[0:03] 11th Select board meeting are we

[0:07] on so we are Select board meeting for August 11th.

[0:12] Uh just a quick rundown of our agenda. Uh meeting is called to order. Public

[0:18] comments. Uh the item three is approval of prior

[0:22] meeting minutes. Item four will be a one-day liquor license.

[0:27] Uh item five is comprehensive energy management plan.

[0:31] Six is uh inspectional service fees. And seven a safe harbor status

[0:40] recommendation. Eight is a discussion around a forestry

[0:44] truck pack purchase acquisition. Nine is FY 28 budget.

[0:50] Uh topics not anticipated by the chair and

[0:57] adjournment. So

[1:02] Um getting started. Call to order. Anybody in the public?

[1:10] » I don't think so. >> Okay.

[1:12] Approval of meeting minutes from the July 28th

[1:19] select board meeting. >> Move to approve the minutes of July

[1:22] 28th, 2026. >> Do we have a second?

[1:25] » Second. >> All in favor.

[1:27] » Aye. >> Duty.

[1:33] Okay. One day liquor license >> [snorts]

[1:37] » for a wedding at Hamp Massa Hall.

[1:44] » And it looks pretty straightforward. >> Very good.

[1:47] » Sue Day of the application is fully completed, fees received, etc., etc.

[1:51] » No, the fees have not been received. Um they would they're received after you

[1:56] approve. >> Okay.

[1:57] » Um but I did want to make you aware that I am the tips

[2:02] um thing in there expired, so I did reach out to ask them for an updated um

[2:07] so maybe your motion is contingent on >> Okay.

[2:11] » that um

[2:15] Was there anything else you think? >> Just the end time. I have

[2:19] » The end time. >> in the draft motion I have a 2-day um

[2:22] like a 6-year 6 hours of drinking from 5:00 to 11:00, but um

[2:27] we don't have an end time that they've provided.

[2:33] » Well, we don't have I mean we can't leave it open-ended.

[2:35] » No, I did reach out I reached out to the Y and she the

[2:38] people having a wedding. Um but it was you know, just a couple of hours ago, so

[2:43] » Okay. >> Mhm.

[2:45] Okay. >> The wedding is set for August

[2:48] » August 22nd.

[2:51] So in the motion that I've just a draft motion, does that um

[2:56] a number of conditions, one being a completed application would require

[3:00] forms and documents required fee

[3:04] um proof of insurance and it also is contingent um upon approval review and

[3:09] approval by the police and fire chiefs and subject to any conditions that they

[3:13] may >> Okay.

[3:14] » put forward as well. And the only the only question really

[3:19] for me I guess is the 8:00 end time, but >> Yeah, we have the insurance and all that

[3:24] insurance.

[3:27] » We have a motion. >> We do.

[3:35] Do we have any other questions before we move on?

[3:37] » No. >> I move to approve the request from

[3:40] Christina Bayer for a 1-day liquor license for the state of

[3:45] the sale of wine and or malt beverages for a wedding at Camp Nawakwa on

[3:49] Saturday, August 22nd, 2026 from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

[3:57] subject to the following conditions. One, delivery of and receipt of

[4:02] completed application, required forms, and documents. Two, delivery of and

[4:06] receipt by the licensing authority of the required fee.

[4:11] Third, delivery of and receipt by the licensing authority of proof that the

[4:15] alcohol will be purchased from an authorized source.

[4:19] Fourth, delivery of and receipt by the licensing authority of proof of

[4:23] insurance. Lastly, proof that the applicant can

[4:26] receive proper delivery, provide proper storage, and disposal of all alcoholic

[4:30] beverages purchased in accordance with the requirements of general law

[4:34] chapter 138. The board's approval is contingent upon

[4:39] review and approval by the police chief and fire chief in the compliance with

[4:42] any additional conditions they may impose.

[4:45] » Okay. All in favor?

[4:47] » I vote >> Aye.

[4:52] » Good. Item number five, comprehensive

[4:58] emergency management plan.

[5:02] Fire chief is with us. >> You going to read this whole thing to

[5:06] us? >> Do you need all this thing?

[5:09] Cuz we can't read ourselves.

[5:13] » I mean, basically, it hadn't been the last time that it was updated was 2000

[5:18] uh 2.

[5:21] So, we were quite behind on it. Um

[5:24] Basically, just got with FEMA and updated something that they use now.

[5:27] » Mhm. >> But they're trying to get everybody on,

[5:29] so just kind of coincided with what we do.

[5:33] Just work with them and get us up to the date. I think the biggest change

[5:37] There's a few changes, but um most notably, I guess, we moved the the

[5:42] EOC and RC location to Um that's the have an operation center

[5:47] from the town hall to the police station is more secure.

[5:51] We can use this still as a backup and then just identify

[5:55] points of distribution if we have supplies and

[5:59] shelter areas, things like that. So, it's about 80 something pages, so it is

[6:06] quite a bit there, yes, but it is shorter than the last one. The last

[6:09] one's they found the one that was very

[6:12] cumbersome, so they used they tried to get so they were trying to get everybody

[6:16] on the ease so that people can come in and we need help people in the community

[6:18] so that everybody can come in and they kind of

[6:20] familiar with how that plan goes. So, I mean, if anybody has any questions

[6:25] specifically, I mean, you've been working on this for a long time, haven't

[6:28] you? Yeah.

