns um gets the town
[00:20:44] building back if we do nothing. Uh if we
[00:20:46] try to sell it, we can't. Uh we're a
[00:20:49] nonprofit that that will own it. And we
[00:20:52] uh are committed to restoring it,
[00:20:56] following all the historic preservation
[00:20:58] restrictions, making a community use
[00:21:00] building for the town uh at no benefit
[00:21:04] to us. We are just a group of people
[00:21:06] that have put together funding and
[00:21:08] putting together the energy to try to
[00:21:09] get this done. And we really would like
[00:21:12] to own it sooner than later so that
[00:21:13] we're not suddenly worrying about trying
[00:21:15] to put a roof on in in the winter or
[00:21:17] painting it in the winter. U so a
[00:21:21] closing date won't be set until we've
[00:21:24] signed a PNS. So the PNS is fine. Mhm.
[00:21:28] The con the historic preservation
[00:21:30] restriction is fine. I don't know
[00:21:32] whether or not you guys are obligated to
[00:21:34] run it past the historic commission or
[00:21:36] and also someone
[00:21:38] mentioned does
[00:21:40] the correct me if I'm wrong what is the
[00:21:42] the state commission that has to approve
[00:21:44] the sale of of a building for the
[00:21:47] attorney general yeah does the attorney
[00:21:49] weigh in some point later on are we
[00:21:51] going to suddenly realize there's a
[00:21:52] 3-month delay for the attorney general
[00:21:54] approval so that unfortunately falls on
[00:21:57] the town and not on you um so but so but
[00:22:00] if it's a 3 delay for you, then that's a
[00:22:02] delay for you. Yeah. Um, so I I urge
[00:22:07] that you physically, if if Justine's
[00:22:09] okay with giving you guys copies of our
[00:22:11] modified, it's it's good words that that
[00:22:15] guarantee what we're going to do. It has
[00:22:17] that conveyance in there that we've
[00:22:18] talked about where we guarantee that we
[00:22:21] can't sell it. We we don't start right
[00:22:23] away. We we have to get it back. If we
[00:22:26] don't finish the project, we have to get
[00:22:28] it back. All that stuff.
[00:22:30] Um, so I think that it's it's critical
[00:22:34] that that that it's not just lawyers
[00:22:37] talking to lawyers. I mean, our we've
[00:22:38] given a copy to our lawyer and he hasn't
[00:22:42] other than the fact that he's excited
[00:22:44] that we've made it simpler. We we just
[00:22:47] gave it a change in the I don't know
[00:22:50] what the what the correct word is. It's
[00:22:52] the the the completion measurement. Mhm.
[00:22:56] Is I mean there were a lot of blanks in
[00:22:58] it and and um it was kind of heading in
[00:23:02] this direction of a um a a landlord
[00:23:06] developer like a lease out tenant or
[00:23:09] something uh document that kind of a
[00:23:12] commercial. Yeah.
[00:23:13] Um we understood from all the
[00:23:15] conversations that the town you know was
[00:23:18] had a concern that what the we said we
[00:23:23] would do would be done that the building
[00:23:25] would be protected the envelope uh would
[00:23:28] be would be taken care of uh priority
[00:23:32] because that basically stabilizes the
[00:23:34] building for long term and um so in the
[00:23:38] modification to LDA we uh uh put wording
[00:23:42] in that the um termination point when we
[00:23:45] receive a a certificate of completion
[00:23:48] would be when we've completed the work
[00:23:50] that we've pulled permits for. And then
[00:23:53] the um the official of the town
[00:23:57] representing those disciplines,
[00:23:59] plumbing, electrical or um uh you know
[00:24:03] construction bill out would it would be
[00:24:06] their professional opinion whether the
[00:24:08] completion was made, right? So it would
[00:24:10] be all objectively measured through the
[00:24:13] permits. Um and at that point um the um
[00:24:18] attachment of the town to the project
[00:24:20] would end. And um uh and in part of
[00:24:26] the PNS and closing like um Warren said,
[00:24:31] the um we proposed um what we thought
[00:24:35] the town really would want and we
[00:24:38] proposed in the structure of the
[00:24:40] LDA and that is that the um a deed
[00:24:43] conveyance would be put on the property
[00:24:45] that would um you know if we abandoned
[00:24:48] it, if it became structurally in
[00:24:50] disrepair there, then the town would
[00:24:53] either would tell us, hey, you got to
[00:24:54] fix that, or we're taking the building
[00:24:57] back and we agree to that. And if the if
[00:25:01] we said um oh we just want to let you
[00:25:03] know we just sold the building to you
[00:25:05] know Walmart or somebody um the
[00:25:09] conveyance would say well too bad you
[00:25:11] did that because you can't do that
[00:25:13] because if you try to sell it or if you
[00:25:16] do sell it um the town can claw the
[00:25:19] building back through the conveyance on
[00:25:21] the deed and say nope it's ours again
[00:25:24] right and that the the that would be
[00:25:27] condition that would survive asked uh
[00:25:30] any of us or or the organization, it
[00:25:33] would be forever in the control of the
[00:25:35] town to exercise that uh conveyance or
[00:25:39] not. So, we thought that was really what
[00:25:42] the town really wanted to achieve, a a
[00:25:45] building in good shape, has a solid
[00:25:48] historical
[00:25:50] uh restoration and image. It it is a
[00:25:53] facility for community use and it can
[00:25:56] never uh be sold and it can never go
[00:26:00] into disrepair without going back to the
[00:26:02] town. So, you know, without having
[00:26:04] direct hands-on, you have a, you know, a
[00:26:07] sleeping kind of clause here to protect
[00:26:10] the town. So, and it's just I think that
[00:26:14] whether or not, and I'm not blaming the
[00:26:16] lawyer, but it it just seemed like the
[00:26:18] wrong document from the very beginning.
