[0:06] Good evening everyone.
[0:06] Welcome to the Tuesday,
[0:08] June 30th, 2026 Town Council meeting.
[0:11] We're coming to you tonight from the first Parish
[0:13] Congregational Church here in East Area.
[0:17] Just quickly, I would like to, we'll stand
[0:22] to do a pledge Allegiance First.
[0:23] First, council Neeley, would you lead us, please?
[0:27] I put given to the of the United States of America
[0:32] because you following stands,
[0:35] one nation under God in this all with liberty
[0:38] and Justices for all.
[0:46] Just since we're in a different
[0:48] space this evening as well.
[0:50] Exits are straight back this way if we need to
[0:53] or right behind me.
[0:55] Out through the front here.
[0:56] And please silence all cell phones.
[1:00] Quick roll call. Councilor Mills here.
[1:04] Oh, you're all allowed to order tonight. Councilor Webb?
[1:06] Yeah. Present. Councilor Flood. Present.
[1:10] Councilor Healy Here. Councillor Foot. Good evening.
[1:13] And good evening from the chair
[1:16] and also evening to town Clerk, Ms. Booker
[1:19] and administrator Mike Goer.
[1:21] And I would like to introduce
[1:24] and thank you for hosting us Pastor Burnett.
[1:26] Thank you very much. We're very happy to have him all.
[1:29] Thank you for joining. Thank you very much.
[1:31] Alright, so we are here this evening.
[1:35] We do have our consent agenda
[1:37] and then we will get into our goal setting
[1:40] session for this evening.
[1:44] So for our consent agenda, we have in 26 61
[1:48] to approve the minutes from the June 2nd, 2026 meeting.
[1:53] Is there a motion to approve? So moved.
[1:55] Second. All right. A motion by Councilor Mills.
[1:58] Second by Councilor Webb
[1:59] to approve the consent agenda on the motion.
[2:02] Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Webb. Yes. Councilor Flood.
[2:05] Yes. Councilor Healy. Yes. Councilor Foote. Yes.
[2:08] And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[2:11] Alright, to get into our goal setting session,
[2:16] we had, some of us have sent in goals,
[2:18] some have some tonight we can discuss.
[2:20] So this is more of just a discussion
[2:24] and then a administrator kind of put those together for us
[2:27] to kind of have a final, final run
[2:29] through at our meeting on the seventh.
[2:32] Right? That's the next disc.
[2:35] Did you wanna introduce things for us?
[2:37] Yes. Great. So thanks.
[2:40] One of the things that I wanted to set the process up just
[2:42] for the public and for obviously the council last year,
[2:46] the process was a little different in that
[2:48] each counselor was given an opportunity
[2:50] to identify their five top goals.
[2:53] They were compiled into a single list
[2:56] and that list for fiscal 28 was distributed
[2:59] amongst all the council.
[3:01] I had put within the packet the update on the progress
[3:06] of those go goals.
[3:07] Many of those have either been completed or,
[3:10] or well along the way of completed.
[3:12] There are some that are just ongoing goals.
[3:15] But I think tonight what I'd be looking to do is talk about
[3:19] where we're going into fiscal 27.
[3:22] So maybe the, the way to kick this off is
[3:24] for each individual counselor to provide their goals.
[3:28] I did also put within a pack the packet, a list
[3:31] of some priorities that I see town-wide
[3:33] that I've taken in from some of the department heads
[3:36] and some of our own thoughts.
[3:37] That list is about 43 items long.
[3:40] My guess is this evening
[3:41] that your individual goals will probably touch, if not all
[3:45] of those, many of those.
[3:47] And then the goal would be, coming out of this, I'd like
[3:50] to publish either a top 10 list to top 15 list.
[3:52] You can tell me how you wanna script that.
[3:55] But on July 7th, I'd like to push that list back out
[3:58] to the public, put it up onto a PowerPoint presentation
[4:02] briefly during our regular town council meeting.
[4:05] And then those will be the goals that I'll push out
[4:07] to each one of the departments.
[4:09] And we'll keep moving on that front.
[4:12] So I think that with that
[4:13] as an introduction, I'll pass it back to the chair.
[4:15] Great. Thank you. Yeah,
[4:16] and I think I like the idea of us kind of discussing
[4:19] what we all came to the table with tonight
[4:21] and then we can kind of see how it plays out,
[4:24] whether we narrow it down and then rank
[4:25] or whether we stick with this list and we rank from there.
[4:28] We can kind of see how the conversation goes, if
[4:30] that's works for everybody.
[4:33] All right. So I think we can just start with kind of talking
[4:36] through what each of us had for goals and just kinda why.
[4:40] And if there's questions, things like that,
[4:42] we can just go around the table.
[4:43] So Council mill, would you like to start?
[4:45] Thank you. Well, I'll start off with one
[4:47] of my top ones was exit four a gateway development.
[4:51] I think it's, it's a huge business opportunity for the town
[4:55] and it's, as it gets closer, we need to find out, we need
[4:59] to make sure once again that we're not, we don't have
[5:02] with no offense to, we don't have enough abundance
[5:04] of pizza parlors and paras there and,
[5:09] and in Counselor Chase's absence, I'd like
[5:11] to deliver a couple of his, 'cause him, his
[5:14] and I were, were very similarly his is
[5:16] to continue the downtown projects
[5:18] and revitalization Route 28
[5:23] infrastructure improvements, going
[5:26] to evaluate the housing needs in town
[5:29] and start planning to meet the needs and along with
[5:32] after housing needs the town facility needs
[5:35] and continuing to plan for the waste and waste water
[5:39] and water expansion to support for the growth in
[5:42] that such North Town Valley.
[5:47] And I could certainly recite more,
[5:49] but I'm sure they're all duplicates.
[5:50] And my, my only other one was I'd like to reexamine this
[5:54] and I know all the, all the NAS against it,
[5:57] but I'd like to reexamine who, who referenc
[6:01] that this and that's both my
[6:05] and counselor Chase's.
[6:09] I think several of us have that one in there.
[6:12] Alright, any questions
[6:14] or anything we wanna talk about on those
[6:16] or do you wanna just continue around?
[6:19] I think with the veterans credits we could follow the same
[6:22] formula that we did last, you prior two years to look at
[6:29] the excess, I don't wanna say it's necessarily excess
[6:31] revenues, but the excess funds between the assessment
[6:34] period ending in December
[6:37] and the end of the fiscal year in January.
[6:41] Yeah. One of the things that we could look at too is one
[6:45] of the, the goals I think is looking at the use
[6:47] of the undesignated fund balance.
[6:50] There is an opportunity for the council to look at
[6:54] some goals there in terms of the CBA trust.
[6:57] Obviously veterans credits are on the table
[6:59] and I've got a list that I can share on the seventh
[7:02] of some preliminary options for UFV utilization
[7:06] and vets credits could fall in
[7:07] that category if the council sees that.
[7:11] Yes. I, I went to the VFW
[7:13] and I got a, an actual list of all the found around us.
[7:17] It's, it's two years old now,
[7:20] but it was the latest one they had of
[7:22] what everybody else was doing.
[7:23] And although it's got nothing to do with what we do,
[7:26] would've just give us a, a general direction what,
[7:31] what this court is for Veterans.
[7:35] Yes, council. Thank you Madam Chair. To that point.
[7:37] So I agree with all that, that the veterans credits,
[7:40] we need to reexamine that.
[7:42] Although we did just recently,
[7:43] a couple years ago we increased that.
[7:45] But along with that, I think we really look the senior
[7:50] as well because let's face it, cost
[7:53] of living is going up dramatically
[7:54] and it's, it's going above the, the cost
[7:58] that they're receiving for their inflation.
[7:59] The Medicare or any kind of
[8:02] benefits they may get isn't keeping up
[8:03] with the inflation rate that we currently
[8:05] are experiencing right now.
