[0:06] Good evening. Welcome to the NF board
meeting. In accordance with the
[0:09] provision of Mass General law chapter 38
section 20 is hereby given that the
[0:14] select board meeting will meet on
Wednesday February 25th 2026 at 7 p.m.
[0:19] Members of the public are welcome to
attend this in-person meeting in meeting
[0:24] 124 one lifak mass or be remote by zoom
connection provided below. Please note
[0:30] that in-person meeting will not be
suspended or terminated if technical
[0:34] technological problems interrupt the
remote connection. If attended remotely,
[0:38] please sign in by using the first and
last name to request, ask questions or
[0:42] provide a comment. Please use a raise
hand feature available when you click on
[0:47] the your name and the chair will address
the request. Please be advised the
[0:52] meeting will be audio and video recorded
for future rec broadcasting by Northark
[0:58] Community Television. I'd like to
introduce our select board members. Uh
[1:04] Tais Hicksman, I'm Kevin Roach. Rob Gity
is a town administrator. And Anita
[1:11] Metenberg is on Zoom.
Ter,
[1:16] » you want to call the meeting to order?
>> I'd like to call the meeting to order.
[1:21] We got to do a roll call vote or
anything? Yeah. Let's see.
[1:25] » Like to pledge of allegiance.
[1:29] » I pledge of allegiance to the flag of
the United States of America and to the
[1:34] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible with liberty and
[1:40] justice for all.
[1:48] » Okay. I'd like to let's see here
[1:54] a mo a motion to accept a motion to open
the public hearing regarding transfer of
[2:00] the section of section 15 of off-
premise package store alcoholic beverage
[2:07] license
of
[2:10] shim variety
incorporate DBA lenders variety to Lexom
[2:16] market inc DBA main Tree Cave
>> convenience.
[2:20] » Convenience.
[2:24] » You need a second.
>> Second.
[2:28] » Roll call vote.
>> Roll call vote, please.
[2:31] » Anita Mcklinberg. I.
>> Ty Sigman. I.
[2:33] » Kevin Roach. I.
>> So, we have a transfer of a um section
[2:39] 15 off premises package to our license.
Uh the attorney and the applicant are
[2:43] here.
[2:47] The applicant is actually well known to
us as she has worked uh at Linda's
[2:52] Variety um locally and will be taking
over. So
[3:02] » good evening.
>> If I may, uh for the record, my name is
[3:06] David Hearn Jr. I'm an attorney with the
firm of Gellman and Cabral at 30 Walpole
[3:11] Street in Norwood. I'm here this evening
uh representing the applicant Laxmi
[3:16] Market Inc.
um which is represented by Shardivan
[3:20] Patel who is the proposed manager of the
license if approved by you and um her
[3:27] daughter Crusie Patel who's um director
of the corporation and um they are
[3:34] proposing to purchase from another Patel
family um the operation at Linda's
[3:40] Convenience um which carries an AAP
license under section 15 as a package
[3:47] for um we have filed the application. Um
and uh I realize there may be questions
[3:54] and all that. We're happy to take them,
but I'll just give a little bit of a
[3:56] summary of what's involved. Um Mrs.
Patel was said at the beginning was
[4:02] familiar to you folks, some of you. Um
she's been associated with that store
[4:06] for a number of years, working there.
Her husband uh whom I know is Joe Patel,
[4:12] um worked there also for a number of
years. So, they have a long connection
[4:16] with this location. They're familiar
with it. They're familiar with the
[4:19] community, with the operation of the
store.
[4:22] Excuse me, I've got a cold. Sorry. Um,
but um uh so they're seeking to purchase
[4:29] the uh the business itself with a new
corporation that they've established uh
[4:34] and with it also the license. So, the
application answers all I think answers
[4:39] all the questions that required under
the ABCC forms. Um we pro provided some
[4:46] additional detail as requested. Um both
uh Mrs. and Miss Patel are uh
[4:53] tipcertified and uh their intention is
that anybody who's working selling
[4:58] alcohol in the store will be
tipcertified.
