Select Board: June 28, 2023

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0:00 Order. And, um, note that the meeting is being recorded via Zoom. So we have, um, 12 items on the agenda before public comment and some administrator updates. Uh, first item on the agenda is a, um, request from Cleon Yacht Club, uh, for a one day liquor license, uh, Thatcher event fundraising event. Pardon? Sorry. Sorry. Do we need a, do we need a roll call? Cause I’m on Zoom Yes. To call to order. Okay. No, I, no, well, oh, I, yes. Going forward, right. For votes. So, my answer is you don’t need a roll call. You need, you don’t need to vote to, to, that’s the chair. Right? Right. Start the meeting. Right. So any, any actions that you take would need a roll call vote, but yeah. Yeah. Yes.

0:45 Okay. Thank you. Sorry to interrupt. Thank you.

0:51 Um, okay. So I, uh, we’ll ask for a motion, uh, to approve the request from plea on Yacht Club for a one day liquor license at 42 Foster Street on Sunday, July 2nd, 2023 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM subject to the following delivery of and receipt by the licensing authority of the required fee, which is $50 delivery of and receipt by the licensing authority of proof. The alcohol will be purchased from an authorized source, proof that the applicant can receive proper delivery, proper, provide proper storage and disposal of all alcoholic beverages purchased, all in accordance with the requirements of general laws. Chapter 1 38, alcohol will be purchased from KPI’s importing. So, move. Okay. Second. Second. All right, Ms. Singer

1:40 In favor, Mr. Murray? In favor, Mr. Grader? In favor, Mr. Nye In favor, Ms. Singer, I mean, Mr. Noy. Aye. See, um, in favor. Okay. Uh, so next we are, um, are the minutes of May 24th, 2023. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Second.

2:09 Yes. Seconded. Uh, Mr. Murray, uh, present Mr. Greater present, uh, in favor? What am I saying? Mr. Aye, in favor, Ms. Singer? In favor. And Ms. Newman In favor. Okay. Um, item number three, we have a letter from the Marblehead Historical Commission, um, to renovate and redesign, um, the signed museum in the basement of Abbott Hall. So they’re asking the select board to approve and support the project. Um, You know, funding is provided through the generosity of Harold b and Elizabeth l Shaddock Fund, and a volunteer tier team has been working on plans through this past winter. And there are, so far, there are over 70 signs that have been donated to the Historical Commission,

2:55 most of which will be displayed. Um, and it’s an expansion of the Sign Museum. Be a nice addition to Abbott Hall, um,

3:05 uh, sign date from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. And we’ll expand visitors’ knowledge of Marblehead history. So, um, I’ll ask for a motion to request from the Marblehead Historical Commission to renovate and redesign the Sign Museum. A motion to approve the request from the Marblehead Historical Commission to renovate and redesign the Sign Museum in the basement of Abbott Hall, subject to coordination with the town administrator. And they’ve been doing a great job down there. Um, and so they have all the signs that are done there that are all stacked up, but, uh, some of the work they’re doing is creating, um, I guess I’d call it a false wall against the, the, the, the cement rock foundation wall. Oh, yeah. But there’s, there’s slats,

3:52 and then the wall itself will be the mechanism for hanging of the signs. So give ‘em all kinds of flexibility as well as just the aesthetics. Mm-hmm. Will be greatly approved. So, like an art exhibit. Right. So it won’t be just a path to the, to the, to the bathroom, the restrooms. It’ll actually be, incorporate more of that part of the building into the overall displays that are, that are already in place. So, shall moved. Second. Okay. Roll call Please. Uh, Mr. Grader In favor, Mr. Nye, uh, present Ms. Singer? In favor? Mr. Murray? In favor, Ms. Noonan In favor. Okay.

4:39 Um, next we have, um, uh, request from Tedesco Country Club to have the crosswalk in front of the clubhouse retried. And, um, they say we’ve added a concrete walkway through the grass from the parking lot across the street, and would like the crosswalk to be res stripped to this location as opposed to its current orientation, which is at an angle. And

5:05 So we need to, yeah. So this is, you know, a, a new crosswalk to match the work that they’ve done at Tedesco. Um, so they’ve requested D P W to do that work. Um, Tedesco is gonna cover the cost of blacking out the old crosswalk, and it’s the town’s obligation to put in, you know, paint the, the crosswalk. So that’s, that’s the deal. So, so we do the, we do the new crosswalk, and they pay for, and, and, and black out the old crosswalk. Okay. Right. So it’s just moving it into a new location. Okay. So, um, uh, I’ll ask, um, ask for a motion to approve the request from Tedesco Country Club to have the crosswalk at on Tedesco Street in front of the clubhouse retried,

5:52 subject to compliance with all town regulations, ADA transition plan permits and approval by the D P W Director. So moved. Second, Mr. Nay? In favor, Ms. Singer? In favor? Mr. Murray? In favor? Mr. Greater in favor, Ms. Newy In favor? Yes. Okay. So, um,

6:17 this is a, um, request from the finance committee to amend, um, a line item, uh, yearend line item transfer, um, like a motion to amend the year-end transfers voted on at the June 14th, 23rd select board meeting by replacing line item zero one dash 2 25 dash 1 22. Energy reserves in the transfer for form. Sorry, transfer form to, to line item 0 1 2 2 1 1 3 9 5 1 7 6. Health insurance in the amount of $90,259 as amended by the finance

7:02 committee. So, won’t Second Any. Yeah, so, so no change in the dollar amount. It’s simply transferring from a different line item. So, so the board voted previous meeting the list of transfers, uh, it went to Fcom, FCOM voted differently in that one line item. So this vote is just amending what you had done earlier to align with the Fcom recommendation. No difference to any bottom lines.

7:35 Okay. Okay, Ms. Singer? No, we have to move it, right. And second it. Oh, we did, that’s right. We did it. And then we had discussion. Ms. Singer? In favor? Mr. Murray? In favor? Mr. Greater in favor, Mr. Nye In favor, Ms. Noon In favor. Okay.

7:55 Um, so these are contracts, uh, that we’re voting on. Um, the first up is cleaning of stormwater catch basins. Um, Do you have, so we have A, have a comment on It or, yeah, so, so it’s, uh, uh, it’s structured as, as many of the contracts are. It’s a one year contract with two renewals. So this is the, um, uh, the option toward year two of, of, of the contract for maintaining stormwater catch basins, which is, uh, compliance issues with MS four. Okay. So, um, I, I’ll ask for a motion to award option year two of the Roadway Maintenance Services, Inc. Contract for cleaning of stormwater catch basins dated May 1st, 2022,

8:43 to Roadway Maintenance Services, Inc. For the period of January 1st, 2023 through December 31st, 2023 for the not, for not to exceed the price of $175,500. And authorized the chair to sign on behalf of the board. So moved. The second. Okay. Um, Mr. Murray In favor? Mr. Greater in favor, Mr. Nye? In favor, Ms. Singer? In favor, Ms. Newnan in Favor. Next, we have, um, RR Row Crossing Project, Railroad. Railroad, right of way. Oh,

9:23 Secretly that 10 times fast. Is it only Wednesday? Um, okay. Do you have, um, any update on this? Or is No, this is, so this is, uh, um, end of contract. So it, it’s, um, it’s, it’s closing out. So, um, it’s getting credits for some, some, uh, items that they didn’t need to purchase. There was some, some, uh, increased costs in other areas. So this is balancing out the end of, end of contract. Okay. So, um, I’d like to entertain a motion to amend the contract between Richard d Ambrosia Inc. And the Town for the Marblehead Crossing Improvement Project Change order number two, in the amount not to exceed $44,569 and 17 cents. And authorize the chair to sign the change order on behalf of the board.

10:08 So moved. Second, Mr. Grayer? In favor? Mr. Nay? In favor, Ms. Singer? In favor, Mr. Murray? In Favor, Ms. Newan In favor. Um, next on the, um, for the con under contracts is Police Station Lockers. I’d like to have a motion to award the contract for Police Lockers to Donogan Systems Inc. Of Northborough Mass and the amount of 42,482 and 98 cents dollars and 98 cents. And authorize the chair to sign on behalf of the board. So moved. Second. So again, on this one, these, these are improvements that are being made to the police station. This was funding approved in Article 11, in fiscal 23. Uh, discussion, Madam Chair.

10:54 Yeah, Of course. Just, I, I just wanna make a quick note here, um, on this particular matter as well as some of the other appointments we’re gonna be doing. Um, you know, I’m in consultation with the Ethics Commission, so I’m gonna be a little bit, you know, be before I do the final filing of my disclosure. They just devised me to, uh, recuse myself from a few votes tonight. So tonight I’m probably gonna recuse myself a little bit more than I should. Mm-hmm. But I’m doing it at the, uh, behest of, uh, of the State Ethics Commission. Uh, because again, I do not wanna get myself nor this board in trouble. And then once that’s filed, then it should be a little bit more smoother sail going forward. Great. Okay. So, um, Wait for a second. Ready? Okay. Mr. Nay in favor, Ms. Singer? In favor.

11:39 You’re recusing. So, Mr. Greater in favor, Ms. Moon In favor. Okay. Uh, next we’re voting holiday hours for the 4th of July week. Um, um, I’ll like to have a motion that the following holiday hours will be observed at Abbott Hall and Mary Alley Building Monday, July 3rd, 2023, regular hours, eight to five. Tuesday, July 4th, 2023, Abbott Hall and Mary Alley closed all day for regular business. Abbott Hall is open for the Festival of Arts. Uh, Wednesday, July 5th, regular hours eight to six. Thursday, July 6th, regular hours eight to five. Friday, July 7th, regular hours eight to 1230.