[6:31] So, is it mostly just sort of like state statute stuff or is it really

[6:38] catered specifically to Dunstable and the surrounding towns? They really we

[6:42] kind of just they give you a template and we kind of build it out the way we

[6:45] want. >> Yeah.

[6:46] » So, just kind of hits the marks that they're looking for and then we kind of

[6:49] just play with it however we, you know, decided and thought it was going to be,

[6:52] you know, the best. It's a lot of it, like I said, is more

[6:55] of, you know, identifying certain points, where are we going to, you know,

[6:59] where where would we bring water and if we need bottled water, where is that

[7:01] going to get and just distributed and how are we going to

[7:04] things like that. So, who's going to be in charge of that? Yeah. And then make

[7:08] sure we got everything, the phone numbers, contact information, how are we

[7:10] going to get in touch with everybody if there's an emergency.

[7:14] Where are we all going to get together and and how are we going to communicate

[7:16] from there and things like that. So, >> Okay.

[7:20] Well, thank you for doing this. It's a big task. Yeah.

[7:23] I'm sure you're glad to

[7:27] » Yeah, what So, what's our path forward here?

[7:32] This thing's going to this as a document that's going to reside someplace, right?

[7:36] It's going to have a log in and then are we going to do like some

[7:39] training or how or does this What what's our path forward with with

[7:45] » The challenge is that we don't have to have that you know with us documents we

[7:48] can update um The state has it we don't have it on

[7:53] record so that that they can use it at any time we can resolve them if we if we

[7:57] need to. We have talked about um looking into maybe getting some kind of

[8:01] something to do you want some kind of tabletop exercises or you know live

[8:05] exercises things like that um What we did we talked about maybe

[8:09] getting doing um it was five below we originally said I said maybe we could

[8:14] do quarterly or annual uh drill and then before we could even get into any of

[8:18] that we had the issue with uh Sky Meadow.

[8:22] So we ended up kind of basically running that night it kind of

[8:25] turned into a a drill so >> Yeah.

[8:28] » it it ended up uh you know we we were able to to use this cuz it was it was in

[8:32] play already as a draft. Um

[8:35] So it really we can it sometimes we can do whatever we want with it from here.

[8:38] We we're planning on on trying to do some kind of at least an annual training

[8:42] to get some of these things you know we have the we have the trailer uh

[8:45] from from the state that we can you know work on deploying things like that.

[8:50] We can set up the EOC thing you know like really

[8:54] » Yeah. >> Was there anything um

[8:56] you know from the the Sky Meadow incident that after the

[8:59] fact you came back and said made some changes to this or

[9:04] » The biggest thing was just we needed to reverse that on our own issue since

[9:07] » Mhm right. >> the that was the the biggest

[9:10] » Yeah. >> biggest

[9:11] situation that we found out of that that being a problem.

[9:16] » That was the major takeaway of us when we got a better way to communicate

[9:19] people and there's no mention like that. >> Right.

[9:22] » We didn't have any way to get >> We were doing our best.

[9:25] » He did it. Saturday night at 9:00 and I called you

[9:29] and I said oh boy. >> Yeah I mean

[9:30] » Yeah we did pretty well we were able to scramble together and Susan did a great

[9:34] job she got everything out there and a A of people you know got the word fast So,

[9:37] I I think it it out well, but there's certainly a better way to do it, which

[9:40] is, you know, doing it in reverse than on one sheet of paper. That's

[9:43] » Yeah, a lot of people just text trail. You can hop in and up and down Hardy

[9:46] Street, basically, but yeah.

[9:50] » But if you don't have access to the internet, you don't have access to the

[9:53] website or something like >> Right. It would be an idea.

[9:55] » Yeah. Yeah.

[9:59] And I think, correct me if I'm wrong, Chief, but I think having a current

[10:04] plan in place will help us but it potentially help us get resources

[10:10] that we currently don't have access to, even in

[10:13] terms of funding for training and things like that.

[10:16] » Yeah. Yeah, okay.

[10:21] Well, I hope through this by the way, it came out as a draft. So, unless there's

[10:25] any significant changes >> Yeah, there was only minor changes. I

[10:28] think we we just, you know, changed some dates, some titles, things like that.

[10:31] So, it's pretty pretty [clears throat] much the same as it was when the draft

[10:34] came out. >> Okay.

[10:36] Well, I >> I think I'll feed back to you guys.

[10:38] That's been >> Yeah, we both forwarded

[10:40] » Yeah, yeah, we all feed back. I I placed it there and reset it out and I

[10:45] think everybody was was good with it, so.

[10:48] » All right. >> And there was a process. We want to talk

[10:51] about the process briefly. Just like, you know, we had a couple meetings. We

[10:55] had kind of we got stakeholders together for feedback and input.