[5:02] um they realize that until if and until
this is approved by this board and then
[5:09] by the ABCC,
it continues to be owned by the current
[5:12] owners and they don't have control over
the store simply as employees until such
[5:18] time as everything is approved as we
hope it will be. Um
[5:23] uh Mrs. Patella has been involved in uh
the types of work that involve
[5:29] face-to-face dealings with people on a
regular basis. She's worked at this
[5:32] store for several years. She's worked at
a few Dunkin Donuts and other types of
[5:35] establishments. She has the experience
to deal with members of the public uh
[5:40] and to uh know how to deal with members
of the public, some of whom might be
[5:45] having a good day, some may not be
having such a good day. Um, I've been in
[5:48] Dunkin Donuts enough at different places
where some people are not having a good
[5:52] day and want their coffee right away.
She knows how to deal with the public
[5:56] and and to do so in a careful and
courteous way. And I think she is suited
[6:00] to be a manager of this type of
operation which does require uh care and
[6:06] um an understanding of the people you're
dealing with and a uh they understand
[6:10] that this is a public trust of sorts
that um a an alcohol license is and that
[6:16] it has to be operated in a way that
serves the public need, serves the
[6:19] community and also hopefully is a good
business for them. So, um, you have, I
[6:25] think, copies of the the lease that
would take effect once the deal goes
[6:29] through. You have a we have a statement
by Mrs. Patel regarding her experience.
[6:35] Um, the floor plan and a a brief
description of the premises as a
[6:39] separate page has been added. Um, proof
of their status. Um,
[6:45] in terms of, uh, Mr. Patel is here with
a green card. Uh, Pruce Patel is a
[6:51] citizen of the United States.
Excuse me. Um, there the tips
[6:56] certificates are included, I think, in
the package that we submitted to you.
[7:00] » We're happy to take any questions you
might have, but I hope that you will
[7:03] find that um, this is an appropriate uh,
transaction for you to approve and that
[7:09] Mrs. Patel is appropriate to serve as a
manager of a uh of a license for the
[7:16] sale of all alcoholic beverages for uh
package store type not to be drunk on
[7:21] the premises as opposed to the section
12 license. Um again I'm happy to
[7:27] stop and um before my voice gives out
but uh also to answer any questions you
[7:32] might have. Um,
>> are there any changes being made to the
[7:35] store or are you going to keep it as is
as far as the floor plan or anything
[7:39] like that?
>> I think the plan is to keep it pretty
[7:41] much as is. Um, maybe some cosmetic
improvements uh you mentioned to me
[7:46] earlier when we were talking about it,
but otherwise I think pretty much the
[7:50] same. The floor plan we've given you is
pretty much the flow plan now and what
[7:54] is intended to be. And I know it's more
important often for the licensing
[7:58] authority to see what we intend to have
it and that's what we're showing how
[8:02] it's going to be which is what it is
now. Okay.
[8:05] » Any of you have any questions?
>> Yes. So first of all I'd like to say
[8:09] that I personally had um interactions
with Mrs. Patel and she's completely
[8:13] lovely and have had really positive
experiences. I wanted to ask her and her
[8:18] daughter if there's anything they wanted
to share with us before we make this
[8:21] decision.
>> No. Thank you.
[8:28] » Okay. I have I have no questions or
concerns.
[8:30] » Okay.
>> No other questions? No.
[8:32] » Yes, sir.
>> The application was thorough and
[8:34] complete and everything was
satisfactory.
[8:36] » Wonderful. If there are no other public
if there are no other comments, I'd like
[8:40] to accept a motion to close the public
hearing.
[8:44] » Second.
>> So move.
[8:46] » Second.
>> All in roll call vote.
[8:50] » Anita Meckllinmberg. I.
>> Ta Hecman. I
[8:52] » Kevin Roach. I congratulations. It's all
set here.
[8:57] » So, close the hearing and hopefully
you'll vote. Do you vote now to whether
[9:01] to approve the transfer?