12:25 So moved. Second. Ms. Singer In favor? Mr. Murray? In favor, Mr. Greater in favor, Mr. Nay? In favor, Ms. Noon In favor. Okay. So that brings us to, um, reappointments or appointments of town officials. Um, so how we will, I will, um, ask for a motion to accept the following appointments for which that I will read through, accept those placed on hold in accordance with the town bylaws. Okay. So all of these appointments are for, um, ex for a term of one year for 20. Uh, it expires in 2024,

13:13 unless otherwise, noted. Account Administrator Thatcher Keyser Hold. Is that a hold? Yes.

13:23 American Disabilities Act Coordinator. Kyle Wiley, building Commissioner and Inspectors Acting Commissioner Robert Ives. Local Inspector Ben Lebowitz. Plumbing Inspector Bradford Smith, wiring Inspector. Ronald Marks assistant wiring Director. Eric Fs Chisholm, local Inspector Roger Ennis Canine Control Clerk Robin Misho, town Clerk, assistant dog officers for the park. Peter James, Brad Delly. Greg Snow, Sam Andrews. John Vicki John Deciccio, town Counsel at 2000 per year. Jeffrey Shiman, um, with Assistant Town Counsel, Brody Hardon Perkins and Keston Leonard Keston. Patrick j Costello. Mead Lerman. And Costa L l c.

14:11 Francis Mayo and Deutsch Williams. Okay, counsel and Aging Director Lisa Hooper. Emergency Management Coordinator. Hold For both. Uh, chief Jason Gilland. Um, Charles Pru and Assistant, uh, finance Director. Alicia Benjamin Nunley. Flag Officer David C. Rogers. Forrest Warden, term of one year. Chief. Jason Arg. Gilland Fire Department. Hold

14:46 Harbormaster Assistants. Mark Susa. Harbormaster. Craig Smith, deputy Harbor Master Assistant Harbor Masters, which are seasonal. Rick do. Matt Millis, Matthew Thompson. Brian Oda. Jar Russo. Elmer Herlihy. Uh, Mike Kby. Andrew Nazario. Chris Bennett Dixon Alternates. Felix Amsler. Jeffrey Flynn. Daniel Cahoon. Ryan Hoey. Jack Loveday. Keeper of the Lockup Chief Dennis King. Hold

15:18 Licensing Authority. Authority. Duly designated agents. Police Chief Dennis King. Uh, hold for this. Mm-hmm. The entire list. Captain Matthew Freeman Lieutenants. Jonathan Lunt. Michael Everett. David Ovi, Sergeant Sean Brady. Jason Conrad, Brendan Finnegan, Erica o Satin Town designee, mass Water Resource Authority. Carlton Siegel Alternate. Amy McHugh, water and Sewer Commission. Parking clerk, hearing Clerk Jeffrey Shipman, chief Procurement Officer, Rebecca, curing Cutting Public Works Director Amy McHugh Records Off Assess Records Access. Officer Kyle Wiley. Right to know Coordinator. Jason r Gilland, fire department, sealer of weights

16:07 and measures. David C. Rogers, special Auxiliary Police Patrolman. James Donovan, superintendent of Public Buildings. John Albright, tax collector Treasurer. Lori Blaisdell, town Engineer. Charles Quigley. Veterans. Bla Oh, you’re right Rachel. Tax Collector Treasurer. Rachel Blaisdell. Uh, town engineer. Charles Quigley, veterans agent and Director of Veteran Service. David C. Rogers, veterans Grave Officer. David C. Rogers. No, it’s 2023. We he was a typographical Error. Yeah. Workers’ compensation Agent Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association, town Accountant. Chris Holick, affordable Housing Trust Fund Term one year Select board.

16:54 Kurt James Dirk is Debrand at Large Armed Forces Liaison, Harry C. Christensen, board of Abbott Library. Second Century Fund Term of one year. Peter Jalbert, Judith Eisner ca. Cable Television Advisory committee. Liaison Term of one year. Robert Peck. Liaison Caretaker Fort Beach term one year. David Rogers, chaplain Marblehead Police Department. Term of one year. Reverend James Bixby Conservation Commission. It’s a three year staggered term. Um, David Oster, uh, which would go through 2026.

17:34 Uh, constables for the purpose of serving civil process one year. 10 Max Douglas Perry, mark Izi. Christopher Kamo, Jared Walsh, Julio Car,

17:50 Ray Renoso, GA, Gabriel Mongiello. Cindy Diaz. Michael Dobe, constables Shellfish. A term of one year. Raymond Raymond H. Bates Jr. Jeffrey Flynn. Harry C. Christensen Jr. Rick Ner. Craig Smith. Douglas Aikman, f Webb Russell, Eric Holley. Okay. Council and aging term of three years. This was, uh, changed from nine members via um, town meeting in 2020. So this is for, uh, reappointment of Council and Aging. Mar Marcy Schwam, uh, expires 2026. Emergency Medical Services Counsel, Jason r Gil. Gil Marblehead Fire Department

18:37 Fair Housing Committee. A term of three years staggered Dirk iBrand, which would expire in 2026.

18:46 Um, finance committee which would expire, um, is a three year staggered term. So Eric Knight would, uh, be reappointed to the to 2026. Alex Goby, 2026. And a Clerk 2024

19:05 Fires Committee term of one year. Alexander Faulk, Fort Sewell Oversight Committee. Rebecca Curran, cutting Town Planner. Peter James Rec and Park Department. Larry Sands, Glover’s Regiment. Judy Anderson at Large Ed Lang Disabilities Commission. Christine Nuccio at Large Harbors and Waters board term of one year for five years. Wait, no, sorry, five so far. Sorry, five one year appointments. John Doub. Gary Gregory, Jamie showed Kenneth Bret Clark Smith alternates. Chris Hood. Rick Ner Peter gon

19:47 Hazard Mitigation Plan, implementation and monitoring.

19:54 Um, Jason Gilland, fire Chief Emergency Management Director Charles Quigley, town Engineer. Oh, I’m Jason Gilland. Charles Quigley, town engineer. Amy McHugh, superintendent Water and Sewer Commission. Rebecca Curran, cutting town planner. Bill Connolly Historical Commission. Um, historian Don Do Donald Doller Historical Commission, which is a three-year staggered term. Peter, Stacy, and Edward Nielsen. Those would expire in 26. Marblehead Cultural Council. Council term three years, staggered maximum of 20 members with um, term limits. These expire in 2026. Mark Phillip, Jennifer Yule, Barbara Collins, Rosenberg, Marblehead Disabilities Commission term of three years. Staggered. Not less than five, nor more than nine. Okay. Um, Amy Hirsch,

20:41 Kron and Lori Blazedale whose terms would expire in 2026. Marblehead forever. Committee term one year. Catherine Lang, Meredith Reardon, Linda Doller, Carrie O’Shaughnessy, Kyle Wiley, Massachusetts Ethics Commission, a term of one year municipal liaison. Jeffrey Shridman, M B T Advisory Board term of one year. Dan Albert, Massachusetts, port Authority and Advisory Committee. Charles Gessner,

21:09 old and Historic District Commission term of one year. Bob Bragden. Gary amb. Charles Hibbard Mari. Mariana Vida. Paul Pruitt with alternates. Dun Duncan. Facie. Michael ffa. Um, okay. And uh, old Burial Hill Oversight committee term of one year. Judy Gates. Stanley Goodwin, Andrew Gallucci, Pam Peterson as the cemetery rep. Alex Finnegan. Rebecca Kern. Cutting is the Town planner Planning Board. Uh, term of three years appointed by the board of Selectman. Steve Laron. Uh, so that expires to 2026. Sister City Liaison, Grae France, Miriam Zuber task force against Discrim discrimination. Uh, term of one year. Helene Hazlet. Kim Goman. Deacon John Whipple.

21:58 Christopher Bruhl. Scott Marcus Reece Stalberg. Candace Liney. Chief Dennis. King Exofficio. Surya Miller. Did you say? I’m sorry, did you say, Uh, hold on Chief please.

22:14 Um, Surya Miller. Deanna Gora. Diane Gora. Sorry. Taxation and and aid committee. Pamela Floyd. Lisa Hooper. Bonnie Great Granier. Rachel Blaze, Dell Treasurer Exofficio. John Kelly, chairman Board of assessors, exofficio

22:31 Town Physician Quadrant, health Strategies. Tree Warden, Jonathan Fbar.

22:37 Zoning Board of Appeals, which is staggered. Um, Alan Lipkin would be reappointed until 2028 alternates, uh, which is a one-year term on alternate. Christopher Casey, Bruce Raker, William Rudolph and Mark Liebman.

22:57 So that’s the end of the appointments. So that is the end of the appointments, right? Yep. So moved and seconded. Okay. Any discussion?

23:17 You with us Alexa? Yeah, sorry, I’m having a little issue with the connection, but I’m here.

