[0:17] Heat. Heat.
[0:24] » [music]
[0:31] » How many have 20?
[0:32] >> Good evening and welcome to the select
[0:34] board meeting of September 2nd, 2026.
[0:38] I'll call this meeting to order at 6 pm.
[0:41] This meeting is being broadcast live on
[0:44] BNC TV, channel 1075 on Comcast dial and
[0:49] livereamed on YouTube. This meeting will
[0:51] be available for later viewing on
[0:53] YouTube or by following the link at the
[0:55] town of Berneston.org.
[0:58] We'll uh go with the warrants. I'll
[1:00] entertain a motion for the payroll
[1:02] warrant in the amount of $67,55249.
[1:07] » So moved. Second.
[1:08] >> All those Any discussion? All in favor?
[1:11] >> I.
[1:13] will entertain a motion for the AP
[1:15] warrant in the amount of $85,62.34.
[1:21] » So moved.
[1:22] >> Second.
[1:23] >> Any discussion?
[1:24] >> All in favor? I
[1:25] >> I.
[1:27] >> I'll entertain a motion for the regular
[1:30] meeting minutes of August 5th, 2026.
[1:34] >> So moved. Second.
[1:36] >> Any additions, corrections? We've all
[1:38] looked them over. All in favor?
[1:40] >> I. I'll entertain a motion for the
[1:43] executive session minutes of August 5th,
[1:47] 2026.
[1:49] >> So moved.
[1:50] >> Second.
[1:51] >> All in favor?
[1:52] >> I.
[1:54] >> I'll entertain a motion for the special
[1:56] meeting minutes of August 31st, 2026.
[2:00] >> So moved and second.
[2:02] >> I will abstain from this because it
[2:03] wasn't here. I'm assuming you guys are
[2:06] good with it. All in favor? I.
[2:09] >> There we go.
[2:12] Uh calendar and announcements. Uh
[2:14] planning board uh Thursday, September
[2:16] 3rd, 2026 at 4 pm at the town hall. Uh
[2:20] sorry, the planning board will meet
[2:22] Thursday, September 3rd, 2026.
[2:26] Uh the historical society museum uh will
[2:31] on Sunday, September 6, 2026 from 1 to 4
[2:35] upstairs at the Powers Institute/ Senior
[2:38] Center will be open.
[2:40] The Council on Aging uh will meet
[2:43] Tuesday, September 8th, 2026 at 9:30
[2:47] a.m. at the Senior Center.
[2:51] The planning board will meet again on
[2:54] Thursday, September 17th, 2026 at 400 PM
[2:58] at the town hall.
[3:00] The special town election will be
[3:02] Tuesday, October 6, 2026 from noon to 8
[3:07] at the town hall. two separate ballot
[3:10] questions regarding one, building of a
[3:12] new Franklin County Tech School and two,
[3:15] the proposed formation of a six or five
[3:19] town school district to be known as the
[3:21] Great River School District.
[3:24] Anybody follow that?
[3:26] >> I know it's a tough one.
[3:27] >> I know, right? Uh citizens concerns.
[3:29] Anyone with citizens concern
[3:33] hearing? None.
[3:35] Okay. uh appointment. Brad Stafford from
[3:38] the Franklin County Tech School
[3:41] Committee representative
[3:43] um
[3:44] >> uh is here tonight. Special election is
[3:46] being held October 6th as just stated.
[3:49] Um he wanted to speak to the board and
[3:51] the public regarding some details of the
[3:53] proposed construction of the new school
[3:56] build school building for the Franklin
[3:58] County Tech School. Brad, come on up.
[4:01] Floor is yours.
[4:04] >> Right here then.
[4:04] >> Right there. Sure. Hello everybody.
[4:06] Thank you for having me.
[4:08] >> Um, all the details and stuff. I don't
[4:12] want to weigh down the whole meeting.
[4:15] Um, what it boils down to is there's due
[4:18] diligence on why the board or with the
[4:22] school and everybody involved is leaning
[4:24] towards a new school versus repairing.
[4:27] Um
[4:30] the short version is about seven or
[4:32] eight years ago we ran into a bunch of
[4:34] major repairs. It was looked at to go
[4:37] get um funding to help pay for them. The
[4:40] MSBA stepped in and says, you know, you
[4:42] got a 50-y old building. Maybe we ought
[4:44] to relook at the entire thing as a new
[4:47] school project. So, we went in that
[4:49] direction and came out at the end that's
[4:53] the way they would like us to go and we
[4:55] kept moving forward on that. Um, yes,
[4:58] repairs are possible, but the price tag
[5:01] on that
[5:03] actually the the first round would equal
[5:06] about the same to the taxpayers as
[5:09] building a new school.
[5:13] The difference being is that money would
[5:15] have to be paid back in a 10 to 15 year
[5:18] bond versus a longer bond for a new
[5:20] school because you just can't throw it
[5:21] out that long. Now, all the numbers and
[5:23] stuff I can crunch and throw at you. If
[5:25] you got any specifics, questions, I can
[5:28] um
[5:31] I don't know what more to add to that.
[5:33] I'll just take some questions.
[5:34] >> I'll just throw one thing out there. But
[5:35] if you did do a peace meal, if the
[5:37] building project got shot down,
[5:39] >> it would affect the students within the
[5:41] building because they couldn't be in
[5:43] that area while they were working on it.
[5:44] Correct.
[5:45] >> Absolutely. The school would be
[5:46] disrupted for at least
[5:49] 5 years, probably even more because you
[5:51] got to do it piece by piece. And that's
[5:53] hopefully everything goes as planned
[5:55] this year. You do this section, what do
[5:57] you open up? What do you find? Lead
[5:59] paint? Who knows? You open up a floor
[6:02] that you think that the plumbing's okay
[6:04] and it's not. So now you got to rip up
[6:06] all of it comes to the roof. You take
[6:08] the roof off then it gets in. There
[6:09] could be some structural issues that was
[6:11] hidden and you just don't know. It's a
[6:13] can it's a can of worms where new school
[6:17] would not disrupt the students. In fact,
[6:20] it'd be helpful to them because they're
[6:21] going to be involved. They're going to
[6:22] be on the site. It's been coordinated
[6:25] and acted and just like the last two um
[6:29] programs added the vet uh science
[6:32] section and the new uh aviation the kids
[6:35] were involved boost on the ground
[6:39] working as much as they could. You know
[6:40] there's all kinds of labor laws and
[6:42] stuff but they saw it happening so it'
[6:44] be more educational and less disrupted
[6:47] and that would also include the
[6:48] disruption of the evening schools for
[6:50] the adult education too.
[6:52] >> Right. Three questions. How long is it
[6:55] going to take to build the new school if
[6:58] it's approved?
[7:00] >> Uh, three plus years should go in 2030.
[7:03] >> Okay, that um the
[7:07] hold off on this.
[7:09] >> Oh, no.
[7:10] >> Yeah,
[7:10] >> I'm here.
[7:12] >> We know where to go. The the total cost
[7:15] then.
[7:16] >> Total cost is
[7:19] >> total cost.
[7:20] So the the warrant is for
[7:22] 226 million.
[7:23] >> And of that, how much is Berneston's
[7:25] slice?
[7:26] >> Bernison's slice was
[7:30] right here.
[7:31] >> You said you had all the answers.
[7:32] >> I do. I just didn't say there weren't a
[7:34] problem.
[7:34] >> Just a touch over 4 million.
[7:36] >> Yes.
[7:37] >> 4 million spread out over 20 years. 30
[7:41] >> 30.
[7:42] >> And it boils down to the quick math. I
[7:44] did less than 75 cents a day for the
[7:47] average household. About 225 bucks a
[7:49] year.
[7:53] $227.83
[7:56] » average. Those numbers are going to
[7:58] move. I can't hold to that one.
[8:00] >> Right.
[8:01] >> You can't hold me to that one.
[8:03] >> And how much of that? Well, now my
[8:05] fourth question. How much of that is
[8:06] from the mass saving SBA whatever it is.
[8:09] >> So out of the 226 estimated, give or
[8:12] take a little bit. It's right around 66%
[8:15] right now.