[10:59] » Yeah. Yeah, we got everybody together and

[11:02] kind of showed them what the template involved and and like

[11:05] » And I had this couple meetings with them and me and myself um getting it started

[11:09] and then we just kind of came in and said, "This is This is what the

[11:11] information that we need, what, you know, what

[11:14] Like we said, "This is the template, but is there anything else that needs to be

[11:17] added?" Um and so, we just, you know, had the police chief had a few things

[11:22] and and um I think, you know, I think

[11:26] uh board of health, maybe. Um so, we just kind of incorporated, you know,

[11:30] those Dawson specific things to to it then.

[11:34] Once everybody was good with it here, we sent the draft to Nina. They went live

[11:37] on the website. Once we have a draft, they can do that. So,

[11:40] they got it into play with them. And basically, we

[11:45] just It was kind of the next after everybody

[11:48] was good with it, which they have been. Next step was to bring it here and have

[11:51] you sign off on it and let me know.

[11:55] Go back and email me and go over the complete levels

[11:58] and all. That's the document itself, so the draft.

[12:03] » Okay. And

[12:06] we you just want us to vote? >> Yes, please, if you will.

[12:11] » I'm good with it. Yeah, it was well done.

[12:15] » All right. I move to approve the comprehensive

[12:19] emergency management plan as presented. >> I second.

[12:23] » Second. All in favor? Aye. >> Good. Thanks, Chief. Good job.

[12:29] » Six. Item six. >> Is that a question?

[12:33] » You can. >> So, it's the fire chief's here?

[12:37] » Yeah. >> Do we want to take Would you

[12:40] » Or you want to do eight? >> Yeah, we do.

[12:42] » It's No, actually, I was wondering if we could hang it.

[12:45] Make them indoor or outdoor. You can do that, too.

[12:50] » No, we can. Um we have um we'll we'll take this out of sequence, which is

[12:55] a discussion regarding an approval of a fire truck purchase. So,

[13:02] Chief, why don't you just walk us through

[13:06] all of this? >> It's probably the grant, right?

[13:10] The grant. This This money you I think you got the grant for.

[13:13] » Yeah, so we've come to you before to have you uh

[13:16] approve the last contract with Allegiance Fire Apparatus.

[13:20] Um strangely enough, however, they called one day and they said that they

[13:25] found that they could not I guess they're doing

[13:27] What they were doing with us was instead of

[13:30] we had them build this truck at my factory in Wisconsin. It was going to

[13:34] fit 20 foam blocks, which is probably going to have to see the grant

[13:38] for that. It was going to be more money than we had gotten for the you know, we

[13:43] got $300,000 for the grant. This was going to end up being more money. So,

[13:46] it's going to be more money, it was going to take more time. They said what

[13:48] they had just started doing was uh building

[13:53] at a dealer in Massachusetts. And they could do that in 10 month build

[13:57] time for you know, under the $300,000. So,

[14:02] we thought that that was going to be the best the best option.

[14:06] Signed a contract with them and everything looked like it was good to

[14:09] go. And then they called and they actually said that they had been doing

[14:12] these and we had to we had to get permission from FEMA to make sure that

[14:15] that they were able to do it because FEMA has, you know, rules on how these

[14:19] how they are built and everything. So, we were under the impression that FEMA

[14:23] had said yeah, they they could build you know, not in the factory, they could

[14:26] build at the dealership. Uh one of the things that it has to meet

[14:29] is NFPA requirements. So, everybody assumed that

[14:33] that was that kind of was the assumption that went kind of with the same that it

[14:37] was that it would be meeting NFPA qualifications. Well, come to find out

[14:41] when they called me the other day and said, "Well, we built a couple of these.

[14:44] We did not build them to NFPA specifications cuz we can't at the

[14:48] dealer. They can only do it in the factory."

[14:52] And they had uh told the place and said they got the kickback. So, um at that

[14:57] point, you know, we kind of said, "Well, I mean, how come you didn't tell us this

[15:00] ahead of time?" But, thankfully, it was it was pretty early in the process.

[15:04] So, at that point, we were kind of uh they went back and they were looking at

[15:08] uh some other options. Um we looked at trying to get maybe a

[15:12] uh you know, a a truck that was that maybe somebody already had built,

[15:17] but uh we couldn't find anything that was going to be maybe it fit the price,

[15:20] but it didn't fit our our that we had.

[15:23] So, not wanting to make really any concessions to what we were looking for,

[15:26] we went back out and solicited uh

[15:32] other companies to see if they could what they could come up with. So, we

[15:34] came up with a company in Nevada called um

[15:37] Rebel Brush Trucks. They do only brush trucks.

[15:40] Whereas, the other company did, you know, all kinds of different fire

[15:43] apparatus. So, these guys only deal with with the brush trucks. They're very

[15:46] familiar with the process for our grants for getting

[15:49] these. So, it was same truck, same price, and

[15:53] actually shorter build time, 7 months. Uh they they've already gave us the date

[15:57] March 1st of delivery date. So, >> Mhm.

[16:00] » Um basically, we went back to um Allegiance and just said, you know, they

[16:05] were they pretty much knew that it was coming. And so, we were

[16:08] » Yeah. >> we just uh agreed everybody agreed to

[16:11] to go with that contract. And I was moving on to another project. So,

[16:17] » So, they're going to get it done >> They're getting it done.

[16:19] » at the appropriate price and >> Appropriate price for our time. Good.