23:32 Okay. Okay. So, okay, so we, there was a, there was a, um, so that was the motion to accept all of the appointments except those placed on hold. Yeah. Madam Chair, before we do the vote, because these were mixing both volunteer boards and you know, public officials who get reappointed because of the nature of their job. Um, I’m wondering if we can talk about if this is the appropriate time to talk about the volunteer boards or do we wanna have that for another or do we wanna go, or do you wanna go Do you the volunteer boards and We’ll just, cuz we could hold the volunteer boards and vote everything, but those for now and then have then discuss that.

24:20 That Would be A process. So we’d have to vote down this motion and do another, or we’d have to amend the motion would Okay. So we’d have to, that would be my, You could amend the motion. Well, we haven’t. It hasn’t.

24:33 So there’s a motion on the floor Has has it’s been Oh yeah, he moved It. Yeah. Made in second. Seconded. So we’re discussing, so It would be discussion, but it is also open for amendment if there’s a change to Right. Um, how of a change to what you want to vote on. You would amend a motion to, I would suggest, and I’m doing this on the fly to, uh, amend to put further holds on the following boards. Okay. And then you would need to identify, So then I would like to amend, put following, you know, holds on the following boards, which would be,

25:22 would have to be what? Starting with the cons on aging

25:29 For all volunteer appointed boards. Right. Would it start with, or would we go back to cons? Or would we go back to the constables?

25:38 Constables I would suggest are more on the professional side. That’s why, that’s What I agree. Right. Cuz you need to have a designation for that. It’s not just like anybody. Um, So, okay, so Council on Aging gonna go through and identify, So the Council on Aging,

25:56 What page are you on? This would be on page five.

26:02 Fair Housing Committee, finance Committee,

26:08 fireworks Committee, Fort Sewell Oversight Committee, harbors and Water Board. Uh, hazard Mitigation Plan, implementation Monitoring Team Historian Historical Commission, Mar Cultural Council, Mar Blood Disabilities Commission, Mar Forever Committee Math, Massachusetts at this commission.

26:37 M B T A Advisory Board, Massachusetts Authority Advisory Committee. Old Historic District’s Commission. Berry Hill Oversight Committee Planning board Sister, city Liaison, task Force against Discrimination, taxation Aid, excuse me. Committee. Um,

27:06 and when we do the zoning, well the zoning probably would, There’s a volunteer appointment on that. Right?

27:20 We can put that in zoning board of appeals. Okay.

27:25 Okay. So your motion is to amend. So you’ve moved a motion. Is this right? So move a motion Should be a second.

27:35 I can second that. Okay. Discussion. Any discussion should Be clear. There’s no appointments, uh, as a result of this? No. Well, there’s no appointments. But this would, this would not be automatic. We have to come back to we’d address that. There’s, there’s gonna be a follow up. So today there’s no appointments for those boards. Excuse me. And, and, uh, take that. Well, well, So the, the motion was to hold for and then for discussion and so, right. Um, Okay. So do you wanna discuss why you put a hold on it? So I think, I think the, hold on this is, is really, you know, a, a couple reasons and, you know, twofold I think that come to mind for me. You know, one is typically you get elected on a Tuesday

28:25 and then Wednesday the following night, less than 24 hours later, you’re supposed to come in front and then in turn vote on all these boards. And what I’d like to do separately, and maybe I should put this part on my motion, I apologize, would be to extend it until November. That’s what I’d like to see is I’d like to see all these temporarily extended till November 1st. Um, but right now we’re voting on the other ones. So I think we can come back to this after we vote on the, on the first batch. That wasn’t, you know, that this was taken away from. And because I think we need to take, you know, and especially next year, again, assuming the state does a three year term, you know, I think that’s gonna, you know, for the board up here, I think that’s gonna be critical. I think that we need, whoever comes on board,

29:10 should the time, there should be a gap between when they start and when they look at all these appointments. Not less than 24 hours later. I just don’t think that’s fair to any anybody being elected. And I also think the reason why is I think we also wanna take a look at how we want to arrange these boards. Maybe we should expand them. Maybe we should contract them. What are the roles, responsibilities, you know, cuz we all know at town meeting, you know, one of the citizens articles was about open transparency, about having a process, you know, in place for these different boards. And I, I think, you know, extending that to November 1st would give us that time to assess and go through that process. Um, so that’s the reason why I’m, I made that hold is I just want to give us some more time to think about this for the next few months. Um, and be fair to the people who are on it. So they’re, you know, they would stay. Um,

29:58 but I think this board over the next few months could have those discussions and we could then make a decision at that point when we wanna hold this process on a go forward basis. And, and again, to respect the town meetings, um, citizen, you know, article.

30:14 Gotcha. My question, so these, uh, these terms expire in a year, which is now that we appointed ‘em last year. So do we push ‘em? So I think if they’d be holdover appointments, which is you have holdover appointments. So the general rule is they would continue to serve until they’re either reappointed or somebody else is appointed in their place automatically. Yeah, that’s the, the standard. Yeah, It’s un automatically they’re, they’re, it’s Folder they’ll be hold over. So it’s just not a full reappointment for the whole term, I guess. So in the issue, you, you may have and haven’t done any analysis that the people who have selected to resign and not continue mm-hmm. Um, they’ve resigned.

31:00 So it may affect some quorum, some boards, but I haven’t done any, any analysis of what, how many people on what boards have resigned. Yeah. You know, I guess Madam Chair, if I may. Yeah, of course. Yeah. I mean, I appreciate the, the what you’re trying, what we’re trying to do here. I completely get it. I’m just, uh, you know, I think we want a a period where we can talk about it and think about it. And in the meantime we’re gonna have, uh, a bunch of people that I guess are on now, they’re on kind of a holdover status. The question is, is whether we want to undertake the discussion after ha after having appointed, uh, everybody on the, you know, on on the, uh, you know, in, in, in the motion here. It’s just an alternative.

31:49 Um, I think we’re, we’re, we’re shooting from the hip right now because we don’t have specific recommendations on, on what we wanna do with, with each of these boards might remember. These are all volunteer positions, right. And I think we want to, you know, treat them delicately and, and a kind of approach this, uh, have the discussion and maybe find a way to, uh, develop a recommendation where we can actually pull the trigger relatively early, you know, in the process rather than letting it roll out. I’m just offering that as a, as a procedural option so that we have, you know, have some continuity. Um mm-hmm. You know, because I think we can, we can very well have the discussion and should, and it should be on a, on, you know, on a, uh, on the agenda. And I think the,

32:37 you know, the chair is, you know, know is at your discretion to do that. I guess the, yeah, I just, rather than put people in an uncertain status over the next three months quickly, you know, without, without kind of deliberating on it. I would, that’s what I, you know, I’m just thinking out, you know, thinking out loud here. Um,

32:58 I don’t think there’s any question we should have the discussion.

33:03 Um, uh, Alexa has her hand up. Yes. Hi. Yes, thank you. So just, uh, just some procedural questions here. Hopefully you can hear me. Uh, with this, uh, my understanding is, and that correct me if I’m wrong, is that the current positions would be held over so everyone would be appointed in the place that they are. And it does not indicate that they would not stay in those positions. But this allows a mechanism to have a discussion over, um, the appointment process and looking at it holistically with, you know, an implementation of a three year term and the appointment process itself. Um,

33:50 and if that process, uh, I think Brad, if I, if I heard you correctly, um, you said, uh, November, so if that process is November, um, then, uh, that, that gives a couple months. But, um, I, my understanding of the motion that it wouldn’t, uh, it wouldn’t prohibit doing, you know, completing that process earlier than them. But, you know, it’s, it’s now, it, I don’t, my understanding it doesn’t leave anyone in limbo because they are being, you know, placed as they’re placed on hold that they continue in their position as we just look at the process holistically. Exactly. I mean, so this would hold the existing people to November 1st. It’s not to say that those people wouldn’t be reappointed right at November 1st

34:37 to another date. And that gives us that time, as Mr. Gray was saying, to do that analysis, to have this. And I just think given what happened at town meeting, you know, we owe it to our citizens, you know, cuz that was an overwhelming, you know, majority that passed that they wanted policies, procedures, and they want us to take a look at these boards and that’s what we’d be doing between now and November. And, and as Alexis said that if we can address this sooner, then we’ll address it sooner. Madam Chair. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I just think you know what you’re really doing, just holding open the option to get rid of people on the board in November, right? I mean that’s, that’s what we’re preserving the option to do. Cause if we were to reappoint now, you wouldn’t be able to get rid of anybody, you know, in that year. Yeah. So my, my concern is just ma mainly having the discussion or around, you know,

35:25 how that plays, you know, uh, more broadly, uh, with a volunteer community. Um, I raise this as just a concern. I am not at all, uh, you know, debating that we need to be responsive to kind of talking about the composition of boards and whether we want proc, you know, uh, procedures to get rid of people that we want to get rid of on these committees, right? I mean, that’s what we’re basically doing. Right? And, and because look, I mean, it is reasonable too, right? And, and kind of what’s the, and does that come from the select board? Does it come from the chair of the committees? There’s lots of things to discuss on this while maintaining the spirit of volunteerism. Now that’s my major. I raised that just as an issue and that’s something we should be sensitive to as