[8:16] >> Okay.
[8:18] So, does that reduce Bernardson slice or
[8:21] is that
[8:21] >> No, that's all calculated in
[8:23] >> in Okay. Okay.
[8:24] >> That's what that
[8:27] >> and we're going to vote [clears throat]
[8:29] October 6th. Correct. Hopefully in favor
[8:33] of
[8:36] any more. Yes.
[8:38] >> What's the life expectancy of the
[8:40] building?
[8:41] >> They're shooting for another 50.
[8:44] Um they don't build things like they
[8:45] used to. the the brick and mortar steel
[8:49] probably will be, but the stuff inside,
[8:52] >> right?
[8:53] >> It is what it is.
[8:57] » And as far as the election goes, since
[8:59] Chris Whisk is here, the town clerk,
[9:02] it's no mail in ballots are allowed for
[9:05] the tech school vote. Correct.
[9:07] >> I believe that's right.
[9:09] >> But that will be for the sixth town,
[9:12] >> right? 510
[9:13] >> for those who have already requested
[9:16] vote by mail ballots for all elections
[9:18] this year.
[9:19] >> So that's a key difference for anybody
[9:20] that's listening out there to vote on
[9:22] the tech school. If you applied for vote
[9:25] by mail, you will not get a ballot in
[9:28] the mail for the tech school project.
[9:30] That's one you have to come to the
[9:33] building to the town hall to vote on.
[9:36] >> Just so everybody understands that to
[9:37] your point
[9:40] >> that's a little different.
[9:41] >> Yes. My question is um is there a
[9:45] projected enrollment over the next say
[9:48] 10 years?
[9:50] Yes, it's going to increase
[9:54] about it's available the slots are
[9:57] increase about 15 20% if I remember
[9:59] right
[10:02] which is six probably what the school
[10:05] again I can go look it look up said 680
[10:07] or something the school is going to be
[10:09] built for it's a little bigger than we
[10:11] the current school square footage does
[10:13] not cover the new specs for the students
[10:16] that we do that
[10:20] and the new needs that have changed over
[10:22] the last 50 years of education
[10:26] and a lot of these little nuance
[10:28] questions for all those that are
[10:29] listening. You can go to the tech school
[10:30] website. They got all the updated
[10:32] numbers and questions and stuff there.
[10:40] [cough]
[10:41] And just to uh share uh with everyone
[10:44] listening uh for sitting here uh
[10:48] attending um the under the regional
[10:51] district agreement approval of this
[10:53] project only requires a simple majority.
[10:57] So just know that
[11:01] » that was one of the questions a lot of
[11:02] us had if it was each town had to pass
[11:04] but it's not. No, it's the
[11:06] >> it's the cumulative numbers of voters
[11:08] >> of all the voters.
[11:09] >> Simple majority.
[11:10] >> You you just lost me.
[11:13] >> All 31 towns. How many towns? 19.
[11:16] >> 19.
[11:16] counts.
[11:17] >> 19. It's the individual voters. It's not
[11:19] how many towns voted in. It's the
[11:21] individual votes.
[11:23] >> Okay. So, we don't need 19 yeses from 19
[11:27] different towns. We need a total of 51%
[11:31] or 50 what the percent of add all 19
[11:34] towns voters.
[11:35] >> Correct.
[11:36] >> Got it.
[11:37] >> Of those voting.
[11:39] >> Correct.
[11:40] >> Which Jane is Jane would know that was
[11:42] probably the way it was originally
[11:43] established, right? Do you remember
[11:44] that? You were on that committee, right?
[11:46] >> I was on that committee when the schools
[11:47] open,
[11:48] >> which so that's the way their bylaws
[11:50] are.
[11:51] >> 50 years ago.
[11:53] >> Yes, ma'am, sir.
[11:54] >> Wow. Wow.
[11:57] Um, I'd like to share something that
[12:00] I've looked up.
[12:03] Um, because we have an estimate of what
[12:05] our annual cost will be
[12:08] and I was very curious how that fit in
[12:11] with our past history.
[12:14] So, I went back through all of our
[12:16] budgets
[12:18] and I got to the additions that we did
[12:22] to PS and the additions that we did to
[12:25] PDS.
[12:28] our payment,
[12:31] the PBRS,
[12:33] was comparable to what this payment is.
[12:38] And I didn't want to say this publicly
[12:42] until I had done the change of the dollars for
[12:49] >> the economy since 2011
[12:53] I think was the year that I looked at
[12:55] payment.
[12:58] >> But you know everything we have we're
[13:01] paying a lot more for now than we were
[13:04] um 15 years ago. So,
[13:07] um,
[13:09] these payments seem high, but they're
[13:12] not anything that we can't handle. We've
[13:14] done it before.
[13:17] So, I I just want to mention that
[13:20] because I know that's a concern.
[13:25] I also just wanted to reiterate that uh
[13:27] October 6th uh that all 19 towns will
[13:32] have the same vote, same day, same time.
[13:36] So it's not
[13:39] Yeah. Nobody can read the tea leaves.
[13:41] >> That's right. You can't read the tea
[13:43] leaves.
[13:44] >> Yeah. It's not a town vote. It's a
[13:45] district.
[13:46] >> District.
[13:46] vote. Correct. That's a big
[13:48] difference.
[13:48] >> Yeah.
[13:51] >> Cool. Thank you very much.
[13:53] >> Yeah. Very welcome.
[13:54] >> Appreciate it, bro.
[13:55] >> Appreciate your work.
[13:56] >> Yeah. Thanks.
[13:57] >> Sure.
[14:01] » Okay. Mr. Brad Border, the tree warden
[14:04] in the Kushman Hall committee uh have
[14:07] asked to be present to discuss the tree
[14:09] situation in Kushman Park. The committee
[14:11] also has a quote for removal of the
[14:13] invasives along the brook which has been
[14:16] approved by the conservation commission.
[14:18] So Brad and uh oh did not get that.
[14:24] Well, thank you.
[14:25] >> Thank you. Thank you.
[14:26] >> Thanks very much.
[14:28] >> Come on up those that are involved. Yes.
[14:30] We can catch you on the microphones.
[14:38] » What's that?
[14:38] >> Oh, yeah.
[14:41] >> Not as problem with everybody else.
[14:44] >> Maybe I should hand it back. So,
[14:46] >> but
[14:48] [snorts]
[14:51] you guys don't have problem if Brian
[14:53] needs to wait.
[14:53] >> Absolutely.
[14:54] >> Okay.
[14:55] >> Good.
[14:59] All right. And you just handed me a
[15:01] quote for is this for the invasives? Is
[15:04] that what that? Okay. Gotcha. Join us.
[15:07] >> They quoted us for the seating. Um but
[15:11] Brian Ler said the highway department
[15:13] could do the seating.
[15:14] >> Okay.
[15:17] » Gotcha.
[15:20] >> And this is one you're going to use the
[15:21] Kushman Hall funds to pay for this as
[15:24] well.
[15:24] >> Yep.
[15:27] Did you put in the the permission from
[15:31] >> I guess my
[15:32] >> already had that
[15:33] >> that had to this what I I I don't know
[15:37] enough about this stuff to say what's to
[15:40] ask the question what's invasive I don't
[15:42] what is that
[15:42] >> there's um
[15:43] >> I mean I know there's invasive plants
[15:45] and all kinds of things but what's there
[15:47] that's invasive is
[15:49] >> okay
[15:49] >> specific question
[15:50] >> um it just flew out of my mind that's
[15:53] plant that looks like yes
[15:55] not
[15:58] » [laughter]
[15:58] >> Everybody knows everybody
[16:01] >> notweed is there and there's a lot of um
[16:04] briars and and other things. There's
[16:06] >> some bittersweet over there as well.
[16:08] >> A lot of bittersweet
[16:09] >> and it gets bigger every year.
[16:11] >> Gotcha.
[16:13] >> So this is for a licensed applicator to
[16:14] come in. Snow and suns gave you this
[16:16] quote.
[16:17] >> It's all been approved by the
[16:18] conservation commission which was a big
[16:20] >> hurdle. Yeah.