[00:26:20] A land development agreement technically
[00:26:22] is an agreement between a landlord and a
[00:26:26] contractor. I you own a plaza and I'm
[00:26:29] going to put in my store. I have certain
[00:26:31] rules I have to follow. If they don't
[00:26:33] follow those rules, you penalize me. Um,
[00:26:36] you guys don't want to stand at that
[00:26:39] building all day long and say, "I
[00:26:41] wouldn't scrape the paint that way. I'd
[00:26:42] scrape it up and down, or I would do
[00:26:44] this." We're going to we're going to
[00:26:45] follow the rules of all the the theu the
[00:26:48] building inspector, the plumbing,
[00:26:50] electrical, and make sure that we're
[00:26:52] complying and all that stuff, but it it
[00:26:54] this just is a babysitting project that
[00:26:57] you guys don't want, and nor do we. So
[00:27:00] from the beginning, it's just the wrong
[00:27:02] document. And I wished we had put a
[00:27:05] stipulation in in our uh offer to our
[00:27:08] RFP to say we accept everything. We'll
[00:27:11] give you this much money. We need to
[00:27:14] move the LDA. But I think I think I
[00:27:17] think it's fixable. I think I think
[00:27:20] knowing the intention I think the words
[00:27:23] are close to being done. It's a matter
[00:27:26] of the your the town's attorney
[00:27:30] understanding what has been said and
[00:27:33] making sure and I think it's the clean
[00:27:35] copy. We gave you a clean copy. We also
[00:27:36] gave you a red line so that they can see
[00:27:38] the original stuff with all the changes.
[00:27:40] Um and so once your legal counsel gets
[00:27:45] back to you, it would be really nice if
[00:27:48] they said it's perfect. These guys did a
[00:27:50] great job. We still I think there's like
[00:27:52] as Stan said there's a lot of blanks you
[00:27:54] know like our uh even in the one we did
[00:27:56] we didn't put our lawyer's name in on so
[00:27:58] like even on the PNS there's still
[00:28:01] places that we need to fill in things.
[00:28:03] Um
[00:28:04] so I just would urge that we have as
[00:28:07] quick as possible get the lawyer to get
[00:28:09] it to you guys have if you if he he or
[00:28:12] she she suggests make some suggestions.
[00:28:15] I want to make sure that she understands
[00:28:17] that it's not a plaza and we're not a
[00:28:21] developer. Well, well, mo most
[00:28:23] importantly, if the the words getting
[00:28:27] past kind of the LDA, just are the words
[00:28:32] properly causing kind of a mutual
[00:28:35] agreeable situation, right? And and I I
[00:28:39] think that, you
[00:28:41] know, we went at this quickly and
[00:28:46] strongly and drummed up a lot of
[00:28:48] interest and kind of don't want this
[00:28:50] thing to kind of age on the vine now.
[00:28:52] Like we're going to potentially lose
[00:28:55] interest we have and you know, we want
[00:28:57] to keep it moving. So it's hard to
[00:28:59] commit to contractors, too. Yeah. I
[00:29:00] think we're all on the same
[00:29:04] Let the lawyer screw up the deal. Oh,
[00:29:05] sorry. That's what I would like. That's
[00:29:07] I guess that's what I want to ask it.
[00:29:09] Don't let the lawyer screw it up. Um, so
[00:29:11] as you guys know, legally we have to
[00:29:13] include in a land development agreement
[00:29:14] because it was in the RFP. So, legally
[00:29:16] we have to, but like I said to uh Mr.
[00:29:18] Johnson when we spoke on the phone uh
[00:29:20] last week was send me what you have
[00:29:22] issues with, which he did. Um, I'll get
[00:29:24] it over to our town council, which I
[00:29:26] did. Um, so I'm we can definitely meet
[00:29:28] in the middle. It's not it's not going
[00:29:30] to be. So, it's in the hands of council
[00:29:32] then and we can get copies of that and
[00:29:34] then we can keep up to Yeah. And I'll
[00:29:36] make sure that you guys also see like
[00:29:37] the stuff from council too like what
[00:29:39] they re you'll have everything I swear.
[00:29:41] Good.
[00:29:43] And just keep putting us on the agenda
[00:29:45] until we can walk in here and sign
[00:29:46] papers. I think and and I don't know
[00:29:49] when we do a PNS and everybody's signing
[00:29:52] and everybody's happy. I don't know how
[00:29:54] quickly we can do a passing because the
[00:29:58] only thing that we really need for a
[00:29:59] passing is a title and a and a legal
[00:30:04] document. We we we are not needing to
[00:30:07] get financing proof. We're not selling,
[00:30:09] you know, we would like to close as
[00:30:10] quickly as possible after being there's
[00:30:13] nothing holding us up. We all feel that
[00:30:15] way. Yeah. Good. And and most
[00:30:16] importantly is that once we have a date
[00:30:18] for a closing, then I can talk to
[00:30:20] contractors cuz we literally want to get
[00:30:22] started. Okay. Sooner rather than later.
[00:30:26] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But if it was a
[00:30:29] Walmart, there'd be like parking all
[00:30:31] over the place. Yeah. We need parking.
[00:30:35] Save the downtown.
[00:30:38] I can suggest it before. You do realize
[00:30:41] you're on camera here. I do. Mr. Please
[00:30:45] has a question please. I just I had read
[00:30:47] the contract too and I was confused um
[00:30:51] and it would have been our town council
[00:30:53] that did it. They went between being
[00:30:57] under I don't know the jurisdiction of
[00:31:00] Hardwick Historical Society and the
[00:31:03] state historical society and I didn't
[00:31:07] know about the restriction that the
[00:31:11] historic preservation it's it's
[00:31:14] your own preservation it's not a state
[00:31:17] or a federal one like and I it's just a
[00:31:20] town one you mentioned that though the
[00:31:23] state one in contract. I read the
[00:31:25] contract. We did. Whoever put it in
[00:31:29] there. Yeah. Yeah. I cuz I think maybe I
[00:31:32] don't know what does the um the the RFP
[00:31:35] have and it just says the historic
[00:31:36] preservation restriction. I don't know.
[00:31:39] I think I think they're falling into it
[00:31:42] and then it said state. I don't think
[00:31:44] the RFP said state. I believe it it was
[00:31:46] just a historical commission because the
[00:31:49] his our historical commission
[00:31:53] would they because there that's more
[00:31:56] complex that's the one that has to go
[00:31:57] the one that has to go to state is much
[00:31:59] more complex am I correct yeah I think
[00:32:01] so yeah the historical commission
[00:32:04] that Jen who is the one like when Paul
[00:32:08] did the um did that document which laid
[00:32:11] out like it can't be a CVS or a Walmart
[00:32:14] is that was that a
[00:32:15] decision or was that was that at the
[00:32:17] state level? Do you rec recollect that?
[00:32:19] I think that was local. Okay. And it's
[00:32:21] the local, but it was something I
[00:32:23] noticed. So maybe it's, you know, I
[00:32:25] mean, the the one that's in there is
[00:32:28] fine. It's very strict, which is what we
[00:32:30] want it to be. We want we want excuses
[00:32:33] not to do terrible things to that
[00:32:34] building. Okay. You got like what I'm
[00:32:38] hearing.
