Select Board: November 13, 2024

Transcript captured from MHTV’s Vimeo auto-captioning. No speaker labels; proper names and dollar figures occasionally misheard. Click any timecode to jump to that moment in the source video.

0:00 Okay. Okay. Um, I’m gonna call our meeting to order today. Um, it is seven o’clock Wednesday, November 13th. This meeting is being recorded by Zoom. And, um, uh, our, our first item on the agenda is public comment. This is the opportunity for people in the public to get to speak to their elected officials. And, um, we ask that you keep it, you know, if you can keep it to a few minutes, couple minutes, that’d be great. There’s a lot of people in the, the audience. Yep. And there’s, please step forward to the microphone. Uh, we, we, although we may really want to engage in a back and forth conversation, we’re, that’s, um, there’s open meeting law and notice requirements that, that, um, prevent us from doing that. So, um, but you, uh, have the floor when I recognize you,

0:48 and, um, if you’re online, please raise your hand and Kyle will let me know that, uh, you would like to speak. So, um, and also, if you could just please state your name and your, just your street address or, uh, your street, um, that’d be great. So I’ll, um, recognize, uh, you have the mic. Thank you. My name is Mary Leblanc. I live at 30 Peach Highlands, and I’m a teacher in Marblehead. Marblehead has always been a community to be proud of. You might walk down the street and hear things like whip or down bucket. Now you hear things like fair pay and let them play. How did we get here? You might ask, some people might say,

1:35 poor financial management. Others might say no override. But the more important question is, what are we going to do about it? Our children are suffering over an adult issue. I want you to know that teachers are asking for fair wages. They’re asking to have competitive pay with our neighboring districts. We wanna keep the talented teachers we have and be able to attract people to come here to work. They’re asking for parental leave. No parent should have to return to work after having a child within three weeks because they didn’t have enough sick days.

2:24 They’re asking for bereavement leave, for pregnancy loss. I shouldn’t have to say another word. I’ve been in the room where it happens. The school committee and Thatcher Keer are not negotiating. They’re taking vacation. They’re stalling. They’re not there. It’s inexcusable. As a literacy coach, I can tell you that every day our children lose in the classroom matters. Every day matters. I want everyone in this community to reach out to their school committee members, call this select board

3:11 and call Thatcher Keyser. He works for us. And settle this contract and settle it now, and then get involved in an override. It’s gonna take all of us. Thank you.

3:40 Okay. Sorry. Yes, you.

3:43 Hi, my name is John Wales and I live at eight Jefferson Street in Marblehead. Um, to follow up, uh, on the, the teacher’s, uh, comments prior to mine, uh, myself and attorney Keith Sacks are representing a diverse group of Marblehead High school students, uh, in a, um, emergency motion for injunctive relief to allow these kids that come from all sorts of groups from football. Full disclosure, I have two sons on the football team to performing arts, to robotics, to cross country. Um, you name it, there’s a lot of equity in that group. There’s a lot of different activities that kids are

4:33 threatened to miss out on because of the select board, and in particular, the superintendents, um, obtuse ruling to not allow extracurricular and sports to continue. Despite affidavits filed today in Lawrence Superior Court by all the coaches and all the advisors, stating that they would in fact support those students and their endeavors over the course of the work stoppage. Um, to say that this is a unique request, uh, is incorrect. We look no farther to our neighbors in Beverly who are proceeding with their own work stoppage and allowing for extracurricular

5:19 activities and supports to happen. Uh, what is at stake by preventing our student athletes, student performers, student scientists from participating over the next few days? Um, the list is fairly long. Uh, it includes a quarterfinal football game on Friday night in Grafton that absolutely cannot be rescheduled. It includes a cheer competition, uh, that the cheer team qualified for on Saturday. It includes a performing arts senior showcase in North Andover that will not be held up because our kids can’t make it because they’re being prevented from being there. It includes a state cross country meet

