[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.