[0:00] I will hereby call to order this

[0:02] regularly scheduled meeting of the

[0:03] Sunderland Select Board and Finance

[0:04] Committee. The time is 6:32 p.m. Would

[0:07] you like to call your board to order

[0:08] also?

[0:09] >> This is the um Monday meeting of July um

[0:13] February 20.

[0:15] >> What day is it? February 9th. Thank you.

[0:18] Of the Sunland Finance Committee.

[0:21] >> Does feel like February feel like you're

[0:23] not wrong.

[0:24] >> January 45th.

[0:27] >> All righty. Uh thank you very much. are

[0:29] we're going to skip over approving

[0:30] minutes um and go straight to new

[0:32] business. Our first order of new

[0:33] business is going to be to review the

[0:35] library budget. So, thank you very much

[0:37] for coming in um and go ahead and

[0:41] let us know what you got.

[0:42] >> Great. Thank you so much for having us.

[0:44] So, I'm Katherine. I'm the library

[0:46] director here. Um our request this year

[0:49] is fairly similar to past years. Um the

[0:53] main area where we're um requesting an

[0:56] increase is in our library expense line.

[0:58] um that is the line that we use to be um

[1:01] part of the CWM consortium and then um

[1:05] also is what we use to purchase library

[1:07] materials. Um and so we've kept the

[1:09] formula the same where we're asking for

[1:12] exactly what we need in order to meet

[1:14] the materials expenditure requirements

[1:16] set by the Massachusetts Board of

[1:18] Library Commissioners. Um and so the

[1:21] amount that we spend to be part of the

[1:24] CW Mars consortium um that the funds

[1:28] that are needed to make up the materials

[1:30] expenditure requirement the fund the

[1:31] Sunderland Public Library can provide

[1:34] for us. So um we're asking for an

[1:36] increase in that mostly just to to make

[1:38] sure that we can meet the materials

[1:40] expenditure requirement. Also materials

[1:42] are a lot more expensive these days than

[1:44] they used to be. um changing needs make

[1:48] it even more challenging. Um it's very

[1:51] difficult to get. Um ebooks are quite

[1:54] expensive. We were very lucky that we've

[1:56] got some folks at the state house who

[1:57] are working to ensure that equity for

[2:00] libraries and purchasing ebooks um goes

[2:03] through because right now we pay about

[2:04] three times the cost for an ebook as we

[2:07] do for a print book and the usage is

[2:09] limited to two years or 20 uses

[2:12] something like that. um whereas a

[2:14] library book can be in your collection

[2:16] for ever as long as it's you know

[2:18] wellmaintained. Um we're also

[2:20] experiencing huge issues with our

[2:22] suppliers. Um one of the main book

[2:25] suppliers that we used to purchase

[2:27] materials and that gave us wonderful

[2:29] discounts um went out of business. Um so

[2:31] everyone's been scrambling to find new

[2:34] sources to get their books and the

[2:37] sources that are already functioning are

[2:39] inundated with new customers. So, um,

[2:42] you know, we're waiting months to get

[2:44] new books where we used to have them

[2:45] well before the publication date. So,

[2:48] we're keeping up with it all. Um, we're

[2:50] certainly, you know, meeting the

[2:51] material expenditure requirement. It's

[2:53] just a lot more difficult. We're also

[2:56] spending more because we don't get those

[2:58] great discounts anymore. So, we're

[3:00] spending a lot more for less. Um, so

[3:02] anything the town can do to kind of

[3:04] supplement that, allow us to continue to

[3:07] um, offer materials that our patrons

[3:09] need, but also allow us to um, maintain

[3:12] our state certification is really

[3:14] crucial for us. The other main area

[3:17] where we're asking for um, an increase

[3:19] is in the library support wages. I know

[3:22] that the personnel committee will um,

[3:24] will be making their recommendations in

[3:26] terms of what cost of living increases

[3:28] and other wages increases should be. So,

[3:30] I did not include that, but we are

[3:33] asking for an additional $8,000

[3:36] um in that line to fund um our sensory

[3:40] friendly hours. And so, that funding is

[3:42] exclusively for a staff member, a

[3:45] non-bened staff member who would have

[3:47] seven hours of regular um time. And that

[3:50] allows us to open the library for an

[3:52] extra day for um every year on

[3:55] Thursdays. And so we received a grant

[3:57] last year um we're very lucky for is the

[4:00] libraries transforming communities grant

[4:02] um from the American Library Association

[4:05] and that has funded um our ability to

[4:07] open up on Thursdays and that um that

[4:09] grant goes through April 30th. Um and

[4:12] it's been a huge success opening for

[4:14] sensory friendly hours. Um we're seeing

[4:17] you know probably about 90 people per

[4:20] day. Our average on a day where we're

[4:23] also open seven hours is about 120. Um,

[4:26] and it's steadily increasing. Um, you

[4:28] know, besides dips here and there for

[4:30] the weather being cold. But, um, people

[4:33] love it. Um, I have had very, very few

[4:36] complaints about it. We've been doing a

[4:38] survey to the town. 100% of survey

[4:40] respondents say, "Yes, please keep these

[4:42] hours. They're so important to us." Um,

[4:44] sensory friendly hours. We we call it

[4:47] same library enhance accessibility. I

[4:49] mean, everything that you love about the

[4:51] library for the most part is the same.

[4:53] It's just the environment is slightly

[4:55] different. So, our lights are lowered.

[4:57] We don't have any special meetings and

[5:00] programs and other stuff to kind of

[5:02] limit activity. And we also have

[5:04] designated quiet areas as well as

[5:06] designated active areas. Um, so this

[5:08] really allows a lot of flexibility for

[5:10] folks. um does not matter what your

[5:13] neurotype is to to come in the library

[5:15] and just experience a slightly different

[5:17] environment than what we normally offer.

[5:19] Um I love that our library is busy and

[5:22] active and noisy. It's, you know, one of

[5:24] the best things. You don't want to have

[5:26] a a quiet silent library anymore. But

[5:29] we're also finding that people are

[5:31] seeking the library as a space where

[5:33] they can have quiet time to study. Um, a

[5:37] lot of people are working from home and

[5:38] such and sometimes the home environment

[5:40] is not as calm and quiet as you need it

[5:42] to be. Um, we're seeing a lot of

[5:44] students who will come for a place to

[5:46] study. We see a lot of people who work

[5:48] from home or working, you know, remote,

[5:51] hybrid, however, um, are coming into the

[5:53] library for a space where they can get

[5:56] some work done. And we're finding a lot

[5:57] of them love coming on the Thursday

[5:59] hours just because it's slightly

[6:01] quieter. Um, and they're just happy to

[6:04] have an extra day. Um, anytime we do a

[6:07] survey to the community, what do you

[6:08] want to see from your library? Everyone

[6:10] says more hours. Um, more morning hours

[6:14] in particular. So, opening up on a

[6:16] Thursday really allows us to to meet

[6:18] those needs of providing more hours. Um,

[6:21] providing more morning hours, also

[6:24] providing after school, evening hours a

[6:26] little bit, um, for folks who, you know,

[6:28] do attend school or have work and things

[6:30] like that. Um, but really, um, it's just

[6:34] providing that flexibility for folks to

[6:36] be like, "Okay, I know I can go to the

[6:38] library on this day. It's going to be

[6:41] calmer. I'm going to be able to sit down

[6:43] and focus or I'm going to be able to go

[6:46] to the library on Thursday. I'm not

[6:47] going to have to worry about staff and

[6:51] patrons and other people not necessarily

[6:53] understanding my behaviors and why I may

[6:56] present in a way that is different from

[6:58] what folks expect." Um, I think that's

[7:01] really been the most meaningful thing is

[7:03] just hearing from patrons how important

[7:06] and meaningful it is to just to have

[7:09] these hours. Not necessarily being able

[7:11] to go to them, but just knowing that

[7:13] there is a place in Sunderland in our

[7:16] community where um, you know, neurode

[7:18] divergent people are recognized and are

[7:21] appreciated and are invited to be

[7:23] themselves and to grow just like

[7:25] everyone else is in the library. So very

[7:27] meaningful hours for me.

[7:30] Well, thank you very much and I hope you

[7:32] remember when you came in and talked to

[7:33] us last year. Um, we committed to try

[7:36] doing our best to maintain that once you

[7:38] guys's grant has has passed. So, um, I I

[7:43] also think it's a wonderful thing. I've

[7:44] gotten feedback myself from families in

[7:46] town who've used the hours. U, my own

[7:48] kids have gone there during those hours

[7:49] and and appreciated it. Um, my daughter

[7:52] wears know she's canceling headphones

[7:54] everywhere she goes for very obvious

[7:55] reasons. Um, and so I appreciate I

[7:58] appreciate what it means to the town and

[8:00] what it means to the patrons who

[8:02] patronize it. So, thank you very much.

[8:04] Um, now is this this is the these are

[8:08] the two line items here just for people

[8:10] who are in person or on Zoom. Um, thank

[8:12] you Becky for sharing the sharing the

[8:15] budget. Um, so we're talking about the

[8:17] support wages here for an increase of

[8:19] 6,846 or a 5.46%

[8:22] increase. That's the line for the the

[8:24] Thursday hours. Um and this second one

[8:26] that's just the overall expenses

[8:28] increasing because of the cost of

[8:30] everything.

[8:31] >> Yes.

[8:31] Wonderful.

[8:32] >> Maintaining our certification is always

[8:34] the priority. We are required to spend a

[8:36] certain amount of money on materials.

[8:38] >> Okay. Great.

[8:40] >> Crystal Dan, any questions on what we've

[8:42] seen so far?

[8:44] >> Just how many how many part-time

[8:46] employees are there?

[8:47] >> So, there are um four regular part-time

[8:50] employees. um this we and then we have

[8:53] the grant funded um additional so it

[8:55] would bring us up to five um which is

[8:58] really beneficial for us to have another

[9:01] part-time employee who's not necessarily

[9:03] benefited but gives us that flexibility

[9:05] to call someone else in when we need

[9:07] extra support when someone is out sick

[9:09] just having another set of hands is

[9:12] hugely important and beneficial for us

[9:14] so um it's just such a small cost for

[9:17] the town I know money is tight for

[9:19] everyone but it's really not it's you

[9:21] about $8,000, $6,000 that we're asking

[9:24] for here. And the benefits are huge. I

[9:27] mean, it's another 364 hours of library

[9:30] service that we're able to offer. It's

[9:33] um creating a reputation of

[9:35] accessibility in our community. I mean,

[9:37] there's so many benefits to it for

[9:39] $8,000.

[9:41] >> Nice. Wonderful. Uh finance committee,

[9:44] any questions on the budget estimate so

[9:46] far?

[9:48] >> Yeah, I I got two. Yeah,

[9:52] >> sure can.

[9:53] >> Yeah. So, no, I love the library. Our

[9:54] kids love the library. I'm glad you're

[9:56] doing the Thursday um quiet hours. It's

[9:59] really a great program. Um just two

[10:03] quick questions. So, with Heather

[10:05] leaving and then we re we hired someone

[10:07] to replace her, was that is that equal

[10:09] salary or was that person less

[10:10] experienced? Do we make up any money

[10:13] there?

