[0:03] Okay, going to get going. Welcome everybody. Um, in accordance with

[0:08] chapter two of the acts of 2025, the Tuesday, September 1st, 2026 6:30 public

[0:15] meeting of the Renthm Select Board shall be conducted remotely. The public is

[0:19] invited uh to join. Uh there was a Zoom instructions on the town's website. As a

[0:25] preliminary matter, uh this is select board chair Chris Gallow. Please permit

[0:29] me to confirm that all members and persons anticipated on the call on the

[0:33] agenda are present and can hear me. Uh members, when I call out your name,

[0:38] please respond to the affirmative. I will ask though, we we do have a lot of

[0:41] people on Zoom. I'm going to ask everybody to keep themselves muted

[0:45] unless you're in direct conversation uh with the specific agenda item that's

[0:49] going on. So, if you're not muted, please mute. Uh Amanda, Maya, if you

[0:54] could mute everybody, I'd greatly appreciate it. Um, and members, when I

[0:58] call your name, please do respond in the affirmative. Uh, selectwoman Rouse isn't

[1:02] with us this evening. So, Selectman Anderson,

[1:04] » Anderson is here and present. >> Welcome back, Mr. Anderson. It's good to

[1:08] see you, my friend. >> Good to be back. Thank you.

[1:11] » All right, Selectman Harrington. >> Harington here.

[1:15] » Okay. So, just so you guys know, in the in the uh Bach conference room, there's

[1:20] a tiny bit of a delay. I'm hearing a tiny bit of a delay. So, I may ask you

[1:24] to repeat, and I'm not being a wise guy. All right. Uh, so just so you guys know

[1:28] that. So Anderson Harrington Selectman Lamoth, are you with us?

[1:33] » Lamoth here. >> Great. Chris Gallow, I'm also here. So,

[1:37] uh, welcome everybody to the meeting. Uh, we're going to get going. We have a

[1:41] very busy agenda. Um, we're going to start with tab number one with the

[1:45] announcements. I'll ask Celeste I'll ask Selectman Harrington to read them into

[1:50] the record, please. Stage three water ban is in effect

[1:55] starting July 24th, 2026. Residents may engage in non-essential

[2:01] outdoor watering once per week on their regular trash collection day. Outdoor

[2:07] watering cannot occur between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 700 p.m. Further

[2:13] information on restrictions and what is considered essential and non-essential

[2:17] water use can be found on the town website.

[2:21] Municipal offices will be closed on Monday, September 7th due to the Labor

[2:26] Day holiday. There will be a one-day delay in trash services.

[2:33] A September 11th remembrance ceremony will be held on Friday, September 11th,

[2:39] starting at 8:30 a.m. at the 911 memorial in front of town hall.

[2:46] Rantham Day will be held on Saturday, September 12th from 9:00 a.m. to 300

[2:52] p.m. on the town common. Those who wish to participate in the RenaM road race

[2:57] and/or pickle ball tournament are welcome to register online via the RenaM

[3:02] recreation website. Jane Deigo playground is currently

[3:07] closed due to construction at the Rice Complex.

[3:11] The 2026 2027 cultural council grant cycle will open on September 1st and

[3:18] close on October 15th. Those interested may apply online and can find more

[3:23] information on the town website. The Elderly and Disabled Tax Aid

[3:29] Committee will begin accepting applications for real estate tax

[3:32] assistance on September 1st at the town assessor's office and senior centers.

[3:39] Finally, Relay for America reclaim the route. Two

[3:44] American flags will be carried on foot from Boston starting on September 9th,

[3:49] 2026 and ending at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2026. The

[3:54] route goes through Rentum on September 9th between 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. using

[4:04] more information available on their website www.relayfora.org11.

[4:11] org/911.

[4:14] Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Okay, great job. Thank you. Let's go to

[4:17] tab number two. Tab number two is approval of the minutes. In our packets,

[4:22] we have the documentation from the August 18th, 2026 open session meeting

[4:26] minutes. Um, at this time, Chetain a motion to approve the August 18, 2026

[4:32] open session meeting minutes. >> So move.

[4:35] » Motion made by selectman, second by selectman Harrington. Any further

[4:39] discussion being being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Selectman Anderson.

[4:44] » Anderson will abstain. I was absent at that meeting.

[4:47] » Thank you. Selectman Harrington. >> Harington. Yes.

[4:51] » Select the moth. >> Lamoth. Yes.

[4:53] » Gallow. Yes. Motion carries. One, two, three, and one abstension. Is that

[4:58] correct? Yeah. One, two, three, one abstension. Okay, good. Not used to

[5:01] saying that. Um, so uh what we have tonight, we have a we have a um Hold on.

[5:08] One sec. Thank you. We have a public hearing at 6:35. But before we do that,

[5:14] um I [clears throat] asked I personally asked to have Tony Mazuko, who's the

[5:18] Norwood Norwood general manager, to come on and give us a quick update on the

[5:22] Norwood Hospital. So I I apologize, but I'm going to take a few things out of

[5:26] order this evening. I appreciate everyone working with us. Tony, can you

[5:29] hear me? Okay, >> I can. Mr. Chairman, can you hear me?

[5:32] » I can. Tony, so uh we've known each other for a little while. um you know

[5:36] our predecess you know Mike's predecessor here very well uh a man we

[5:40] all know and love uh Mr. Sweet. Um I know that you're you know you're

[5:44] spearheading the group. There's a great group of people that you've assembled uh

[5:48] to really uh figure out what what's going on with the Norwood Hospital and

[5:52] what the plans are to get the Norwood Hospital back up and operational. Uh

[5:56] we've had multiple residents Tony reach out to us showing a a high level of

[6:01] interest in an update from you. So, we appreciate you uh you know coming on for

[6:06] us and we'd ask you just to provide the board uh a high level update if you can

[6:10] as to what's h what's happening with the hospital and um you know what what our

[6:16] residents can do if they want to get involved.

[6:18] » Sure. Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your support and

[6:20] your board support. Uh your public safety team and of course Mike and Kevin

[6:24] before him have been been very supportive in this project. So, it's

[6:27] been about two years since we um started in earnest and we've made um finally

[6:32] some significant progress. A couple of weeks ago, the legislature passed H553,

[6:36] which is a bill for the state to engage in an eminent domain taking of Norwood

[6:40] Hospital. The governor did sign that bill. She was here in town uh just last

[6:43] week in Norwood uh doing the ceremonial signing of that bill. So, that in of

[6:48] itself is a momentous step. What that bill outlines is that um should medical

[6:53] properties trust, the owner of the property, not be able to sell the

[6:55] property by November, the state is going to step in, do a taking via eminent

[7:00] domain and then turn it over to a responsible operator through a uh a bid

[7:04] process. We had begun looking at that process at the local level whether we

[7:07] could do it and we certainly could. As you know, cities and towns can engage in

[7:10] eminent domain. We ultimately concluded that the state should do this given the

[7:14] regional impact of the nature and fortunately the legislature agreed with

[7:17] us and the governor has signed uh the bill into law. So I'd say that's the

[7:21] best news we've had in two years, but we're probably still at the halfway

[7:24] point. Several things need to happen. There's one of two paths this can go

[7:28] down. One is between now and November 1st, which is I believe the date in the

[7:31] bill, Medical Properties Trust sells the property to a hospital operator. Uh we

[7:35] don't believe they'll sell it to anyone else. The property has very little value

[7:38] to anyone outside of a hospital operator. hospital operators can pay a

[7:41] significant amount of money for it. So, if that happens, great. They have to go

[7:44] through their determination of need process and their uh finish their

[7:47] construction prog uh process. That's the best case scenario. If not, the state's

[7:52] going to value the property, engage in a taking of the property, take it, and

[7:55] through an RFP process, turn it over to a responsible operator. That will

[7:59] probably take a little bit longer, but either way, we're looking forward to

[8:03] getting to the finish line. There's still a lot of construction that needs

[8:06] to happen once a deal is done. We're still looking at an 18 to 24 month of

[8:10] construction to get the ER open, but we feel like that construction can now

[8:14] start in under a year. It'll be six, it's been six years since the hospitals

[8:18] closed. It has croaked public safety services throughout the region. The

[8:22] towns that were not directly impacted that may have had other hospitals with

[8:25] an equal transit distance. Those hospitals are seeing boarding in their

[8:28] ERS and um longer response times and longer turnaround times. So, Rentham

[8:32] really every town in Northol County and in the area has been affected by this.

[8:35] But we're on the offensive. November is an important date. We're going to

[8:39] continue our work until we hear whether or not a sale has taken place or the

[8:42] state has started the eminent domain process. We have a website, finish the

[8:46] job, uh, finish norwoodhos.org. That's a great, we'll make sure you guys can get

[8:50] it out there. A great way to stay uptodate on what's going on. It's been a

[8:53] very tough campaign. There have been a lot of uh behind the-scenes discussions

[8:56] and work that's gone on which has made it tough to keep people up to date on

[8:59] where we are. But we are also sort of building this plane as we're flying it

[9:02] because it's unprecedented for um the flood the the combined with the pandemic

[9:07] combined with the bankruptcy combined with some other um practical challenges

[9:11] as well as cities and towns team uh you really joining together to try to get

[9:14] this done. So we've made great progress. Kudos to the governor and the leadership

[9:18] in the legislature for their hard work on this and uh getting us there. But

[9:22] we're uh getting closer to the finish line.

[9:26] » That sounds fantastic. I appreciate that high level update. What I'm going to do,

[9:29] Tony, very quickly, I'm going to just open it up to my fellow board members to

[9:32] see if anyone has any highle questions for you.

[9:35] » Absolutely. More than happy to take questions.

[9:37] » Thank you. And if we could put that website, if someone could put that

[9:40] website in the chat for everybody and maybe Tony, you could email us uh that

[9:44] website to check out. I know there's a lot of residents that want to stay

[9:47] updated and, you know, see how they can make their voices heard with the

[9:50] legislature and the, you know, the the constituency as well. So, thank you for

[9:55] doing that. We're going to open it up with Select Man Anderson. Do you have

[9:57] any questions or comments? >> So, I do have some comments, Mr. Chair.

[10:01] So, Tony, first of all, I want to thank you and your team for spearheading this

[10:04] important mission. Um, I've heard from a lot of people who have either gone to

[10:10] Sturdy Hospital or Milford Hospital and they said the ER room is a

[10:16] just a mess. They're waiting 8 to 10 hours before they even get in seen. So,

[10:21] I think opening up Norwood Hospital will be a great resource for uh the Run

[10:27] residents. And uh I just want to thank you again for spearheading this and uh

[10:31] if there's anything else we can do to help, please let us know.

[10:35] » Absolutely. We'll do. Thank you. >> Thank you, Selectman Anderson. Selectman

[10:39] Harrington. >> Hi, Chair Gallow. So, yeah, I concur

[10:42] with Selectman Anderson. I wholeheartedly agree, you know, would be

[10:46] it would being a benefit for the town of Rethm. Uh, obviously, it was, you know,

[10:52] uh, very important to us when it was open. Uh, one question, what state of

[10:57] repair, disrepair is the building in since there's been little or no activity

[11:02] in it and shuttered for six years? Sure. So, the that's a great question. The

[11:07] building was the original building was completely torn down and new

[11:11] construction was started. So, what's on the site now is the shell of the core

[11:14] hospital building. That's the four-story building that'll hold operating rooms,

[11:18] um the emergency room in about 80% of the garage. There's also a outpatient

[11:24] service building planned for the site that construction hasn't started on yet.

[11:27] The core hospital building is approaching, call it two, two and a half

[11:30] years old since the bankruptcy. Medical Properties Trust has spent money to make

[11:34] sure that they're sealing up that building and the HVAC system is actually

[11:38] working. So, I mean, they are paying to I hate to give them credit, but I'll

[11:41] give them some credit. They're paying to make sure that the building is kept uh

[11:44] the the shell of the building is kept with air flow in there. But, it's a

[11:47] blank canvas waiting for a operator to come in and say, "We want this room here

[11:50] and we want that room there." Uh, but our building department still stays in

[11:53] touch with Suffet Construction and their supers on the site. So, the building's

[11:57] in good shape, ready for somebody to come in and finish the job.

[12:00] » Thank you. appreciate the update. >> Absolutely.

[12:03] » Thank you. And um Select Lamoth, >> Tony, great job. Thank you. Uh we read

[12:08] all the material that you sent out last month. I have no questions, Mr. Chair.

[12:13] Thank you. >> Great. So Tony, please continue to keep

[12:15] the board updated uh through Mike King in the office. But again, we just want

[12:19] to say thank you for the taking the leadership role on this, pushing it

[12:23] forward. you know, it's very important to our community, all the ancillary

[12:27] communities, you know, the economies, the, you know, we don't, we forget to

[12:30] think about all the jobs, right? All the jobs, you know, when when you have a

[12:35] hospital that employs that many people, you supply, you know, there's housing

[12:38] needs, there's restaurant needs, there's all these ancillary support uh that that

[12:43] th helps the surrounding community and the economy thrive. We've now haven't

[12:47] had that for these years. So, it'll be a nice shot of adrenaline to get that back

[12:51] to not only city of uh Norwood, but all of us in the surrounding community. So,

[12:56] we appreciate that. Please do keep us updated.

[12:59] » Absolutely. We'll do. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Emmers.

[13:02] » Have a wonderful evening, everybody. Uh Tony, everyone else, stay on. You can't

[13:05] get off that. [laughter] I wish.

[13:08] » All right, we're going to move to the public hearing. Let's go. Uh everybody,

[13:12] let's go to tab number three, which is a public hearing. Uh this is a request for

[13:17] children to play sign uh installation on Blake Road and Fischer Road. So in our

[13:22] packet uh we have the public hearing notice. We have an email from Jordan

[13:26] Wayand and I apologize Jordan if I messed that up uh for requesting

[13:31] children to play signs on Blake Road and Fischer. We have another ant email from

[13:35] Brian Antonyoli from the DPW. We have Chris Cassidy with us I believe um who

[13:40] can answer any questions from the DPW's perspective. Uh, and we also have an

[13:44] email from Police Chief McGrath. Um, with us in attendance, I see Jordan. I

[13:49] see Chris Cassidy uh for the Department of Works, the assistant director, and I

[13:54] also see that we have Chief McGrath with us. So, before I get going, I have to,

[13:59] uh, ask for a motion to open the public hearing.

[14:02] » So moved. >> Second. Okay. Motion made by Select Man,

[14:07] second by Sele Select Mimoth. Any further discussions? Being none, we'll

[14:11] do a roll call vote. Select man. Anderson.

[14:13] » Anderson. Yes. >> Harrington.

[14:15] » Harrington. Yes. >> Lamoth.

[14:17] » Lamoth. Yes. >> Gallow. Yes. Motion carries. 40. All

[14:21] right. Now I need a motion to wave the reading of the public hearing notice.

[14:25] » So moved. >> Second.

[14:26] » Okay. Motion made by Selectman Anderson. Second by Selectman Lamoth. Any further

[14:30] discussion? Being none. We'll do a roll call vote. Selectman Anderson.

[14:34] » Anderson's yes. >> Blackman Harrington.