[8:07] So I I, I fear that a lot of the senior residents, some
[8:10] of 'em lifelong residents, again pushed out, forced out
[8:13] with nowhere to go and you know,
[8:17] a lot are living minimalistic lifestyles right now.
[8:19] You know, by that I mean like their, their food challenged,
[8:22] whatnot and you know,
[8:24] whether it be health insurance issues and things like that.
[8:26] So I think we really need to examine
[8:29] that a lot deeper this year.
[8:32] I know we have a lot of constraints,
[8:33] but what we can do to be as transparent
[8:35] and forthcoming with that I think would be helpful.
[8:38] Yeah, thank you.
[8:41] Yeah, Charleston one,
[8:43] So the veteran's credit was also on my list
[8:47] and looking back at the, the increase in the last increase
[8:51] that the town of Derry did, I believe was in 2023
[8:54] to the current five 50.
[8:56] I'd be in favor, you know, once we get close
[8:59] to the budget time potentially increasing in another $50
[9:03] maybe this upcoming year.
[9:07] And I have the same type of lists that counselor Mill has
[9:11] with the surrounding towns.
[9:13] And the majority
[9:15] besides Auburn are all at
[9:18] surrounding dairy are all at seven 50.
[9:19] So Auburn, the last I checked was at 500
[9:24] but dairies near the, near the bottom
[9:27] with the amount that we give out. Yep.
[9:29] I think we can, we, we've gone to the, I'm always in favor
[9:32] of a veterans have veterans credit increase.
[9:35] I think that before we start to talk specific numbers,
[9:38] we need to look at what our numbers are.
[9:40] So I think, I think we all in some way, shape
[9:43] or form have the have this or most of us have this on there
[9:46] and I also, I have veterans and elderly.
[9:48] I think we have to look at both to evaluate where we're at,
[9:52] where we compare to others, what we have for, for money
[9:55] to be able into it and then can definitely talk.
[9:57] So I think that, so no, that one goes on the list for me.
[10:01] Yeah, we can agree on that one. Yep.
[10:05] Excellent. Oh sorry,
[10:07] Just to Charlie's point,
[10:09] and I wasn't part of the last discussion of this,
[10:12] but the previous year in 23 I was, that's where I learned,
[10:15] like Charlie said, you know, the veterans were definitely
[10:18] behind and it had been a long time since they had gotten
[10:21] involved and they need to be been brought to my attention
[10:23] that the elderly and there's another group and I thought,
[10:28] and I know we can't handcuff
[10:31] the next con we can't just make a set of rules
[10:33] that they increase a little bit every year
[10:35] or something to try to keep 'em or play catch up.
[10:38] But that would be one of my goals is to sit down and,
[10:41] and try to find out which group was given a bump last
[10:45] and who's due this time
[10:48] and try to, you know, you don't wanna spread so thin
[10:51] that we're really not helping anyone,
[10:53] but we need to make sure that, you know, like I said, it's,
[10:58] I'm not veterans of first on the list or should be or
[11:01] or whatnot, but we gotta make sure
[11:03] that there were other groups that are
[11:06] dropping too far behind them.
[11:08] Right. You know?
[11:10] Okay. And to that point, and,
[11:12] and not to get into the weed, but just
[11:13] for full transparency, when,
[11:16] when those groups are given these exemptions
[11:18] or these special credits
[11:22] or stances, that doesn't mean that they get it.
[11:26] This comes outta nowhere that
[11:27] that has shifted to everybody else.
[11:29] So I just want fully transparent lot people watching home
[11:31] that we, we fully acknowledge
[11:33] and understand that, that that cost just getting shifted to,
[11:37] to other taxpayers.
[11:38] So just to full transparency
[11:40] but you know, we can get into the weeds
[11:42] of that as we get closer to it.
[11:43] But, and the, that was the other challenge with veterans is
[11:47] that's a ever changing delta.
[11:49] The numbers changed, you know, pretty, pretty regularly,
[11:52] you know year to year
[11:53] and when you know these, even in the year some die off,
[11:57] some come out some are a hundred percent
[11:59] some not a hundred percent.
[12:00] So again just who for thought, but thank you.
[12:04] Alright, thank you Councilor
[12:07] Lewis Mississippi Council. We love that
[12:11] Councilor.
[12:14] We were all, we were still discussing there. I was
[12:17] Just gonna over, I see.
[12:19] So I mine are votes. Yeah. All
[12:23] Let's, we got, we've got one time.
[12:26] So
[12:31] it is all from my exhibit fire off attorney.
[12:33] I'm sorry. It's all good.
[12:35] Develop a labor management leadership move
[12:37] to evaluate healthcare options with the goal to reduce costs
[12:40] and reduce rate by health insurance increases.
[12:43] All this committee should evaluate at a minimum
[12:46] self-insurance with a third party manager in stock loss
[12:49] slash umbrella insurance
[12:51] of different health insurance vendors, insurance
[12:54] outside the health insurance trust
[12:56] and for making no changes.
[12:59] A final report should be completed and implemented
[13:02] before the next round of CDA negotiations,
[13:05] which is roughly two years.
[13:07] And that would be the police patrol employee supervisors.
[13:11] I think this is important because health insurance is the
[13:15] second, the largest bill that the town pays.
[13:19] The largest being of course wages
[13:22] and I think we do with dis service both to our employees
[13:27] and to the taxpayers by not taking hard control issues.
[13:31] The next one is in regards to a police station,
[13:34] which is secure land and financing by fiscal year 2029
[13:38] and Star Construction by fiscal year 2031.
[13:42] I know it's a process, I know that we have bond issues
[13:45] and stuff like that that we have think of.
[13:48] But just looking at the timeline that the fire station took
[13:53] and that was actually started discussion seriously in 2016
[13:57] 2017 through incrementally funded
[14:01] through grants, opioid funds
[14:03] and operational budget of part-time police,
[14:05] social worker partition that
[14:07] by fiscal year 31 is a full-time position
[14:10] and is fully funded in the operation budget.
[14:14] I've talked to several other police officers about this.
[14:16] I think this is important things
[14:17] because unfortunately many other interactions are
[14:21] with people with either mental health issues
[14:24] or there is situ, you know,
[14:28] domestic situations that are impacting
[14:33] either their behavior
[14:34] or we're contributing them to being a victim.
[14:37] And across the country we're finding that by
[14:42] adding a social work component to law enforcement has proven
[14:46] to be very effective.
[14:48] But like any full-time position, we can't just say poof,
[14:52] we have to increment the finance over a period
[14:54] of time longer to develop a town line recruitment in hiring
[14:59] and marketing plan that discussed this
[15:01] during our budget sessions.
[15:02] While vacancies equate to increase overtime spending,
[15:06] which further equates to US funds
[15:07] and personnel available for projects
[15:09] or other operational needs
[15:11] and constraints, growth and develop.
[15:13] Furthermore, vacancies can directly
[15:15] impact employee retention.
[15:17] Towns should explore targeted marketing.
[15:19] Look at specific geographic areas often whose access
[15:23] to public education's lessons cost of living is higher and
[15:26] or whose quality of life is less than
[15:28] that available in New Hampshire.
[15:33] Again that number four, one and four are looking right now.
[15:37] Our personal costs are skewed.
[15:39] Some departments are between 94 and 97% of personnel costs.
[15:44] And that really does hamper the ability to grow in
[15:47] that programs to us.
[15:51] And you know, even we can incrementally make changes.
[15:55] It took a long time for us to get onto to these ratios.
[16:01] My last, even though I came up with six, my last rule is
[16:06] route code and ordinance development planning
[16:08] and approval processes increase the availability
[16:11] of one in two family workforce housing units.
[16:13] For example, this could specifically target any new
[16:16] multi-family apartment developments of over 20 units
[16:19] and require one in 25% to be made available
[16:23] as workforce housing.
