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[5:01] started um select board meeting calling

[5:04] to order November 1st 2023 in attendance

[5:07] you have Molly Keegan Joyce chungo Jane

[5:10] Nevan Smith Randy eizer and myself Amy

[5:16] Parsons in accordance with Mass General

[5:18] Law chapter 202 chapter 22 of the acts

[5:21] of 2022 signed by the governor on

[5:23] February 15 2022 I announced that this

[5:27] meeting of the select board is being

[5:28] recorded by how media the select board's

[5:31] office via zoom and ask if there is

[5:33] anyone present who is also recording

[5:35] this

[5:38] meeting no one

[5:40] else all right let the minutes reflect

[5:43] that no one else indicated that they are

[5:45] recording this

[5:47] meeting all

[5:54] right right so we're going to go ahead

[5:55] and start with 2.1 um housing and

[5:58] economic development mment

[6:02] committee

[6:04] Le um yes so thanks for letting uh

[6:07] committee come tonight I think we have

[6:10] uh Justin paland Mark Howard Bill dwire

[6:14] myself um there may be other people on

[6:17] Zoom um but as you know this is a

[6:19] committee that's appointed by the select

[6:21] board and and we've been working with

[6:22] the select board as well as the planning

[6:24] board we kind of kind of sit in between

[6:26] if you will um so one of the things that

[6:29] we're working on we wanted to uh come

[6:32] before the select board tonight to see

[6:34] if we could get um feedback or general

[6:37] agreement on how to proceed and um

[6:40] specifically it relates to uh having a

[6:44] housing Forum in Hadley and it's

[6:46] intended to be an

[6:48] educational Forum it's not um to

[6:51] advocate for any particular type of

[6:52] Housing and it's actually uh recommended

[6:56] as a u an action item uh as a result of

[6:59] the housing production plan that was

[7:00] completed so I was going to ask um Mark

[7:03] and Justin did the work on the outline

[7:06] that you have in your board documents so

[7:10] would you mind coming

[7:22] and thank you Molly uh name and address

[7:25] record right no you don't need to know

[7:27] it's not necessary okay good um well

[7:30] thank you everybody for hearing us

[7:31] tonight uh as Molly mentioned the

[7:33] housing production plan which is a very

[7:35] comprehensive plan and also involved the

[7:37] survey of residents of Hadley um as far

[7:40] as I understand it was one of the

[7:41] highest response rates that we've

[7:43] received on anything of the like uh and

[7:45] from that survey there were three

[7:47] priorities identified by residents that

[7:50] they would like the town to focus on I'm

[7:53] going to forget the order of them but

[7:54] one of them was uh zoning bylaws one of

[7:57] them was education and and one of them

[7:59] was uh uh access and Equitable housing

[8:04] stock or diversity in housing stock um

[8:06] so we sort of recognized as a committee

[8:08] that the first two weren't really things

[8:10] that we could address without addressing

[8:13] the third which was education so the as

[8:15] Molly mentioned the point of these

[8:16] sessions would be to basically provide

[8:19] as much information as possible so that

[8:21] when issues around these topics come up

[8:23] for vote residents have the information

[8:25] they need to make an informed decision

[8:27] so the strategy uh was outlined in the

[8:30] abstract is that we'd like to hold a two

[8:31] session Forum session one would be

[8:34] basically just providing the information

[8:36] having a set of panelists experts in

[8:38] their field talk about specific

[8:40] situations specific issues things that

[8:42] come up frequently in these

[8:43] conversations perhaps try to dispel some

[8:45] myths around some of these things and

[8:47] then session two after people have had a

[8:49] chance to digest would be a question and

[8:50] answer session format is uncertain at

[8:53] this time but the idea being that we can

[8:55] field questions from the residents from

[8:56] the public and help to May maybe inform

[8:59] that narrative help to craft the

[9:01] narrative so that when anything comes up

[9:04] for vote they have the information that

[9:06] they need their questions have been

[9:07] answered and they can make informed

[9:10] decisions and the intent would be um you

[9:13] know if there's General consensus from

[9:16] the the select board this evening that

[9:18] um either you're you're fine with us

[9:20] proceeding accordingly or you know if

[9:22] you'd prefer that we hold off and you

[9:24] have more questions um The Next Step um

[9:27] is to have the same

[9:29] uh ask for the same audience with the

[9:31] planning board they're meeting next

[9:33] Tuesday um so I think Bill was going to

[9:35] work on getting us on the agenda to make

[9:38] sure that the planning board is also

[9:39] aware of this I mean obviously we didn't

[9:41] want to go out and start planning a

[9:42] public for without letting the uh

[9:45] planning board and select board uh be

[9:46] aware of it so again um educational only

[9:50] it's not intended to promote or or steer

[9:53] anybody in a particular direction uh a

[9:55] lot of people have been asking questions

[9:57] about you know how

[10:00] who changes the zoning you know um you

[10:02] know what is power of planning board

[10:04] what's power of town

[10:05] meeting um Etc

[10:09] so so just any questions from the select

[10:13] board at this point do you have dates

[10:15] set for it Molly any idea no we we were

[10:18] talking about trying to Target um maybe

[10:21] you know January February time frame and the thought is if that you know this