36:12 we move through the necessary discussion around, around the Board. Yeah. I I this is no mechanism to get rid of anybody. This is, this is to be fair, I, I think, and we need to take new approaches. You, you know, to how we do this. And I have nothing by admiration for anybody, you know, that has served the town of Marblehead, whether it’s an elected, appointed, and especially a volunteer position, right? I mean, anybody that’s willing to give up part of their time, you know, to be away from family, you know, to do, you know, deserves everybody’s, you know, admonition. Yeah. No. And, and so this is not a, you know, this is not to penalize anybody, but this is, this is a way that I think, like anything else before we do something, I think there should be a pause. And that’s all I’m asking is that we have a pause until November. We can assess it, we can extend it, we can shorten it, you know. Um,

36:59 but I just think that, you know, again, given what happened at town meeting, I, I think we, we owe it our citizens. We need to, you know, follow their lead. And that’s why I’m asking for this pause. Not, not as any panelization, but I agree. Please. It’s, it’s a discussion. Look, I’m, I discuss discussion disagreeing that we, that we respond to the, you know, to the, you know, and it was written more broadly I think, around policies and procedures and, you know, to improve the governance of all our committees. I’m just concerned about the chilling effect that, that this may have on, you know, the, the spirit of volunteerism in town, which we rely on a hundred percent. And I, I appreciate your comment about the, you know, we all respect the volunteers. A and there is an issue around, look, there are people that are waiting to come on that want to come on and have expressed. And we’ve gotta figure out a way to kind of, you know,

37:46 for those people that are, you know, how, how, how do we, how do we affect, I think what this is fundamentally about right? Is how we affect, uh, changes, uh, to these, to these committees from a governance perspective, perhaps all the way down to, you know, exactly, Exactly Who does, who does what, where. Mm-hmm. And I’m just, I think we can have that discussion without affecting this year. Cause you know, we’ve done this, we’ve always done it this way, rightly or wrongly, but I think, I think all the chairs put forward, you know, their volunteers that they want. So there is a process before this. It’s not something that the board is micromanaging, let’s say. Cuz once we make the appointments, you know, a lot of the decisions around who stays on and who doesn’t is kind of the,

38:33 you know, the, the, the chair’s discretion, I think is, is is pretty much, you know, the way that’s happened. I just raised that. Mm-hmm. Um, uh, yeah, just raised It’s A fair point. It’s A fair point. Madam, Madam Chair. Yes. Lucy. See, hi. Go Ahead. Yeah, so I think, um, most makes a great point in regards to, uh, as we are looking at a way to make, uh, you know, make a transition to look at, you know, some of the things that we need to look at holistically as a board. I do agree that the communication piece of this needs to be really important. Uh, that, you know, we, okay, um, whatever the result is that, uh, whatever path we take, that we make a proactive effort to reach out to all the

39:21 volunteers, uh, and say this is, you know, this is the reasoning, this is the process, this is why. And to, um, make sure that it’s communicated to the community that we are in no way disrespecting our current volunteers and are looking for, um, a way to, you know, just discuss the pros and cons of the current procedure. And, and that’s really where this is coming from, that it’s, uh, in no way a reflection on the time and the commitment that our current volunteers come and participate every day. So, uh, that would be really important that we make sure we’re clear about what we’re

40:07 communicating out.

40:11 Okay. Um, I’ll just add, um, you know, for myself, I think there’s kind of two goals I see cuz, you know, I’ve raised this, Alexa’s raised this for two straight years around kind of this, getting off the cycle of the timing of it as is really inopportune and, and difficult as sitting on a new board member and reappointing, you know, you’re voting to make reappointment to somebody, you know, it hasn’t come before you, you haven’t seen a, you know, whatever it is. You don’t, you don’t have the full information to, in my opinion, to, to make that decision when you come on board. So maybe it’s around, um, you know, moving this process forward, you know, earlier, um,

40:58 end of May or beginning of June or something. I don’t see why we don’t have to, and front front loading and front loading it, having this whole process so that way someone has at least been around for a year, right? If you’re on the board and then they can, you know, versus like coming in. Cause you know, the board’s gonna come and, and evolve and new come team members come on. And, um, so getting kind of off that cycle, it serves that goal is what I’m hearing. And then the other goal that kind of entertaining up, uh, a holdover pause so that we, while we review, uh, you know, how our process personally I would like to see along the lines with communicating and outreach to the volunteers is some feedback from the volunteers themselves that are serving around, um, you know,

41:46 the what, how they feel about the process. You know, just soliciting feedback from our volunteers, uh, while we formulate, you know, as we do, I feel have a mandate from town meeting to create a policy, um, within our board that we would all come to a consensus around, you know, that’s clear that, um, around our appointments and reappointments, uh, there’s numerous, numerous examples of others that we can look to other communities that have codified those policies. And, um, it seems that the town does want us to, uh, the voters at town meeting overwhelmingly do, would like to see some codified policies around this important task that we do. So, um, I guess that’s kind of how I,

42:32 I figure it in my, in my, in my head is getting off that cycle, pushing pause, you know, so that we can review our policies. And as part of that review, I would like us to, you know, in our communication out and our letters or, or email out to our volunteer members, I would like us to solicit feedback from them around the interviews process, uh, reappointment process, you know, if, if they would like, Exactly. I mean this is everything from when they decide I’d like to serve on this board to reappointments and everything in between. This is, this is, this is soup to nuts.

43:11 Yeah. And I think we do, we celebrate the spirit of volunteerism in this town. And it’s, this, this is just absolutely about process review more than getting anybody off a board or, you know, this is apply, we’re replying this to every, I think you’ve, you’ve held all of the volunteer boards, so, um, this is about process and procedure that more than any specific board or, or member, you know, um, that’s the way I, I I kind of see it. And, um,

43:48 anybody else?

43:51 Yes. Yeah. So I, uh, um, uh, pains me to say it, but I’m really worried on who’s gonna be this sacrificial committee cuz it’s pretty clear this is all about the finance committee and the Harbors and Waters board. So what, and, and just to make this seem like it isn’t one of these other committees is gonna suffer by getting cut. It’s my own opinion. Can, so Can I just ask you to clarify why it’s about why you’re interpreting it as about the finance committee? Well, those are the biggest, those have been the biggest issues the last two years. The finance committee and, and the harbors and waters. None of the others have, all the others have breezed right through, even when, when Brett was on this committee, on the select board, um,

44:40 they all went through, there was never a hold. So it’s my own opinion. Okay. And what’s going on? Go ahead, Alexa. Yeah, I just wanna comment. Um, when the first year that I voted, you know, went through the votes, I held on several committees, um, for the, you know, what was articulated earlier, just for not having the information that was necessary to place those votes. Um, so to me this is absolutely a process of discussion here and not particular to any committee in particular. Uh, and looking through what, you know, what are those mechanisms. So just, I wanna speak, speak to that about my personal experience,

45:29 Madam Chair, if I could. But there was definitely more than more than that. Yeah. I mean, right now we have a defacto process, right? It’s not like we don’t have a process. And I think what we do is we primarily appoint and we ensure the supply of, uh, you know, of volunteers to these different, uh, committees. And we interview and we select on that basis. And I think, you know, my experience has been, at least on the fin comm is, you know, you kind of, the chair then has kind of responsibility for managing how well the fin comm in my example, kind of executed against its very thick, uh, mandate, you know, in, in the town. And that it would,

46:15 it’s up to the chair to kind of make sure that the, you know, membership on the, on the committee is kind of, you know, doing their, doing their jobs, showing up. If someone is not, you know, uh, showing up a lot, you, you, you know, typically can approach someone and say, Hey, you know, how are you doing? Do you still wanna be committed? And it’s that kind of conversation at that level. So I think effectively what we, what we’ve, you know, effectively done as we’ve kind of delegated, you know, a lot of that responsibility for the, you know, for the, for the good governance and management to, you know, to the specific committees. Now some committees are like completely have no kind of statutory guidance. Others have heavy statutory guidance, right. You know, as you, as you as you know, uh, Brett. But, you know, so there, there is a process and,

47:04 and I think, you know, I think what, what Jim is raising is, okay, do we want to, cha does do we do, do we want to have the select board being involved in managing who stays on the committees or not? That to my mind is really the the fundamental question, you know, uh, or do we want to continue the way we’ve always, I haven’t always done it. I’m, I’m sure it’s changed over years, several times, but I guess the way we’re doing it now is, look, the raft of volunteers is presented to us by the, by the, you know, by the leaders of these committees and boards. And we’re basically saying, well, we accept their judgment. That’s what we’re saying. And, and that’s why we can turn it around so quickly because they’ve already advanced the names. Now, you know, if we want to interject ourselves in that,

47:52 I think that’s the, the kind of discussion we’re having the discussion now, frankly. But yeah, you know, that’s the, that’s the fundamental strategic question to my mind. And, you know, I don’t know. I’m not, I I Ive, But exactly what I said, if, if we, if we appoint all these people another year, we’ve now delayed any changes probably for two years, because now you’re gonna have to come up on the next year. I mean, if we appoint exactly. So by doing this pause, and let’s say we go with what, you know, Ms. Singer had recommended, or one of some of the other towns have done that, if they extend them to May, then in November before we could extend this to May, and then we start the new process then, and now we’re on the right cycle. And so that’s why you have to, you have to stop the cycle at some point. And, and that’s why I’m asking that we take that pause now. And it’s not, it’s, it’s,

48:39 it’s about the process. And as Ms. Newnan, and as Ms. Singer said, it’s, it’s about involving them. They’re gonna have as much say in this as anybody, um, because they might have some, and it’s a good chance for us as a new board, well, to do that assessment. And that’s all I’m asking. Let’s pause it to November, do the assessment. And you know what, maybe we don’t change anything. Maybe we change a lot, but this gives us that pause. Be that not to now have to delay another year or two to do the process. We, you know, that we really, you know, that we should be doing. I agree. If I may. Of course. I, I, I agree that we’re kind of creating incentives for the volunteers who are now on hold. We’re, we’re, I think there may be value to, to the hold in creating incentives for them to kind of participate.