[16:24] So, do we have to have a separate vote
[16:26] on this one?
[16:27] >> No,
[16:28] >> just just for information.
[16:30] >> If it makes the board feel better, you
[16:32] can move it and vote on it. But the
[16:35] committee has received that quote and
[16:37] it's for work approved by the
[16:38] conservation commission. So,
[16:40] >> they've done the footwork.
[16:41] >> Yeah.
[16:42] >> Who gets to sign this document?
[16:47] » Probably move.
[16:50] » Yes.
[16:51] >> As a purchasing agent.
[16:53] >> Yes. I would move that we authorize Lou
[16:58] to
[17:00] sign
[17:02] the quote from Snow and Suns Tree and
[17:04] Landscaping in the amount of $2,11
[17:08] for removal of invasives at Kushman
[17:11] Park.
[17:12] >> I'll second that.
[17:14] >> Any other questions? Does this uh that
[17:16] this number 2001R1
[17:20] um does that include taking away the
[17:22] seating? Okay. All right. Good. That's
[17:24] all
[17:24] >> disposal.
[17:25] >> Yeah.
[17:26] >> So,
[17:27] thank you. [laughter]
[17:31] » Disposal. Sorry.
[17:33] >> Uh, okay. All in favor? I
[17:35] >> I Perfect.
[17:39] » Okay.
[17:46] » All right. Let's talk about trees.
[17:51] Brad's favorite subject. trees.
[17:54] >> Yes.
[17:55] >> So, this first document here, the
[17:56] Kushman Park tree and vegetation scope
[17:58] of work, who wrote this one?
[18:00] >> Me.
[18:02] >> Have you seen it?
[18:03] >> We have. We've been waiting for that
[18:06] since May.
[18:08] >> That's
[18:20] So, give us the Reader Digest version.
[18:22] Brad, what are you proposing here?
[18:24] >> Uh the the proposal here is to prune the
[18:29] trees in the park.
[18:30] >> The deadwood mainly is what we're
[18:32] looking
[18:32] >> mainly the deadwood just to kind of make
[18:33] it safer for all the events and folks
[18:36] going through the park.
[18:39] >> I'd like to say that there's some pretty
[18:42] big branches that have come down and
[18:44] there's at least one very large branch
[18:47] dangling from one of the trees. So, I
[18:50] really hope this can get done.
[18:52] >> We've had kids walking through the park
[18:54] for the summer wreck program going to
[18:57] the library
[18:58] >> and people walk through there all the
[19:00] time. There's people playing shuffle
[19:02] board
[19:04] and we waited really since May to get uh
[19:08] some estimates on this work and we never
[19:11] got it. So as you know we went ahead and
[19:14] hired somebody ourself which Lou told us
[19:17] that we could do and um his work was
[19:21] stopped and midstream and
[19:24] one of the workmen came down and he said
[19:27] it's very dangerous what is hanging out
[19:29] of that tree. So it's just a matter of
[19:32] time.
[19:33] >> Yeah, I agree.
[19:35] So, what
[19:37] >> you're proposing that you go out and
[19:39] quote somebody, not go by the quotes
[19:41] that we already have in hand?
[19:43] >> I haven't seen the quotes we have in
[19:44] hand, but yes, my plan was to hand that
[19:46] to multiple vendors, including
[19:49] potentially the ones that have been
[19:52] quoted before, but that way we get the
[19:54] same quote from everybody. So, you're
[19:56] kind of comparing apples to apples
[19:58] versus
[19:58] >> And I'd just like to put one thing out
[20:00] there and I put Lou on the spot. I know
[20:02] Lou did reach out for legal counsel.
[20:04] because it's such a odd situation here.
[20:07] Would you be okay regurgitating what
[20:10] Donna said to you in regards to
[20:12] >> Yeah. The uh the letter of the law in
[20:14] the Commonwealth refers specifically to
[20:17] park commissioners.
[20:19] We do not have specific park
[20:22] commissioners. certainly appreciate all
[20:24] the work that the Kushman Hall Committee
[20:25] does for Kushman Park, but in the
[20:28] absence of quote unquote park
[20:30] commissioners, the select board oversees
[20:34] any tree operation that goes on in a
[20:37] public park, which would include Kushman
[20:40] Park.
[20:41] >> But according to the will, that's not
[20:43] how the wills read.
[20:45] >> Well, I don't think they had commissions
[20:47] back in 18 whatever.
[20:49] >> [laughter]
[20:50] >> I'm sure that's Adam,
[20:52] >> but I think it does give us an option
[20:55] if Brad's that busy that he couldn't get
[20:57] back to you in that time frame. This
[20:59] board could tell you give you the go
[21:01] ahead to go ahead and do what you did.
[21:02] >> I would love to do that because
[21:05] >> the the guy the tree man disagree with
[21:08] that and that's fine, but we're we've
[21:10] got a lot of projects that are starting
[21:12] to back up a little bit. I did respond
[21:14] on June or January, I'm sorry, 7:15,
[21:19] >> which I thought was pretty reasonable.
[21:20] It was within a week of our meeting.
[21:24] » It's been a while since then
[21:26] >> with estimates. You had estimates.
[21:27] >> The scope of work. The idea was that
[21:29] everybody would approve the scope of
[21:31] work and then I would go out for
[21:32] estimates.
[21:33] >> So, who's seen the estimates that you
[21:35] got?
[21:36] >> I That hasn't been approved yet. So, I
[21:38] haven't got any estimates. I've been
[21:39] waiting for that to be approved. It
[21:41] seems like we're going in a circle here,
[21:42] at least from this guy's opinion.
[21:44] >> Exactly.
[21:45] >> I I would like to propose tonight,
[21:47] knowing that that's the law, I'd make a
[21:49] motion for this board to approve the
[21:52] quote that they had started with to
[21:54] finish the pruning that they're doing.
[21:56] Table this to a time when we can have a
[21:58] longer discussion. We have a pretty big
[22:01] event coming up this fall in the park,
[22:03] scarecrow in the park. There are some
[22:05] rather large limbs over there to get
[22:07] those taken care of sooner than later.
[22:10] and deal with this later. But I just
[22:12] hate to keep pushing this down the road,
[22:14] Brad. It seems like that's what we're
[22:15] doing.
[22:16] >> Is there any reason not to use that to
[22:18] get quotes right now?
[22:18] >> We have quotes that we've acted on our
[22:20] We have quote
[22:22] >> and it's well below the limit to have to
[22:24] go out and get quotes.
[22:26] >> Yes.
[22:26] >> Well below it. And it's Kushman Hall
[22:28] trusts money. It's not town's money.
[22:31] >> Why do we have a tree?
[22:33] >> And again, did you hear what Lou said
[22:35] that our um legal department stated?
[22:38] Lou, would you follow up on if the
[22:41] select board isn't
[22:44] available? Who is the next in line to
[22:48] authorize this work?
[22:50] >> I would have to check with council on
[22:52] that.
[22:53] >> Council said to me in a phone call that
[22:56] it would be the tree warden next in
[22:59] line.
[22:59] >> Okay. Well,
[23:00] >> and after the tree warden would be the
[23:04] >> W highway department.
[23:05] >> Bring up a couple things here. I'm
[23:06] concerned about you being having a
[23:08] conflict of interest here.
[23:09] >> Absolutely. You can pull that chain all
[23:11] you want.
[23:11] >> So just I've said it in public. It's on
[23:14] TV.
[23:16] >> If I was you, I'd stop talking.
[23:18] >> You're not me.
[23:19] >> That's just me.
[23:20] >> The conflict of interest is I can't
[23:22] vote.
[23:23] >> That's fair.
[23:24] >> This is the United States. I can still
[23:25] voice an opinion. I'm going to make a
[23:26] motion that we continue down the path we
[23:29] have
[23:31] with the Kushman Hall Committee with the
[23:32] quote that they have in hand as a select
[23:35] board to get the dangerous trees which
[23:36] is a public safety
[23:39] issue taken care of sooner than later.
[23:42] Brian Kier's opinion. We've been talking
[23:44] about this way too long
[23:47] and we're at this standstill at this
[23:49] point and we'll see if we get a second
[23:51] and a vote.