[10:27] goes well again as as Justin pointed out

[10:30] um it's really just trying to get

[10:32] information into the hands of whoever's

[10:34] interested in it um and Bill was

[10:37] thinking along the lines or he made a

[10:39] comment at our committee meeting that

[10:41] you know if the format works out it may

[10:43] wind up um we can learn from it maybe

[10:46] it's a good opportunity so if down the

[10:48] road let's say that there's you know a

[10:50] 40b or a 40R or whatever type of project

[10:54] or you're just a private developer

[10:55] wanting to put in um housing units this

[10:59] could be a good format to come to the

[11:02] public to get feedback in advance of a

[11:04] public um body making a a recommendation

[11:07] or a decision so I think that's that's

[11:10] what we're gearing towards do you see

[11:12] the Forum as being a zoom thing or a

[11:15] public in person or a combo I think

[11:19] we're hoping for hybrid um to get as

[11:21] much participation as possible and then

[11:24] hopefully um we'd probably be hoping

[11:26] that a Hadley media would cover it as

[11:31] well okay Amy got a hand over

[11:37] yes yeah

[11:46] sorry I'm Justin hel resy for the last

[11:51] seven

[11:52] years and I'm Mark Howard I'm a resident

[11:55] for the last 30 something yeah they're

[11:59] members of the housing uh and economic

[12:02] development committee

[12:04] Dan that choice you yeah I mean I guess

[12:07] um I'm just reading your agenda the

[12:11] introduction and and things of that

[12:13] nature um so this is basically how

[12:16] things were going to be talked about and

[12:18] I think uh very important for people to

[12:22] look at these um and it is on the agenda

[12:27] for tonight that if you want to see what

[12:29] it's about I mean introduction uh some

[12:33] are being presented by the

[12:35] pbpc um overview of town government

[12:39] procedures the zoning bylaws uh that

[12:42] would be the planning board again the

[12:45] PBC will be talking you'll have school

[12:47] input on this uh the police chief uh

[12:51] Fire Chief and DPW director will also

[12:53] speak on this so it's all what will

[12:56] involve the whole community and what

[12:58] might be involved D in

[13:00] changing the atmosphere of the town and

[13:03] I encourage people to take a look at

[13:05] this agenda and see what it's about and

[13:09] you know having your input we don't want

[13:12] to do

[13:13] anything you know back door we want to

[13:15] keep people a breast of what's going on

[13:17] and how people are thinking and

[13:19] everybody's thoughts and everything

[13:21] should be heard so please take a look at

[13:23] the agenda um on what they want to do

[13:27] and what they want to present

[13:29] yeah very quickly thank you joice to

[13:31] that point I'll just read the the

[13:33] outline that Justin and and Mark worked

[13:35] on putting together um so basic

[13:38] introduction from pioner Valley Planning

[13:40] Commission and by the way the speakers

[13:42] we haven't actually um again we didn't

[13:44] want to get ahead of ourselves so we're

[13:46] hoping to reach out to the police chief

[13:49] who's sitting in the back who knows

[13:50] nothing about this um but an overview of

[13:54] town government and procedures which is

[13:55] this process uh zoning zoning bylaws and

[13:58] rezoning um process by the planning

[14:01] board um and then

[14:04] uh the H Hadley master plan school

[14:07] system and enrollment infrastructure and

[14:09] services business and economic

[14:12] considerations uh social and Community

[14:14] considerations again that would be the

[14:16] presentation and then uh plenty of time

[14:19] for people to think about it come up

[14:20] with questions that would be a second

[14:22] session if I can um just to clarify that

[14:25] outline is a suggestion I think the

[14:28] intent is when we actually engage with

[14:30] whoever the respective you know call it

[14:32] expert in their field is uh we're trying

[14:34] to provide some guard rails just to help

[14:36] frame the discussion but we ultimately

[14:37] want them to be the ones to author their

[14:39] own information so that you know they're able to give an unbiased and

[14:43] objective opinion on some of these

[14:44] subjects and that I think that's the

[14:46] thing I wanted to present that people

[14:48] should be aware of what the presentation

[14:51] is and what the thoughts are of this

[14:53] committee and how we should proceed as a

[14:56] town because it's not going to be

[14:57] anything that wouldn't happen to go

[14:58] through town meeting but people should

[15:01] certainly be aware of

[15:05] everything Amy friend yes I just have a

[15:10] question how do these two folks this

[15:13] board

[15:27] this sure I can give you um quick

[15:30] background Brenda um the housing and

[15:32] economic development committee was

[15:33] formed four or five years ago at this

[15:37] point um Christian Stanley was still on

[15:39] the select board so I I think it dates

[15:42] back about four years um and some of the

[15:44] players have changed over time but just

[15:47] like every other uh appointed Committee

[15:49] in town every year um we let people know

[15:53] if there are vacancies right so Jennifer

[15:55] puts the vacancies out and then anybody

[15:57] who has a particular interest in

[15:59] volunteering um can reach out and ask to

[16:02] be on the committee so at some point in

[16:04] time I don't remember exactly when both

[16:06] um Mark and Justin I didn't know app

[16:10] that sure I just make sure C is

[16:14] invol that will be part of um when uh

[16:18] whether it's Bill DWI or somebody else

[16:19] talks about process absolutely CBA will

[16:22] be included in

[16:24] that

[16:27] okay so this is really kind of just

[16:29] information and they not really are you

[16:32] asking are you asking for a yes go ahead

[16:36] we approve this and we'd like to plan

[16:38] let's have Forum yeah again if anybody

[16:40] has that we have a forum for the housing

[16:44] uh Economic Development second okay

[16:47] motion did

[16:49] by um Jane second did by Randy any

[16:53] further discussion any questions that

[16:56] the residents have can be

[16:59] you know asked at that point um as

[17:05] well oh sorry all those in

[17:08] favor all oppos same sign excellent

[17:11] sorry the last couple of meetings we've

[17:12] been doing roll call voting thank you

[17:14] for

[17:17] coming okay um so the hearing doesn't

[17:21] start until 6:30 so we'll continue on

[17:23] and we'll go ahead and move into public

[17:26] comments so the public comment is a a

[17:29] period of 15 minutes um please limit

[17:32] your comments to 3 minutes um and that

[17:36] will give other people an opportunity to

[17:38] speak is there anyone here for public

[17:43] comments so um if you're physically here

[17:46] um just come on up to the the microphone

[17:49] here so that the people yeah so the

[17:51] microphone isn't going to like make it

[17:53] loud and here it's going to make it so

[17:55] the people online can hear you speak so

[17:58] come on

[17:59] up just introduce your name you don't

[18:01] have to give your address it's not town

[18:04] meeting well I'm Brenda fing Kevin from

[18:07] havy and um I was just wondering I'm

[18:11] very

[18:12] concerned about I didn't realize until I

[18:15] saw it in the newspaper that we have um

[18:19] residents that are being housed at the

[18:22] nightly Hotel I guess it is up the road

[18:26] how is that going to impact us and has

[18:28] any body did an investigation as to

[18:31] where these folks came from you know

[18:34] I'm I care about people and especially

[18:37] kids but I also care about the town

[18:39] Safety the town's people's

[18:41] safety I wonder how this is going to

[18:44] affect our schools and all of the other

[18:46] things is anybody going to get together

[18:48] and and you know produce some kind of a

[18:51] meeting to talk about this because I

[18:53] know there's a lot of people that are

[18:54] Furious about this they're very upset

[18:56] about this so um what I can respond to

[18:59] you with is that it is on the agenda

[19:01] this evening okay to have um information

[19:05] to the public on that okay because this

[19:08] is really important to an awful lot of

[19:10] folks that we I mean safety is first and

[19:14] foremost and I know that our governor

[19:17] key has

[19:19] been you know uh in in communication

[19:23] with the Biden

[19:25] Administration you know about trying to

[19:27] fund things and I I I hope the heck that

[19:30] they're not going to put this on the

[19:31] backs of the Howley residents to front

[19:33] and it's been happening all over the

[19:35] country so I appreciate that thank

[19:39] you is there anyone else here for public

[19:41] comments physically or

[19:44] online I don't see any handr

[19:47] online

[19:50] okay move on

[19:52] then 4.1 consent agenda warrant AP 2416

[19:58] s ap2

[20:00] 416 AP 2415 AP 2415 D2 ap2

[20:07] 415s also the minutes from February 2

[20:11] 22nd uh March 1st 2023 March 15th 2023

[20:16] April 5th

[20:17] 2023 and April 12th

[20:21] 2023 also we have climate change

[20:24] committee resignation from Susan Moser

[20:27] we have Hadley media appointment Patrick

[20:31] Lael bylaw committee resignation of Dan

[20:35] sedic one day liquor license for a top

[20:38] of Campus fan Fan Fest pull that off um

[20:42] let me finish reading it top of Campus

[20:45] FanFest November 3rd 2023 outdoor

[20:48] Southeast corner of Mullen Center

[20:50] conditional upon fire department

[20:52] approval with fire inspection and or

[20:54] fire

[20:55] watch DPW assistant mchan appointment

[20:59] Seth Wright and also a one-day liquor

[21:01] license for the Newman Center at UMass

[21:04] V1 vodka November 19th 2023 and December

[21:08] 16 2023 can we pull that one for a

[21:11] question we pulling both liquor licenses

[21:13] is Newman Center and Hadley is Newman

[21:15] Center and Hadley at1 vodka yeah so

[21:19] we're just doing

[21:21] them they pull the license B1 vodka the

[21:24] new pulls the license for and they have

[21:27] an event at B1 vodka

[21:28] and the proceed not the other way around

[21:30] no but it is important to note that it's

[21:33] the um mass movement Center will a

[21:35] license but we're here it is here the

[21:38] event is here at their location but it's

[21:40] the m center who the got it think and I

[21:44] think bottom thing on clarifies that do

[21:47] we need any further discussion on do we

[21:49] need the campus so is the um hold on a

[21:53] second is there anything that we want to

[21:55] pull off to further discuss right now so

[21:58] anyone have anything I just wanted to

[21:59] make sure that we were good on the

[22:00] parking and everything for the V1

[22:03] because I know they don't really have

[22:06] any okay then I'm fine with it is

[22:09] everyone fine with the consent agenda

[22:12] okay motion to approve second all right

[22:14] motion by Molly seconded by Joyce any

[22:17] further discussion seeing none all those

[22:20] in favor say I I all oppos same sign

[22:23] excellent

[22:25] unanimous um we still have about 12

[22:28] minutes do you think we can do the

[22:29] Russell school committee feasibility

[22:31] study y all right so

[22:34] um the Russell Russell School

[22:36] feasibility study group um we had four

[22:41] interviews um with four potential indiv

[22:46] uh

[22:47] firms so did you

[22:50] want we had four proposals um all were

[22:54] qualified some were better than others

[22:55] we used a scoring criteria it was uh

[22:58] Scott McCarthy uh because Gary Berg

[23:00] could not be there as Building

[23:02] Maintenance supervisor uh he was at of

[23:04] training so Scott sat in his place Tommy

[23:07] quinland our building inspector Jennifer

[23:11] myself and Amy and so we had several

[23:14] questions we rated the questions we

[23:16] followed the criteria from highly ADV

[23:19] advant Advantage advantageous and to not

[23:23] qualified or you know and so um the good

[23:28] thing is there were two extremely

[23:30] qualified firms the bad news is they

[23:33] were close enough that although some of

[23:37] the interviewers US scored them as

[23:41] first when we scored their numbers Al

[23:43] together they came in second and vice

[23:45] versa does if that makes sense so it

[23:47] didn't NE necessarily mean who was your

[23:49] first choice because we all the numbers

[23:51] were scored so um I I did talk with Amy

[23:54] I I would I think the recommendation

[23:57] should be because they were so close to

[23:59] have that group reconvene with some very

[24:01] specific questions that will meet ahead

[24:03] of time that will really go dig deeper

[24:05] about their qualifications and how it

[24:07] matches to what Hadley's desire is for

[24:09] that re reuse feasibility study so that

[24:11] would be my recommendation is that we

[24:13] would move forward that it's not not

[24:14] necessar that you have to vote on it but

[24:16] that's what we would I think would be

[24:18] the best thing for Hadley and when would

[24:20] you do that when would you as soon as

[24:22] possible yeah and what about the cost so

[24:26] with with RF Q request for

[24:28] qualifications you're not looking for

[24:30] cost you're telling them the max so we

[24:31] had we had authorized 40,000 for that so

[24:35] that the cost of that doesn't um come

[24:38] into play all of them all of them can in

[24:40] under 40 but that cannot be a part of

[24:43] the um when you're doing designer a

[24:45] designability

[24:47] yeah I think what you're asking for

[24:49] makes sense yeah yeah they were very

[24:52] close and whoever had you know one of

[24:55] them as their first

[24:56] place

[24:58] the second place was the other first

[25:01] place so it was those two were either

[25:03] first or second for

[25:05] everybody it's good to bring them both

[25:07] back and then have interview two

[25:11] companies that are yeah there there

[25:12] really was four which was really great

[25:15] to see after you know some of the bid

[25:18] processes that we've been going through

[25:19] so to have two be outstanding was great

[25:22] yeah good thank you all right we're good

[25:25] with

[25:26] that okay

[25:28] moving all right so um we have Scott on

[25:32] the line and so we do have some tree

[25:35] dedications one in memory of

[25:39] David chus

[25:42] Chulas and one uh dedicated to Michael

[25:46] kosi so if you want to speak on that

[25:49] Scott good evening uh I was uh

[25:53] approached by the uh uh chois family

[25:58] or the the town was of all planting a

[26:00] memorial tree for uh him in his memory

[26:04] of uh being a person here in Hadley uh

[26:09] so uh we picked a spite a spot over on

[26:13] North Lane uh Bel the Dyke uh I I I was

[26:18] told that he like to walk that area on a

[26:20] daily basis and uh you know spend some

[26:24] time there and you know do his thing and

[26:27] I thought it was appropriate to uh plant

[26:30] it there uh as the family's request uh

[26:34] so uh the tree was planted a couple

[26:36] weeks ago it's because of the time frame

[26:39] of trying to get in the ground uh and

[26:42] try to get it establish a little bit

[26:44] before uh winter sets in so uh uh that

[26:48] was done and we had another spot over

[26:51] there and talking to uh uh my guys about

[26:56] uh trees and Etc ra it was brought to my

[26:59] attention that the DPW would like to uh

[27:04] dedicate a tree to uh Mr kamasi uh he

[27:08] was a superintendent of DPW for 40 year

[27:11] over 40 years and uh tree Warden here he

[27:15] uh did a lot for the community

[27:17] especially with the trees uh so we

[27:19] thought it was uh be a nice spot for him

[27:22] to have a tree dedicated uh for his

[27:26] service

[27:28] sounds good thank you so moved

[27:32] second I motioned by Joyce and seconded

[27:37] by

[27:38] Molly to approve those dedic to approve

[27:40] the

[27:42] dedications roll call vote no oh I'm

[27:46] sorry all those in

[27:48] favor all

[27:51] opposed excellent thank you thank you all right so we still have

[27:58] five minutes I think we can do the

[27:59] election date one that's you'll probably

[28:00] still have to wait a couple minutes for

[28:02] the hearing this will be quick okay so

[28:05] the election date and early voting we

[28:07] need to do three separate

[28:08] votes so y so I put it on there you have

[28:13] vote to have the special election on

[28:15] December

[28:16] 12th um from at the senior center from

[28:19] 12: to 8 which has been your standard

[28:22] practice uh you have to vote on those

[28:23] two questions and then you have to vote

[28:26] to allow early voting in person starting

[28:29] Thursday November 30th through Thursday

[28:31] December 7th at the Town Hall from 9:30

[28:34] a.m. to 3:30 PM just a note early voting

[28:38] by mail is automatic unless the select

[28:40] board opts out which is at least 45 days

[28:42] before the election after a public

[28:44] hearing it really is a tight tight

[28:46] schedule in order for you to do that if you have a desire to opt out of

[28:50] that why would we want to opt out of

[28:54] it

[28:56] um and can we that the clerk is

[29:01] recommending all of this right she

[29:03] is yes she's recommending the date we

[29:06] went through the date time yes thank you

[29:08] so like for the voting by mail like yeah

[29:10] there's no action that needs to be taken

[29:11] as long as we are all in agreeance that

[29:14] it is okay to vote by

[29:16] mail okay excellent okay motion to

[29:20] approve holding a special election on

[29:22] December 12th 2023 at the senior center

[29:25] within the hours of 12: noon to 8: p.m.