[10:13] >> Um yes, he made up a small amount of

[10:16] money there. um just because this is a

[10:18] new person coming in um and Heather had

[10:22] worked with us for 5 years. So slightly

[10:24] less um in the terms of the salary but I

[10:27] kept it at a level where Heather would

[10:29] have started had she been starting this

[10:31] year. So in terms of inflation and

[10:33] things like that.

[10:34] >> Okay. Yeah. Keep it comp.

[10:37] And the second one was the grant runs

[10:39] out in March. So we're taking we're

[10:42] going to So this is this amount that

[10:45] you're ask for would cover um a 12 month

[10:49] or a 9 month

[10:52] a 12 month is what we're asking for. Um

[10:54] right now the grant is it was for um for

[10:58] the you know the one-year period but we

[11:01] weren't able to start the sensory

[11:02] friendly hours. um we needed to do some

[11:04] research and things until July 1st made

[11:07] the most sense or July 10th made the

[11:08] most sense for us

[11:10] >> um to be able to start it. Um but so our

[11:13] plan right now is if I have the money

[11:16] left over in my salaries budget, I would

[11:18] love to stay open, but we're we're

[11:21] saying that we're going to take a break

[11:23] um you know in May and June until we can

[11:26] restart them in July when the funding

[11:27] comes through from the town.

[11:30] >> Right. And that's too I wish we could do

[11:32] something cuz especially June when they

[11:34] get out of school, those kids might want

[11:36] that quiet space on Thursday. So,

[11:38] >> I know, knock on wood, right now we're

[11:41] okay. And so, I always build in enough

[11:44] um you know, wiggle room in terms of

[11:46] salaries to cover any sick time and

[11:49] vacations that our employees are

[11:51] entitled to. So, not everyone's going to

[11:53] take all of their sick hours. I

[11:55] recognize that and you know, extra money

[11:56] would go back to the town. I'm hoping

[11:58] that there is enough of that left over

[12:01] that we can continue to operate at least

[12:04] on a a small level even if it's

[12:05] abbreviated hours or something for those

[12:07] two months. But um but yeah, I'm not

[12:10] widely advertising it because I can't

[12:12] promise it right now.

[12:14] >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Keep up the

[12:17] great work. It's a great place.

[12:20] >> Thank you, Joe. Question.

[12:23] >> Yeah. So, um, sorry, just one one more

[12:25] thing is that if we do know that they're

[12:27] going to be funded for next year, we

[12:30] would certainly do everything in our

[12:31] power to make sure that the consistency

[12:33] in the hours is is maintained. Um, you

[12:36] know, we wouldn't want to take a break

[12:37] and then have to restart everything all

[12:39] over again and readvertise and, you

[12:41] know, add that kind of confusion to the

[12:42] hours. Um, but again, it just depends on

[12:46] if we have the funding in there. And

[12:48] >> I'm sorry, when did you say that the

[12:49] current funding ends?

[12:50] >> April 30th.

[12:51] Okay. Sorry. So May June is

[12:54] what we're looking at.

[12:55] >> Yeah.

[12:56] >> All right.

[12:58] Any other questions from plants?

[13:00] >> I mean, I would just say like, you know,

[13:02] thank you for the presentation of the

[13:03] materials. You know, the the expanded

[13:05] hours for taking over the grant, you

[13:07] know, for me, you know, will compete

[13:08] with other new things we want to do,

[13:11] right? It's not really level services,

[13:12] but it seems like it has been working. I

[13:15] guess what I would say is if we do find

[13:17] a way to make that work, I would very

[13:19] much like to not have there be a pause

[13:21] for two months and then go back on. So

[13:23] like very much supportive of that. Um I

[13:26] had a couple other questions not related

[13:28] to that. One was I know we're not here

[13:30] to discuss capital in detail, but I know

[13:32] HVAC has been a a focus every year and I

[13:36] just inevitably know there were some

[13:37] issues more recently. Is there any

[13:39] update that we should be thinking of as

[13:41] we consider both capital as a whole and

[13:43] just the budget as a whole and the

[13:44] library as a whole?

[13:45] >> Yeah, the HBAC system is having a lot of

[13:49] problems right now, especially keeping

[13:50] up with the cold. Um, I came in this

[13:53] morning and it's 54 degrees in the whole

[13:55] children's room. I've got to set up

[13:56] space heaters, flipping the circuit

[13:58] breakers. Um, we have our HVAC folks on

[14:01] it. Um, but it takes a long time to

[14:04] schedule things, to get the parts, to

[14:06] figure out what the problem is within

[14:08] our extremely complicated system. Um, so

[14:11] far this year, I've spent, I think about

[14:15] $9,000

[14:17] on HVAC repairs. That includes um a

[14:21] single um a single compressor

[14:25] replacement in one of the more difficult

[14:26] spaces. So, that was a large part of it.

[14:29] um it wasn't a whole unit, but it was

[14:31] the main component of it. Um plus all

[14:34] these little repairs too coming in and

[14:36] just kind of figuring out what the

[14:38] problem is as well as the maintenance.

[14:40] Then we have it's going to be based on

[14:43] repairing. We've got I think it's a fan

[14:46] or a tube broken in another unit in the

[14:49] young adult room that is going to be a

[14:52] little more than $3,000. So we're

[14:54] getting to $11,000 that we've spent so

[14:56] far this year. And that's not even a

[14:58] full replacement. So what I have asked

[15:01] for in the capital is the replacement

[15:04] cost of a full unit, the most expensive

[15:06] unit that we would have to completely

[15:08] replace. Um however,

[15:11] I know there's a little bit of question

[15:13] about how the capital money is is going

[15:15] to be carried over from year to year. Is

[15:17] it going to be carried over? How that

[15:19] works? Um, it's really important for the

[15:22] library to have flexibility within the

[15:24] HBAC system because you have bad years

[15:26] where you're spending 20,000 plus on it

[15:29] and you have good years where you're

[15:30] spending maybe you know a couple

[15:32] thousand. So, um, I I would really like

[15:35] there to be I mean ideally $30,000

[15:39] available for library HBAC at any given

[15:42] time in case we have a horrible

[15:44] emergency. Um, but right now I know we

[15:47] um we just went back we had the um I

[15:50] believe we got 30,000 last year to kind

[15:53] of give us a little bit of wiggle room

[15:55] this year um after many years of not

[15:58] being sure what was carried over. Um I

[16:01] would hope that this year's could be

[16:02] carried over but if not if we can have

[16:05] you know

[16:06] >> but that's in the capital budget.

[16:07] >> Yeah, in the capital budget. Yes. I'm

[16:08] also on capital because we do try to um

[16:12] >> we do try to kind of leave I mean it's

[16:15] just going to what do we have 16 air

[16:17] handlers?

[16:18] >> Yeah. 16

[16:19] >> you know it's just going to be it's a

[16:21] 20some year old system. There's just

[16:24] constant

[16:25] >> one every year and then you start over.

[16:27] >> Yeah. Yeah. So it's not you know it's

[16:29] never going to be it's never going to be

[16:30] at 100%.

[16:32] >> Okay. Thanks. And sorry, I didn't mean

[16:34] to get too deep into capital, but I just

[16:35] I wanted to make sure I understood where

[16:37] we were. So, thank you for that. One

[16:39] last question, and this is I guess I'm

[16:42] just thinking about

[16:45] if and how do you anticipate um the

[16:47] Deerfield Library coming online

[16:49] impacting in any positive, negative,

[16:51] whatever usage of the Sun Library? You

[16:54] know, it's a big space coming online. I

[16:56] would expect there'd be some changes.

[16:57] So, if we're sitting here a year from

[16:59] now and we're looking at us in like what

[17:01] should we think about? What should we

[17:03] be? What should we

[17:04] >> Yeah, I mean um this past year was the

[17:07] busiest year in the library's history. A

[17:09] lot of that does have to do with Tilton

[17:10] being closed for a significant period of

[17:12] time as well as Ammerst being closed,

[17:14] moved to a secondary location. Um but I,

[17:18] you know, January after Tilton had

[17:20] reopened was our busiest January ever as

[17:23] well. Um, I don't see it necessarily

[17:25] slowing down in a significant way. It

[17:28] may not be quite as busy as, you know,

[17:31] this past year, but I think we are

[17:34] getting a lot of patrons coming to our

[17:36] library maybe for the first time and

[17:38] seeing, wow, there's something very

[17:39] different here than what we see in

[17:41] Tilton. And that I mean that's a good

[17:42] thing. What Tilton has is different from

[17:44] us in a wonderful way um necessarily.

[17:46] And that's the beauty of our library

[17:47] system is that there are 190 libraries

[17:50] in our consortium. Your library card

[17:52] works at any of them. you're entitled to

[17:53] library services at any of them. Um, and

[17:56] we do have a lot of library hoppers,

[17:58] which I think is fantastic. Um, but

[18:00] yeah, I think we've had a lot of

[18:02] comments from Tilted patrons who are

[18:04] being like, "I love this library. We're

[18:05] not going to stop coming here just

[18:06] because Tilton is open." So, um, I think

[18:09] it's been a good kind of marketing thing

[18:11] for us in a way. Um, and same thing when

[18:13] Hadley um, had their new building a

[18:16] several years ago. Um, it didn't take

[18:19] away many of our patrons. I we have a

[18:21] lot of patrons from Hadley who still

[18:22] come to Sunderland even though they have

[18:24] their beautiful new library there as

[18:26] well.

[18:26] >> Gota thank you.

[18:31] >> Any more questions from anyone on

[18:32] finance

[18:34] or

[18:35] >> I think I think I have a clarification

[18:37] question that that I just wanted to the

[18:39] way you said it and the way I understand

[18:40] it was slightly different. So I just

[18:41] want to make sure that

[18:42] >> everybody who's listening gets this. Um,

[18:44] when you talked about the expense

[18:47] category covering the MEA, you mean

[18:49] almost covering the ME. Okay.

[18:51] >> Yeah. Because it's we take our our CWMR

[18:54] construction payment out of that and

[18:56] then the friends of the library make up

[18:58] the remainder. Um, but being a part of

[19:01] CWRS is a huge part of our ability to be

[19:04] a a good successful library.

[19:06] >> But the CW Mars doesn't count as a play

[19:09] a little musical chair.

[19:10] >> So, it's just that Yeah, it's just um we

[19:12] have that money July 1st. that's when

[19:13] the CW Mars payment is due and it just

[19:16] makes the most sense for us um because

[19:18] we can fund raise for books and other

[19:21] things. We have more flexibility in

[19:22] terms of timing there, but the CW Mars

[19:24] payment we do need to pay right away in

[19:26] July first. We have the town money so

[19:28] you pay for it.