[14:37] » Harington. Yes. >> Lamoth. [clears throat]

[14:40] » Lamoth. Yes. >> Gallow. Yes. Motion carries. 40. Public

[14:45] hearing is now open. >> Okay. So, um, [clears throat]

[14:49] Mike, who do we want to Mr. King, our town manager, who do we want to kind of

[14:53] give us the backstory on this for the board? Mike, do you want to do that or

[14:56] do you want to hand it off to, uh, Cassidy or somebody else?

[15:01] » Typically, we would ask the petitioner to start the process.

[15:05] » So, let's do that. Um, so we have with us Jordan

[15:11] Jordan, are you with us? Can you hear me? Okay.

[15:13] » Yes, I hear you. I'm Jordan Wagan. Yes, >> Jordan. Welcome to the meeting. Um, we

[15:18] want to turn the floor over to you. We have a packet full of emails and

[15:22] documentation. Um, but we do want to, as Mike said, um, give you an opportunity

[15:28] to address the board, tell us all why we're here and why you're looking for

[15:32] the the sign installation. So, the floor is yours, Jordan.

[15:35] » All right. Thank you, sir. All right. Um, first of all, um, I'd like to thank

[15:38] the board for welcoming me here tonight and giving me the opportunity to bring

[15:42] this concern forward. Um, yeah, again, my name is Jordan Wagan. I live at 75

[15:47] Blake Road. I'm here tonight because I'd like to ask the town to consider putting

[15:50] up children at play signs in our neighborhood. I lived here for almost

[15:55] three years and during that time I've noticed a lot of traffic coming through

[15:59] the neighborhood particularly from Amazon, UPS, FedEx drivers and really

[16:04] any other delivery drivers. Um there have been plenty of times, you know,

[16:09] when I've seen drivers coming through, you know, at pretty high rates of speed.

[16:13] Um, I also believe that Fischer Road and Blake Road are frequently used as a

[16:17] cutthrough to get to May Street and Share Street, which brings additional

[16:21] traffic through uh what is considered, you know, a residential neighborhood.

[16:26] You know, there are a lot of children who live in this neighborhood, you know,

[16:28] regularly uh play outside, including my own. You know, with the amount of

[16:32] traffic coming through and the speeds I've seen some of the vehicles

[16:35] traveling, I'm deeply concerned at um at the safety of these kids um who live

[16:39] here. Um, I think children at play signs would be a simple way to remind drivers

[16:44] that they're, you know, traveling through a residential neighborhood, you

[16:47] know, where children are frequently outside and that they need to slow down

[16:51] and be more cautious. Um, I propose in the town to consider, you know,

[16:55] installing two to four signs. Ideally, I'd like to see one at each end of Fiser

[17:00] Road as well as two along Blake Road, one near the intersection with Fiser

[17:05] Road, and another near the beginning of Blake Road by Main Street. Um, that's

[17:10] really all I have uh regarding that. I really appreciate the town considering

[17:14] this request and helping make our neighborhood safer. And I would be

[17:19] willing to take any, you know, recommendations, any, you know,

[17:22] suggestions from anybody from the board, um, as well as the DPW and also the

[17:27] police chief moving forward. So again, thank you for your time,

[17:31] » Jordan. Thanks for that intro. Uh what we what we're going to do now is I'm

[17:35] actually going to turn it over to uh Chris Cassidy who's our dep uh

[17:39] Department of Public Works assistant director. I'd like him to weigh on uh

[17:43] number of signs um locations and then I'm going to ask Chief McGrath as well.

[17:48] Then what I'm going to do, Jordan, is I'm going to open up to our board

[17:50] members to ask you any questions that they might have. And then being a public

[17:54] hearing I have to ask members of the public if anyone has any comments or

[17:58] questions and then the board will then uh take a vote. Uh so that's how the

[18:02] process will work. Um I do want to let uh anyone listening know that we have

[18:06] recently revised a lot of these processes. The board wanted to kind of

[18:11] streamline these processes, make sure that we follow the same process. We know

[18:15] that, you know, uh a lot of these requests, they're very uh they're very

[18:20] important. Sometimes they bring with them a lot of passion, right? Uh we all

[18:24] have children or not all of us, but many of us have children. I do as well. We

[18:27] all want our kids to be outside and be safe. And we got to balance that with

[18:31] what I call sign pollution all over town because if you ask residents on every

[18:36] street in Rethm, I'm sure um you know there's a lot of streets like yours that

[18:41] we could justify and warrant having these signs. So I just want to give you

[18:44] that as just a a point of discussion. I'm not saying we're going to support it

[18:49] or not support it. Uh but we do take very seriously we we do not want to have

[18:53] you know sign I call it um you know just sign

[18:58] on every street uh all the time. So with that being said um I would like to hear

[19:02] from Chris Cassidy regarding uh the Department of Public Works position on

[19:08] these signs. Chris, >> thank you Mr. Chairman. Um, I had the

[19:12] opportunity to go out and look at the area, specifically trying to scout for

[19:17] locations we could install the signs where they would be um, aesthetically

[19:21] pleasing while at the same time serving the purpose that's being requested. Uh,

[19:26] I do believe we can do this. Uh, I believe we there are four locations that

[19:30] we could install these signs uh where they would be functional and not present

[19:37] a an issue for a resident looking out a window having to look at it or anything

[19:41] of that nature.

[19:44] » Fantastic. And >> we have we also have the signs. So,

[19:50] » Chris, I think you I think you might be breaking up a tiny bit. Try shutting off

[19:54] your video. Uh, it could be just a a little glitch in the connection.

[19:58] » Um, >> my apologies.

[20:00] » No, no, no. Don't worry about it. It happens all the time. So, can you just

[20:03] repeat what you said? You said you identified four possible locations. You

[20:07] think you can get this done in a way that's aesthetically pleasing to the

[20:10] neighbors, but also get the desired outcome uh for Jordan and the fellow,

[20:15] you know, neighbors who hopefully we're going to hear from soon as well um and

[20:20] accomplish both tasks. Is that is that correct?

[20:22] » I do. I do, Mr. Jim. Yes. Okay. And and regarding the locations of the signs,

[20:27] can you give us an estimation on where you think they would go? Do you agree

[20:32] with Jordan's assessment and placement, or would you want to put them in a

[20:36] different spots? >> No, I think um I think you know, if you

[20:39] think about this neighborhood, you're going to want to you're going to want to

[20:42] catch the traffic as it's entering the neighborhood. So, you're going to want

[20:45] to get it in a location where it's going to catch the attention of drivers where

[20:49] they're entering. So from Shear Street, from May Street, you're going to be

[20:52] looking, you know, I'm I'm ballparking it and, you know, I don't have the exact

[20:56] measurements, but approximately 50 ft in. So it's going to be visible um at at

[21:03] um Fiser and Blake itself, it would be it would be a normal that's the that's

[21:07] the only that's the only intersection I I have in question because you're you're

[21:11] entering two separate streets from two different directions potentially there.

[21:14] So, you may end up with two signs in that location that are closer together

[21:19] than than the other two, but um I still think we could make that work.

[21:24] » Okay. >> Visually and effectively.

[21:26] » Okay. Sounds good. Um anything else before I turn it over and ask Chief

[21:30] McGrath to comment? >> Uh no.

[21:33] » All right. Well, thanks Chris. Appreciate you being here. Hang on tight

[21:36] while I ask Chief McGrath. Do you have anything to um I see you on here. Do you

[21:40] have anything to add to this conversation, Chief?

[21:43] » Yes. support if uh the neighbors are in favor of it and the DPW is in favor of

[21:48] it, there's absolutely no harm. So hopefully it'll address the problem.

[21:53] » And great. And you agree there is a problem here, Chief. One worth

[21:57] addressing. >> I I can't say that I I've done a traffic

[22:02] study or anyone's done a traffic study or paid much attention to it. um you

[22:06] know the the consensus around the station for officers who've gone through

[22:10] there because since this thing started we did add it to our our uh our log of

[22:16] checks you know traffic checks >> and uh there there is you know their

[22:21] observation is so there's a few things to consider. One is it it's hard to

[22:25] judge when you're at the end of a driveway how fast a vehicle is really

[22:29] going. And our traffic enforcement efforts have proven over and over again

[22:34] in these neighborhoods. They're they're never going as fast as you think they

[22:38] are. Uh because it's a big truck. They make a lot of noise. There's a lot of

[22:42] studies that support that. Perception is different than reality. But, you know,

[22:46] again, I don't think it's a big ask. So, if it's going to keep a whole

[22:50] neighborhood happy, uh, why get into the weeds over it? Just, uh, this if the

[22:55] signs are wanted and they're all agreed on and the town agrees on it, then I

[22:59] support it. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Um, now, Mike

[23:05] King, do you have anything to add from the town's perspective before I open it

[23:08] up to see if any of the fellow neighbors or residents would like to support or

[23:13] not support this? >> Uh, it would just be a clarification,

[23:17] Mr. chairman because my understanding is that two signs are requested um one on

[23:22] each road and that's what I believe the motion may reflect. So we just want to

[23:27] be cognizant of that. >> Well, let's then let's make sure that

[23:31] that is what the motion reflects. So if we were uh let me read the let's go back

[23:36] and make sure that that is what the motion reflects.

[23:41] My motion says one ch children at play sign on Blake and one children at play

[23:48] sign on Fiser as determined by the director of public works and sign shall

[23:52] be in accordance with mass dot standards.

[23:56] Is that what you read and you think the applicant was asking for?

[24:00] » That is correct. Uh we have a June 16th email from Jordan requesting two

[24:05] children at play signs, one on each street.

[24:09] » Okay. So, uh, Jordan, yeah, I I'll get back to you one sec, Chris Cassidy,

[24:15] if you're still with us. >> I am.

[24:18] » Can Can we accomplish this with only two signs?

[24:22] » I I do. And and uh Mike King, thank you for clarifying that is correct. It was

[24:27] actually a request for two signs. And I I 100% do think that we can still

[24:32] accomplish this goal given the locations.

[24:35] » Okay, Jordan, you did raise your hand, so I'll go back to you very quickly.

[24:39] » Yeah. Um, so I think there was a little miscommunication uh possibly on my end.

[24:43] Um, but what I am asking would be two to four signs. It wasn't like I want four

[24:50] or like I think we need four. Um, at this point I'm willing to, you know,

[24:56] you know, stay on two, but um, I think four would be better. But if you have to

[25:00] go off the original motion, then I'm all for it. So,

[25:03] » you know, Jordan, sometimes what I see in these situation is if we can get the

[25:08] two approved, we see how the two work and then if we need to revisit the

[25:13] situation, we can always put it back on the agenda. We can always do another

[25:17] public hearing like this and we can kind of go from there. But I would say to

[25:21] your point, I think this is what you're saying, but I'm not I don't want to put

[25:23] words in your mouth. Two is better than zero. Right.

[25:27] » Correct. I um I was seeking um uh the higher road and then you know if you

[25:32] guys can you know break it down to two then I'll take what I can get. So

[25:35] » okay. Uh with that being said, thank you for that. Jordan, I'm going to open it

[25:39] up to the public. Are there any neighbors on or a Butters on that would

[25:42] like to make a comment? I see um uh Daniel Cornier. Did I uh did I say that

[25:48] correctly? Daniel >> Daniel and Katherine Conoyer.

[25:51] » Canoyer. So I did not. I apologize. Welcome to our meeting. uh please feel

[25:56] free to uh address the board and the public and everyone who's listening.

[26:01] » Thank you everybody for having us on. Um again, we we are we have four of our own

[26:05] young children here and they're always in the driveway right along the street

[26:09] riding bikes in the neighborhood. Um it's a pretty safe neighborhood for them

[26:12] to wander out and and kind of play with the neighborhood kids. So I agree. The

[26:16] uh the trucks, the bigger, larger trucks that kind of fly through there um

[26:21] definitely seem to present a problem. So having any kind of signage would be

[26:24] great. We would we're both on board with that.

[26:28] » Fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Uh is there anyone else

[26:31] that would like to make a comment? I see there's uh Sue Shirley on.

[26:35] » Yep, I'm on. Um >> we are right across the street from Dan

[26:40] and Katherine and we wholeheartedly agree that um the number of trucks

[26:45] especially coming through the neighborhood has been high and they do

[26:49] seem to be going too fast and there are a lot of kids out on on bikes

[26:54] especially. Um

[26:56] » so we're we're >> for it. Go ahead.

[26:59] » I'm sorry. What else did you say? >> We're for it.

[27:02] » Okay. Yeah, I appreciate that. Anybody else on that'd like to make a comment

[27:07] before I turn it over to the board? Okay, seeing none, I'm going to turn it

[27:12] over to Selectman Anderson. Selectman Anderson, any questions or comments for

[27:16] anybody rep, uh, you know, with regard to this issue.

[27:19] » Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So, so I mean, I would support, you know, the

[27:24] signs, um, especially at least two of them. Uh, but my question to you, Mr.

[27:29] Chair, is now we have a sign policy in place. So, I'm assuming it this has

[27:33] already met the sign policy and that's why it's here.

[27:36] » Yes, great question. And as I was alluding to before, but I didn't

[27:39] eloquently say that in part of us going through all of our policies, we revamped

[27:44] our signed policy request and exactly what you're seeing before us followed

[27:48] the proper protocol. We, [clears throat] you know, whenever we get a sign request

[27:52] like this, Mike King and his office takes the requests. They do the

[27:56] necessary due diligence. They reach out to the DPW. They reach out to public

[28:00] safety. They do a public hearing notice so that the abuters know um that we're

[28:05] you know trying to do something like this get it on the agenda. Um and then

[28:09] by the time it gets to us selectman Anderson um all of those other boxes

[28:12] have been checked. >> Okay. Yeah. So no further questions. I

[28:16] would support the two signs. >> Um thank you Selectman Harrington.

[28:21] » Thank you Mr. Chair. >> Yeah. So yeah obviously you know public

[28:24] safety is paramount. Uh I live in an adjacent neighborhood and you know I I

[28:28] agree there's lots of trucks rolling through the the neighborhood. They

[28:31] clearly do drive fast. Uh, and like Chief McGrad said, perception is is

[28:36] different from reality. U, but I would support this. And finally, uh, M,

[28:41] through you, Mr. Chair, could we make a a a an amendment to the motion to go for

[28:46] the four rather than having to bring it back at another time?

[28:50] » I would not actually I I would not support that. I think we should start

[28:55] with the two. The two is what the recommendation is from the DPW and then

[28:59] we go from there. It's harder to it's harder to take signs away than to add

[29:04] signs. So I would say we start with the two and then we go with if we need to

[29:08] revisit it, we revisit it. But obviously I'm only I'm only one vote.

[29:13] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Uh Mike, do you have anything else to

[29:18] add? >> Nothing to add, Mr. Chairman. Roy.

[29:23] » All right. Select select them off. Well, I would like to have seen a traffic

[29:27] report. I think that's something we should desire going forward as part of

[29:31] this process, but um no, no doubt the reality is happening. There's people

[29:37] speeding there. I'm I support it. No, Mr. Chair, no questions.

[29:42] » Okay. Appreciate that. [clears throat] And we can revisit the uh an official

[29:46] traffic study. I I I want to dive into that a little bit, Roy. uh it doesn't

[29:49] sound like a bad idea, but I just want to see what that entails um before we

[29:53] do, you know, maybe add this to the process moving forward. So, good

[29:57] suggestion. So, uh at this time, um I'd like to take a motion to close the

[30:02] public hearing. >> So, moved.