>> It's on the agenda after one other item.
[9:04] » Oh, okay. Well, we'll
>> which probably in about 5 minutes. So,
[9:08] » we'll we'll uh sit back and wait then.
And uh thank you very much.
[9:13] » Yes, it's good to see a business sustain
in Norfol. So,
[9:17] » do we have anyone on Zoom other than
Anita?
[9:20] » There's only one more person.
Uh,
[9:23] » oh, that's that's for our next license.
>> That's the next license.
[9:27] » Okay. So, we have no no one here for a
public comment. Accept a motion to
[9:31] approve the transfer of the section 15
section 15 off- premise package to all
[9:36] alcoholic licenses from Shabbam Variety
Inc. DBA Lind Variety to Lexum Market
[9:44] Inc. DBA Main Street convenience
condition upon receipt of all required
[9:49] documentation.
So moved.
[9:53] » Second.
>> All in favor? Roll call vote.
[9:58] » Anita Meckllinburgg. I
>> TA Hickman. I
[10:01] » Kevin Roach. I
>> Thank you.
[10:04] » All set.
>> Very good.
[10:05] » All set.
>> And and Mr. Chair, I assume that
[10:08] includes the approval of the manager
also as part of that.
[10:11] » Yes. Yes.
>> It was in the application. Thank you
[10:13] very much to all of you for your time.
>> Thank you.
[10:15] » Thank you.
[10:20] Uh let's see.
Vote to approve application for
[10:24] amendment requested by
>> Sarthi
[10:30] » Sachi
>> Sarthi
[10:31] » Sadi Convenience Inc. vote for change to
DBA from Liquor World to Liquor Hub
[10:38] condition upon receipt of all required
documents.
[10:42] So this is um an existing lency just
wishes to change the name of the their
[10:47] their site from liquor world to liquor
hub.
[10:50] » Okay.
>> And we have all the documentation.
[10:52] » We have all the documentation. It's
complete and satisfactory. And the um
[10:57] applicant is actually on uh we have him
on Zoom.
[11:02] » Any questions or concerns? Anita,
>> I just would be curious why we're
[11:07] changing the name. That's all. It's just
a curiosity question.
[11:12] Hello.
>> Hi.
[11:14] » How are you?
>> Good. How are you?
[11:16] » Good. Good. Uh, thank you for allowing
me to join the Zoom meeting.
[11:23] » Can you help us understand the purpose
of the name change?
[11:27] » Yes, I can. So, I have we changed in a
past name north of Purma to Liquor World
[11:36] uh five six years ago. That time um you
know we had you know grocery sandwiches
[11:44] uh milk everything else and then you
know we stop carrying that. So we
[11:48] changed to liquor world and now lot of
liquor world you know coming in the
[11:54] people using the same name. the customer
get confused between Millies and Medway
[12:00] and all that location
and I have a store in Sharon Menon in
[12:06] Newton under liquor hub and I
trademarked that so now customer don't
[12:11] get confused so that's why I'm just
changing the name for our regular
[12:15] customer
>> okay thank you
[12:17] » thank you
[12:21] » okay do I get it
>> and um nope there's no need for other
[12:24] comment Okay, you're all set. The name
change is all set.
[12:28] » Oh, you have to vote.
>> Oh, okay. Roll call vote.
[12:32] » Anita,
>> well, can I make the motion? I make the
[12:36] motion to approve the application for uh
requested by Sari Convenience to
[12:44] change from DBA Liquor World to Liquor
Hub.
[12:49] » Second.
>> Roll call vote.
[12:53] » Anita Meckllinburgg. I
>> Ta Hickman. I
[12:56] » Kevin Roach. I
>> Congratulations. You're all set. The
[13:01] name change is approved.
>> Thank you.
[13:03] » Thank you, Rob. Nice to see you. Hope
you remember me.
[13:06] » Yeah. Oh, Nick.
>> Yes.
[13:12] » It's been 26 years in location.
>> Yeah.