[19:29] >> I'm going to think two things that are

[19:30] one is that the ME is the state

[19:33] materials expenditure requirement. So

[19:35] there's a baseline number that we have

[19:38] to spend in order to maintain our

[19:40] certification. And the second is a call

[19:43] out a shout out to the friends of the

[19:45] library because we would not make that

[19:47] any the town is not the town budget does

[19:50] not provide the money to make that um

[19:53] for us to make that goal. So without the

[19:56] many of you get a letter in the in

[19:58] December um you know if without that

[20:00] honestly without that um the effort of

[20:03] the friends of the library and that

[20:05] support um we would not be certified and

[20:08] the board or the town would have to

[20:09] contribute more money. Absolutely. Yeah.

[20:13] >> I have a question about any if if there

[20:15] were not a requirement and there was the

[20:16] same amount of money, would you still

[20:17] spend the same amount on materials or

[20:20] would you redirect that more towards

[20:22] services or people or hours or anything

[20:23] else? Like how do you feel about how

[20:26] your bud budget is aortioned due to the

[20:29] requirement?

[20:30] >> Yeah, I mean it's it's difficult to say.

[20:32] Um, if I really had to sit down and

[20:35] think about how I would like to divvy it

[20:37] up, of course I would love to be able to

[20:38] offer sensory friendly hours and have,

[20:41] you know, full-time staff and all of

[20:42] that. Um, however, we we always spend

[20:45] slightly more than the me. Um, and

[20:47] that's not necessarily because I'm like

[20:49] going up, oh, we got to meet the M, we

[20:50] got to meet the ME. It's because these

[20:52] are the items that our patrons are

[20:54] borrowing, are using, are requesting.

[20:56] Um, and so I I think it would be about

[20:58] the same no matter what. Um, one nice

[21:01] thing about the MER is that they do

[21:02] allow us to use um, some of those um,

[21:05] purchases of technology that is for

[21:07] direct patrons to use can also be

[21:09] included in there. Um, which is

[21:12] fantastic too. So if we need public

[21:13] computers or something like that, we can spend that and that does count

[21:16] towards the materials expenditure

[21:18] requirement because that is seen as an

[21:20] essential library service that we need

[21:21] to be able to offer as well as

[21:23] technology. Do you want to ask that

[21:25] question to the probably five or six

[21:26] library directors that I've worked with

[21:29] and they all would spend more if they

[21:32] could

[21:33] >> on materials? Yeah.

[21:34] >> Yeah. On materials.

[21:35] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[21:37] >> When the books are more expensive,

[21:39] right?

[21:39] >> I know. I So, literally I I do an ebook

[21:42] order like once a month. I all I do is I

[21:45] go through what items people have on

[21:48] hold and if there's more than three I

[21:49] purchase it and that's like and then I

[21:51] still have to take some away because

[21:52] it's like $900 $1,200 and I you know I

[21:56] don't have that kind of money to spend

[21:58] and it's just what people are requesting

[22:00] to use.

[22:01] >> So the supplier the supply chain thing

[22:04] was for physical books though not

[22:06] ebooks.

[22:06] >> No, it's physical books, DVDs, audio

[22:08] books, everything. So it's everything

[22:10] physical. Yeah.

[22:18] A lot of people are

[22:22] we need to go back to books on tape

[22:23] because then they can't limit how often

[22:24] you use them.

[22:25] >> Yeah. Well, that that's the benefit of checking out an actual book and

[22:29] >> Yeah. Then you have Yeah. You have to

[22:30] know what a tape is.

[22:31] >> Yeah.

[22:32] Or you have to have a CD player.

[22:34] People don't have, you know, they don't

[22:36] know. Well, that too, but like Yeah.

[22:41] All

[22:44] right.

[22:45] >> Yeah.

[22:45] >> I don't have a question, but I just like

[22:47] to add a little bit on what Katherine

[22:49] said in her very thorough presentation.

[22:52] As the person who's staffed the Century

[22:55] Friendly Hours on Thursday, I just want

[22:56] to give you a little picture of what

[22:58] it's like when people walk into the

[23:00] library and experience this different

[23:02] type of environment. We have a big sign

[23:04] by the front entrance explaining exactly

[23:06] what sensory friendly hours mean. But

[23:09] people tend to walk right by it. They

[23:11] don't read it. They don't see it. They

[23:13] walk into the building and they say,

[23:15] "Are you open? Are you having a power

[23:17] outage or something?" And then we

[23:19] explain to them, "No, this is sensory

[23:21] friendly. We're trying to make the

[23:22] library more welcoming to all sorts of

[23:24] people, neurody divergent people, people

[23:26] who have sensitivities to white and

[23:28] noise or whatever." And uh we want to

[23:30] make this space accessible to everybody.

[23:32] And when they hear that, a big smile, a

[23:36] big grin comes on their faces and they

[23:38] say that's just wonderful. And that's

[23:42] not because they themselves have these

[23:44] needs, but they just like the idea of

[23:46] the library offering that experience.

[23:49] And uh that has been almost universal in

[23:52] the reception that we've gotten during

[23:54] Thursday hours.

[23:58] » Thank you for that feedback. I mean, and

[24:00] I I fully believe that when we make

[24:02] spaces accessible to people with

[24:04] disabilities, we make them more

[24:05] accessible to everybody and we just

[24:06] improve like for everybody in ways that

[24:09] we may not even realize for extended

[24:11] period of time. So, it's it's a

[24:13] wonderful thing and and I'm fully in

[24:15] supportive of having those hours

[24:17] available. Any last comments before we

[24:20] move on?

[24:21] >> I just wanted to just double down on

[24:23] this. This will change because it

[24:25] doesn't have the personnel committee

[24:27] recommended increases. Exactly. Yeah. Um

[24:31] >> which is typical that we

[24:33] >> that's what we asked for. So I just

[24:34] wanted to

[24:35] >> Yeah, that was at at your request.

[24:36] >> Y

[24:38] >> So hopefully you'll have a raise.

[24:40] >> We'll see.

[24:42] And also just for for um

[24:45] for clarification, the request this year

[24:47] to the capital is for $37,000

[24:50] for the for the ongoing maintenance of

[24:52] the

[24:52] >> um No, the capital request for the HBAC

[24:55] is um $18,500 and that is for the cost

[24:58] of one unit. Um last year it was I think

[25:02] about 35,000 was what we received

[25:04] because we didn't have any funds carry

[25:06] over from previous years. there.

[25:08] >> So 8050 gets you up to that 30 30,000.

[25:11] >> Exactly. That's where that's where we

[25:12] want to be in case of a horribly rainy

[25:15] day

[25:15] >> and we are meeting on Thursday to

[25:17] discuss the capital budget. So we will

[25:19] have

[25:19] >> more then. Okay. Perfect. Thank you for

[25:21] that clarification.

[25:23] >> All right. Uh Becky, anything from you

[25:25] while we are on library?

[25:28] Um,

[25:32] we did find some pockets of money last

[25:35] year um that that were used for the

[25:39] capital item, the um mini splits. Um but

[25:43] um like she said, I think I think this

[25:45] is a good plan because it the different

[25:47] pots have um there's still a couple

[25:50] small pots left, but um for it to be a

[25:54] comfort level, um I think her plan is

[25:57] good.

[25:58] >> Okay, great.

[25:59] >> Yeah, I just don't want to have to call

[26:01] a special meeting because our heat is

[26:03] out, you know. No, I would I would love

[26:05] to find a a way of making it just

[26:08] simpler all around and more available to

[26:10] you without having to put like a whole

[26:12] pile of money over there just in case.

[26:14] You know, it'd be great if we had some

[26:15] mechanism for that. But if I find one

[26:19] >> um Nathaniel,

[26:21] >> yes,

[26:22] >> Nathaniel, um to follow up on that

[26:25] suggestion, if that money was put in the

[26:28] final instead, it would

[26:32] it doesn't matter. It doesn't it it

[26:35] would help but it doesn't give them the

[26:39] carryover to the next year and it

[26:41] doesn't give them the immediiacy to to

[26:44] get the repairs done because they'd have

[26:46] to wait for a meeting. But it could give

[26:49] it give them access without having to

[26:52] budget as much.

[26:54] >> Okay.

[26:54] >> If the finance committee um were to

[26:57] consider that.

[26:58] >> Yeah. I mean, we're happy to do what

[27:00] whatever works for the town as long as

[27:02] we can maintain our our HV.

[27:04] >> We we will discuss options and

[27:06] >> otherwise we're going to meet in the

[27:07] cold library to try to get heat. This is

[27:10] my uniform now.

[27:12] >> If we come up with a better option, what

[27:13] we have does work, so we will we will

[27:16] keep doing that if we don't come up with

[27:17] a better option. But cool, we'll

[27:18] probably find possibly. All right. Um,

[27:20] any last thing?

[27:21] >> Burn the used books.

[27:23] >> Well,

[27:24] >> just kidding.

[27:26] >> Well, couple connotations there. Um, We

[27:28] need an official licensed legal book

[27:32] burner.

[27:32] >> I mean, we do have the fire chief here.

[27:37] >> I don't think there's enough

[27:40] to

[27:40] >> do much.

[27:42] >> All righty. Um, any last questions for

[27:43] library while we're on the subject?

[27:47] >> Thank you so much for coming in. We

[27:48] appreciate everything you do. Our

[27:49] library is an absolute gem and we love

[27:51] it. So, thank you.

[27:52] >> Thank you.

[27:54] All right,

[27:56] moving on to our next guest and that

[27:59] would be Chief Benjamin with our fire

[28:02] department. Hey

[28:02] >> everybody,

[28:03] >> thank you for being here.

[28:05] >> Happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

[28:07] >> Absolutely.

[28:08] >> I just realized I don't have the public

[28:10] safety complex spreadsheet in my packet.

[28:13] So, um, if we could put that up on the

[28:16] board eventually, that would be helpful.

[28:18] doesn't have to be right now, but um I

[28:21] don't have it to refer to and explain.

[28:24] Um but what I will do, we can certainly

[28:27] >> um

[28:28] >> go ahead,

[28:28] >> Steve. Could it be in what you submitted

[28:30] to me?

[28:31] >> Oh, yes. It would be in there. I just

[28:33] don't have it printed.

[28:35] >> I can put it up on the screen though.

[28:37] >> Okay,

[28:38] >> that'd be great. Thank you.

[28:40] >> Yeah, if you'll just let me know when

[28:41] you're in that section.

[28:43] >> Okay, we can do that last.

[28:45] >> And Becky, do we all have copies of

[28:46] this? It was in a different email than

[28:48] the

[28:48] >> It's there's tabs.

[28:51] >> I did that for expediency.

[28:55] >> You should know that it

[28:57] >> there's tabs. Thank you.

[28:59] >> No problem. Took me a minute.

[29:02] >> Yeah.

[29:03] >> Thank you.

[29:03] >> It's in there. So, one thing.

[29:07] >> One thing that I'll mention about the

[29:08] fire department budget at the very

[29:10] bottom, it's got fire department expense

[29:12] and then replacement equipment. Uh there

[29:15] have always been two uh you might say

[29:18] sub accounts for those two purposes. Um

[29:21] we don't keep track of our spending that

[29:23] way. It's all in the total fire

[29:25] department general expense line item.