[30:04] » Second. >> Is there a second?

[30:06] » Second. >> Oh, thank you. Right. So, motion made by

[30:09] Select Manison, second by Select Lamoff. Any further discussion? Being none,

[30:13] we'll do a roll call vote. Select Manison.

[30:16] » Anderson's yes. Selectman Harrington. >> Harrington. Yes.

[30:20] » Selectman. >> Lamoth.

[30:21] » Lamoth. Yes. >> Gallow. Yes. Motion carries 40. Uh and

[30:25] at this time, chair would uh entertain a motion to approve

[30:31] the request for one children at play sign on Blake Road and one children at

[30:36] play sign on Fischer Road as determined by the director of public works. And the

[30:41] sign shall be in accordance with mass DOT standards.

[30:44] » So moved. >> Second.

[30:46] Motion made by Select Manison. Second by I think it was Selectman Harrington. Any

[30:50] further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Select Manison.

[30:55] » Anderson G. Yes. >> Selectman Harrington.

[30:58] » Harington. Yes. >> Select Lamoth.

[31:00] » Lamoth. Yes. >> Chris Gallow. Yes. Motion carries 40.

[31:04] Congratulations. Uh DPW. Um Chris Cassidy. When Just to set expectations,

[31:11] when do you think these people might see these signs?

[31:17] Um, I am going to I Mr. Chairman, I'm shooting for it for next week. So, I'm

[31:22] going to try to get them in as quickly as I possibly can having following this

[31:26] meeting. >> Great, Chris. Yeah, that'd be great.

[31:29] Shoot us an have someone shoot Mike's office an email when they're up uh just

[31:33] so the board knows that that the issue has been resolved. Uh, we appreciate

[31:37] everyone who brought this to our attention. Uh, and um, thank you for

[31:41] being great residents of Rentham. Please feel free to hang out and listen to the

[31:45] rest of our exciting meeting and uh we wish you all we wish you all the best.

[31:50] Have a great night. >> Thank you, board. Thank you.

[31:53] » You're very welcome. Okay, let's move on. Let's go to tab number four. Looks

[31:58] like tab number four is going to be a special event permit vendor market at

[32:03] Big Apple Farm from September 19, 2026. No, not from on September 19th, 2026 and

[32:11] October 10th, 2026. So, in our packet, uh we have some documentation pertaining

[32:17] to the special event permit application for both of the events. With us, we

[32:22] should have uh Cynthia Guan. Cynthia, you with us?

[32:26] » Yes, I'm here. >> Hi, Cynthia. Welcome to the meeting. So,

[32:30] I just want to let the board know before we turn it over to you, Cynthia, just

[32:33] for a quick summary of what we're doing. Um, okay.

[32:36] » We have in our packets board, as you know, we have a complete process a

[32:40] checklist. It's already gone through all the stages that it needs to, including,

[32:44] I'm assuming, public safety, you know, board of health, um, all the, uh,

[32:49] necessary people have signed off on this. Um, so that it comes before us.

[32:55] Uh, and I also see, um, who's that on there from the big apple?

[33:00] » It's me. It's Becky. >> Hey, Becky. I thought that was you. How

[33:03] you doing? >> Good. How are you

[33:05] » guys? I have a personal gripe with Becky because at the last No, I'm joking. At

[33:10] the last event that they had, Select Manison and I uh got into a pie eating

[33:16] contest uh over at Big Apple. By the way, it wasn't much of a competition. I

[33:21] knocked his doors off on this thing. First of all, second of

[33:25] » Not even close. [laughter] Second of all, second of all, uh I I I

[33:30] was totally joking, but how do I say this in the the nicest way possible?

[33:34] This has no influence on the quality of the pie, cuz their pies are incredible,

[33:39] but because Chris Gallow tends to be a competitor and doesn't want to lose. I

[33:44] ate the pie so fast that I barely got home before the pie came back up. So, I

[33:49] have a a major issue with Becky. Uh and and again, I just We had a great time.

[33:54] It was a great event. Um, it was awesome to get the vendors there and I'm looking

[33:58] forward for the next one. Um, maybe I'll tone it back a little, Becky, for the

[34:02] next one, though. >> I mean, you came with goggles on, so I

[34:06] mean, we have to we have to state that for everybody.

[34:09] » All right. So, that's embarrassing, but I did. So, Becky, great to have you.

[34:12] Cynthia, great to have you. Do you mind just giving us a quick uh understanding

[34:16] of what we're doing on these two events to the board, please?

[34:20] » Sure. So, they're going to be pretty much um the same that we did last year.

[34:25] Uh the one in September, uh we're planning on having it up in the uh pick

[34:31] your own um area. Um we understand that that gets a lot of foot traffic. Um

[34:37] there'll be plenty of room for parking. Uh no problem with um you know,

[34:43] pedestrians crossing. So, right now we have about 25 vendors.

[34:49] Um, we only have one food vendor. Um, no food trucks, no entertainment. So, it's

[34:55] pretty pretty basic event. The October one, we're going to bring it back down

[35:00] to the Blueberry Patch. Um, we've got a few more vendors. Again, only one food

[35:05] vendor, no food trucks, no entertainment. Um, you know, just pretty

[35:10] basic um outdoor shopping and and fun. >> Sounds fantastic to me. I'm going to

[35:18] open it up to the board members to see if anyone has any uh additional

[35:22] questions or comments and we'll start with Select Mananderson.

[35:25] » Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So, so I actually attended the one they had last

[35:28] year. Uh I thought it was wellrun. I didn't see any issues, so I've got no

[35:34] problems with this request. >> That's fantastic. Uh Selectman Anderson,

[35:37] Selectman Harrington. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, yeah, wish you

[35:40] best of luck on both the events. Uh it's already been through all the departments

[35:44] public safety and uh wish you the best. >> Great. Thank you. Select Eric Select

[35:50] Lamoth, anything to add? >> No, we're going through the process.

[35:53] It's a continuous process. Looks great. Thank you. [clears throat]

[35:57] » All right. Great. Uh so at this time chair entertain a motion to approve the

[36:02] special event application for fa fair factors vendor market to take place at

[36:08] big apple farm on September 19th 2026 and October 10th 2026 pending good

[36:15] standing with the board of health building inspector and public safety.

[36:18] » So moved second there motion made by selectman Anderson I think it was a

[36:23] second by selectman. Any further discussion?

[36:27] Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Uh, selectman Anderson.

[36:30] » Anderson, yes. >> Selectman Harrington,

[36:34] » yes. >> Selectman Lamoth, yes.

[36:37] » Gallow, yes. Motion carries 40. Congratulations. Have fun. And Becky,

[36:42] good luck. Uh, later on this week with the delegation coming through the the uh

[36:45] the farm. Uh, please keep us posted on how our board can continue to work with

[36:50] you guys and support you. >> Okay. Thank you.

[36:53] » All right. Have a good night. You too. >> Okay, let's go on to tab number five.

[36:58] Tab number five is a license amendment application for La Familia located at

[37:04] 263 Shears Street. Uh this is a pledge for a pledge of collateral. So in our

[37:09] packet we have some documentation. We have the license amendment application

[37:13] for La Familia and uh with us we have someone that I thought this was him,

[37:17] gentleman by the name of Peter Celino who I I happen to know. Um, Peter,

[37:23] welcome to our meeting. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, happy to be

[37:26] here. I did not know you were the chair of this board and I'm very happy to be

[37:29] before you >> and I you and you didn't now you know

[37:32] and you still came. So, that's impressive.

[37:34] » I I'm happy to be here. >> We're happy to have you. So, Peter, do

[37:38] you mind uh just giving our board we we we got the full package in our packet.

[37:43] The board's had a chance to review everything as as we do with all these,

[37:47] Peter. There's a checklist of events that have to happen before it gets put

[37:50] on the agenda and we have a meeting like this. Um, but if you could, do you mind

[37:55] just giving the board a quick summary of what we're trying to accomplish?

[37:58] » Certainly, I can. So, for the record, my name is Peter Solino. I'm a lawyer in

[38:01] Fall River. I'm here tonight for Bay Coast Bank. I conducted a commercial

[38:05] real estate transaction in which Bay Coast provided a line of credit to Laaf

[38:09] Familia and part of that loan approval was a pledge of this liquor license. Uh

[38:14] I do see Deb and Ever Amaya are on who are the operators. That was at the

[38:19] request of the board. So simply what's before you is to approve a pledge of the

[38:23] liquor license associated with La Familia Restaurant to Bay Coast Bank as

[38:28] collateral for a promisory note uh in the amount of 475.

[38:32] » Okay. Uh and and Mike King, just for anyone watching that might not be

[38:36] familiar with this process, is this a pretty standard process?

[38:41] » It is, Mr. Chairman. Um, it needs to go through approval of both the select

[38:45] board and ultimately the ABCC will have the final say.

[38:49] » Okay, fantastic. And attorney Celino, you mentioned that the applicants are

[38:53] on. Uh, would they like to address the board?

[38:56] » Um, I Deb, can you hear us and would you like to address the board?

[39:00] » Um, we're here. My husband and I are here listening. We can address whatever

[39:04] it is you were asking. >> No, we just wanted to say hello and see

[39:07] how you're doing over there. I'm uh I was just in there actually. I got take

[39:11] out from there. uh last weekend and the food was incredible. So, how are you?

[39:15] How are things going in Rethm so far, Deb?

[39:18] » Super. We've been uh received great by the community. Um a lot of great

[39:23] feedback. We really love the love the town. We're doing great over there. It's

[39:27] been a real blessing for us. >> It's great. Yeah, like I said, food was

[39:31] great. Uh and I've been there before. Service is great. So, it's great to have

[39:34] you in the community. We love our restauranteers and rent them. Um, so

[39:38] with that being said, I'm going to open it up to the board members to see if

[39:41] anyone has any questions or comments for attorney Celino. Um, and we'll start

[39:46] with Selectman Anderson. >> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I also

[39:50] have have visited La Familia, not only in Rethm, but also in Cumberland. And,

[39:55] um, they do a great job. I have no no issues and no qualms about this request.

[40:03] » Fantastic. And just so you know, Selectman Anderson is the select board's

[40:08] um official foodie. So if you get a badge of approval from Selectman

[40:12] Anderson, uh Deb, it's a pretty big deal. So uh I think I think things must

[40:17] be going great at La Familia and thank you for that comment, Selectman

[40:21] Anderson. Um Selectman Harrington, any questions or comments?

[40:25] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. So yeah, I too am a frequent flyer over at La Familia. I

[40:29] think Eric does a wonderful job. Awesome server. Um

[40:33] can't can't talk well enough about the bowl and ace and uh keep up the good

[40:38] work. Great spot. >> Fantastic. Thank you, Select Man. Select

[40:42] Lamoth. >> No questions, Mr. Chair.

[40:46] » Thank you. All right. So, at this time, uh chair would entertain a motion to

[40:50] approve the pledge of collateral license amendment application for Laaf Familia

[40:55] located at 263 Shar Street, Rentham, Mass.

[40:58] » So moved. >> Second. Motion made by Selectman

[41:01] Anderson, second by Sele Selectman Lamoth. Any further discussion? Being

[41:05] none, we'll do a roll call vote. Selectman Anderson.

[41:08] » Anderson G. Yes. >> Selectman Harrington.

[41:10] » Harington. Yes. >> Selectman Lamoth.

[41:13] » Lamoth. Yes. >> Gallow. Yes. Motion carries 40. Peter,

[41:17] great to see you. Thanks for being on. >> Thank you all.

[41:19] » And thank you very much. Have a great night, everybody.

[41:23] » Much. >> Okay, let's go to tab number six.

[41:27] Tab number six. This is a license amendment application. This is Cracker

[41:32] Barrel Old Country Store located at 1048 Cell Street, Unit 40 in Rentham at the

[41:38] outlets. This is a change of officers, directors, and LLC managers. In our

[41:43] packet, we have the license amendment application for Cracker Barrel. And with

[41:47] us, we have Matteline Gaines and Stacy Reynolds. Matteline and Stacy, are you

[41:53] with us? >> Um, I'm here. Stacy Reynolds. Hi, Stacy.

[41:59] Uh, how are you this evening? >> Good. How are you? Thank you for having

[42:03] me. >> Doing fantastic. Welcome. Do you mind

[42:06] just telling the board what your affiliation with Cracker Barrel is and

[42:09] what we're trying to accomplish this evening?

[42:12] » Um, I'm actually the general manager of the Rentham location.

[42:15] » Great. >> Um, and we are just coming here to um

[42:18] talk about the officer changes that have happened with Cracker Barrel.

[42:22] » Okay. Do you want to give us a highle summary of that?

[42:26] » Um, yep. So Richard Wilson um who was one of our current officers has retired.

[42:32] Um and Jennifer Langford has taken his place. Um our current CEO is now David

[42:37] Dino. Julie Bino um is no longer our current um CEO. So we've had a little

[42:43] bit of change um with our offices within the company.

[42:46] » Okay, great. Uh seems pretty straightforward. We see these quite

[42:50] often. Um, I'm going to open it up to the board members to see if anyone has

[42:54] any addition additional questions or comments and we'll start with Selectman

[42:58] Anderson. >> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. This is

[43:00] basically just clerical. Um, I've got no issues with this.

[43:03] » You're you're correct. Yeah. Okay. Uh, Selectman Harrington.

[43:08] » No issues. >> Okay, great. Selectman Lamoth,

[43:12] » no questions. >> Great. Uh, I don't have any additional

[43:15] questions either. So, uh, chair would entertain a motion to approve the change

[43:18] of officers, directors, LLC managers, um, license amendment application for

[43:24] Cracker Barrel Old Country Store located at 1048 Cell Street, Unit 40, and Rent

[43:29] the Mass 02093. >> So moved.

[43:33] » Second. >> Motion made by Select Man, second by

[43:36] Select Lamoth. Any further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote.

[43:40] Selectman Anderson >> Anderson. Yes.

[43:43] » Selectman Harrington. [clears throat] >> I think you I think you said yes. Right.

[43:47] Bill. >> Yes.

[43:49] » Okay. Thank you. Select them on the moth.

[43:51] » Moth. Yes. >> Gallow. Yes. Motion carries 40.

[43:54] Congratulations Stacy. Have a wonderful evening. Keep up the good work over

[43:58] there. >> Thank you. You also take care.

[44:01] » Okay. Let's go. Thank you. Let's go to tab number eight. Tab number eight. Uh

[44:06] we have um one of our wellrespected guests joining us for tab number eight.

[44:11] We have Dr. Allan Cameron who's going to give to us uh a back to school update as

[44:17] he does every year. Dr. Cameron is the superintendent of Ranom Public Schools.

[44:22] Dr. Cameron, welcome to the meeting. >> Thank you. Great to see you, Mr. Chair.

[44:27] Uh members of the board, Mr. King, thank you for giving me the opportunity to be

[44:32] here tonight and give you just a very brief update on what we've done to start

[44:38] the school year and some upcoming events we have. So, we officially started off

[44:43] last week uh with two days of professional developments, classroom

[44:48] preparation, and collaboration on Tuesday the 25th and Wednesday the 26th.