49:24 I’m not sure actually that some may say, may not be incented to participate in that feedback. My only point is to remove the uncertainty this year by voting for them and then having that full-blown discussion. And yes, it will take a year, but I think it’s important that we, I’m just, that’s all I’m suggesting. I don’t think there, the pause in appointment is, is required to have the full-blown discussion around good governance and that we should have that discussion 100%. Right. And, and you know, you can tell where, where I’m kind of thinking, Well, by having a pause, it’s gonna force us to have that discussion because if we delay a year, we may never have it. And I don’t wanna have that’s, I think we should have it.

50:10 That’s, that may be fair. But I think the chair is gonna drive that, and I’m in support of that. I know. I’ll vote for that. I’ll come out and say it right now. Cause I mean, I, I think that’s what we’re mandated to do. My only concern is I, I don’t think they’re, I think they can be mutually exclusive. I think we can appoint, keep people chugging along, have the discussion and still get a, you know, still get front load that may kind of process where we’re, you know, we’ve, we’ve gone through the discussion and we have a strategy for kind of changing the timing of when we decide who ends up on these, you know, committees or not. I’m just, just offering that as a, you know, as an alternative. Um, yeah. So I, I, I, yeah, look, I mean, that, that’s, that’s what I think. I I just think we create some uncertainty if we put people on hold and we don’t

50:55 necessarily need to do it. And, and I understand what you’re saying. There’s good reason to do it in your mind because it, it incent incentivizes us to really have the discussion and it holds that over. Exactly. But it holds us over, you know, but I think it holds it over all the volunteers as well. And I don’t think we need to do that. That’s my opinion. Madam Chair. Yep, go ahead. Thank you. Uh, so just, uh, couple things to add to that. Um, Moses, I would respectfully disagree that it doesn’t, that proposing something of this nature to us for a space to address, um, a and, and analyze a policy doesn’t, or, you know, that communicates that we don’t accept the judgment of the current

51:42 volunteer boards. We absolutely do accept their judgment. And I once again, reiterate the importance of communicating that piece out. So I will disagree with you that it, it, that it communicates that, because I d I don’t think it does. And I think that that’s our, our job to clearly communicate the difference between the process. And in light of the things that you brought up, there potentially might be a shift in the timing. There might be a shift in the process. And so by having a discussion to say, okay, we’re, um, we’re going to hold over into this particular period of time until we have a template to present to our boards and committees, we need that template to say, this is what it looks like now. And, um, what, you know,

52:31 what is your interest? What is your, um, you know, what, what does this look like now? Maybe the dates have changed. Maybe if the timing has changed, maybe, you know, maybe the changes are small or insignificant or not at all. I don’t have those answers, but this provides space to do so. And I, you know, as a board member, that was the question, you know, that I brought in, in day one that I brought up six months later that I brought up, you know, 12 months prior to this conversation that we’re having right now was where and when do we create that space? And then what does that new space look like? And then have the ability to communicate that out to our board members. And I do not think that it, uh, by any means, uh, has to communicate them that we don’t accept their judgment or we don’t expect their judgment or, um, don’t respect them at all. You know,

53:19 I think it’s basically saying, look, we’re we’re asking for some space to answer some questions that have been brought to us, and, and take the time to do that in a collaborative, cohesive way where they, uh, you know, everyone who is participating in these volunteer boards has the option to share with their experiences are maybe there are volunteers on our current boards that have some ideas that we personally might not have thought to bring to the table. And involving them in that discussion, I believe will only make this process more effective. So thank you. I, you know, I don’t disagree. If I, if I may, Madam chair, sorry. Um, I, I don’t disagree with what you’re saying. I just don’t think, uh, I think the question is we need to create the space.

54:06 We need to create the space, and then we need to, I think by holding people over to November, the only purpose is to potentially, uh, restructure these boards this year. Okay. That’s what, that’s effectively what’s happening. Now. My propo, you know, my thought on that is that we have the discussion, create the space, and then if put it into effect at the beginning of next year, I guess that’s what I would, that’s probably the way I would recharacterize kind of how our, our discussion here. And I get it. I mean, you put it on hold, it’s because let’s say we restructure, uh, committees, right? Uh, and it’s midyear, um, and people will leave or, or stay, um,

54:56 if there’s a restructuring, then people will leave. Cuz you know, we went through that experience midyear with the Fair Housing Committee last year, right? Where we had, so I don’t think, you know, I, I think we can affect changes without holding everybody over.

55:14 I get it. Uh, you know, the question is when do we implement the changes? And I guess I’m arguing for a fulsome discussion this year and then implemented at the, at the start of, of next year or five months before, you know, the reappointments next year. But I think people need to know that they’re gonna be reappointed every year in line with the election cycle. So that’s another issue we need to discuss, you know? Mm-hmm. Do we want to hold people back three months every year, you know, on the election cycle or what? So look, I mean, I’m, uh, I, I, I, uh, kind of rest my case, I guess, uh, with, with that. So Is your concern that volunteers will be, you know, we’ll get, we, you know, I mean, we we’re, I think you’re saying you’re throwing out a date to give a long runway,

55:59 but Yeah, you know, we could absolutely, you know, over July and August, you know, discuss at the board on it for, you know, at meetings, uh, co you know, codifying a policy, you know, um, and then, and have that nailed down and, and, you know, proceed earlier. Um, but so is your concern that the volunteers will, you know, uh, will not wanna do it if they’re only appointed to November 1st? They’d rather they, that they would step down. Like there is that, is that like a, that’s like, Well, I guess the concern is, yeah, well, that’s right. I mean, I listen if this becomes a habit every year where we’re holding people over, or there’s a different cycle between the election cycle and the appointment cycle, and we haven’t even really discussed that, and that’s all.

56:47 And it’s kind of like, you know, I think that we can do the restructuring discussions, quote unquote, you know, before, uh, you know, leading up to the next fiscal year, you know, the next election cycle. Yes. It’s a little bit of a delay. Um, and then at that point you’re kind of, I guess all the chairs of all these committees can then kind of, you know, advance their vacancies, you know, on the cycle, and then we can appoint on the cycle. It’s, yeah, I just, I just, it’s, uh, I guess I’m, yeah, I’m just pushing back a little bit because I don’t think it changes, it doesn’t necessarily move their term, right? So if a holdover is, you know, you know, a holdover till we,

57:36 you know, have the policies to, to do, do whatever we decide, you know, around what, you know, reappointments and appointments have that codified, and then the, the, the term, unless we changed it would be still the end of June, unless we decided, and again, some of this is soliciting feedback around the terms. Some of these boards are one year terms. Do our volunteers, would they prefer a three year term and not have, you know, or do they prefer the one year term because it’s less of a commitment? Um, I do think, I definitely think that regardless we need to move the process up earlier, like, you know, right. Where we’re Yeah. Right. So we’re talking about question. Yeah, no question. But no, I think, again, I think defacto what we’ve done is we’ve basically delegated

58:25 that authority, you know, to the volunteer chairs, uh, persons on each of these committees and say, and basically say, bring forward your candidates and we will look at them. And since we’ve appointed all of them, there’s no real reason right. To extract them, you know, you know, and there’s a, there is a process, you know, I mean, the chair can approach the town administrator or any one of us and basically say, you know what? I’ve got, you know, there’s some issues with so-and-so or whatever. And, and you can kind of have a discussion around it, right? So I think there’s, there are mechanisms in place, um, you know, and I guess, uh, yeah, uh, uh, you know, and I think the discussion around how to handle the volunteers is different

59:10 than how to handle governance, right? And, uh, you know, I think, I think we, it would be very salutatory to kind of look at each of these volunteer committees and kind of figure out, okay, what’s the statutory connection each, is there a bylaw? Is there a statutory framework? Right? I mean, that’s the first thing I do when I came on FinCon is, okay, well, you know, what’s the statutory framework? And it, fortunately there’s a big, you know, uh, finance committee manual from the committee, right? You can read and it’s very, very, very helpful. And I think you, you end up operating on that basis. So each committee’s gonna be different. I, I think we should go through the process, I mean, and assemble, and I know that, uh, you know, uh, Alexa, you know, suggested this as well, is that we, that we kind of provide, uh, you know,

59:57 reference material, you know, and kind of formalize that reference material database so people can get educated on what each of these boards do. And I think it would be very helpful for future volunteers that look to look to, Look to see, and that’s exactly what I’m asking for, is that gives us the four months to do it, you know, and, um, and work with everybody. And then that way we get them on cycle and then going forward. Yeah, look, I mean, it’s, yeah, look, I mean, I think we, I think we can personally, I think we can do it without a hold, but that’s fine. I mean, I, I think that’s up to the, you know, up to the, to our respective decisions, that’s all.

1:00:38 Um, any further discussion.

