[0:06] Okay, it's 6:00.

[0:08] I call the Marion City Board of Water Sewer Commissioners Meeting to order on

[0:13] Tuesday, October 6th, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Marion Townhouse Conference Room,

[0:19] 2 Spring Street. This meeting will be recorded and posted by ORCTV.

[0:24] Is anyone else recording? Please stand for the pledge of

[0:28] allegiance.

[0:31] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the

[0:36] Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:41] justice for all.

[0:46] Okay. For those with an agenda, we're going to do items one through five, and then

[0:52] we're going to skip to 16 and 17, before we do the remainder.

[0:57] So item one is approval of minutes from August 19th and August 25th, 2026.

[1:03] Mr. Chair, with your permission, I'll make a motion to approve both August 19th and

[1:07] August 25th meetings as posted.

[1:10] I'll second that. All in favor?

[1:11] Aye.

[1:12] Aye.

[1:13] Item two, request to appoint alternate tree warden, Jody Dickerson.

[1:19] Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we appoint Jody Dickerson alternate tree warden as

[1:23] posted in tonight's agenda.

[1:26] I second that. Are there any comments?

[1:30] All in favor say aye.

[1:31] Aye.

[1:32] Aye.

[1:33] Item three, request for appointment to the Musical Advisory Committee of Norman

[1:38] Hills.

[1:39] Mr. Chair, I've reviewed the literature in here for Mr.

[1:42] Hills, and I find it favorable and I'd love to appoint Mr.

[1:45] Hills to the Musical Advisory Committee.

[1:46] I'll second that. Are there any comments?

[1:50] All in favor say aye.

[1:52] Aye.

[1:54] Approval of the Gateway Health Group invoice dated September 17th, 2026.

[2:02] Any-

[2:02] Seconded.

[2:05] The amount of $95,971.42.

[2:10] Mr. Groom, you have an opportunity to review this also?

[2:13] Yes, sir.

[2:13] And you find it favorable?

[2:15] Yes, sir.

[2:15] Okay, I've had an opportunity to review it based on last time too.

[2:19] Yeah.

[2:19] Looks good to me.

[2:21] Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we approve the Gateway Health invoice dated

[2:24] September 17th, 2026, in the amount of, how much is it, Ms. Groom?

[2:29] $95,971.42.

[2:33] You get that? That's what I approve.

[2:35] Second.

[2:38] Second.

[2:38] All in favor say aye.

[2:39] Aye.

[2:41] Then request for water sewer abatement at 28 Old Sheepfield Road.

[2:47] That's in the amount of

[2:48] $630.83.

[2:55] Number five, two four.

[3:02] Mr. Chair, Jody, do you have any comments on this?

[3:06] No.

[3:06] Could you just give us a little description because this is what, Mr.

[3:10] Groom, is this the second reading of a-

[3:13] Correct. So, a quick background if I may, Mr. Chair.

[3:18] This is one of our last meter conversion concerns that we had with a

[3:23] resident. If you remember, we had some meter conversions that approached six years,

[3:29] where folks need to have their meter replaced because it couldn't be remotely read.

[3:34] These residents, after we unfortunately threatened everyone to shut their water off

[3:38] if they didn't get their meter converted.

[3:40] They got their meter converted, and then upon reading the meter, we determined that

[3:44] over the last six years that they ended up getting estimated bills, that they would

[3:48] have been underestimated.

[3:51] They came in front of the board to request an abatement.

[3:54] That abatement was denied,

[3:56] and the board requested that Jody, the director, and I sit down with these

[4:01] residents and make sure we could talk about, answer all their questions, make sure

[4:05] that every single penny is accounted for and that we can make sure that they're

[4:09] satisfied with the result. We did so.

[4:12] The only thing that we came up with is that they did have a slight irrigation leak,

[4:17] and that's the new

[4:20] abatement request. I don't have the number in front of me, approximately eight

[4:23] hundred-

[4:23] $830.91

[4:24] ... $830.91. They're satisfied, and they've already set up a payment plan with a

[4:31] treasure collector to satisfy this bill.

[4:39] Mr. Chair, are you content with that?

[4:42] Yes.

[4:43] Okay.

[4:46] I'll make a motion we approve the request for a water abatement, 28 Old Sheepfield

[4:50] Road, in the amount of $830.91.

[4:53] I'll second it.

[4:56] Any comments? All in favor say aye.

[4:59] Aye.

[5:00] Thank you, Jody.

[5:01] All right. Now we'll jump to number 16, request for approval of a sewer connection

[5:07] at 492 Delano Road.

[5:12] I've had a chance, an opportunity to review this and gone down and looked.

[5:15] I think the sewer goes by there. I don't know why they never tied in, but they

[5:18] didn't. I think the house is either under contract or-

[5:23] Yeah

[5:23] ... for sale.