[29:28] second okay motioned by Molly seconded

[29:31] by Randy is there any further

[29:33] discussion all those in favor I all

[29:36] opposed okay unanimous second

[29:42] one okay so the second one we have to

[29:45] vote on the two questions to be put onto

[29:47] the ballot can I get a motion for that

[29:50] please motion I have two questions on

[29:52] the ballot should probably from town

[29:54] meetings read each one vote on each one

[29:57] okay each one each one separately

[30:00] okay so the first question had to do

[30:04] with the fire truck and the second two

[30:07] lockers so if you pull up it's on one of

[30:10] your documents word for word you do have

[30:12] to do with wording for so um motion to

[30:14] select board by the two-thirds vote to

[30:16] seek voter approval at a special

[30:17] election to exclude from the provisions

[30:19] of general laws chapter 59 section 21 C

[30:23] the funds required for the payment of

[30:24] principal and interest on bonds note or

[30:26] certific ific ation of

[30:30] indebtedness I think someone can second

[30:32] that I'll

[30:33] second motioned by myself seconded by

[30:36] Jane any further

[30:39] discussion

[30:41] okay all those in favor please by by all

[30:44] right

[30:47] excellent um other

[30:51] motion

[30:55] was hold on

[31:00] that one do the town administra report

[31:03] in four minutes no no we still have to

[31:05] do the the second we have to do the

[31:07] other motion

[31:09] oh okay

[31:11] [Music]

[31:12] um same yeah no it's I have to find the

[31:16] one for the fire truck if you read the

[31:19] same U moved in SEC the same

[31:23] motion add question to to it Amy I think

[31:25] you'll be all set okay um motion of the

[31:28] select board by a two-thirds vote to

[31:29] seek voter approval at a special

[31:31] election to exclude from the provisions

[31:33] of General Law chapter 59 section 21 C

[31:36] the funds required for the payment of

[31:38] principal and interest on bonds note or

[31:40] certifications of

[31:41] indebtedness um for the fire truck lad

[31:47] soov second all right motioned by Joyce

[31:50] seconded by Jane all those in

[31:52] favor okay and the last one we have to

[31:55] do um is to to vote to um a motion to

[32:00] allow early voting in person starting

[32:02] Thursday November 30th through Thursday

[32:04] September 7th at the Town Hall from 9:30

[32:06] am. to 3:30 p.m. December 7th right uh

[32:10] I'm sorry November 30th through Thursday

[32:14] December 7th at the Town Hall from all

[32:17] right motion by Joyce seconded by

[32:20] second Randy

[32:23] CH all those in favor I I excellent Amy

[32:27] I got distracted you voted on the date

[32:29] correct yes that was the first one that

[32:31] we

[32:32] did we did the date the two questions

[32:35] separately and the um early voting in

[32:38] person so we technically did four votes

[32:40] I don't want Jessica mad at

[32:42] me everything is good

[32:46] there um do you want three minutes for

[32:48] your time Miss report was 28 now so

[32:52] minutes just wait we can wait you can

[32:55] wait we can wait a couple minutes

[32:58] um to continue the public hearing two

[33:18] minut lesser is out

[33:23] there okay I see that

[33:33] almost not in to sit and wait sure you

[33:36] can right

[33:37] there congratulations to you thank you

[33:40] very much how's it

[33:42] going Three's a

[33:44] lot three number three is the

[33:47] best

[33:49] yeah depending on the age difference how

[33:52] old is the oldest one six so almost

[33:54] seven almost three and then August

[33:57] almost yeah he's the best sleeper though

[34:00] so and all males all two girls and a

[34:04] little boy hope you saved the best for

[34:07] last yeah they take care of them yeah

[34:09] already you can tell nice that's awesome

[34:12] thank I've got two girls and a boy it'll

[34:14] change I'm sure I'm sure it they can see

[34:18] it

[34:22] already Okay

[34:35] wanted to know if I wanted preo for

[34:39] dinner it

[34:41] yet no before 9 o'clock or 10

[34:47] o'cl 6:30 go for it all right it is 6:30

[34:52] um so we're going to go into the

[34:53] appointments and the young men's club

[34:56] public hearing

[34:59] continuation all right perfect would you

[35:01] like to start yeah yeah if I may uh for

[35:03] the record Tom re attorney with bacon

[35:05] Wilson out of am here on behalf of the

[35:07] young men's club um so last we were here

[35:11] to discuss this I think was back in June 7th I think and and the directive