[23:53] >> I'll second it.
[24:01] Any other anybody got anything else to
[24:05] say? Now's the time.
[24:07] >> And I'm not saying throw this document
[24:08] away. I'm saying you've effectively done
[24:10] that. Well, that's the way it is. We've
[24:12] been talking about it since May. My
[24:14] opinion, it's a little too long to ask a
[24:17] question. Sure.
[24:18] >> Why did no one respond to my email
[24:21] regarding that so that I could go to get
[24:23] quotes? I may respond to that email.
[24:31] » I have it on paper here somewhere, but
[24:33] you did respond
[24:34] >> as in I've been waiting for anyone to
[24:37] respond approving that so that I could
[24:39] get quotes and keep the process moving.
[24:42] >> I didn't get a response from anyone.
[24:44] >> Well, we'll have to look at that then, I
[24:46] guess. But I think at this point you
[24:48] >> kind we're into September. Let's get
[24:50] this taken care of and work on this
[24:52] after.
[24:53] I mean, we have to keep things going in
[24:55] the park. We don't want to put yellow
[24:57] ribbon around the park and tell sorry,
[24:58] you can't do these carrot this year.
[25:01] >> I didn't propose that at all. I'm just
[25:03] curious why
[25:05] >> if we want to go out and get 15
[25:06] different quotes for a $3,000 job.
[25:09] >> Seems a little ridiculous to me
[25:11] >> when we already have quotes in hand.
[25:13] >> That's just my opinion. Again, I haven't
[25:15] seen the quote as the tree warden. So, I
[25:18] have no reference as to what you're
[25:20] referring to.
[25:20] >> And again, it doesn't have to go to the
[25:22] tree warden.
[25:26] » And besides those two trees, there were
[25:28] a couple other trees that limbs have
[25:30] come down also on the other side of the
[25:32] brook.
[25:33] >> So, by the vets memorial.
[25:35] >> Pardon?
[25:35] >> By the vets memorial. Yes.
[25:37] >> Yes.
[25:38] >> So, technically we have estimates for
[25:40] all four trees there now to have them
[25:43] trimmed.
[25:45] So, we've added those other two that
[25:48] >> Well, we haven't seen any of those. I'm
[25:50] talking about the initial one we were
[25:51] >> Okay. Work on.
[25:53] >> That's That's with the revision of the
[25:56] extra trees. He charged us another
[25:58] $1,000.
[26:14] What's that?
[26:16] Oh, dry something.
[26:31] » He also has the the W9 forms that you
[26:35] need.
[26:35] >> Mhm.
[26:36] >> Would you like that now?
[26:38] >> Yes. It's the only way you can get paid.
[26:40] >> Yes. That's what I told him.
[26:46] » Thank you.
[26:46] >> Just need the top page.
[26:48] >> Great.
[26:49] >> Would you like a copy of the estimate?
[26:52] >> Yes, please.
[26:53] >> Thank you, sir.
[26:54] >> Well, we have a motion in a second on
[26:56] the floor. We'll give it one last time
[26:58] for anyone that's got anything else to
[27:00] say.
[27:03] >> Hearing none. All in favor? I.
[27:06] >> Any opposed?
[27:07] >> Yes. I [clears throat]
[27:10] Nate, whatever you want.
[27:15] I would say the motion carries
[27:20] to work.
[27:20] >> Okay, so we're all set. I can call him
[27:22] again and hopefully he can put us back
[27:24] on his schedule. That's the problem.
[27:26] He's already moved us once for Scarecrow
[27:29] in the park. So,
[27:31] >> who's on the original distribution list
[27:32] for this, Brad? Do you remember?
[27:34] >> You're on the email.
[27:36] >> I just remember seeing it. That's why I
[27:37] say it.
[27:39] >> Uh, Mrs. Eddie, Karen Fitzpatrick, Lou
[27:42] Bordeaux,
[27:45] uh, my father, Brian Herbio, Brian Kier,
[27:48] and Brian Miner.
[27:50] >> Gotcha.
[27:52] >> I'd be happy to resend the email.
[27:54] >> Please do. Thank you.
[27:58] >> I don't know why I can only see back to
[28:01] you said 7:15. I can only see back to
[28:04] 85. I have no idea why.
[28:05] >> Probably should have Justin. Yeah, you
[28:07] need to
[28:08] >> Justin. Sure.
[28:11] >> What's your email?
[28:13] >> Um,
[28:13] >> maybe he'd feel better.
[28:14] >> I think it's Justin Lawrence at
[28:16] Bernston.
[28:17] >> I'm in the town. So,
[28:20] >> yeah.
[28:23] J Lawrence at
[28:24] >> Maybe it's J. Sorry. Jaw Bernston.
[28:27] >> You can look up the website. Should be
[28:28] on the website.
[28:32] » J Lawrence at town.
[28:35] first.
[28:36] >> Sure.
[28:39] >> I had it at one time. I wonder
[28:42] when I called up Mr. Mayad, I mean, the
[28:45] poor man's been told yes, no, yes, no.
[28:47] Could we have some kind of a letter that
[28:50] we can give him that he really knows
[28:52] that he's hired and he's not going to be
[28:56] stopped from doing his work?
[28:58] >> I'll take care of that.
[28:59] >> Thank you.
[28:59] >> I will take care of that.
[29:03] >> That's my email. Oh, thank you. Okay.
[29:05] >> Yeah.
[29:06] >> Okay.
[29:07] >> Uh I'm also going to stick around for
[29:09] new business because I've got an update
[29:10] about the uh director search at the
[29:12] library. So,
[29:14] >> okay.
[29:14] >> I'll stick around.
[29:15] >> All right.
[29:17] >> Thank you.
[29:20] >> Okay. On to new business. Uh town hall
[29:23] engineering report in late July.
[29:27] >> We'll wait till the clutter settles down
[29:29] here.
[29:29] >> Otis can hear it.
[29:30] >> Sorry, Otis.
[29:36] Um, in late July, engineer Jeff Bolino,
[29:41] is that how you say that?
[29:42] >> Yes.
[29:42] >> Sounds good.
[29:43] >> Uh, inspected and assessed the condition
[29:45] of town hall. His assessment calls for
[29:48] repairs that could cost nearly $1.5
[29:51] million, which you have your
[29:57] in your packet
[30:00] everything that he identified. It's not
[30:02] good,
[30:05] >> unfortunately.
[30:06] >> So, Mr. Chairman, I asked Lou if he
[30:08] could put this one on there so we could
[30:09] talk about it.
[30:10] >> Yep.
[30:11] >> And I'd like to recommend that this
[30:13] board create a committee
[30:16] to look at the feasibility of making
[30:19] repairs to this building andor
[30:22] building a new town hall, as much as
[30:24] nobody would want to hear that.
[30:26] Um
[30:28] Brian Miner had the pleasure to meet
[30:30] with a couple of different engineers to
[30:31] show him around different areas. So he
[30:33] has a lot of boots on the ground
[30:35] information of it. We did have a Mr.
[30:39] Stuart Scanel reach out to me after the
[30:42] town meeting we had this year where we
[30:44] approved some money for the Bolino
[30:46] engineering report.
[30:48] And I forget his title, but he works at
[30:51] UMass and does this type of work for
[30:53] UMass on a regular basis. So, he has a
[30:56] lot of history with these type of
[30:58] buildings and finding grants and
[31:01] thinking a little differently outside
[31:02] the box on repairs andor replacement.
[31:05] And John Shaw, he's a local contractor,
[31:08] one of Jane's neighbors, also reached
[31:10] out to me after that town meeting
[31:13] offering to be a citizen on the
[31:15] committee and he's a carpenter, has been
[31:17] his whole life, understands the building
[31:19] trades to a degree as well. But I think
[31:23] if we had a few a couple three town
[31:26] residents, maybe somebody from the
[31:28] finance committee, somebody from the
[31:30] select board on a committee, Brian Miner
[31:33] has offered to meet with that if we do
[31:35] that to bring them up to speed on the
[31:37] two reports and types of questions they
[31:40] were asking him about different systems
[31:43] we've seen to give a little more
[31:45] background and indepth to what the
[31:47] reports read because some of them are
[31:50] written by an engineer and it's like
[31:51] writing it from a lawyer.