[16:25] Part of that would also be to make certain
[16:27] that we keep on our radar the redevelopment
[16:30] of the Fisher Prep site, which is 19 LI believe.
[16:34] Correct. I know that project has sort
[16:37] of seems like it's sort of stalled
[16:39] because hazardous waste issues.
[16:43] But that was being considered specifically
[16:46] as a workforce housing development.
[16:49] And my number six goal just sort of goes with
[16:52] what everybody else has been saying.
[16:54] And that is just traffic manage exit four incident traffic
[16:57] management plans in that protects the residential areas
[17:01] that be impacted by Bill.
[17:03] Thank you for your time.
[17:06] Any questions about,
[17:09] I'm just glad I got to go first
[17:10] because I feel sorry for everybody.
[17:13] Also has to follow Councilor Webb
[17:14] because that, that is very comprehensive
[17:17] and very well thought.
[17:18] I have no question. Congratulations.
[17:20] Everything so well I'm reserving your
[17:25] rights to the last, the council of what chairman,
[17:30] I'm basically on board with
[17:31] what everyone has been having to their list.
[17:34] I don't need to add mine pretty much in check.
[17:37] I want to make sure that the police department is,
[17:41] we know they're gonna need a new building.
[17:44] Let's try to be as proactive as we can.
[17:47] So we're not, I mean the fire station ended up costing the
[17:51] time more than it should have
[17:52] because it was put off longer than it should have.
[17:55] It's no one's fault that they, you can't predict it.
[17:58] It's gonna happen now, you know,
[18:00] but had it been built back in 20 15, 20 16, 20 17,
[18:04] it would've been better.
[18:05] I just, if it could be avoided with the police station,
[18:08] not ready to build it today or tomorrow,
[18:11] but we should just make sure that everyone, you know, it,
[18:16] it's on the radar and,
[18:17] and it's just chipped away at
[18:19] so when the time comes, we're ready.
[18:22] And that part of that would be making sure we maximize foray
[18:27] that's beyond me and my scope of knowledge.
[18:29] But I, we need to make sure that, you know, I've been here
[18:33] for 35 years and Gary's generally reacting to growth.
[18:37] It'd be nice to be proactive to it
[18:43] and just, I know and I know it's being done.
[18:49] Try to make sure that the town
[18:50] and the school board work better together
[18:53] and trying to, they have needs, we have needs,
[18:58] we're the same and I know it's being done.
[19:01] That just we, you know, just kind of putting
[19:04] that out there again where we need to make sure
[19:06] that we work together.
[19:08] So both, you know, neither one of us get that. Right.
[19:13] That's, I wanted to add on, I didn't specifically put
[19:15] that on here but I kind of, I kind of
[19:17] as my last sentence on my email had said I had some
[19:20] of my previous goals
[19:21] and things that I would've put on her in the process
[19:23] and that's, I think we do need to continue
[19:25] that relationship,
[19:27] which like plug off topic we have planning our
[19:30] next meeting with the board.
[19:32] I said I moved being done.
[19:34] Yeah, it's good to, and I'm not saying no one's going do it.
[19:37] We need a fire station. Keep talking all the school or or
[19:40] or remodeling.
[19:42] And so you need to, you need to space those up so it's not
[19:46] as hard of a head.
[19:47] I'd rather do a little every year than nothing for two years
[19:52] or three years and then get the big bill.
[19:54] So if we can, every year
[20:02] I believe in infrastructure we get a build from the
[20:04] inside cost and it hurts but we've neglected it to all
[20:12] Questions.
[20:16] Okay. So the first on my list was the veteran's credit
[20:20] increase, which we already talked about.
[20:23] Next was review of potential charter amendments.
[20:25] I just have that on here
[20:26] so we all kinda look at the charter,
[20:28] see if there's anything in there that's maybe outdated
[20:31] that potentially could be changed.
[20:34] Next is policy on the appointment of town counselor.
[20:37] And with this one being someone
[20:40] that applied for a vacancy.
[20:43] The only difference, the only change I would look
[20:45] to see would be giving each person from the public a time
[20:50] to speak before a decision's made.
[20:53] So I'd be interested in drafting a policy
[20:57] for the council's review or,
[20:58] or working with a few other counselors.
[21:00] But I'd like to see, you know, we had,
[21:02] I think the second time seven people apply
[21:05] and just giving them maybe three minutes
[21:07] to just quickly run down
[21:10] why they think they're a good candidate for the position
[21:13] and then you'll have the council discuss it.
[21:15] So nothing major on that.
[21:17] But I think when you have people apply a lot
[21:20] of 'em were there in the room
[21:22] and give them the opportunity just to, to say why they,
[21:25] they think they're a good fit for the position.
[21:29] The next one was non-represented employees
[21:31] compensation study.
[21:35] This fiscal, I'd like to see an outside company
[21:40] come in in study our non rep to see
[21:45] how they fall into the, the pay scale.
[21:48] I know we've had some, you know,
[21:51] I believe it's probably more internal, you know, phone calls
[21:54] to other communities to kinda get the pay of the non rep.
[21:59] But a full on study goes into more detail specific functions
[22:03] of their job and gives more of an accurate pay scale.
[22:10] It, you know, last week we got a, a memo regarding some
[22:14] of the non represented employees
[22:18] and you know, I I don't think it's entirely fair
[22:22] to single out a few
[22:25] and only give them an increase,
[22:29] especially after we just passed the budget.
[22:32] So I'm in favor of the increase overall
[22:35] I think there deserved.
[22:36] But I think there could be a better way to, to do this
[22:40] so it's more equitable
[22:41] for all the employees going forward.
[22:47] And the last thing on my list is a town hall space study.
[22:51] I know a few departments fire has moved
[22:54] out of the town hall.
[22:57] There's companies that will come in
[22:59] that can better manage the space.
[23:02] It's just an, an idea, maybe some departments can shift
[23:07] around and utilize the space and town hall better.
[23:10] But there's again, it's professional companies
[23:12] that will come in and actually manage the, the, the space
[23:17] and that's their primary function.
[23:20] So in short, those are my goals.
[23:24] Any questions? Just, just one.
[23:27] As far as the non-covered employees,
[23:30] do we not only have four or five?
[23:33] So no, what it, it's a very small number.
[23:37] It's your three department heads.
[23:39] You have Sheila, so the executive secretary,
[23:45] human resources director, chief financial officer,
[23:48] there's a couple of positions that like accounting manager
[23:51] that no longer has a person in that spot.
[23:54] And then the town clerk's compensation isn't set.
[23:57] You guys as the council set that compensation, we did that
[24:01] by resolution.
[24:02] But in general that policy covers that.
[24:05] So it's, it's a very small number of employees.
[24:07] And what Council Healy for the public is, is referring
[24:11] to is I had sent out a, a real rudimentary salary
[24:16] compilation that was done to show
[24:18] what our comparable communities were
[24:20] as we were setting the rates for July 1st, 2026.
[24:24] So all the unions have negotiated numbers
[24:27] and your non-representative group is your last
[24:30] to kind of get settled.
[24:32] So many of the unions got 4% cost of livings.
[24:36] The other two police units are based off of the
[24:39] CPI at 3.3%.
[24:42] So essentially what had happened there, we looked at some
[24:44] of the numbers within that policy.
[24:47] The administrator has the ability
[24:48] to look at a market adjustment if it's, if it's viable.
[24:52] And as a result of what I had seen,
[24:53] there were two positions, human resources director
[24:56] and the CFO where I thought they were low in the range
[25:00] to make an adjustment.
[25:01] The other groups, the others in that group, I felt were new
[25:05] to that particular position
[25:07] and were keeping with that range.
[25:09] 'cause one of the nuances in that,
[25:10] and we can get into the weeds of this later on,
[25:12] but the non-representative range, it moves up by CPI.