[00:32:41] So, I mean, we asked for it from the
[00:32:43] very beginning. And we wanted historic
[00:32:45] preservation restriction on it as you as
[00:32:47] the town did put in the RFP, but we've
[00:32:49] always wanted that because we don't want
[00:32:52] Walmart. We do not. Yeah. And like you
[00:32:54] said, there's holes in it. We still have
[00:32:55] to fill like on both sides. So yeah,
[00:32:57] that's all that all And should we have
[00:33:00] our lawyer look at it? We are having our
[00:33:02] lawyer look at it. We are having our
[00:33:05] just in the normal fashion
[00:33:08] to make sense. Sure. Yeah. I think it I
[00:33:11] think it's with you guys now. We're just
[00:33:13] waiting to So I I asked this as an
[00:33:16] administrative question. Can you guys
[00:33:18] you know your next meeting is in two
[00:33:19] weeks or two weeks from yesterday? Um
[00:33:22] can we assume that might be the day that
[00:33:24] we lawyers have all agreed on something
[00:33:26] and there's a piece of paper on that
[00:33:28] table or can you have a special session
[00:33:31] once lawyers have given you stuff? Can
[00:33:33] we can you call a a a a session saying
[00:33:38] Tuesday afternoon we have all the
[00:33:40] lawyers have agreed. Can you come in and
[00:33:42] sign papers? Your lawyer is ready to go.
[00:33:45] What's that? Your lawyer is ready to go.
[00:33:48] Um
[00:33:50] he's more ready than
[00:33:54] he's at the point he's at the same point
[00:33:57] that all of us are right now. He's he's
[00:34:00] not ahead of us or behind us. We're all
[00:34:02] No, no, I'm just saying is it if it's if
[00:34:05] it's our council
[00:34:07] that's slowing us up then I think
[00:34:11] we'll kick
[00:34:13] their if your lawyer is ready to go and
[00:34:18] I know we can't do this until the six of
[00:34:21] us or whatever are sitting in a room
[00:34:22] together. I I will follow your lead just
[00:34:27] the days that I'm not I keep
[00:34:29] communicating whenever I have updates.
[00:34:31] Call them every day.
[00:34:33] You said don't call
[00:34:35] down charges for everyone has an update.
[00:34:39] Yeah, of course. I'll keep
[00:34:39] communicating. We can have a meeting.
[00:34:41] Meeting requires a 48 hour notice. Got
[00:34:43] it. So, but we can be flexible on that.
[00:34:47] Yeah. Okay. Excellent. Get it going.
[00:34:50] Right. Right. associate hears from
[00:34:52] council
[00:34:54] an agreeable deal. Yeah. Council
[00:34:59] the I mean the PNS is fine exactly the
[00:35:01] way it is. It just has that LD in it
[00:35:05] which is now beautiful. It's a beautiful
[00:35:07] thing the way we give it to you. Mhm.
[00:35:10] Mhm. Good.
[00:35:13] And it has that conveyance on it which I
[00:35:15] think is real important. It's that's a
[00:35:16] whole separate amendment on the end of
[00:35:18] the LDA is the conveyance that we
[00:35:20] conduct talked about.
[00:35:23] All right. All right. All right. Thank
[00:35:26] you guys for hearing us. Thank you.
[00:35:28] Thanks for doing the project. Yeah.
[00:35:32] Hopefully we'll have an answer for you.
[00:35:34] Thanks. Call me anytime.
[00:35:39] Good news.
[00:35:42] Do you stay as a member of the finance?
[00:35:44] No.
[00:35:47] Um why is there finance committee
[00:35:50] discuss budget now?
[00:35:53] Yeah. You know we
[00:35:57] as a as a committee member not as a
[00:36:00] quorum but just as a human being in the
[00:36:02] room by yourself.
[00:36:05] Um I guess I'm somewhat obligated to if
[00:36:08] that's what you're asking. I don't I
[00:36:10] don't I don't need to obligate you. I
[00:36:12] do. Okay. No. Oh,
[00:36:16] am I signing? Am I signing off? Just
[00:36:19] listening. Just listen.
[00:36:22] I'll start this off. All right. Sounds
[00:36:23] good.
[00:36:25] After our last meeting, I started having
[00:36:30] second thoughts. I had buyers remorse, I
[00:36:33] suppose.
[00:36:34] Um, and I decided that u Marty needs
[00:36:39] another
[00:36:41] guy sooner rather than later and that
[00:36:45] Ryan needs to be brought on as full-time
[00:36:49] because it's something that we promised
[00:36:51] him last year. So, I think the work is
[00:36:55] there. I think the need is there.
[00:36:59] It changes the
[00:37:00] numbers. Jen and Justine have
[00:37:06] spent lots of hours going over this. The
[00:37:10] numbers have changed. They've discovered
[00:37:14] things. Uh some serious changes. So
[00:37:19] before us, we have a balanced budget. Uh
[00:37:22] we went over this with Mark Corors who's
[00:37:26] with the uh finance committee and he's
[00:37:29] going back to talk to his chair about
[00:37:32] it. But I I would urge us to um go with
[00:37:37] this newer budget. The budget will
[00:37:40] change right up until town meeting.
[00:37:46] Okay, Mr. Chair. Um, the issue I I kind
[00:37:49] of have with this right now is we we
[00:37:53] voted on this. It's a select word and in
[00:37:56] order for you to reconsider
[00:37:59] this, I've mentioned that that should be
[00:38:02] on the agenda to reconsider and
[00:38:04] reopening the budget.
[00:38:07] Okay. So, discussion and vote on fiscal
[00:38:10] year budget under old business, right?
[00:38:12] And we've already done that. And I'm
[00:38:15] saying that the budget changes right up
[00:38:18] until the last minute. So us voting on
[00:38:21] the budget doesn't cast it in stone.
[00:38:24] Well, I would I would disagree with that
[00:38:27] in that statement. Okay. in the sense
[00:38:29] that we did as a board and
[00:38:32] finance alto together agree on a budget
[00:38:36] and and there's nothing wrong with
[00:38:37] reopening a budget. Okay, but it's not
[00:38:40] properly posted and it's not brought to
[00:38:43] the town that way. Okay, so there's
[00:38:45] people out in the audience that might
[00:38:48] not know that we're actually going to
[00:38:49] open the budget tonight and make
[00:38:52] changes.
[00:38:54] Mr. Chair, based on this, Mr.
[00:38:57] And and I did make these I made this
[00:39:00] information
[00:39:01] available and somehow maybe it got lost
[00:39:04] in translation. Made what? The
[00:39:06] information the whole wording of this
[00:39:09] for the agenda the rec um rec the
[00:39:11] reopening of the budget. It has to be
[00:39:14] listed under new
[00:39:15] business because old business was done.