1:00:44 Okay. Um, so, So the floor is an amendment to the main motion to add the additional holds as identified by Mr. Mark. Mm-hmm. Ms. So we have to separate out the holds,

1:01:06 um, that Brett is making for, um, that for, uh, pot potential conflict. Right? And now, so we’re also holding the volunteer courts, Correct. So the, the motion on the floor, the amendment Yeah. Is separate from his holds. Okay. Alright. As far as concerns, That’s all I wanna check. Okay. So He, he, he’s able to vote. Okay. That’s Check’s able to vote on the amendment. Okay. We go to the main motion then. Okay. Right. You segmented out. Thank you. The ones that are not a potential conflict. Okay. So, um, the amended motion has been moved and seconded. So, okay, This is to again, just, I’m sorry. The, this is to, this

1:01:52 Is, this is for a, um, a, uh, motion to, um, hold reappointments basically hold over Reappointments for Novem until November 1st. On the volunteer boards. On the volunteer boards to allow for time. Cause we took a vote on the holds for the 10, you know, for the, for The, that’s what he’s saying. Those are different. Different. I know, but that’s what we, that’s what, That’s what I know. That’s what I was saying. Yeah. Right. So we need to re we need to redo the, the, the, the, the mo the motion in the second For, but the, your Right for, you know, for your, When we do right after this motion, this motion, You have to vote the amendment first. We have to mo vote the amendment and then we’ll go back and then vote. Okay. The other one, yeah, that’s, This is an amendment I to the main motion of voting on all the appointments, except for the ones put on hold by Mr. Murray previously. Okay.

1:02:41 Does that make Yeah. Clear as mud.

1:02:46 Okay. So I guess we’re ready for, uh, roll call. Vote on the amended motion. Okay. Starts Mr. Murray in favor? Mr. Greater, Uh, in favor, Mr. Nay? Not in favor, Ms. Singer? In favor? Ms. Noon In favor. Okay. Four one. So that was the amendment. Mm-hmm. So now the main motion is to, um, vote on the appointments non held. A non held, the Non Held Appointments position. Okay. So motion? Yeah. Okay.

1:03:26 And that motion was moved. One second. And seconded Yeah. So we will ask for a roll call. Vote. So, Mr. Grader, Uh, and this is for the, for the professional? Yes. Yes. This is making appointments for those that are in favor, not holding in favor, Mr. Nye? In favor, Ms. Singer? In favor? Mr. Marty? In favor, Ms. Noon In favor In

1:03:54 Ones on hold. And now we, okay, so now I will, I’m the only one That Held, correct? Right. So, um, I need, um, a motion to accept the following appointments, town administrator that, and I’ll read the ones that are held altogether and we’ll vote, um, or move the motion altogether. Motion to accept the following appointments. Town administrator Thatcher Keyser, emergency Management Coordinator. Ja. Uh, chief Jason Gilland. Charles p Saru, assistant Force Warden. Chief Jason Gilland. Fire Department Keeper of the lockup. Chief. Dennis King. Licensing authority. Duly designated Agents. Police Chief Dennis King. Right to know coordinator. Jason Gil. Fire Department Veterans. Oh, sorry.

1:04:43 Emergency Medical Services counsel. Jason Gil, marble Life Fire Department.

1:04:50 Hazard Mitigation Plan, implementation and Monitoring Team. Jason Gilling, Charles Quigley. Amy McHugh. Rebecca Curran. Cutting. Uh, it was just Jason. Oh, just regarding, okay. Excuse me. It Was just Chief. Um, So there’s a hold on the entirety of that. Yes. On, on the other sets of holds.

1:05:14 So I’m not sure how you want to handle it. You can, that’s fine. You can either appoint him alone if there’s a hole in the other, or you’re, I think you’ve put a, hold on if I put on the committee. That was just, that was supposed to be just for chief. It’s on The committee regarding just Jason. Well, You put a hold in regard to the conflict concern, right? On just the chief? Yes. And then subsequent to that, that was one of the Oh, committees you identified to put a hold for The hazard plan? No, not the hazard mitigation one. I Don’t think so. That’s a, that’s all professional staff. Okay. Yeah, I, I had written down hold, so, okay. Yeah, no, that’s just all professional staff. This is professional. I think he was just talking About, so that is not on the list of committees being held. You are good. Okay.

1:06:00 All right. Sorry. Okay. And, um, that I believe was it for the hold on conflicts. Chief King, uh Oh. Oh, the Chief ping on the task? Yeah. On the, yeah. And, um, did you get the whole,

1:06:17 you did get the, um,

1:06:24 and you get the license authority dually designated agents, correct? That was the entire committee. Okay, perfect. Alright. Just to make Clear. Okay. Okay. That’s it.

1:06:36 Yeah.

1:06:40 So somebody could move the motion

1:06:46 to accept those appointments that were held Shall moved. Or second.

1:06:52 Okay. Uh, Mr. Greater in favor, Mr. Nay? In favor? Ms. Singer? In favor? Mr. Murray Recused? Oh, yes, you’re recused. That’s the purpose of this Miss. New In favor Darn. Ethics committee, but we’ll get it worked out. We’ll Get it worked out. I’m getting a rhythm going and changing. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Moving on to Agenda nine Appointment, um, for Police chief as the records, uh, officer of the towns. So I am will ask for a motion to appoint the police chief as records access officer for the Town Police Department. So moved. Second. So, um, purpose of this, we are,

1:07:40 we get a lot of records requests. We get, they grow. Um, the police department in particular gets a significant number of rugged requests. Um, a lot of those, you know, traffic reports, accident reports, those kind of things. So there is a lot of activity. So to split the workload, uh, is to add the chief as the r a o and he will handle, he’ll be the RAO for all the police, uh, record requests. Okay. And it’s a designation that gets notified to the state. Mm-hmm. Okay. I was want I did. Yeah, that’s what I was wondering why this is triggering your Vote. There’s a specific designation that’s recognized at the state level as well as the local level. Was it before? None. So it’s, it’s Kyle. Yep,

1:08:25 that’s what I thought. Do we have any others? The schools have their own. The schools have their own. So this would be splitting the workload from Kyle to allow of the chief, yeah. To manage the, the police record requests. Mm-hmm. Kyle, everything else. Great. Okay.

1:08:44 So, I’m sorry, is there a motion in a second already? Yeah. So I think, uh, in favor, Mr. Iye, Ms. Singer? In favor? Mr. Murray Recuse. Okay. Yep. Um, Mr. Grater In favor? Mr. In.

1:09:01 Okay. Um, next we have a letter, um, from Charles Quigley, town engineer, um, or an email, uh, requesting, um, a permit. So it’s, um, do you wanna, is there any, um, yes. Context to this Or, yeah. So, so Peaty Lane, um, is, uh, uh, public right of way down to the water front on the, on the neck. Um, currently there are overhead wires that run to a, a single pole at the, at the water’s edge, there’s a bench down there. Um, the, the neighbors have actually initiated the, the,

1:09:49 the request to, um, they wanna remove the pole, replace it with a more aesthetic light pole, and to move the wires underground. Uh, so they are, um, advocating for that. And, and in my understanding, uh, covering the cost, we are the landowners. We, the, the, the, the town. So the, the utility company needs the landowner’s permission to go ahead and do the work. So this is a request by the utility to, to sign off, to allow the chair to sign off as the landowner property owner to allow the project to proceed. Okay. Um, um,

1:10:34 ask for a motion to approve the minor activity permit for P B D Lane as presented and authorized the chair to sign on behalf of the board. So moved. Second, Ms. Singer? In favor, your Honor. On mute in favor. Can you hear me? Yeah. Now, Mr. Murray in favor, Mr. Grader? In favor, Mr. Nye? In favor, Ms. Noon In favor. Okay. This next item is regarding the fish shanties. Um, so, uh, I’m gonna entertain, or, so these are renew this regular, regular board business, correct? Mm-hmm. Just, um, asking for a motion to approve, um,

1:11:21 re or to renew the following, request to use premises owned by the town of Marblehead on Front Street at Little Harbor, commonly known as Turner Lane, subject to the receipt of the proper application, current fishing license, and all taxes paid to the town. Frederick Lozier, shanty number one, Steven Byrd, shanty number two, Jeffrey Flynn shanty number three, John W. Burns, shanty number four, William Power shanty. Number five, William Brown, second shanty, number eight. David C. Rogers, shanty number nine. So Moved. Second. Uh, Mr. Murray in favor, Mr. Greater in favor? Mr. Nye? In favor, Ms. Singer?

1:12:01 In favor, Ms. Noon In favor. Okay. So, um, next up is a letter from, um, uh, a recommendation from the police chief, um, around, uh, temporary street closures and traffic regulations. And, uh, so I will, um, ask for a motion and I’ll, I’ll read, uh, what the recommendation is, and if there’s any discussion, you can have that, um, so motion or ask for a motion on recommendation from the police chief to approve the following, temporary street closure closures and traffic regulation as follows, Tuesday, July 4th, 2023, horribles Parade, rain date of Sunday, July 9th, 2023,

1:12:50 beginning at 9:00 AM Pleasant Street will be closed between Spring Street and Washington Street South, and Spring Street will become one way from Pleasant Street to Sewell Street. Essex Street will be closed in its entirety during the staging and movement of the parade. Fireworks display, Tuesday, July 4th, 2023. Rain date of Wednesday, July 5th, 2023, beginning at 7:00 PM Front Street is closed to all traffic and no parking between Franklin Street and Fort Swell Lane. Franklin Street becomes one way from Front Street to Washington Street. Washington Street becomes one way from Franklin Street to State Street. After the fireworks traffic leaving the beach parking lots will merge with traffic leaving the neck and be allowed only a right or left hand turn at the intersection of Ocean and Atlantic Avenues. Front Street is closed at State Street to allow for pedestrian traffic along

1:13:35 Front Street. Coming from Fort Swell State Street becomes one way from Front Street to Washington Street. All traffic from the area between State Street and Franklin Street, as well as Pond Street, will be directed along Erford Street and Green Street to West Shore. Drive. Note that the W M W M B T a route between the hours of 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM will follow the pre-designated Snow Route Festival of Arts Street Festival for Tuesday, July 4th, 2023, 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM Washington Street is closed between Rockaway Street and Darling Street. Both Rockaway and Darling Street will remain open to traffic. Hooper Street is closed between Tucker Street and Washington Street. Mason Street is closed between Tucker Street and Washington Street. No parking allowed along Washington Street, between Rockaway Street and Darling Street. And he, um, yeah.

