[0:00] [clears throat]

[0:03] Well, I think it's easier to talk to people face to face, but when you're on

[0:07] like the camera is a different

[0:16] » No, we went over everything and you sent that to me and I read about

[0:23] this. We need to talk more about it. >> Well, yeah, because that's kind of your

[0:27] Yes. >> Well, it's fine. Yeah, totally.

[0:31] And then pictures are not that,

[0:40] » you know,

[0:44] and then I really

[0:58] have

[1:12] Good evening everyone. >> Good evening.

[1:16] » We'll call this select board meeting to order. 6 pm on Monday, July 20th.

[1:25] Okay. Um, open meeting law states that any member of the public wish to speak

[1:31] at the meeting must receive permission of the chair. The listening agenda items

[1:35] are those reasonably anticipated by the chair and discussed at meeting. Not all

[1:41] items listed may in fact be may in fact be discussed. Other items not listed may

[1:48] be brought up 15 by first step is the minutes from July

[1:54] 6th, 8th and 15th.

[1:59] » Motion. >> I'll make a motion we receive them as

[2:02] presented. >> I'll second.

[2:05] » All in favor? >> I

[2:08] minutes and administrator update. Um so that um

[2:16] the digital equity grant that we got that pays that's going to pay for uh

[2:21] Wi-Fi down a cart pond in the next couple weeks. National grid inspector

[2:25] are going to get the lines run to to the shed and then um we have an electrician

[2:30] that's going to get that all set up. So, you know, that's coming up. And also,

[2:35] the library is going to be getting um additional hotspots uh for lending and

[2:41] um some I think iPads, few more things I've just granted. So, that'll be coming

[2:47] up. I also wanted to say so that everyone knows we I actually work with

[2:52] Kathy and we have a nurse from the health alliance that's going to be

[2:56] coming. She came once already. She's going to come the third Wednesday of

[2:59] every month to do blood pressure checks in the hallway there. So, we're going to

[3:04] Kathy and I are going to try to get some other things going, but for now, that's

[3:07] already on the calendar, the website calendar to remind everybody. So,

[3:13] » that's it. >> This also hotspot.

[3:17] » Well, anybody can use here, but this is something they can take.

[3:30] Um, citizen speak to ensure that every interested individual has an opportunity

[3:35] to speak and to ensure that the board has the ability to complete its business

[3:40] in a fashion. It will follow the rules and proceed worldwide. Total time

[3:45] allowed for public comments is 10 minutes. Before sharing substantive

[3:50] comments, the individual wishing to speak shall be shall wait to be

[3:54] recognized by the chair and then they shall state their name and address.

[4:00] Each speaker will be limited to speaking once for a maximum of three minutes.

[4:04] Speakers may only raise issues within the jurisdiction of the board. Absent

[4:09] extraordinary circumstances, the board will not respond to or discuss the

[4:13] issues raised during public comment and all remarks are to be addressed through

[4:18] the chair and all speakers are encouraged to present their remarks in a

[4:23] concise, orderly and peaceful manner. Anyone like to speak citizen speak?

[4:38] Uh Joe Roy Jr. 3 Miller Lane uh vision committee chair. Uh just a quick update

[4:43] about two things that uh we we are discussing at the vision committee. One

[4:48] is that we we updated you on the scrims and the fact that we're about to

[4:53] probably order a few to get the ball rolling. Um and I just wanted to let you

[4:57] know that the board has considered when we showed them to you in in color. We're

[5:02] considering doing them in black and white. I didn't know if you had any

[5:05] objections to that. I know you can't discuss it now, but if you if you have

[5:09] any feelings as a board about it, uh just get in touch with me and because

[5:14] we're about to vote on it, I just let it know or let Andy know. He he attends our

[5:18] meetings and we're having one in about a week. So, uh that would be great. The

[5:23] other thing about uh vision committee is uh about a year ago during the past year

[5:29] we've spent uh about six months seriously discussing west welcome to

[5:34] West Stockbridge signs and uh and we kind of dropped the ball on that because

[5:39] the board wanted to consider what future signs in West Stockbridge should look

[5:43] like if there should be any continuity to them or do we just pick all we have

[5:47] left to do for the signs is uh pick colors and on one size. Uh everything

[5:53] else is done. Uh it's just a matter of deciding how they should look. And if

[5:58] you haven't done anything more on that, let me know uh if there's anything the

[6:02] vision committee can do to help with that. Thank you.

[6:10] Anyone else for citizen speak?

[6:16] » No. >> Okay. Um, first

[6:20] discussion business item is the appointment of Don Rose. Uh, Chief,

[6:27] would you like to?

[6:36] » Good evening.

[6:43] Officer Donald Rhodess joined the West Sock Police Department last September

[6:49] following an honorable 30-year law enforcement career in Texas where he

[6:54] served both as a municipal police officer and later the chief of police

[6:59] for our college police department. Since joining our agency, Officer Rhodess has

[7:04] quickly become an invaluable member in the department.