[5:24] Yep.

[5:24] And they were going to tie in.

[5:25] It's on the corner of Stony Run and Delano Road.

[5:27] Yes.

[5:29] So they're looking to tie into sewer. I don't have any problem with that.

[5:32] And we believe that the connection box is off the edge of the road, because the

[5:36] house next door was off the edge of the road as well.

[5:39] I don't believe the road will be disturbed.

[5:42] That's good.

[5:48] So the people who have owned it for the last 10 or 20 years are the people who are

[5:52] putting that in the sewer?

[5:53] No, it's been sold.

[5:55] Oh, it's been sold.

[5:56] Yes.

[5:56] The new owners.

[5:57] Yes, the new owners. Sorry.

[6:00] Okay.

[6:02] I have no other questions.

[6:04] The only thing is the next one, Keith and I are going to go tie in ourself.

[6:07] Yeah.

[6:08] Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we approve the sewer connection on 492 Delano Road

[6:13] as written in tonight's agenda.

[6:14] Second.

[6:16] All in favor say aye.

[6:17] Aye.

[6:18] Aye.

[6:20] Next item, discussion regarding a requested road opening at 49 Water Street.

[6:28] All right, Ken and Jody, you're up.

[6:33] You got to introduce yourself, Ken.

[6:36] Kenneth Michaels, the contractor at 49 Water Street in Marion, Massachusetts.

[6:41] Can you do me a favor, please? The podium's got the mic if you want to use that.

[6:45] Oh, yeah.

[6:45] Thank you.

[6:46] Thank you very much.

[6:47] Otherwise ORCTV won't pick up on the audio.

[6:50] So stand here.

[6:51] Yeah. Thank you.

[6:51] Just please, reintroduce yourself.

[6:53] All right.

[6:54] Yeah, you can probably cancel. I can hear you. Yeah. Thanks, guys.

[6:57] My name is Kenneth Michaels Jr, and I'm the contractor for 49 Water Street in

[7:02] Marion, Massachusetts.

[7:06] Are you requesting-

[7:08] I'm requesting a opening of the road so we can connect a new gas service to the

[7:14] home that we're presently building on 49 Water Street.

[7:16] The one that is there now is insufficient.

[7:20] When they did the disconnect, there was an issue with the

[7:23] cutting of that line, and we'd like to increase that line and put a new one across

[7:28] the street. I met with Jody out there and

[7:31] got

[7:40] it all set up, and then I understood that it was denied, and then I had to come

[7:45] before the board, and you asked me to present a plan, how we would do it

[7:50] professionally and have it done properly.

[7:53] And then,

[7:54] here I am today.

[7:57] So can you just let us, for everyone else's knowledge,

[8:01] you're going from what size gas main to what size?

[8:04] Just to give us an idea or the reasoning why this is happening.

[8:07] Well, there's an inch and a half line there presently, but that's the one that was

[8:12] cut, and they think that they're gonna have to go out into the road possibly to

[8:15] reconnect that service there. And the house is also a little bit larger, and

[8:20] there's some other things that they would like to add to that service.

[8:23] Yeah. So I saw a four-inch line there.

[8:24] That's what you want to tie into, that four-inch line?

[8:26] Well, that's only to come back to the house.

[8:28] Right.

[8:29] They're only gonna bring in about a-

[8:30] The house service is a four-inch line.

[8:32] Three-inch line.

[8:33] Three-inch line. And that's inside diameter?

[8:35] Yes.

[8:36] And as it exists now, it's what?

[8:38] Inch and a half diameter.

[8:39] So it's double.

[8:39] Mm-hmm.

[8:42] It's double because there's more uses for the gas in the house than there was in

[8:47] the old house.

[8:48] I'm sorry, sorry, I didn't hear you.

[8:51] It's a double-sized line because there's more uses of gas in the new

[8:57] house than in the old house.

[8:59] Yeah, that's an old, old walk-on gas service line that's there presently.

[9:03] Yeah.

[9:03] And yes, they would like to have a whole house generator in case power goes out.

[9:08] Yeah.

[9:11] So, just for everyone's information, I actually looked at this too with Jody, and

[9:16] there is a street crossing. And unfortunately, the road is under

[9:22] a moratorium for cutting.

[9:26] However, with that said,

[9:28] as everyone knows, we had the road cut to put our sprinkler in here out front, and

[9:33] it has done a nice job, and I was very impressed with the new technology to get

[9:37] that done.

[9:39] So, with that said, I met with Jody down there and Mike, and we went this over, and

[9:45] I think, Mr. Chair, Jody's come to a conclusion, and this is the plan of that

[9:49] conclusion. And I've got a couple more things to add that aren't on here.