[29:29] >> So and it's funny over the years it's

[29:31] sort of some years it's been broken out,

[29:33] some years it hasn't been. So what I did

[29:34] is I listed for the sake of um having it

[29:38] all there a small increase for uh fire

[29:42] department expense and then a larger

[29:44] increase for replacement equipment which

[29:46] is really where most of our costs are.

[29:48] And at the bottom um that account is

[29:52] sort of the catchall for both. So it's

[29:55] not three different accounts, it's

[29:56] actually one broken out. Um everything

[29:59] up above with the exception of fire

[30:01] department wages um I did not put a

[30:05] figure in so we could rely on uh

[30:08] personnel committee but I did want to

[30:10] put a request in for fire department

[30:12] wages and that did um generate some good

[30:15] conversation with the personnel

[30:16] committee about the hourly wages that

[30:19] our firefighters are paid. And um right

[30:23] now it sits at $17 an hour. And while

[30:28] nobody's really in this for the money,

[30:30] um it's been there for quite a while.

[30:32] So, we're we're having conversations

[30:35] about a uh a larger, more graduated

[30:39] increase for the firefighters. Um and

[30:42] really over the last couple of years,

[30:44] the general increase in minimum wage and

[30:46] some of the other um jobs in the area uh

[30:49] has some of the firefighters saying,

[30:51] "Hey, wait a minute. We're pretty well

[30:54] trained. got some some good skills yet,

[30:58] you know, we've got a certain a certain

[31:00] wage. So, that's being handled. Um, not

[31:03] really much to talk about there.

[31:04] Certainly, we'll entertain any questions

[31:05] on that, but uh, principally the fire

[31:08] department expense. We're finding uh,

[31:10] like everybody else is more and more

[31:12] costs when it comes to um, everything

[31:16] from fuel to batteries for the air packs

[31:19] to our office supplies. And then for the

[31:23] replacement equipment, I asked for that

[31:26] larger figure um because over the years

[31:28] that has been uh has been bled out a

[31:31] little bit and what we're finding now

[31:34] with the uh the PAS free gear um the

[31:38] poly floral alals are legislated to come

[31:41] out of firefighting turnout gear and

[31:44] that's a very good thing for

[31:45] firefighters uh because they are likely

[31:48] a contributor to um uh occupational

[31:52] related cancer. They're also a lot more

[31:55] expensive. Uh we we are trying a set of

[31:58] that gear with one of our lieutenants

[32:01] who's notoriously hard on gear. Um he's

[32:04] an instructor at the fire academy. Uh

[32:06] does not use our gear there, but um he's

[32:10] finding that it is uh acceptable. So,

[32:15] um, talking with Deputy Zoli and my

[32:18] officers now about switching all of our

[32:20] gear over to PAS free gear. Um, it's

[32:24] about another $1,500 a set. A set of

[32:27] gear with boots, helmets, full ends,

[32:29] about $4,000. So, we're looking at about

[32:32] 5,500 bucks. Um, in last year's money, I

[32:36] haven't gotten a quote yet for 26. Um,

[32:40] and that combined with just about

[32:43] everything else has gone up. Um, I went

[32:45] and bought bar and chain oil and two

[32:47] cycle oil for our small engines. It was

[32:49] over 100 bucks. You know, could just

[32:51] carry that out with two hands uh from

[32:54] the uh from the dealer. So, um, I've put

[32:57] those requests up there and, uh, I guess

[33:01] we could go spreadsheet by spreadsheet.

[33:03] If there's any questions on this

[33:04] particular one, happy to entertain now.

[33:06] >> A quick question. the the equipment line

[33:08] one is increasing by the 5,000. Um the

[33:10] replacement line.

[33:11] >> Yes.

[33:12] >> That's looks like that's been 21,000 for

[33:14] the last couple years. Do you know if

[33:16] it's been 21,000 for a bunch of years or

[33:18] did it change a couple years ago?

[33:20] >> It changed

[33:22] I should know this. I should have the

[33:23] paper with me. It changed about 3 years

[33:25] ago.

[33:26] >> Okay.

[33:26] >> It was reduced. Uh it was close to 30.

[33:30] >> Okay.

[33:31] >> For uh for a handful of years and then

[33:34] >> that was that was my recollection is

[33:35] that we come down on that line.

[33:37] So I just wanted that to be part of the

[33:38] context we're talking about it because

[33:39] this isn't so much an increase as it is

[33:41] a rebalancing.

[33:43] >> You might say that Nathaniel and what

[33:45] happened was we certainly things have to

[33:48] balance and we used capital for turnout

[33:51] here for a year.

[33:52] >> Mhm.

[33:53] >> And that you know we're trying to

[33:55] recover that position again.

[33:57] >> Okay.

[33:59] Crystal you have any questions on that

[34:01] part?

[34:02] >> Okay

[34:04] me. Is there a time when you need to

[34:06] have this one new PAS gear or is it as

[34:09] you need new gear that you just have to

[34:11] have this new kind?

[34:12] >> It's going to be um like all laws

[34:16] there's a little bit of wiggle room, but

[34:19] you know within three years we're going

[34:21] to have to have PAS free gear. I I want

[34:25] to switch over now.

[34:26] >> Yeah, I wouldn't be buying anything.

[34:28] >> And where do you want to go, Steve?

[34:31] We're going to uh we're going to move to

[34:34] uh PAS free turnout gear.

[34:38] Um it's been legislated, but it's not

[34:41] something that we we have to do right

[34:44] now, but I'm choosing to provide the

[34:46] officers want to go that route with the

[34:49] way that it fits. It's a the challenge

[34:50] is it's a different brand than the brand

[34:53] that we have been using and everybody

[34:55] knows and is comfortable with. So,

[34:57] there's a little bit of a a curve to get

[34:59] used to a different fit, different

[35:00] pocket and clip locations, things like

[35:02] that um to accommodate that that

[35:05] technology. But,

[35:08] >> and one of the things we want to also

[35:09] avoid is waiting too long until we have

[35:11] to and then having to refit the entire

[35:14] >> well entire swaffle at once. I'd rather

[35:16] start doing it now. And

[35:18] >> and well, very true. and we're we are uh

[35:22] yolked into a scenario of 10-year

[35:24] expiration for that turnout year. Um

[35:28] that's

[35:30] somewhat of an arbitrary number, but

[35:32] unfortunately that's in the NFPA

[35:34] standard which is referenced in a lot of

[35:37] legislation. So, um, we do use older

[35:40] gear for probationary members, members

[35:43] that are not interior firefighters, but,

[35:46] um, it's wise to keep everybody that

[35:49] could be in harm's way in that that

[35:52] current gear.

[35:53] >> Um, just so if anything, God forbid,

[35:55] does happen, we don't have that to uh to

[35:58] defend.

[35:59] >> Y So, how many sets of gear will you be

[36:02] buying over how many years?

[36:04] >> We try to buy two sets of gear a year.

[36:07] >> Okay. And the the number of firefighters

[36:09] fluctuates. Right now we've got about

[36:10] 18. And I say about because we got one

[36:13] that's on their way out and one that's

[36:14] on their way in. But it works out kind

[36:16] of nice for the size of department that

[36:18] we have. We got two sets of gear. Uh if

[36:20] we have a little extra money, sometimes

[36:22] we go for three. I'm trying to go for

[36:24] three this year. Uh just based on our

[36:26] own allocations internally and um that

[36:29] usually works out really well.

[36:31] >> Great. So let's say just throwing those

[36:33] out there that that legislation did give

[36:35] us three years to be compliant. That

[36:37] would mean that we'd be replacing

[36:38] somewhere between six and nine of those

[36:40] sets organically and then be looking at

[36:43] the other half or so when that went into

[36:45] >> well and the the thing is it's it's

[36:48] based on gear that you purchase. There's

[36:51] no way that the entirety of the

[36:54] Commonwealth could replace all of its

[36:55] gear

[36:56] >> in a couple of years. But

[36:58] >> we're trying to stay ahead of that. And

[37:01] it is specifically with uh with coats uh

[37:05] the hoods that we put on that seal

[37:08] around the face piece. I mean that's

[37:09] right up under your neck, your lymph

[37:11] nodes. Uh it's a very vulnerable spot.

[37:14] So um we've for several years we've been

[37:17] toying with the non-past

[37:20] hoods. Um but now we're going to switch

[37:24] the entire ensemble over. And just to be

[37:26] clear, all other conversation aside, if

[37:28] it's what's if it's if it's we shouldn't

[37:32] be talking about it, you don't mean like

[37:33] we should just be doing that because

[37:34] that's that's what's right for the for

[37:36] the male part of your community.

[37:37] >> Absolutely. and the whole the whole um

[37:41] firefighting

[37:42] um community business, however way you

[37:46] want to refer to it. Um it's always been

[37:48] a little bit of a a a

[37:51] historically a cavalier organization

[37:55] because you are actively seeking a

[37:57] hazardous environment.

[37:59] But what what has

[38:02] >> counterintuitive to run into a

[38:04] >> it's for for better for worse. But

[38:08] what's happened is um when we got our

[38:11] new fire truck several years back, right

[38:12] when CO broke out, we made the decision

[38:14] that's going to be a clean cab truck.

[38:16] Meaning, if we go to a structure fire,

[38:19] everybody strips out of their turnout

[38:22] gear, strips out of their street

[38:24] clothes, puts on spare clothes,

[38:26] sweatpants, scrubs that we have on the

[38:28] truck. All that gear goes either into

[38:30] the back of my pickup truck or into our

[38:32] Humvey or something and is transported

[38:34] back to the station to be washed outside

[38:36] of the truck. So that truck when you're

[38:38] in there um it still smells new which is

[38:41] great versus other departments trucks

[38:43] you go into and it smells like an

[38:44] ashtray

[38:45] >> because

[38:47] all of the gear and everything has the

[38:49] smoke in it. Those particulates are

[38:50] everywhere.

[38:51] >> Um so we've really started to to ingrain

[38:54] that into our culture

[38:56] and it's it seems to be working. There's

[38:58] a lot of um you know there's a lot of uh

[39:00] self-p policing with the other members

[39:02] and and it works really well.

[39:06] No, it's not it's not every day that you're given an opportunity to make

[39:09] a good choice that 20 years from now

[39:13] could be a bunch of sick

[39:16] >> firefighters, you know, like that.

[39:17] That's not something that there's so

[39:18] many times where we look back and go,

[39:20] "Well, if only someone 20 years ago had

[39:21] made a different choice." Like, this is

[39:22] one of those opportunities

[39:24] for a choice.

[39:25] >> It absolutely is. And you've got, you

[39:27] know, we've got a

[39:30] 21-year-old firefighter. We've got

[39:32] another one that's um in the early 20s.

[39:36] You know, it's important to make sure

[39:37] that we're um providing a good example.

[39:41] And it's not really a cliche. It is

[39:43] true. The fires these days are a lot

[39:45] dirtier than they used to be. You don't

[39:46] have just cotton and wood and everything

[39:48] else. Now you got plastic uh highly

[39:51] engineered materials that are also

[39:52] highly carcinogenic when they get

[39:54] absorbed into your body.