[7:08] Although he has been with us for less than a year, Officer Rhodess has made a

[7:12] tremendous impact on both his fellow officers and the residents of West

[7:16] Operation. I regularly receive letters in the mails from members of the public

[7:21] recognizing our officers for their professionalism and service and officer

[7:26] Rose has been the subject of several of those commendations. In fact, just last

[7:31] week, I received another email from a resident expressing appreciation for his

[7:36] professionalism and assistance. Officer Rhodess has also dedicated

[7:42] himself to learning the nuances of Massachusetts law and has developed into

[7:46] a confident and capable member of our department. His extensive experience,

[7:52] positive attitude, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to the department,

[7:57] his fellow officers, and the community have earned the respect of both his

[8:00] peers and the public. Given his proven leadership, decades of

[8:05] law enforcement experience, and dedication to serving the town of West

[8:08] Stockbridge, I believe Officer Rhodess is exceptionally wellqualified for the

[8:13] vacant sergeant position. Accordingly, I respectfully request that the select

[8:18] board approve my recommendation to promote Officer Donald Rhodess to the

[8:22] rank of sergeant.

[8:26] » Thank you. Any comments from my colleagues?

[8:31] » I'm good.

[8:35] » I'm enthusiastically supportive. I I think my own

[8:39] interactions with with Officer Roads have been um reflective of of what Chief

[8:45] Ren has said. So I'm in great support.

[8:51] » And before we call a vote, would Officer Rhodess like to say anything before we

[8:57] » I am in support of this myself. [laughter]

[9:01] I really want to thank you guys, Chief Written and specifically Officer Wilton,

[9:06] because without these two, I wouldn't have gotten to where I'm at now. Kurt

[9:09] would answer the phone at 2 or 3:00 in the morning almost nightly. Got me where

[9:13] I'm at. So, I appreciate everything you guys have done. And like I said, I'm

[9:18] enthusiastically in supporting myself also. [laughter]

[9:22] Well, we we appreciate what you've done and it's certainly a a glowing

[9:27] recommendation from now Chief Ren who was your

[9:33] colleague and has since taken on a a a superior position. So I would say with

[9:40] that recommendation and everything else that we've heard about you that will

[9:43] join my colleagues and wishing you uh congratulations and uh calling I guess

[9:52] we have we have a vote we have second we don't have any discussion

[9:57] » and um I'll make a motion that we appoint

[10:03] Don Rhodess as police sergeant. Thank you very much. Call 13.

[10:08] » All in favor? >> I

[10:11] congratulations.

[10:17] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[10:22] » All right. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[10:27] » Um Mark Wilberg, you're up next.

[10:31] » Um Michael will actually Oh. Michael will speak from our

[10:38] so thank you for casting Simon Dport fellow commissioner and

[10:44] Michael the chief sewer water operator license um we want to we have an

[10:50] opportunity to Kurt's retiring as you know and Kurt helps out and fills in um

[10:57] with Michael and we have a young gentleman who is fully licensed and

[11:02] terribly capable And we I think we're just lucky in that

[11:07] we could find that person. Um and he is willing and able to to slide in with

[11:15] cars. Is that correct? >> Yeah. Yeah. So, uh Peter Carlado um

[11:20] pretty sure he's a junior. His father was a lineman for National Grid for many

[11:25] many years around here. And Peter grew up in Utah. He's worked for the schools

[11:29] um since they built the wastewater plant at the new elementary and middle schools

[11:34] down at for Berkshire Hills. So he is fully licensed, has all the licenses

[11:38] required for the job and he's been doing it boy a long time. Schools have been

[11:43] there quite a while already. Um and we would love him to be able to fill in the

[11:50] spot that Kurt um Kurt does a ton for us. It's going to be tough to make the

[11:56] transition because he does so much behind the scenes during our because

[11:59] we're part-time. He's here during the day and I rely on him greatly for stuff

[12:04] that needs to be done during the workday for so I don't have to take time off of

[12:08] Stockbridgeidge and come over the hill and work over here. But um we'll we'll

[12:12] we'll transition into that as best we can. But um so we're hoping to have uh

[12:19] Peter Carl Jr. uh join the the staff. I did uh request a packet. He has all the

[12:26] paperwork for town hall fill out all the HR stuff. Um and uh he's he hasn't

[12:34] returned yet. But um so we're just hoping that we can

[12:39] make that transition while we're in the hiring mood.

[12:44] » When is done? >> Well, Kurt's done it officially like

[12:48] November 20th or something. Thanksgiving,

[12:52] » but he's with the vacation time and sick time and stuff, he's gonna like I think

[12:58] in September he's kind of be phasing out. So,

[13:02] » um we'd like to have Peter shadow us for quite a bit. There's a lot to learn with

[13:06] the water and wastewater here in town. Um so, the sooner we can get him to

[13:11] follow us around after work um and get him on boarded be would be great.

[13:19] and finding licensed operators for what we have is it's just it's super tough

[13:24] and been friends with him for 35 40 years.

[13:29] I've known him for a long time and he's very reliable. He's right. So emergency

[13:34] wise he's close for making emergency calls for what as well. Very fortunate.

[13:40] » Yeah. Yeah. So Mike, can you just explain a little

[13:44] bit what that looks like? If, as you said, Kurt's here during the day, so he

[13:47] handles a lot of minutes to minutes of of it won't be exact apples to apples.

[13:54] » Correct. Place, >> right? We do need we do need a third

[13:57] operator. Um, as far as what Kurt does, he does like payroll. I I sign off

[14:03] payroll and do bills. He brings them down here, which I can handle. We'll

[14:08] just have to do a timely thing with with a lane. But if a plumber needs water

[14:13] turned off during the day, we're still going to have to figure this all out.