[31:54] You read it this way, I read it that way
[31:57] to try to make heads or tails with Brian
[31:59] on some of that. Just curious as to what
[32:02] people's thoughts were of doing that to
[32:04] keep this moving forward on the town
[32:06] hall because we do know we have some
[32:09] structural issues here.
[32:13] >> Okay, I like the idea.
[32:16] So, anyone out there listening, [sighs]
[32:19] we'll we'll decide who's one of us.
[32:21] >> Does it seem fair to you, Jane, if you
[32:23] did that as a finance committee chair?
[32:24] >> An excellent idea.
[32:26] >> And you have some volunteers that are
[32:28] good for
[32:30] >> Yeah. And they stepped up right away
[32:32] after the town meeting
[32:37] um when we had the mold problem here.
[32:40] >> Yep. Yep.
[32:42] >> And he's built stuff for me. I mean,
[32:44] some of your past in building stuff, you
[32:47] could be a valuable person on a
[32:48] committee like that, too.
[32:51] Think about it. I mean, we have to
[32:53] decide the makeup of a committee, but
[32:55] >> right.
[32:56] >> Sure. When the committee gets started
[32:58] and what you need and what you think and
[32:59] you got enough certain type of people in
[33:01] there, I put my name.
[33:05] You
[33:05] >> got to find a grant here.
[33:07] >> Yeah. that this Stuart has done quite a
[33:09] lot of that through UMass. So, he knows
[33:11] some of the different ways to
[33:14] potentially find money and we did Lou
[33:16] and I had a meeting at the fire station
[33:19] when Congressman McGovern was there. The
[33:21] USDA chief was there as well, Chris, and
[33:24] I forget his last name,
[33:26] >> Lion Lo.
[33:27] >> He runs the USDA for Mass, Rhode Island,
[33:31] and Connecticut.
[33:33] And he said, we mentioned the town hall
[33:35] talking about this. He said, "Call me
[33:38] personally
[33:40] when you get to a point where you have a
[33:42] good question and we'll see what we can
[33:45] do to try to find some funding
[33:49] both through the federal government and
[33:51] the USDA who's a quasi federal
[33:53] government agency,
[33:54] >> but they get a lot of extra funds in a
[33:56] lot of different ways except for
[33:58] highway. They don't get any highway
[33:59] money. We tried that too.
[34:01] >> Police and fire is the big one for them,
[34:04] >> right? Yeah. But so we do have a couple
[34:06] of
[34:08] I felt encouraged when he talked to us.
[34:10] Of course, I don't know.
[34:12] >> Yeah. And I'll jump in here. I mean, I
[34:15] was going to include that in my report
[34:16] later on, but absolutely it was uh a
[34:19] great day over at the fire station.
[34:21] >> Uh and
[34:24] it it was primarily done to thank
[34:26] Congressman McGovern for getting that
[34:29] phantom million dollars. It's been
[34:31] kicking around for almost 10 years. So
[34:33] he came through, he delivered on that.
[34:36] But as Brian just said, further than
[34:38] that, uh, without knowing we were going
[34:41] to do this, I took Congressman McGovern
[34:44] aside and had a nice conversation. Brian
[34:46] took Chris Lion aside, had a
[34:48] conversation, and then we put our heads
[34:50] together afterward. And uh if it comes
[34:53] to that, if a committee finds that
[34:55] building a new town hall is in our best
[34:58] interest, uh Congressman McGovern is all
[35:01] ears to wanting to help. Uh as is
[35:04] Director Lion. So uh the groundwork is
[35:08] there and
[35:10] once a committee forms it would be my
[35:12] intention to get regular meeting minute
[35:16] information to both of their offices so
[35:19] that uh it's not out of sight out of
[35:21] mind for them
[35:23] >> which is what they said. They said you
[35:25] move along keep us in the loop right
[35:26] away
[35:27] >> so we can start thinking of different
[35:29] things to try to help you out. So
[35:31] >> I mean I felt that was encouraging. They offered it up before we begged for
[35:35] it.
[35:36] >> Well, a lot of times you start a
[35:37] conversation like that, somebody just
[35:39] walks away. So, and they didn't.
[35:40] >> It was It was two good conversations.
[35:42] >> We talked to the USDA for 45 minutes.
[35:45] And he
[35:46] >> had no lack of information for us.
[35:49] >> Yeah. So, we'll have to figure out a
[35:50] makeup of a committee.
[35:52] >> Yep.
[35:52] >> Jane, I'll give you a call. We'll think
[35:53] of what how many people would be too
[35:55] many
[35:57] because sometimes you can get too many
[35:58] on a committee like that.
[36:02] That's it for me on that. Okay.
[36:04] >> I'm happy to get the ball rolling with
[36:06] them.
[36:07] >> Yeah. And that's awesome.
[36:11] >> Inter interpreting this.
[36:13] >> Yes.
[36:14] >> Kind of talk
[36:14] >> in particular this building.
[36:16] >> Right.
[36:17] >> There's a lot that you need to see here.
[36:19] Understand what's on those.
[36:21] >> There is a few pictures in that, but
[36:23] doesn't do it justice from actually
[36:25] >> seeing what is literally under here.
[36:28] You'll shake your head a little bit when
[36:29] you read through that engineering port
[36:30] on this building light.
[36:32] >> So, you need to do it before.
[36:33] >> Why is it still here?
[36:36] >> So, a lot of it needs to be in the crawl
[36:38] space under here. So, it doesn't matter
[36:40] whether it's noon time or 10:00 at
[36:42] night, unfortunately.
[36:48] » All right. Anything further?
[36:50] We'll uh anybody listening out there uh
[36:54] if you're interested reach out to Lou uh
[36:57] and he can direct that to to our
[36:59] attention and we'll go from there.
[37:03] All right. Uh going up to useful life of
[37:06] new vehicles. The treasurer has provided
[37:08] a document uh somewhere here right here
[37:15] uh that states what the useful life of
[37:18] new vehicles could be. This includes the
[37:20] newest fire engine and the highway
[37:21] truck, both of which were approved by
[37:24] this year's town meeting votes.
[37:27] So, you want me to read this or should
[37:29] we
[37:34] » I don't know. You think you need to read
[37:35] the whole thing or just the two bullet
[37:36] points?
[37:37] >> Uh, I would just Yeah, the two bullet
[37:38] points voted further voted.
[37:41] uh voted the maximum useful life of the
[37:44] fire engine to be financed with the
[37:46] proceeds of the $1,80,000
[37:50] borrowing authorized by the vote of the
[37:53] town passed on April 29, 2026
[37:56] is hereby determined uh uh pursuant to
[38:00] Mass General Law chapter 44 subsection 7
[38:04] parenthesy 1 to be 20 years. So that's
[38:08] the useful life of that 20 years. Uh,
[38:10] further voted, the maximum useful life
[38:12] of the highway truck, I'll shorten it
[38:15] up, uh, would be 15 years.
[38:20] I won't read the whole paragraph, but
[38:23] there's a lot of legal talk in there.
[38:26] [laughter]
[38:27] So, this whole page would be the motion,
[38:28] right?
[38:29] >> Yeah.
[38:33] » Certified yet.
[38:38] I'll make a motion to that. Can we
[38:40] >> go ahead?
[38:42] >> I'll make a motion to
[38:45] recommend the maximum useful life of the
[38:47] fire truck at 20 years and the useful
[38:49] life of the highway truck to be 15 years
[38:52] as stated in this document.
[38:57] » Second.
[38:58] question.
[39:01] >> Yes. Does that mean that you have just
[39:04] put a new fire truck on the budget for
[39:06] 20 years from today?
[39:09] >> No. My understanding is that this just
[39:12] gives the lean holder. Is that the
[39:14] correct word, Sue?
[39:16] >> It allows the town to um borrow for
[39:22] more than 10 years. If if you have a
[39:25] life at five years, you can only borrow
[39:28] >> for five years So
[39:31] >> they just wanted that in writing before
[39:32] they offer up a loan of 10 years.