[25:17] So in other words, if you have a hundred thousand, 150,000
[25:19] as your range, if it moves up, there's no opportunity
[25:22] for the employee to say as they gain proficiency to get to
[25:26] that top of the range.
[25:27] Right. Whereas the unions have steps.
[25:30] So there's some flaws in that particular pay system
[25:35] and maybe that's something that they, you bring to light
[25:37] as they do the, do the study on that.
[25:39] But it's not a large route to answer your question.
[25:43] Yeah, and I did, I just wanna be clear too that
[25:46] the recommendations
[25:48] by the town administrator I fully agree with.
[25:50] I just, I think that we should be looking at all of 'em.
[25:53] And I know some of them were just adjusted when
[25:56] they, you know, took the position.
[25:57] But there's still I think a few in there
[26:00] that maybe could be booked at.
[26:01] I think there's nine in in that, in that policy.
[26:06] But I do, I do fully agree with,
[26:09] given the increase based off of what we received.
[26:16] I think the only one of your goals that I,
[26:18] I think we should keep everything on here,
[26:19] but is a precedent we all need
[26:22] to think about is making a policy
[26:24] that's gonna affect another council down the road.
[26:26] So when it comes to something like appointing a town
[26:28] counselor, there isn't a policy as exists right now
[26:33] because per the charter we, if it's not established,
[26:36] then we run it as we see fit to run it.
[26:39] And I I it's come up on other things too
[26:41] where we've been very hesitant
[26:42] to say we're gonna put something in place
[26:44] because the seven of us think it's a good idea
[26:47] that 10 years from now, seven different people have
[26:50] to follow 'cause we made some sort
[26:51] of resolution or policy or whatever.
[26:53] No, and you can make, if it's just a policy,
[26:55] it's a PP manual, you can change those instantly.
[26:57] So I think we should leave it on there.
[26:58] But I, when I read that, that was my thought is it's come up
[27:02] before and I don't wanna start getting into situations
[27:06] where we set a precedent that we're starting to set policy
[27:09] that has to be done a certain way
[27:10] because different situations call
[27:12] for different approaches sometimes.
[27:13] So I just wanna throw that piece out there,
[27:15] but I think it should stay, stay
[27:16] on the list for consideration.
[27:18] I just wanna kind of put that in there.
[27:22] I agree with you on that also simply
[27:23] 'cause like you said, it's, it's not that it's vague,
[27:26] it's just that it's in there in the charter,
[27:29] which the town can council does well
[27:33] as far as having a chance to present for two
[27:37] or three minutes, that should all be covered in any kind
[27:41] of a resume that they send in for qualifications.
[27:45] If we have any questions,
[27:46] we can always contact a certain person,
[27:48] we can ask them to come in.
[27:50] But otherwise I think that the policy,
[27:52] the way we have it right now is sufficient.
[27:54] And I agree we shouldn't be binding future
[27:59] students for the regulation. Yeah,
[28:01] And I think to your point, you are looking
[28:03] for this one thing that if we're gonna do that, we have
[28:05] to have a whole policy of how it all runs.
[28:08] And just to use Council Moje as an example, I mean,
[28:11] I think we talked about if she had her resignation in a
[28:14] month or a month and a half sooner, we would've let it run
[28:17] until the election, but we couldn't do that.
[28:18] So I think it, it it, it isn't a small change,
[28:22] it's actually establishing a full policy.
[28:23] So that's, that was where my mind was.
[28:25] So I, I think for what you are looking
[28:27] for, yeah, that would be fine.
[28:28] We can look at that if that's what the council
[28:30] makes, makes sense to do.
[28:32] But I, again, I don't think it should come off of the list
[28:34] of consideration right now,
[28:35] but I just wanted to put that out
[28:36] there during prompt perception.
[28:38] Yeah, I just wanna add hopefully
[28:40] that if we did have a policy we wouldn't be using it.
[28:44] But that's just
[28:46] See, know something we don't know.
[28:49] But I mean, I just, I just like the idea
[28:51] of giving them just a little time to, to speak,
[28:54] but I, I do understand that maybe we could ask if it is
[28:59] situation in the future to maybe have the resume
[29:01] or the, the letter be a little more detailed or,
[29:04] or something along those lines just to get kind
[29:08] of the full picture of, of each candidate.
[29:10] But it's not, you know, that's low on my, my list of,
[29:15] it's probably last on my list,
[29:17] but I just figured I'd, I'd throw it up.
[29:20] Excellent.
[29:22] All right. Comes the foot. Thank you Madam Chair.
[29:26] So I'm like, what, what here?
[29:27] So like we talked about the,
[29:29] the scene room guys obviously are, are on there.
[29:33] The four A opportunities I need to count the most scoring.
[29:37] We, we really need to hone in on that and,
[29:39] and really kind of oversee that
[29:42] and what, what we're gonna do with that initially hit the,
[29:46] maximize the opportunities while they're being built now
[29:51] and not have buyers or more right down the road
[29:54] and like, oh, we should done, should done that.
[29:55] So I think we just need to all stay on point with that.
[30:03] So this is one of my old
[30:06] things from a few years ago, hood Park,
[30:10] and I know it's no fault of the town room,
[30:12] but the re violation hood, PA Hood, hood Pond
[30:15] and the park itself, I think that's important
[30:17] because now we have to have a hor project going on.
[30:20] I I personally believe that the Hood, the Hood project will
[30:25] help with that downtown development.
[30:29] You know, when when we, when it goes to the next phases
[30:31] with the, you know, the apartments, things like that,
[30:32] it's gonna be a big draw and a big vibe.
[30:34] People, you know, they can walk to park right there.
[30:37] They didn't have that. There's coffee shops downtown,
[30:39] there's restaurants, there's all these things, amenities
[30:41] that they can easily walk to a park would be a great idea
[30:44] with the pond and take it as far as get pink.
[30:48] This, the initial goal back then was get Pinkerton involved
[30:51] the CT program, the wilderness students having to come out
[30:55] and try to get involved with the,
[30:56] the basic species, things like that.
[30:58] So I think it's a win-win all around for that.
[31:01] And again, I know that was put out to IRP, it was, it was a,
[31:06] you know, used upon here it was a small fish in a big pond
[31:09] that people just weren't biking at it
[31:11] because it was such a small project in the grand scheme of
[31:14] the contractors out there, bigger projects.
[31:16] But, but I, I'd like us to really try to refocus that.
[31:21] And again, that's no fault of the town
[31:22] or DPB or anything like that.
[31:23] That's just how things work.
[31:27] Another one from a few years ago that we wanted
[31:30] that I wanted revisit with you,
[31:33] we looked at the a CO position.
[31:37] I would like to re re kind of re review that
[31:41] and see, you know, our a CO what the actual drug
[31:44] is entailed right now versus what if any
[31:48] expansion can be made.
[31:51] Whether it be, you know, other animals, what, you know,
[31:53] what is our policy for, for, you know, wild animals.
[31:57] I know people sometimes would call companies
[31:59] and things like that, but you know,
[32:01] let's say an owl, what happens?
[32:03] An owl gets hurt or injured, you know,
[32:06] what do the police do with it?
[32:07] Does a sit on the road or you know,
[32:10] and I know not everyone's animal lover,
[32:12] but in today's world,
[32:14] the pet industry is a multi-billion dollar business
[32:16] and people on go on social media, you'll see all the people.
[32:21] If it has an animal in it,
[32:22] people are gonna click on and subscribe.
[32:23] They're gonna watch it and the view's gonna be up.
[32:25] So I think we just need to be cognizant of that and,
[32:28] and revisit the a CO position.
[32:30] And what, if anything, could we do to maximize that
[32:36] Ryan till I know we've, we've had
[32:38] that on our radar for a while.
[32:39] We've worked enough for years and I know the, you know,
[32:41] water and sewer and we talked about
[32:43] redevelopment and things like that.