[35:17] was to go and to figure out a

[35:22] solution um to look at the license and

[35:24] to figure out if there's something else

[35:25] that that we could do um we have it's

[35:29] taken

[35:30] admittedly at my fault a lot longer than

[35:32] it should have uh but we've had some

[35:35] discussions I've talked to the Town

[35:36] Administrator I've talked with Jennifer

[35:38] we've talked with the abcc I've talked

[35:40] to them a couple times but once jointly

[35:42] with both the Town Administrator and

[35:44] Jennifer uh about just a a plan going

[35:47] forward and so one of the things that we

[35:49] had discussed when we were here in

[35:53] June

[35:55] um um hold on we need pause for a second

[36:00] you are recording

[36:05] us we just have to not it we just have

[36:07] to note in our minutes that you're doing

[36:09] it no you totally can we

[36:11] just can you

[36:15] say sorry no

[36:19] problemes excellent thank you so when we

[36:22] were here in June we had talked about

[36:24] potential Solutions we had suggested

[36:26] potentially

[36:27] you know one of the solutions was

[36:28] getting a general on premisis all

[36:30] alcohol license and for a few different

[36:32] reasons that was disfavored both by the

[36:34] club and likely by the town um and so

[36:38] the solution has turned out to be an

[36:41] alteration of the premises so right now

[36:43] the club has a section 12 which has

[36:45] different facets to it they have a club

[36:48] license and so it would be to have that

[36:51] club license be on a portion of the

[36:53] premises it's really the the Westerly

[36:56] kind of North Westerly side where the

[36:57] building is um today we've hand

[36:59] delivered to Jennifer we've submitted to

[37:01] the abcc that application for an

[37:04] alteration of the license it's

[37:06] alteration of the premises so that be

[37:08] that will be in front of you at some

[37:10] point in the future so we can actually

[37:12] discuss you know that license Amendment

[37:16] but our thought is with that Amendment

[37:18] it eliminates it we'll we'll talk about

[37:21] the public events in a minute but at

[37:23] least eliminates any issue with the deck

[37:25] or anything that occurs outside like the

[37:27] Cars and Coffee so that's the solution

[37:31] um part of the solution the the second

[37:33] part of the solution and this is what we

[37:35] talked about with Ralph sacon the

[37:37] executive director of the abcc was

[37:40] having the ability to have section 14

[37:43] which are one- day licenses on the

[37:45] balance of that property and so we

[37:48] haven't submitted for any of those the

[37:50] intent would be at some point in the

[37:53] future well ahead of time based upon

[37:55] what we've heard from police fire and

[37:57] building so that there's enough time to

[38:00] give everyone time to plan for those

[38:02] events would be to submit applications

[38:05] ideally for the three events that uh the

[38:09] young men's club would be looking for at

[38:10] once ideally to have those issued at one

[38:14] time with whatever conditions the board

[38:16] sees fit assuming that a lot of that's

[38:18] going to be coming from police fire

[38:20] building and then whatever else the the

[38:22] board wants to impose based upon what

[38:25] they've heard to date so

[38:27] if we need take the property as that

[38:28] rectangle all we're going to be talking

[38:30] about when we talk about alteration of

[38:31] the premises is kind of the upper left

[38:34] corner if you're looking at it with

[38:36] north um being the top of that page and

[38:39] then at some point we'll come in with

[38:40] those section 14 application requests

[38:43] for the balance of the property so that

[38:46] was you know thanks to Jennifer thanks

[38:48] to Carolyn that was kind of the result

[38:50] of all the conversations that we've had

[38:52] so you know we're hopeful that this

[38:54] evening um the board decides to take no

[38:57] action and just close this matter and

[38:59] then we'll have opportunities in the

[39:00] future to discuss the section 12 club

[39:03] and then at some point those section 14

[39:06] one day licenses and can I just ask um

[39:09] from a process standpoint whether that's

[39:11] um from you Tom or Jennifer and Carolyn

[39:15] so sorry no I was just okay so are you

[39:18] looking at the process for the

[39:20] alteration yeah I was just going to ask

[39:23] what would happen at the very next so

[39:25] meeting um we can't ask questions

[39:27] tonight about the alteration um what

[39:30] would happen is there would have to be a

[39:33] public hearing about that in the future

[39:37] um so I as long as okay you can ask your

[39:42] question not not discussing it just

[39:45] procedurally yeah yeah so thank thank

[39:48] you Amy okay sorry so I think you

[39:51] answered part of it so um presuming that

[39:54] you want to move forward within

[39:56] alteration of a liquor license um the

[39:59] process would be that you would make the

[40:02] application to the licensing

[40:05] coordinator and then it's been submitted

[40:08] yep again I'm just generally asking so

[40:11] it goes to liquor license that we

[40:13] receive we accept it then I will reach

[40:16] out to the attorney or the lensey

[40:18] depending on work with them for the buts

[40:21] list the butters notification the public

[40:22] he

[40:24] process um

[40:27] will happen December December 6 would be

[40:30] the meeting that I would probably try to

[40:32] put it on for yep um because the license

[40:36] goes until December 31st we would have

[40:38] to get that cleared up

[40:41] beforehand before renal public

[40:44] hearing they'll renew how they are

[40:47] there's no way the abcc is going to be

[40:49] able to renew or alter somebody's

[40:51] premise in the middle of a newal season

[40:53] so they'll stay how they are until then

[40:55] until the ABC has time okay um so my

[41:00] recommendation personally and for the

[41:03] board would be to close the public

[41:06] hearing without finding and move forward

[41:09] with their recommendations I would like

[41:12] to say one thing before we do that Amy

[41:14] I'm in agreement with that I just have a

[41:16] concern about your uh talking about the

[41:20] three major

[41:21] events I believe the board has the

[41:24] authority to Grant a one-day liquor

[41:25] license I don't believe we have the

[41:27] authority to Grant permission to have

[41:30] the event so just keep that in in mind

[41:34] when we're going

[41:37] forward

[41:39] okay so can I get a motion one

[41:46] so what we're what my recommendation was

[41:49] is that we close this hearing that's

[41:51] been going on for three

[41:53] months as no finding

[41:57] that and at a later date we would have

[42:02] because they've already submitted an

[42:05] alteration um to their Club license we

[42:07] would have to go through the process of

[42:09] a public hearing and everything so it's

[42:11] best for us to say today that we have no

[42:16] findings okay I move that we close this

[42:18] hearing with no findings okay she needs

[42:21] to finish her statement no that was it good I'll second that okay so

[42:27] motioned by Jane seconded by chy is

[42:31] there any further

[42:34] discussion okay all those in favor I I

[42:37] all opposed excellent thank you thank

[42:41] you good seeing you again thank Youk you

[42:44] better get home we'll see you

[42:48] soon

[42:50] way say

[42:52] last get

[42:55] SLE being recorded oh

[42:59] no okay so just thank Adam he was so

[43:03] Adam thank you for being

[43:06] here you're welcome nice to see you all

[43:09] you

[43:10] too it's always a good day when your

[43:12] attorney doesn't have to speak

[43:14] much is okay um so we're gonna go

[43:19] into uh

[43:21] 6.3 and we do have Senator Joe here as

[43:24] well as Annie McKenzie

[43:26] um school

[43:27] superintendent um this is in regards

[43:33] to um the well I'm Not Gon to call it

[43:38] that I know it's on I know it's on the

[43:39] agenda but I'm not going to call it that

[43:40] at the moment so me we're going to TP at

[43:42] the shelter right now yes okay yes I I

[43:44] can help kind of segue this so on the

[43:47] agenda item uh that the one one of the

[43:50] topics is to uh an emergency declaration

[43:53] to state of an emergency that discussion

[43:55] was about about a week ago when as you

[43:57] know the task force was got had gotten

[43:59] put together we had had conversations

[44:00] with the senator and the representative

[44:03] and really weren't sure about where we

[44:04] are are at with that um so I spoke with

[44:08] Chief spank Naval he's on vacation but I

[44:10] did speak with him and he feels right

[44:12] now it's premature we're still exploring

[44:15] just so you know that task force is is

[44:18] keeping in contact we have as an entity

[44:21] um graciously allowed Annie McKenzie to

[44:24] be our point of contact for this

[44:26] so she has been doing a fabulous job of

[44:28] coordinating conversations throughout

[44:30] our emails as well as with um Senator

[44:33] cumerford and representative Carrie so

[44:36] I'm really happy that Senator cumerford

[44:37] could be here um that Annie could be

[44:39] here and I I guess I'm not sure which

[44:42] one of you kind of wants to start Annie

[44:44] or Joe but I think it would be really

[44:45] helpful to kind of bring us to where

[44:48] we're at right now I I certainly have a

[44:51] summary Senator and I also defer if you

[44:54] would prefer to start it's entirely up

[44:56] to you superintendent please lead and I

[44:58] will I will catch up um whatever you

[45:01] whatever um is applicable for my part of

[45:04] this that hasn't been covered great

[45:07] thank you thank you for inviting us to

[45:09] speak thank you very much senator for

[45:11] being here and also for other members of

[45:13] the task force that our town

[45:15] administrators so astutely and quickly

[45:17] convened I'm happy to give to provide

[45:20] information just in a general update on

[45:23] the emergency shelter that's currently

[45:25] operating in

[45:26] Hadley the state of Massachusetts has

[45:28] booked 12 rooms and one room is being

[45:31] used to space for the National Guard

[45:34] Storage uh areas and um just for

[45:38] coordination in the remaining 11 rooms

[45:41] there are currently 11 families 32

[45:43] individuals 16 of those people are under

[45:46] 21 and 16 are over 21 the majority of

[45:50] the individuals arrived between October

[45:52] 16th and 17th some did arrive this past

[45:55] weekend

[45:56] although there is not a uh firm

[46:01] definitive date when each family will

[46:02] move out at this point the goal is

[46:05] always to find more stable housing for

[46:07] families our legislative delegation

[46:10] representative KY and Senator comberford

[46:12] worked diligently to secure an on-site

[46:15] service coordinator so right now Service

[46:17] Coordination is

[46:19] happening from somebody uh in the

[46:22] governor's office or in the executive

[46:24] office of housing live communities

[46:27] however thanks to Senator comford and

[46:29] representative krie it looks as though

[46:31] we'll have an on-site service

[46:33] coordinator so somebody that can kind of

[46:35] make sure that everything is going

[46:37] according to plan the site is well

[46:40] supervised Etc thank you also to Our

[46:44] Town Administrator for her fast and

[46:46] coordinated response to supporting newly

[46:48] arriving families the members of our

[46:50] task force which include the police and

[46:52] fire chiefs the director of the Board of

[46:54] Health our building inspector our

[46:56] assessor I hope I didn't forget anyone

[46:58] and myself um we've convened on numerous

[47:01] occasions to talk about uh what we need

[47:04] to do in order to ensure the safety and

[47:07] security and well-being of the

[47:09] individuals who are living in the

[47:11] shelter and for the community at large

[47:13] and a special thanks to Chief spank naal

[47:15] who was boots on the ground immediately

[47:17] to welcome new families our local task

[47:20] force created a workbook that includes

[47:23] an organization chart with names of all

[47:26] the people involved in this project

[47:27] including people at the state level and

[47:29] our leg legislative delegation our roles

[47:32] and responsibilities and contact

[47:34] information for key people we have a

[47:36] running list of tasks questions and

[47:37] needs and a list of community- based

[47:40] organizations and individuals who have

[47:42] graciously offered to volunteer and

[47:44] support families who are in need and I

[47:47] really want to acknowledge I have been

[47:50] overwhelmed with gratitude and just

[47:53] touched by The Compassion of people in

[47:56] the community of Hadley and I even heard

[47:58] a previous speaker reference caring

[48:01] about people and caring about everyone's

[48:03] safety so I'm just impressed and I'm

[48:06] touched once once we have the on-site

[48:09] service coordinator locked in and I

[48:11] think that's coming this week or next

[48:13] week we will share that workbook with

[48:15] the on-site service coordinator so

[48:18] they're really in a position it will

[48:19] just be seamless they will pick up the

[48:21] ball that we've been carrying the

[48:24] schools had held an orientation for new

[48:26] families shortly after they arrived

[48:29] students have integrated very well into

[48:31] the school Community thanks to the skill

[48:33] love and tireless efforts of our faculty

[48:35] and staff and the welcoming attitude of

[48:38] our students they've been so great and

[48:40] joyous and ecstatic to make new friends

[48:43] and again to the community at large for

[48:45] example there was a parent who realized

[48:47] on Monday the Tuesday was Halloween and

[48:50] it was unlikely that Elementary children

[48:52] would have costumes and she was so

[48:54] concerned that that they would feel left

[48:56] out that she took it upon herself to

[48:58] ensure that every single child who may

[49:01] not have a costume would just so they

[49:03] wouldn't feel left out or lonely the

[49:06] district will receive additional State

[49:08] funding to address the educational needs

[49:10] of students and as part of that funding

[49:12] which will become available I think

[49:14] immediately and will draw down upon it

[49:16] throughout the course of the year we

[49:18] will also look at all the ways in which

[49:20] other Town departments have contributed

[49:22] to this effort and make sure that

[49:24] everybody who is who is working um that

[49:28] we share these resources the primary uh

[49:31] goal of the resources is to make sure

[49:32] that we meet the educational needs of

[49:34] students but we are always eager to make

[49:37] sure that we support the town because

[49:39] the town is so good at supporting the

[49:41] schools this has really not been

[49:43] disruptive for the schools I mean just

[49:44] to give you some context this year the

[49:47] 2324 school year we enrolled 36 new

[49:50] school choice students just as a

[49:52] separate aside thank you very much for

[49:54] every single family who chooses kathle

[49:56] yeah we're glad to have you and we're

[49:58] grateful um we enrolled 17 new Hadley

[50:01] resident students so 53 new students

[50:04] total this school this school year as of

[50:07] today 18 of whom started school after

[50:10] the first day of the school year so

[50:12] students coming throughout the school

[50:14] year is nothing new and we certainly can

[50:16] handle that beginning today November 1st

[50:19] 2023 the number of individuals in the

[50:22] emergency supplemental shelter system

[50:23] will be capped at 7500 families the

[50:26] basis for the cap is the program is at

[50:28] capacity and the state has exhausted