[9:53] But Jody, if you want to fill us in on that?

[9:55] Sure. I met with, as you mentioned, Mike and

[10:00] yourself down there. And what we'll be doing is be a two-foot-wide trench, and that

[10:04] is where the gas service will be. However-

[10:07] Okay

[10:07] ... DPW is requesting on either side of that trench, a foot is cut on the pavement.

[10:13] So when we do put flowable fill in it and blacktop it, it will be the same way it

[10:17] is out here on the street.

[10:20] That's the only way I would approve that.

[10:22] Yeah. This one's worked out great up front. You'd never even know it.

[10:27] So typically, this will be out of moratorium in a year, I believe. Is that correct?

[10:33] That is correct.

[10:34] But that's not going to give them enough fuel,

[10:38] volume to run that house for sure.

[10:43] So typically, we don't like to do this, but I think

[10:47] the education that I got when we tied in our sprinkler,

[10:52] we only went out four foot in the road, but you'd never even know we're there.

[10:56] And the four foot is in the travel lane portion of the road.

[10:59] That's correct.

[11:01] The other caveat too, sir, is that we want to make sure that we have a timeframe

[11:05] for sumpage, right?

[11:06] Say it again.

[11:07] A timeframe for sumpage so that the-

[11:09] Oh, yeah. I've got some notes here.

[11:11] Okay.

[11:11] I rambled on this thing.

[11:13] What is sumpage?

[11:15] Settlement.

[11:16] Settling, so like a year from now, that would be responsible for any sinking.

[11:21] So it looks like that's only 18 inches down. Is that enough?

[11:24] Does anyone know that answer?

[11:27] I don't know. I believe that is a regular standard on it.

[11:30] So that's what the numbers tell me. 18 inches isn't very far down.

[11:34] No. If you need us to go deeper, I'm more than happy to.

[11:36] I don't know. If it doesn't have to go deeper, that's fine with me, but we should

[11:41] give you the opportunity not to have to come back.

[11:44] Well, why don't we say-

[11:45] So why don't we say up to 24 inches?

[11:47] That'd be sufficient.

[11:48] How far down is the line that it's tying into?

[11:52] Well, that's going to be determined once Eversource gets out there and do it, but

[11:56] that'll be on the other side of the road.

[11:58] So they should be able to reach that if they need to.

[12:02] They should be able to.

[12:03] To connect that.

[12:04] Connect that.

[12:04] So I think two feet would be sufficient.

[12:06] Yeah.

[12:07] Yeah, you might be fine with that 18 inches, but that's for under road crossing,

[12:12] typically, in my business, it would be 24 inches.

[12:15] I'm perfectly content with that.

[12:16] But maybe the flowable fill, Jody, makes an exception. I don't know that.

[12:20] I don't know on that one. I'm not sure if I-

[12:22] But anyway, it looks like we've got 12 inches of flowable fill, six inches of

[12:27] compacted sand, and you're in the middle of that compacted sand.

[12:30] You'll have a metallic or some sort of a wire in there so we can detect, because

[12:35] that's plastic-

[12:35] A trace wire

[12:36] ... wire probably, right? So we'll have a trace wire in there.

[12:38] That's not on the plan.

[12:41] Right? But we want to make sure there's one in there. Right, Jody?

[12:44] That's a requirement anyway.

[12:45] Okay.

[12:45] Yep.

[12:47] Anything else that we should be looking at here?

[12:49] I looked at it, and the way they have this diagram, the plan actually presented, it

[12:54] does look like the trench is actually 24 inches down, because that's in the middle

[12:58] of the two if you add them up.

[13:00] I'm seeing six and 12.

[13:02] Yeah, I know, but below the pipe, you can see approximately a six-inch base

[13:06] between, or is it six inches of sand bedding.

[13:09] I see the gas pipe in the middle of the sand.

[13:11] Right. That one's kind of different-

[13:12] And they're showing that as a six-inch sand base.

[13:15] I'm not looking at the plan right there.

[13:17] Yeah. Six inches as well. Yeah. Yeah. That's...

[13:20] I'm looking at that

[13:22] one.

[13:22] Yeah.

[13:22] Well, Mike, as chair,

[13:25] I'm looking at it as-

[13:26] So here's the way I'm looking at it. 12 to there, six to there.

[13:30] Okay, I'm looking six to there, then 12.

[13:32] No, they're in the middle of the six with that.

[13:34] Okay.

[13:35] The three. Look, I don't know, but-

[13:40] We're going to go 24

[13:41] ... we're going 24 regardless.

[13:43] It looks like it's almost double the size of it.

[13:45] Yeah.

[13:46] Yeah, it is double the size on the scale. I don't know.