[39:55] >> Everything about every days.

[39:58] >> Let's not get started on that.

[40:00] >> That's a different meaning. Yeah, but

[40:03] it's a very good point. Um, the next one

[40:06] that I've got, so if if we're I don't

[40:09] want to jump if I

[40:11] >> question on this one. Just um there was

[40:12] a couple lines and I remember why we're

[40:14] running over in FY25. How are you

[40:17] looking on your budgets this year? You

[40:18] feeling good with where things are

[40:19] landing for FY26? I know there's still

[40:21] some time to go, but

[40:22] >> I I feel good about the expenditure

[40:25] side, the payroll side, it's a

[40:27] crapshoot. It always is. Um, for better,

[40:30] for worse, we've had some fire watches

[40:31] that we generate revenue from.

[40:34] >> Um, the the payroll

[40:37] u firefighter pay is a wash that's a

[40:40] pass through. However, we are able to

[40:42] bill for the equipment that's used and

[40:44] that gives us a little bit of a cushion.

[40:46] So, um,

[40:48] >> can't really find any wood that's within

[40:50] reach, but as long as we have a normal

[40:54] type year in terms of calls and, you

[40:57] know, going July to July, June, July,

[41:00] whatever is a little different than

[41:01] December to December, how well the

[41:03] software calculates it, but we seem to

[41:05] be in good shape now that we're halfway

[41:06] through a little bit more.

[41:08] >> Great. Thank you.

[41:08] >> Yeah.

[41:10] >> Any other questions from either board

[41:12] before we move on next part?

[41:15] All

[41:16] right.

[41:16] >> Okay.

[41:17] >> Um the uh the other protection tab

[41:22] that's down there um involves three specific line items. Two of the

[41:28] three are under my purview. Uh the civil

[41:30] defense and the radio system.

[41:33] Um,

[41:35] it's always hard to know what to ask for

[41:38] these uh because the civil defense is

[41:42] our reverse 911 system and they don't

[41:45] send us a new bill till like April. So,

[41:50] I have no idea what they're going to ask

[41:52] for this year. Um, and you ask them and

[41:54] they don't know. So, I asked for another

[41:57] $200 um with that. And the same with the

[42:00] radio system. um the fees that covers

[42:03] both police and fire another $200.

[42:06] Eventually, that expense is going to

[42:09] sunset. Um the radio system is a at the

[42:13] chief's meetings, everybody groans when

[42:15] the radio system is brought up because

[42:16] it is uh it's a blessing that the

[42:18] Commonwealth brought us onto their uh

[42:21] digital system, but it is um requiring

[42:25] an awful lot of finetuning specifically

[42:27] for paging. Um, the pagers that we wear

[42:30] now are absolutely horrendous. I mean,

[42:34] this looks like something you'd see on

[42:35] the Dukes of Hazard in the 80s. Um, it's

[42:38] really,

[42:40] they work okay, but they're very bulky.

[42:42] We've had one get wrecked just cuz it

[42:44] was so big, got slammed down the door.

[42:46] It's what happens. So, um,

[42:50] the figure that's up there reflects the

[42:52] old analog system that's being

[42:54] maintained just because the new digital

[42:57] system is not completely covering the uh the county.

[43:02] So, those there isn't much wiggle room

[43:04] with those. Whatever the bill is, we'll

[43:06] submit, but fortunately, they're usually

[43:09] not an awful lot larger. Uh, any

[43:12] questions on that one from anybody? And

[43:14] just for you're saying that one of these

[43:16] line items is the old system and one of

[43:17] them is the new system.

[43:18] >> The civil defense is our reverse 911

[43:21] system. The code red the telephone

[43:23] system.

[43:23] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[43:24] >> And the radio system is the old analog

[43:27] radio system.

[43:28] >> Okay. Got you. Okay. Thank you.

[43:31] >> And then the animal control item. I'm

[43:33] sorry. Go ahead.

[43:35] >> I'm sorry. Question. Uh Steve. So you're

[43:38] saying that the new radios that were the

[43:40] gift from the state, you have them, you

[43:44] use them, but you have to supplement

[43:47] them with these old radios.

[43:50] >> That's that's exactly right. The new

[43:52] radios have the ability to function

[43:55] between digital and analog, the two

[43:58] different u let's just say operating

[44:00] systems um for the radios. Yeah,

[44:03] >> the new system is the digital, but it's

[44:05] not reaching every place in the county.

[44:08] So, we have to toggle behind between

[44:11] digital and analog to get full coverage.

[44:14] For instance, at the Route 116 flats,

[44:17] really since they were built, we've

[44:19] never had um digital radio coverage. So,

[44:23] whenever we go over the bridge by the

[44:26] Hoverard Well and Plum Road, we're going

[44:29] to switch over to analog so we can talk

[44:30] to people. um that so that as the

[44:36] Commonwealth plugs all the holes in the

[44:38] digital system, we should eventually be

[44:40] able to get rid of that analog system.

[44:43] Um but it's a very slow process. And

[44:48] 10 years ago, they said we'd only be

[44:50] able to find parts for another five

[44:52] years for the radio system, but the

[44:53] thing's still kicking. So, um I don't

[44:56] think it's in good health, but it's it's

[44:58] functioning, and that's what the that's

[44:59] what the money goes to support. there.

[45:04] >> And then the

[45:06] >> Sorry. And then the animal control line

[45:07] item, that's the um what we used to have

[45:10] an animal control officer for and is now

[45:12] going to be handled by the Franklin

[45:15] Sheriff's Department.

[45:17] >> Okay.

[45:18] >> Correct.

[45:18] >> And this number here is the number for

[45:20] them for this coming year.

[45:22] >> It's me.

[45:27] » Got you.

[45:28] >> I'll take the money though if it's

[45:29] available.

[45:31] Fair enough.

[45:33] >> All right. Okay. Um, any other questions

[45:35] from finest?

[45:37] >> Dan, Crystal.

[45:39] >> All right.

[45:40] >> Okay.

[45:40] >> I think you're good.

[45:41] >> Uh, town park. This one will go quick.

[45:44] Um,

[45:45] not asking for any changes for the town

[45:48] park. the um

[45:51] the funds that we're able to to bring

[45:54] in, we more or less put back into um

[45:58] either maintenance at the park that's

[45:59] over and above what's budgeted or um the

[46:04] fireman's association collects it and we

[46:06] are before I end I I've got one thing to

[46:08] bring up with you about perhaps future

[46:10] capital but um the fireman's association

[46:13] does get a little bit of money every

[46:15] year from the proceeds of renting the

[46:17] town park and maintaining

[46:19] that we're getting prepared um to make a

[46:22] proposal for a purchase, not this year,

[46:24] but perhaps next year

[46:25] >> and ask for a little bit of help from

[46:26] the town, but all that money is it's

[46:29] accumulating.

[46:32] >> So, anything on the town park?

[46:36] >> Okay.

[46:37] >> And Becky, could you kindly bring up the

[46:40] um public safety complex

[46:42] tab?

[46:45] >> I think it's Just give me a second.

[46:50] It's the PSC.

[46:52] >> Yep.

[46:53] >> PSC.

[46:54] >> He's under town buildings. And then

[46:56] buildings.

[47:01] » Huh.

[47:02] >> Can you scroll up? That look like the

[47:03] list is longer than just

[47:05] >> Yeah,

[47:09] » that's a good idea.

[47:12] There we go. Town

[47:14] >> buildings. PSC PCs.

[47:17] bird.

[47:19] >> Yes.

[47:26] » Can everyone see it? Okay.

[47:28] >> Yep.

[47:31] >> The energy. So, it's broken out a couple

[47:32] different ways. Could you slide over to

[47:35] the right, Becky?

[47:38] >> Oops. Too far. No.

[47:42] >> Do you want the reasons?

[47:44] >> That's That's good right there.

[47:47] Okay.

[47:48] >> Primarily um looking for a little bit

[47:51] more money um for annual floor waxing

[47:54] and other maintenance. We found that

[47:57] over the years the u

[48:00] the floors are holding up well, but

[48:02] especially years like this with a lot of

[48:03] sand and salt, they take a beating. It's

[48:06] nice to have them waxed every year and

[48:08] that figure there is about what we paid

[48:09] last year. So asked for um asked for

[48:13] that to be rolled into the budget just

[48:14] so uh year like this I think we're okay

[48:17] with oil and our our spend as far as

[48:20] heating but um we'll find out if it

[48:25] warms up like it's supposed to next week

[48:26] it won't be that bad. But if we keep

[48:28] getting nights around zero uh building

[48:31] uses a lot of energy to keep the trucks

[48:34] at 50°.

[48:38] So, it looks like we have an increase of

[48:39] a little under $1,400 for the floor um

[48:45] >> floor maintenance.

[48:46] >> Yeah.

[48:47] >> And that's the only increase you're

[48:49] looking at there.

[48:50] >> Uh tough spend. I asked for a little bit

[48:53] more money up top just for general um I

[48:56] want to say energy. Could you slide back

[48:58] to the left, Becky?

[48:59] >> No, the first one's operation. The

[49:01] second one's energy.

[49:02] >> Operations and energy. All right.

[49:04] >> Yeah.

[49:05] >> The operations. So that's okay. That's

[49:08] why there's a total there as well. So

[49:10] similar as our our fire department

[49:13] budget.

[49:13] >> Y

[49:14] >> yeah just that whatever that is 1300400

[49:18] that was asked um is just for the floor

[49:22] waxing all the other operational

[49:24] expenses I anticipate to be flat for

[49:26] next year.

[49:27] >> Okay great.

[49:28] >> So could you just clarify? So if I look

[49:30] at this so the using the total row so

[49:33] FY24 budget was 33,000 FY sorry FY25

[49:37] budget was 34,000

[49:39] 26 was 289 and now we're back to 328.

[49:42] Okay, for FY25, it says 33,275

[49:47] total spend for FY25 over on the notes

[49:49] column,

[49:50] >> but then looking at the FY25 expendit

[49:52] 25555 at least on the one I'm

[49:56] >> Becky, could you artic is there a

[49:58] >> I think missing in that 25

[50:04] » the 33 would make more sense given the

[50:07] >> for FY25 on the total public safety

[50:09] complex expense the budget was $34,000.

[50:12] just trying to verify what the expended

[50:14] was. If it was the 25555 in there or

[50:17] over in cell L9 where it says 33275 was

[50:22] the spend.

[50:28] » I'm sorry. I'm looking over at L. He's

[50:31] saying

[50:31] >> the top right

[50:33] >> up two from there. If you go up two,

[50:35] you'll see it says 337.

[50:36] >> Okay. So, it says 33275

[50:39] in the up corner.

[50:42] 2075.

[50:44] Yeah. So, that note would have been

[50:46] written during the budget and I would

[50:48] have put um we put in the 25,000.

[50:52] >> Yeah. 25,000 seems more accurate given

[50:54] what time of we where we are in the time

[50:56] of year.