[39:34] >> So this would be any fire truck and any
[39:37] highway truck.
[39:38] >> Yes.
[39:39] >> Regardless of the size of the truck
[39:42] >> if we want to carry it to that 10-year
[39:44] repayment period.
[39:45] >> I think it's very specifically this fire
[39:47] truck and this new hybrid truck because
[39:50] I I recall having to look at something
[39:53] like this before as well. Okay.
[39:55] >> So anytime you run a borrow, they want
[39:57] to know that the useful life is
[40:00] longer than the length of the loan.
[40:04] >> We did it for my last break.
[40:05] >> I think so.
[40:08] >> Yeah.
[40:10] >> Thanks. So, you're welcome.
[40:14] >> All right. Any further discussion? All
[40:16] in favor?
[40:18] >> Any opposed?
[40:20] Perfect.
[40:24] Okay. Uh we have a planning board
[40:27] appointment. Julia Scanel
[40:30] related.
[40:32] >> Oh, I don't know. Could be.
[40:33] >> We were just talking about Steuart.
[40:35] >> Could be a voice. Yeah.
[40:36] >> Applied to uh volunteer for the town.
[40:38] She's attended a couple of planning
[40:40] board meetings and is a good fit. She's
[40:42] been recommended by the planning board
[40:44] to become a member. If appoint if
[40:46] appointed, this term will last until
[40:47] March 30th, 2029.
[40:51] I'll entertain a motion to
[40:54] appoint her as a member of the planning
[40:56] board. So moved. Second. Uh any further
[40:59] discussion?
[41:00] >> When does this become effective?
[41:03] >> Oh, it doesn't say that on here. Good
[41:04] question.
[41:05] >> Effective upon the vote.
[41:07] >> Effect. Okay, there we go.
[41:08] >> Because we have a meeting there
[41:09] tomorrow.
[41:10] >> Yes.
[41:11] >> So she would have to come in and be
[41:13] sworn in.
[41:14] >> But this way Chris can reach out to her
[41:17] in advance of the meeting
[41:19] >> and
[41:19] >> if she can come in.
[41:20] >> Yeah.
[41:21] >> Obviously if if she doesn't Yeah. If she
[41:23] doesn't, then she can't legally
[41:26] participate in the meeting.
[41:27] >> Gotcha.
[41:29] >> Participate. She just can't vote on
[41:30] anything.
[41:31] >> She can observe.
[41:32] >> Yes.
[41:33] >> All right. Uh, all in favor?
[41:35] >> Hi.
[41:37] >> Excuse me. Council on Aging
[41:39] Appointments, Gloria Fryenhagen. Did I
[41:42] say it right?
[41:43] >> And Sydney Snow. Uh, they are currently
[41:46] there are currently two vacancies on the
[41:48] Council on Aging Board. Gloria and
[41:50] Sydney have volunteered to serve on the
[41:52] board. If appointed, the term for Gloria
[41:54] would expire on June 30th, 2028,
[41:58] and Sydney's term would expire on June
[42:00] 30th, 2029. So, I'll entertain a motion
[42:04] to uh
[42:07] what's the word I was looking for here?
[42:08] >> Appoint.
[42:09] Thank you. I am I draw a blank
[42:11] on that.
[42:13] Uh to appoint Gloria and Sydney to the
[42:16] uh Council on Aging Board.
[42:18] >> So moved. I'll second that. also
[42:21] effective upon this vote. Is that okay?
[42:23] Perfect. Any other questions, comments?
[42:26] No. All in favor?
[42:27] >> I
[42:29] >> uh the fire department is asking for a
[42:31] one-day malt beverage permit to serve at
[42:33] Scarecrow in the Park on Friday, October
[42:35] 16th, 2026
[42:38] between the hours of 300 p.m. and 1000
[42:41] p.m. I'll entertain a motion to approve
[42:44] their ask. So moved. Second. Any further
[42:49] discussion? This happens every year. All
[42:52] in favor?
[42:52] >> I.
[42:55] >> The senior center is asking for a
[42:57] one-day alcohol permit to serve wine at
[43:00] an art show for the senior center
[43:02] patrons on November 16th, 2026.
[43:07] They will only have wine with
[43:08] availability uh at 4 to 7 p.m. Uh so
[43:12] I'll entertain a motion to approve their
[43:16] uh permit. So moved.
[43:18] >> I'll second that.
[43:19] >> Any further discussion? All in favor?
[43:22] >> I
[43:25] uh we don't have any old business uh to
[43:27] attend to, but we do have some other
[43:29] business uh unknown at the time of
[43:31] posting. The election warrant for
[43:32] Sixtown uh great river school district
[43:36] voting uh needs a motion.
[43:41] Um that is where did I put that? Right
[43:44] here.
[43:46] This isn't what we approved.
[43:50] » No, this is the actual the actual
[43:51] election warrant. This is the warrant
[43:53] wording.
[43:54] >> Yeah.
[43:55] >> So moved.
[43:56] >> Second.
[43:58] >> Uh any further discussion? All in favor?
[44:00] >> I make a comment.
[44:02] >> Yes. on I believe September 23rd the
[44:07] senior center there'll be um listening
[44:10] session question and answer
[44:14] prior to that vote for any information
[44:16] that you need can also go on the website
[44:18] anytime or call any member of the
[44:20] committee and ask we don't know the
[44:23] answer we'll get it for you
[44:24] >> so again the location of that is
[44:28] >> for the 23rd
[44:29] >> center senior center got a tie
[44:33] I think it's six. You get you will have
[44:36] to.
[44:39] They usually do those at 6:00. So,
[44:42] >> tomorrow night's in Gil is at 6. So,
[44:44] >> yeah.
[44:44] >> Give us an agenda. We can put it on the
[44:46] website on calendar.
[44:49] I just welcome that. But that's a
[44:52] Wednesday and I it does not conflict
[44:54] with your regular schedule of meeting
[45:00] » but they need you guys to unlock and
[45:02] help that out.
[45:04] >> Gotcha.
[45:07] All right. I will entertain a motion uh
[45:09] for early voting uh for the November
[45:12] election.
[45:14] >> Just to clarify.
[45:15] >> Yes. it because of the six town versus
[45:18] five town. Does this wording
[45:20] >> that wording covers?
[45:23] >> Yes.
[45:24] >> You don't know how many different boers
[45:26] have their hands. Okay.
[45:29] >> And it's been approved by the state and
[45:32] >> beautiful. Okay.
[45:34] >> Perfect. Um, I I'm trying I haven't done
[45:38] anything about it yet, but I'm planning
[45:40] on the little synopsis to be available
[45:42] for everybody that says if you vote yes,
[45:45] this is what it means. If you vote no,
[45:46] this is what it means. So they don't
[45:49] have to try to,
[45:51] you know, read that three times to get
[45:54] to the
[45:59] » Okay. Uh, yes. So, entertain a motion to
[46:04] uh for early voting in the November
[46:06] election.
[46:07] >> Did we vote on the other one?
[46:10] >> The first one now.
[46:12] >> Yeah. Yeah, we did.
[46:14] >> Okay.
[46:18] » Make a motion to approve early voting
[46:22] for the November election.
[46:24] >> Second.
[46:25] >> Any discussion?
[46:27] >> Would you like us to have a pop,
[46:29] >> please?
[46:30] >> Yes.
[46:33] Then they can hear you.
[46:35] >> This one.
[46:36] >> That's the microphone. Yeah,
[46:37] >> this one. Okay.
[46:37] >> Either one. Either one.
[46:39] >> Okay. I'm Sarah Brown and I'm the
[46:41] assistant town clerk currently. Um
[46:45] so this we sent a memo asking for the
[46:49] select board's approval on um having
[46:52] early inperson voting for half of the um
[46:57] hours that we're open to the public. Uh
[46:59] it worked out pretty well. Um we did
[47:03] half of the hours we were open to the
[47:05] public for the September 1st state
[47:07] primary. Um we had between one and two
[47:11] people come per hour, so it wasn't very
[47:14] heavy. U voters seem to be preferring
[47:17] vote by mail. Um which will also be
[47:20] available for the November election. Um,
[47:24] so yeah, we are requesting the select
[47:27] board's approval of these hours.