[13:50] And so who does this work? Who-

[13:52] Eversource will do that with the licensed contractor.

[13:55] Eversource. And the flowable fill is done by Eversource also?

[13:58] Yes, it is. Everything is done by them.

[14:00] The inspections?

[14:02] Yep, everything will be done with.

[14:03] Eversource will file a permit to take care of all that.

[14:06] And you're going to wet saw that? Jody, is that what you're looking for?

[14:10] Snap a line, wet saw, take a 12 inch off the other side, then wet saw the middle

[14:14] again, so you got four saw cuts.

[14:16] Exactly.

[14:17] And who did the work on Main Street here?

[14:22] That was a water service, and that was done by Arne Espeden.

[14:29] I don't know how you feel about that, Toby, but I think I'm comfortable with it.

[14:33] I'm going to put some stipulations on it.

[14:34] I don't think Kenny will be comfortable with it.

[14:39] Oh, okay. Yep. I think we're good for now.

[14:42] Okay. So Jody, you've looked at this plan.

[14:43] Is there anything you want to add or motion on this that might not be on here?

[14:46] No, it looks okay to me.

[14:48] How would you feel, Kenny, if we motioned to actually

[14:52] do a one-year sumpage repair clause on this?

[14:55] I have no problem with that. We want to make sure it's done right.

[14:57] We don't want to do something that's going to-

[14:58] So we'll add a one-year sumpage-

[14:59] ... cause a problem

[15:00] ... repair clause. Jody, what about the patch?

[15:03] Are we going to seam seal on both sides of the patch?

[15:06] First of all, it is required from Eversource. They do require.

[15:09] They are requiring one year on that.

[15:11] Yeah.

[15:12] Five years for safety. It's a safety issue.

[15:14] Okay, so you'll still seam seal either side of that patch.

[15:17] That is correct.

[15:17] And that patch will be a one-piece patch across.

[15:20] You can have a base coat and a finish coat?

[15:22] Yes.

[15:22] And how thick is it going to be? Is it on here, Joe?

[15:26] Whatever the minimum requirements are, we'll make sure those are met.

[15:29] Okay.

[15:34] All right.

[15:38] You all set, folks?

[15:39] I'm all set. Yes, sir.

[15:40] All right. I think this will work. Kenny, I think I'm going to motion that we

[15:44] approve this plan with an up to 24-inch cut,

[15:50] a two-foot wide cut, seam sealed on the side, as spelled out in a plan dated

[15:57] by Dave Devinian, September 29th, 2026, and with a one-year

[16:03] sumpage repair clause starting from the day of blacktopping.

[16:08] Very good.

[16:08] Does that make sense, Mr. Williams?

[16:10] Flowable fill?

[16:11] Flowable fill's on here.

[16:12] And do an extra foot-

[16:14] Yes

[16:14] ... on each side of it.

[16:15] Yeah.

[16:16] Because that's what makes up-

[16:17] I'm just bringing up things that aren't on there.

[16:20] That's not the one.

[16:21] Very good. Does that make sense to you, Toby?

[16:23] It does.

[16:23] I think we're pretty well covered on that.

[16:25] All right.

[16:27] And we can have this plan. Sounds good.

[16:30] So you're making a motion?

[16:32] I made the motion, yes.

[16:33] Second.

[16:35] All in favor?

[16:35] Aye.

[16:36] Aye.

[16:37] Aye.

[16:38] Thank you very much. Congratulations, Kenny.

[16:40] Thank you.

[16:41] Yeah. You're going to be the experimental-

[16:43] We'll make sure it's done right

[16:44] ... patch. I'm sure you will. Thanks very much.

[16:46] Thank you.

[16:46] Thanks a lot,

[16:49] Kenny.

[16:49] Go take a nap after your long day.

[16:50] Yeah, it's a long day. Thank you very much for your time.

[16:52] Yeah, no problem, chief.

[16:55] Thank you.

[16:57] Okay. The next item would be item six, the water and sewer commitment.

[17:02] Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we approve a water and sewer commitment for

[17:05] $681.16. Final reading was dated 09/15/2026.

[17:11] Second.

[17:12] Second. All in favor?

[17:14] Aye.

[17:15] Aye. Item seven.

[17:17] Mr. Chair, I make a motion to approve a water and sewer commitment in the amount of

[17:21] $10,000. New water service dated 09/16/2026.

[17:26] Second.

[17:28] Aye.

[17:29] Aye.

[17:31] Item eight.

[17:32] Mr. Chair, I make a motion we approve a water and sewer commitment in the amount of

[17:35] $3,964.29. Water and sewer quarterly billing dated

[17:40] 09/14/2026.

[17:43] Second. Aye.

[17:45] Aye.

[17:46] Number nine.