[44:52] During those two days, staff members came in. We completed statemandated

[44:57] training on a range of topics, ethics, special education, civil rights,

[45:01] discipline, crisis intervention, and emergency medical response. We were

[45:06] fortunate to have uh some security and safety training with Rethm Police

[45:11] Department, Sergeant Morris, and everyone's favorite, Officer Cruiser.

[45:16] And uh we hosted our meet and greet which is a runthm unique tradition where

[45:22] we invite students [snorts] and their families in to see the classroom before

[45:26] the start of the school day. Uh that Thursday and Friday we welcomed in uh

[45:30] students. We have 1,02 students this year. That's a 2.3% increase over last

[45:36] year. Continuing our uh continued in increase in enrollment. We're happy to

[45:41] see the students coming in. We're glad to have them. This year, we're going to

[45:45] continue to work on our three strategic objectives relating to uh learning,

[45:50] nurturing respectful environment, uh connections, excuse me, and ensuring the

[45:54] environment is safe, innovative, and inclusive. I want to focus on that last

[45:58] one briefly. I want to thank uh the voters and the leaders of Rentham

[46:02] because thanks to you, we're able to continue working on the new elementary

[46:06] school building project. Uh the school building committee will continue to

[46:10] update the community as the project proceeds with an anticipated uh opening

[46:15] date of September of 2029. Also, I'm very thankful to uh police chief

[46:20] McGrath, KP Superintendent Rich Drole for collaborating with us to help us to

[46:25] secure a full-time SRO for the district. We were sharing uh part-time officer

[46:32] Schwabby. He was between KP and our district. Now we each have our own.

[46:36] We're sad to see Officer Schwabby head to KP, but we welcome uh Officer

[46:41] Mallister and we're glad to have him on campus full-time. And I want to thank uh

[46:45] select board, finance committee, school committee, school building committee,

[46:49] and town meeting participants for supporting us and helping us to get all

[46:53] that work done. And then I just want to briefly mention a few things we have

[46:57] coming up. Couple of uh important events. On Thursday, September 10th at 6

[47:02] p.m., we have the annual uh softball game between Rethm Public Schools and

[47:08] Rentham Police Department. That takes place at Sweatfield at 6:00. And uh I

[47:15] can't we got beaten so badly last year, I don't even feel comfortable talking

[47:19] any trash. Although I usually that's my one skill I bring to softball is trash

[47:23] talking. But, uh, we're hoping for a better showing this year and we hope

[47:28] people will come out. All the proceeds will benefit the Retham Education

[47:32] Association Scholarship Fund. Uh, then on Friday, September 11th, that is Oh,

[47:37] yes. I'm sorry, Mr. Gallup. >> No, no, just say the say the date and

[47:40] time again. I just want to make sure everyone heard that and we can get that

[47:43] out to try to drum up some additional uh support for that event.

[47:46] » Yes, sir. Uh, September 10th, Thursday, 6 p.m. Sweatfield.

[47:52] » All right. Great. Sorry. Please continue.

[47:54] » No, thank you. That I'm The more we can get the word out, the better. Although

[47:56] it is a little bit of a humbling experience to play against the police.

[47:59] They're quite good, but uh [laughter] I don't know. We'll see what we can do

[48:03] this year. Um on Friday, September 11th, this is the uh 25th anniversary of the

[48:07] 911 terrorist attacks. Um the National September 11th Memorial and Museum

[48:13] provides excellent resources for talking to children about this day and I've

[48:17] shared that with the parents and teachers. um in our schools because of

[48:21] the age of our students. We're going to focus on patriotism and honoring the

[48:25] helpers and heroes in our community. And I will be in attendance at the town

[48:30] commemoration at 8:30 um at the 911 memorial. Uh thank you for uh hosting

[48:34] that. And then we've got uh two big nights for families coming up the

[48:39] following week. We have our curriculum nights. So uh that's a night where we

[48:44] invite the students families to come in. They get to meet the teachers uh see the

[48:48] classroom and learn about what the students are going to be learning during

[48:51] the year. And that's going to be uh for Rodri on Thursday, September 17th and

[48:57] Delaney will be Thursday, September uh 24th. And the teachers and the

[49:02] principles will put out specific times uh because we have staggered times for

[49:05] those events. Um but overall, we've had an outstanding start to the school year.

[49:09] Very positive energy. I think that that uh vote for the building last spring

[49:13] really energized the school community. People are feeling excited about this

[49:17] year. Students and families seem very happy and ready to learn and my

[49:20] colleagues and I are eager to help them learn, make friends, stay safe and have

[49:24] fun. And I'm honored to be the superintendent of Brent Public Schools

[49:28] and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with all of you and I thank you

[49:31] for your service to the community and I'm happy to answer any questions that

[49:35] you have. >> Great. I'm going to open it up to the

[49:37] board members. Uh make any questions or comments that they have in just a

[49:40] second. Uh I feel the same way. We're lucky to have you, Dr. Cameron. You

[49:44] always do a great job. Um appreciate your enthusiasm. appreciate, you know,

[49:49] uh, you know, just the the level of professionalism and you bring an

[49:52] interesting a very professional and and um, you know, uh, being a being a a

[49:57] former Army Ranger yourself, um, you bring a a very unique perspective when

[50:02] it comes to patriotism and, uh, when we talk about very difficult events like

[50:07] 911. I think you and I have discussed this in the past. I was in Manhattan on

[50:11] 911. It's a very uh important day for me, somber day uh for the terror, you

[50:16] know, when the terrorists attacked those the buildings and then not only that,

[50:19] the other locations uh where heroes stepped up and made sure that more

[50:23] people didn't die. Um so we really appreciate you um you know educating our

[50:28] students in a in a way that um you know is a in a in a balanced way uh where it

[50:34] gets the message of what happens because we have to talk about difficult things

[50:38] but we do it in such a way that um you know isn't going to scare anybody at the

[50:42] same time. Um I appreciate you saying that you come into the town event on 911

[50:47] at 8:30. Um, you know, uh, we open it up to anyone, anyone, any parent, any

[50:52] student, you know, any resident of Rentham that wants to come pay their

[50:55] respects for the thousands of lives lost 25 years ago on 911. Uh, we welcome you

[51:00] to come. It's a somber uh, it's a somber um, event. Um, but it's an important

[51:05] event. Um, so appreciate you uh, saying that. Appreciate your support there.

[51:10] Appreciate all you do for our community. And I'm going to be quiet and open it up

[51:13] to the other select board members for additional questions and comments.

[51:16] Starting with Slackman Anderson. >> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Dr.

[51:20] Cameron, it's so good to see you tonight.

[51:22] » Thank you, too. >> Yeah. I just want to just want to thank

[51:25] you, um, your administrative team, your staff, and your teachers for everything

[51:30] you do for our our children in this community. Um,

[51:36] you've done a tremendous job in the amount of years you've been here. Um, I

[51:40] expect you'll continue to do the same great job you've always done. And um I

[51:46] wouldn't sell yourself short. I'm pretty sure this year I'm going to make you

[51:51] look like a star in that softball game. [laughter]

[51:54] » I hope so, Chief. I need all the help I can get. I don't know. We'll see.

[51:58] » You are the X factor. >> We'll see. I don't know. [laughter]

[52:01] » I heard I heard the police were looking for a new picture, though. That's what I

[52:05] heard. [laughter]

[52:08] » Selectman Innocent. Anything else before I pass it along?

[52:11] » That's it, Mr. Chair. >> Okay. Selectman Harrington, floor is

[52:14] yours. >> Uh, so thank you, Mr. Chair. So, thank

[52:17] you, Dr. Cammy. You do wonderful job, you and your staff. Uh, you know, I'm

[52:22] I'm proud to be part of the select board that's continued to support the school

[52:26] system, the school building. Uh, my four children graduated from the school

[52:30] systems. They're all successful today. And I'm proud to say my grandson is

[52:34] there now. And I look forward to having him have the same great education that

[52:39] my children grew up with. And thank you for all you do.

[52:42] » Thank you. Thank you, sir. Uh, and select Lamoth.

[52:47] Uh, >> Cameron, you make us all proud. I'm so

[52:50] happy to have you and, uh, thank you for all the good work you've done and are

[52:53] doing. >> Thank you.

[52:55] » All right. Great. All right. Dr. Cameron, keep in touch with us. This

[52:58] board, I always say, you reach out any time you have a question, concern,

[53:03] issue. Mike King is fantastic about uh, responsiveness and getting you in front

[53:08] of us as needed. So, the the door is always open. We wish you and the staff a

[53:12] wonderful year. I know it's going to be a great year, but we wish you a

[53:15] wonderful year and we look forward to getting an update from you again

[53:18] sometime in the near future. >> Yes, sir. Thank you very much. Thanks

[53:21] for your kind words and I'll see you all on next Friday.

[53:24] » Sounds great. >> Take care.

[53:26] » Okay, guys and girls, let's move on. Um, talking about uh a 911 event. Uh, very

[53:32] blessed to have uh Chief Marino with us. Chief Marino does a really great job

[53:36] every year of um leading the charge with the somber event as we just alluded to.

[53:41] Um and I would like Chief Marino to uh see Chief, do you have an update for us

[53:47] or is there uh want to talk about this the the order of ceremony how the day is

[53:51] going to go that morning? >> Uh yep. So thank [clears throat] you for

[53:56] having me. Thanks for uh you know getting the message out on this. Good to

[54:00] see uh the schools and and Dr. Cameron, you know, try to educate uh, you know, a

[54:06] lot of the people that don't really understand what that day meant to a lot

[54:09] of people. Uh, you know, it's interesting. I can't believe it's been

[54:12] 25 years. And, um, you know, every year seems to to have a little bit more of an

[54:17] impact, especially when, you know, I'm hiring kids that weren't even born yet

[54:21] when when this actually happened and and trying to educate them on on the uh, you

[54:26] know, the rividity of the situation. So, uh, it's it's the same uh routine that

[54:31] we have. We'll we'll you know start at 8:30 muster in the morning. Uh you

[54:36] should have the uh itinerary uh from years past as well as last year. Uh we

[54:41] give the opportunity we welcome the board to come and place the wreaths.

[54:43] Hopefully that will be the uh the same uh as this year and uh we just go

[54:48] through the uh announcements as as the day unfolds uh you know until the last

[54:54] event of of the final bells uh just after 10 a.m.

[55:00] » Fantastic. And yes, the uh we have the uh uh we have the agenda in our packet.

[55:06] Um and uh you know uh uh in past years um past couple years I've addressed uh

[55:12] the the the people attending. Um anyone else from the board, please feel free to

[55:16] address. It doesn't have to be me. Um but I do think it's important from uh a

[55:22] town official uh to address the crowd. Um and you know the men and women

[55:26] wearing the uniform. Um, I just think that's an important piece of the uh of

[55:30] the event. Uh, so Chief Marino, once again, we appreciate you uh putting this

[55:35] together, making sure this happens each and every year. Um, and um, I know I'll

[55:40] be there and I hope to see uh, you know, a huge turnout from the public. Um,

[55:44] because like you said, it's uh, it's crazy that it's been 25 years. It seems

[55:49] like just yesterday. Um, but 25 years ago and talking to my kids about this

[55:54] day and and what it meant for the country. um you know it's just uh it's

[55:58] just uh it's mind-blowing that um you know it happened and here we are 25

[56:03] years later. So we will never forget the event of those days and we will you know

[56:07] continue to celebrate all the wonderful men and women who lost their lives u on

[56:12] that uh horrible day. So with that being said we appreciate that we're going to

[56:16] move on and we hope to see a lot of people turn up for that event. Um we're

[56:20] going to go to tab number 10 at this time. So tab number 10 for the board.

[56:26] This is an elderly we have an elderly and disabled tax a committee update. So

[56:32] as the board knows we've been reaching out to all of our uh boards and

[56:37] committees in town or most of our most active boards and committees in town. Uh

[56:41] we want to give them an opportunity to come on address the select board address

[56:44] the residents. We want to let them know that we're here to support them. Kind of

[56:48] get a highle update of what's going on within the organization and how our

[56:53] board uh could partner with you on things that you might need moving

[56:56] forward, challenges, opportunities, things of that nature. Uh so with us we

[57:00] have Amelia Small, the chair. Yes, >> here I am.

[57:04] » Hi, welcome. Welcome and thank you so much for being with us.

[57:08] we'd want to give you the floor. And like I said, this is a very informal

[57:12] opportunity uh just for you to give us an update as to what you're working on,

[57:16] things you're seeing in the community, challenges, areas that our board can

[57:20] support and partner with your board on different things. And we just want you

[57:23] to know that you've got, you know, uh you've got a town that supports what

[57:27] you're doing and you've got a board that supports what you're doing. So, welcome.

[57:30] » Oh, thank you very much for having me. Um first of all, I'll just give you a

[57:34] little um update on what we do. Um the fund was established, the elderly and

[57:40] disabled taxation aid fund was established to provide tax assistance

[57:44] for the elderly and disabled Rantham residents who are homeowners with

[57:48] limited income and assets. Um it's funded mostly by donations. Um and we

[57:55] have renamed ourselves the rent neighbors fund. We thought that was a

[57:59] little friendlier. And um so what we did, how this all happened was the the

[58:06] committee was here in 2017 but disbanded and then they regrouped again in fall of

[58:13] 2025 and since then we have managed to get our application updated. We have

[58:20] guidelines. Um we the application is now available at the assessor's office and

[58:26] at the council on aging and also online at the um rentham.gov which is great. Um

[58:32] it went active today. Um we have sent out buck slips with the tax bills for

[58:39] real estate in July and we have now received about $1,500 in donations from

[58:46] the citizens of Ranthm. Hopefully, we will be able to fund raise some more

[58:51] from some of the businesses. We're just that's where we're at now. But we um all

[58:56] things considered, we have gotten a lot done in a very short amount of time.

[59:03] » Sorry about that. I was on mute. Sounds like you have. So, thank you for that

[59:06] update. We appreciate that. Um what else can you tell us is going on?

[59:10] » Um also, we are accepting donations all year long. It does we don't have any

[59:15] limit on that. Um, people can donate on the website. There's an actual tab when

[59:21] under um where you pay your bills. There's a tab that says Ranthm Neighbors

[59:25] Fund. You can donate there anytime. Um, people can also donate by check if they

[59:30] want to made out to the town of Rantham. As long as you put um Rentham Neighbors

[59:34] Fund in the memo line, then we know that that's what it's for. And you can also

[59:38] donate in person at the collector's office. Um I don't know any questions

[59:44] you have for me that I can clarify anything.

[59:47] » Uh I would just say I I think this is a really important uh initiative. Uh I

[59:52] would say there's a lot of you know when I'm out talking to people and we try to

[59:56] this board try one of the strategic goals of this board Amelia is that we

[1:00:00] try to we've tried to increase uh our transparency with the public. Uh we want

[1:00:04] the public to know that we're out there. We're available. You know you see me

[1:00:08] pumping gas you getting a haircut. you know, maybe having dinner somewhere.