[32:46] Again, as far as business opportunities, I think
[32:47] that's something we need to really still focus on now
[32:50] that the water and that all the
[32:52] mitigation issues have been dealt with up there.
[32:55] That's something. And I know like high work has gone in
[32:57] there and that, that place is beautiful.
[32:59] So we started on the northern side of bypass 28.
[33:03] Now we need to kind of continue further south
[33:05] and see what we can do with that.
[33:08] And I think Council Webb mentioned this earlier,
[33:10] health insurance, you know, what was it, 27%
[33:14] that we went up 27%.
[33:17] I think that's just the, the,
[33:19] the market out there for everything.
[33:20] But I think we can do better.
[33:22] I, I'm pretty sure if we, you know, the mass buying power,
[33:25] whatever, whatever that looks like, whether it be
[33:26] you don't get to get involved with other communities,
[33:28] I'm not sure if that's something we can do,
[33:29] get like a buying power type thing and
[33:31] and really try to hone in on lowering those costs.
[33:36] You know, unfortunately everyone needs health insurance
[33:38] and it's a, it's a monopolized market.
[33:40] People, you know, there's a demand for it,
[33:42] so they're gonna raise the prices,
[33:43] but I think we need to really do better at that.
[33:46] And again, that's no fault of anybody in the town, just
[33:49] how the, how the things have fallen over the years
[33:52] with co post COVID or whatnot.
[33:54] So I think there's a lot of money, maybe not to be saved,
[33:58] but we could do a lot of cost avoidance
[34:01] if we get very diligent and really hone in on that.
[34:04] But it was two years, like we have to, to do that two years.
[34:07] We wanna make that settled before then.
[34:08] But you know, dairy, we went not the worst,
[34:11] but we're definitely not the best.
[34:12] What's out there as far as the,
[34:13] the health increases. You know, it's, it's around.
[34:15] So it was really interesting, I, I know I sent it wrong
[34:19] that the editorial that was recently the op-ed
[34:22] that was in the union leader talking about the health
[34:24] insurance trust and the numbers
[34:26] that this op-ed pointed out was that the family plan
[34:29] through a health trust was $50,000, which is
[34:32] what we're seeing where some
[34:33] of the surrounding states are looking at similar family
[34:36] plans at 27,000.
[34:38] You know, that's one of those numbers.
[34:39] You, you want to trust the source, but you have to verify.
[34:43] And I think to go with health insurance, this is,
[34:48] you know, one of the areas where
[34:50] we don't have expertise in house
[34:54] and I think that we have people that are stakeholders.
[34:58] I don't think we necessarily have, you know,
[35:02] we've got a numbers guy who's fantastic and Bob McCarthy,
[35:05] but I don't think we have the expertise in house
[35:07] and this might be an area that we do put this group together
[35:10] that we should look at a facilitator,
[35:13] Right.
[35:14] And, and to that point, you know, that again
[35:18] for just to, not to stop grasping about it,
[35:20] but the town is a business.
[35:22] We're running their business, you know,
[35:23] to the, to the residents.
[35:24] We we're providing them services to provide those services.
[35:27] We have employees, the employees have to be compensated
[35:30] and they have, compensation is insurance.
[35:33] I mean, many people take second
[35:34] or third jobs for health insurance purposes.
[35:37] So if we have the employees right now routine, we need
[35:42] to provide them with insurance
[35:44] that's worth them staying here, number one.
[35:46] Because if they leave, that creates vacancies, which
[35:49] as we know the all the time costs go up,
[35:50] it's round and round and round.
[35:52] And then that's the disservice to the residents
[35:56] 'cause their, their tax money is kind of just getting
[35:59] recycled, recycled, recycled.
[36:01] So I think it's important as a business
[36:03] to look at it from that point of view.
[36:04] Like how do we maximize the best for the customer
[36:08] and the best for the employee and find that happy meeting.
[36:11] So that's, thank you. Thank you.
[36:14] Any other ing comment grant?
[36:18] Well mine are all just repetitive. So Don quickly.
[36:22] I definitely have the new police station on, on their,
[36:24] the radar, you know, continuing to make a plan.
[36:28] You know, obviously I don't, the goal is not
[36:30] to build a police station this year,
[36:31] but to kind of continue to have it front of mind
[36:34] and to cons, floods, commute from earlier, try to
[36:37] be a little ahead of things instead of, you know, I I think
[36:41] by the time we got to the fire station, we did a good job
[36:43] of the managing the costs that existed at that point.
[36:47] But had we built it 10 years ago,
[36:50] it wouldn't have been expensive.
[36:51] So I'd like to continue to work on this so that we're ready
[36:54] to go when the time is right for that.
[36:59] We've talked to quite extensively already about reviewing
[37:03] and the veterans and elderly exemptions
[37:05] and hopefully figuring out where we can increase a bit.
[37:09] And then I also have, as counselor put, Mayo have kind
[37:14] of talked about over time reviewing and,
[37:16] and updating our animal control.
[37:19] Both the, the position of what it is
[37:21] and what, what the role is and the policies that go with it.
[37:26] I'm not even at wildlife. I would just like cats included.
[37:29] If we could just get cats, I'd be happy.
[37:31] But I do think there's, they're having talked with
[37:36] some animal control officers within the state from
[37:40] that have some really well developed
[37:43] positions in departments.
[37:45] There's a lot that we, we can be doing.
[37:48] And in my opinion we should be doing to,
[37:50] to councilor Foot's point, it's, it's just a matter of time
[37:53] until somebody comes after us
[37:56] because we weren't there to do something.
[37:58] And I think that is
[37:59] because our policies are very, we, we, I don't want to,
[38:04] I don't wanna diminish the importance
[38:05] of our animal control officer's role,
[38:07] but we have a dog officer right now
[38:10] and I think we should have an animal control
[38:12] officer in today's world.
[38:14] Whether it's, you know, whether it's
[38:16] to coordinate wildlife efforts, whether it's other pets,
[38:19] whether there's other things going on.
[38:20] I just think, I sit on the Governor's commission
[38:24] for animal welfare and there's way more
[38:26] to an animal control officer's job than dogs at this point.
[38:29] And we have some of the primary animals
[38:31] that normally would be dealt with with those.
[38:34] So I mean we have them, 'em all over the town.
[38:35] So yeah, I really think
[38:37] that should be a priority at this point.
[38:38] We are a little behind the time zone. That one
[38:40] I chime again.
[38:41] Yes, thank you to that point. So again, something like that.
[38:45] But we're a business and we're providing customer service
[38:48] and I think, you know, so we might get the standard,
[38:52] but we are perfectly capable of increasing that standard
[38:56] and, and optimiz and maximizing that,
[38:58] that customer service experience for the people in town.
[39:01] Again, it's a, the pet industry is a multi-billion
[39:05] and if if, and people care more about the animals animals
[39:07] than they do about other social, you know,
[39:10] other social events and things like that.
[39:12] You know, if you look on social
[39:13] media, you'll see a lot of that.
[39:14] But I think, I think if, if the council is amenable to,
[39:19] to us reviewing all this down the road, I think
[39:21] that's something we could reach out to other departments
[39:24] who do have different disciplines
[39:28] or whatnot and see how they're doing it and,
[39:31] and maybe take a hybrid, kind of take a few communities
[39:34] and kind of pick and choose what's gonna benefit dairy the
[39:36] most and put those together.
[39:38] And again, at the end of the day,
[39:39] we wanna provide the best customer experience that we can.
[39:41] And I think this is the way we can do that.
[39:43] Again, it's no secret on the animal over,
[39:45] but this is, these are things
[39:47] that I've also heard on a regular basis from physicians,
[39:50] you know, and I know you and I have had some experiences in
[39:52] the past with some things that we can,
[39:54] that we know we can do better.
[39:56] So, and that's not an knock towards anyone currently,
[39:59] it's just that times change with evolution.
[40:02] We need to evolve with those times. Thank you.