[16:25] » Well, that's good. Glad that worked out. >> But the vendor is is is Rebel?

[16:30] » Yes. >> Do you know them? I've never heard the

[16:34] name. >> Yeah, I think they're out west. Like I

[16:37] said, that's all they do is brush trucks. It's it's just a brush truck out

[16:39] there. >> And

[16:42] the PS deal, I mean, he's cuz I follow them, right? They

[16:47] sold a bunch of those brush truck dealers, right?

[16:50] » Yeah, but if this wasn't this wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't if it wasn't

[16:53] in the grant. We were just buying a brush truck and

[16:56] we could we could get it done. But they can't They have things to follow by.

[17:00] It's like I have to give them a tilt. It's called tilt exams where they they

[17:03] put it up on a like a big flatbed and they get

[17:06] they have to lay down the truck to see how you know, what it's going to do with

[17:09] it. So, but that was even We brought that up to them and said, "Can we build

[17:13] it and send it to the factory?" But we just said, "Well, what happens if you

[17:16] build it and send it to the factory and it doesn't

[17:19] at that point, we said you know um Look at that one I just got on Sunday it

[17:23] just does this you know >> Yeah yeah it's interesting.

[17:25] » Absolutely. >> Well the good thing is we caught it.

[17:30] Because if we did we'd be dealing with that.

[17:36] » Yeah I don't I don't know what what you >> I don't know what you mean you know you

[17:39] know you know >> a couple places they I guess that they

[17:43] were too late on finding themselves so I don't know what's going to happen both

[17:46] ways. Thankfully two of those they kind of

[17:48] flagged ours and said hey by the way this doesn't look like we're going to be

[17:51] able to but I I thought it did so let me say if it

[17:54] wasn't it wasn't a grand it'd be still doing the dollars it didn't have to

[17:58] necessarily be flex but since it's a grand it even requires that if you don't

[18:02] meet any of the specifications which I mean you'd want it either way they said

[18:05] it to you you don't need that so >> Mhm.

[18:08] Mhm. I didn't read through this and it was

[18:12] what's the cab and chassis that the Ford for?

[18:16] Gasoline or diesel engine? >> Diesel. We need a diesel.

[18:19] 400 gallons of water so it is it's going to have quite a bit more water than the

[18:24] one we have now. 250 gallon we're going to go to the 400

[18:30] gallon tank so that would be a small capability.

[18:33] » Yeah it should be a diesel. All right. So

[18:37] what the board's being asked to do is essentially void the

[18:42] vote that we signed with the region so then approve the contract the contract

[18:46] with Rebel. >> Makes sense.

[18:47] » Rebel's part of a cooperative purchasing agreement um that

[18:52] actually was um was procured through Oregon.

[18:59] Um >> Oregon

[19:00] » Association of League of Cities. Thank you. Oregon League of Cities.

[19:04] And um under mass general law we're allowed to

[19:08] as long as we followed public procurement process in with our rules.

[19:14] We're allowed to piggyback off of that contract. So, that's that's the plan for

[19:19] Brighton.

[19:22] » Um, this is a minor detail, but they are

[19:25] they're going to paint the cab, but they're going to put the Dunstable

[19:29] detail on there? Yeah.

[19:37] » We'll get We have a motion. >> I

[19:40] » Okay. >> Yeah.

[19:41] » Yeah, you got I propose these two motions. Haven't read them, but

[19:44] » It's It's for the determination brightness down.

[19:47] » Okay. Yeah. >> All right, we're good to go.

[19:50] » Yeah. >> Move to void the sign quote with

[19:53] Allegiance Fire and Rescue for the new forestry truck

[19:56] for the fire department and approve entering into a contract with Rebel

[20:00] Strike for the purchase of a new forestry truck for the fire department

[20:04] in the amount of $284,600 and authorize the chair to sign the

[20:09] contract on behalf of the board. >> Perfect.

[20:13] » We have a second. All in favor? >> Aye.

[20:18] » I agree. Should be done. >> All right, we're going to go back up now

[20:22] to item six, which is a permit fee discussion.

[20:29] » I vote. >> Right.

[20:30] » Permit fee discussion for building gas, construction building gas,

[20:36] and plumbing permit increases.

[20:42] » What is your pleasure? >> Right. Well, so you have in your packet

[20:47] to the actual fee schedule because printing them out

[20:51] it was difficult to see. Um,

[20:55] so you'll see in the big table that is basically

[21:01] 2025, which is the last time the building fees were updated versus what

[21:07] I'm proposing. So, um, um I kind of split this out into three, but

[21:12] really what I did was I looked at all permits really trending since 2021,

[21:19] so the last 5 years. Um

[21:22] and in addition to building being increased for fiscal year 25,

[21:27] previously previously to that, they were um adjusted in 2020. And that is the

[21:32] last time gas and plumbing have also been um touched as well as electrical.

[21:36] » So, it's 6 years, really? As well as electrical.