[50:57] >> I would

[50:59] I wouldn't see you having spent the

[51:01] whole budget at this point in the year.

[51:03] >> Right. But what they're saying is that

[51:05] >> 26 maybe get left over. Oh, right.

[51:09] >> Right.

[51:10] >> Yeah. I do that all the time.

[51:13] >> Why can't it all just be right here?

[51:15] >> All right.

[51:17] Okay.

[51:18] >> 3327.

[51:20] >> There.

[51:23] Any other questions from finance?

[51:26] >> Well, I guess if if it was 33275 in 25,

[51:30] then what are we not doing in 26 that we

[51:32] have a budget of 29,000 and we're going

[51:34] to meet it? Just less floor stripping.

[51:37] Like I'm just trying to understand like

[51:39] what got moved around.

[51:40] >> Yeah. And again, I apologize. I don't

[51:42] have that one sheet that's got I added

[51:44] another column on mine over to the right

[51:46] to explain. I could check into that over

[51:50] >> the year that the um exhaust

[51:53] stuff.

[51:54] >> Uh we did that through a grant.

[51:57] >> All of it though was through grants.

[51:59] >> Yeah. Now there is also

[52:01] >> took care of a lot of it.

[52:03] >> Yeah. There's also uh spend that could

[52:06] be included in that for just general

[52:08] HVAC because there was the project, but

[52:11] we've also had we still have um a

[52:14] handful of smaller projects to do. I

[52:16] think we may still have a little bit of

[52:19] money left in some of the uh the accounts there.

[52:24] >> Okay.

[52:24] >> PSC um HVAC, what acronym?

[52:28] >> Yes.

[52:31] and Chief Eric and I arm wrestle over

[52:34] how we're going to spend that money. Um,

[52:40] » sounds like

[52:43] » Yeah, you could raise money. It's a

[52:46] different revenue generating.

[52:49] >> Could have it at the town park.

[52:56] » All right. Anyone else have any

[52:57] questions before we

[53:00] finish up with fire?

[53:03] All righty. Thank you very much. We

[53:06] appreciate it.

[53:08] >> All right.

[53:08] >> Thank you, Steve.

[53:10] >> You're welcome, Becky. Thank you.

[53:15] » Next up, we have building inspector.

[53:21] » Thank you for coming in.

[53:22] >> Short and sweet. You haven't changed

[53:24] anything.

[53:26] the same just if there's a colo

[53:27] available asking you know like it so

[53:30] >> yep

[53:30] >> everything the same the only thing we

[53:32] brought up last time and this might not

[53:34] be the board um I don't think finance

[53:37] would have anything to do with it but we

[53:38] had mentioned or I had mentioned and we

[53:40] never followed up on it or I didn't um

[53:42] we went up the um percentage for the

[53:45] online fee so we went from $10 permit to

[53:48] 12

[53:49] >> and any other community will add that to

[53:52] $2 permit just to cover our expenses,

[53:55] you know, of what it's costing us for

[53:57] the program. So, I didn't know if it has

[53:58] to be a different meeting or we could

[54:00] get the okay on that since I forgot to

[54:02] come back last year or we just

[54:03] overlooked it to get that $2 um how that

[54:07] works

[54:09] >> procedurally. I'm not sure, Becky. Do we

[54:11] have to have that be a line item on a

[54:14] agenda in order to do that or is that

[54:15] something we can approve?

[54:18] >> I think we should. I'm sorry, but well,

[54:20] let's discuss it and then you can make

[54:23] your decision at the next meeting after

[54:25] you get all your information.

[54:26] >> Okay, great. So, yeah, we'll put that as

[54:28] a as a line item for a future meeting.

[54:31] >> So, it's all permits though, not just

[54:33] building. It would be wiring and

[54:35] plumbing and

[54:36] >> gas. Every permit,

[54:38] >> yes,

[54:39] >> would go up $2 to just

[54:43] >> basically break even on the cost of what

[54:47] that software cost us.

[54:49] >> Yes.

[54:50] >> Okay.

[54:50] >> Y

[54:51] >> how does it compare to other towns? It

[54:53] seems really low.

[54:54] >> It's the same um just did the same thing

[54:57] in Graanby, the same uh program and

[54:59] that's what they did. Added the $12.

[55:02] Yep.

[55:02] >> Hadley, Southampton, all of them just,

[55:04] you know, break even with that. Okay.

[55:07] It made total sense. So, we'll make sure

[55:09] we put that one on discuss it.

[55:11] >> And we didn't do it for a year, but it's

[55:14] still 12. It's not like it's 13 now.

[55:16] >> We haven't heard it. The bad thing was

[55:17] it went up in the middle of the year,

[55:18] you know, after the budget was all out

[55:20] >> and um Beck Becky caught her payment and

[55:23] said, "What's going on here? Why is it,

[55:24] you know, the extra $800 or whatever."

[55:26] So, we um you know, guess we should have

[55:29] come sooner with it, but if we could get

[55:30] that on sooner than later, it's not a

[55:32] big deal, but it's every little bit

[55:33] helps. So,

[55:34] >> yeah. I mean, it's it should be budget

[55:37] neutral. So,

[55:38] >> yep. Make sure it is.

[55:39] >> All right. And then other than that,

[55:41] your cola is aside, your your budget is

[55:45] flat from last year.

[55:46] >> Yes. Everything.

[55:48] >> Okay. Well, that's wonderful news on my

[55:51] end. Any questions on that from

[55:54] >> any place you can cut it back?

[55:57] >> Should be lower than zero.

[55:58] >> We got a wish list.

[56:00] >> Any questions?

[56:02] >> She teaches early wise.

[56:04] Wonderful. Well, thank you very much and

[56:06] we'll discuss the the improving the

[56:09] increase in the fees and get back to you

[56:10] on that SAP.

[56:11] >> Sounds good.

[56:12] >> Wonderful. Thank you for coming in.

[56:13] >> Thank you.

[56:14] >> Have yourself a great day.

[56:14] >> Yeah. I'm going to hang out just in case

[56:16] anything discussed with the uh one of

[56:19] the things in the agenda earlier. So,

[56:21] >> sounds good. Um, all right. Up last for

[56:24] new business is discussing the Roy

[56:26] Bishop contract with the assessors

[56:30] or more quickly.

[56:32] >> Is this still funny? I believe.

[56:35] >> Yeah. I don't believe the assessors are

[56:37] there tonight.

[56:38] >> Um the what they're requesting is

[56:42] >> Did you want to complete with finance

[56:44] committee first?

[56:45] >> Yeah, that that's a good point. I was

[56:47] >> in my head it was all part of the same

[56:48] thing, but if you guys would like to

[56:50] adjourn, please do.

[56:51] >> Before we complete and and sorry I

[56:53] missed the last meeting, is there any

[56:54] like 30,000 foot things about the budget

[56:57] cycle this year that you have been

[56:59] thinking about that we should talk

[57:00] about? any major concerns or positives

[57:04] in any things that Becky's seeing and

[57:05] you guys are seeing

[57:07] >> in so much as the presentations we've

[57:08] had so far? Not so much.

[57:10] >> Right.

[57:11] >> Um the school budgets are going to be

[57:14] the big things those are coming up soon.

[57:16] >> So before we um leave, there's two

[57:19] meetings coming up. Well, there will be finance committee, select board

[57:23] and other groups. So on um

[57:29] » March 23rd,

[57:30] >> sorry, on March 23rd, February March

[57:32] 23rd, this group will also be meeting

[57:34] with both the Frontier School Committee

[57:36] and the Sunland School Committee.

[57:39] >> Tenative tenative they're trying that.

[57:41] So that is our regular meeting time. So

[57:43] easy enough for us. the other time it's

[57:45] a regular meeting time for us where

[57:46] we'll be meeting with the three towns to

[57:48] talk about South County

[57:49] >> Senior Center and South County um em

[57:53] >> EMS thank you em something um is Monday

[57:56] March 30th again pretty late in our

[57:59] cycle but still in our cycle also one of

[58:01] the regular meeting times that we meet

[58:03] but we'll meet at Deerfield

[58:05] >> okay

[58:05] >> at the conference room there or on Zoom

[58:08] >> and we'll we'll revisit that two weeks

[58:10] prior in the meeting

[58:11] >> just to announce those two things are

[58:13] coming up that We're still on our cycle,

[58:14] but kind of odd.

[58:16] >> Yeah. And we will confirm the 23rd,

[58:19] which is 2 weeks from today.

[58:21] >> Um, we'll confirm once we get

[58:22] confirmation that Darius and at least

[58:25] some people from the school committees

[58:26] are

[58:27] >> you said March 23rd. February.

[58:31] >> That's February 23rd.

[58:32] >> And then March 30th is the South County.

[58:35] >> Y got.

[58:36] >> Um, so we'll confirm that one via email

[58:39] because we're able to do that via open

[58:41] emails. Um and then we'll get that

[58:43] posted once we have a confirmation from

[58:45] all parties involved

[58:47] >> and that and we're thinking the same

[58:48] time too.

[58:49] >> Yeah.

[58:50] >> So unless somebody on the school board

[58:52] >> unless Darius and the school committee

[58:53] aren't available at that time in which

[58:54] case we'll look at another one of our

[58:55] meeting times probably two weeks after

[58:57] that. Um and we'll we'll figure that out

[58:59] from there.

[58:59] >> Okay. Awesome. Thank you.

[59:01] >> And uh just one other topic from last

[59:03] year.

[59:04] >> I I have a question too. When you ask

[59:06] it, um,

[59:08] >> I was just going to ask about health

[59:09] insurance because last year that was

[59:10] another I didn't know if there was any

[59:11] visibility on.

[59:12] >> I I have an answer on health insurance.

[59:15] >> Great.

[59:15] >> All right.

[59:17] >> Go ahead, Becky.

[59:20] Um, we heard from U. Maya this week and

[59:25] after the MMA conference where they

[59:28] voted to uh eliminate their GPL1,

[59:32] um, our our rate for this year is going

[59:35] to be 8.5.

[59:37] >> Okay.

[59:38] >> 8.5% up from last year.

[59:40] >> Yeah.

[59:41] >> Which is still a little

[59:42] >> up from last year, but we were facing

[59:44] threats of 15%

[59:46] >> and 18 and 14. I mean, yeah, 15 was like

[59:48] the good news after the even worse news.

[59:51] So that's

[59:51] >> single digits.

[59:53] >> Doesn't sound like great news, but they

[59:55] really managed expectations very

[59:58] thrilled with

[59:59] >> it was 100% and then it was 50%.

[1:00:02] Okay. All right.

[1:00:03] >> That GP1 shift is happening in a lot of

[1:00:05] places.

[1:00:06] >> Yes, that is a big issue um

[1:00:09] industrywide.

[1:00:11] >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:00:12] >> Absolutely. Yeah. Any other questions

[1:00:14] before you all dissolve for the day? All

[1:00:17] right.

[1:00:19] Joe has one.

[1:00:20] >> Yep.

[1:00:22] >> Hello.