[00:39:19] We voted on it. We all voted. That
[00:39:22] happened, right? And so that's old
[00:39:24] business. It's completed. So in order to
[00:39:27] open the budget, we have to list it
[00:39:29] under a new business item, new agenda
[00:39:32] saying we want to
[00:39:33] reopen the business the budget,
[00:39:37] Mr. Chair. Yes. Um I disagree with that.
[00:39:40] Um there's no such thing as reopening
[00:39:42] the budget because the only people that
[00:39:44] can close the budget are the legislative
[00:39:45] body, the voters at town meeting. So
[00:39:47] like I literally which I don't think
[00:39:50] should ever happen but five minutes
[00:39:51] before walking into town meeting the
[00:39:53] three of you can have a meeting and vote
[00:39:55] to
[00:39:57] defund assess assessor's expense
[00:40:00] assessor's expense for whatever reason
[00:40:02] could be changed on nothing personal
[00:40:04] right I'm just
[00:40:06] um so there's no there's no state law or
[00:40:08] anything that you there's proper posting
[00:40:12] of a meeting it is properly posted no
[00:40:15] it's not it's under old business and we
[00:40:17] voted old business and we voted on it to
[00:40:20] approve it. I'm just I'm just voicing my
[00:40:22] concern, Mr. Chair. Okay, Mr. Chair.
[00:40:25] Now, you mentioned, Eric, that you found
[00:40:29] changes. Yeah. Significant changes. Was
[00:40:33] that your wording? Yeah. Yeah. What are
[00:40:35] they? You want to start, Mr. Amongst uh
[00:40:38] other things, um the uh expenses for the
[00:40:43] enterprise fund
[00:40:45] um are supposed to be paid half and
[00:40:49] half, half the town and half enterprise
[00:40:52] fund. And these folks found out that
[00:40:56] we've been paying full freight. So
[00:40:58] changing that gives us a big lump of
[00:41:01] money. Um the insurance accounts have
[00:41:07] been looked at and there were some
[00:41:09] figures there that help us come to a
[00:41:13] different amount of money. We've got the
[00:41:17] overlay the which I would like uh the
[00:41:21] overlay surplus. Yeah. So the assessors
[00:41:24] have um an overlay account to deal with
[00:41:28] exemptions and abatements.
[00:41:30] uh we it's not ever in the budget. It's
[00:41:33] put on the recap though to be raised in
[00:41:37] taxation that has to be saved for um in
[00:41:41] a fiscal year um for any abatements and
[00:41:46] exemptions come in. There is a time when
[00:41:48] we have money left over and at a certain
[00:41:52] point the assessors
[00:41:54] um on their own recognitions can
[00:41:58] um
[00:42:00] declare an overlay surplus by taking any
[00:42:04] money that we don't basically need. All
[00:42:07] abatements and exemptions are accounted
[00:42:09] for and we can do a surplus.
[00:42:13] um the the select board can request that
[00:42:17] too. What happens with that is it
[00:42:20] becomes uh used for a specific thing and
[00:42:24] if it is not all used or or not used at
[00:42:28] all it then goes to free cash. So this
[00:42:31] year there seemed to be a need because
[00:42:33] the budget seemed to be so tight that
[00:42:36] the assessors did declare that overlay
[00:42:39] surplus. it was
[00:42:41] $62,300 and something dollars. So we so
[00:42:46] on the budget we use that to um reduce
[00:42:50] the budget by that much. We can raise
[00:42:53] and appropriate x amount of money in
[00:42:55] taxation and then to make up the budget
[00:42:58] we can use that
[00:43:00] $62,000 of overlay surplus. So that's
[00:43:03] how we were able to get under two and a
[00:43:05] half and have a nice healthy um budget.
[00:43:10] And in this budget, this new
[00:43:13] budget, this adjusted budget, there's
[00:43:16] money for
[00:43:18] stabilization.
[00:43:20] Um, some money to go into the bank
[00:43:24] account. That would be that would be on
[00:43:26] the articles,
[00:43:27] not the specific budget that we're
[00:43:30] working on. The budget is what it's
[00:43:33] going to take, what we estimate it's
[00:43:35] going to take to run the town next year.
[00:43:38] The articles are money we already have
[00:43:41] and so we're just using that to to you
[00:43:44] know if we have free cash then we'll put
[00:43:46] it into stabilization account or
[00:43:49] something like that. Mr. Chairman.
[00:43:53] Go ahead. Um the money you're speaking
[00:43:55] of Jen. Yeah. The 62,300 we allocated
[00:43:59] 42,000 of that to stabilization fund and
[00:44:02] 20,000 to free cash in the budget that
[00:44:04] we voted on. Okay.
[00:44:08] Mr. Chairman, with all due respect,
[00:44:10] Bill, my understanding is this can
[00:44:14] change. We can we can look at
[00:44:18] it again right up until we get into the
[00:44:21] town meeting. And in fact, in the town
[00:44:24] meeting, it can be
[00:44:26] changed if somebody's makes a motion to
[00:44:29] change something when once it's open on
[00:44:32] the floor. Right now, discussion and
[00:44:37] Right now, I don't think we're ready to
[00:44:39] take a vote to tell you the
[00:44:42] truth. But I think this is still in flux
[00:44:46] and we can we can make changes as
[00:44:49] necessary as time goes on. I don't see
[00:44:52] the I I don't see the issue. It's I
[00:44:56] really don't see the issue. It's a
[00:44:57] posting thing for you. Well, it's not
[00:45:00] just for me. It's for the public. Okay.
[00:45:03] I only speak for myself. Okay. I don't
[00:45:06] know what everybody in the I understand
[00:45:08] that too, right? I'm sworn. This is my
[00:45:11] 15th year as I get it. I get it. This
[00:45:13] isn't like questioning your authority.
[00:45:15] All right. This is proper agenda. That's
[00:45:17] all. Let me say that if you want. We'll
[00:45:21] post the selectments meeting for 8:00 in
[00:45:24] the morning at the town meeting and
[00:45:26] we'll go over this. Well, I suggest we
[00:45:30] have a meeting next Monday. We just
[00:45:32] schedule a meeting. We reopen the budget
[00:45:34] and we invite the finance committee,
[00:45:37] make sure they're here so we all are on
[00:45:39] the same page and I think that would be
[00:45:41] in the best interest of everybody. Okay.
[00:45:43] Okay, Mr. Chair. Yes, ma'am. Do you
[00:45:46] think um it's okay if I just um give uh
[00:45:49] our newest a little um background a
[00:45:51] little bit?