[50:32] much of the funding it's set aside for

[50:33] the program there was an advocacy group that filed a lawsuit to

[50:38] block the governor's proposed cap the

[50:40] judge a judge did rule today in favor of

[50:42] the governor Massachusetts has a right

[50:45] to shelter law dating back to

[50:48] 1983 um and so people have the right to

[50:51] shelter that is a legislative right um

[50:54] that is most of my update and I

[50:58] certainly welcome I'm sure that Senator

[51:00] Comerford has additional things that she

[51:03] may want to add but again thank you

[51:05] everyone thank you so much to the task

[51:07] force to Our Town Administrator who I I

[51:09] know gets support from the select board

[51:12] and to the community for being

[51:13] compassionate gracious and committed to

[51:16] the safety and well-being of every

[51:18] single human who resides in Hatley I'm

[51:20] really proud to work in this community

[51:22] and I just want to say thank you again

[51:27] uh good evening friends it's hard to

[51:29] follow superintendent McKenzie um with

[51:32] those beautiful remarks but I let me

[51:34] just start by saying that I Echo the

[51:37] superintendent's enormous thanks to the

[51:39] town of Hadley for your skilled

[51:41] strategic compassionate response uh to

[51:45] having families located at the nights in

[51:47] it's been a privilege to work with you

[51:49] in these last finite period of time um

[51:52] with regard to the nights in of course

[51:54] in partnership with rep Cary um and

[51:57] Dan's an amazing partner through all of

[51:58] this as the superintendent said I just

[52:01] want to I'll build on the

[52:02] superintendent's amazing remarks with

[52:04] just a couple of U

[52:06] details we know I believe after the

[52:08] superintendent talked about the number

[52:10] of families we know that as part of the

[52:13] governor's consideration about capping

[52:16] um shelter residents part of it was that

[52:19] we were running short on service

[52:21] providers that's just true which is why

[52:24] the initial nights in was staffed by

[52:27] members of the National Guard and we're

[52:28] grateful for their service I know Hadley

[52:30] is as well but they they cannot do the

[52:33] kind of work the steadfast day in day

[52:36] out case management they've said as much

[52:39] and we know as much U but they've been

[52:40] great Partners um getting this started

[52:43] so the Emergency Shelters the emergency

[52:46] assistance shelters in the shape of the

[52:48] ones like um knights in are as the

[52:51] superintendent said staffed um in kind

[52:54] of a spoken wheel model so we've come in

[52:57] contact now with the governor's staff

[52:59] who's covering uh Central and Western

[53:01] Massachusetts it's difficult to cover

[53:03] from a distance um again which is why a

[53:06] provider on the ground is really going

[53:09] to be very important I think a game

[53:10] changer for Hadley um so uh you know so

[53:14] this is a um a good event I think a good

[53:17] outcome for Hadley is to get a provider

[53:19] on as the superintendent said there is a

[53:22] provider who has said yes um and the

[53:26] state has recognized um and agreed to

[53:30] work with this provider that's about 90%

[53:33] of the way there they are doing a

[53:35] contract revision to this provider it's

[53:37] a large provider in the

[53:39] area and we imagine that's going to be

[53:41] done as the superintendent said you know

[53:43] this week or next week but we did

[53:45] receive a letter today from uh housing

[53:48] livable communities staff person um

[53:51] responsible for this so that we could

[53:53] send it to the town and I have forward

[53:55] Ed it to the superintendent and uh Town

[53:57] Administrator and a few others in the

[53:59] town just to make sure that you saw what

[54:01] I saw which was the state not just

[54:04] saying that it was working on the

[54:05] contract but actually writing it knowing

[54:07] that it would be forwarded to you for

[54:09] the town's consideration um the second

[54:12] thing I'll say is that uh the

[54:14] superintendent and and and Carol and

[54:16] Town Administrator um Brennan have have

[54:19] already um begun this kind of knowledge

[54:21] transfer which is of course optimal uh

[54:24] and we do have a call scheduled for

[54:26] Friday afternoon um the Su provider is

[54:30] uh very willing to work um before the

[54:32] contract is finalized um and we're happy

[54:35] for that um and the service provider is

[54:37] also really wanting to hear directly

[54:40] from the town and I I believe the you

[54:42] know the superintendent started some of

[54:43] that you know the ways in which they can

[54:46] interface um most effectively um with

[54:49] Hadley um so I I am heartened by this

[54:52] we're not there yet you know we have to

[54:54] have this meeting on Friday we have to

[54:56] get the contract and make sure that the

[54:58] service provider has favorable terms and

[55:00] I'm happy to you know Watchdog that with

[55:02] all of you um I I do believe um I do

[55:06] believe that you know at the highest

[55:07] levels they understand uh that it is

[55:09] going to be a benefit to Hadley to have

[55:11] a service provider on site um and you

[55:15] know and then of course we have to

[55:16] support Hadley Dan and I uh R Cary and I

[55:19] have to support Hadley as you continue

[55:21] to welcome and support um these new

[55:24] residents as superintendent has already

[55:26] done so beautifully uh in the schools

[55:28] and as I know public health and you know

[55:29] First Responders are already thinking

[55:31] about the way of of course the building

[55:33] inspector the town uh needs to make sure

[55:35] that um they are treated with care in a

[55:38] Humane location uh so um and I should

[55:42] also say there is H an other there so

[55:45] there's a Greenfield shelter with a

[55:46] service net as the provider on site um

[55:49] and in that shelter they've uh already

[55:52] begun to work with um Center for new

[55:56] Americans uh which has already been in

[55:58] touch uh offering you know kind of

[56:00] English language classes um Mass hire is

[56:04] another organization Franklin Hampshire

[56:06] Mass hire four people in the shelter

[56:08] have already gotten jobs in Greenfield

[56:10] so there's a quick hustle uh to move

[56:13] folks into a place where they can have

[56:16] more autonomy they all every one to a

[56:18] person who I've met wants to work um you

[56:21] know and the governor and lieutenant

[56:23] governor have made it exceeding clear

[56:26] that the federal government has to um

[56:28] has to must um help expedite the work

[56:32] permits some folks are coming with the

[56:34] ability to work others are not and then

[56:36] very very lastly I'll say the governor

[56:39] has also made it very clear and I'm sure

[56:41] hadly folks have seen this that we

[56:43] really do need financial help in the

[56:46] Commonwealth to respond um you know

[56:49] limits or no um this is still an

[56:52] expensive Venture for the state and um

[56:55] I I believe she's made a very goodfaith

[56:57] effort at the federal level to show uh

[57:01] HHS Health and Human Services what's

[57:03] happening in Massachusetts and to really

[57:06] ask the federal delegation and the Biden

[57:08] Administration for their partnership and

[57:10] I support that certainly as a state

[57:13] legislator uh and I will continue to

[57:15] support that because this is much more

[57:17] this is a bigger issue than what's

[57:19] happening in Massachusetts it's

[57:21] happening Nationwide we just happen to

[57:24] you know have Comm like Hadley that are

[57:25] so wonderful um and you know States like

[57:28] Massachusetts um uh wanting to do right

[57:31] by our families uh so that's it I'm

[57:33] happy to take questions um and thank you

[57:36] so much for affording me the opportunity

[57:38] to join superintendent

[57:41] McKenzie um if you want to come up to

[57:44] the microphone here so she can hear

[57:50] you you know I I do have a question and

[57:54] I wish that you folks had talk to a lot

[57:56] of the other the actual residents here

[57:58] in Hatley because there's a lot of

[58:00] concern with a lot of had it's not

[58:03] Kumbaya I'm going to tell you that right

[58:05] now with all due respect Senator I I

[58:08] really with all due

[58:10] respect and we are not happy and this is

[58:13] not going to be a stop to bring these

[58:15] people and I I and I hope the he that

[58:18] somebody has vetted these people because

[58:21] there's a lot of people coming over the

[58:22] southern border now I hear the northern

[58:25] border there's a lot of problems going

[58:27] on and I feel bad for these people but

[58:30] we didn't ask them to come across and

[58:33] from what I know too and what a lot of

[58:35] other people know that the governor has

[58:39] approached the Biden

[58:41] Administration and many other states

[58:43] have and they haven't gotten a dime and

[58:46] I hope this doesn't fall on the people

[58:47] of Hadley the residents and I wish that

[58:49] you folks had talked to the people of

[58:51] Hadley because there's a lot of people

[58:53] that are extremely concern and I bet

[58:56] it's the

[58:57] majority um I'm sorry that I sit down

[59:00] and listen to your comments but we're

[59:02] not going to I I didn't get your name so

[59:05] forgive me for not addressing

[59:09] you you were working with me on another

[59:12] issue that has oh sorry I I couldn't um

[59:15] I couldn't see you forgive me um for not

[59:17] being able to see who you were through

[59:19] the zoom zoom is a strange thing um so I

[59:22] think it's really important for you to

[59:24] know that Hadley didn't make the

[59:26] decision and I as your state senator

[59:29] didn't make the decision I hope not I

[59:31] hope

[59:33] not so I I hear that you're very upet

[59:36] minute hold on hold on Brenda Brenda let

[59:38] her speak please um so Brenda I I you

[59:42] know I think it's really important I

[59:43] don't think the superintendent or I gave

[59:45] the impression that this was a decision

[59:48] on the part of Hadley or the state

[59:51] legislature um but it is a decision that

[59:54] we're responding to and um again I'm I'm

[59:58] proud to partner with Hadley in this and

[1:00:00] I you know I'm going to be steadfast in

[1:00:02] that partnership and um getting

[1:00:05] resources for the town um and it's

[1:00:08] really important to know that you know

[1:00:10] the Nights Inn is a contracted location

[1:00:12] it's a private business with which the hey Driscoll Administration

[1:00:18] contracted um you know just like the

[1:00:20] days in up in Greenfield so you know I I think think it's really I you know

[1:00:25] Hadley folks may want to speak to um

[1:00:28] Brenda directly too but it's it's not

[1:00:30] something Hadley asked for it is

[1:00:32] something that happened in Hadley and as

[1:00:35] because it has happened as a connection

[1:00:37] to the state I I feel like it's my job

[1:00:41] to jump in and be the strongest partner

[1:00:43] possible um with a town doing absolutely

[1:00:48] Stellar strategic work in the face of a

[1:00:51] you know you know an event that happened

[1:00:54] um where these these folks are now in

[1:00:56] our community um so I was trying to

[1:00:59] paint a um not paint I was trying to

[1:01:02] talk about the fullness of the idea for

[1:01:06] how we can as a state respond including

[1:01:08] English language classes and job

[1:01:10] training and education uh because I do

[1:01:13] think there there is a transformation

[1:01:15] that's possible um through this but I

[1:01:17] don't pretend that it was Hadley's

[1:01:19] decision or the or the legislators I do

[1:01:22] think though it's it is ours to to to

[1:01:25] Grapple with as partners and I'm proud

[1:01:27] to do it actually and I'm happy to do it

[1:01:29] and I'm proud of Hadley may I may I add

[1:01:32] one other additional comment to that uh

[1:01:35] thank you very much Senator and also I

[1:01:37] just want to thank you Brenda for giving

[1:01:39] voice to a question that I think many

[1:01:41] people might be wondering which is you

[1:01:43] brought up the question of safety and

[1:01:46] asked ex explicitly to what extent are

[1:01:49] individuals vetted when they go through

[1:01:50] the emergency shelter system I'd like

[1:01:53] you to know that chief Mason asked very

[1:01:56] specific questions of the state and the

[1:01:58] governor's office he can speak in more

[1:02:00] detail but I can tell you that one of

[1:02:02] the responses that he did received is

[1:02:04] that prior to any family being placed in

[1:02:07] the supplemental or Emergency Shelters

[1:02:10] they are vetted through Department of

[1:02:12] Homeland Security if they are an a newly

[1:02:15] arriving immigrant so that's just to

[1:02:17] answer that question directly which I

[1:02:19] think is certainly a question that as

[1:02:21] you say Brenda is probably on a lot of

[1:02:23] people's minds so thank you for raising

[1:02:25] it and providing the opportunity to

[1:02:27] speak to it

[1:02:28] directly and am Amy can I just um

[1:02:31] because I think it is an important

[1:02:32] question about whose decision was this

[1:02:35] it it absolutely was not Hadley's it was

[1:02:37] not the legislator's decision we got an

[1:02:40] email um I think it was October 11th

[1:02:43] letting me know as the executive officer

[1:02:47] for the town that that 11 families were

[1:02:49] going to be placed at the nights in and

[1:02:52] then within 3 days it wasn't it wasn't a

[1:02:55] matter of any you've got two weeks to

[1:02:58] plan this is what to expect we literally

[1:03:00] just got an email and within two or

[1:03:02] three days we were notified that they

[1:03:04] were placed at the Knight's Inn so our

[1:03:06] response was to put a task force

[1:03:07] together so we could respond I think the

[1:03:09] important thing to use is the term

[1:03:11] humanely we responded humanely we had to

[1:03:14] make sure all of those questions that

[1:03:16] you were asking Annie was amazing when

[1:03:19] we were talking to all of the state um

[1:03:22] stakeholders she every almost everything

[1:03:24] you asked she asked are they vetted

[1:03:26] who's the caregivers do we know who the

[1:03:28] parents are is this exactly who are are

[1:03:31] you verifying who this is she was Stern

[1:03:35] she was firm and she W she was get

[1:03:38] making sure those answers were provided

[1:03:40] for her so she know she knew that who

[1:03:44] was going to be um what kids were going

[1:03:46] to be in what grade where when and how

[1:03:50] so there was so much work done but we

[1:03:53] had literally less in a week's notice so

[1:03:55] the town did had no warning and we had

[1:03:57] no choice this was a private transaction

[1:04:01] well I think and I appreciate that I

[1:04:04] appreciate all the work that everybody

[1:04:06] has done but I don't appreciate the way

[1:04:08] that

[1:04:09] this and I'm not the only one there are

[1:04:13] many many residents that are curious

[1:04:15] over this so you didn't see us the first

[1:04:17] few

[1:04:18] days I'm did job I'm not saying somebody

[1:04:22] didn't do the job please

[1:04:32] straight answers through Homeland

[1:04:33] Security this person uh myus has been

[1:04:39] asked many times and he is live and I'm

[1:04:42] very upset over this if they think that

[1:04:45] we aren't paying attention I feel sorry

[1:04:48] for these small kids I really do I love

[1:04:51] kids I love I

[1:04:55] but you know it's careful to see these

[1:04:58] people coming up through the seven

[1:05:00] border and to see them going they didn't

[1:05:03] ask to have this happen let's get that

[1:05:05] straight right off

[1:05:07] the so I just want can I just say that I think that it's unfortunate all the