6:07 with which four runners, three girls or three boys and a girl all qualified last week. Um, and all four of those runners have college coaches in attendance looking at their numbers and literally potentially offering college scholarships right there For the superintendent to not give any concrete reasoning. And just stonewall repeated attempts for rationale behind not allowing these kids to perform in critical milestone events that will go simply go away. They’re done is it’s unconscionable. Uh, I I can’t begin to tell you how many conversations I’ve had with my boys as

6:52 to why it’s happening, dad, why is Beverly, why does Beverly get to play a non playoff game on Saturday when we’re playing in a playoffs on Friday? How do you answer that question? We have basically been forced to file a complaint on behalf of the students. Uh, we hope to hear from a judge tomorrow on that. Um, that is a Hail Mary for these kids. It’s unfair. It’s morally bankrupt. And sadly, I I, uh, we are at that point where we have no other choice. So I, I’m here to draw attention to this plight of these kids, uh, to the select board, and, um, just ask that.

7:37 I, I don’t know what you can do, but it’s to draw attention and to ask for help to speak to the select board, not speak to the school committee, rather, and implore them to reconsider the stance. Um, time is running out. Literally, the clock is ticking on this. Thank you.

8:06 My name is Jane Kassler, and I live right across the street at 1 99 Washington Street. And, um, I actually have a totally different subject that I just wanna, uh, mention briefly. Um, uh, my friend, uh, gene Hamburg over there, and I belong to the Social Action Committee at the Unitarian Universalist Church. And we had a meeting, uh, recently where people were wondering, um, what’s going to happen, uh, particularly a about the select board addressing, uh, the MBTA Communities Act, which requi, that Marvel had voted at our town meeting, voted against the, the, the ACT requires state, uh, ACT that requires, uh, cities and towns that live near MBTA stations to, um, rezone,

8:52 uh, areas in their community for multifamily housing. And it was voted down at the town meeting, but, uh, originally the select board and I had intended to call a second town meeting to readdress it, but then decided not to. I think that was perhaps at your last meeting. And so, uh, we’re just questioning, uh, you know, there were, there are penalties involved as probably we all know, um, there are, uh, grants that we would not be eligible for state grants. And, um, also we could be, uh, brought to court by the attorney General, the State Attorney General, if we don’t comply. The compliance date is December 31st. So that’s coming up very quickly. And the decision has been made by the town not to comply. So I’m wondering, uh, if the, uh, select board, uh, intends

9:39 to address, uh, maybe the, you know, the, the, the penalties if, if we’re not complying, um, maybe at its next meeting before the December 31st deadline. Thank you. Thank You, Jane.

10:02 My name is Catherine Wilmont Sullivan. I am a, have been, uh, graduated of Marblehead High School. I’ve also been back here with my family since 2011. I’m a very proud parent of a sophomore at Marblehead High School, and I am a school adjustment counselor at Glover School in the beginning of my third year. Uh, I’m a licensed clinical social worker, and I have just about 30 years experience working in public schools. The first 10 years of my experience was working in public schools, but they were completely separate for severely emotionally challenged students. Um, one was in Florida, and then I worked for Boston Public Schools. I, um, have worked with probably some of the most fragile, most needy, um, wonderful children,

10:49 uh, in our society. Um, and it’s a difficult job, but it’s a job that I love. And the last two years have been probably the worst of my career. I have felt unsupported, demoralized, and personally damaged by what happened at Glover School last year. Um, and without getting into it, I am letting you know that I’m not alone. Uh, to say we feel unappreciated, uh, is just beneath. I, I can’t even go tell you. I can’t explain to you. Uh, I go home and talk on a daily basis to my husband about resigning, um, because it’s not worth it. It’s not worth to my own personal health.