[47:29] >> Awesome.
[47:32] >> And you might as well say next time.
[47:34] >> Oh, sure.
[47:36] >> Uh, any further discussion, questions?
[47:38] All in favor? I
[47:40] >> I
[47:42] >> Okay. Uh, Sarah. Um, uh, we I will
[47:46] entertain a motion to appoint Sarah
[47:50] Brown Anson as town clerk. effective
[47:52] September 28th, 2026.
[47:57] Enthusiastically,
[47:59] >> September 28th starts the new pay
[48:02] period.
[48:04] >> Yes.
[48:04] >> You have to retire a couple of days
[48:06] early.
[48:06] >> Yes, I still do. [laughter]
[48:08] >> Yeah.
[48:08] >> Force you out the door.
[48:11] >> I I did clarify that with Lou um because
[48:14] I I was confused about that. My
[48:16] understanding was that I would actually
[48:18] become town clerk on October 1st. So
[48:20] that would be great if you could make
[48:22] that motion. I think that the you can
[48:26] speak
[48:26] >> for the efficiency of the pay period.
[48:28] >> Okay.
[48:29] >> So that you're not paid a split wage
[48:32] >> for 2 days. Chris will still get paid
[48:34] the same will be town clerk. That that
[48:37] the plan is that Chris will be town
[48:39] clerk until October 1st. Um because
[48:42] there may be things we don't want any
[48:44] ambiguity about who is town clerk at any
[48:46] time for paperwork reasons. So
[48:50] >> yeah,
[48:51] >> clear as butt. [laughter]
[48:53] Something like that. You make that
[48:56] motion.
[48:57] >> I make a motion to appoint Sarah Brown
[48:59] Hansen as town clerk.
[49:02] Effective
[49:04] >> October 1st.
[49:06] >> Uh but I think
[49:07] >> for pay purposes it will be effective
[49:11] September 28th.
[49:13] >> I'll second that motion.
[49:15] >> Splendish.
[49:16] >> That works out. blue that works for you.
[49:19] >> Everybody's happy.
[49:20] >> All right.
[49:21] >> Okay.
[49:21] >> Any further discussion?
[49:24] >> All in favor?
[49:25] >> I.
[49:26] >> Welcome aboard.
[49:28] >> Thank you.
[49:29] >> Very excited.
[49:31] >> Yeah. [applause and cheering]
[49:35] » And that recommendation comes after a
[49:37] grueling 45minut interview. So,
[49:39] [laughter]
[49:40] >> but just the fact that just the fact
[49:42] that she endured that [laughter]
[49:44] probably deserves hazard pay.
[49:48] Uh,
[49:48] >> which is why the two extra days,
[49:50] >> right?
[49:51] >> Good call. Good call, Mr. Chairman. Good
[49:53] call.
[49:57] » All right. Uh, I will entertain. Thank
[49:59] you, sir. I will entertain a motion to
[50:03] appoint Deborah Delan Brewer. Da Breer.
[50:08] >> Oh, darn. I'm so name like her.
[50:11] >> To the board of health.
[50:12] >> That
[50:14] exactly to the board of health. uh until
[50:17] the next town election.
[50:21] >> So moved. Sort of. Does she serve in
[50:24] another capacity? Because we know the
[50:26] name.
[50:26] >> She she was on the board of health.
[50:27] >> She was on. She was off. She was on. She
[50:29] was off. I was surprised to see her walk
[50:31] in today, but
[50:32] >> now she's on again.
[50:33] >> Two remaining board members moved to
[50:36] reappoint her. So because it's an
[50:38] elected position, she can only be
[50:40] appointed until the next town election.
[50:44] >> Okay. Any further discussion? Uh, all in
[50:47] favor?
[50:48] >> I.
[50:51] >> Okay. Uh, let's set up some meetings.
[50:55] Justin had an update, too.
[50:56] >> I'm sorry. Go ahead, Justin. Yeah.
[50:59] >> Of course.
[51:00] >> Uh, so
[51:02] the, um, you're in the headlights look
[51:05] that I had earlier tonight when we were
[51:07] talking about trees in the park is, uh,
[51:09] something I'll apologize for. I've not
[51:11] been, uh, terribly active, as active as
[51:13] I should. So Karen, I'm sorry. And to
[51:15] the other board members, uh I'm sorry.
[51:17] Uh my only excuse is that uh we have
[51:20] been busy interviewing a new library
[51:23] director and I'm really excited to share
[51:26] for some of our board members. It'll be
[51:28] the first time that they hear that. Um
[51:30] late yesterday, we got a signed offer
[51:33] letter from a very nice woman named
[51:35] Katherine Bass, who is uh the prior
[51:39] library director of the Jericho Town
[51:41] Library in Jericho, Vermont. uh because
[51:43] of her husband's work, she's moved to
[51:45] Florence and is looking to uh be the
[51:48] director of another small part-time
[51:50] rural library and uh has been really inspiring uh for us. So, big
[51:56] thanks to Susan and Doo for their help
[51:58] as we work through that process. I think
[52:00] there's a few more things that we got to
[52:02] do to get her on boarded and and get her
[52:04] oriented and ready to start, but um she
[52:07] is available as early as September 9th,
[52:09] which is uh really a weight off our
[52:12] shoulders. She's got a lot of experience
[52:14] with uh budgets and town processes and open meeting laws, and we're really confident in her ability. And so
[52:22] we we thank you for all of your support
[52:25] of the library for the last, you know,
[52:27] few years. and um Lor's exit left really
[52:31] big shoes to fill and we're really excited uh to have somebody that
[52:35] we think can can fill that and I wanted
[52:37] to share it with you and I'm going to
[52:38] race home and send an email out to the
[52:41] trustees. So if there's any trustees
[52:43] watching um you're going to get word of
[52:45] this very very soon. You're hearing it
[52:46] before they are. Uh so I I appreciate
[52:49] >> the support. Absolutely. Thank Thank
[52:51] you. Great. Nice job. And I'll just do a
[52:54] shameless plug if you got my email about
[52:56] the chili cookoff at Scarecrow in the
[52:58] Park.
[52:59] >> I did get that.
[53:00] >> Okay. Let us know. And if you are not
[53:02] available, maybe somebody uh on your
[53:04] board would be.
[53:05] >> Okay.
[53:06] >> Awesome.
[53:06] >> All right.
[53:07] >> Thank you so much.
[53:07] >> Thank you, Justin.
[53:09] >> Yeah. Thank you.
[53:10] >> Uh all right.
[53:13] We uh
[53:16] >> we have no regular meetings um set up
[53:20] for September for the rest of September.
[53:23] Uh the next regular meeting we have
[53:25] scheduled uh would be Wednesday, October
[53:28] 14th.
[53:30] Um do we need
[53:34] do we see a need to have any prior to
[53:36] that? First of all, I know everybody's
[53:39] checking their calendar.
[53:40] >> Yes.
[53:42] So it would mean cancelling the
[53:44] September 16th meeting and the September
[53:48] 30th 30th meeting.
[53:50] >> Correct.
[53:51] >> If it so pleases the board.
[53:53] >> And what that allows us to do is as if
[53:56] necessary
[53:58] call us a select board meeting. It
[54:00] doesn't remove that opportunity if if
[54:02] need be.
[54:03] >> Right.
[54:03] >> Yep.
[54:04] >> And signing the warrants and all of that
[54:08] >> seems to have gone well this summer.
[54:10] >> Mhm. Okay.
[54:13] I know that uh on the 16th, just so
[54:15] you're aware, I will not be around to
[54:17] sign warrants. I will be in Oklahoma.
[54:20] See the grandkids
[54:21] >> where the wind comes whipping off the
[54:23] plane.
[54:24] >> That's right. That's right.
[54:25] >> It's going to break into song.
[54:26] >> It'll it'll be a balmy 97.
[54:31] >> 110 like it had been.
[54:33] >> Yeah, I was going to say it won't be
[54:35] 110. It'll be a nice 97.
[54:38] I'm going to see your 97 and I'm going
[54:40] to raise you a tornado warning in
[54:42] Indiana.