[1:05:13] way around and I yes there were some

[1:05:16] people that were upset by how it came

[1:05:18] about without knowing the full extent of

[1:05:21] how it came about and I think with all

[1:05:23] these explanations tonight that have

[1:05:26] been given I think that that gives them

[1:05:28] a little bit

[1:05:29] more information for what they what they

[1:05:32] needed to hear but I also feel like

[1:05:35] Hadley stepped up to a

[1:05:37] situation that was handed to us and I

[1:05:39] think that our Command force has done an

[1:05:42] outstanding job in taking this situation

[1:05:45] and making it Humane as Carolyn said and

[1:05:50] making it better for these people that

[1:05:52] had come here it's not their fault and I

[1:05:55] just think that we just stepped up to

[1:05:57] the plate on it and I I I'm glad I live

[1:06:00] in Hadley and that we're able to do this

[1:06:03] um and we handle situations that are

[1:06:05] handed to us all the time and some of

[1:06:07] the situations you don't know about but

[1:06:09] this one you know about because it has

[1:06:11] hit the news and it's very out there for

[1:06:14] what's around the whole country and um I

[1:06:17] think Hadley has done an outstanding job

[1:06:19] and I thank everybody that's been

[1:06:20] involved that has been doing this

[1:06:23] so

[1:06:24] um I don't know how to ask this question

[1:06:29] appropriately um but I think there I

[1:06:33] know that you know with the governor you

[1:06:35] know

[1:06:37] really okay so Massachusetts is the only

[1:06:41] of the 50 states left that has a right

[1:06:46] to shelter law that goes back to the

[1:06:49] 1980s um I think with the governor you

[1:06:54] know saying that we're at capacity um I

[1:06:57] think there is some concern um with

[1:07:00] residents of the state um and some

[1:07:03] people in this town as well um as far as

[1:07:07] capacity to shelter US

[1:07:12] citizens during the winter months

[1:07:16] that's people that are US

[1:07:20] citizens

[1:07:21] and I just let me that's the most

[1:07:26] appropriate way that I can ask the

[1:07:27] question I suppose and if there is a

[1:07:30] response to

[1:07:32] that

[1:07:34] Senator yeah I'm happy to oh sorry is it

[1:07:38] okay for me to respond yeah yes

[1:07:41] please sure I mean

[1:07:44] honestly you're completely right that

[1:07:47] even before we had the refugee the you

[1:07:52] know the surge of refugees again this is

[1:07:54] Nationwide but here in the Commonwealth

[1:07:57] um we didn't have enough shelter beds

[1:08:00] for for individuals or families in the

[1:08:03] Commonwealth we know that um we also

[1:08:05] know that our affordable housing um

[1:08:08] situation is quite Bleak here both

[1:08:10] affordable and Workforce housing so both

[1:08:13] of those things you know the he again

[1:08:15] I'll just speak to the governor um you

[1:08:18] know both of those things the governor

[1:08:19] spoke about while she was campaigning

[1:08:21] and then she created the housing and

[1:08:22] livable community

[1:08:24] Secretariat you know and we have

[1:08:26] secretary Augustus now who's actually in

[1:08:28] amorist and tomorrow he's in AOL and the

[1:08:31] next week he's in Greenfield talking

[1:08:32] about the housing Bond bill and the

[1:08:35] housing Bond bill is a $4.1 billion do

[1:08:38] investment with 20 I think it's 28

[1:08:41] policy um changes which is off the hook

[1:08:45] bold and I think it's a it was all ready

[1:08:48] in process for some time before you know

[1:08:51] this the crisis that's in our midst now

[1:08:53] um and I think it speaks to just a broad

[1:08:56] awareness and I I share your concern

[1:08:59] that we we don't have enough capacity in

[1:09:01] the Commonwealth um in terms of shelter

[1:09:04] or uh Workforce or affordable housing

[1:09:07] and it and it has to be taken up as one

[1:09:09] of the most urgent issues of this

[1:09:11] session uh and nothing we have done to

[1:09:14] date has generated enough affordable

[1:09:17] housing units nothing um that we have

[1:09:20] done to date to date in the Commonwealth

[1:09:22] and that's not just west Mass that's

[1:09:25] Statewide and you know here in western

[1:09:27] Mass I'm sure you know these figures

[1:09:29] we're projected to have a

[1:09:31] 13,000 unit affordable housing Gap in

[1:09:35] just about five years unless we do

[1:09:38] something right so what I'm excited

[1:09:40] about is that we're doing something as a

[1:09:41] state we are really with this housing

[1:09:44] Bond Bill going to line up both money

[1:09:47] that communities need and then we're

[1:09:49] going to line up tools for smart

[1:09:51] communities like Hadley and then you can

[1:09:54] pick and choose from those tools to

[1:09:56] decide how you might want to raise your

[1:09:58] own capital or you might want to to make

[1:10:00] some administrative changes at the state

[1:10:02] level um to make Hadley a place where

[1:10:06] it's easier to build housing of all

[1:10:08] kinds honestly but especially affordable

[1:10:10] especially Workforce the other thing

[1:10:13] I'll say and this is tangential but I

[1:10:15] think for us it's real friends which is

[1:10:17] that we're losing population in Western

[1:10:20] Massachusetts and that has an impact on

[1:10:22] the schools although hadly is doing

[1:10:24] quite well with school choice

[1:10:25] superintendent um but it's having pop

[1:10:28] you know it's having an impact on

[1:10:29] Workforce on economic base on Town

[1:10:31] budgets on school budgets and part of

[1:10:35] that is attendant to housing if we want

[1:10:37] to welcome in new families who are going

[1:10:39] to help us grow as a community we have

[1:10:42] to have places for them to live at all

[1:10:44] economic levels but especially because

[1:10:46] of the high cost of housing in the you

[1:10:48] know middle and working in poor poor

[1:10:51] brackets of the income spect Spectrum so

[1:10:54] I'm with you it's real um it's real and

[1:10:58] it was real before this there was an

[1:11:00] ache to the fact that we couldn't house

[1:11:02] all the individuals there was an ache to

[1:11:04] the fact that house you know families

[1:11:05] were in hotels um and you know people

[1:11:09] were sleeping rough outside n none of

[1:11:11] that is okay if we think about having a

[1:11:13] Humane Society and this is just this is

[1:11:16] sort of laying it bear for everybody to

[1:11:18] see right we're ripping it ripping off a Band-Aid of something that has been