11:34 I put myself at risk. I am one of those people that response to crises. I’ve done that my entire career. I’ve been trained over and over and over again. And last year we were told as a response to what I think everybody knows happened last year. Oh, we’re gonna provide you with more training. I don’t need more training. I need admin to step up. Uh, I was hopeful for this year, but given the response of the superintendent so far to this current crisis, I don’t feel any better. Um, and as a parent, I’m appalled. Uh, it’s time for you guys to step in and help us. Uh, we lost four amazing coworkers. And that’s what I was gonna say. The irony of my, how I feel about my job is I love my coworkers.

12:22 I love my colleagues. I love my students. I love the families that I work with. Yet I go to work every day feeling awful. Um, and it’s time to appreciate and get up with the times because I think that this is not a new problem. This has been a problem that’s been ignored, uh, for years. And to say that, um, you know, we can’t, we can’t do it. We can’t, we can’t support and fully fund our schools without an now override. Then we need to get the override. And I think the school committee’s job is not just to be fiscally conservative, but it’s also to invest. And it’s also, as a parent, I’m telling you this, I feel like I have been very ill-informed.

13:08 Um, I, it took me becoming an employee to see what it looks like. People don’t realize. And I think they would support us if the school committee would step forward and say, instead of stalling negotiations, say, you know what? We need to fully fund our schools. We need to pay them a fair wage. I lost four coworkers last year. Outstanding coworkers, unjustly fired. This year we lost one of our best therapeutic teachers at Glover’s School, probably one of the best therapeutic teachers I’ve ever worked with. He left to go to another district. Then we lost a new BCBA young passionate, she even advocated. She met with administrators to advocate for a higher wage because surrounding communities, she said she could go get 20 to $30,000 more a year.

13:53 She left. How many more are we gonna leave? Village School has lost 10 special educators this year, and I am particularly passionate for them because our most fragile Glover school students and the Brown School students go there next. So I’m worried for them ‘cause they’re not getting the services they need, and I worry for the whole school. It’s not fair. So we need your help. We need you to step forward and get this ball rolling. It’s time to do it.

14:44 Okay. Nope.

14:52 Jen Billings, 67 Atlantic Avenue English teacher, Marblehead High School.

15:00 Although I currently teach at the high school, I’ve had the distinct honor of also teaching at Village School as well as veterans. So to date, I’ve taught sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Here in Marblehead, mediation is not working. We need face-to-face bargaining. We need schools to reopen. And the only way that can happen is with a settled contract that meets the needs of students and school employees. All school employees. We will not agree to a contract that fails to end a crisis we have in staffing that is compromising our ability to meet the needs of all students. The school committee and the Marblehead Education Association met repeatedly over the course of nine months to get this deal done. The school committee made little movement toward an acceptable agreement and continues to stall by making no substantive counter proposals.

15:46 Mediation has been a failure. School committee members Sarah Fox and Jen Schaffner, town manager, Thatcher Keer refused to meet face-to-face. With the MEA bargaining team, the MEA will not settle a contract that continues to pay paraprofessionals. Poverty wages, starting salaries of $16 and $17 per hour are insulting and unrealistic. We need, we need access to paid family leave and to receive fair wages to end the flight of staff to other districts and other professions. Fiscal responsibility does not always mean spending as little as possible. Fiscal responsibility should be about making investments in the community so that the community that families need and deserve.

16:32 This is my 12th year teaching English at the high school. I love my students and I love my colleagues. Although I’m the only one of my English colleagues who lives in town, it’s a point of pride for me to walk down the street to see students in CVS and Starbucks and Shoeys or wherever saying, hi, Mrs. Billings, hi Mrs. Billings. And talking to my colleagues about that. And we used to share in those stories together, but my colleagues are broken and I feel ashamed about what’s happening to them and to us. It is hard to sit in a room with them. Please, please help us to change this.