[00:45:53] Um he's been around.
[00:45:56] Not he's new to me. Okay.
[00:45:58] Um, so what we had done since the last
[00:46:02] board meeting is we um we had some
[00:46:04] staffing changes. We have we had some
[00:46:06] other things going on. So what we did is
[00:46:07] we went and we looked at all of our debt
[00:46:10] um our debt exclusions and loans going
[00:46:13] back to 2014. Um and some of those
[00:46:16] numbers weren't entirely accurate. Um,
[00:46:19] so we were able to make some adjustments
[00:46:20] and actually going forward, you know,
[00:46:22] next year we're going to make sure that
[00:46:24] they are like they have we have separate
[00:46:27] lines for each debt in our in our
[00:46:29] interest, our principal and our interest
[00:46:30] and every one of them is going to have
[00:46:32] their own line. So it's extremely
[00:46:33] transparent. But at least this year what
[00:46:35] we were able to do is we were able to be
[00:46:37] like, well now we have more of an
[00:46:39] accurate figure of what it actually cost
[00:46:41] because to Mr. the chairman's
[00:46:44] point, there was money that was it was
[00:46:47] all put on the town that should have
[00:46:49] been on the sewer uh the sewer
[00:46:50] enterprise account. Um so we were able
[00:46:52] to look at the sewer enterprise, make
[00:46:53] sure their numbers were accurate and
[00:46:55] compared to the to the town's operating
[00:46:57] budget, make sure our numbers were
[00:46:58] accurate. Um and I would really like to
[00:47:01] thank the assessor for spending hours
[00:47:04] with me she probably didn't want to
[00:47:05] spend. And she's here now long after
[00:47:08] normally when she goes home. You've got
[00:47:09] your expense account back. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:47:13] But all right, that yeah, you see that's
[00:47:16] that's what I'm looking for is an
[00:47:18] explanation of what changed.
[00:47:21] I I see no I have no issue with meeting
[00:47:26] again on uh Monday. Okay. Just not at
[00:47:29] 6:00, right? 6:30. 6:30 I can make
[00:47:33] 6:00's a hard one.
[00:47:36] And we'll keep the
[00:47:37] agenda free.
[00:47:40] Just budget. Just budget. Just one one
[00:47:44] agenda item. Budget. We I mean I'll
[00:47:47] we're not going to vote on it. The
[00:47:49] town's folk vote on it. What does that
[00:47:50] mean? We going to approve. We we present
[00:47:54] something to We're going to vote on that
[00:47:56] and which we've already done, right?
[00:47:58] What we were going to present. So in
[00:48:00] order for that to happen, we need to
[00:48:02] reopen.
[00:48:04] Pass along language. If you can find me
[00:48:06] a town agenda somewhere in Massachusetts
[00:48:09] where it says reopen. We voted on this
[00:48:11] Christine, did we not? But you can vote
[00:48:13] on any vote on this. Of course you did,
[00:48:15] but you can vote on whatever you want.
[00:48:17] I'm just saying I'm just saying. I'm
[00:48:19] just pointing out. Okay, that's it. So,
[00:48:22] and also I've asked for where is the
[00:48:25] revenue going to come
[00:48:26] from for a full-time clerk? Stuff like
[00:48:30] that. I've sent an email and I would
[00:48:32] like that information. And then I don't
[00:48:35] recall last year promising Ryan
[00:48:37] anything. We didn't have money. We cut
[00:48:40] the position back from full-time to
[00:48:44] part-time. Our town, if you look at all
[00:48:47] the surrounding communities, we don't
[00:48:49] want a full-time clerk based on
[00:48:51] population and the job description and
[00:48:53] the amount of work that's
[00:48:55] necessary. I mean, we're at 2800 to
[00:49:00] 3,000 in population. the numbers right
[00:49:02] around 5,000 6,000 people where it
[00:49:06] warrants a full-time cler. So I'm just
[00:49:09] wondering has the job increased? What
[00:49:11] what has changed that warrants full-time
[00:49:14] cuz we don't have revenue to support
[00:49:16] full-time? Well, we'll have to talk
[00:49:18] about that too. Right. So we gladly
[00:49:20] discuss it. Okay, that's all. Good.
[00:49:24] So make a motion to table this for next
[00:49:29] week. You want a meeting? Second. All in
[00:49:32] favor? I I Monday, you want a meeting at
[00:49:35] 6:30? I'll make a motion to make a
[00:49:37] meeting to have a meeting next Monday at
[00:49:39] 6:30 p.m. at the town hall. I'll second
[00:49:41] that. Just as long as it's 6:30 in that
[00:49:43] second, no problem. Just like
[00:49:51] please include the finance committee.
[00:49:53] Great. I'm going to call the
[00:49:55] chair on the page.
[00:49:59] Thank you guys. We're not done. If you
[00:50:01] guys
[00:50:03] want more
[00:50:11] I just want to make sure I don't come
[00:50:12] while you're having another Thank you,
[00:50:14] J.
[00:50:16] I
[00:50:20] won't. Thank you. You're welcome.
[00:50:25] Okay, we have a letter just Well, that's
[00:50:28] a signature thing. So, we're not quite
[00:50:30] there. Okay. Meeting minutes.
[00:50:37] Yes. Approval of
[00:50:40] minutes, the 10th of March and the 24th
[00:50:43] of
[00:50:48] March. Um, I'm just put this. I didn't
[00:50:52] have time to review the meeting minutes
[00:50:54] just because of my schedule, but I'm
[00:50:56] sure you two did. You guys don't have
[00:50:58] any issues with it. And I can vote on I
[00:51:02] wasn't here for any either of those
[00:51:04] meetings. We can take I can put them on
[00:51:05] the next meeting agenda if if you're
[00:51:07] more comfortable. Well, it's next week
[00:51:08] if you want. I mean, it's up to you.
[00:51:10] That's fine. All right. It'll give me
[00:51:13] time to read them.
[00:51:17] You mean I'm just I read them and nobody
[00:51:19] neither of you. Well,
[00:51:22] for the record, we had two sets of
[00:51:24] meeting minutes tonight.
[00:51:27] It has been. It has been terrible. No
[00:51:31] whining. No whining. No, no whining. Uh,
[00:51:34] what else we got? Uh, table there for
[00:51:37] next week, too. There's a town the town
[00:51:40] administrator report. Okay. Look, look
[00:51:43] at the audience. Oh my god. Okay.