[1:00:11] Feel free to come over and say hello. And we we want to talk to the residents

[1:00:15] and hear from the residents, you know, concerns, issues, opportunities, things

[1:00:20] that are going good. Doesn't have to be things that are going bad, things that

[1:00:22] are going good in town. And one of the things that I continue to hear,

[1:00:26] especially from our older residents, is um they love rent them. Um but costs

[1:00:31] keep going up, taxes keep going up, right? Um utility bills keep going up,

[1:00:36] and it's a challenge. Um, and we I think we need to um I think we need to

[1:00:42] continue to aggressively pursue ways to help our, you know, uh uh and and not

[1:00:47] necessarily our elder uh you know, our elder our elderly people, but anyone in

[1:00:52] Rethm who's having difficult times, right? Uh paying the bills. Uh this is a

[1:00:56] this is a wonderful opportunity though um to help the el elderly and disabled

[1:01:01] people through this initiative. So, uh, I would just encourage everyone on this

[1:01:05] board, anyone listening, um, you know, uh, find more about it, tell people

[1:01:10] about it. Um, and gez, you know, it'd be nice if if all of us could make a small

[1:01:13] donation to help the cause at the same time. Um, so that's my two cents. Uh,

[1:01:18] Amelia, with that being said, I'll open it up to the other board members uh, to

[1:01:22] see if anyone has anything uh, to add or ask. Um, and I would ask you that if you

[1:01:27] could um um I want to make sure Mike, can you uh can you get the the website

[1:01:34] uh and send it out to the board members where we could spread this around and

[1:01:38] see if we could, you know, encourage people to make a donation? I would

[1:01:41] really appreciate that. >> Absolutely. We've done some social media

[1:01:45] postings and website postings as well, so I can share that with the board

[1:01:48] » and then maybe we can post it on >> Sorry. Go ahead.

[1:01:51] » That's okay. No, go ahead. Keep going. I was just going to say then maybe we

[1:01:54] could post it on our social media or within our networks or what have you,

[1:01:57] Amelia, but go ahead. >> Um, today um, actually there was a

[1:02:01] beautiful posting on Facebook um, highlighting this particular thing and

[1:02:05] it was it was really well done and so I would like to thank the town for that.

[1:02:10] Um, it was a good advertisement for the fund.

[1:02:13] » That's great. Well, that was very timely. I'm glad they could we could do

[1:02:15] that and let's continue to do so. So, with that being said, I'm going to turn

[1:02:18] it over to Select Man Anderson. >> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Amelia,

[1:02:22] it's good to see you tonight. And u I just have one quick question.

[1:02:26] » What are the income limits >> to qualify?

[1:02:29] » Oh, okay. Um All right. Um I do have that listed here. Um the um it's $44,000

[1:02:36] for one person. >> So 44,000 um income for one person and

[1:02:41] then it goes from there. So um it's all listed on the website also.

[1:02:47] » Okay. Terrific. Thank you. No further questions.

[1:02:50] » All right. Great. Uh, Selectman Harrington, any questions or comments?

[1:02:53] » Mr. Chair. So, hey, Amy, it's nice to see you.

[1:02:57] » Billy, >> I hope you and Steve are doing well. Uh,

[1:03:01] thank you for your >> Thank you

[1:03:03] » and, uh, you're doing a great job uh, and get it getting it out to the public

[1:03:07] and, you know, we'll clearly be sharing it on social media and do what we can to

[1:03:11] help. >> Excellent. Thank you very much.

[1:03:15] Uh, select the moth. >> Uh, I have a number of questions, but if

[1:03:20] you tell me it's on the website, I'll go there right after I get that link. Um,

[1:03:25] but there I assume there's a mission statement.

[1:03:28] » Yes, there's a mission statement and the uh guidelines and the application are on

[1:03:32] the website. >> Okay. And do you do we have an idea

[1:03:36] right now what the queue looks like? >> The what?

[1:03:40] » The queue. How many people, you know, have you gotten any applications yet?

[1:03:44] No, >> no, they just went live today. So,

[1:03:47] September 1st to October 15th. The deadline is October 15th. Then we will

[1:03:52] go through the applications and we will um give out the money according to need.

[1:03:58] But um also all of the the amounts are based on what we get in donations. So

[1:04:05] the more money we get in donations, the more money we'll be able to give out.

[1:04:09] » Sure. Sounds great. Thank you. I look forward to looking at that website and

[1:04:13] taking part in a donation. >> Thank you very much.

[1:04:16] » Yep. >> Uh Amanda, just so everyone knows,

[1:04:18] Amanda Vazipolo posted a couple of links in the chat for us. Um and I want to say

[1:04:23] Becky from uh Big Apple Farm still on Amelia and she wanted to tell you that

[1:04:29] if you could notify the community um that the Big Apple offers a 10% discount

[1:04:35] for seniors on Tuesdays, 60 plus to qualify. So I I think that means you got

[1:04:39] to be 60 years old to qualify. So that's another another nice opportunity because

[1:04:44] I got to tell you the pie's really good at the big apple. [laughter]

[1:04:47] » So uh we just wanted to share that with you. And there are some links in the

[1:04:51] chat. So yeah, like I said, uh very informal. Amelio, we just want to give

[1:04:55] you an opportunity to come and and and just show us in the public what a great

[1:04:58] job you and your team are doing. Clearly you're doing that. So um that's that's

[1:05:02] it. >> We just want to wish you the best and

[1:05:05] continue to keep in touch with us. >> Thank you very much. And I would love to

[1:05:08] send out a big thank you to all the members of my committee. They've been

[1:05:12] wonderful and very easy to work with. And thank you very much for having me.

[1:05:16] » So, thank you. And thank you to the members of your committee. Like you

[1:05:19] said, have a wonderful evening. >> You too. Thank you.

[1:05:22] » Okay, everybody. Let's go to tab number 11. [clears throat] This is a cultural

[1:05:26] council interview. So, interview and appointment of Kathleen and I I want to

[1:05:31] say it's is it Belicki? um she can correct me if that's wrong to

[1:05:37] the cultural council. We have documentation from uh Kathleen in our

[1:05:41] packet uh including the uh there's a there's an application. There's a

[1:05:46] recommendation letter um from Eileen uh irrig uh from the the chair of the the

[1:05:51] cultural council. Um Kathleen, are you with us? Can you hear me? Okay,

[1:05:56] » I am here. I'm with you. >> Did I pronounce your last name correctly

[1:06:00] or no? >> Abelichi. That's correct. Yes.

[1:06:03] » No, I said bicki. I should have said bichi.

[1:06:06] » Well, you must speak the real Italian because in that's what you would say for

[1:06:12] I'm Irish. I just married into this family.

[1:06:15] » That's [laughter] true. That's it's great. It's great to have you. But the

[1:06:19] hand motion, you looked like a real Italian to me [laughter] with the hand

[1:06:22] motion because that's what my mom and grandma would do when I got in trouble.

[1:06:26] So, uh, welcome to our meeting. Welcome to the select board. Um, you know, we

[1:06:31] have your we have your application in our packet. Um, you're clearly very

[1:06:36] qualified. We have a recommendation letter that I'm going to ask our clerk,

[1:06:40] Selectman Harrington, to read into the record. And then what I'm going to do,

[1:06:43] Kathleen, is just open it up quickly to the board to ask any questions that they

[1:06:47] might have of you. We'll do a quick vote and you'll be on your way. So, Selectman

[1:06:51] Harrington, do you mind on page 48 of the packet reading the recommendation

[1:06:55] letter into the record, please? Uh letter dated August 23rd, 2026. Dear

[1:07:02] Ranthm Select Board, it is with great pleasure that I recommend Kathle

[1:07:06] Kathleen Belichi for appointment to the Reanom Cultural Council. I've been

[1:07:12] working with Kathleen on the Rem Cultural Council for a number of years

[1:07:16] and have been impressed with her level of commitment and engagement. She

[1:07:20] regularly attends monthly meetings, is an active participant and volunteers for

[1:07:25] activities in which the cultural council is engaged. Is without reservation that

[1:07:31] I make this recommendation. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or

[1:07:35] would like additional information. Sincerely, I Eileen Eric, chair, Rentham

[1:07:39] Cultural Council. Thank >> you. Thank you, Selectman Harrington,

[1:07:43] for that. Again, Kathleen, looking at your application, 15 years in Reanthm,

[1:07:48] occupation of consultant, uh, masters in education, um, you know, been serving on

[1:07:54] the council since 2024. Um, you know, look like a fantastic candidate to me.

[1:07:59] I'm going to open it up to the other board members for any questions or

[1:08:02] comments. Starting with Selectman Anderson. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair.

[1:08:05] So, Kathleen, just a real quick question. What What do you see as the

[1:08:08] biggest issues facing the cultural council right now?

[1:08:15] Well, I would I think you'd have to compartmentalize them. One of them is

[1:08:20] being in the old Fisk. I think uh just in terms of the physical space, uh they

[1:08:26] are trying to get a new roof on that building to save the building and I know

[1:08:32] that they're they've been thwarted in their efforts to date. So, I would say

[1:08:37] that is one thing. uh and and then beyond that uh I I rather than what are

[1:08:46] the biggest issues I would say the biggest uh improvement since I've been

[1:08:52] there are the number of local and rent them uh people and events organizations

[1:08:59] who have benefited from who have submitted applications and benefited

[1:09:05] from uh support by the cultural council financial support to uh carry out their

[1:09:13] uh programs.

[1:09:18] » Okay. So, so let me let me just give you a quick follow-up question. Um how are

[1:09:23] you being thwarted on on getting a new roof on the the

[1:09:26] » You know, I'm only I'm like a pleb. I'm not I don't know, but I know that there

[1:09:31] was a they had requested finance. I don't know it was from the town or

[1:09:36] whatever but it it was not granted and I and I I know that the uh historic

[1:09:43] commission has been also uh part of that but I I'm I know enough to be dangerous

[1:09:50] in these areas mostly what I do I attend meetings whatever needs to be done I'm

[1:09:55] happy to pitch in and be helpful uh but the longer term members

[1:10:01] I don't even know what the relationship in terms of ownership with the cultural

[1:10:07] council and old Fisk is, but I I just know that is probably a big concern that

[1:10:16] there's a a problem with the roof of leaking, etc.

[1:10:23] » Okay, Kathleen. Well, good luck tonight. >> No further questions, Mr. Chair.

[1:10:27] » Right. And I would I would suggest if I could to the the board, we can we can

[1:10:32] get Mike King to send us an email followup on the roof issue. I know this

[1:10:37] is it's it's a it's a deeper issue than >> I I mean I know it is. Yes.

[1:10:44] » Deeper every year. >> So my but my recommendation, Kathleen,

[1:10:48] isn't to focus on those things tonight. It's to focus on why you would be a good

[1:10:53] member on the committee. Okay. >> Well, I just couldn't help but once

[1:10:59] » I had the floor and you said, "What are your biggest problems?" And I thought,

[1:11:04] "Well, this is I'm just I was just grandstanding and taking my opportunity

[1:11:09] seeing I had so many people who might be able to do something there." So,

[1:11:14] » no, that's fine. But that's fair. But on this board, what we do is we we really

[1:11:18] want to make sure we understand all the facts before we make comments.

[1:11:22] » Of course. uh you know just because we don't want to throw any blame around

[1:11:25] when you know >> No, I just wanted to raise the flag.

[1:11:29] » Sure. Flag. Well, how about this? Let's agree that the flag is raised and we can

[1:11:34] have a follow-up conversation. I'll make sure Mike King addresses the board on

[1:11:38] this matter because I know we've talked about it, but for now, let's move on and

[1:11:41] just focus on your application if that's okay.

[1:11:44] » Very good. Very good. >> So, uh Selectman Anderson, thank you for

[1:11:47] that. Selectman Harrington, any questions or comments?

[1:11:51] So, Kathleen, this is kind of like a reappoint. Uh,

[1:11:55] » yes, >> if I'm not mistaken. So, appreciate your

[1:11:58] work. I appreciate the taking the time to volunteer and, uh, please keep up the

[1:12:03] good work. Thank you for your service. >> Thank you. Thank you.

[1:12:07] » Uh, Select the Moth, go right ahead. >> Well, I want to thank you for your

[1:12:11] service and the and the fact that you'd like to volunteer and do it again is is

[1:12:15] great. >> Thank you, Roy.

[1:12:17] » Yeah. and then go on record to say that it was Jim that opened Pandora's box.

[1:12:22] » I know. Well, yeah. >> No further no further questions. Mr.

[1:12:26] » One of my consultant >> one of my areas of focus is uh executive

[1:12:32] presentation skills and in a meeting like this you want to ask focused open

[1:12:39] questions. So, by asking what are the biggest

[1:12:43] issues, it's like you I you just opened up uh Patriots, you know, the the

[1:12:50] Patriots stadium in terms of what we could bring in.

[1:12:54] » I guess we can all agree. I guess we could all agree that this is Select

[1:12:57] Mananderson's fault and that uh [laughter]

[1:13:02] » Just kidding, Jimmy. Mr. >> Mr.

[1:13:04] » Once again, I'll fall in the sword. [laughter]

[1:13:09] Um, thank you John Roy and and Jimmy, we appreciate you being so lighthearted.

[1:13:14] Believe me, everyone's great. This is fantastic. Kathleen, you're you're

[1:13:17] fantastic. >> You know, also just for all of you, I I

[1:13:21] don't how many of you have been by the Fisk or stopped by, there is an amazing

[1:13:27] exhibit there of all of artists who either lived in Rentham at one time or

[1:13:34] currently live there now. And the there's uh textile, there's pictures,

[1:13:40] there's paintings, the stories of about Rentham, which and then the previous

[1:13:47] exhibit was uh uh oil well paintings and then stories

[1:13:55] of old houses in rent them and how far they go back. It was just fascinating.

[1:14:01] Anyway, I know I grew up in Connecticut in a a small town which had a lot of uh

[1:14:08] also local history and uh Rantham is just uh it's an amazing place. There's

[1:14:14] there's so many just different little things to uh learn and focus on and the

[1:14:20] cultural council. It just really brings that to the attention of the town. But

[1:14:26] getting the word out and actually stopping by. It's like, you know, if you

[1:14:31] live in New York, you've never been to the Statue of Liberty. Living in

[1:14:34] Rentham, we, you know, we go about our business, but there's so many things uh

[1:14:40] to enjoy if you stop and >> take

[1:14:45] invite you to come. >> I appreciate your passion. Very well

[1:14:49] said. And um let's move on to take a vote. So, uh, se select moth went. At

[1:14:57] this time, I want to go to, um, the motion, which is I would

[1:15:04] entertain a motion to appoint Kathleen Bich Bichi to the cultural council for a

[1:15:11] term effective immediately and expiring on June 30th, 2029.

[1:15:16] » Motion made by selectman Harrington, second by selectman Anderson. Any

[1:15:20] further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Select man Anderson.

[1:15:24] » Anderson. Yes. >> Select

[1:15:26] » Manh Harrington. >> Yes.

[1:15:28] » Select Lamoth. >> Lamoth. Yes.

[1:15:31] » Chris Gallow. Yes. Motion carries 4. Congratulations, Kathleen. Keep up the

[1:15:35] passion and we will see you soon. >> Excellent.

[1:15:38] » Mr. Chair, could I could I address Kathleen with one comment?