17:29 Do we have anybody else online? Or anyone online? Okay. Okay. So, seeing, um, no other comments. Thank you all for your, for your comments. Um, I, we will move on to item, uh, number two on the agenda. Just town administrator up Town administrator update. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, a few updates of, uh, current activities. Um, as you know, I’ve been, uh, intimately involved in the negotiations that are going on, uh, on the school side. And just as a matter of explanation, so as a under Chapter one 50 E as the town administrator, um, I am a voting member of the school committee

18:16 for purposes of collective bargaining. And I’ve been assigned to by the chair, uh, as a member of the negotiating team. So I joined, uh, I joined the negotiations midstream. They were already ongoing, uh, when I joined in. Um, so, uh, uh, I know there’s a lot of information, uh, out there in regard to the activity. Uh, I just wanna, uh, for the board’s purposes, uh, in regard to my participation. Um, as you know, I was away this last weekend. I play hockey for the Mass National Guard. Um, I was outta state, uh, when the vote was taken to go on strike. Um, and, uh, uh, when, when, uh,

19:03 a strike occurs, the Department of Labor Relations gets involved and initiates mandatory, um, mediation. So that’s the stage that the, the schools are in. It’s mandatory mediation. Um, the first session was on Saturday, which, um, in the first session of a mediation, and again, a mediation means the two parties are in separate rooms, separate locations, and it’s the mediator that does the shuttle diplomacy back and forth to try to facilitate, um, the first day Saturday, which I was outta state as a fact finding. Uh, so I did participate through Zoom between games. Um, so, uh, for the board’s purposes,

19:50 I participated in every session. Uh, I got in Monday morning at 2:30 AM and was here Marblehead at 10:00 AM for our first, I think, I forget it was a 10 or 11 or 12 hour session. So, um, it’s ongoing. It’s, and, and, and it’s mandatory mediation. So the parties do not face to face. Uh, this is dictated by the state. Uh, so we are making every effort, uh, to pursue an agreement, um, as quickly as possible. Um, these are not the only negotiations that are going on. So we have two other collective bargaining negotiations, um, on the town side. Out of the three units that we have. Um, the first update, um, the, the MMEU, uh,

20:40 Marblehead, uh, municipal Employees Union, which represents most of the, um, town hall employees and others. Water, sewer, DBW, uh, dispatchers. Um, we’ve been in negotiations. Um, we have gone into mediation. Uh, we had our first mediation session last October 31st. Um, and we are scheduled for November 20th. So that contract expired, uh, June 30th, 2024, this past summer. Um, so, uh, mediations are, are, are ongoing. Uh, the other unit is the, the police negotiations, um, that represented by mass cops. Um, that contract also expired June 30th, 2024.

21:27 Uh, we’ve had ongoing negotiations. Uh, our last session was September 2nd. Uh, we’ve had productive conversations. We’re not in an agreement, but, um, productive ongoing negotiations. And we are scheduled for November 20th for our next session. Uh, finally the, the, the fire union. Um, their contract police. What’s that? Did you mean police? No, I’m, oh, I’m finishing police. Okay. So, so the third unit, the union, uh, the firefighters just sort of completing the list. So that contract expires next June 30th, 2025. So we’re not in negotiations at this time. Uh, typically what would happen is in January timeframe,

22:16 uh, we’ll receive notice from the union requesting to engage in negotiations. We’ll look at the calendars and we’ll start that process. Um, so after the new year that that process will likely start. So, uh, a lot of activity on collective bargaining. Um, uh, we’re doing our best efforts in, in all cases to come to, uh, equitable agreements. Um, so that’s the updates on collective bargaining. Uh, final update, uh, we are conducting interviews or starting to conduct interviews for the director of Planning and community development. So we have interviews scheduled this week and next week. And as you recall, uh, at town meeting,

23:02 we were successful in creating a new department of, uh, planning, uh, community development and planning, uh, which consists of a director, um, uh, grant coordinator, sustainability coordinator, town planner, and and senior clerk in that department, um, to focus on community development issues, which will help our efforts in developing and in growing our new growth revenues, which is an important component, uh, that we, we need to, um, focus on to be able to fund any and all of these agreements. Um, we absolutely need to, uh, get the revenue streams improving. And, and one of the biggest factors is,