[14:16] This is the stuff the dayto-day that Kurt does. Um

[14:21] Peter's obviously not going to be able to do, but we'll have to figure out u

[14:25] something with uh we've all thrown the word around

[14:30] shared services or whatever, but I I mean I've been here for 31 years, so

[14:34] I've been taking a lot of time off of work to come over here to work. So it's

[14:38] if I have to do it more, I just have to do it more. Um, as far as Peter, we just

[14:42] need we need another operator. So, um, the, uh, D regulations and requirements

[14:50] and all that. So, we need we have have to have another person. But um

[14:56] the day-to-day stuff that Kurt does um like I said, plumber needs water turned

[15:02] off. He has to go do a sewer hookup inspection or a water hookup inspection.

[15:07] Uh read random meters. There's just a lot of stuff during the work day that

[15:12] gets done that is going to be a transition for all of us water operators

[15:18] over there to that to come over the hill and take time

[15:23] off of work and make it happen so to speak. So to your point Kathy it is a

[15:27] partial resolution but a needed section of it because we need that by the

[15:33] license. >> Yeah. Yeah. because I I mean it the plan

[15:38] has to be touched seven basically can't do it every day. So that's that's the

[15:43] » essentially the need of the other ones. >> Yeah.

[15:47] » So you're saying we we need another person?

[15:50] » No, we got to figure it out. >> Just scheduling.

[15:53] » Yeah. The day-to-day stuff that Kurt does, we've got to really I've been

[15:58] pushing the board to think about that for quite some time. We just need to

[16:03] figure out a way to it because it it burns up a lot of my time. You know, my

[16:08] vacation time gets chewed up very readily to come over

[16:13] on often. You know, it's multiple, you know, a wastewater alarm or a pump

[16:17] station alarm or a water alarm or there's all kinds of stuff and it

[16:21] happens when I'm at work most of the time or two in the morning and you got

[16:26] to drop with a gentleman, head over and take care of it. most of the time is a

[16:30] phone call occur and he takes care of it. So that is

[16:35] a thing we're going to dear leaving us. So

[16:40] So getting a new operator on board and transitioning into

[16:44] um taking on what care does for us is going to be a little not a super

[16:49] challenge but it's going to be more time.

[16:53] » Right. Right. Any thoughts guys? I guess my question

[16:59] would be budgetwise how how you I assume Kurt hasn't been paid out of water

[17:06] sewer. >> Oh yeah,

[17:07] » he has. Okay. All right. So that >> that's more than covers what we're

[17:11] talking about. >> Current is that's got changed.

[17:14] » Okay.

[17:18] And as a followup to that, do do we foresee potentially a time that we might

[17:23] need to look at the budget and look at filling another seat at on a part-time

[17:28] basis or you mentioned shared services. Is there any type of shared service

[17:32] agreement to be had? I mean, I just hate to we can't be in a

[17:38] shortfall, right? So, we're >> as far as the three operators, that's

[17:41] all we will need. Um I have

[17:48] the the retirement word with me is five and a half or so years away. So when

[17:53] that comes there's going to be and Mark is going to actually can potentially

[17:58] retire before me because he's a little older than I am. Mark Bell Jr. So

[18:03] there's going to be a hurdle there. Um I I don't know. Um when I retire I want to

[18:09] be like Kurt. I want to just say I'm all done. I don't want the two in the

[18:13] morning phone calls. And I was up at the wells for a few hours uh at 1:00 in the

[18:19] morning um last week uh and Fourth of July weekend with the storms that rolled

[18:25] through. So, um that'll be a hurdle for sure. Um

[18:30] finding another operator to take my spot, but that's like I said, five and a

[18:33] half years down the road. Um, and as far as the shared service go, I think, um,

[18:39] I've talked to Mike Canal and Marquez as well. I think to simplify things as far

[18:45] as, um, I just think an agreement between

[18:49] the two towns where I can leave work and come over here, do my thing, and go

[18:56] back, not have to use time. However, this will work out. But I don't know how

[18:59] we can work at alpha. >> Um

[19:04] I I we've gone down different path different

[19:08] » machinations but and we to your point when Michael

[19:13] and Mark retired will have to in all likelihood do combination miss offers

[19:20] being the obvious partner um because going back to Mr. Kada there just aren't

[19:27] folks with licenses out there. And it's not like look at the water turns and

[19:31] east. >> And the tough thing with water and

[19:34] wastewater is is that you have to work in a system for five years before they

[19:39] will give you full status. So you can't just come in go get you can't go get

[19:42] your license and run a plant without the experience. And water systems is even

[19:48] more difficult because you have to take the the uh grading the licenses in

[19:54] stages. You can't just because our wastewater is a grade four wastewater

[19:58] plant. We can actually wastewater operators can say I want to take the

[20:01] grade four. You you can skip the one, the two, and the three and go to four.

[20:05] But with water, you can't. So it's a little bit more difficult with water and

[20:09] it's timely. And if you work at a part-time

[20:13] facility, they take a 40hour work week and look at that. So, like for instance,

[20:21] Mark who works over at Stockbridge with us full-time, he works 50/50 water and

[20:25] wastewater. He had to work eight years before they would get full status to be

[20:29] a full status operator in in Stockage. So, they look at it and when D comes,

[20:35] they know everybody's how the hours are. They know all that. So, that's a that's

[20:40] finding and Peter's done this long enough where he's full status. So, and

[20:43] he's not going to be the primary operator, but he's going to be an

[20:47] assistant operator, but the primary operator is the is where you got to have

[20:50] full status, which is tough because a lot there's a lot of if you find people,

[20:56] you're either going to steal somebody from another town or you're going to get

[20:59] a younger operator that's starting out, but they don't have the full status

[21:03] can't come in and take over. So when we get to that stage, it'll be a

[21:09] little more difficult five, six years down the road, but we're not quite there

[21:13] yet. So >> sounds like we may be just short of

[21:16] that. >> And Peter's younger than I am, and he's

[21:18] got all those licenses. He's younger than both and I, so by four or five

[21:23] years. So, >> but he likes his current job, so he's

[21:25] not going to work. >> Yeah.