[40:07] And those were, I had a lot of the things that I,
[40:11] that I had had on past goals we're doing.
[40:14] So we have, we have a fire department,
[40:16] we have our new fire at station now, so I'm good.
[40:19] I can take that off the list finally.
[40:21] So yeah, I think a lot of what everybody has put forth I,
[40:25] or definitely I like
[40:28] how we all came together from our own areas
[40:31] to put together every few minute.
[40:33] Anyone have anything else they wanna add
[40:35] before we move on to our next step? Things
[40:38] I, I, I just wanna say one,
[40:39] one more thing about going back to veterans
[40:41] 'cause it's stuck in my, my mind
[40:44] Counselor Healy was talking about doing that $50 jump and,
[40:47] and doing things like that.
[40:49] As I listen to all our goals, we just managed to bond,
[40:53] I don't know how many millions for, for the fire station
[40:56] and we're gonna have to do the
[40:57] same thing for the police station.
[40:59] I can't see an earthly reason why we can't jump
[41:03] and pay veterans.
[41:05] We're paying 'em, giving them a $550 tax break.
[41:09] While we can't add $200 a veteran to that.
[41:13] I think this is gonna be one of my goals
[41:15] to make this the council that increases it.
[41:17] The heck with the $50, let's go right through seven 50
[41:21] and put this to bed.
[41:22] I've been listening to this
[41:23] for 25 years now about this veterans exemption.
[41:27] And if we can build fire stations,
[41:29] we can build police stations, we can fix all our,
[41:32] our wastewater and increase our sewage,
[41:36] we can give the veterans 200 credit
[41:41] Before we move on.
[41:42] I do, councilor Chase wasn't able to join us tonight.
[41:44] I did just want, I know you, you said most
[41:45] of this I did, but just, I,
[41:47] I I think I skipped one For the public.
[41:49] I just was gonna read through his goals.
[41:51] I, I don't, I can't elaborate,
[41:53] but most of them, they're in
[41:54] line with what we've talked about.
[41:56] He had continued downtown projects
[41:58] and revitalization Route 28 south infrastructure
[42:01] improvements, evaluate housing needs in town
[42:04] and plan to meet needs, evaluate town facility needs
[42:08] and plan for waste water
[42:09] and wastewater expansion to support future growth.
[42:12] So just so that we have complete all
[42:14] what we all had submitted, we'll turn back over to you Mr.
[42:18] Proa. Alright, so I think one of the things that I think
[42:21] to cap this on, we'll kind of compile these goals.
[42:25] A couple of questions here, but I do wanna at least throw
[42:28] out a couple of other items that maybe Oh yeah, you know,
[42:33] we neglected to mention that.
[42:35] So I just want to kinda run through a couple of items that,
[42:38] you know, I've identified and,
[42:40] and if there's anything that stimulates, you know,
[42:42] the council stop me and,
[42:44] and we can have some discussion about it.
[42:45] But you know, looking at, obviously we have HB 1300,
[42:50] we have HB 1331, which is the absorption of the town,
[42:54] the school tax cap, all those issues.
[42:56] That is a pending issue that could be moving forward
[42:59] to the voters here very soon.
[43:02] We obviously have to make sure we articulate the impacts
[43:05] of our upcoming tax rate
[43:07] and I'm, I'm gonna use the word torpedo, right?
[43:09] We're gonna see in December,
[43:10] that's gonna be a difficult pill to swallow.
[43:12] We just got done with the acceptance of the June bill
[43:17] and now we're looking at,
[43:19] with the increased spending primarily out
[43:21] of the school district, we're going
[43:23] to see some significant increases.
[43:26] So in that September october range, we have an idea
[43:29] of where that tax rate is.
[43:30] I will be presenting to the public, to the council to kind
[43:33] of elaborate where those pinch points are going to be.
[43:36] But I wanna make sure that we articulate that
[43:39] transparently for everybody.
[43:41] Obviously in my department, I'm looking,
[43:43] gonna be looking potentially to backfill the retirement
[43:46] of our executive secretary.
[43:48] That's going to be probably coming fairly soon. I
[43:50] Would like to just take that opportunity.
[43:51] Yes, exactly. We're not doing that.
[43:55] There you go. Right. And that's, you know,
[43:57] she's had a wonderful career obviously we still have
[44:01] to have some discussions about the disposition
[44:03] of the central fire station.
[44:05] That is on my list of things to do.
[44:07] Jack, you had mentioned about opioid settlement funds.
[44:11] There is a CHS has done some preliminary application
[44:15] towards a grant
[44:17] and if that is moving forward, there's an opportunity
[44:21] for the town at least on a short term basis
[44:23] to utilize some funds to co joinin with them.
[44:26] So that's a decision that the council would,
[44:29] would be seeking to make at some point down the road.
[44:32] So that's probably something we may see on a,
[44:33] like a September or October agenda if it
[44:36] looks like that is possible.
[44:38] But you could potentially bridge through a grant
[44:40] to CHS while we're still figuring out if we want
[44:44] to have a full-time or multi town individual
[44:47] that's dedicated to social services
[44:49] within our police department.
[44:52] Obviously we're gonna keep an eye on the landfill solar
[44:54] and I'll report those findings.
[44:57] Community power, that's still on my list.
[44:59] I have an RFP that's out right now.
[45:01] When we identify that,
[45:03] hopefully we catch some identified rates
[45:05] that will work in favor of our residents.
[45:08] We're gonna look at the financial health of the organization
[45:10] through comprehensive financial forecasting for sustainable
[45:14] and non-sustainable funds.
[45:17] One of the things that I did want to ask in listening to all
[45:20] of this is would you like me to do a brief
[45:24] tidbit style presentation on our UFB, our, our
[45:28] unallocated fund balance on July 7th?
[45:30] I'm ready to do that. And we can at least that'll give you
[45:33] some ideas as to what you may wanna do
[45:36] and it ties in with a lot of goals
[45:37] that have been identified.
[45:38] So I'll, I'll put that on the agenda for the seventh
[45:40] and we'll have, you know, it could just be an open
[45:42] discussion, but I'll put it under the
[45:44] town administrator's report.
[45:46] Obviously we're gonna continue to look at the new valuation.
[45:51] We had a good year last year.
[45:52] We're projecting another probably 50
[45:54] to $55 million in new growth.
[45:56] That's a good thing. Monitor state legislative process
[46:00] to ensure that dairies interests are being met.
[46:04] We're gonna look at human service agencies
[46:06] because obviously their costs have been increasing as well.
[46:09] And I'm hearing, you know, some items that they're,
[46:12] they're struggling in certain instances so we need
[46:14] to kind of keep an eye on that.
[46:16] We've talked a lot about veteran credits
[46:18] and exceptions for elderly.
[46:19] That's definitely something that we want to take a look at.
[46:21] And I think if you tell me when you wanna slot that in,
[46:25] I can start to prepare some of the information.
[46:29] A lot of what the other communities do is,
[46:30] is already published on the Department
[46:32] of Rev revenues website.
[46:34] So you can get that information
[46:36] without a heavy lift on our part.
[46:37] We just would need to look at the scenarios.
[46:40] If you increase to X, what does that do for what you have
[46:43] to make up on the other side Cable?
[46:46] That is one thing I think sooner rather than later
[46:49] we need to have that discussion.
[46:50] We talked a lot about FY 27.
[46:52] I'd like to do some form of a workshop
[46:54] perhaps when we get into September
[46:57] or October so we can roll that out.
[47:00] On the economic development front, we're continuing
[47:02] with the Abbott Court construction.
[47:05] Obviously we've got a secondary wave
[47:07] of development Crystal Ave, some
[47:09] of the other ancillary roads that's been going very well.
[47:12] And obviously we still have three drug stores
[47:14] that are vacant, so we need to kind
[47:16] of keep working on those.