[00:51:46] Nationwide up there, you know. I got
[00:51:48] friends from California. Watch. Oh, say
[00:51:51] hello. Hi, Sue.
[00:51:54] So, I've been in contact with the cont
[00:51:57] uh different contractors uh trying to
[00:52:00] for the tree room behind town hall.
[00:52:02] Something that's not on here is um today
[00:52:04] was the first day they've been doing the
[00:52:06] migration over to the.gov emails. Um so,
[00:52:09] there's been a few kinks today like
[00:52:10] mine. Um but, uh that will all be sort
[00:52:13] sorting out. Um, so eventually I'm going
[00:52:16] to make sure that each the three of you
[00:52:18] have town emails so you're not using
[00:52:20] your personal emails for town business.
[00:52:22] Um, I just need to get everything
[00:52:24] situated with the people that we just
[00:52:25] migrated and then I'm going to um work
[00:52:27] on the elected officials. And there's
[00:52:29] also some town employees that don't have
[00:52:31] town emails. So they will also get town
[00:52:34] emails. Um, our security cameras at town
[00:52:38] hall are being installed on May 28th. um
[00:52:41] as you know working with town council on
[00:52:43] the page building purchase and sale um
[00:52:46] met with the treasur executive assistant
[00:52:48] and assessor on putting together a
[00:52:49] billing schedule um I'm have I met with
[00:52:52] a treasure collector treasur consultant
[00:52:54] and assessor on we've been meeting
[00:52:56] pretty much regularly on this issues
[00:52:58] going on in the treasur's office um
[00:53:01] which I've tried to keep you guys
[00:53:02] updated on um things that we're finding
[00:53:05] on a pretty pretty regular basis that
[00:53:07] we're working to correct so patients
[00:53:13] just asking for a little patience with
[00:53:15] that. Um
[00:53:18] submitted for the opioid settlement
[00:53:20] funds and working on a debt and and as
[00:53:24] you know we're working on the debt and
[00:53:25] loan numbers for accuracy and financial
[00:53:27] forecasting. Held our bi-weekly
[00:53:29] financial management planning meeting
[00:53:31] with the assessor treasure collector and
[00:53:32] accountant. Um I also met with Harry
[00:53:34] Cmerford from the planning board on the
[00:53:36] Kierge solar lease. So, um that will be
[00:53:40] on your next agenda to review a lease
[00:53:42] for
[00:53:44] Karge. Um going over department
[00:53:47] performance evaluations with department
[00:53:48] heads. Um scheduling in well, we tried
[00:53:51] to schedule an interview for one vacant
[00:53:53] highway department position.
[00:53:54] Unfortunately, um that person has found
[00:53:56] another
[00:53:58] job. We held interviews for the police
[00:54:00] detective position with a police
[00:54:01] lieutenant, police sergeant, a member of
[00:54:03] the new branch select board. We
[00:54:05] interviewed two internal candidates. Um,
[00:54:08] we're currently holding open enrollment
[00:54:09] for employees for their insurance. We
[00:54:12] had Maya and Boston Mutual out to meet
[00:54:14] with the employees um because there are
[00:54:16] some plan changes this year. Um, and it
[00:54:18] was a good uh I don't I don't believe
[00:54:21] that in the past it's there's been a
[00:54:24] real open enrollment here. So, that is
[00:54:25] also something we're trying to institute
[00:54:27] moving forward. Um, I met with the
[00:54:30] school superintendent on with their and
[00:54:31] their insurance providers in preparation
[00:54:33] for FY27. So, we're not even at FY26
[00:54:36] yet, but we're already preparing for
[00:54:39] 27. Um, I finished my MCPPO renewal that
[00:54:43] I have to do every 3 years to serve as
[00:54:45] the town's chief procurement officer.
[00:54:46] Could you Oh, Massachusetts um certified
[00:54:51] public purchasing official. Thank you.
[00:54:53] Sorry. There you go. Um, I always ask
[00:54:57] attended the Massachusetts Rural and
[00:54:59] Western Communities Conference with
[00:55:01] Selectman
[00:55:02] Tinker. I attended the M Massachusetts
[00:55:05] Municipal Association Personnel and
[00:55:07] Labor Relations Policy Committee where
[00:55:09] we actually discussed uses for the
[00:55:11] opioid settlement
[00:55:12] funds. Um the annual town meeting
[00:55:15] warrant has been posted. The annual
[00:55:17] annual report has been sent to the
[00:55:18] printer. I had my wear radio interview
[00:55:21] where I talked about town meeting and
[00:55:23] our finances.
[00:55:26] um attended today the virtual forum on
[00:55:30] public records and open meeting
[00:55:32] law. Um I want to recognize Marty Gzifa
[00:55:37] um because everything looked absolutely
[00:55:39] fantastic in preparation for Memorial
[00:55:40] Day
[00:55:42] in dealing with this a sewer break and
[00:55:44] everything on Sunday. Yeah. He came in
[00:55:47] to to fix the broken sewer. I he's so I
[00:55:52] want to recognize him for everything he
[00:55:54] does for the town.
[00:55:55] Um, important dates. Annual town meeting
[00:55:57] is June 7th, uh, 9:00 a.m. Um, the
[00:56:01] oldtime softball game is also June 7th
[00:56:03] at 1:00 p.m. at Roach Field. Um, and
[00:56:05] then I just listed my, um, vacation in
[00:56:08] September. And, um, something that also
[00:56:10] came up today was um, the time capsule,
[00:56:14] which
[00:56:16] um, the town clerk and the schools have
[00:56:18] been have been um, talking about opening
[00:56:21] a time capsule from 1975. Um, but that's
[00:56:25] you can discuss that later. 1975.
[00:56:28] Yeah. What about you? I was getting
[00:56:31] ready to buy your land. Oh, really? Wow.
[00:56:36] No, I was still in high school. I hate
[00:56:37] to make you feel old. No, no, I was I
[00:56:40] was finishing college, but that took a
[00:56:42] long time. Anyway, I was nothing. Um,
[00:56:46] but that's my report today.
[00:56:49] Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Uh, the time
[00:56:52] Well, go ahead. Uh what's next? This is
[00:56:55] like four round table. Round table.
[00:56:57] Would you like to start off if you'd
[00:56:59] like me to? Sure. All right. I got a
[00:57:01] couple different things, but the first
[00:57:03] thing is I I'd like to bring up
[00:57:08] and advise Jeff Chef about he's he's on
[00:57:11] the planning board. Yes. as an ultimate
[00:57:17] and I personally I not personally but he
[00:57:22] should go to state ethics and get
[00:57:25] advisement on that because it's
[00:57:28] conflicting to be on two boards. You
[00:57:31] need to be a special town employee.