[1:00:25] Oh, yeah. Okay. I'm good. Sorry.

[1:00:26] I lost. So, just I put it out last week

[1:00:29] and then a lot of neighbors are asking

[1:00:31] me. So, I'm asking you all about the the

[1:00:34] increased

[1:00:36] uh taxes based on the reassessment. And

[1:00:39] it looks like because we didn't put the

[1:00:41] override in last year, there's a double

[1:00:43] override. Is that why the increase looks

[1:00:46] so high? And also in terms of the

[1:00:49] budget, are we using the accurate

[1:00:52] increase with those increases in taxes

[1:00:56] as our revenue? Are we still using the

[1:00:59] ones for the increase?

[1:01:01] >> So, I can I think I can answer all your

[1:01:02] questions. Um I'm going go backwards

[1:01:04] starting with so the the capital line

[1:01:07] item is a separate tax item than the

[1:01:09] budget line item that each of them

[1:01:11] increase by 2 and a half% or up two and

[1:01:13] a half%

[1:01:14] per approximate two and a half. Um but

[1:01:17] the increase or decrease in one or the

[1:01:18] other doesn't affect the other one. So

[1:01:20] our budget is up 2 and a half% over what

[1:01:23] it was last year or two and a half% of

[1:01:24] the year before that but unrelated to

[1:01:27] the capital expenditure. Um, in terms of

[1:01:29] people's tax bills, what happened is

[1:01:32] last year their tax bill went down

[1:01:33] because we made a mistake and this year

[1:01:35] it's both going back up by the amount it

[1:01:37] should have been last year and then also

[1:01:39] increasing by the normal 2 and a half%

[1:01:41] that it would increase this year.

[1:01:43] >> Um, and so

[1:01:45] as much as it's not it's it's harder to

[1:01:47] do that, what I would tell people is

[1:01:48] look at your tax bill two years ago,

[1:01:51] compare that to this year, don't compare

[1:01:52] last year's to this year because last

[1:01:54] year's was artificially substantially

[1:01:56] lower than it should have been. Um, and

[1:01:57] so yes, it does look like it's a double

[1:01:59] increase, but really it's a it's a

[1:02:02] recuperation and then an increase from

[1:02:04] previous years.

[1:02:06] >> Does that make sense?

[1:02:08] >> Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I've been

[1:02:10] telling them go back to your 3 four

[1:02:11] years of tax, follow that trend and you

[1:02:15] know that's what they're advising them

[1:02:18] to do. But does that mean we have more

[1:02:19] income or is that income from the last

[1:02:22] one that didn't get on the back? So, in

[1:02:25] terms of the operating budget, it has no

[1:02:26] effect. It didn't last year. It doesn't

[1:02:28] this year. In terms of our capital

[1:02:29] budget, man, last year was a real fun

[1:02:32] year for capital because we didn't have

[1:02:33] any money. Um, and this year, and and

[1:02:37] >> to be clear, it's not that we're

[1:02:38] collecting two years worth of capital

[1:02:40] money. We're still only getting this

[1:02:42] year's how much we should have gotten

[1:02:43] all along. This year, had it increased

[1:02:45] by 2 and a half% last year and had

[1:02:47] increased by 2 and 12% this year.

[1:02:48] >> So, we still missed a year.

[1:02:49] >> We missed an entire year. We never are

[1:02:51] making that money up. That money is just

[1:02:52] gone. It was a gift to the gift to the

[1:02:54] members of town who got to have a nice

[1:02:56] little tax break for a year. Um, what it

[1:02:58] did for full visibility to everybody.

[1:03:00] What it did is it it tightened a lot of

[1:03:02] our belts for the capital side of things

[1:03:04] because we had to find this money here

[1:03:07] and this money there and this money here. And doing that was

[1:03:10] allowed us through but also closed all

[1:03:12] those doors for having that money be

[1:03:14] there to find two years from now or four

[1:03:17] years from now. Um, and we also spent

[1:03:19] more free cash into the capital

[1:03:23] stabilization fund than we would have

[1:03:25] normally liked to had we not had that

[1:03:26] happen.

[1:03:27] >> Um, so yeah, there's no no impact on the operating budget, but the capital

[1:03:32] stabilization budget is in a lot better

[1:03:34] shape this year than was last year.

[1:03:38] >> Okay, that's I appreciate that. Will

[1:03:39] make it easier for me to explain that

[1:03:41] some of the dangers. Thank you.

[1:03:43] >> Oh, yes. I've heard quite a bit about it

[1:03:44] myself for sure.

[1:03:47] All righty.

[1:03:48] >> Yeah.

[1:03:49] >> I will turn it over to Val to

[1:03:51] >> I'm accepting a motion to adjourn from

[1:03:53] the finance committee.

[1:03:54] >> So moved. Second.

[1:03:57] >> All in favor?

[1:03:59] >> I Joe Elias.

[1:04:03] >> All righty.

[1:04:04] >> All right. Approved.

[1:04:06] >> See you guys in two weeks.

[1:04:06] >> See you all later. Have a nice

[1:04:08] >> Yep. And we will be in touch via email

[1:04:10] about confirming two weeks from now. Um

[1:04:12] including the the schools.

[1:04:15] >> All righty. Come in.

[1:04:16] >> Moving back on over to the Ward Bishop

[1:04:20] contract.

[1:04:21] >> And Tom, just so you know that um I

[1:04:24] believe the agenda item you're probably

[1:04:26] waiting here for is not going to happen.

[1:04:30] >> Not going to happen. Becky just said

[1:04:31] that maybe I should um in case you had a

[1:04:34] question.

[1:04:35] >> Okay, perfect.

[1:04:36] >> Perfect.

[1:04:37] >> We'll be done that one momentarily.

[1:04:38] We're just

[1:04:40] >> I have nothing better to do, right?

[1:04:42] >> There you go. Hang out.

[1:04:43] >> They're fun. Meetings are fun. So,

[1:04:45] Becky, for the Roy Bishop contract, is

[1:04:47] that something we want to just push off

[1:04:48] until the sessions are here, or is that

[1:04:49] something that we can look at now

[1:04:51] ourselves without them?

[1:04:54] >> I I believe we can look at it without

[1:04:56] them. They um this is an annual

[1:05:00] contract. We've been contracting with

[1:05:01] Roy Bishop. I know at least 10 years.

[1:05:04] I'm not sure

[1:05:06] >> what the history is before that. Well,

[1:05:09] about I'm assuming it's about 10 years.

[1:05:11] He's been around for a long time. Um

[1:05:15] he does uh he's been very thorough. He's

[1:05:19] gone through all the valuations for us.

[1:05:23] Um and I believe his rate is quite

[1:05:26] reasonable um for you know having a

[1:05:30] skilled assessor

[1:05:33] um

[1:05:35] to consult with your town in this day in

[1:05:38] this time period is a very one. It's a rare resource that we greatly

[1:05:43] appreciate um having Roy to assist the

[1:05:47] assessor's department.

[1:05:49] >> Okay.

[1:05:49] >> And I'm looking at the

[1:05:50] >> we wouldn't have gotten he's been

[1:05:52] handling all the valuations and we need

[1:05:55] to work with him more to make sure um

[1:06:01] we're covering everything just because

[1:06:03] he's giving us very good deals. on, but

[1:06:06] it's he's

[1:06:08] came back when I asked for more

[1:06:10] questions. He's been very responsive and

[1:06:13] I very much appreciate his work.

[1:06:15] >> Okay. And I'm looking at the the um

[1:06:17] agreement and it looks like it's $9,500

[1:06:20] and then additional services for $25 per

[1:06:23] partial inspection.

[1:06:26] Is that the document I'm looking at?

[1:06:30] >> Yeah.

[1:06:31] >> Okay.

[1:06:33] Dan, Crystal, any questions on that?

[1:06:34] Just what was the last?

[1:06:36] >> I think we I'm sorry. I had misread the

[1:06:38] amount.

[1:06:40] >> I did it quickly. I think we need to

[1:06:42] hold off on that contract till we

[1:06:43] discuss it further. I'm sorry.

[1:06:47] >> Do we know what it was last year or is

[1:06:49] that that what we need to check on it?

[1:06:50] >> I think it was 3500.

[1:06:52] >> Oh, okay. So, yeah, we we'll definitely

[1:06:54] want to check into that and get back to

[1:06:56] that one.

[1:06:58] >> Yeah. And I just looked quickly at I

[1:07:00] thought it was the same. So I got to

[1:07:01] review that very clearly.

[1:07:03] >> All right, we will next week when we're

[1:07:05] having a nonfincom meeting, we can re

[1:07:09] readress that item.

[1:07:11] >> All right, which brings us to that's the

[1:07:14] last piece of new business brings us to

[1:07:16] old business. Um the first item of old

[1:07:18] business is a review of the greenhouse

[1:07:20] concerns. As we have discussed in the

[1:07:21] past, we have a member of town who um

[1:07:24] abuts a farm who recently put in a

[1:07:27] greenhouse and that greenhouse moves

[1:07:29] quite a bit in the wind.

[1:07:31] >> Three green houses.

[1:07:31] sorry. Three green

[1:07:33] houses um that are made out of that

[1:07:35] flexible plastic material. Um and the

[1:07:38] wind apparently makes them move quite a

[1:07:40] bit which is um causing sound levels

[1:07:42] that are beyond minor nuisance. Um and

[1:07:47] the the a budding property owner has

[1:07:50] reached out to the select board to

[1:07:52] request some kind of um relief to their concerns.

[1:07:57] >> Crystal, do you have any more details on

[1:07:59] that one?

[1:08:00] >> Uh Becky, were you able to get in touch

[1:08:03] with anyone today regarding Okay. So,

[1:08:07] why don't you

[1:08:08] >> Yeah. Um

[1:08:10] so a a a suggestion has come up um in uh

[1:08:14] regarding the green houses that it would

[1:08:17] be beneficial if um I think it was Atlas

[1:08:22] Farm has called uh the homeowner and

[1:08:27] suggested that maybe a mediation

[1:08:30] would be helpful. And um I have um so

[1:08:37] the select board representative would be

[1:08:39] Crystal and then Tom Quinnland, our

[1:08:43] building commissioner, and myself. I'm

[1:08:46] proposing the three town officials sit

[1:08:49] down with these two parties and listen

[1:08:53] and and help them come to an agreement

[1:08:57] that could satisfy their the problem

[1:09:00] that is occurring. So I've checked with

[1:09:02] town council. There was a concern that

[1:09:05] we should not get involved. But I think

[1:09:07] if we um make no promises, this group of

[1:09:11] people has no authority to make promises

[1:09:14] to um engage the town. So we just be

[1:09:19] clear with them at the outset that the the rules of the game are we're here

[1:09:25] to listen, support, and help you find a

[1:09:27] solution.

[1:09:29] We are not here in an official uh

[1:09:32] capacity with authority, but we are very

[1:09:35] much interested in helping you resolve

[1:09:37] this issue.

[1:09:40] >> And if the select board is agreeable to

[1:09:42] that approach.