1:14:22 So, and he has a note in here. It is in, is strongly recommended that anyone residing or conducting business in that area relocate their vehicles prior to 11:00 AM So as not to get blocked in

1:14:36 Second. Got it. Any need for discussion?

1:14:43 This is consistent with To Yeah, I proceed to a roll court. There’s No ruling change. Mr. Grad In favor, Mr. Nay? In favor, Ms. Singer? In favor? Mr. Murray? In favor, Ms. Noonan In favor. So that brings us to public comment. If there is anyone in the audience or online that would like to speak at public comment, please, uh, step up to the microphone or indicate online by raising your hand. And we will. There’s No one, okay. Nobody online. Anybody in the audience? Yes. Uh, my name’s Dan Albert. Uh, 58 Ster Road. I think I’m still the M B T A Advisory Board designee.

1:15:29 Um, on May one, town meeting voters voted Article 49. They voted for safer streets and less bureaucracy and more state money for that to happen, particularly less bureaucracy. The current Complete Streets Committee needs to be dissolved. I have reached that conclusion based on the Complete Streets Committee’s June nine meeting minutes, which were provided to me by town Counsel. Responsive to an open meeting law complaint. The first of the three items on the agenda for that meeting was board’s role. And I’m gonna just read a bit from the, uh, uh, approved meeting. Minutes. Item one, board’s role, the Town planner explained,

1:16:18 there was a Citizen’s article at town meeting that created a bylaw establishing a Traffic Safety Advisory Committee. The stated purpose of this committee is to implement the Complete Streets policy and evaluate public safety issues involving traffic, roads, and other transportation infrastructure. And that’s directly from the Minutes. And to continue, Thatcher Keyser, town Administrator stated, the intent right now is to have both committees and a member of this committee could also be one of the citizen members of that committee and act as a liaison member. Dave Kucharski, uh, and again, quoting from here, but he’s the, uh, essentially the traffic engineer, traffic manager in Salem.

1:17:03 Remember David Kucharski? Agreed saying, if you’re doing a Complete Streets project, any traffic calming issues might have to come up through the different committees. So we currently have a Complete Streets committee, and the town administrator tells us he wants to keep it. We also have a traffic committee. The Chief of Police has been quoted in the local press as saying that he and the town administrator look to revitalize it. And by the way, I have scheduled a meeting with the chief, uh, for Friday, uh, to discuss this, um, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council is standing up a, a Vision Zero Project 2.7 million. To access some of that money, we’re gonna need a Vision Zero committee.

1:17:51 We could also use the Safe Routes to Schools Committee because we wanna build on the work that individual schools have been able to achieve. So as you can see, we could have a liaison amongst all those committees. Obviously it gets, uh, absurd or Madam Chair and the Select Board. Uh, you could immediately begin the process of empower empowering the Traffic Safety Advisor Committee. Doing so is particularly pressing because the town is about to spend a whole bunch of money and do a bunch of planning on another set of railroad right of way projects, as well as the Village Street Bridge Project.

1:18:33 I, I’ve tried to explain this for seven months. I’ve written up and sent to Mr. Keyser and Mr. King, what I call a maximalist bylaw. One that explained in great detail what needed to happen. But I thought we could do this in a more collaborative way, but I’m gonna try to make it as simple as possible. The Traffic Safety Advisory Committee is the Complete Streets Committee for the town. The Traffic Safety Advisory Committee is the Traffic Committee. The Traffic Sub Safety Advisory Committee is the Rail Trail Committee. It is the Safe Routes to Schools Committee. It is the Vision Zero Committee. Thank you.

1:19:20 Thank you. Um, yes, I’m up. Good evening. I’m John Dow, uh, from the Harbor and Waters Board. Just a question clarification on the action that you took earlier this evening. You, I think you held the volunteer boards. Does that, what does that mean exactly? In other words, that terms expire on June 30th. So as of July 1st, are we still Yes. Members of the, of those boards? Okay. Yes. Yeah. Thank you. Because we have a meeting on July 10th. Absolutely. Post a meeting. In order to do that, to take any votes, we have to get sworn in by the town clerk. And when we went to the town clerk, they’re gonna look and make sure that we have been reappointed. And if we’re not, then the, then they, my understanding is they won’t allow us to be, uh, sworn in. So just,

1:20:08 Well, it’s a holdover, it’s a holdover appointment. So, um, okay. We can clarify with Robin. Okay. But I mean, everyone is, everyone is proceeding as Okay, great. As normal. It’s just, uh, yeah. So everyone who is currently on the board is on the board. You know, it’s just kind of punting out the timeframe A little bit. I understand. I understand the, I understand the objective. I just wanna make sure that you Mean the swear with The townhouse. Cause the harburg works under pretty statutory, uh, uh, restrictions and requirements. It’s, it’s really laid out in terms of compensation term, number of meetings you have to have and other kinds of things. So, So my, my read on it, and I get legal affirmation is that since you’re a

1:20:54 holdover, you don’t need to be sworn in cuz you’re not assuming a new term. Right. So you would be sworn in at the start of a new term. So think of it as, uh, as a hockey player, you’re in overtime. It’s the same game. It’s just extended into Okay. Extra. So the, so the term expired, June 30th has, has been extended, extended for an interim period of time until You, you are either reappointed or, or replaced. Great, thank You.

1:21:27 Yes. Um, Jim Sis in Two Mound Road. Uh, just to clarify, John, and it’s not unusual to have holdovers. I think Marblehead has this process of the automatic renewal, the not automatic, the process right after the election, but other towns and cities, it’s not unusual. I’m gonna guess in Amesbury you held people over when you were mayor making appointments, and while you’re trying to figure things out and sort out, I know it happens in other, but anyhow, it’s not, not an unusual situation. So I’m sure you can all sort it out. Thank you.

1:22:03 Okay. Um, does anybody still know one online? Okay, great. Um, so seeing no other, um, further public comment, uh, will have town administrator update, So thank you. Um, just a couple quick updates. One, uh, I’ve included in your books, um, uh, a joint statement that was recently released by our, uh, cfo, uh, Alicia Benjamin in the schools assistant superintendent finance, Michelle Cresta, sort of responding to, um, the recent news stories or questions, uh, in regard to, you know, the closing out of the, uh,

1:22:49 of the books this fiscal year. The use of, um, energy reserves and such. So what they, what they lay out, um, in this letter is, is an explanation of what, what really was the transactions that were going on, the closing out and reconciling of the books. You know, the, it was an accounting, um, exercise of closing out fiscal 23. Um, which then, uh, there was sort of some injection of impacts on fiscal 24, which was a, a separate issue and changes that we are looking to do in fiscal 25. And if I, the, the, the, the briefest of mechanics to, to address,

1:23:37 which I’ve had conversations and number of you on, um, in bringing more clarity and transparency to the budgeting process. Uh, there are a number of school costs that hit the town’s books. And so the accounting reconciliation was just end of year reconciliation of accounts. Um, our intent is, uh, fiscal 24 budget’s been approved. Uh, you know, for, for myself coming in and, and Alicia coming in, uh, the process is all too far down the road to make any significant changes. But for fiscal 25, which is the budget we would start building in six to eight months, is to realign those accounts to,

1:24:24 to make it where all of the school costs fall under the school side and is incorporated into the school bottom line appropriation by the town. So as there’s clarity as to what, uh, what our truly school costs, what our truly town costs. So I think, you know, what has happened is some of those conversations as well as budget issues, 24 got, got brought into the 23 closing of the books. So, uh, I wanted to provide this so that you, you, you have the, the full, uh, response by both of them jointly. I think the most important takeaway from this letter is the statement by both through this whole process that the,

1:25:10 the town’s finance director and the school’s assistant superintendent for finance continued to work collaboratively on financial matters and look forward to working together closely on a variety of financial issues affecting the town. I think there was some concern during the, uh, the last days that there was some, some divide division, bridge breaking. I can assure you there was none. They were, they were absolutely working together in unison and were, um, doing their job to provide the, the, the right answers. And so this, um, statement, it, it, there was some excerpts, uh, in, in the, in the different press, but I wanted to provide you the, the,

1:25:55 the full statement for your benefit. So, um, the other item real quick, I I I also wanna do a shout out. It, it, you did the, you just wrote on the street closings for the 4th of July and all the activities. Um, um, as I know, and everybody knows 4th of July is a really big deal here in Marblehead, but I wanna point out the, the folks sort of behind the scenes in the work that goes on to, to put the plans together, to put the logistics together, that really makes us possible. It makes it fun, and most importantly, it makes it safe. So, uh, we have our fireworks committee, uh, Alexander Faulk is the, the, the,

1:26:41 the citizen member and a dri the driving force behind a lot of this. But we also have the table, um, the police chief, the fire chief, uh, for all the logistics of their support. We have, uh, the harbormaster because this is a, a, a major event for the harbor. We have help me out chief, uh, Amy, uh, uh, McHugh, D P W because they provide a lot of, um, uh, uh, logistics and support in that. And, uh, uh, health director Andrew Petty because, uh, uh, uh, waste and, and all of those functions. So there is a lot of work that goes on leading up to this event. Um, there is serious, uh, there is an ops plan for this,

1:27:29 and there is serious work and consideration on maintaining the safety of these public events. Um, so I just wanted to share that, that, um, it’s a fun event. It’s a great event, but give recognition to the folks that make that happen and keeps everybody safe. Um, and with that, uh, I, I was gonna make, uh, an update that the water and sewer rates, uh, were, were voted on. Do you wanna provide a quick summary? Sure. Because you’ll get it right. Better than I will.