[21:38] » Yeah. Yeah. So, um these fee proposals are just for

[21:43] building, gas, and plumbing. Um I did share

[21:47] a couple drafts with both Dana from the building perspective and uh John Ryan

[21:53] for plumbing and gas. Um John gave me some feedback. I hadn't

[21:57] heard back from Dana, um but we went back and forth, John and I, a little bit

[22:02] with the plumbing and gas cuz he felt like they could use even more of a lift

[22:05] than what I'd done. So, I don't know how deep you want to go

[22:09] into it, but um if you look at kind of building, it's been roofing kind of

[22:14] leading the charge. Solar is definitely um

[22:18] you know, climbing. And then um alterations is a huge one, and I

[22:24] think we're really kind of missing out on I also compared this to

[22:30] um our new fees to Botetourt, Culpeper, and Warrenton.

[22:34] Um I bounced in a couple times, too. Um

[22:39] from a building permit perspective, the fees that I'm recommend- recommending

[22:43] still keep us in the mid to low range to the surrounding communities. Um

[22:50] probably, if you look at the actual chart

[22:53] for the building permit fees, you'll see that um

[22:59] we changed the price from square footage, so that's for any kind of new

[23:03] dwelling Um from 65 to 85 for new and 45 to 65 cents per square foot um

[23:12] for all of these additional kind of projects.

[23:15] Um for alterations

[23:19] find it took a little bit of a different spin because it really kind of it broke

[23:23] everything down by from a dollar to 5,000 or 2,000 dollars.

[23:29] It was 25 and then it was 35, 45, 55. When I looked at the other communities,

[23:35] they didn't kind of do that. They um really did a flat fee um up to 5,000

[23:41] dollars and then it's, you know, per 1,000 dollars, whatever. It'd be 10

[23:45] dollars, could be 12 dollars. So, that was kind of the change. Almost

[23:50] all of the communities kind of went at it that way.

[23:53] So, um starting with a not including permit fees

[23:58] um starting with the 75 dollar flat fee for any kind of alteration. And

[24:03] alterations are based on construction costs, the value of construction.

[24:08] So, every any kind of alteration would have an a 75 dollar flat fee and then

[24:13] it's 12 dollars per 1,000 over 5,000 dollars.

[24:17] So, um I did do some math on actual data. Um so, I took all of the

[24:23] permits from last year for building, gas, and plumbing and I

[24:28] applied the new fee versus the old fee. So, on the building side of of things,

[24:33] um that's going to result in potentially Now, I don't have my glasses on, but you

[24:38] know. So, like eight

[24:41] 8,797 dollars

[24:44] um overall. So, it's really because focused on the um

[24:50] these two, the new dwellings and new stuff and the alterations.

[24:56] » I mean, it it a lot easier, that doesn't it? Just to have

[24:59] » Yeah. Absolutely.

[25:01] » a category of alteration versus new construction.

[25:04] » I mean, really I kind of focused the increases on where we saw most of our

[25:09] volume, too, right? So that it, you know, we're raising prices, but

[25:14] we want to also see, you know, we're looking for

[25:18] that additional revenue to cover the inspections and all of that. And that's

[25:22] something that we don't build into this. >> Mhm.

[25:25] » But, you know, there's there's the fee, the administrative fee,

[25:28] but then on gas and plumbing side, especially, there's a lot of and

[25:32] electrical, there's a lot of back and forth with the inspectors.

[25:35] » Yeah. >> Yeah.

[25:38] » Um permit fee, the permit link fee that has not changed at all over the couple

[25:43] years, right? >> Um it changed 2 years ago. Yeah.

[25:48] » It went up to 12. >> up to 12 from 10.

[25:50] » To 10. Okay.

[25:54] » So for gas and plumbing, I mean, most of those stuff that we see, water heaters,

[25:58] furnaces, and boilers, um

[26:02] that's kind of the bulk of our um generators

[26:06] of our volume. Um and again, you can see like it kind of it's a little general,

[26:11] but you know, bathroom looks like bathroom renovations, new renovations,

[26:15] replacement of tubs, stuff like that. Um the other category was kind of a

[26:20] catch-all. Um and even though we kind of call out

[26:22] that there is nothing, you know, PFAS is water filters are kind of trending up,

[26:27] it dropped to zero. Some of that is

[26:29] actually in the other um bucket.

[26:33] Um so do the same thing with the plumbing and

[26:36] gas, especially, the other plumbing. Community centers and you know, luckily

[26:41] for us, down next to the community centers as well, so

[26:44] um

[26:47] Overall, a smaller increase in the annual revenue, $1,700.

[26:53] Um if the permits uh volume for gas and plumbing is also really

[26:58] substantially less than building.

[27:02] Any questions?

[27:07] For the electric, I sent that to Peter Martin. Um

[27:11] we had a lot of questions. He and I agree with him the way that the fees

[27:15] for electric are confusing. Um so we kind of wanted to go back at it

[27:21] and almost start from scratch um in how we're kind of doing it, calculating it,

[27:26] as well as with the surrounding community. So I'm hoping we'll get

[27:29] together before the fall um to go over that.

[27:33] » Okay. All right. So you're not looking for

[27:36] full of these, but still not >> Not for electric, just for building and

[27:40] plumbing and gas.

[27:43] But we don't I mean if you need time to look at it, I would.

[27:47] No rush.

[27:53] » I guess my only thought just kind of thinking out here a little bit is

[27:58] um on reinspections.