[00:57:33] Okay? So they will advise you and tell
[00:57:35] you the role of what you got to do. Um I
[00:57:39] think you should resign and this is why
[00:57:41] I think you should resign. You have
[00:57:44] plenty of experience in government. You
[00:57:46] hold this position that's as an
[00:57:48] alternate and I think we as a board we
[00:57:51] rep we point an ultimate to that
[00:57:53] somebody who wants to learn a younger
[00:57:56] like a younger generation or a younger
[00:57:58] person so they can gain experience and
[00:58:01] stuff like that. That's just my
[00:58:02] recommendation on that. Um, but
[00:58:05] otherwise before you you actually jump
[00:58:09] from board to board, you need to go
[00:58:10] through state ethics and and they'll
[00:58:12] advise you how to do that. And I'm not
[00:58:15] sure if that information has been
[00:58:17] brought to you prior, but I believe it
[00:58:19] has. Can we can I can give you the
[00:58:22] number and we can figure that out if you
[00:58:23] want to make a phone call. Right. Oh,
[00:58:24] uh, just to answer his, uh, concerns, my
[00:58:29] understanding is that, uh, the planning
[00:58:32] board position is a special town
[00:58:35] employee. I think that was the proper
[00:58:38] term. And that
[00:58:42] a
[00:58:44] that I can hold both at the same time.
[00:58:48] Now, having said that, if there's
[00:58:51] another person that's willing to step up
[00:58:53] and take that position, I'm more willing
[00:58:56] to step down from the associate planning
[00:58:59] board member. The issue has been, I
[00:59:03] believe, I'm the only one. There's two
[00:59:06] positions
[00:59:07] available. There's nobody else to fill
[00:59:09] that position right now. That's why I've
[00:59:12] said that I would stay on. They were
[00:59:14] desperate to have somebody stay on
[00:59:17] because there are and the only time I
[00:59:19] get involved is during hearings
[00:59:23] where for instance a couple people have
[00:59:27] to recuse themselves where they need
[00:59:29] that extra uh vote. That's the only time
[00:59:32] I get involved. I don't get involved
[00:59:34] with the
[00:59:35] uh with any of the regular planning
[00:59:38] board me
[00:59:40] uh meetings. I just get involved with
[00:59:43] those certain hearings. Um, I am more
[00:59:47] than willing to check through because
[00:59:50] that I ran for
[00:59:53] uh back then it was the board of
[00:59:55] selectment back in 2003 I believe it was
[01:00:00] and I was told back then by the attorney
[01:00:03] general's office that this that I could
[01:00:07] hold both
[01:00:08] positions and that and then that time I
[01:00:12] was on the planning board as a
[01:00:14] full-fledged member.
[01:00:15] All I'm recommending is you contact
[01:00:18] state ethics, speak to somebody there,
[01:00:20] and they will advise you to become a
[01:00:23] special town employee because now you're
[01:00:24] a member of the select board. It's a
[01:00:26] little bit different. No, I I I
[01:00:29] understand that. And the only reason why
[01:00:31] I'm staying on is because they need
[01:00:34] somebody in that position.
[01:00:36] Well, we can put it out to the town and
[01:00:39] say we're looking for people that might
[01:00:41] be interested in the planning board as
[01:00:43] an alternate, right? I have no issue
[01:00:46] with that. Okay. And if I can put my in
[01:00:48] Yeah. Um I've served on the planning
[01:00:52] board about as long as I've served as a
[01:00:55] selectman. And I always kept them
[01:00:58] separate. I don't think there's they're
[01:01:00] in conflict, but it was kind of like a
[01:01:04] division of power or something. And I
[01:01:06] thought it was I thought it was a bad
[01:01:08] idea to be on both. I know Harry
[01:01:12] Kmerford was on both. On both. Yes. And
[01:01:15] he ran a full rig that way. So,
[01:01:19] um I mean I I wouldn't do it just for
[01:01:22] being complicated. And I always thought
[01:01:25] it should be I know when I was planning
[01:01:28] board the select board well no the chair
[01:01:33] of the board of selectmen put out a memo
[01:01:36] to everybody said all minutes from all
[01:01:40] meetings of all commissions and
[01:01:42] committees and everything will be sent
[01:01:44] to the select board and this is before
[01:01:47] there was a lot of and I just I was
[01:01:50] happy to circular file it say
[01:01:53] Whatever those were those days, but uh
[01:01:56] yes, I mean it if you can look these
[01:02:00] days there might be trouble. So you
[01:02:01] better Yeah, I certainly can check into
[01:02:04] it again. No thank you. Sure.
[01:02:09] Trying to tell if we have that maybe
[01:02:15] that's I'm just bringing it up. So, one,
[01:02:18] I I think it would be good for, you
[01:02:20] know, somebody young or or somebody
[01:02:22] who's interested in learning this to
[01:02:24] come in. It would be cuz it's an ideal
[01:02:26] spot because it's an alternate. It's not
[01:02:27] like they're there every day, right?
[01:02:29] Stuff like that. It would be a good
[01:02:30] learning opportunity to somebody. Yeah.
[01:02:33] Like I said, the only reason why I No, I
[01:02:36] totally understand and I get it. But
[01:02:38] they they were begging me to stay on.
[01:02:42] Well, and we're begging you to stay on
[01:02:44] here.
[01:02:46] And and this is going to take a lot of
[01:02:48] your time. Yeah. No, as we saw this
[01:02:51] tonight, uh I ran into my first
[01:02:54] scheduling conflict with it. So, Bill's
[01:02:56] just saying that cuz he's really sick of
[01:02:57] me calling him to complain. No complain
[01:03:00] about what
[01:03:03] the treasur's office is a mess. I don't.
[01:03:06] And one other thing, the the copier, if
[01:03:10] we can do something to get rid of the
[01:03:12] copier by June 30th, we can buy another
[01:03:16] one through capital. The money's there.
[01:03:18] We just go through capital and we'll
[01:03:21] save ourselves $2,800 a month. How
[01:03:25] complicated will it be to plug it in?