[17:47] Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we

[17:51] approve a water and sewer commitment amount of

[17:53] $2,165,131.07. Water and sewer quarterly

[17:59] billing dated 09/16/2026.

[18:02] Second.

[18:03] Aye.

[18:03] Aye. Number 10.

[18:07] Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we approve a water and sewer commitment amount of

[18:10] $155 sewer reconnection dated 09/23/2026.

[18:16] Second.

[18:17] Aye.

[18:21] And number 11.

[18:22] Mr. Chair, I make a motion to approve the water and sewer commitment in the amount

[18:25] of $560, backflow test dated nine 26, 2026.

[18:31] Second. Aye.

[18:32] Aye.

[18:33] The date. The date wasn't in there. Oh.

[18:37] You okay with all this so far?

[18:39] The date. It's what, is-

[18:41] What date? Of which one?

[18:42] I think you just read nine 26.

[18:45] Nine 29, 26.

[18:51] Thank you.

[18:51] Thank you. Is that the only one?

[18:53] Mm-hmm.

[18:55] Okay.

[18:55] Okay. Number 12.

[18:58] Number 12. Credit memorandum, $4,288.25.

[19:03] Incorrect meter reading, dated nine 28, 2026.

[19:08] Uh, second.

[19:09] Aye.

[19:10] Aye.

[19:12] Number 13.

[19:13] Number 13, Mr. Chair, credit memorandum, $2,426.59.

[19:15] Incorrect meter reading, dated nine 30, 2026.

[19:15] Second.

[19:15] Aye.

[19:15] Aye. Number 14.

[19:15] Number 14, credit memorandum, $107.24.

[19:20] Incorrect meter reading, dated 10 one, 2026.

[19:24] Second.

[19:26] Aye.

[19:29] Number 15.

[19:29] Number 15, Mr. Chair, credit memorandum, $407.36.

[19:34] Incorrect meter reading, dated 10 one, 2026.

[19:38] Second.

[19:53] Aye.

[19:54] Aye. And that completes your action items. Mr. Gorman.

[19:58] All right, sir. Make this quick. So first I want to start with the storm review of

[20:03] our big rain. We got final tallies.

[20:05] There was 6.8 inches of rain we received in Marion over the weekend.

[20:10] I just want to give kudos to everyone that was involved, Public Safety and DPW.

[20:13] One of the things I really wanted to stress, that over the last couple of years,

[20:17] the Department of Public Works has spent an inordinate amount of time inventorying,

[20:22] cleaning, identifying storm drain systems, as well as improving our storm water

[20:28] system as a whole. And, with 6.8 inches of rain, we didn't have any issues

[20:34] in the town of late. And so that was a perfect tangible benefit of what they've

[20:39] been doing over the last couple of years.

[20:40] So thank you to the Department of Public Works.

[20:44] Just a reminder for Fall Town Meeting, November 9th, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.

[20:48] at Sipican Elementary School. It's going to be a three-article warrant.

[20:53] Warrants are posted, correct?

[20:54] Thursday.

[20:54] Thursday. Warrants will be posted on Thursday.

[20:58] And for you gentlemen, your backup information and motions will be coming quickly.

[21:03] Just want to-

[21:04] Excuse me, how many people do we need at town meeting for a quorum?

[21:08] I'm sorry.

[21:09] 50.

[21:10] 50? Five zero?

[21:11] Five zero.

[21:12] Tell your friends.

[21:13] Yeah.

[21:14] Start making calls.

[21:16] Mm-hmm.

[21:16] Go cash in those chips so we can get people there.

[21:21] Believe it or not, to kind of put it out there, I talk to people every time I see

[21:25] them. Although they seem to be routine and rudimentary administrative type of

[21:29] articles, the first two are very important for us to complete the shared use path

[21:33] on time, and then the third one allows us to meet our mandated requirements from

[21:37] the Environmental Protection Agency for our phosphorus upgrades to the water

[21:41] treatment plant. So, although it'll be a quick meeting, please, the great

[21:47] residents of Marion, get over there real quick and we'll provide some, we'll get

[21:50] some snacks or something everybody.

[21:52] Yes.

[21:52] We'll get some snacks out for people to-

[21:53] Refreshments.

[21:54] Refreshments.

[21:56] Grants update. Just a quick grant update.

[21:59] It looks like a comical to have all the grants at the same time, but,

[22:03] we received a $2.1 million grant to complete our Route 6 water main, which I'm very

[22:09] excited about. That'll have a brand-new water main now from Creek Road all the way

[22:12] up to River Road, paid for by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Toll Brothers.

[22:18] And we also received $94,000 on the same grant cycle, but a different pot of money

[22:24] to update our master plan. So our 10-year master plan, which is 10 years old, is

[22:28] now going to be updated,

[22:30] based on the grant money we received from the Commonwealth.