[1:11:23] real before this year um for us and I I

[1:11:27] look forward to hearing from Hadley what

[1:11:29] you like about the bond Bill what you

[1:11:30] don't like about the bond Bill and how I

[1:11:33] can support you uh in in the work to

[1:11:36] really have a different new day for us

[1:11:38] in the Commonwealth I do think

[1:11:40] communities like Hadley can lead the way

[1:11:42] um because there's so much good about

[1:11:45] the community and there's so much of a

[1:11:47] commitment to do to act humanely as

[1:11:50] Carolyn

[1:11:51] said um then my last question was for

[1:11:54] people that might want to move Beyond

[1:11:56] Facebook um what's a a a

[1:12:00] good contact for them to get into to

[1:12:04] express any of their concerns or

[1:12:07] thoughts on um the

[1:12:11] situation I I can offer that at this

[1:12:15] point in time I'm the point of contact

[1:12:18] between uh the state and Hadley in terms

[1:12:23] of

[1:12:24] um this shelter program so if people

[1:12:26] have questions I'm certainly happy to do

[1:12:30] my best to answer questions or to get

[1:12:32] answers for people if people have

[1:12:35] concerns about legislation a legislative

[1:12:39] agenda um what they'd see in that Arena

[1:12:41] then I would say always reach out to

[1:12:43] your elected officials who um that's

[1:12:46] their that's their Lane and what they do

[1:12:49] there are specific questions pertaining

[1:12:51] to the site in Hadley um I'm happy to

[1:12:54] answer at least try to answer those

[1:12:57] questions um and then also I have heard

[1:13:00] from a number of people who have wanted

[1:13:03] to

[1:13:04] offer to donate items or to help or to

[1:13:09] just help in any way that they can um as

[1:13:12] I said part of the workbook that that

[1:13:14] we've put together includes a tab for

[1:13:17] people who are interested to volunteer

[1:13:19] so folks can certainly email me and they

[1:13:22] can access my email through the school

[1:13:23] department website a McKenzie Hadley

[1:13:27] schools.org and um even if they're a

[1:13:30] private citizen how they would be

[1:13:32] comfortable helping some people have

[1:13:33] said oh I would donate something or I'd

[1:13:37] be happy to help teach in English as a

[1:13:40] second language class as a volunteer and

[1:13:43] email that to me and then I will put

[1:13:45] that in our workbook and let the new

[1:13:49] on-site provider have that

[1:13:52] information absolutely and S just to

[1:13:54] Echo what the superintendent said you

[1:13:56] know we work for you at the state level

[1:13:58] in the legislature Dan and I rep Cary

[1:14:01] and I um we're easily findable um online

[1:14:05] and certainly Carolyn has our cell phone

[1:14:08] numbers as well um well Dan's not here

[1:14:10] so I'll just say Carolyn give out my

[1:14:12] cell phone number um and you know we are

[1:14:15] both in our own emails we resp respond

[1:14:17] directly to constituents we set up lots

[1:14:20] of meetings we both come to the Hadley

[1:14:22] Senior Center fairly regularly for

[1:14:24] office hours that's a joy um that we get

[1:14:27] to do that together so I don't think

[1:14:30] we're strangers in Hadley um and and

[1:14:32] we're delighted to hear from

[1:14:34] constituents we don't imagine we have

[1:14:37] heard from a number of constituents we

[1:14:38] don't imagine you're a monolith to

[1:14:40] Brenda's Point um and we have heard you

[1:14:43] know both we really want to help and

[1:14:46] we've heard some real significant you

[1:14:48] know concerns and I respect both and I

[1:14:51] want to receive both um and I do think

[1:14:54] when we have a service provider on site

[1:14:56] it will be transformative as I said and

[1:14:59] I look forward to that moment and it's

[1:15:00] coming soon um we just give it some

[1:15:02] nudging um but I do think it's coming

[1:15:04] soon for Hadley and again Hadley won't

[1:15:07] be it's going to be there are many sites

[1:15:09] around the Commonwealth that won't ever

[1:15:11] get service providers simply because

[1:15:13] there wasn't one available one willing

[1:15:15] to step up um you know uh so in some

[1:15:19] ways I'm you know I'm breathing my own

[1:15:21] sigh of relief that for Hadley um on you

[1:15:23] know because I work for the town I'm

[1:15:25] glad for

[1:15:28] thisly so

[1:15:32] because

[1:15:34] done as I'm concerned I mean I am

[1:15:37] concerned for these little kids coming

[1:15:38] over the it is not their fault I love

[1:15:42] but this is no way to do it and I

[1:15:46] don't with the director of Homeland

[1:15:49] Security that that can't get it won't

[1:15:51] give straight answers to any and then we

[1:15:53] find out it's not the truth so I'm

[1:15:55] telling you I know and I'm not speaking

[1:15:58] for everybody

[1:16:01] else

[1:16:06] people so let's um I was

[1:16:10] gonna hi my name is Anthony fiden I just

[1:16:13] have a couple quick points and then a

[1:16:14] question for the uh um for the select

[1:16:16] board my first point is that U just kind

[1:16:19] of an obvious one is that we're talking

[1:16:21] about children here children that are

[1:16:22] now our community I'm I'm happy but not

[1:16:25] surprised to know that they're being uh

[1:16:28] welcomed into our schools while they're

[1:16:30] here um as long as they here they're our kids and and just as much as

[1:16:34] anybody else and I'm I'm confident that

[1:16:37] they're going to be treated that way my

[1:16:39] second point and maybe the senator uh

[1:16:41] can address this it one thing I was

[1:16:43] disappointed to hear was that uh the

[1:16:46] National Guard there were National there

[1:16:48] was a National Guard Sergeant National

[1:16:49] Guard troops there that's not the role

[1:16:53] of Our National Guard to be um I don't I

[1:16:57] don't want to say babysitting but uh to

[1:16:59] be caretaking or guarding I I I I I

[1:17:03] don't know what they're doing there I'm

[1:17:04] not happy about that at all National

[1:17:06] Guard troops coordinating their care

[1:17:08] basically right now I don't think that's

[1:17:09] a role for for National Guard

[1:17:12] soldiers um my uh my third point is just

[1:17:16] uh I was I was curious I believe there

[1:17:19] are

[1:17:20] eight um Sanctuary cities in

[1:17:23] Massachusetts and two of them are our

[1:17:24] neighbors amoris and Northampton I think

[1:17:27] and um so it's interesting that with two

[1:17:31] Sanctuary cities surrounding us hady was

[1:17:34] uh hady was selected for this without being asked it was talked about

[1:17:39] had hady is always willing um to do our

[1:17:41] part when asked but it it it does bother

[1:17:43] people when we're not asked so I'm sure

[1:17:46] um again it's a private business there

[1:17:49] was nothing we that we can do and it's a

[1:17:52] sanctuary as a whole my my

[1:17:57] question my question is the um and I is

[1:18:00] I understand it uh last year or recently

[1:18:04] um the nights in was used as a temporary

[1:18:06] shelter for uh for Craigs Craig's doors

[1:18:09] at that point

[1:18:12] um I believe that the the fire chief or

[1:18:15] some some of our town officials had a

[1:18:17] problem with the facilities that it was

[1:18:19] not up to standards and that was

[1:18:21] actually they were moved out of there

[1:18:23] because those facilities were not up to

[1:18:26] standards um so I'm

[1:18:29] wondering um since last year people were

[1:18:32] moved out of there it wasn't sufficient

[1:18:34] as an emergency

[1:18:35] shelter was it changed did something

[1:18:38] change is it still insufficient is that

[1:18:42] um that that seems um I'm just curious

[1:18:46] about why it was not sufficient then and

[1:18:48] it's sufficient now thank you Tommy when

[1:18:52] see people

[1:18:53] can answer that yeah you wna come on up

[1:18:57] for a second just

[1:19:03] to Joe this is our building inspector

[1:19:06] Tommy

[1:19:07] quinland how you doing yes it is um at

[1:19:12] this change of use it should be

[1:19:13] sprinklered however the state we have no

[1:19:16] control over it i' reached out to

[1:19:17] Greenfield other communities and we have

[1:19:19] no no control over making that happen we

[1:19:22] did get guidance from the state back in

[1:19:25] May I think it was May 9th this year

[1:19:28] that we had would be no you know no

[1:19:31] notified and and do an inspection bring

[1:19:32] it up to code but um that is one thing

[1:19:36] little disappointed with but my hands

[1:19:39] are

[1:19:41] tight thank

[1:19:44] you um on the National Guard question

[1:19:47] the gentleman asked directly to me um

[1:19:50] you know the the governor and the Guard

[1:19:52] Leadership made this decision I will

[1:19:55] tell you that Senator John veis uh who

[1:19:57] is an active duty guard was deployed and

[1:20:01] you know John felt really proud and so

[1:20:03] he's my colleague I love him um he's

[1:20:05] just to the south of us he felt really

[1:20:07] proud to serve and he reported to the

[1:20:10] Senate that many of his colleagues felt

[1:20:12] the same that you know they were called

[1:20:14] to serve at a moment of real crisis for

[1:20:15] the Commonwealth um but you know I hear

[1:20:19] you I just want you to know where the

[1:20:20] decision lies it's you know it was it

[1:20:22] was a decision by the governor um but

[1:20:24] also you know with um with input from

[1:20:27] the guard that's my understanding and in

[1:20:30] terms of the inspection I do know that

[1:20:32] the incoming service provider um

[1:20:35] probably thanks to Carolyn and um

[1:20:37] superintendent you know has a sense of

[1:20:39] the town's concerns over the physical

[1:20:42] structure of the building and I I do

[1:20:44] think that's a conversation that can

[1:20:46] happen um hopefully will happen on

[1:20:48] Friday um in part about just laying out

[1:20:51] the concerns for for the town I'm not

[1:20:53] saying it's all going to magically go as

[1:20:55] planned but I I do think this is one of

[1:20:58] the things that are that's possibly

[1:21:02] possible hi Peter matuso I have a few

[1:21:05] questions whereas when I hear the word

[1:21:08] emergency shelter I take that as it

[1:21:10] being a

[1:21:12] temporary situation is this considered

[1:21:16] emergency until their work permits are

[1:21:19] established and then they have a little

[1:21:22] of grounding and then do they move out

[1:21:26] and then another family comes

[1:21:28] in then that's one question then the

[1:21:31] other question is my little notes

[1:21:35] here and

[1:21:38] um if with these families that we have

[1:21:41] at these other 11

[1:21:43] families when it comes to the low income

[1:21:46] housing or whatever we are calling it

[1:21:49] that's well above and beyond the 12%

[1:21:52] that we've had questions about with the

[1:21:54] other hotels can we now say if these are

[1:21:57] going to be established families that

[1:21:59] we've well exceeded our quota for the

[1:22:01] town to not having more than what we are

[1:22:07] people to be expecting of us because

[1:22:09] we've now exceeded that quota and then

[1:22:12] after the other thing is it's great that

[1:22:14] they've been vetted these families we

[1:22:16] don't know where they've been where

[1:22:17] they're from have they all been

[1:22:20] vaccinated from all the vaccinations

[1:22:23] from we don't know from where they're

[1:22:26] from um this town two years ago shut

[1:22:29] down because UMass

[1:22:32] opened because everybody was was worried

[1:22:35] when the students were coming in has

[1:22:37] everything from small poox polio all

[1:22:41] those vaccinations that we take for

[1:22:44] granted for have they all been

[1:22:46] vaccinated for those and the most common

[1:22:48] ones we have now that's my concern and

[1:22:50] I'm sure a lot of the uh people in this

[1:22:53] town are worried about

[1:22:54] to well the Board of Health is on the so

[1:22:58] Annie can answer some of the some of

[1:23:00] those I

[1:23:09] believe about that but I'm more

[1:23:11] concerned about our vaccinations for our

[1:23:14] students and

[1:23:16] our can anyy speak to that about the

[1:23:19] school I think she's ready to answer

[1:23:24] yeah can you speak to that I I can speak

[1:23:29] to the process of uh vaccinations

[1:23:32] obviously and I hold on I just want to

[1:23:35] is talking about vaccinations is that a

[1:23:37] violation of HIPPA so I can speak to the

[1:23:40] process of it I was just about I don't

[1:23:43] sorry I didn't I didn't catch no you're

[1:23:46] F name of the gentleman but um and I

[1:23:48] don't think that the individual was

[1:23:50] asking for a specific health record on every person there I think the

[1:23:54] question that I heard was can somebody

[1:23:57] tell me in general is there a process to

[1:24:01] ensure that a the health care needs of

[1:24:04] the people who are in supplemental

[1:24:05] shelters are being met for their

[1:24:07] protection and the protection of the

[1:24:09] larger Community the shortest simplest

[1:24:12] answer is yes how that happens is um and

[1:24:16] I'm assuming what happens in Hadley is

[1:24:19] probably standard operating procedure

[1:24:21] across the State So within

[1:24:26] um within just a few business days a

[1:24:29] couple of business days of arriving at a

[1:24:33] supplemental shelter the Mass Department

[1:24:34] of Public Health um sends nurses onsite

[1:24:38] medical personnel onsite just to make

[1:24:41] sure that people are in good health they

[1:24:43] don't have any immediate medical needs

[1:24:45] that need to be

[1:24:46] addressed and then the state ensures

[1:24:50] that individuals are connected with

[1:24:52] local Health Care Providers and um

[1:24:57] individuals and supplemental shelters

[1:24:58] are given appointments to see local

[1:25:01] Health Care Providers and as part of any

[1:25:03] routine physical examination your health

[1:25:07] care provider is going to do an

[1:25:11] assessment of what your health in

[1:25:15] general just think when you when any of

[1:25:17] us get a physical what what vaccines

[1:25:19] have we had what vaccines do we need how

[1:25:21] are we feeling just in general and I'm

[1:25:24] assuming that this is standard operating

[1:25:26] procedure in the state but I can tell

[1:25:27] you that that's the process that

[1:25:29] occurred in Hadley so first immediately

[1:25:31] DP Department of Public Health nurses on

[1:25:33] site just to make sure that people are

[1:25:35] okay or within not the day that they

[1:25:38] arrive but within uh business days of

[1:25:40] arrival and then they are matched with a

[1:25:44] local health care provider and um they

[1:25:47] go to a a physical medical

[1:25:51] appointment

[1:25:53] and then I think the other question was

[1:25:55] in regards to being emergency shelter

[1:25:57] the the plan you know moving forward

[1:26:00] once there is work permits um having

[1:26:03] these individuals placed in a more

[1:26:05] permanent situation I would defer to the

[1:26:08] senator on that I think that speaks to

[1:26:09] the larger state plan of

[1:26:13] um is that okay to defer to you on that

[1:26:16] Senator fine it's totally fine um you