[01:03:29] Plug in a copier? Well, I it's probably
[01:03:32] set up in the net, right? I mean it's
[01:03:34] with the new telephone or what is it it
[01:03:38] it it shouldn't be that difficult in the
[01:03:40] sense that machine will have a MAC
[01:03:42] address somebody will change it from the
[01:03:45] IT department so it's pro format yeah
[01:03:47] okay it should be plug and play
[01:03:49] literally Mr. chair. Yeah. Um so the
[01:03:52] idea is a waiting until July 1st when we
[01:03:54] have a new budget cuz there is no money
[01:03:56] in the current fiscal year budget for
[01:03:59] copier. And that also gives us time to
[01:04:03] do our research and find one that was
[01:04:05] going to stay with the town for a long
[01:04:07] time and it's going to be good and
[01:04:09] everything's going to be great. So after
[01:04:10] town meeting that is my that is my every
[01:04:14] month that goes by it cost the town
[01:04:16] $2,800. We got rid of Paris today about
[01:04:19] this for a long time. We have the money.
[01:04:22] It's capital. We can put it out a
[01:04:24] request for proposal. This is something
[01:04:26] we shouldn't be sitting on till July
[01:04:28] 1st. So I'm just mentioning it on the
[01:04:30] select and round table. It should be a
[01:04:32] priority because June that's I mean by
[01:04:36] the time we do all this that's 2 months.
[01:04:40] That's 5,000. We're talking about buying
[01:04:41] a copy of that's $8,000. So, let's do
[01:04:44] our homework and find out. I I submitted
[01:04:48] a request for proposal that gave the
[01:04:50] specs on the machine and everything that
[01:04:52] the town of Hardway could easily do. If
[01:04:54] I I might not need even do to do an RFP.
[01:04:56] I'm going to look at the state list. I'm
[01:04:58] going to look at like it's it's on its
[01:05:01] it's on its way out. Let me that way.
[01:05:03] That's that's all like it's in motion on
[01:05:06] it. Yeah. Yeah. Just let's start
[01:05:09] thinking in this sense. I know we're all
[01:05:11] busy. It's all budget time. I get it.
[01:05:13] But certain things where we can actually
[01:05:15] save. You saved on the 400 today. So
[01:05:18] this is $2,800. Every month it's $2,800.
[01:05:22] Just think of that.
[01:05:24] Yeah.
[01:05:26] Today we save 400 a month. So that was
[01:05:29] today. So that's all I have for
[01:05:31] selectment round table. Okay. Thank God.
[01:05:34] Right. That's it. That's it. How about
[01:05:38] yourself, sir? I don't have much of
[01:05:40] anything tonight. All right. Yeah, I
[01:05:43] just want to say that uh that our it is
[01:05:47] very nice that we had our Memorial Day
[01:05:51] parade and ceremonies. I mean, a town of
[01:05:54] our size having something like that.
[01:05:57] Granted, aren't that many many people
[01:06:00] that participate in it, but it it very
[01:06:04] much is something
[01:06:06] special for our town. It is. this this
[01:06:09] beautiful up on the common. Yeah. Yeah.
[01:06:13] Um and I had me and a helper polish the
[01:06:17] cannon and I sat there. Seth me and Seth
[01:06:22] sat there on my tailgate looking across
[01:06:24] the street looking at that cannon and
[01:06:26] all you
[01:06:28] guys. It's nice. Yeah. It's nice and
[01:06:31] ringing of the bell. That's nice. Oh
[01:06:34] yeah. You know that was a really nice
[01:06:36] touch. It's a good bell. Yeah, it's a
[01:06:38] wonderful tradition. Yeah. Yep. And it's
[01:06:42] kind of a poignant day and I hesitate to
[01:06:45] wish people a happy Memorial Day. Yeah.
[01:06:49] Have a memorial to
[01:06:53] but Well, all right. Um I don't have any
[01:06:57] particular thing except to talk about
[01:06:59] Marty Bazooka saving the day again. And
[01:07:04] uh and that's it for me, Mr. Chair. Yes,
[01:07:07] ma'am. Did you want to do the time
[01:07:09] capsule after um town meeting or what do
[01:07:12] you want to do with the time
[01:07:14] capsule? We'd have people there. I don't
[01:07:17] know. They'll start crashing chairs and
[01:07:20] everything to clear out. Do we open the
[01:07:24] time capsule at the end of the town
[01:07:26] meeting or do we find a place? There's
[01:07:30] some instructions on it. supposed to be
[01:07:31] in June of
[01:07:34] 2025. So, we could do it in a school
[01:07:37] setting. This was put in by the sixth
[01:07:41] graders.
[01:07:43] We're no longer at the elementary school
[01:07:45] 50. Yeah. Right. That's what I learned
[01:07:49] today. The sixth graders are over in
[01:07:51] Barry somewhere. I think my son Yeah,
[01:07:53] they went up to the regional middle
[01:07:55] school. Huh?
[01:07:58] My son was uh one of the last classes
[01:08:00] that was at the elementary school in the
[01:08:03] sixth grade. So, well, what's your
[01:08:05] pleasure with the time capsule? I think
[01:08:08] we could do it at the end of the town
[01:08:09] meeting.
[01:08:12] It's It's
[01:08:14] convenient to to say the least. There's
[01:08:17] a table right there. So, yeah.
[01:08:21] Yeah. Yeah, but you are you are right
[01:08:23] that people will be filing out of that
[01:08:26] town meeting once it's over. Well, the
[01:08:29] moderator can make an announcement,
[01:08:32] right? We can put it out there as well
[01:08:34] like we're talking about right now. But
[01:08:35] yeah, you know, at the end of the annual
[01:08:37] town meeting, we're going to be opening
[01:08:38] the time caps open 1975, right? He can
[01:08:41] mention that just before he looks at me
[01:08:44] and says, "Mr. Bhan, I so I move that we
[01:08:47] dissolve this town meeting." So, we'll
[01:08:50] do that. All right. Very good. Sounds
[01:08:51] good. All
[01:08:53] right. Make a motion
[01:08:56] to adjurnn. I'll second. Favor. Just
[01:09:00] stuff for you guys to sign. All right.
[01:09:02] Then we'll hold off or
[01:09:05] we'll you know when there's a motion to
[01:09:08] adjurnn and it gets seconded. There's no
[01:09:12] discussion. None. It just goes for a
[01:09:15] vote. We're done. Ajourn. If you've
[01:09:18] moved to adjourn and there's no second,
[01:09:20] you just carry on. Okay. Or if you move
[01:09:23] to adjourn and you get a second, the
[01:09:26] vote is down. Carry on. You can carry
[01:09:28] on. Well, I'm all right. It's just
[01:09:30] something I learned. I thought it was
[01:09:33] kind of interesting. Once the motion is
[01:09:36] made, you got to follow through. So, are
[01:09:38] you yet or no? Coming home yet? You
[01:09:42] journed yet? We're journed. Okay. All
[01:09:45] time. 8:00.
[01:09:52] :00 and we signed that