[21:28] » So, um, yeah, it's a great parttime It's a

[21:32] great part-time job. There's a lot But there's a lot to it. It's, you know, the

[21:35] utilities world is 24/7 365. It's it's all kinds of phone calls and stuff. So,

[21:45] but I think Peter will be a great addition. I think moving forward the

[21:48] water and sewer commissioners, we can talk with uh Mike and Stock and

[21:53] Stockbridge and try to figure out a solution and we'll keep you board

[21:56] selecting updated on where we where we move with that.

[22:00] » Yeah. I'm just wondering if there's anything that this board can do to help

[22:03] to facilitate that or support you guys in in those efforts because it doesn't

[22:09] sound like it's really that far away to >> No, it is.

[22:13] » If it if it takes five years to bring someone on to full license, that's eight

[22:17] years or three more years. >> The D with water and sewer and stockers,

[22:20] they made us do a succession plan because all three of us are water and

[22:24] wastewater certified. But most towns don't they don't do that. It's either a

[22:27] water or a sewer operator. So, you're either going to get a water operator or

[22:31] a sewer operator, and somebody's got to go get one or the other licenses, and

[22:34] that's the five-year thing that they thought about. So, it's very difficult.

[22:38] Um, and I think eventually, like Mark alluded to, we're eventually going to

[22:43] potentially maybe be the water operators and Stockbridge and wastewater will do

[22:49] both because it's a part-time facility, so it can be taken care of within the

[22:53] workday of the the workforce and stopage. That was that was one of the

[22:58] right conversations we had. >> So what it looks like is we're looking

[23:03] to avoid a problem whether it be now, three years from now or five years from

[23:08] now and we're preempting that problem by going through this process and hopefully

[23:12] appointing Peter. >> Yep.

[23:15] » Yep. [clears throat]

[23:21] » Yeah. Sounds like a good thing to think about. And I think the idea

[23:25] » we've been at least since I've been on this board, the the idea of borrowing

[23:32] » from other towns, it just seems like it doesn't work. You know, [clears throat]

[23:37] doesn't endear us to our neighbors and then you get into budget conflicts and

[23:42] » we don't we we don't call it steal. Oh, you said good

[23:46] steal. >> Yeah.

[23:48] » And we used to do it a lot more than we have just never seemed in my mind to

[23:54] work out. So in any case, um I entertain a motion.

[24:01] » I'd like to make motion to appoint Peter Kawado as WWTP employee.

[24:08] » I'll second. Any further discussion? All in

[24:14] » favor. >> Thank you. Thank you.

[24:20] [clears throat]

[24:24] » Uh Joe, you back up. >> Father Joe.

[24:27] » Oh, brother Joe. [laughter] It has no one, two, or three.

[24:32] » That's why I said junior. I'm a junior. It's anybody who's confused about

[24:38] » Good evening. Hi. I'm representing uh parks and wreck today and I've got a

[24:42] handful of items that I sent a little packet. I don't know if you all had a

[24:47] chance to review it or not or I'll just go over it real quick. Um parks and

[24:52] recck is looking to add a handful of things to our um playground and town

[24:56] grounds area and we have a few ideas that we just want to run by before we

[24:59] pull the trigger on some of these things and get any input or concerns that you

[25:03] may have. Uh the first is a gaga gaga ball pit added to the playground area.

[25:09] Uh PNR would like to add a gaga gaga ball pit to the playground area at town

[25:14] hall. We've already talked with DPW about this and they're okay with the

[25:17] addition gaga a gaga ball pit. It's about a 14 to 20 foot octagon or hexagon

[25:23] made out of steel uprights and pressuret treated 2x4s. It's only about 2 ft high.

[25:28] Um and it's just basically just a little enclosure for kids to play a game called

[25:32] Gaga Ball. Um, we've asked a bunch of kids around the neighborhood for wish

[25:36] list items. This is a big one. Um, and it's relatively cost-ffective. It's

[25:40] something we can do ourselves and we already got the okay from DVW to do it.

[25:44] Um, location is still to be determined. Um, one thing for sure is that it's

[25:49] definitely going to be in the playground section, like somewhere around the swing

[25:53] sets, somewhere around the playground area. We were originally potentially

[25:58] over near the pavilion, but we don't want to get too close to the offices

[26:01] because we don't want to disrupt people during the hit. Um, you know, bunch of

[26:05] kids yelling and screaming outside Marie's office, so she probably has

[26:08] something to say about that. >> She'd be out there.

[26:11] » Yeah, that's true. She might join in. Um, but that's that. Um,

[26:17] uh, pause here real quick. Any concerns, questions about that?

[26:21] And oh, that'll 100% be funded by our budget. So

[26:26] » my only thing would be just to continue to talk about location because lots of

[26:32] things are being talked about for for the

[26:37] space behind this building. I don't know how much.

[26:40] » Sure. It's quite small. It's like um like from here to the corner of the

[26:46] room. It's it's very very small. It's not it's not like a baseball field or

[26:49] anything like that. >> I've never seen it happen.