[47:18] One. Looks like there'll be a reuse that's in place,
[47:20] but we're keeping an eye on that as well.
[47:24] Fire department, obviously they've got a number of
[47:26] of items to look at.
[47:28] Backfilling that assistant chief position.
[47:31] We're looking at dispatch, staffing,
[47:33] the restructuring model.
[47:34] They're looking to build a new training facility,
[47:36] update their strategic plan, address staffing needs,
[47:39] particularly with paramedics.
[47:41] And then obviously working towards implementing a
[47:43] comprehensive training program.
[47:45] Human resources, Jack and and, and all.
[47:47] We've talked about ways to continue to retain
[47:50] and recruit employees and market that.
[47:53] Health insurance is definitely a high priority goal.
[47:55] We've already had some preliminary discussions
[47:57] with Health Trust and looking at some outside brokerage, so
[48:00] that's definitely something that's on, you know, my plate.
[48:03] And then you do have one contract that is coming due as
[48:06] of June 30th, 2027.
[48:08] So the patrolmen are out of contract as
[48:11] of a year from today.
[48:13] The supervisors are congruent with the other five
[48:17] that you just approved.
[48:18] So there'll be six that will be coming up on
[48:20] June 30th, 2029.
[48:22] But we do need to address negotiations
[48:24] with them coming up in this upcoming year.
[48:28] Obviously it, we're gonna be looking at a,
[48:30] a future retirement in that department
[48:32] and maybe some restructuring there.
[48:35] Planning, obviously we're gonna be coming
[48:37] to the planning board, I mean
[48:38] to the town council on a few changes in the CBD, which might
[48:42] spawn some growth in terms of, of some areas
[48:45] that have been neglected.
[48:47] Police department, obviously we're looking at the rebuild
[48:50] or new facility.
[48:51] We're gonna continue to look at all those options.
[48:53] And obviously access in the interim
[48:55] through the four A process in public works.
[48:58] We're looking at that. Southern New Hampshire phase two.
[49:02] We've had a lot of discussions that there's some interest in
[49:05] that kicking up, so I'll be providing some information.
[49:08] He's out and moves forward. We're doing some work on the
[49:12] engineering design for the rail trail north of Foray.
[49:14] Obviously we're underway with the design
[49:17] of the Ryans Hill sewer as well.
[49:19] So those are projects that are in the pipeline.
[49:21] We obviously have to prepare
[49:23] for wastewater treatment plan upgrade
[49:25] that's probably two to four years out.
[49:27] So as you can see there's a lot of things
[49:29] that we've accomplished,
[49:31] but I think there's a lot of things
[49:32] that we can put into that list.
[49:33] I think we've had a wonderful year.
[49:35] If you look back at where we were a year ago,
[49:37] we were just kicking off the water project
[49:39] down on Shado Road.
[49:41] Abbott Court really hadn't broken ground,
[49:43] but we had sold, sold the bond fire station.
[49:45] We had not moved in.
[49:47] You know, there's a lot of things we had replaced a
[49:50] longstanding town administrator
[49:52] and we've had a lot of vacancies that we had filled.
[49:55] So we've survived. The year I think is is, you know,
[49:57] an accurate way to look at that.
[49:58] And we have some, you know, obviously a few new faces
[50:00] here on the town council.
[50:02] So personally I've enjoyed it working with all
[50:05] of you in terms of, you know, working towards those goals
[50:07] and we're gonna continue to do that.
[50:08] So, so out of all of that, what I'm looking to decide,
[50:12] I think for purposes of articulating those goals,
[50:15] do you want it to set in your top five?
[50:17] Do you wanna sit in your top 10
[50:18] or do you just want me to take everything
[50:20] that's been discussed verbally
[50:22] and everything that's been compiled in these submissions
[50:25] and put them into one pile?
[50:27] It really doesn't matter to me how you wanna do
[50:29] It, but I was just looking for some consensus.
[50:31] I would like to see it just, we've kind
[50:33] of had a discussion, some of the priorities,
[50:37] but either one of two things, taking
[50:39] what we've talked about tonight
[50:40] and kind of doing a kind of backing into
[50:43] what we've done for the past couple years.
[50:46] Like you can see it on the, there was included in our packet
[50:48] that there was almost like a point system.
[50:49] Yep. Yeah. How many, how many
[50:51] people have this on their list?
[50:52] How many people have this on their list?
[50:55] And or we could do that and or,
[50:57] but I think everything that was said was valid.
[50:59] Obviously like we don't have
[51:00] to list veterans credits seven times list,
[51:04] but kind of pulling together what, what,
[51:06] where there's overlap, making them into goals
[51:09] and then sending them out to the council
[51:10] to rank them ourselves.
[51:11] Like what are out of that, the list
[51:13] that exists once you put them all together,
[51:15] I counted like 20 something of what we roughly submitted,
[51:19] but some of those were the same, right?
[51:21] So we could kind of put that list together
[51:23] and send it out to all of us to, to rank them ourselves
[51:27] and then come back with to see how we ranked 'em.
[51:29] So I don't know, I think that's the next step is to kind
[51:32] of rank and see where we are.
[51:33] They can, I know I think what we'll come out with is a bit
[51:37] of a long list, but you know, then we can prioritize.
[51:40] Like I don't mind leaving something on there that's a low,
[51:43] low priority if we get there, we get there.
[51:46] But seeing which the priority I think is the big thing for
[51:48] Me.
[51:49] And I think some of the things on the list
[51:50] don't necessarily have to be
[51:54] A Goal full council panel at one time.
[51:56] They can be some things kind of done offline, you know,
[52:01] two, three counselors working in conjunction
[52:04] with the town administrator
[52:05] and whoever it is that that goal Yeah.
[52:08] Addresses and you know, so obviously
[52:11] what every counselor says is,
[52:13] is important, you know, to them.
[52:14] And so it's important, should be important to the counselor
[52:16] that we don't take take everything
[52:17] consideration and look it all through.
[52:19] So, so I think that just my suggestion would be
[52:22] to your point, make a list of everything.
[52:24] We can rank 'em, but I think everything, whether it's first
[52:27] or it's last, should at least be addressed at some point to
[52:32] for for fair due process to that council in there.
[52:36] If we, if we've got that many,
[52:38] why don't we just do something like a top 10 list
[52:40] and then everything else, list them
[52:42] as ancillary and when we get the list.
[52:44] Yeah, I don't think it really matters
[52:46] what order the top 10 are in.
[52:48] Right. Let's just look at it
[52:49] and if we see, if, if, if a couple of us feel very strongly
[52:52] that one of the ancillary items should replace one
[52:55] of the top 10 lists that,
[52:57] and that way, that way we've at least got a manageable list
[53:00] to play with and just not try and get to 12 and 14 And Yeah.
[53:05] And the ancillary actions can also be,
[53:07] I'll call goals of opportunity.
[53:09] Yeah, yeah. If the opportunity comes up,
[53:11] if the funding comes up, hey, we can address this
[53:16] or some of the goals might be relatively straightforward
[53:19] with veterans credits, we might be able to satisfy
[53:22] before we even come up with our goals.
[53:25] Right. And I think to that point as well, that chair,
[53:29] you know, you can, you can install a subcommittee on certain
[53:34] things, you know, I know years past we did one on the
[53:37] veterans credit, you know,
[53:38] because the, the, yeah, the combat veterans have non-com
[53:40] veterans and you know,
[53:42] 'cause in the RSAA change at the state level
[53:44] for the veterans credits, it was to include all veterans,
[53:47] not just the common veterans.
[53:48] But that was an opt-in
[53:50] and it, it just financially was not feasible to opt in
[53:53] because again, like I said earlier tonight,
[53:55] we didn't know the delta and that was ever changing of
[53:58] who would that in affect and what would that cost burden
[54:01] to be to the town, you know, be up and down, up and down
[54:04] and how can we sustain that realistically on a tax account.