[1:26:20] know I'm just going to be honest I I

[1:26:23] um I think the general belief in the hly

[1:26:26] driscal administration is that uh folks

[1:26:31] need access to education and job

[1:26:34] training and job opportunities which we

[1:26:36] know there are plenty of um jobs that

[1:26:39] need to be filled um and the hope is

[1:26:42] that that will lead them to Greater in

[1:26:46] Independence um and you know in other

[1:26:50] shelters that are much longer

[1:26:51] established in southern Western

[1:26:53] Massachusetts and to some extent in

[1:26:56] Greenfield you know housing searches

[1:26:58] have begun immediately um for the

[1:27:02] residents and that's because I think

[1:27:05] probably no one wants to get out of a

[1:27:07] shelter more than the people in the

[1:27:08] shelter right because it's it's hard to

[1:27:11] have kids in a shelter um and people

[1:27:13] want to be able to care for their

[1:27:15] families and themselves um so uh you

[1:27:18] know that is the that is the orientation

[1:27:21] that I have witnessed in other parts of

[1:27:25] the district um and I do believe um

[1:27:29] that's the intention of the he driscal

[1:27:31] administration and the housing and

[1:27:32] livable communities uh folks and they

[1:27:35] are you know they're speaking directly

[1:27:38] to the you know the work of

[1:27:39] organizations like Center for new

[1:27:41] Americans for example but they're

[1:27:43] putting a lot of uh investment and a lot

[1:27:45] on the plate of Hampshire Franklin

[1:27:48] massire um and these are good folks they

[1:27:50] know our employment needs they know how

[1:27:53] to train people and they've already

[1:27:55] risen uh to this occasion in our region

[1:27:58] and they're hitting it um because again

[1:28:00] their employers have lots of openings so

[1:28:04] you know the the hope is that this um

[1:28:07] will move very quickly uh and you know

[1:28:10] we'll we'll support it along the

[1:28:12] way I'm guessing these are going to be

[1:28:15] permanent even though it says emergency

[1:28:17] which is temporary so these will be 11

[1:28:21] permanent

[1:28:25] time not necessarily they can go over

[1:28:27] getting those so when a person is well

[1:28:30] established with their work permits or

[1:28:32] whatever they need to then another

[1:28:34] family will come back in no that's ex me

[1:28:38] sir that is not that's not what I said

[1:28:40] um that's not what I said at all I was

[1:28:42] just talking

[1:28:44] about

[1:28:46] easy don't be

[1:28:48] rude I I was talking about the cohort

[1:28:51] that was

[1:28:53] you

[1:28:58] are I'm sorry go ahead I was talking

[1:29:01] simply about the cohort of families that

[1:29:03] we in Hadley currently I can't speak and

[1:29:07] it would be wrong of any of us I would

[1:29:08] imagine to speak to the administration's

[1:29:12] plans you know going forward um as the

[1:29:16] superintendent said the governor has put

[1:29:18] a cap um that that cap was challenged in

[1:29:21] court court and today we received a

[1:29:24] decision um and she put that cap because

[1:29:28] we are really running out of space um in

[1:29:30] the Commonwealth um so whether you agree

[1:29:33] with that or not I'm not going to talk

[1:29:34] you know I'm you know I don't think

[1:29:36] that's the matter before us tonight but

[1:29:38] I do think that she's she's recognizing

[1:29:41] uh The Strain on communities and budgets

[1:29:44] and um trying to do everything we can to

[1:29:47] get our arms around it um in a way that the state um needs to

[1:29:55] do acknowledges that these additional

[1:29:58] families will go towards that quot for

[1:30:02] the housing that we question about with

[1:30:06] the other hotels that we've exceeded

[1:30:09] that

[1:30:10] 12% I think it's important to note that

[1:30:13] the housing searches won't only be in

[1:30:15] Hadley um right these the people who are

[1:30:18] looking for housing who are currently in

[1:30:20] the Greenfield shelter

[1:30:22] are looking across western Mass across

[1:30:25] Massachusetts um so it is not guaranteed

[1:30:29] um that they'll stay here I mean I you

[1:30:31] know I um but it's not guaranteed that

[1:30:34] they'll certainly not guaranteed that

[1:30:36] they'll stay in Hadley you know because

[1:30:37] the housing searches will be very broad

[1:30:39] I would imagine yeah I'm

[1:30:43] done thank you I just wanted to to thank

[1:30:46] Annie and Joe for being here this

[1:30:49] evening um U as Andy an Annie indicated

[1:30:53] that she is willing to take any

[1:30:55] additional questions via email um in

[1:30:58] regards to um the situation that we have

[1:31:01] right now and thank you Joe for you know

[1:31:04] being here tonight and answering

[1:31:06] questions um and letting us know that

[1:31:09] you're definitely an ear for

[1:31:13] us so and Amy if I can just say like one

[1:31:17] we are meeting on Friday with several different types of stakeholders

[1:31:21] State local as well but one of the

[1:31:23] things we will be talking about how is

[1:31:24] the what's the best way to keep the

[1:31:27] residents updated and to keep everyone

[1:31:29] updated about what's happening there

[1:31:32] yeah and it's also important to know

[1:31:34] that that we're we're responding and

[1:31:37] reacting um that you know there there

[1:31:41] isn't any control that anyone in Hadley

[1:31:45] has in regards to this

[1:31:48] so thank you again than Hadley actually

[1:31:52] has has really exercised quite a lot of

[1:31:55] good thinking I mean I just really want

[1:31:57] to applaud the community because

[1:32:00] immediately with the task force you were

[1:32:01] already Leaps and Bounds ahead of many

[1:32:04] communities and while you're responding

[1:32:06] you're really you're putting in I think

[1:32:09] some very good parameters that the state

[1:32:11] has to respond to um and that's again I

[1:32:15] think to be respected and applauded on

[1:32:17] behalf of the community and the select

[1:32:19] board in the town and of course the

[1:32:21] superintendent

[1:32:23] thank you thank you thank you thank you for having us thank you

[1:32:27] everyone thank you for the questions

[1:32:30] thank you

[1:32:31] coming y I'm going calm

[1:32:36] down moving on to 8.1 Town Administrator

[1:32:43] report just pull

[1:32:46] it we did make some progress with um

[1:32:50] some hiring

[1:32:55] um remember

[1:32:58] that's so yes we are still um I think

[1:33:01] we're oh Mike left oh Mike left yeah I

[1:33:06] was gonna ask about the dispatcher I had a chance to do that but uh we are

[1:33:10] still looking to hire a DPW Labor uh we

[1:33:15] did hire uh made an offer to an

[1:33:18] assistant mechanic who very experienced

[1:33:21] and also so will'll share in other

[1:33:23] responsibilities um we had some very I I

[1:33:27] think very good candidates for the

[1:33:28] Council on Aging director we've

[1:33:30] interviewed how many did we interview

[1:33:32] Jane no we only more than one we have

[1:33:34] two coming we interviewed one there two

[1:33:36] more interviews next week oh that's it

[1:33:39] yes okay all right thank you uh the

[1:33:42] collective bargaining agreement for the

[1:33:43] hadly Municipal Employees that's

[1:33:45] continuing because we the wages went

[1:33:47] through at town meeting and you had

[1:33:49] approved them but we're still working on

[1:33:51] the collective bargain agreement as a

[1:33:53] whole so that will be a future executive

[1:33:55] session for the S board to review and

[1:33:57] reprend um I'm I'm just skipping the

[1:34:00] areas that are in

[1:34:01] process uh I think you know that the

[1:34:04] open house went really well and to the

[1:34:07] DPW that vote was successful so the

[1:34:10] schematic design was approved at the

[1:34:11] special town meeting um what I would

[1:34:14] like to ask the select board on the 15th

[1:34:16] we'll put it on the agenda for you to

[1:34:18] decide whether you want to keep that

[1:34:20] committee the same or uh make a change

[1:34:23] but I'll have that before you at the

[1:34:26] next on November 15th and then we'll

[1:34:28] move forward for there for

[1:34:30] procurement uh I just I really wanted to

[1:34:33] focus a little bit on the risk

[1:34:34] management update on my report um Susan

[1:34:36] glatsky as you know you you've um

[1:34:39] designated her as our risk manager um

[1:34:41] she is working diligently to do

[1:34:43] trainings for not only DPW workers but

[1:34:47] other other entities and um she actually

[1:34:50] wrote a grant and received funding for a

[1:34:53] drone and to train an operator of our

[1:34:57] drone so that will help us with um

[1:35:01] inspecting especially all the municipal

[1:35:03] owned roofs hard areas to see the wells

[1:35:07] all of that and Wade is um Wade

[1:35:11] vski veloski I was you had I needed time

[1:35:14] to correct it um he's right now is our

[1:35:17] only licensed operator but we have about

[1:35:19] 14 who are interested in getting um

[1:35:22] their certification for that it's really

[1:35:24] a license it's a license not a

[1:35:26] certification so it's an aircraft and um

[1:35:30] she continues to coordinate the the

[1:35:32] quarterly safety committee meetings and

[1:35:34] so all of this she does saves US money

[1:35:37] we get reward points for our insurance

[1:35:39] so we haven't had that before and this

[1:35:41] has been great that she's been doing

[1:35:42] this the past couple years and I talked

[1:35:45] about the schematic design we also are

[1:35:48] beginning our uh procurement for the

[1:35:50] girl softball field parks and wreck had

[1:35:52] gotten an earmark last two years ago to

[1:35:54] do a girls softball field at North

[1:35:57] Station um I explained the Russell

[1:36:00] school and I just wanted to give you

[1:36:03] guys a reminder as well as other boards

[1:36:05] and committees I'd sent out uh a notice

[1:36:07] of a webinar being put on by the mass

[1:36:09] Municipal Association for how to set

[1:36:12] yourself up for Success increasing the

[1:36:14] efficiency of meetings that's something

[1:36:15] I get a lot from the Committees and the

[1:36:17] boards on how to hold hold a meeting the

[1:36:20] agenda prepar ation um and drafting the

[1:36:24] meeting minutes so I will keep

[1:36:26] forwarding those to our boards and

[1:36:27] committee chairs and hoping that they

[1:36:29] participate in that so that is all new

[1:36:32] that I have to the Town Administrator

[1:36:35] report

[1:36:37] okay um are there any members that have

[1:36:43] items that they want to have for future

[1:36:45] discussion yep okay I do um think three

[1:36:50] couple of repeats um one is just making

[1:36:53] sure um at special town meeting it was

[1:36:56] clear that the finance committee is very

[1:36:58] interested in having a joint

[1:37:00] meeting so hopefully we can get um that

[1:37:03] scheduled soon um and then I wanted to

[1:37:06] come back to I'm hoping to get an update

[1:37:08] um from Carolyn on

[1:37:10] how uh she's doing against the goals

[1:37:13] that we agreed upon at the end of or

[1:37:16] yeah end of the last fiscal year

[1:37:17] beginning of this year I guess um and

[1:37:20] then third uh looking for I think this

[1:37:23] was brought up before about you know

[1:37:26] likely an executive session but just um

[1:37:28] getting an update on everything that the

[1:37:32] town uh outside council is working on so

[1:37:36] starting to lose track of some of those

[1:37:37] things so right now all of them are in

[1:37:39] executive session so yeah I mean just a

[1:37:42] um like just one update you know on

[1:37:44] where we stand on each of

[1:37:47] them so can I just ask for clarification

[1:37:49] you want that as the attorney is coming

[1:37:51] in to give that or no I think you I

[1:37:54] think because everything everything

[1:37:55] we've been going to Executive session

[1:37:57] has been those but I'm welcome if you

[1:37:59] want me to do that all in one I can do

[1:38:01] that that that's what I was thinking

[1:38:02] yeah if you could just um do give us

[1:38:06] like a rundown of what's closed what's

[1:38:08] still outstanding how close we are

[1:38:11] to you know getting something over the

[1:38:13] finish line that kind of thing

[1:38:20] nothing I just have one I still want us

[1:38:23] to work on the U painting of the Town

[1:38:25] Hall oh I'm on it okay I just had to get

[1:38:28] through the town meeting I know but and

[1:38:30] now I got to wrap up on everything that

[1:38:31] happens after town meeting I know but I

[1:38:33] think you know just have it at the

[1:38:35] Forefront that if we're looking to get

[1:38:38] it on the um CPA for bring town meeting

[1:38:43] that would be a good thing I agree and

[1:38:45] it's going to take you know you know um

[1:38:48] of course the CPA is going to want how

[1:38:50] much is it going to cost and then you're

[1:38:52] going to have

[1:38:53] some citizens I'm sure wanting to know

[1:38:57] what we're going to use to paint the

[1:38:59] building again or is there some other

[1:39:02] option that they would want to do I've

[1:39:05] heard other remarks from different

[1:39:07] people about that

[1:39:09] so um anyway topic for discussion yeah

[1:39:13] okay I have a question about your report

[1:39:16] which is the openings for senior and

[1:39:18] Veterans tax workof is at 5 in each

[1:39:21] division or five between the two seniors

[1:39:24] and

[1:39:26] Veterans so that was given to me by uh

[1:39:29] for btim from Haley so um I believe it's

[1:39:35] five each but I it's not clear here and

[1:39:38] that's why I would I would have to go

[1:39:39] back to Violet Violet it is five

[1:39:43] each thanks

[1:39:46] Susan um is there any other items for

[1:39:49] future discussion

[1:39:53] okay are there any liaison

[1:39:57] reports that one okay um

[1:40:02] announcements I just have one okay to

[1:40:05] the condolences to Jeffrey Thorton's

[1:40:08] family he was a town resident he had two

[1:40:12] children and three grandchildren so

[1:40:14] condolences to them his family and

[1:40:17] friends

[1:40:19] okay okay okay so we

[1:40:23] are and oh sorry any other announcements

[1:40:26] okay all right so

[1:40:30] um I'm going to move pursuant to General

[1:40:33] Law chapter 3A section 21 a three that

[1:40:38] the board go into executive session to

[1:40:40] discuss strategy with respect with

[1:40:42] respect to potential

[1:40:44] litigation um I've as the chair I've

[1:40:47] determined that the board um any public

[1:40:50] discuss discussion of which will have a detrimental impact on the litigating

[1:40:56] position of the board um so we're going

[1:40:58] to close we need to know what we're

[1:41:00] going into executive session for for the

[1:41:02] cable renewal

[1:41:04] negotiations um and not to reconvene an

[1:41:07] open session second okay seconded by

[1:41:11] Randy any

[1:41:13] discussion all those in favor roll call

[1:41:16] no oh sorry roll call yeah for session

[1:41:20] back and forth say J thank you Ro ke

[1:41:24] yesung yes Parsons yes Neon

Hadley Select Board 11-1-23

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