[13:17] » Makes me sound like I go there a lot.
>> I was going to say, how often do you
[13:22] frequent? Yeah.
>> Thank you everyone.
[13:24] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[13:25] » Thank you.
>> Byebye.
[13:27] » I'd like to vote Amanda Johan MCP MCPO
as a chief town chief procurement
[13:37] officer.
>> So as you may um as you may know uh in
[13:41] towns without a town manager, the select
board is actually responsible for
[13:46] appointing the CPO. We're required to
have a CPO who is also an MCPPO.
[13:51] Um, and I've talked to Amanda. She's
willing to take on the extra work and
[13:56] she'll be working with the other um,
MCPPOS's we have on staff. Uh, currently
[14:01] we have two. Tim and Todd Lindmark are
also MCPPOS. And I'm currently a third
[14:06] of the way through the training. So,
we'll have a robust team to ensure that
[14:10] we we get things right on procurement.
>> Wonderful.
[14:14] » Yes, I'm in favor of that.
>> Me, too.
[14:18] » Okay. Any discussion? So,
Okay.
[14:21] » No, I think Amanda is a great choice.
>> I'd like to make a mission a motion to
[14:27] appoint Amanda Johan as MCPO
chief procurement officer.
[14:34] » Second.
[14:37] » Roll call vote.
>> Adita Mcklinberg. I
[14:41] » Ty Hickman. I
>> Kevin Roach I.
[14:44] » Okay. Moved by Kevin, seconded by Tai.
Very good.
[14:49] » Okay. Okay. So, item six is zoning
amendments. Um, as is common practice,
[14:53] the planning board has created some
amendments they'd like to put in front
[14:58] of town meeting. We have accepted them
and closed the warrant. Now, we have to
[15:01] refer them back to the planning board
for their hearing.
[15:06] » Okay. So,
>> so just to clarify, Mr. Gity, this is
[15:10] just a logistical procedural um
maneuver,
[15:14] » correct? Y.
>> So, there's no changes to the language
[15:16] since we last reviewed it. Uh, no. Town
council has seen them and has several
[15:21] minor scribers errors kind of changes
they're making to it, but nothing
[15:25] substantive.
>> Okay.
[15:29] » Okay. So, uh,
[15:37] » so I I can make the motion. Um, I will
motion to uh refer the zoning amendments
[15:43] to the planning board in preparation for
the May 13, 2026 annual town meeting.
[15:49] Second.
>> Roll call vote.
[15:53] » Anita Meckllinburgg. I
>> TA Hickman I.
[15:56] » Kevin Roach. I
[16:00] do
>> you have to read all the street
[16:02] acceptance here.
>> So uh this Yes. The next item is there
[16:05] are four street acceptances that um that
the planning board will have to hold a
[16:11] hearing on. uh they have preliminarily
accepted the uh think the streets are
[16:17] fine for acceptance. They're Norway
Farms Drive, Bristol Pond Road, Blue
[16:20] Heron Way, and Malard Way in two
separate subdivisions. Uh and the motion
[16:24] would be to send them again back to the
planning board for their hearing.
[16:28] There's some different technical
language in this motion that that's that
[16:32] we use on street uh acceptances, but
it's the same idea. We're sending it
[16:36] back to the planning board for hearing.
Okay.
[16:39] » Would you like to make the motion?
>> Sure.
[16:42] Um, I'd like to make a motion to um
refer the street acceptances back to the
[16:50] planning board for in preparation for
the May 13th annual town meeting um as
[16:56] printed in the agenda.
>> Second
[17:01] » roll call vote.
>> Anita Meckllinburgg I.
[17:04] » Ta Hickman. I
>> Kevin Roach I.
[17:07] » Very good. So that covers our voting
items for today. Um we can we have a
[17:15] discussion items of general updates from
both the select board and the uh the
[17:19] administrator and then just warrants um
that you will have to move and vote. But
[17:26] Mr. Vice Chair, if you'd like, I can go
after you. You wanted to say something.