[26:51] » Well, you will. You will. >> [laughter]

[26:54] » Um, no, it's quite small, but absolutely we'll see. We'll certainly keep you

[26:57] informed about the location and if um, uh, I plan on having a on-site meeting

[27:02] with Kurt, Frank Alonso, members of our board, and we'll certainly let you know

[27:07] when that's going to be. So, if you want to put in your two cents, please let us

[27:10] know. Um, we've also talked to the library, too, and they are thrilled. So,

[27:15] um, next thing on the list is a hopscotch. Um, this just a stencil just

[27:19] added to um a stencled hopscotch setup on the walkway to the library. Pretty

[27:28] self-explanatory, just a traditional oldfashioned thing we'll just do with uh

[27:33] paint for on on the ground there on the pavement. And we already checked out

[27:37] with the library. Library again thrilled for the addition. Again, would pay for

[27:41] that 100% out of the parks and record budget. Um,

[27:46] any questions about that? Any concerns? No. Okay. Um, the next thing, uh, the

[27:52] idea, we have an idea about a skate park painting day. Did Did you want me to do

[27:56] this or you want to do it? >> Okay. Um,

[28:00] Parks and Rex is floating around the idea for kids to submit ideas for

[28:03] painting fun pictures or scenes on the side of the skate park ramps. Uh, we're

[28:07] in the process of researching this a little bit more. Uh we're going to talk

[28:11] to the guy who built the uh structures and see if there's any special paint

[28:15] that we should use or if there's any safety concerns to consider um visual

[28:19] issues, whatnot. Um fully funded again by parks and recck

[28:25] budget. Um before we just go ahead and start painting things, we definitely

[28:30] wanted to talk to you guys first and just see if you had any concerns about

[28:33] this. We would definitely have the kids submit their ideas first before we just

[28:38] let them go and we would supervise the whole thing. So any questions or

[28:41] concerns in that regard? >> No question.

[28:46] » Yes. >> Permanent pain.

[28:48] » I mean as any paint is permanent. >> Well the reason why I'm asking is let's

[28:53] say a year from now, six months from now come with other ideas paint over it or

[28:58] change it or redo. >> I I think we hope to make this a regular

[29:02] thing. So, if it's a success, >> updated and keep it nice for the

[29:05] community. And we also thought that it'd be a great idea because when you pull

[29:07] into the parking lot, you can see the new Gaga pit and like kind of like

[29:11] revamp the skate park situation. Bring bring it visually better with some kids

[29:16] ideas that are approved by adults. >> Yes.

[29:20] » Part of the reason why we are suggesting [clears throat] this is because um one

[29:24] thing that is being done, I don't know if you noticed about the skatepark is

[29:27] being painted. All the sides of the plywood is being treated with the

[29:30] special primer to help prolong the lifespan of the wood part of it. Um,

[29:34] some of it needs to be rebuilt. We're on top of that, too. But we were just

[29:38] saying like, you know, if we're going to paint it,

[29:41] » fun for the kids. >> Then kids can get involved. It'd be fun.

[29:44] So, that's that idea. >> Great.

[29:46] » Um, next is a walking path, soccer field, and grant application. Um, as you

[29:52] know, Parks and Rec's been researching a walking path idea for the town hall

[29:55] grounds. uh we've been in touch with the Berkshire design group and have done um

[30:00] more re research about this about about how best to go about the project. After

[30:04] some research, we're thinking about shifting gears on this slightly. First,

[30:09] everybody up to speed about the walking path idea. Toby, I don't know if you

[30:12] were okay. The the original idea was to construct a about a six-foot

[30:19] pave like airport compacted airport mix walking path around the perimeter of the

[30:24] town hall grounds. Mhm. >> Um, this has only been in research phase

[30:27] so far. Uh, we did make a CPC um, application for this. It didn't pass

[30:33] this time around. This is just a little too much money. So, we decided to start

[30:36] looking into grant applications to fund this project. Um, but we in our

[30:41] research, we talked to a lot of different people. We talked to the dog

[30:44] park. We talked to people who were doing little league games, soccer games,

[30:48] neighbors. Um, and it's not that we really got a lot of kickback, a lot of

[30:54] push back from the idea, but it just brought up a lot of concerns. It

[30:58] wouldn't be able to be used during soccer games. It wouldn't be able to be

[31:01] used during little league games. It wouldn't be able to be um I mean, some

[31:06] people were concerned about exposure to their backyards, and that's totally

[31:09] legitimate. So, we're shift we'd like to shift gears about this a little bit, and

[31:14] the idea is to kind of change things to the soccer field. Um, we like to

[31:20] research the idea of rebuilding our existing soccer field. Um, our soccer

[31:24] field is, um, a great field, but it could really use a lot of upkeep and

[31:31] some and some refurbishing. Um

[31:37] see um the idea is to basically just um pull up all the existing grass, pull up

[31:44] the um basically level out the ground, reseed it and then treat it over the

[31:49] years. Um that would basically require um the uh assistance of a groundskeeping

[31:56] company to come in. I talked to DPW about this. Um they said they could

[32:00] definitely take care of the regular mowing, but another company would have

[32:03] to come in, keep up with the actual grounds. Um so basically any weeding, uh

[32:08] fertilizing, grub, removal, things like that. Um so basically it would just be

[32:12] like a true true green like company or something like that that would come in

[32:16] basically just treat the lawn twice a year most likely. Um and then the idea

[32:22] would be to around the perimeter of the new soccer field do like a small paved

[32:27] walking path. So basically as long as like more of like a track kind of like

[32:31] what they have up at Monument up at the school. Um so that that could be dual

[32:36] purpose. That would be a walking path and that would also be a nice way of

[32:39] delineating the new soccer field from the existing lawn because we're not

[32:42] looking to do the entire lawn because that would be a fortune. Um it's a big

[32:48] project that would have to be funded by grant money. Um so we'd basically be

[32:51] applying for a grant for this idea. Um, and that's pretty much the gist of it.