[28:01] » Mhm. >> Right.

[28:03] So >> For what in particular? Any one

[28:06] » Anything. Any any of the reinspections. Um contractor calls and says, "Yeah, I

[28:12] want my uh inspection tomorrow at 10:00." Inspector goes out there 10:00.

[28:18] The guy didn't show up or the work's not done and now that is would trigger a a

[28:26] reinspection fee. Okay. I just think 50 bucks is kind of

[28:32] not a lot of money given the fact that >> Mhm.

[28:36] » And I also don't know how many times I have. How many times do we have

[28:41] reinspections because the contractor failed his inspection? I don't really

[28:45] know. I don't >> I don't even have really have to go to

[28:48] the uh either because the inspectors do all that themselves, right believe? Um

[28:54] So, yeah. >> Yeah.

[28:57] » But, I did raise it to 75. >> Yeah.

[29:05] » But, that is certainly something I can look into more and see if there's a way

[29:09] to >> Sure. I was just going to

[29:11] » It just It really is more of a question than anything else because it's just

[29:17] » I I'll be honest, I haven't seen a re-inspection fee

[29:21] show up on anything. So, I'm not sure if we're

[29:25] if it's we are doing anything. >> Right. And that I mean that

[29:30] hopefully the trades are all licensed and everybody's doing a

[29:35] good job, right? Should they on average there shouldn't

[29:40] be And then I have a I have a question

[29:44] about maybe going to the left basin with the

[29:48] um this issue regarding homeowner permits,

[29:52] right? And we voted to not allow that. It just It's It's for

[29:57] » Yeah. As an aside, is that service for plumbing? Wasn't it for plumbing?

[30:02] » Electrical. >> Um not that I'm aware of. Not that I'm

[30:06] aware of. No. >> Not since that situation came up.

[30:13] And Jason's allergies Dana's a stickler for

[30:17] making sure the licenses are attached or he won't approve.

[30:21] » Yeah. >> Yeah. Good. I haven't heard anything.

[30:23] » Yeah, I haven't either. That's why I'm And you know, I just It was just a

[30:27] question at that point. So, okay.

[30:33] We have motion to We do that.

[30:42] » Uh Uh I move to approve the fee increases as

[30:46] proposed for building gas and plumbing permits as presented.

[30:50] » Second. >> All in favor, aye.

[30:54] » You're still holding out on the meeting. >> Yeah.

[30:57] Hopefully we'll be back in the fall. >> Thank you, Sue.

[31:03] » All right. Moving on to

[31:08] state harbor.

[31:11] » The A 5 up. >> The 5 up one.

[31:14] State harbor.

[31:17] » So, the Affordable Housing Committee Chair,

[31:20] Don Gius, had sent a select board an email about

[31:24] applying for state harbor status um

[31:29] based on the housing project

[31:34] project of the my district. So, before it got forgotten at the last

[31:40] select board meeting, I just wanted to put the put it on the agenda for

[31:44] discussion. Um

[31:47] I've never been through the state harbor application process. I'm not

[31:52] 100% certain on how it goes and how it works.

[31:57] I did have a chance to talk to Meg Harrell a little bit this today about

[32:03] » Okay. >> the process and

[32:06] their understanding of the process. And they

[32:10] Um I talked to Jenny Murray and she did say that they

[32:15] had kind of worked with another community in the in the district about

[32:18] on this. Um the way she explained it to me was

[32:22] that in order to use apply for state harbor,

[32:27] it would it needs to be done within the same year the project

[32:32] was approved locally. And so, if that's the case, then

[32:39] we're out of luck. >> Right.

[32:41] » Um so

[32:44] I want to do a little more work on it.

[32:47] » Yeah. >> But um

[32:50] » I'd like to have better understanding. It's been a while since I read through

[32:53] this on what I mean there's certain things that you need to have

[32:57] approved like the housing protective plan.

[33:00] You need to have projects in the works to

[33:05] » Yeah, it needs to be a certain percentage.

[33:07] » until you had building but it's been a while. I'm

[33:10] » Yeah, it I remember most of it.

[33:14] And it needs to be a certain percentage >> of your

[33:18] » of your HSI HSI SHI um number.

[33:25] So I know a little bit about it, but again,

[33:28] I haven't I haven't done a lot. The only the only other

[33:32] comment I would have is um you know, there is another

[33:37] 40B project that essentially the town endorsed and supported.

[33:42] And if we were to seek safe harbor, it would

[33:46] could I guess potentially um block a project that is kind of

[33:51] universal in the worst way, which is a contradiction that could be considered I

[33:56] think. Um

[33:59] but other than that, I can go back and kind

[34:02] of talk to the housing and affordable communities about

[34:06] about the actual process >> Mhm.

[34:08] » our eligibility and um

[34:11] » Okay. >> and how we should go about doing it if

[34:15] if that's the desire of the board. >> curious to to look into it and

[34:18] understand it a little bit better. >> Yeah, I'm like I'm absolutely doing the

[34:22] same thing. We got to we got to get some

[34:25] background information on this thing and pluses and minuses and

[34:30] uh Uh, this I don't this doesn't I mean I understand I

[34:35] I I think I understand it but I'm not really sure and I'd like

[34:39] to get a little bit more information before we

[34:43] get into something that later on we're going to regret.