[1:15:42] » Go right ahead. >> Kathleen, in the St. Mary's Church in

[1:15:46] the last year, there's been a donation. Uh the stations of the cross had oil

[1:15:50] paintings and it was done by someone I think in North Attboro or Adelboroough

[1:15:56] donated them. Absolutely gorgeous. If you have not seen that the cultural

[1:16:01] committee should go in and take a look at it amazing.

[1:16:05] » Thank you. I was I go to the abbey to mass so I will go and see that. Thank

[1:16:11] you. Thank you. >> Great. Kathleen, make sure to go get

[1:16:14] sworn in uh before you attend your uh the next meeting. Okay.

[1:16:19] » Yes, we'll definitely do that. >> All right. Great. Have a wonderful

[1:16:22] evening and we'll see you soon. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. It was a

[1:16:25] pleasure being uh at your meeting. Thank you.

[1:16:28] » Pleasure was all ours. Uh all right, let's go to tab number 12. All right.

[1:16:33] Tab number 12 is an appointment of Paul Bender to the community preservation

[1:16:36] committee as historical commission representative. Uh in our documentation,

[1:16:40] in our packet, we have an email from Gina Solaris, who's the historical

[1:16:44] commission chair. Um uh selectman Harrington, you want to read that in the

[1:16:48] record, please? >> Yeah. So, uh it's from Gina Salales

[1:16:53] says, "Hello. During the historical commission meeting on August 6th, 2026,

[1:16:59] Paul Bender was unanimously voted to represent the commission at the CPC

[1:17:03] meetings. All our members of the commission were in attendance on August

[1:17:07] 6th. Roy Van, Ray Rose, Leo Baldiger, Bill Jones, Zack Oriel, Paul Bender, and

[1:17:14] Gina Solaris. Thank you. And it's uh from Gina, the chair of the rental

[1:17:18] historical commission. >> Right. And just to thank you uh

[1:17:23] Selectman Harrington. And just to remind the board, um these are kind of I hate

[1:17:27] to use the word rubber stamp, but I'll use the word rubber stamp. So uh if

[1:17:31] anyone has any questions or comments, raise your hand. Otherwise, I'll go

[1:17:34] right to the motion. All right. Seeing none, chain a motion to appoint Paul

[1:17:38] Bender to the community preservation committee as a historical commission

[1:17:42] representative for a term effective immediately and expiring on June 30th,

[1:17:48] 2029. >> So move.

[1:17:50] » Is there a second? Second. So motion made by Selectman Anderson, second by

[1:17:55] Seleth. Any further discussion? Being none,

[1:17:58] we'll do a roll call vote. Selectman Anderson.

[1:18:01] » Anderson's yes. >> Selectman Harrington.

[1:18:04] » Harington. Yes. >> Mammoth.

[1:18:07] » Mammoth. Yes. >> Yellow. Yes. Motion carries 40. Please

[1:18:11] let uh Mr. Bender know to go to the town clerk's office and get sworn in. Okay.

[1:18:16] Mike shaking your head. Yeah. Everything okay? Do we need to add something to

[1:18:20] that? [clears throat]

[1:18:23] No. Okay. I couldn't hear you, but I I'll take that as a no. Okay. Let's move

[1:18:27] forward. Tab number 13. So, um, tab number 13, uh, is a vote to approve the

[1:18:35] issuance of a $5 million general obligation bond and, uh, bond

[1:18:39] anticipation note or ban dated September 17, 2026, and to execute any closing

[1:18:46] documents related there too. Um, in our packet, we do have the, um, the

[1:18:51] documentation supporting it. um shows the votes of the select board,

[1:18:55] description of it, and uh we do have with us uh town manager Mike King, who

[1:19:00] might be able to give us a quick summary of what we're trying to accomplish here.

[1:19:04] » Uh Mr. Chairman, uh we actually have with us tonight treasur collector Kathy

[1:19:09] Nelson, who uh will be willing to speak on the subject if you would be okay

[1:19:13] recognizing her. >> I would love to recognize her. Can you

[1:19:16] do me a favor though? You guys do this sometimes and I love you, but you don't

[1:19:19] put it in the packet and then I look silly because I go to you asking for

[1:19:23] information when I have Kathy right here. So, I apologize, Kathy. Welcome to

[1:19:28] the meeting. Uh, I'm going to have you unmute in a second, but welcome to the

[1:19:33] meeting. It's so great to have you. Thank you for all you do for our great

[1:19:36] town. Please let us know what we're trying to accomplish this evening.

[1:19:40] » Sounds good. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Um, the town had held a

[1:19:46] competitive bid sale on Tuesday, August 25th, 2026 for a $5 million one-year

[1:19:53] bond anticipation note to finance the beginning phase of the Rodrik Elementary

[1:19:58] School building project as approved by the town meeting on June 1st, excluded

[1:20:03] from limitations of Proposition 2 and a half and by a vote of the town passed on

[1:20:09] June 15th. The town received five bids on the note

[1:20:14] and TD Financial Products LLC was the winning bidder with a net interest cost

[1:20:19] of 2.84%. Uh what is before you tonight is the

[1:20:24] vote to approve the note sale. The entire vote needs to does not need to be

[1:20:30] read but must be included in the board's minutes.

[1:20:34] Uh, upon approval of the vote, I'm sorry, upon a vote of approval, there

[1:20:40] are several pages of documents that need to be signed by the majority of the

[1:20:43] board. And please note that wet signatures are required and that one of

[1:20:48] the signers must be Mr. Harrington in his role as clerk of the board.

[1:20:54] » Well, that's fantastic, Kathy. Thank you for that summary. Bill, can you sign for

[1:20:58] me, too? No, I'm just kidding. That's That was a joke.

[1:21:02] » I had to sign today. It's like getting a mortgage all over again.

[1:21:06] » So Kathy, um just so the board's well aware, and I'm sure everyone is, the

[1:21:11] reason that we're doing this ban is because we don't want to pay interest on

[1:21:16] a huge amount of money like 40 or $50 million, right? Because we're not ready

[1:21:20] to we're not ready to actually break ground um and you know uh with the new

[1:21:25] school. So what this ban does is it's a it acts as temporary financing if I'm

[1:21:30] not mistaken so you don't have to pay on the full amount.

[1:21:33] » Right. Exactly. And then this this ban will be rolled into a bond next year

[1:21:39] » is the is the plan at this point. >> Okay. Fantastic. Appreciate the

[1:21:44] explanation. Appreciate you being on here this evening. Uh select board

[1:21:48] members. Does anyone have any questions or comments? Starting with Selectman

[1:21:51] Anderson. >> Uh none Mr. Chair. Selectman Harrington,

[1:21:56] » no questions. >> Selectman Lamoth,

[1:21:58] » no questions. >> And I I have no further either. Mike

[1:22:02] King, now do you [clears throat] want to add anything? Are you still okay?

[1:22:06] » Um I'm just happy that we got Selectman Harrington with me this evening to sign

[1:22:10] as the clerk of the board immediately after the meeting. [laughter]

[1:22:13] » That's great. So uh all right. Uh chair would entertain a motion then at this

[1:22:17] time to approve the votes as written in the form of the document that was

[1:22:21] prepared by bond council and provided to the board for the $5 million general

[1:22:25] obligation bond anticipation notes dated September 17, 2026 to be issued to TD

[1:22:32] Bank TD Financial Products LLC. >> So move.

[1:22:37] » Motion made by selectman Harrington, second by Select Moth. Any further

[1:22:40] discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Selectman Anderson.

[1:22:44] Innocence. Yes. >> Selectman Harrington.

[1:22:47] » Yes. >> Selectman the moth.

[1:22:49] » Moth. Yes. >> Chris Gallow. Yes. Motion carries. 40.

[1:22:53] Um Mike, can you please make sure that Maya or Amanda follows up with the

[1:22:58] board, reminds us to come in for wet signatures.

[1:23:02] » Yes. We'll just need >> And thank you.

[1:23:05] » Sorry. Go ahead, Mike. >> We'll just need two more board members

[1:23:08] um in addition to Mr. Harrington. Um preferably either tomorrow or Thursday.

[1:23:13] All right, sounds good. And Kathy, thanks for being on with us this

[1:23:17] evening. >> Thank you.

[1:23:19] » Okay. Um, let's go to tab number 14. Okay. Tab number 14. Mike, um, this

[1:23:28] is the discussion of the 2025 volunteer of the year nomination form.

[1:23:34] Mike, do you have I'm gonna I'm gonna pass this one off to you.

[1:23:39] » Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. So annually, the select board identifies

[1:23:43] two members in reviewing applications for the town's volunteer of the year

[1:23:48] awards, which include an adult award and the Henry Carr Youth Award for

[1:23:53] individuals that are age 18 or younger. Um the awards are presented at the fall

[1:23:57] town meeting. Um the board can identify two members who will serve in a

[1:24:02] reviewing capacity this evening as well as discuss um whether there's any

[1:24:07] interest in making any updates to the application or selection process.

[1:24:12] » Oh great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um so Mike, I appreciate you taking the lead

[1:24:16] on that. So uh board typically what we've done the past couple years is um

[1:24:21] selectman uh Anderson and selectwoman Rouse volunteered to kind of lead this

[1:24:26] up. Um, one of the things that we discussed last year, Mike, if I'm not

[1:24:31] mistaken, was keeping the youth award exactly how it was, and then potentially

[1:24:36] we discussed uh uh making uh a couple of edits or at least discussing an edit for

[1:24:42] the other award. Is that is that a fair statement? [clears throat]

[1:24:47] » That is my recollection, Mr. Chairman. Currently, the adult award is for an

[1:24:53] individual and there was some discussion about whether or not it could possibly

[1:24:57] be an organization in the Renom community that does good work.

[1:25:01] » Right. So, I guess we want to just get some guidance from the full board. I

[1:25:05] know Michelle's not on tonight. she's out sick. But um from us who are here um

[1:25:10] you know I think the in my recollection Mike too and I say this with all with

[1:25:15] all due respect there was limited um participation in the adult award and

[1:25:20] there's always pretty good participation in the youth award. Is that also a fair

[1:25:24] statement? >> That is correct Mr. Chairman. So, what

[1:25:28] we're trying to do here, gentlemen, is um you know, uh because there wasn't an

[1:25:33] abundance of participation on the adult award, we started brainstorming and

[1:25:37] saying, "Geez, I wonder if we could open it up to, like Mike said, groups that

[1:25:41] are doing good things around town as well." I do think that the the youth

[1:25:44] award is very important. I think people uh you know, take it very seriously. Um

[1:25:49] and it's a it's it's it's a great event for the youth, so I think we should keep

[1:25:52] that one alone. I know Select Woman Rouse agrees with me on that. Um but

[1:25:56] what are your thoughts? Does anyone have any comments or thoughts if he wanted to

[1:26:00] make that edit to the adult award? Maybe opening it up or do you want to keep it

[1:26:03] the same? >> Open it up.

[1:26:07] » Go ahead, Roy. Open it up. >> I think I think going with a group makes

[1:26:11] sense. Um, again, to your point, very few applications.

[1:26:16] Uh, I think we would I think there are far more groups that would benefit from

[1:26:21] the recognition. uh even even the one we spoke about

[1:26:25] tonight which is the neighbors of rent them.

[1:26:28] » Yeah. >> You know, fantastic. So,

[1:26:30] » right. >> Yeah.

[1:26:31] » Okay. Appreciate that. Uh Bill, you had your hand up

[1:26:35] » through you, Mr. Chair. I think we, you know, I agree with u you and select

[1:26:39] moment Rouse open it up to groups. Uh should also obviously leave it to open

[1:26:43] up to you know individuals broaden it out. Uh it would be good to

[1:26:48] have some additional applicants if you will and you know

[1:26:53] people presenting possibly groups or individuals.

[1:26:56] » Thank you. >> Yeah, I think that's a great idea. That

[1:26:58] was the intent. We're not saying that an individual couldn't apply, but we're

[1:27:02] opening up to your point, Select Man. I think that's good. Uh Select Manison.

[1:27:06] » Yeah, I concur uh with with both Roy um and and and Bill on this. Uh my question

[1:27:14] is this is that are we picking uh two select men or select board members to uh

[1:27:22] to do this tonight? >> Mike, do we need to vote on the sub

[1:27:26] quote unquote subcommittee this evening? >> Uh you don't need a vote, but if you

[1:27:31] have any volunteers, um that'll be helpful

[1:27:34] » through you, Mr. Chair. I thought we volunt I mean I thought uh the um

[1:27:38] Selectman Anderson and Selectman Rouse volunteered for that in your initial

[1:27:42] opening comment. >> Yeah. You know, I kind of thought they

[1:27:45] did too. Uh Selectman Harrington. >> Well, that's what I heard. I'm not

[1:27:49] positive we breaking up a little. >> Yeah.

[1:27:52] » So, Mr. Chair, >> yeah,

[1:27:54] » if if I recall correctly, uh Select Women Rose and myself have done it for

[1:27:58] for several years. Um, and I thought we said last year we were going to let

[1:28:02] Younger Bloodood um t take over and give them an opportunity to actually

[1:28:09] be able to experience the um the volunteer of the year award.

[1:28:14] » Mr. Jimmy, when you say jungle blood, what is that? [laughter] What does that

[1:28:18] mean? What does that >> I I want to make a correction. I am

[1:28:22] probably older than all of you [laughter] and I did do the scrubbing of

[1:28:28] the individual awards last year. [snorts]

[1:28:31] » Oh, you were. You It was you and Michelle.

[1:28:33] » Yes, that's right. >> So, the common the consistent uh the

[1:28:39] consistent select board member is Selectoman Ralph. I'd hate to take that

[1:28:42] away from her. >> I would agree. In fact,

[1:28:46] » she's not here. She enjoys it. >> [laughter]

[1:28:50] » She enjoys it. She It's a passion. Okay. So, uh,

[1:28:54] » Mr. Chair, >> yeah.

[1:28:55] » Yeah. I I would make a motion to to to volunteer uh Select Woman Rouse and

[1:29:02] Selectman Lamoth to continue their great work and do the volunteer of the year

[1:29:07] awards this year. >> I I I would second that motion.

[1:29:11] » I third it. >> All right. Well, Roy,

[1:29:15] » I didn't think there was any other way. I [laughter] think last year

[1:29:19] » I just got to tell you Roy, the reviews are in. Five star Google review. You did

[1:29:24] fantastic. >> So you guys are gonna run it for another

[1:29:27] year. >> Good. Let's go.

[1:29:31] » We appreciate you. Appreciate all the hard work of all joking aside,

[1:29:34] appreciate you and Michelle uh tackling this. It's important that we do this and

[1:29:38] uh you guys did a great job. So thank you. All right, let's move on, Mike. So

[1:29:42] there you go. Well, that's the vote and let's have uh let's go to tab number

[1:29:48] 15 and talk bylaws. >> Could I just ask that?