[54:07] But so having said that, I think that
[54:10] you in your purview can
[54:13] instill subcommittees on certain things
[54:15] that do not have a monetary aspect right away,
[54:17] but procedural or whatever
[54:21] or vetting out, I guess is a good way to put it. So,
[54:24] So I think if we maybe took an opportunity to send out
[54:27] what we had rank, we can, we can all kind
[54:29] of rank them ourselves
[54:31] and then kind of see how that shakes out to build a top 10.
[54:36] And then we can talk about that maybe is at the seventh.
[54:40] Is that reasonable for us to look at a list
[54:42] and send that back or,
[54:44] or at least come with your rankings
[54:46] so we can ideally have it
[54:48] before the seventh so we could look at what that is
[54:51] and then to council Mill's point say, okay, wait,
[54:53] I really don't want this on the ancillary
[54:55] or I really don't think this is, you know, should be kind of
[54:57] that thing and then we could finalize them.
[55:01] Is that doable for the seventh? Is that, is that, yeah, so
[55:03] Here, here's What I'll, it's more our response.
[55:05] I'll, I'll talk to
[55:06] This whole list, get it out to the council via an email
[55:10] on Thursday.
[55:12] Okay. And then we'll put a hard copy in the packets
[55:15] for your meeting for the seventh.
[55:18] If you can respond back to me
[55:20] with your ordinal 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
[55:23] I can compile those
[55:24] and then when we convene on the seventh,
[55:27] we can look at those if they're not complete.
[55:30] I mean ultimately this isn't necessarily something that you
[55:33] as a body have to vote on per se.
[55:36] I mean, it's good to have consensus,
[55:37] but if you've given me your individual votes, we can compile
[55:41] that and publish that at any time.
[55:42] So it's really up to you.
[55:45] I mean, I'd prefer if we had it by the seventh,
[55:47] but if it's not gonna be possible, then that can be,
[55:50] you know, something at a later date,
[55:52] First goal to try to do a bunch seven.
[55:55] All right. And if we don't. Then, then, then
[55:57] We'll I'll jump right on that first thing
[55:59] and get that out.
[56:02] I'll remind you. Excellent. Alright.
[56:07] Because there are things on the list.
[56:08] For instance, the E exit four,
[56:10] A exit four A should be about one of the top priority ones.
[56:14] But there's not a heck a lot we can do right now.
[56:16] We've gotta see how it's developing
[56:18] and and things like that.
[56:20] So that could be up there but would require
[56:22] Little or no management,
[56:25] You know, that like there's a task force
[56:27] or not task force, a subgroup that's kind
[56:30] of looking at those things and just monitoring it, you know,
[56:32] or, or whatnot. Yeah, I think that's a good
[56:34] Idea.
[56:35] Yeah. And the planning board, some of the other,
[56:37] all boards in toss do some
[56:40] of the heavy lifting on these things too, such as a lot
[56:42] of the exit four A stuff
[56:43] and housing stuff really is up to the planning board.
[56:46] And maybe that's where it is, is that our guidance
[56:49] and opinion gets passed down to the different boards.
[56:54] You should be in charge of the zoning board.
[56:57] Can I just ask a question to the administrator?
[57:00] Is the correct response
[57:01] To note, is there any updated word on the tunnel
[57:04] and where it stands and what's the procedure moving forward
[57:08] Meeting That was, I wanna say late May.
[57:12] It was right after Memorial Day with the state
[57:16] and it was the cultural resources meeting.
[57:18] So to kind of put this back into context, one of the hurdles
[57:22] and one of the reasons that there was a, an overturn
[57:26] of the decision to make an inac grade crossing was the
[57:30] impacts on the, the cultural
[57:32] and the historic value of the Manchester Lawrence Railroad.
[57:36] Okay. And now
[57:38] because of that ruling, it's forcing DOT to go back through
[57:43] that process to talk about mitigation measures and all that.
[57:46] So that's more of a procedural item
[57:50] from a design perspective, I've had an a conversation
[57:53] with Wendy Johnson.
[57:55] They, they are working on a design
[57:57] as if everything's gonna work itself through
[57:59] that culture resources process,
[58:02] but they're not ready to publish
[58:04] what that's going to look like.
[58:05] So what the pickle the contractor is in right now is they
[58:08] can't commit to purchasing any of the construction items.
[58:12] They can't go forward with any of the work that's, you know,
[58:15] 'cause you do it once and then your grade
[58:17] changes ever so slightly.
[58:18] So that whole area from about
[58:21] say American Excavating entrance to the bridge that's being,
[58:24] or actually further down by Franklin really
[58:26] can't do much work in there.
[58:27] So that's why you've noticed recently they've been working
[58:29] in front of North High Street
[58:31] and then also on the other end of the project
[58:33] by the traffic signal at Ross's Corner.
[58:35] So I know they've gotta make a decision fairly soon.
[58:39] It's going to happen as a tunnel passing under.
[58:42] But the specific engineering requirements I don't believe
[58:45] have been finalized as of yet by DOT question.
[58:49] There's no delays
[58:50] to the four A project itself because of this?
[58:53] No. As it stands right now, the projected finish date is
[58:58] June of 2028.
[58:59] And that's what it had been from the beginning.
[59:01] 'cause there's multiple years of, of phases.
[59:03] But remember fa, this contract B takes us as far
[59:06] as basically FireEye.
[59:07] So there'll be a signal that has
[59:09] to go in place at Pinkerton Street and Shani
[59:12] and then there'll be a taper, if you will, from two lanes
[59:15] to one lane and match into the existing.
[59:17] But all that should be done by June of 2028.
[59:20] Oh, I know it had been pushed out for funding,
[59:24] but I don't know if that got pushed back into funding,
[59:27] which is contract C.
[59:28] C. Right. So C is a whole different enchilada.
[59:31] There's, that's not even going to be bid out
[59:35] until 2029 at this point.
[59:37] And our expectation of the actual
[59:40] construction probably is now between 2030 and 2032.
[59:44] So that's from FireEye down to
[59:46] 1 0 2?
[59:47] That is correct. Yep. And that would be the, the signal.
[59:50] And that would obviously be all of this, a couple
[59:52] of culverts in that area as well.
[59:54] But remember, the C contract isn't nearly as intricate
[59:57] as far as widening is concerned
[59:59] because the section from Irving to the,
[1:00:02] to Route 1 0 2 is basically gonna stay as you see it,
[1:00:05] it's just a one-on-one in each direction.
[1:00:07] Not like Folsom Road
[1:00:08] where there's been a, a massive widening.
[1:00:10] It's not gonna look like that.
[1:00:13] Thank you Meru. Alright, are there any other questions
[1:00:17] or comments before we finish up our goals for the evening?
[1:00:22] We're not totally done but Alright.
[1:00:28] The last item on our agenda is that Pollman has offered
[1:00:32] to give us a tour, but I need to know
[1:00:35] how many counselors are planning to go on this tour
[1:00:38] and whether we need to stay in session or not.
[1:00:41] All right. 1, 2, 3. Okay.
[1:00:43] We will stay in session and we will return
[1:00:44] after we take the tour to adjourn since we are a quorum.
[1:00:47] And we will walk around in our quorum since we're meet baby.
[1:00:51] All right, so we adjourn now
[1:00:55] we've got quorum, but we are a quorum on the tour,
[1:00:59] so we're, yes.
[1:01:02] So we can't adjourn till we come back. So we will just,
[1:01:04] If the quorum has to leave in the
[1:01:05] middle of the tour, we have to come back to
[1:01:06] Yes.
[1:01:07] If we lose quorum during the tour,
[1:01:08] we'll pop back in here and adjourn.
[1:01:10] But his favor, motion. Motion to adjourn. Seconds.
[1:01:13] Read all those in favor? Aye. Both for extensions.
[1:01:18] Have a good night everybody.