[32:58] Um, we got a lot of research to do still, but before we proceeded with that

[33:02] research, we just wanted to check to have see if you had any questions or

[33:05] concerns.

[33:10] » Yeah, >> I like it. Okay, cool.

[33:12] » It's good. The uh Joe, >> yes. Uh I've been involved with

[33:16] tournament teams on Long Island and one of the biggest problems they had is not

[33:21] that you're going to have it. One of the biggest problems was the geese on the

[33:24] field. Ah >> so I would check that out to with the

[33:27] environmental. See how we can keep the geese away because the geese are big

[33:33] problem. Not only are the geese the problem but they lay trap.

[33:36] » Yeah. >> Okay. So and you don't want that. So

[33:38] just check that out before anything goes through. And I'm not saying not to.

[33:43] Yeah. >> Just it's an annoyance to the kids.

[33:46] » Oh, god damn it. Yeah. >> Yeah. That is been those geese have been

[33:49] the bane of my existence for a very long time. [laughter]

[33:54] » We finally just gave up and hired a guy to just pick up the geese stuff.

[33:59] » Right. >> Um Okay. Um any other questions

[34:03] regarding the >> I I just a point of curiosity. Yeah. How

[34:07] often are the different elements of the playground used? like how the beach

[34:14] safety fans do have.

[34:17] » So Marie could answer to that time. It's way more than you think. It's

[34:21] » all the time except the winter. >> Yeah,

[34:23] » there's fall league, spring league. Little league uses a little league

[34:27] field. Adults use the in the summer use the soccer field.

[34:31] » It's used all the time and there's always kids on the playground during the

[34:35] day. >> So from my personal experience, first

[34:38] and foremost, let me be perfectly clear. I have a tremendous bias to this idea

[34:42] because my son's in soccer. [laughter] Um, but it's it's um just from my

[34:48] experience, I can tell you that um my son's team practices there twice a week

[34:53] during the fall and the and the summer. Um that's 20 plus kids twice a week.

[34:59] Then plus they have all their home games here. Um we're just one team. Birkshire

[35:03] Hills um middle school has two teams. They also use that. Um, not to mention

[35:09] any other local team in the area. I I don't know if any of the high school

[35:12] teams are here, but I do know that it is a premium spot during the spring and

[35:16] fall soccer season every weekday. There's I would say probably at least

[35:21] what 50 people out there throughout the day.

[35:25] » Yeah. >> So, it's it's used a lot. Um there was a

[35:28] game um not too long ago where we had a soccer game going on and there was a

[35:33] little league going on and everywhere in between there's a bunch of little kids

[35:36] playing all over the playground. It was awesome and I really want to foster

[35:41] that. So um that's what this idea is all about. [snorts]

[35:46] » So the teams are not are through all through the school

[35:51] district or

[35:54] » Yeah. So, our school system certainly does use it um a lot. Um there are other

[36:01] » It's only Bergkshire Hills. >> Oh, I thought there was like adult teams

[36:05] that >> there is adult teams in the summer

[36:07] months in between the spring and fall seasons of Berkshire Hills soccer.

[36:12] » Okay, I was mistaken though. >> There's no schools.

[36:15] » No other schools, right? >> There's no schools. I mean, Berg Hills

[36:18] is not necessarily school. It's a just a youth sports team,

[36:23] » right? So, it's almost 100%

[36:28] our our people. Yeah. Um,

[36:34] » moving on. >> Yeah.

[36:36] » Excellent. Okay. And we'll certainly keep you updated that goes. Well, last

[36:39] question that we have on on the list is the open gym night. Um, we are very

[36:45] thankful. Now, to Toby, are you up to speed about our efforts for the open gym

[36:48] night? You are. Okay, cool. Uh we are very thankful for your input on open gym

[36:52] night uh for the information that you've given us from town council and from the

[36:56] insurance councils. We understand that both the insurance company and town

[37:00] council would like open gym to involve some level of supervision and signed

[37:04] waiverss. If let me just say right now if if that's your guys wish too, we're

[37:09] probably just going to drop the idea because none of us really want to put

[37:12] that level of involvement into it. We just don't have the time. But that and

[37:16] if that's the case, okay, we'll drop it. Um

[37:21] however after reviewing the information we never saw a reason as to why these

[37:26] restrictions are required uh where other similar places do not require such

[37:30] restrictions. Um so why does the gym require this level of scrutiny where

[37:35] other like places like the outdoor basketball court, tennis court, card

[37:39] pond, skate park require no waiverss or supervision. All those places listed are

[37:44] town owned property where someone is just as likely, if not more likely, to

[37:48] be injured in its use. Meanwhile, the town gym is right next to the police

[37:52] state department and under 24-hour video surveillance. Rest assured, we're not

[37:57] trying to butt heads with you guys at all. We're just looking for some clarity

[38:00] on it. That's all. So, I don't know if you guys have an answer to that question

[38:04] or >> Yeah. So, I I'm from town council, which

[38:07] I did give the board this information before, but it says um he said with

[38:13] regards to outdoor facilities, because I did ask why nothing out there. Oh.