[1:29:53] » Um I I don't know what the procedure was, but I just asked Michael to have

[1:29:57] Maya forward all of those applications to us. Is is that typically the

[1:30:02] procedure as >> Yeah, I don't know. Have we we haven't

[1:30:04] received any yet, right, Mike? >> No, but as we do. Yeah,

[1:30:08] » we haven't opened it up because we were waiting for direction on whether to

[1:30:11] allow groups to apply. >> Okay. So, yeah, my Maya and and or

[1:30:17] whoever gets them in the office, we'll be sure to send those to both yourself

[1:30:21] and uh Select Woman Rose. >> Mr. Chair, how many years have this been

[1:30:25] going on? >> Um, Mike, do you know off the top of

[1:30:29] your head? >> It's been over a decade. I'm not sure

[1:30:32] exactly the the number of years. >> Yeah. So, Mr. Chair,

[1:30:36] » go ahead. >> I I I want to say it's been probably at

[1:30:38] least 15 or 16 years. >> My recollection, Roy, in talking to

[1:30:44] people is is what Select Man Anderson is alluding to, 15 or 16 years, but I don't

[1:30:49] want to formally say. Um, I'll get that answer for you, though.

[1:30:52] » And and we're getting the mileage we we anticipate from it. I mean, the kudos,

[1:30:58] the I don't know. I'm just asking. meaning uh the the activity, the

[1:31:03] interest or what mileage do you mean? >> Well, I mean there's got to be some

[1:31:08] benefit for the effort that we put in. So, I mean,

[1:31:14] what's the town's benefit? Is it it appreciative, you know, or is it just

[1:31:19] two individuals or that walk away with their,

[1:31:23] » you know, proud as a peacock for a moment, you know?

[1:31:25] » Yeah. No, I I uh and Amanda did put in the chat it's the 19th year for 2026, so

[1:31:30] that's great. I think there is um you know, the family that started this, I

[1:31:35] don't want to speak out of school, but I I know that this uh there's a there's a

[1:31:39] family that started this due to um I believe it was a child passing away. Um

[1:31:45] and in part of that grieving process, they established the these volunteer

[1:31:49] awards. I can tell you that my neighbor um won one of these uh a couple of years

[1:31:56] ago um and um you know took it very seriously, Roy, and and and he thinks

[1:32:02] helped get him into the college that he got into, showing he's a well-rounded,

[1:32:06] balanced student, you know, not just academics, not just sports, um but

[1:32:10] community involvement as well. So, you know, I don't know, you know, the

[1:32:15] mileage you're you're talking about, but to me, um, you know, I think it

[1:32:19] definitely does, but I don't know, you know, that's just my humble opinion.

[1:32:25] All right. Um, okay. Uh, but I appreciate the question. Mike, do you

[1:32:30] want to take the lead with the bylaw discussion or do you want me to run

[1:32:33] through this? >> I I'll take the lead, Mr. Chairman.

[1:32:36] Thank you. >> Go right ahead.

[1:32:39] So for the town bylaw update discussion, so fall town meeting has been scheduled

[1:32:44] for Monday, November 9th. Uh and the warrant is currently open for town

[1:32:48] meeting article submissions. And I would like to gauge the board's interest in

[1:32:53] submitting a housekeeping article uh to update the town bylaws to reflect the

[1:32:58] current titles of town manager, director of public works, and director of

[1:33:03] planning and economic development. Uh these updates would ensure consistency

[1:33:07] with the title established in the town charter uh which is the controlling

[1:33:11] document and takes precedence over the town town bylaws. So a couple years ago

[1:33:17] town meeting voted to upgra up update the titles with the charter. There

[1:33:20] hasn't been a vote to update the bylaws. So now we have some inconsistency in the

[1:33:24] in between the two documents. >> So Mike, just to clarify, this is this

[1:33:29] is strictly kind of administrative. Um you know, this is lowhanging fruit. This

[1:33:34] shouldn't be confrontational. Uh, you know, we're not looking to do anything

[1:33:38] that um, you know, uh, could potentially be viewed as such. This is more just

[1:33:44] kind of administrative >> housekeeping.

[1:33:47] » Yeah, I would agree that it's an administrative housekeeping type of

[1:33:50] article. >> Okay, I see no issue with that. What do

[1:33:54] the board What's the board think? >> I'm with you, sir. Press

[1:33:58] » I concur. >> Okay, Roy,

[1:34:01] » thumbs up. Yeah, >> Mike, go ahead. move forward with it,

[1:34:03] please. >> Thank you for the directions.

[1:34:06] » Okay, [clears throat] at this time, let's go to public comment tab 16. So,

[1:34:12] uh as part of our uh uh meeting uh agenda, we have an agenda item, a

[1:34:16] standing agenda item for public comment. Residents who wish to participate in

[1:34:19] public comment will be allotted two minutes to speak and must state their

[1:34:22] name and address. For the record, we ask you to put your camera on if possible.

[1:34:26] At the start of the comment, a timer will be sent via message from Maya

[1:34:29] Matarazzo. It should be visible on the top of the screen and an alarm will

[1:34:33] chime when town time time is up. At this time, do we have any residents

[1:34:36] interested in making a public comment? I'll give 5 to 10 seconds.

[1:34:46] Okay. 5 4 3 2 1. Okay. Let's [clears throat] go next on the So, Jim,

[1:34:52] this is um I don't know if you saw this, but this is a new thing that we've added

[1:34:56] to the agenda um starting last meeting, and I know you were in Alaska having a

[1:35:02] blast. Um but, you know, we have two specific um select board appointments uh

[1:35:08] in Roy and Bill, and as you know, Roy is the select board representative on the

[1:35:14] um uh housing production plan committee. Uh, and Bill is a select board

[1:35:18] representative of the CPC. So, we Mike and I and Michelle were speaking and we

[1:35:24] thought it would be prudent to put a standing agenda item um to get updates

[1:35:29] [clears throat] uh because these are the only two

[1:35:32] committees where we have representation uh as the select board on both of these

[1:35:37] committees. So, the goal would be for Bill and J uh Bill and Jim to give us

[1:35:41] updates on the respective committees. Um if there's any votes or anything that we

[1:35:46] need to discuss coming up, we would, you know, there's no the any vote that we

[1:35:50] take is strictly for um guidance in our opinion. Um there's no pressing vote,

[1:35:56] right? Because clearly uh we don't control the CPC, nor do we want to, and

[1:36:00] we don't control the housing production committee. But it's a vote of kind of

[1:36:03] confidence or vote of support if you will um that we've done um you know at

[1:36:08] especially at the last meeting with the the two projects that were up for CPC.

[1:36:13] Um so uh Mike King, would you say that's a fair assessment of what we're trying

[1:36:17] to accomplish with this agenda item? >> I would agree with you, Mr. Chairman.

[1:36:23] » Okay. [clears throat] So with that being said, I'm going to start with Roy this

[1:36:25] evening. Roy, um I know the committee, the housing production plan committee is

[1:36:30] still very new. you know, essentially your charge is to do a study, tell us

[1:36:35] what the housing plan looks like, what the what, you know, what the the number

[1:36:38] of units looks like, and obviously the ultimate goal of the housing production

[1:36:43] plan committee is to make sure that we're always above that safe harbor of

[1:36:47] 10% affordable housing. So, I understand you're the chair. We've established

[1:36:52] that. We established that it's a very new committee and in in its infancy

[1:36:56] stages. Do you have any very high level updates uh for us um at this meeting

[1:37:02] that you want to share? >> Very high. Yeah. So, we're we're at like

[1:37:04] 11.4% 11.7 560 some odd units. So, we're in good shape and we're going to stay

[1:37:11] that way. Um and this committee is looking to put something in front of um

[1:37:16] both the zoning board as well as the select board by the end of the year. Uh

[1:37:21] the first draft of the housing production plan that was produced by RKG

[1:37:25] came just about two weeks ago, right about the same time we did this meeting.

[1:37:30] And I've read through through it entirely. Uh personally, I don't have

[1:37:35] any questions or concerns about the content. It's a lot of fluff where they

[1:37:40] they're repeating statistics and things about Rentham in such a form that would

[1:37:46] allow the state to approve it. So, um, again, not much in there. The only thing

[1:37:51] I took was taken back by was the amount of non-compliance we have within our

[1:37:56] zoning bylaws for housing. It's upwards of 40 to 48%. And, you know, when I

[1:38:02] spoke to um Shane O'Brien about that, that's pretty typical when you look at a

[1:38:07] town as old as ours and the setbacks from the street. There were no zoning

[1:38:11] back then. And when you're looking at different types of housing programs, you

[1:38:17] know, in order to accommodate the builder, there's certain adjustments or

[1:38:20] accommodations we make. So, you know, I was taken back by it, but now that it

[1:38:25] was explained to me by Shane, I understand it. We also received So,

[1:38:30] that's moving along. We'll have another meeting with them on September 15th. Um,

[1:38:36] we also have received the proposal by the Ein group for the uh the community

[1:38:42] engagement. Again, like I said repeated last week, I wasn't really particularly

[1:38:47] happy with them. They did come back with a list of questions that'll be on the

[1:38:51] survey. Um, we also have a QR code that'll be going out on postcards as

[1:38:58] well as flyers. They'll be at in attendance at our retham day. We've also

[1:39:04] set up a time to for a a com a meeting by constituents at the fisc library. So

[1:39:11] those things are going forward and we'll be able to complement the uh the draft

[1:39:18] um by the end of October. So um it's moving forward. We we we feel good about

[1:39:23] it. >> All right. Great. I appreciate that.

[1:39:26] Anybody have any questions for Roy before we move on to Bill?

[1:39:32] No. [clears throat] Great job, Roy. Keep it up. Uh, appreciate the high level

[1:39:35] updates. Let us know how we can help you out.

[1:39:37] » Okay. >> All right. Let's move on. Uh, Mr.

[1:39:40] Harrington. So, C, let's talk CPC. So, uh, CPC bill, there was two votes for

[1:39:46] two projects. Um, the first project was the rice complex field lighting that

[1:39:52] passed 53. Um,

[1:39:56] so let's start there. What are your thoughts on and again, we understand.

[1:40:01] Let me just I want to make two things clear. We understand both Roy and Bill

[1:40:07] that you guys have your own opinions and you you're the ones that we've appointed

[1:40:12] on these committees. So, you're obviously always going to make your vote

[1:40:16] and we want you to make your vote. The only thing that I would ask is chair

[1:40:20] that when you're on these committees representing us as a board, if it comes

[1:40:24] to a vote, I'd always want you to at least say the select board supported

[1:40:29] this. the select board didn't support this. Not that you have to vote that

[1:40:34] way, but I want you at least to be acknowledged that the board either

[1:40:38] supported didn't support it because I I just think that's kind of I I think

[1:40:41] that's part for the course as the elected uh or appointed official from

[1:40:46] this board. Does that make sense? Is that fair, Mike? Would you agree with

[1:40:50] that as well? >> It would.

[1:40:54] » Okay. So, with that being said, let's talk Rice Complex. It passed 53. It

[1:40:59] looks like uh Leo, John, Jane, Chuck, and Andrea voted for it and then Robin,

[1:41:06] you and Steve voted against it. Any just curious the reasons to your knowledge

[1:41:11] why people didn't support it? Can you give us just a high level?

[1:41:16] » Sure, absolutely, Mr. Chair. So those uh as

[1:41:21] the vice chair on the committee uh and the chairperson on the committee had

[1:41:26] requested additional information from the recreation department which we never

[1:41:31] received. >> Uh some specifics uh we have an email

[1:41:36] from Heather sending it to recreation. We didn't get it. Uh I myself um

[1:41:44] the chair and the one of the members didn't feel as though the recreation

[1:41:47] department was being transparent in their communication with us. Um it uh

[1:41:54] that you know they're losing fields. They kept presenting the fact that

[1:41:58] they're losing fields and they're being taken away from them. Well, the land

[1:42:02] belonged to the school to begin with. It's it's it's for the betterment of the

[1:42:05] town and the department I mean the town has

[1:42:10] funded quite a bit of money to the recreation for it. Uh they kept touting

[1:42:15] the fact that they're the only department that makes funds to offset

[1:42:19] costs but they didn't provide any information. U

[1:42:23] you know it just it wasn't transparent. uh the bid, we weren't notified that the

[1:42:29] bid had been submitted incorrectly and there was a problem with it. And for

[1:42:33] them to come back and have change it up after the fact to not to exceed 350,000

[1:42:39] did not seem to me something that as a member of CPC as a select board member

[1:42:45] and a citizen that I wanted to support something that I didn't feel was

[1:42:49] transparent to the town. That was >> okay. No, that's that's fair. I

[1:42:53] appreciate that. Anybody have any questions for Select Man Harrington on

[1:42:57] the Rice Complex vote before we move to the other one?

[1:43:01] No. Okay. So, Bill, thank you for that. Appreciate your opinion on that. Um,

[1:43:07] let's talk about Mirror Lake. So, this is the one that for me it's a little bit

[1:43:11] more um I'm a little bit more concerned about this one. Um, so this vote pa this

[1:43:16] vote passed 6 to2. So, it was Leo, John, Bill, Robin, Chuck, and Andrea voted for

[1:43:23] it. And then there was two people, Jane and Steve, voted against it. This is the

[1:43:28] one that we actually got a legal opinion from town council on saying that in

[1:43:34] their opinion these funds could not be used for uh what they were saying is

[1:43:40] maintenance uh and thing and and and instead alluded

[1:43:45] to the fact that you know these funds should be pre used for preservation

[1:43:50] one-time you know uh um activities. Um, so the concerning thing for me is that

[1:44:01] town council highly recommended or or at least put their determination that we

[1:44:06] shouldn't support this. I you know I know I don't want to get too much in the

[1:44:11] weeds, but can you just kind of walk us through the rationale of still

[1:44:14] supporting the project? >> Absolutely. So uh we had quite a bit of

[1:44:19] discussion with regards to Mirror Lake. uh the amount of money that has been

[1:44:24] spent by the town provided to uh Mirror Lake for the study to determine what is

[1:44:29] at the base of it and ultimately what will be done to it. Uh so in the letter

[1:44:35] we provided to each of the uh board members we gave them an opportunity to

[1:44:39] read it to get an idea of what they thought. Um, I came up with one very

[1:44:44] specific line in the letter that was provided and it says, "Preservation is

[1:44:50] protection of personal or real property from injury, harm, or destruction." So,

[1:44:58] this crappy little weed that's in that lake is going to destroy the lake if

[1:45:03] it's not properly prevented. Uh, so you can I mean, the attorney's letter

[1:45:08] doesn't clearly state no, you shouldn't or can't do this. it was a

[1:45:12] recommendation. Uh we also would have liked to have seen a counter to that

[1:45:17] from an attorney that might look at it differently. Um which we obviously

[1:45:21] didn't get. We would all of us quite a few of the members went on to the state

[1:45:26] website and there's numerous towns that support

[1:45:31] the destruction of their lakes uh as a result of weeds. Number one, uh,

[1:45:37] Tingsboro happens to be one of them, which is they recently voted on it

[1:45:41] again, and there's they're they have our same attorney. Um, Norfor,

[1:45:46] I think it goes this week. They're uh they have a they did a five-year plan

[1:45:53] for it. Uh, and also the attorney for Nor represents the same law firm as

[1:45:59] ours. So, I think I mean I like I liken the letter. um say saying that they

[1:46:06] don't recommend it. Uh but I don't believe that it would be an issue down

[1:46:11] the road, especially where it's clearly stated it's more of a preservation

[1:46:15] thing. Uh she likens it to having grass and not mowing it. Well, if you have the

[1:46:22] grass and it just regrows, it's going to grow weeds and it's going to destroy it.