[22:32] So super excited about that.

[22:34] So does that go out to bid?

[22:36] I'm sorry?

[22:36] Does that go out to bid?

[22:38] No. No.

[22:40] Who does it if it's to bid?

[22:41] Oh, no, that's not true.

[22:44] Yeah, I'll get more information. Yeah, I don't know how that's going to work.

[22:46] We have to come out there and bid somebody to do the consultancy to do that update.

[22:50] Yeah. I'll find out.

[22:54] And then, oh, and then that brings us up to

[22:58] almost $7.5 million of grant money received by the town of Marion in the last three

[23:03] years. So I'm super excited about that.

[23:04] Thank you to the finance department and our amazing grant administrator for getting

[23:09] these all together. For the water main, too, it was all hands on deck evolution.

[23:13] We had applied for that for three years. We didn't get it the first two years.

[23:17] We bugged the heck out of them to get feedback about what we could do to improve

[23:21] our application. So everyone got together to make sure we got that.

[23:25] And the last thing is a pavement and sidewalk update.

[23:29] We've already started some of the pavement.

[23:30] I got a new

[23:35] quick update from the director of DPW.

[23:37] So Point Road and Sparrow Lane were milled yesterday.

[23:43] Good news about Point Road. They did a great job.

[23:45] PJ Keating does a great job for us. The foundation of Point Road was in much better

[23:50] shape than they expected, so we'll be able to save some money towards the estimate

[23:55] on that.

[23:57] Spring Street and Water Street were milled today.

[24:00] The structure will be raised on Wednesday, October 7th on Spring Street and Water

[24:04] Street. Paving on Wednesday, October 7th on Point Road and Sparrow Lane.

[24:10] Paving Saturday, October 10th for Spring Street and Water Street.

[24:14] And this is of course tentative based on weather and things like that.

[24:17] So that's going forward. For sidewalk update, I don't have a start date yet, but

[24:21] they're working hard to get all the requirements they need to get to the engineer

[24:25] to start. But we did have our pre-construction meeting last week to answer them.

[24:31] They are putting together some documentation for you, Mr.

[24:33] Parker, about the chemical additions, and we'll make sure that they have a chemical

[24:38] plan in place in case they do have to pour on a day when it's 40 degrees or below.

[24:43] Most likely, we'll be able to get the Front Street sidewalks completed before

[24:49] the November 15th shutdown for paving, and then most likely Main Street will be

[24:54] done in the spring. Of course, they have to get a day when it's freezing

[25:00] and add a bunch of chemicals to the mix.

[25:02] So when you say paving, Jeff, are you talking about what little there may be up

[25:07] against the sidewalk berm? Because that's going to be cement, right?

[25:11] Yeah. I'm sorry, for paving, I meant that you had approved us doing Front Street.

[25:16] So, PJ Keating requests that the sidewalks are completed first before they pave.

[25:20] Oh, and they can-

[25:22] So they go right up to the-

[25:22] Freeze it right up against it.

[25:23] Yep.

[25:24] And, you got to look into the granite curb in the village.

[25:27] Granite curbing is good to go. It's actually a savings.

[25:31] So I already gave him the go-ahead to go granite curbing for the entire length of

[25:35] the project.

[25:37] Nice.

[25:37] So it'll be from 182 Front Street to Vine Street.

[25:42] Which is great.

[25:43] That's great.

[25:43] And then the money that we saved on

[25:46] Spring Street by taking it from the end of Old Lane Cemetery

[25:52] to, I'm going to lose track of my, to the end of the pavement by Fire

[25:58] Department number one, we'll be able to do Front Street starting at Cottage all the

[26:03] way to Pitcher, as opposed to we were doing it, I think, from Main Street to

[26:06] Pitcher. Now we'll do the whole thing.

[26:07] So we'll have brand-new pavement and brand-new sidewalks all over the village-

[26:11] Nice

[26:12] ... by next spring. So.

[26:14] Nice.

[26:15] Unless you have any questions, that's all I have right now.

[26:17] And I know people are concerned about the sidewalks, but I can tell you that the

[26:21] contractor was extremely understanding. They're very aware of our timeframes.

[26:25] They're very aware of the concerns with chemical additives.

[26:28] And they'll do anything they need for the board to make sure that everyone's

[26:31] comfortable about the way we move forward.

[26:33] Great.

[26:34] So they're super excited to start.

[26:36] And that completes my brief, and I'll turn it over to the finance director with

[26:40] your permission, Mr. Chair.

[26:42] Mrs. Abrahams.

[26:44] Great. Thank you.