[17:31] » I would just like to to thank the DPW
for doing a good job during the
[17:36] snowstorm and everything else. and I'd
like to thank all the town employees for
[17:41] trying to deal with the tough budget
situation we have moving forward. So,
[17:46] » yeah, I'd like to echo that. I think the
DPW did an excellent job with the storm.
[17:52] Um, I heard a lot of positive feedback
from community members. I think we were
[17:57] well prepared and Rob, thank you for,
you know, getting everybody where they
[18:01] needed to be and get, you know, with the
communication. I think it, you know, you
[18:05] did a great job as well. So, um I just
want to say well done.
[18:09] » Well, I get to stay safe and dry. So,
>> appreciate the folks who are out there.
[18:14] » And I would just echo those those
sentiments. Um we're very lucky to have
[18:18] the team that we have.
>> Okay.
[18:21] » Any town ministry updates?
>> I have um three updates. Uh we received
[18:26] last week a complete streets grant which
will cover $499,000 worth of the project
[18:31] to bring the shared use path down Medway
branch from I believe Tucker down to
[18:37] Barnstable. So that's it's actually an
interesting project that will help
[18:42] access to the senior center for one
part. We've actually when I visited the
[18:46] senior center last week we there was a
person there who says she lives right
[18:49] around the corner and she can't walk
there
[18:51] » because there are no sidewalks there.
So, this will help that project along.
[18:55] We've also finally received the letter
from the Department of Correction, which
[18:58] will help us secure the federal earmark
um and the state match for the project
[19:03] that'll help us start looking at tying
the prison sewer system to Town Center.
[19:10] » Wow. Can you repeat that again?
>> Yeah. So, we got $900,000. It's This
[19:15] isn't going to pay for the project. Um
and there's another I believe $200,000
[19:20] $240,000 state match. we we can obtain
which will at least get us uh down the
[19:26] road on engineering and planning for
bringing the sewer line which exists at
[19:31] the prison. They have a a a system down
Main Street toward town center.
[19:37] » So they agreed to it.
>> They they have agreed.
[19:41] They have agreed. We don't have we're
you know there aren't negotiations on
[19:45] capacity or anything like that happening
yet. We're going to deal with
[19:47] engineering.
>> Wonderful. So what that 900,000 will
[19:52] allow us to do
>> engineer.
[19:57] » So just the pre-work that
pre-development work.
[20:00] » I don't expect the 900k will get us to
spades in the ground.
[20:05] » Yeah.
>> Um but
[20:08] » it's a start.
>> We'll see.
[20:09] » That's great.
And and just for people watching um you
[20:14] know people say we need more business in
town. We need more business. We need
[20:17] more business. and our lack of sewer is
a real impediment in terms of our
[20:21] attractiveness to um local business. So,
this is very exciting if we can bring
[20:26] sewer to the center of town in terms of
attracting outside business to our
[20:30] community.
>> Yes. Yeah. We could
[20:32] » You're very welcome. We could have Rich
McCarthy come in um and he'll be here
[20:36] next week actually anyway on Monday uh
and he could I didn't want to steal too
[20:40] much of his thunder, but he could talk
about both the grant and the DOC sewer.
[20:43] » Okay.
>> For a project. Um and the final thing is
[20:46] uh Todd Linmark and I have been having
our department head meetings as you know
[20:49] about the budget and trying to develop a
preliminary FY27 budget. Um we'd like
[20:55] time on next Monday's agenda to to
present an initial view of where we are.
[20:59] Now as you all know uh this is going to
be a very difficult budget year for
[21:02] Norfor.
>> We've asked the department has to come
[21:05] back with budgets that are essentially
continuations of um current level of
[21:10] service,
>> right? no expansions um but no drastic
[21:14] cuts either. We've had some good news in
the form of health insurance costs
[21:18] coming in lower than we expected. Now,
to be sure, we were expecting or
[21:23] budgeting for an 18% increase, which
didn't happen, which is great. It turned
[21:27] out to be a 9% increase, which is still
far too large to support. You know, it's
[21:33] it's unsustainable. Um, unfortunately,
King Phillip numbers came back um,
[21:39] several hundred thousand higher than we
had hoped, essentially erasing the
[21:43] reduction we saw in the healthcare
costs.