[34:48] » Okay. Sounds good. I'll I will I'll get back

[34:53] to you. >> Yeah.

[34:55] » You okay with that? >> Yeah.

[34:56] » David? >> Yeah, I I think we need more

[34:59] information. >> Yeah.

[35:00] » Good.

[35:02] » Um

[35:06] » FY28 budget. >> We've spent a

[35:11] long time on FY28 budget. >> One stop with the budget. Yeah, it's

[35:15] great. >> Um I just wanted to update you on, you

[35:19] know, the fact that the budget working group between Dunstable

[35:23] and Groton school district has had one meeting

[35:29] and has has another one scheduled for the last week of August.

[35:34] Um right now there are budget deficits in both

[35:40] Dunstable and Groton based on the growth of the school.

[35:44] Um school district's assessment um

[35:48] to level fund. And so

[35:51] um I've been putting a fair amount of work

[35:54] into just kind of trying to accurately project revenues

[35:59] and costs for FY20. And

[36:04] trying to get a better handle on the what the real problem is at this point.

[36:09] Um The last time I

[36:13] the forecast was updated was during the budget

[36:16] um creation process for FY27, this fiscal

[36:20] year, and it showed a budget of $620,000

[36:24] deficit. Um

[36:28] based on my more recent work, it looks like that

[36:31] number is going to be less, which is good. Um but it's still like fairly

[36:37] sizable sizable number that we're going to have

[36:40] to figure out how to have to go about dealing with it.

[36:44] Um so what I'm doing now is I'm projecting

[36:47] new revenues, I'm projecting expenses, and I'm trying to basically assign

[36:53] portion of the new to of the new revenues to the town and the schools and

[36:58] determine where the deficit lies. Um at the moment, it appears that the

[37:03] vast majority of the deficit is on the school side. The town side actually

[37:09] » In good shape. >> Unlike

[37:10] in two years ago, where we were carrying a deficit, I

[37:14] think, for 2020. Um unless something And And it's very

[37:18] early, so a lot of things can change. Um

[37:22] unless something changes, it looks like we're pretty close um on the town side.

[37:27] So um

[37:30] that still doesn't address the underlying which is we have a deficit.

[37:33] » Right. >> Figure out how to deal with the deficit.

[37:36] So I think in um the end of August will be kind of

[37:41] vetting out what our options are and trying to determine

[37:47] to the extent we can at the end of August a path forward so that we can

[37:51] start getting information out and um

[37:55] educating people on what the situation is as soon as soon as possible.

[38:02] » I mean, the good thing is that like the next meeting is the 26th.

[38:06] » Yeah. >> And that should have some substance to

[38:10] it. >> Definitely.

[38:11] » I don't know. You I'm just questioning. What's I dad doing with all this?

[38:18] » He's doing the same thing I am really right now. He's just basically um

[38:25] narrowing down what the problem is and where it lies. And

[38:30] I've only done we did for FY28.

[38:34] Uh, there was conversation about looking like doing a three-year look ahead.

[38:38] So, my next step is, which I haven't done yet, is kind of starting that

[38:42] three-year look ahead so that so that FY29 and 30 what those then look

[38:46] like. Um, and I think he's going to do the

[38:49] same thing so we have similar data to talk about for both communities.

[38:56] And, um, based on that, figuring out the path.

[39:01] And then, I think following that meeting at the end of August,

[39:05] we'll probably want to have a joint meeting

[39:08] at least with select and advisory. >> Mhm.

[39:11] » Um, and then, at some point not too

[39:16] later after that, I both think we need to have everybody from the school

[39:20] department brought in to kind of review everything.

[39:22] » Mhm. >> Um,

[39:25] so, I think that's what that's what they're

[39:27] doing. >> I mean, I don't I mean, at some point, I

[39:32] mean, they've gone out and they've already cut like 40 positions, roughly.

[39:37] » Like the school district, yeah. >> Over the past 10 years.

[39:39] » Yeah, yeah. >> Yeah.

[39:40] » I mean, that's a significant reduction in staff.

[39:44] » Yeah. >> And, you know, I

[39:47] don't know where this is going to shake out, but the district is going to need

[39:51] some new money and then just, um, Yeah.

[39:55] » [clears throat] >> It's, um,

[39:57] » There's a lot of, you know, the other focus, obviously, has been

[40:02] the Chapter 70 state education formula and

[40:06] other ways, other pathways to really get that reformed um, or

[40:12] seriously consider the reforms. And uh legislature did,

[40:17] um you know, approved the creation of that

[40:20] and creating a working group whatever they're calling it

[40:24] to um start the work on that. The problem is,

[40:27] you know, that's not going to be the recommendations from that group is not

[40:30] going to be ready for next legislative year. So,

[40:33] it's you know,

[40:36] hopefully we have a year that we actually get

[40:40] through and we have meaningful formula with

[40:43] chapter 74 formula that helps all three of my districts and

[40:49] including Dunstable and um maybe that alleviate some of the

[40:54] the practices we've been feeling because of it.

[40:57] » Do you think that's going to fly with the state?