[38:17] » He said such as the skate park and the soccer fields, most towns do not require

[38:21] users to sign a waiver. This is likely because doing so would be impractical

[38:25] and prohibitively expensive to enforce. However, if you're looking, you should

[38:29] look to reduce the town's exposure by installing signs, which we do. Skate at

[38:34] your own, everything's at your own risk out there. We already have that out

[38:38] there. As for the gym, you should limit your risk in a number of ways using

[38:43] requiring users to sign a waiver, a sign in at the gym stating users voluntarily

[38:48] assume all risks, having town employee monitor the gym during open hours, or a

[38:53] combination of any of these. It's the board's policy what they want to do.

[38:58] Okay. >> Um he recommended that the um requiring

[39:02] participants to sign a waiver and it's advisable to have them resign it every

[39:06] year. In terms of adult supervision, it's a matter of policy for the board to

[39:10] decide, but he re recommends they require supervision.

[39:16] That's the board's discretion. So, I'm just giving them the information that I

[39:20] received. Okay. >> Um from that. And then as far as the

[39:23] insurance company, um, waiverss should be in place for the town's protection.

[39:28] It's not a requirement for your insurance, but would help in a claiming

[39:31] situation if the town were to the carrier strongly suggest utilizing it.

[39:37] So, >> but that's just a generic thing for

[39:40] probably any town owned property, right? They didn't specifically say indoors for

[39:44] that. >> Well, no, I specifically asked her about

[39:46] the gym. >> Oh, okay. Got it. Well, like

[39:50] » so I'm just giving you the information that I got asking the questions that you

[39:53] had asked. >> I appreciate it. Thank you, M. Um well,

[39:57] like I said before, we're just not prepared to do the supervision part. Um

[40:00] it's just too much of a um a big an ask. So,

[40:04] » but we do kind of agree with like a sign in like if the kids are able to come

[40:07] here, the kids can sign in and perhaps the parents have signed a waiver

[40:10] previously for the year for their kid to play at the best at the gym,

[40:15] » right? you know, like so it's under surveillance and also we know the kids

[40:18] that are going to be here and also the police station is across the hall and

[40:22] also they will sign in. I think having a gym and being able to use it is really

[40:26] important for our youth and our community.

[40:29] What I would like to suggest is if we could put together um our list of what

[40:34] we are prepared to do for an open gym night following as much of the criteria

[40:38] as we're willing to do present it to you guys and see if it's okay

[40:43] maybe at a future date and if it's if it doesn't meet the criteria that you want

[40:47] then we'll we'll show the idea. >> Yeah. I I

[40:52] » go ahead. >> I I would love to see the gym used. I

[40:56] think it's it is an asset. Yeah, that >> the town has. And so I think we should

[41:00] I'm all for exploring >> how to sort of thread that needle a bit.

[41:05] And uh yeah, I I encourage it. >> Joe, here's a little tweak. As far as

[41:10] the usage of the gym is concerned, as far as talking about supervision,

[41:14] um if you had one of the parents definitively at the site, meaning the

[41:18] gym >> during [clears throat] the usage and

[41:21] they're there, that could be deemed as supervision. So um it it might be it

[41:29] might be used under the supervision of a parent but the parent has got to be

[41:34] diligent and a person's got to be there and not there holding the

[41:39] responsibility. If the kid gets injured but that it's supervised

[41:43] kid gets injured call the police call the ambulance as opposed to nobody

[41:48] supervised that had to go away. >> Yep. I do feel like as a person that

[41:52] lives kind of close by, my kid is riding his bike around here all the time and he

[41:58] doesn't have my supervision to do that. He rides his bike over here. He crosses

[42:02] the streets. He might skin his knee. It's happened before. He's come home

[42:05] crying a couple of times. He plays with a couple older kids. Um it's just

[42:10] » hard to say yes to supervising something inside

[42:13] when we're not supervising the same thing outside.

[42:17] The kids are kind of like independent, you know? they are like in a little West

[42:21] Ori biker gang. And >> to kind of tee off that and what Toby

[42:24] said, I think what we're just trying to do is make best use of the asset that we

[42:29] have that's for the most part by the community mostly [clears throat] don't

[42:32] use um and let kids be kids. Um but I also understand the legal point of it

[42:38] too. So hopefully we can thread that needle as you put it. So, um, we'll put

[42:42] together a list of suggestions and see what you guys think and we considered a

[42:47] first draft and say, "Here's where we're willing to move, here's where we're not.

[42:50] We can bounce back ideas back off each other."

[42:53] » Thanks. >> I appreciate you taking that.

[42:57] » Oh, absolutely. Happy to do it. >> Yeah. And to piggyback on that, I think

[43:01] that we we talked about too that the gym did used to be used by more than just

[43:06] kids. There used to be yoga classes in there. There used to be Zumba classes in

[43:09] there. there could be more things I think Kathy Porty mentioned for for the

[43:15] the seniors >> to to do in there. So to Toby's point,

[43:22] using the gym as an asset for the town as a whole, you know, maybe it requires

[43:29] a little group to look at the types of opportunities, look at what other towns

[43:34] do in their gyms or, you know, some way to have it become more of a thriving

[43:40] part of of a community center. Yeah. >> Which I think is would be pretty

[43:45] wonderful. McMurray, did you send that >> a long time a while ago when they talked

[43:51] about this before? This was back in April.