[26:46] A couple of topics. On Friday morning, the treasure collector and I, Kaylin,

[26:52] met with our financial advisor, and we met with the S&P Global Ratings group.

[26:58] Standard & Poor's.

[27:00] Standard & Poor's, thank you.

[27:02] This is in advance of us bonding the current BAN.

[27:06] So we were tasked with 16 discussion points ahead of time for which we were to

[27:11] provide responses to. Conversation went well. We covered things.

[27:16] We talked about debt and capital needs. We talked about the economy.

[27:20] We talked about finances.

[27:24] Some of our environmental risks, cybersecurity, and some management policies and

[27:29] practices. Some of the things that came out of it were they wanted to hear the

[27:35] success story about our tax title collection and how we're making some moves with

[27:40] that.

[27:42] They were really interested, we can talk about the two new residential

[27:45] developments, the ADU permits that are in place.

[27:50] Some of the development over at Subcan Holdings, the rehab of the old Cumby's

[27:56] and then- Which one? Well, the old Cumby's now Uncle John's.

[28:01] And then just some of the things that are on the radar with some of the vacant land

[28:05] in town.

[28:08] We were able to point out that we have a detailed municipal

[28:12] vulnerability plan, that was an easy one, and an emergency management plan.

[28:17] And then we also were able to follow up from our previous call with them that we

[28:20] are in the process of the harbor management plan, because that was on our radar

[28:23] previously. So we're kind of following up on things that we have in place.

[28:27] One of the most exciting things for us was when we were talking about what we're

[28:31] doing for cybersecurity. Mm-hmm.

[28:33] We talked about everything we're doing on our end, and then S&P said, "Well, we run

[28:39] our own cybersecurity sweep with a third party coming into these calls, and you got

[28:43] a 9.9, which is a very good score." So- That's very good. Oh, okay. Wow. Yeah.

[28:49] That's impressive. We passed the test without even knowing. Ooh.

[28:52] That's interesting. Yeah. And then just as far as the management policies and

[28:55] practices, we talked about recruitment and retention,

[28:59] and then we presented some requested financial reporting.

[29:02] So next step is Thursday morning, the financial advisor meets with S&P and gets a

[29:08] verbal rating, and then we're ca- Gets a verbal what? A verbal rating.

[29:12] So we find out what our rating is verbally, and then we receive a pre-publication

[29:17] document that we review and update real quick. We have an hour and a half to do it.

[29:22] And then we'll receive the final report by the end of the day. Great.

[29:25] So this Thursday we'll have one rating. Yeah.

[29:31] On another front, we are pleased to announce that we're moving forward with our

[29:36] payroll and human resource service. So we're moving ahead with Harpers.

[29:39] Should we turn that mic around, Heather, in front of you?

[29:41] I don't know if it's picking you up or not.

[29:43] Maybe-

[29:44] It's just that this one went on two.

[29:45] I can turn it on two. I'm sorry to interrupt you.

[29:48] So we are moving ahead with Harpers, which will help with the payroll processing,

[29:53] some of the onboarding for HR, and then as we move forward, it's kind of a phased

[29:57] approach. The employees will actually start to have access to their own

[30:01] information, and time attendance will be done through the payroll system.

[30:07] So that's rolling out this month. They're doing mirrored payrolls with the payroll

[30:12] and benefits coordinator. So kind of doing it slowly, make sure it's correct, and

[30:18] then we'll roll it out and train as we- But you're saying that we're changing our

[30:22] payroll processor? We process payroll in-house right now. Yeah.

[30:28] And so this is a third party. They'll help us with payroll, they'll help us with

[30:31] our taxes, like filing all the taxes.

[30:35] They'll help us with our W-2s, our 1099s.

[30:40] So,

[30:41] kind of automating everything. So we're moving it out of house. Yes.

[30:46] Yeah.

[30:46] And did

[30:48] the interviewers of the finance department say anything?

[30:51] Do they have any comment on that?

[30:54] Did you tell them you're going to move that out of private to-- Or did they have

[30:57] any comment on us doing our own payroll? I'm just curious.

[31:00] No, they had no comment on how we process payroll.

[31:02] You really, really have to keep an eye on them.

[31:04] You've got to go over every single thing those payroll people do.

[31:07] Yes.

[31:07] Because they're not going to get it right.

[31:08] I think we're not hiring a third party to do our payroll.

[31:13] So we're still-

[31:14] What we're doing is, yeah, we're still doing it.

[31:15] What we're doing is moving from paper timecards to an electronic time and

[31:21] attendance tracking.

[31:22] So I'm doing all the support.

[31:23] It's a software.

[31:24] I will still be in control of it.

[31:25] Okay.

[31:25] It's just a different company doing the-

[31:26] Kelly will still be making all the payments and stuff. Yeah.