[41:01] » I think the state's No, I think the state knows they have to do something.

[41:05] What it's going to be, I really don't know, but

[41:09] » It'd be very for them to come this far from the committee and then come out of

[41:12] it saying, "Yeah, we're not doing anything." would be

[41:15] » Yeah. And I It'd be one thing if it was just

[41:19] Groton-Dunstable school district that's struggling with the problem.

[41:23] » Yeah, right. It's everybody.

[41:24] » It's almost every school district. I mean, it's

[41:27] it's the vast It's not just a majority, it's a super majority of all

[41:31] » Yeah. >> communities in the state which

[41:33] » Oh, yeah. >> that are dealing with the same issues

[41:36] and you know,

[41:39] it's definitely not sustainable for for us, but

[41:44] for 2/3 of the um communities in the state and it's

[41:49] growing. I mean, you know, the list is growing, not shrinking, so

[41:53] I think they Yeah, I think they know they have to do something.

[41:56] » Something, yeah. >> Yeah, I don't know what.

[41:58] I don't know what. >> Probably not what we all want, but Mhm.

[42:02] » Yeah. Yeah.

[42:04] » Joan. >> Are we getting any more money from the

[42:08] state this year? >> So, they

[42:12] » Getting a little bit. >> Yeah, so for this fiscal year

[42:17] and was it July or August? >> I think it was in July. Um

[42:24] » It must have been July. The governor filed a bill to

[42:29] provide supplemental chapter 70 money to school districts.

[42:33] Um

[42:36] Uh yeah. Yep. But, that's for this It's for this year

[42:42] and it's not guaranteed for next year. And it's one of those things that I mean

[42:48] it would It's great and it would be helpful to

[42:52] receive. Um But, it also would have been great to

[42:56] receive it in you know,

[42:58] April because you're putting time in for the budget.

[43:02] Um >> It'd be nice to know that was a

[43:04] permanent bump, too. >> Yeah, so it's it

[43:07] As I understand it, it's the, you know, millionaire's tax that they continue to

[43:12] » Yeah. >> Yeah, talk about talk about and, you

[43:15] know, make late decisions on how to distribute it rather than taking all of

[43:21] it into the into revenues operating the budget. So,

[43:25] um yeah, no, it's that's that's for um and and if all goes right, school

[43:32] district will receive more money, but it's maybe in the middle of that. Um

[43:38] It's up to them on what they do with it, but

[43:42] it's not it didn't help us with our with our budget for FY '27.

[43:49] Just because it's mid-year. It's going to be a mid-year allocation.

[43:56] » Did uh Did I miss

[43:59] » Yeah. >> I missed what?

[44:01] » You missed it. >> Missed almost all of it, John.

[44:03] » No what? >> It didn't go in my watch.

[44:05] » talking. to watch. >> [laughter]

[44:10] » Basically, we approved the truck. It's going to be done on time within the

[44:14] amount of grant money and to spec that they wanted.

[44:18] » All right. >> You're welcome.

[44:22] » No? >> We'll find out when we rewatch the show.

[44:26] » [laughter] >> I didn't hear it.

[44:31] » Anything else? >> No, I'll have more definitive

[44:36] information than I was I have like a report that I've almost completed and

[44:41] I'll send it to you when it's >> Okay.

[44:43] » when it's completed with the three of you looking at it and

[44:46] I guess we'll meet on the 26th, right? We'll get an understand how deep the

[44:53] hole is. >> Yeah, I mean I I think that

[44:58] both towns are in a very similar situation.

[45:03] » Yeah, but we were there with that 2 years ago, right?

[45:07] » Yeah, I think it was 2. >> Yeah, yeah.

[45:09] And and you know, I don't know.

[45:15] » We passed but they didn't. >> Right.

[45:18] » And not by a little, it was crash and burn and take off.

[45:26] Still that goes. >> All right.

[45:27] » Are we >> It didn't hit.

[45:29] » No, it >> I'm saying here or there, but when that

[45:33] goes down it's like crash and burn and take off. That's

[45:36] Yeah. >> Yeah.

[45:39] » Are we meeting on the 26th, the Wednesday, or the 25th, Tuesday?

[45:42] » That's the working group. The the 20th August 26th is at Broughton

[45:47] Town Hall, yeah. >> Okay. The 25th would be our meeting.

[45:50] » That would be. >> Okay.

[45:52] » All right. >> Yeah.

[45:54] » But that budget working group is Yeah, it's the second meeting of a

[46:00] series of these and that's that's at Donald tenant parking the morning is

[46:04] something like that. Yeah.

[46:08] » [clears throat] >> Are we going to be consistently meeting

[46:11] on Tuesdays 5:30? Is that just the plan going forward? Just curious.

[46:15] » Oh. >> Yeah.

[46:17] Okay.

[46:20] » I understand.

[46:23] Cool. Uh topics

[46:27] we didn't anticipate anybody got any >> No, I don't.

[46:32] » No, no, no. Okay. Um anything else?

[46:36] We should motion to adjourn.

[46:39] » I move we adjourn. >> Second.

[46:42] » I I I'm in favor.

[46:44] » Yeah.

[51:11] » Mhm.

Select Board Meeting - August 11, 2026

Transcript