[1:46:26] So yeah, maintaining it with preservation of mowing and treatment

[1:46:32] would make it a more of a beautiful field. So

[1:46:36] » yeah, that's interesting. I appreciate that feedback. Mike, what I think we

[1:46:40] should do, obviously let the board members opine, but Mike, if you're okay

[1:46:44] with this, I'd [clears throat] actually like to put this on a specific agenda

[1:46:48] item for next meeting. And I'd like to get town council to come either

[1:46:52] remotely, zoom in, or come in person because we're actually going to be in

[1:46:55] person at the next meeting. We're doing the police um swearing in ceremony on

[1:47:00] the 14th, I believe. Mike, it's the 14th. Yeah. No, the 15th, I'm sorry. And

[1:47:05] we decided to do a hybrid meeting afterwards. So, Mike, I actually want to

[1:47:09] dig into this a little bit because to Bill's point, I want to get some

[1:47:14] understanding. How are other towns doing this? How are other towns that our town

[1:47:19] council may or may not be representing doing this? What's the difference? And

[1:47:24] then what happens if because I I started reading into this myself, guys,

[1:47:29] [clears throat] and you know, my research tells me that if it's deemed

[1:47:33] that we're misappropriating CPC funds on projects that were not

[1:47:38] supposed to be, it's a violation of Mass General law and we could be sued. Uh so

[1:47:43] it's not something I'm taking lightly here at all. And for that reason, I

[1:47:47] think we need to add it to the agenda. Uh, specifically to talk about this,

[1:47:51] Mike, and I'd like to see if town council's available to come in, weigh

[1:47:55] their opinion, and then I want to walk through the whole process. I want to say

[1:47:58] to town council, okay, what happens? What could we do from here? What happens

[1:48:03] if it goes on the warrant and it gets voted in at town meeting? What's our

[1:48:09] liability? What's our potential exposure? What does that look like? Um,

[1:48:13] is that something that we can do, Mike? Yes, it can facilitate town council to

[1:48:18] attend on the 15th and Mirror Lake can be in agenda item in the CPC vote.

[1:48:23] » All right. Excellent. I think it's that important. Um because Bill M you make

[1:48:28] some fair uh points that I want to dig into a little bit. Uh Roy, Jim, do you

[1:48:32] guys have anything to add on this? I am going to make it an agenda item, but

[1:48:35] obviously I want you guys to opine give your, you know, whatever you think. So,

[1:48:39] uh Jim, starting with you. >> Yeah. So, Mr. chair. Um I didn't see

[1:48:43] that letter from town council, but was that a recommendation or was that is

[1:48:47] that a letter stating um we should not do this?

[1:48:52] » I'm going to let Mike uh would would you consider it a recommendation or uh uh an

[1:48:59] opinion that we shouldn't do this? Yeah, I saw it as an opinion um that the

[1:49:07] weed maintenance has transitioned from possibly a preservation to a maintenance

[1:49:11] due to the frequency uh of the timing of those treatments. So I I see it as as an

[1:49:18] advisory that the CPC should not move this project forward as it is

[1:49:22] maintenance. >> And that's Jimmy. That's why we want to

[1:49:26] get clarification from town council be able to ask these questions to your and

[1:49:30] Bill's points. Mr. Chair, either through you or uh

[1:49:34] » Go ahead. >> Either Mike or or maybe Bill. Um half

[1:49:37] that that lake is in >> Nor

[1:49:40] 85% is in Norfor. >> Yeah. So So what is Norolk doing to

[1:49:45] support the the weed? >> They whatever I don't know the specific

[1:49:52] uh oneird 3/4 I forget what the the

[1:49:56] specific acreage is. Theirs is a very a much smaller chunk of the

[1:50:01] » 15%. >> Well, the 15% uh but they approved I

[1:50:07] believe it was three years ago for a fiveyear treatment.

[1:50:12] » So So are they currently maintaining a 5-year treatment?

[1:50:16] » They're in I want to say it's possibly year three or four. I don't know for

[1:50:20] sure. This is this is the second

[1:50:26] second time that uh Mirror Lake has come back for funds for this particular.

[1:50:32] » So So do we know what Norolk's using for fund funding on that weed control?

[1:50:38] » CPC. >> So So Norolk is year after year using

[1:50:42] CPC funds. >> They approved it I want to say three

[1:50:45] years ago for a fiveyear treatment plan. Correct.

[1:50:48] » Okay. Jim, so the only caveat to that, because I asked the same question, and

[1:50:53] Mike, correct me if I'm wrong, the only caveat is that, and this is why we need

[1:50:57] legal counsel to come on. I asked Mike King to check with legal counsel on if

[1:51:03] because it was a one-time approval of a five-year treatment that it's a one-time

[1:51:08] approval of a 5-year treatment. My question is, is that considered

[1:51:12] preservation? because it's technically a one-time event covering 5 years. And I

[1:51:18] want to see if Norolk then goes back and asks for more money. Does town council

[1:51:23] now a think that that would be a violation of allowable use for CPC funds

[1:51:29] and a violation of Mass General law? >> Okay.

[1:51:34] Yeah, makes sense. I I I do think it's important to have town council at our

[1:51:37] next meeting. >> All right. I appreciate that. I concur.

[1:51:40] uh select lamoth. >> Uh well, I I think it's like the Bible

[1:51:44] up for interpretation. So I I think another opinion would be of good service

[1:51:50] if you want to do that. Um I I do believe it should be treated uh

[1:51:57] particularly with you know the potential of dredging this whether that happens or

[1:52:03] not but now that they looking to go out and get grants from the state and

[1:52:08] federal to dredge this and really resolve the issue we we should at least

[1:52:14] support them in the meantime. And as far as I'm concerned, I I I I don't care

[1:52:21] whether it's maintenance or preservation. I think we should fund it.

[1:52:24] » But I won't be here on the 15th. So, >> well, I app I appreciate that statement.

[1:52:29] Uh I'll make sure that you know the board uh the board hears that. Um but I

[1:52:35] I will just caution you that you may not care, but if we violate Mass General

[1:52:39] law, Roy, >> no, I I I understand. But I again, it's

[1:52:42] an it's an individual legal opinion. Okay. It's not a fact and it's not black

[1:52:48] and white like like uh >> well listen Roy that's what we're going

[1:52:51] to have them come and and and we're going to ask them questions and we're

[1:52:54] going to ask them to give us case law or examples where communities have

[1:52:59] potentially violated CPC funds and what the results have been. And I could tell

[1:53:04] you one of them that comes to mind turned into a lawsuit where residents

[1:53:08] sued the CPC uh for violation of Mass General law,

[1:53:13] misappropriation of funds, and the town had to pick up the legal bill uh for the

[1:53:18] applica for the the residents the the town's legal bill and it had to pay the

[1:53:23] CPC money back, I think, with a fine. Um so we are drudging in uncharted

[1:53:28] territory here. Um so I I want to be very careful,

[1:53:32] » Mr. chair. >> Yes.

[1:53:34] » So, is it possible? Can we get a ruling from the state on this?

[1:53:39] » It's a good question. Uh, that's a good question. I think we could ask uh we

[1:53:44] could ask Mike King to ask the state what their opinion would be. Mike, is

[1:53:48] that possible or are they going to say it's up to us because it's CPC funds?

[1:53:53] There are funds. Well, there is the if you go on, not to uh not to interrupt

[1:53:59] Mike, but if you go on to the the website for it and the director, Stuart

[1:54:04] Sagenoff, um I don't know if he would give a specific answer or not, but I

[1:54:10] asked Mike to have uh Heather go on the site and look at the towns that are

[1:54:15] doing it, how long they've done it for, and maybe we could send an email to

[1:54:19] Stuart and uh get his opinion on it. I mean, clearly myself nor the any member

[1:54:26] of the board want to do something that's going to cause harm or foul to the town

[1:54:29] to be sued. Um, of course, >> in reading their specific letter, um,

[1:54:35] it's to me it's gray. And I I mean, I I think it, you know, if you read it and

[1:54:42] you read what it says, I think it's a gray area, uh, on

[1:54:47] preservation. Uh because if we don't take care of the lake with this

[1:54:52] treatment, it's going to destroy it. It's going to be ruined. It'll be it'll

[1:54:58] be >> I don't think anyone's debating that. I

[1:55:00] think they're debating whose funds should be paying for it. I think that's

[1:55:03] the question, >> right? You know, it'll turn into the the

[1:55:06] crap hole in the corner of Pock and and Mil Street. Um, so that that's

[1:55:13] and and funds all of the weed treatment on

[1:55:19] Lake Pearl because of the beach and the boat ramp, but quite frankly,

[1:55:24] Mirror Lake is open to the public and partially town owned or it's all town

[1:55:30] owned. >> There's no access though.

[1:55:33] » The access for >> the access for boat ramp in Northfor. Uh

[1:55:38] but the it is completely accessible to residents of North Fork and Rentham.

[1:55:43] » Yeah. Right. I'm all I'm saying is there's no access direct access through

[1:55:47] Rentham. We own a parcel. You can't park there. There's no beach in Renthm. You

[1:55:51] know, in my opinion, Norfor needs to step up here. Um and you know, I want to

[1:55:56] see how much money they've spent versus how much money we've spent. And Mike has

[1:56:01] to have a conversation with town council and the Norolk town manager in my humble

[1:56:05] opinion. Um, so as we can see, there's a lot to this topic and that's why I want

[1:56:11] it on the next meeting agenda so we can really dive in um, and you know, ask the

[1:56:17] necessary questions. And no one's insiniduating, Bill, by the way, that

[1:56:20] you want a lawsuit to happen for the town. I'm just saying, um, we got to

[1:56:24] make damn sure that we're pretty comfortable uh, that that's not going to

[1:56:28] happen. Um, that's my point. So, uh, let's go ahead and get that on the

[1:56:32] agenda. Mike, let's see if we can get any followup determination from um the

[1:56:38] state per Jim and Bill's request. Um and let's let's get our ducks in a row and

[1:56:43] ready for a a good dialogue on the 15th. >> All right,

[1:56:50] » I'll appreciate the update. Roy, appreciate

[1:56:53] the update. Um if there's nothing else from the the update on the board

[1:56:57] committee representatives, I'm going to pass it off to Mike King for his town

[1:57:01] manager report.

[1:57:04] Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have several updates for the board this

[1:57:07] evening. Uh the first is in regards to the public works building project. Uh so

[1:57:12] the public works building committee recently voted to demolish the existing

[1:57:15] DPW facility once staff transition to the new building that's currently under

[1:57:20] construction. Uh the committee had originally planned to retain the

[1:57:24] existing building for cold storage. However, after reviewing the costs

[1:57:28] associated with preserving the structure for that purpose along with future

[1:57:32] maintenance expenses, uh the committee determined that demolition was the more

[1:57:36] appropriate and cost-effective approach. As part of the revised plan, a vehicle

[1:57:41] canopy will be added to the site to provide additional cupped storage.

[1:57:47] Uh my next update is on a pavement management plan for the town. Uh as part

[1:57:51] of the town's ongoing efforts to maximize its investment in roadway

[1:57:55] infrastructure, a five-year interimm update to the comprehensive pavement

[1:58:00] management plan is currently underway. Uh the current plan is approximately 5

[1:58:04] years old and is due for an update to reflect current road conditions and

[1:58:08] priorities. The town is working with engineering firm Tai and Bond which will

[1:58:12] present its findings and its recommendations at an upcoming select

[1:58:16] board meeting. Pavement management plans are valuable tools for prioritizing

[1:58:20] roadway improvements and helping ensure the available funding is invested

[1:58:25] strategically and cost-effectively.

[1:58:30] My next update is on the strategic communication plan. Uh so the town will

[1:58:34] be distributing surveys this month focused on both external and internal

[1:58:37] communications. A survey outreach is planned for Rem day similar to the

[1:58:42] housing production plan. Hope hopefully we can get some coordination there. Um

[1:58:46] where attendees will be encouraged to provide valuable feedback on how the

[1:58:50] town communicates with residents in the community. Uh the surveys will help

[1:58:54] establish a better understanding of the effectiveness of current communication

[1:58:57] practices and identify opportunities for improvement as the town develops its

[1:59:02] strategic communications plan. And my last update is um is the

[1:59:08] retirement of Ray Rose from the Department of Public Works. Um so

[1:59:12] longtime employee Ray Rose retired from the Department of Public Works on August

[1:59:15] 20th after nearly 40 years of dedicated public service to the town of Rem. Ray

[1:59:22] made many contributions to the community throughout his long career and we thank

[1:59:27] him for his decades of service and wish him all the best in his retirement. And

[1:59:31] that concludes my town manager's report, Mr. Chairman.

[1:59:34] » Great. Uh, anybody have any questions or concerns for Mr. King on the TM report?

[1:59:39] » Yeah, Mr. Chair, >> go ahead.

[1:59:41] » Yeah, so I I would concur what he said about Ray Rose. I've known Ray for for

[1:59:47] many years, well over 30, and um he's always one of the most hardest working

[1:59:52] guys they had in the DPW. Um I'm sorry I missed his

[1:59:57] um celebration. Uh I was away on vacation, but um I'd be more than happy

[2:00:05] if someone could give me his contact information to reach out to him.

[2:00:09] » Yeah, that's that's that's very fair, nice, and I'm sure Mike can do that. And

[2:00:13] Jim, I'll let you know that I was able to stop by and uh it was a great

[2:00:18] reception. Um uh I presented him on behalf of the whole board a really nice

[2:00:23] proclamation. Uh I read it to him. I shared some kind words uh because I too

[2:00:27] have a relationship uh with Rey and uh he was very touched and appreciative and

[2:00:32] knows that this board and the town um you know really appreciates his 40 years

[2:00:38] of service uh to the community. He was very very very touched and he plans on

[2:00:42] you know remaining active as you know he's you know very involved in other uh

[2:00:46] volunteer groups within the town with historical and you know uh you know uh a

[2:00:52] lot of other things. So uh you you'll be seeing a lot of them still. That's for

[2:00:55] sure. >> Perfect. Thank you.

[2:00:57] » You're very welcome. Anybody else? Okay. Selectman Anderson, welcome back.

[2:01:03] The floor is yours. >> Well, Mr. Chairman, I'm not sure who uh

[2:01:09] Who closed out the meeting last time? I was not here. I'm sure.

[2:01:14] » Who did it? >> Michelle.

[2:01:18] » Did Michelle do it? Yeah, Michelle did it. She did a great job.

[2:01:20] » Well, well, that >> is yours. But

[2:01:23] » then I've got big shoes to fill. >> But with your permission, I'd like to

[2:01:28] make a motion to adjurnn. >> Is there a second?

[2:01:31] » Second. >> Second by motion made by Select Manison,

[2:01:35] second by Select Mammoth. Any further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll

[2:01:38] call vote. Selectman Anderson. >> Anderson's a yes.

[2:01:41] » Lechman Harrington. >> Yes.

[2:01:43] » Selectman Lamoth. >> Lamoth. Yes.

[2:01:46] » Chris Gallow. Yes. Motion carries 4. Thanks everybody. Have a great night.

[2:01:50] » Thank you. Great job. Eight two hours. Blat. Great job.

09 01 26 Wrentham Select Board Meeting

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