[21:47] The result,
>> the King Phillip school budget.
[21:49] » Yeah. Yes. The our our portion of the
King Phillip school budget came in at a
[21:53] little Well, it's about there was some
action this evening. Um, we think we're
[21:58] going to be at about a 6.9% increase
over last year and King Phillip is
[22:03] actually they uh the initial increase
they gave us was larger and we talked
[22:07] with the superintendent and the other
town man uh town administrators for the
[22:10] district and um I believe they've made
an effort to reduce that number. So
[22:15] that's very appreciated um on our part.
I know our chair the chairman of the
[22:20] committee uh Jim Leehan who you all know
very well um was essential in that. Um
[22:26] so but overall the town budget we're
we're we're a town budget that grows by
[22:31] a little over 4%.
>> Yeah.
[22:33] » This year. Um and and excluding the
schools we're about 75% uh employee
[22:38] costs. So there aren't a lot of big
drivers uh here that we can play with.
[22:44] the 4% overall growth is pretty much
actually less than what you'd see from
[22:48] the normal cost of living and step
increases that are inherent in the
[22:52] personnel costs. Um the four schools we
contribute to King Phip Tri County,
[22:57] Norfol Aggie and Norfol local are about
55% of well last year they were about
[23:02] 55% of our operating budget and there's
not a lot of leverage available for us
[23:06] to move those budgets. Mhm.
>> Um, and it's important to remember that
[23:11] starting in FY23, we've been using
significant non-recurring revenue. First
[23:15] ARPA funds and and then uh free cash to
balance the budget.
[23:21] When combined with the Tri County
project, which we voted to support but
[23:25] never voted the funding for in any form,
um, we're looking at a budget that is
[23:30] considerably out of balance this year.
So next week Todd and I will walk you
[23:34] through that and um start to discuss
with you what you feel the options are.
[23:40] Uh we were we are scheduling a meeting
with our department heads and the
[23:44] advisory board for Saturday the 7th of
March which is only about 10 days away.
[23:50] Um we have a place and a um a time
and we're going to be hearing from
[23:56] department heads most department heads
um and and discussing things with them.
[24:01] we won't be getting uh the elementary
school won't have their budget set yet
[24:04] at that point. So, they won't be able to
significantly participate.
[24:11] » But,
>> Mr. Gity, can you share the place and
[24:15] time because the community is welcome to
that meeting. Is that correct?
[24:18] » Yes. So, um the place will be the um
will be the Freeman Kennedy uh school
[24:26] cafeteria
and the time I actually don't have an
[24:29] exact time for yet, but we'll
>> you can let people know in the second.
[24:34] » Yes, we'll post it as soon as possible.
>> Okay.
[24:39] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[24:40] » Anything else?
>> Uh we have warrants.
[24:43] » Okay. Uh we have to move the uh approve
the warrants that
[24:46] um would like to make a motion to
approve the warrants.
[24:49] » I would like to make a motion to approve
the warrants as printed in the agenda.
[24:55] » Second.
>> Roll call vote.
[24:59] » Anita Meckllinburgg I.
>> Taggy Sigman. I
[25:03] » Kevin Roach I.
>> We do not have any minutes to approve
[25:08] this week.
>> Okay. Okay.
[25:10] » Like to make a motion to adjourn the
meeting.
[25:14] If there's nothing else.
>> Second.
[25:17] » I'll save my I'll save my updates for
March 2nd. That's fine.
[25:21] » You sure?
>> I move that we adjourn the meeting.
[25:24] » Okay. Seconded. Roll call vote.
>> Anita Meckllinburgg. I
[25:28] » Tman I.
>> Kevin Roach. I
[25:32] » Thank you everybody. Thank you.