[31:28] Yeah.

[31:29] And we're not hiring ADP or anybody.

[31:31] No.

[31:33] Sorry.

[31:35] And then I just wanted to let folks know that the fiscal year 2025 audit report is

[31:40] now available on the town website.

[31:42] You can find it under the finance page under the finance department.

[31:47] Thank you, Donna, for your assistance with that.

[31:50] Mm-hmm.

[31:50] And then finally, just my last finance update. This is very exciting.

[31:55] I'm happy to share that Cindy Visotzky, our assistant assessor, received the

[31:59] Lucille Bayes Clerk of the Year Award.

[32:02] This award recognizes the clerk who demonstrates courtesy to the public and

[32:05] dedication to the office. In other words, a clerk who is a public relations guru.

[32:12] Cindy was nominated by the Marion Board of Assessors.

[32:14] They noted that she has worked for us for 18 years and is a caring, compassionate,

[32:20] and dedicated worker. Her service and devotion to the residents of the town were

[32:24] recognized by the board. I'd like to congratulate Cindy.

[32:27] This is a well-deserved honor. Very good. Well, congratulations.

[32:31] And who's that award from again?

[32:33] It's the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers.

[32:39] Great.

[32:41] Yeah, they went to a conference this week. Was that this week?

[32:44] It was last Wednesday.

[32:45] Last Wednesday.

[32:46] In Westport.

[32:46] And Cindy was surprised.

[32:48] Yes, she had no idea. Wow. Yeah.

[32:50] They said the word Cindy, and it didn't even register, she said, and then they said

[32:53] the word Marion, and she's like, "Wait a minute, that's me."

[32:56] So, that's great. That's awesome.

[32:58] Just for the audience, what is Cindy's last name? Visotzky.

[33:05] Thank you. You're welcome. That's it.

[33:12] Did we ever touch on the new harbormaster executive assistant?

[33:18] No. I can give a quick personal update.

[33:20] If you could, that'd be great.

[33:22] Yeah. Mary McLeod is our new harbormaster administrative assistant.

[33:26] She started last Monday, is that true? Or was it the Monday before last?

[33:29] I think two Mondays ago.

[33:31] Yeah. But she's been in place for a couple weeks.

[33:34] Our illustrious executive assistant, Don, has been helping her out, getting up to

[33:37] speed.

[33:39] She comes highly recommended. She's a big volunteer already in the town of Marion.

[33:43] She's well-known, and everyone really enjoys working with her.

[33:48] She's a really good fit over there. She's going to keep those boys on their toes.

[33:51] Mm-hmm.

[33:52] And then the other, I guess the other big personal update would be that Mr.,

[33:57] I say Richard, our IT coordinator,

[34:00] resigned from his position. He spent nine months with us. He did a great job.

[34:06] Unfortunately,

[34:08] having a part-time IT coordinator is sometimes difficult to keep people in that

[34:11] position, and he moved off to a full-time job, and we wish him all the best, and we

[34:17] still have our third party MSP, managed service provider,

[34:23] called Retrofit, that'll provide any concerns we have, like cybersecurity, which we

[34:27] were just talking about, for example. So we're in really good shape.

[34:30] And when we get a breathing room, Heather and I will work to try to get that posted

[34:33] again for another part-time fill.

[34:35] Good.

[34:37] Thanks for that.

[34:38] Anybody come down and introduce themselves yet?

[34:43] I know. It has been great. My favorite memory, and again, I won't tell stories, but

[34:48] the first day of work, walking up the stairs was the day that Clark was leaving.

[34:55] Oh, yeah.

[34:55] And since then, we've tried very hard to get that position filled.

[34:59] It is a tough position because of an extreme level of competition in the private

[35:03] sector for IT folks. Yeah.

[35:06] Yeah. The problem with it is, through my eyes anyway, and only my eyes, it really

[35:10] doesn't require a full-time position.

[35:13] Yeah, that's true, especially when we have Retrofit and we're paying a third party.

[35:17] If we got rid of the third party, we could very easily keep somebody busy

[35:22] full-time. But we've got to find the right person for that, so.

[35:26] Hmm.

[35:33] That's it.

[35:33] All right. Is there anything else?

[35:36] Mr.

[35:37] Chairman, if I may, through you to Mr.

[35:39] Gorman, we should set up a meeting again with Upper Cape yearly.

[35:45] We should do it more than one year. We manage to squeeze it in every year, right?

[35:49] Yeah.

[35:50] So.

[35:52] Great. Thank you very much.

[35:54] Got it.

[35:56] They went to the holiday. Right.

[36:00] Mr. Chairman, I entertain a motion to adjourn.

[36:03] Second it. Okay.

10/6/26 Marion Select Board

Transcript