[1:09:45] » Yeah. No, that that sounds good. I I

[1:09:47] appreciate Crystal you having taken

[1:09:48] >> and that's the thing. I want to give

[1:09:50] both of you the opportunity if either

[1:09:52] one of you would prefer to

[1:09:55] >> mediate on this. I am open to letting

[1:10:00] you do it. I do not mind doing it. I

[1:10:02] just didn't know if

[1:10:03] >> No, I appreciate I I always appreciate

[1:10:05] >> I always want to be asked to dance. You

[1:10:07] know what I mean? I always want the

[1:10:08] invitation. I'm not always going to say

[1:10:10] yes, but I always want the invitation.

[1:10:11] Um, no. I I appreciate you taking care

[1:10:13] of it. Um, I appreciated from the

[1:10:14] beginning that you had the interest in

[1:10:15] taking care of it and I would be happy

[1:10:17] to have you do so. Um, I agree with the

[1:10:20] concern of not having it be an official

[1:10:22] duty of the town to not put ourselves in

[1:10:24] a position where we either make promises

[1:10:26] that the town legally or otherwise can't

[1:10:28] fulfill. Um, nor get ourselves sort of

[1:10:31] in the middle of something that is

[1:10:32] inherently a dispute between two

[1:10:34] property owners. Um, I guess my big

[1:10:37] question, and this is just for my own my

[1:10:39] own peace of mind or or my own brain, is

[1:10:43] what would the steps like if if if if

[1:10:48] there was a a good conversation and they

[1:10:50] met in the middle, what would that look

[1:10:51] like? Is are there steps that being can

[1:10:53] be taken by Atlas farms to lessen the

[1:10:57] noise that they're

[1:10:57] >> And so that's what we don't know.

[1:10:59] Because that's part of my question is if

[1:11:01] there is nothing other than they stay up

[1:11:03] and it's horrible, they tear them down

[1:11:05] and they're no longer there. If there's

[1:11:06] no middle ground, I guess my question is

[1:11:08] what what can be found, right?

[1:11:10] >> We'd have to know that there's some

[1:11:12] remediation efforts,

[1:11:13] >> windshields they can put up,

[1:11:15] >> right? So, and that's again, this is a

[1:11:18] very different winter than other winters

[1:11:21] we've had, right? So,

[1:11:23] >> again, I know nothing about greenhouse

[1:11:26] construction. Nothing. I'm not even

[1:11:29] going to try to pretend I do, but like

[1:11:32] it appears right now the noise is

[1:11:36] lessened because of the snow buildup

[1:11:38] around them.

[1:11:40] >> So

[1:11:42] again, us not knowing, you know, is

[1:11:46] there something they can do? You know,

[1:11:49] some type of barrier or padding around

[1:11:53] those in the wind. I don't know the

[1:11:55] answer to that. Hopefully the farmer

[1:11:57] does. Yep.

[1:11:58] >> And if he doesn't know the answer,

[1:12:02] you know, we're there to

[1:12:05] >> just, you know, encourage him to look

[1:12:09] into it, encourage

[1:12:12] >> the homeowner, you know, I mean, we're

[1:12:14] just there to

[1:12:17] grease the process and

[1:12:18] >> to try to be the person who takes the

[1:12:20] deep breath and go, you know, because

[1:12:21] >> Yeah. No, I'm sure that both sides are passionate about the the the

[1:12:26] situation. It's livelihood versus, you

[1:12:28] know, being able to utilize one's home

[1:12:30] and, you know, peace of mind in one

[1:12:31] home, right?

[1:12:32] >> So, yeah. No, I I think it it makes a

[1:12:34] lot of sense to have the town, as you

[1:12:36] said, just be the the cool, calm,

[1:12:38] collected, you know, voice of reason and whatnot,

[1:12:41] >> you know, and would like town there in

[1:12:43] case there's any um discussions, you

[1:12:47] know, because it's ARPA. I keep saying

[1:12:49] ARPA. It's APR,

[1:12:52] >> APR, APR.

[1:12:54] >> So, there's different rules for

[1:12:56] permitting, you know, for farmland,

[1:12:59] things like that. So, you know, we need

[1:13:04] Tom's input, you know, also or, you

[1:13:07] know, to be able to possibly take away

[1:13:10] and look into something.

[1:13:12] >> Mhm.

[1:13:13] >> You know, cuz I cannot tell you anything

[1:13:16] about a building regulation, nor would I

[1:13:18] even know who to suggest they go to

[1:13:21] other than call Tom. So instead of me

[1:13:24] sitting there and saying call Tom,

[1:13:27] >> Tom is willing to, you know, sit down

[1:13:30] and be part of this too.

[1:13:32] >> Obviously, it's going to be tricky

[1:13:34] scheduling a time because

[1:13:36] >> many of us have day jobs, including the

[1:13:39] homeowners.

[1:13:40] >> Y

[1:13:41] >> um you know, so

[1:13:47] » Yes. So I deal with it all the time.

[1:13:49] Chickens first time with a greenhouse

[1:13:50] but fences and property lines. So it you

[1:13:54] know to explain to people somehow it

[1:13:56] went to the boss the boss's level and

[1:13:59] I'm very appreciative that you know

[1:14:00] you'll be there but I deal a lot of

[1:14:02] times I'm deal with this and it's you

[1:14:04] know I'm the mediator just trying to

[1:14:06] cool it off because otherwise it's going

[1:14:07] to get civil and you know two neighbors

[1:14:09] like I said a lot of times it's a fence

[1:14:11] you know is it on the property where

[1:14:12] it's property line and I can't determine

[1:14:14] that. I can't, but to get them together

[1:14:16] and get them to cooperate at the end or

[1:14:18] get along is what I do dealing with, you

[1:14:21] know,

[1:14:22] >> with whatever town it be. So, I'm just

[1:14:24] lucky that you're volunteering to help

[1:14:26] too at a higher level and wish you

[1:14:28] didn't have to get involved because this

[1:14:30] usually I try not to get to this point.

[1:14:32] I'll just let the administrator know in

[1:14:34] case you hear about it that, you know,

[1:14:36] we're working on this and it gets taken

[1:14:38] care of. But, so I think it'll be fine.

[1:14:40] It'll go well.

[1:14:40] >> Wonderful. I appreciate you being

[1:14:42] willing to to do that.

[1:14:45] Um, wonder do you have any questions on

[1:14:48] that one?

[1:14:48] >> I'm sure it's not the first time it's

[1:14:50] ever happened in the world. So, oh yeah,

[1:14:52] hopefully there'll be a solution.

[1:14:53] >> Yeah, I think it's the first time in

[1:14:55] Sund.

[1:15:01] » Yeah, for sure.

[1:15:01] >> Well, thank you very much, Crystal, for

[1:15:03] being willing.

[1:15:04] >> Yes.

[1:15:04] >> Yep.

[1:15:05] >> Appreciate it.

[1:15:06] >> Wonderful. And thank you, Tom.

[1:15:09] >> Yep. Thank you.

[1:15:10] >> All righty.

[1:15:10] >> Going over the pleasure.

[1:15:12] >> Absolutely. Thank you for making it easy

[1:15:13] for us. We already mentioned that.

[1:15:15] >> Have a great one.

[1:15:16] >> All right. Uh, next up for old business

[1:15:18] board updates. Um, I, uh, don't have

[1:15:21] anything this week. Crystal, do you have

[1:15:22] anything?

[1:15:23] >> So, we had South County EMS. Um,

[1:15:27] obviously um, I think we're not doing

[1:15:29] this until the end of March. So, it's

[1:15:32] still just working on the budget in

[1:15:34] process. that new I knew that I know

[1:15:37] last time I said as far as I knew the

[1:15:39] new ambulance was here but it definitely

[1:15:42] is here. Um it's still in the process of

[1:15:48] you know all the paperwork to actually

[1:15:51] get it on the road.

[1:15:53] >> Um but it's moving along.

[1:15:55] >> Did the I forget the name of them but

[1:15:57] the the power lift systems that we

[1:15:58] needed did those come in also or

[1:16:00] >> so that I I do not know. Um the update

[1:16:05] was that you know it's in the process of

[1:16:09] getting fully equipped to be ready for

[1:16:11] inspection.

[1:16:12] >> So essentially that would be part of the

[1:16:15] >> of the equipment. I did not ask

[1:16:17] specifically on the

[1:16:18] >> I'm just curious that's fine. Yeah.

[1:16:19] Okay. Anything else Crystal?

[1:16:23] >> Good.

[1:16:24] >> Wonderful.

[1:16:24] >> We met personnel committee tonight too.

[1:16:26] Um, but it was just, you know,

[1:16:30] discussions on

[1:16:34] we're not sure what to re start

[1:16:36] recommending for cola. So,

[1:16:37] >> of course not. You have to figure it

[1:16:39] out. That's the fun of it.

[1:16:40] >> Yep.

[1:16:40] >> All right. Uh, Dan, anything for us

[1:16:42] today?

[1:16:42] >> Just a reminder of the community forums

[1:16:44] for the South County Sheni Center. Yep.

[1:16:46] >> Tomorrow, 1:30 at the Sunderland Public

[1:16:49] Library and next Wednesday the 18th at 1

[1:16:53] p.m. at the Weightley Town Hall.

[1:16:55] Wonderful. looking forward to those.

[1:16:57] Thank you very much again. All right. Uh

[1:17:01] Becky, town ministry updates. What do

[1:17:03] you got for us?

[1:17:05] >> Um I'm going to just leave you with one.

[1:17:08] I am very excited. Um I will be seeing

[1:17:12] you all in person at our next meeting.

[1:17:15] And I just want to confirm with you that

[1:17:17] due to the holiday next Monday, we will

[1:17:20] be meeting on the 17th. instead of

[1:17:23] Monday the 16th. We will be meeting on

[1:17:25] Tuesday.

[1:17:26] >> Yep.

[1:17:26] >> Is that all right for everyone?

[1:17:28] >> That was my understanding also. Crystal,

[1:17:29] Dan, you guys are good with that?

[1:17:31] >> Yeah.

[1:17:32] >> All righty. Indeed. We will see you on

[1:17:34] Tuesday the 17th. Um and we're excited

[1:17:36] about having you back. That's going to

[1:17:37] be wonderful to see you.

[1:17:40] >> Thank you so much. And you guys are all

[1:17:43] looking good on Zoom.

[1:17:44] >> Wonderful. All right. Um, in that case,

[1:17:48] at this time, there's no one waiting in

[1:17:51] Zoom or in person for public comment. We

[1:17:53] don't have any correspondents today. No

[1:17:54] get session. So, I would entertain a

[1:17:56] motion to adjurnn.

[1:17:58] >> Motion to adjurnn.

[1:17:59] >> Second.

[1:17:59] >> All right, we have a motion made and

[1:18:00] seconded to adjurnn. All those in favor?

[1:18:02] >> I I three nothing. The time is 7:50.

[1:18:06] Thank you all. We will see you next

[1:18:07] Tuesday.

Sunderland Selectboard - February 9, 2026

Transcript