[54:43] >> Said no one ever, but whatever. It is
[54:45] what it is. I'm at the mercy of the
[54:47] United States military when
[54:48] >> I would make a motion to cancel the
[54:52] meetings on September 16th and September
[54:54] 30th, thus making the next select board
[54:57] meeting October 14th. Unless
[55:01] something comes up and we need to
[55:03] schedule
[55:04] >> urgent business.
[55:05] I'll schedule schedule.
[55:07] I'll second that motion.
[55:10] Any further discussion?
[55:12] All in favor? I.
[55:15] >> Perfect.
[55:18] And town administrators report. I'm
[55:21] sorry, I skipped over it before, but I
[55:23] did the
[55:24] >> I I thought you did that, Mr. Chairman,
[55:25] because I had chimed in on the meeting
[55:27] at the fire station.
[55:28] >> No, I skipped over it before because I
[55:29] wanted to hear your voice right at the
[55:31] end.
[55:31] >> Ah, what a way to go home. [laughter] Uh
[55:34] well, in addition to that uh big meeting
[55:37] over at the fire station, the ribbon
[55:38] cutting, which got us actually some
[55:41] really good publicity both in the
[55:42] recorder, uh Congressman McGovern's
[55:45] website live streamed the event and if
[55:47] you're watching at home, you can go on
[55:49] to Congressman McGovern's website and
[55:52] find his Facebook page and the mighty
[55:55] 11minute video is there. Uh he gave some
[55:58] really good remarks. He is aware of us
[56:02] here in Berneston, which
[56:05] is uh
[56:08] a lot more than Richie Neil used to do,
[56:10] but I'm not going to get into that at
[56:12] all. Um, so
[56:16] ever since that day, I was sitting at
[56:17] the end of the table at a fire station
[56:19] meeting and he looked me right in the
[56:21] eye and said, "You're going to get your
[56:23] fire station."
[56:25] He's a politician who delivers. So, it
[56:28] was a great meeting, great for the town,
[56:31] uh, got us out in the public eye, and we
[56:34] really, uh, we were able to shine that
[56:37] day. So, it was really good. And as
[56:40] Brian said, the conversation with Chris
[56:43] Lion from USDA,
[56:46] uh, his his excitement both about the
[56:50] fire station project
[56:52] and the potential for possibly being
[56:56] involved with a town hall project. uh he
[56:59] was excited because both he and the
[57:01] congressman separately commented on
[57:06] how Bernardston did such a valuable job
[57:09] with federal money that uh congressman
[57:13] told me that he had one town in his
[57:15] district ask for $19 million for a new
[57:18] fire station and he said I can't get
[57:22] that kind of money. Uh he did mention in
[57:24] his remarks
[57:27] uh the hard work of finance chair Jane
[57:30] Dutcher which I thought was a nice
[57:33] cherry on top because
[57:36] uh without Jane's hard work a lot of the
[57:38] things that we almost take for granted
[57:41] here simply don't happen. So while
[57:43] you're here Jane thank you very much.
[57:45] >> Yes thank you.
[57:45] >> Um anyways
[57:48] so it was a great day and I can't say
[57:50] enough good things about it but I better
[57:51] move along. So today we had a department
[57:54] heads meeting that Deb Williams from
[57:57] Maya came and Sarah and Chris were here.
[58:00] Brian Miner was here. Um Deb wanted to
[58:03] come in after she did our annual review
[58:06] to discuss the Meer rewards programs and
[58:09] uh an annual grant that they have
[58:11] available.
[58:12] So, I felt it was important to get the
[58:15] whole team together because there's
[58:17] opportunities for us to save on our
[58:20] liability premium for next fiscal year
[58:23] uh based on classes we take, workshops,
[58:26] things of that nature. But also, a town
[58:28] can qualify if they get their grant
[58:31] application in in a timely manner for up
[58:34] to $10,000 in Maya funding. So, uh, Deb
[58:39] was very
[58:41] interested in helping us out and she
[58:44] said she'll come back in December. We're
[58:45] going to have another meeting in
[58:46] December with her. So, that worked out
[58:48] well. Uh, last but not least, and it was
[58:51] a follow-up to the Maya meeting, uh,
[58:53] Chris and Sarah put together a great
[58:55] document regarding election evacuation
[58:58] plans. I know this was something that
[59:00] had been discussed maybe four years ago.
[59:04] Um, but Chris really made sure that
[59:08] everything was accounted for. We didn't
[59:10] necessarily get to the goal line with
[59:12] this because we're kind of concerned
[59:14] about potentially having a generator
[59:17] maybe at the senior center. Uh, I had
[59:19] asked somebody from the church because
[59:21] the pastor over there has volunteered
[59:24] the church for other community functions
[59:27] and I asked if they have a generator.
[59:29] They don't have one now. So, uh, I think
[59:31] for all intents and purposes, we would
[59:33] keep the senior center as our evacuation
[59:36] location. But again, this is a living
[59:38] document. This is something that we're
[59:40] going to have to continue to work on.
[59:42] And I know there's a couple of big
[59:45] elections coming up, but Sarah's going
[59:46] to have her hands full. So, that's a
[59:48] good thing.
[59:49] >> Uh, and that's really all I've got, Mr.
[59:51] Chairman. Thank you for the time.
[59:52] >> Yes. Thank you.
[59:53] >> If I can just add one thing, a thanks to
[59:55] Chris and Sarah for yesterday, the
[59:57] election. A lot of work.
[59:58] >> Knocked it out of the park.
[1:00:00] >> And Ken and I on Monday threw another
[1:00:01] election at you for the
[1:00:04] >> 6,000. 54 voters.
[1:00:06] >> Really? How many?
[1:00:07] >> 454.
[1:00:09] >> That's great. That's pretty good.
[1:00:11] >> Not bad.
[1:00:13] >> For an off year for a
[1:00:14] >> Oh, yeah.
[1:00:15] >> Yeah. They kept coming steadily, so it
[1:00:18] was good.
[1:00:18] >> Good. Good. Nice job.
[1:00:22] >> Couldn't do it without our pole workers
[1:00:23] either.
[1:00:24] >> How many more do you have left?
[1:00:25] >> Of what? Elections.
[1:00:28] >> Technically none. [laughter] I told
[1:00:30] Sarah I'm around. I will certainly come
[1:00:33] in and help if she doesn't have any
[1:00:35] other help in the office by then. So
[1:00:37] that's right. On October 6th, we'll have
[1:00:40] uh a dual election with two ballots, two
[1:00:44] questions. One will be the Franklin
[1:00:48] Regional Tech School Building Project.
[1:00:50] The other one will be the uh
[1:00:52] regionalization question.
[1:00:54] >> Gotcha.
[1:00:54] >> So, both of those will be yes. No. We've
[1:00:57] been scrambling with our vendors to send
[1:01:00] back the media cards that they had
[1:01:02] already programmed for just the tech
[1:01:04] school ballot so that they could
[1:01:07] reprogram it for both of the ballots so
[1:01:10] both of them can go through the same
[1:01:11] machine.
[1:01:12] >> Gotcha.
[1:01:13] >> So that election will happen before the
[1:01:16] next board meeting. That's
[1:01:17] >> right.
[1:01:18] >> And then Yes.
[1:01:19] >> as needed.
[1:01:21] >> Um then there will be the November 3rd
[1:01:24] state election.
[1:01:27] on the third
[1:01:31] be here before we know
[1:01:32] >> close together.
[1:01:34] >> I don't know where the sun went.
[1:01:35] >> It's gone.
[1:01:36] >> It's September.
[1:01:37] >> It's gone. Playing hockey already.
[1:01:39] >> It's in Oklahoma. I heard it. 110
[1:01:41] degrees last week. [laughter]
[1:01:46] » All right, that's all we got. Gentlemen,
[1:01:47] >> make a motion to close the meeting.
[1:01:50] >> I'll second that.
[1:01:51] >> All in favor?
[1:01:52] >> I.
[1:01:53] >> Good night, everyone. Thank you. Good
[1:01:54] night. here.
[1:01:57] >> No.