1:28:08 Um, here they see me here. Whatever You prefer. Oops. Not sorry. What to, so, Amy, I’m Patrick as superintendent for Water and Sewer Commission. We had our public hearing last night. I mean Tuesday night. It was, um, actually pretty exciting. I wish people would come to the public hearing, but a lot of discussion on, um, what we have for capital project needs, what we have for debt service needs, what we have for just operation maintenance and salary to cover our budgets. Um, the board has voted, uh, to just increase the service charge, which is kind of your stable rate that happens each time, uh, each your state part of your bill. That’s the same each time.

1:28:54 So that will be going up. You have those numbers cause I’m gonna get ‘em wrong. $4 for Yeah. Have to win glasses. Yeah. For water, $4 and 25 cents a quarter. And then the usage rate, uh, the low usage rate, which covers, um, usually in Marblehead about a family of four, will, uh, remain the same and the high usage rate will increase. Uh, the high usage people are usually ones who are opting to water their lawns. That’s when we see that high usage rate. And on the sewer side, there is a similar increase, um, on the rate. So that’s for, you know, that’s a $3 75 cents, $3 and 25 cents, $3 and 25 cents. So that’s, you know, every three months you’re gonna see a $3 25 cents increase. That’s it.

1:29:43 And they’re gonna keep the rates, uh, the same. And we are able to cover all of our costs. So that’s Great. So, and the only reason, one of the reasons I wanna just make mention of it is, is sort of the coordination. Alicia, our C F O also attended that we we’re trying to take a holistic look for the residents that, um, you know, the different components of, of the local government sort of keeping tabs on what we’re all doing so that we’re, we’re, um, we’re in coordination as far as providing the holistic services that we provide, but also being mindful of the balancing of the, of the, the costs and the burdens on, on the residents. So it, it’s, it,

1:30:29 the takeaway here is that we’re, we’re, we’re working together, uh, to, to make sure we’re taking a holistic picture of the, of the decisions that are being made that impact, impact the residents here. And we also, I’d like to thank Alicia for coming cuz she’s the first finance director to come to one of our public hearings. So that was a big step. The commission definitely appreciated it. And, you know, there was a lot of discussion back and forth, so it was, it was good for the commission also to see that the town was there and, you know, was actually seeing that we take our budget’s another step forward than most other, uh, departments have to. So we definitely appreciate it. All right. Are you gonna do an update on paving? You wanna Sorry. Go for it. I Was hoping for that

1:31:14 Since I’ve already dragged you up here. No notice again, Paving has been completed. So, uh, we got Beacon Street Ocean from Harbor to Harbor, um, Elm Street from spring to Beford, Rockaway Street, Watson Street and Wyman Road. So a lot of paving was done. Um, and that they did a great job. They got in and out. If you notice, we did not have a lot of race structures for too long, so we were lucky that the d o t had pushed their work off. So we were able to get, move right in and be ready to go. So that was excellent. And the drain, um, the next drain project is starting, it is a small project, but it will be starting after the 4th of July. We’ve requested to, uh,

1:32:00 hold the work to have all the festivities done, but they will be working on, uh, pleasant Street right in front of us. So not in the new pavement, but that one piece that has to be paved, uh, from Pleasant between Washington and Village Street, where we did that work. This is the one piece of infrastructure in that street that needs to be upgraded. So it’s just the drain. And it’s to also to help the, um, sewer department because again, we’re under the administrative order to get all of our infiltration and inflow out. And that area has multiple sum pumps that are connected to the sanitary sewer, which is one illegal, but two, we have to give them some way to attach to the stormwater line. So, um, it’s another, a big collaborative project that’s going on collaboration wise.

1:32:47 It’s big project wise, it’s not too big. So you will be seeing, um, updates on the website and we will, uh, ready to answer questions. Yep. Thank you. That’s it. All right. Thank you. So thank you. Thank you, Amy. Thank you. Pending any questions? That concludes my update. Okay. Um, do we have any select board announcements? Anybody? Uh, madam chair, if we can go back to section eight and if you go to page eight Of, I don’t think we did The appreciation motion for those who did. Oh, correct. That’s correct. Thank you that, That went a little sideways, didn’t it? Um, okay. Thank you. It Was a busy, it was a busy discussion. Uh, yes. Correct. So, um, that is correct.

1:33:35 We do have a list of, um, a a number of, um, letters of appreciation, uh, that I’m assuming we might want. We do wanna send, so I’ll ask for a motion to send a letter of appreciation to the following individuals who did not seek re-appointment this year, or who reached term limits for their service to the town. John. Oh, oh, sorry. Um, I’ll just read the individuals that were, that are gonna, the recipients of the letters. John Payne, assistant Harbor Master Chad Osborne, assistant Harbor Master, Sam Zos, assistant Harbor Master Sam Worthy Assistant Harbor Master Allen Dennis, alternate, assistant Harbor Master John Schmidt, me, me, measure of leather. Christie Staples, affordable Housing Trust fund. Brian LaClaire Conservation Commission. Frank Evans,

1:34:21 alternate Fair Housing Committee. Cameron Staples Finance Committee. Charles Gassner, Fort Sewell, overnight site Committee. Chris Johnson Historical Commission. Diane Capt, staff cultural counsel, Jacqueline Mara Lynch, cultural Counsel. Holly Aloha, Janes Cultural Counsel, Anthony Silva, cultural counsel, Katie Farrell, fair Housing and Disabilities Commission. Helena Tessa, task Force against Discrimination Student reps. Celia Liny, task Force Against Discrimination Student rep. So moved. Second. So moved. Mr. Greater in favor, Mr. Nye? In favor, Ms. Singer?

1:34:56 In favor? Uh, Mr. Murray? In Favor? In favor, Ms. Nonan In favor. And the announcement that I will make will be that there are vacancies on, um, our boards and, uh, the town’s website will be updated with the list of vacancies. Um, and anyone interested in serving on one of these boards or committees should submit a cover letter and resume to the select board at Abbott Hall, 188 Washington Street, or email, uh, kyle@wkmarblehead.org for more information. Um, okay, any other announcements?

1:35:36 Happy 4th of July. Everybody. Can we vote for good weather?

1:35:41 I, uh, see Alexa has a,

1:35:45 Yeah, I just wanna say, um, two, two things. Um, one was to make sure we close the loop and, um, uh, work with, um, Thatcher and Kyle to ensure for any of the decisions that were made tonight that we communicate out to any of those volunteer boards. One, um, being this obviously what brought up tonight, you know, if there are any concerns about statutory requirements and swearing in and, you know, just communicating that so there’s no concerns there. And also just, um, the second piece of that would just be, um, kinda reiterating that, uh, this is 100% nothing to do with the respect of our boards and committees and just looking for time in order to take a look at the process. And that we are interested in working with our volunteers as we undergo this

1:36:33 process. But, uh, specifically on the issue that was, um, brought up with Mr. Dobb tonight to ensure that the boards are aware of, uh, any concerns with the statutory requirements. Thank you.

1:36:46 Do we want to, do you need a motion or like a vote, um, to kind of communicate that on our behalf or, okay. Just wanted to just Part of our business. Okay, great. Um, I just wanted to thank You. Um, I just wanted to commend Alicia Nunley Benjamin for, um, her work in getting us through the year end Closeouts. I, I’ve seen her here late. I’m, I am told she works, um, crazy hours and, you know, I, uh, you have my total confidence. I, I got to experience her or here. And we saw your, uh, extraordinary professionalism that you exhibited, uh,

1:37:34 in what I hesitate to call, uh, crisis management situation of kind of, um, uh, some misinformation in the community, uh, that I thought, you know, you handled yourself really well and I just wanted to commend you for that. Thank you. I Concur. Thank you for, and Michelle as well, for, um, you know, taking time outta your busy schedules to respond and address the, um, you know, uh, kind of, uh, speculation and, and, and, and reports in the news media. Um, you know, uh, take, thank you for taking the time to, you know, re release the joint statement.

1:38:21 Okay. So, um, for Motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Okay. So second. Alright, I’ll start. Mr. Murray in favor, Mr. Greater in favor, Mr. Aye. In favor, Ms. Singer? In favor, Ms. Noon In favor, We are adjourned.

1:38:43 Happy fourth.