[43:54] » We did do a couple um gym nights over the winter time when it was easier to

[43:59] use the gym because outside was not great. And I was the parent in charge

[44:03] one time and I had about 15 kids and they all signed waiverss and you know

[44:08] eventually my husband and I were here. One of us went and got pizza. The kids

[44:11] had a little pizza. We cleaned up after ourselves and I think the police joined

[44:14] us for pizza. not trying to throw anybody to the boss here, but it was it

[44:18] was really nice for the kids to interact with the police as well and become more

[44:22] friendly with them in a friendly situation. So, I think the more

[44:27] opportunity we have to do that, it's really good for the police and the kids.

[44:34] » And that's everything on my list. >> One more,

[44:38] » Joe. Yes. >> Use of pavilion. Yeah, I drive by all

[44:42] the time and I'm not telling you to round up and knock on people's doors to

[44:46] use the pavilion, but I don't see anybody at the pavil pavilions and it

[44:50] saves me to figure these hot days. Nobody's at the beach any

[44:55] » during the day. There is >> Yeah.

[44:57] » And they all sit on the chairs that you bought. The chairs were there yesterday.

[45:01] » Nice. Nice. >> Or today.

[45:03] » Um it's it's mostly it's used a lot during soccer season, tell you that

[45:07] much. Um, you know, when the the younger siblings and stuff like that are sitting

[45:11] around waiting for their older sibling to be done with soccer practice,

[45:14] » right? >> Um,

[45:15] » it's kind of the only shaded place. Yeah.

[45:17] » Between the dog park and the playground, it's kind of the only shade that's

[45:20] provided. >> Yep.

[45:22] » Um, just >> I know the books from the library even

[45:25] allowed to sit out there, read a book. Um, it it does get a decent amount of

[45:30] use. I I had about uh 25 kids under there after a soccer game. Um, and they

[45:35] all had Subway sandwiches. It was great. >> And I actually had somebody reserve it

[45:39] for a birthday party at 21. >> Well, I'm glad you So, that is a thing.

[45:43] We can actually do that. I might need to talk to you about that. Okay. All right.

[45:47] So, we can advertise it as such that it can be reserved for

[45:50] » just like they do for the gym for birthday. And maybe that could be

[45:52] another community event for people outside of just kids. Maybe, you know,

[45:56] ladies book club wants to meet there on Thursday nights at 6:00 or something.

[46:00] » Serve the serve it and use it. >> Um, better exposure though. Uh I we can

[46:05] serve a rake. We're it's finally going to be finished within the next like

[46:09] month or so. Um it's getting a whole gravel bed and some trim around the

[46:13] outside and at that point I can take some really nice pictures and put in the

[46:16] yoke. Let people know that it's available.

[46:18] » Good. Thanks. You bet. >> Thank you very much for your time.

[46:21] » Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Thank you.

[46:23] » Thanks.

[46:26] » Okay, Toby. Um yeah, so this uh this item Bob

[46:33] Auststerhout um you might remember Bob Solerno brought to us uh the request by

[46:41] Bob's granddaughter Tori. Um, and the history is

[46:47] um that that section across from Bob's house on um Woodruff

[46:54] uh he maintained for as long as I can remember in fact

[47:00] » many many years and did so meticulously. Um

[47:05] » uh I think it's worthwhile to entertain Tori's request to put some sort of u

[47:11] memorial there on his behalf. Um Kurt, I I talked with Kurt about this. He had

[47:17] some ideas regarding a tree and possibly a bench or or something. And um just

[47:24] something simple to to recognize his many many years of maintaining that. Um

[47:31] and so with your permission, I would um I would commission Kurt to uh present

[47:38] some ideas and and for our approval.

[47:43] Yeah, I think it would be nice. I think obviously the thing that we have to be

[47:46] concerned about and not that everybody doesn't deserve their plaque, but

[47:51] we have a population who since stay around forever and we can't have

[47:58] a town full of plaques. But I think the idea of it, you know, does I wonder if

[48:03] it makes a difference if say for example it's a bench and maybe we should just

[48:07] hear the ideas first. >> I think so. And I think the the

[48:09] difference in this case is of you know it was not asked of him. It it was just

[48:15] something he took on for for a long time and the town in a way that now we're

[48:20] going to figure out how to deal with you know now to maintain that's going to be

[48:24] um >> back on town resources. So I think it'

[48:28] be worthwhile. >> Let's look at it.

[48:35] » Okay. So let board speak

[48:40] » said my piece >> nothing for me

[48:45] » and uh nor for me. >> So with that I'll make a motion to

[48:49] adjurnn. >> Second

[48:53] » and I'm up. >> Nice. Nicely done.

[48:59] » It's nice up. >> I was just going to interrupt for one

[49:02] question now that we're on a shift. When town council said

[49:08] supervision, did he request town supervision or somebody to supervise the

[49:13] people they bring? >> He said having a town employee monitor

[49:19] the gym during hours or a combination of volunteers or town employees.

[49:27] » Be a parent. >> Yeah, I would say

[49:28] » that would solve a lot. I think it's just really to have an adult

[49:33] because the police are not always here. That's true.

[49:37] » So, you can't count on them to be taking care of that.

[49:41] » Yeah. on the top.

SB Mtg 7 20 26

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