23:49 is new growth revenues. This department is created to focus on that and to focus on development for neighborhoods, um, and, and housing and transportation and all those issues. Quality of life issues for the department. Uh, the director position, um, again, is funded by the fact that our town engineer retired. Uh, we’ve shifted the, the town engineer responsibilities over to public works where they have, uh, engineer, uh, qualified engineer over there. And then the salary from, from the engineer is how we’re funding this new position of director and planning community development, which will be a critical position and a critical department going forward

24:34 to all the challenges that we’re talking about, um, in these days. That concludes my update. Okay. Barring any questions. Thank You, your Honor. Any questions from the board? Okay. Thank you for the update. Um, uh, next we have a, um, license revocation hearing for Shin Dynasty. Um, and I understand, um, Alex Lewis is here and your attorney. So yeah, if you could just come to the table for a minute.

25:05 Welcome. Good evening.

25:08 You wanna just turn on that microphone? It picks up the sound. You just pull It close to you when you talk. Okay. You can slide it back and forth. Okay. Um,

25:25 okay. So, um, we’re here, uh, because of an open license, um, that, uh, has been kind of outstanding and not transferred or op in operation. So, um, could you please give us an update on where you’re at? Sure. Absolutely. Um, first of all, good evening members of the board. Michael Vito, representing Shin Dynasty, LC and Alex Lewis. This is Alex Lewis. Um, in, in response to the board’s inquiry, uh, I, I represented Shin Dynasty and Alex when we first applied for the license, um, in 2020, uh, well before in 2019. It was granted in 2020. Um, the reality is, after the license was granted, COVID hit. And as Alex explained to me recently,

26:13 he hired a contractor, the initial contractor that was hired to do the work, uh, wiped out by Covid. So we spent some time to find a new contractor. The new contractor comes in, uh, the, the basement of the establishment flood. Some pumps stopped breaking basement flooded. One thing led to another to, just to make a long story short, the electrical system had to be redone. The plumbing system had to be redone. He got to the point where just, just as of a few weeks ago, he thought he was gonna be open within the next, I thought we’d be opening before the end of the year. And, and there was another slight hiccup where I believe the building commissioner requested a handicap accessible entrance that was not known before. It wasn’t planned for before. So As well as, um, they discovered that there wasn’t a firewall, um, in between the businesses. So between The pizza place next door and, and his establishment.

27:01 So that’s all taken care of. Um, he’d received an update today from the landlord’s architect who’s gonna be taking care of putting up the firewall and the handicap entrance. And he believes that within the next three, four months, he should be up and running again, even with these recent developments. So, um, I would respectfully ask that, you know, if we can set up sort of a system where Alex can come in or I can come in, provide an update on a monthly basis as we go forward, just to keep the board informed of how things are progressing, uh, and, and hopefully, uh, be up and running within the next three or four months. And I would ask that the board not revoke the license, uh, in the meantime. Okay. That, um, that would be great. Um, any comments from the

27:46 board? So I guess, guess my question is, can we put a deadline on this? So I’d like to see a deadline put on this, and if things do come up, then we can readdress it. This just has been a long time. So, So, because we’ve set, so with, this is a revocation hearing, so, um, it technically provides six months notice, six Months notice from, From this time. Okay. So I, um, I think what I’d like to propose is that, um, we get Mr. Lewis, um, through his counsel provides monthly updates to the board, either in person or in writing, and we can continue the revocation. Um, and hopefully, you know, um, you, you can open up.

28:34 Sure. So I, I’d second that. Okay. So, um, I have a, I I’m gonna ask for a motion to continue the revocation hearing of November 13th, 2024 on the wind malt beverage license 0 0 0 4 2 s 0 6 5 6 0 at one Atlantic, a shin dynasty LLC for six months to May, 2025. At which time, if the licensee has not commenced to operate or submitted an application to transfer the license, the board will take action to revoke the license. The licensee is required to report to the board monthly, either in person or through written correspondence as to the status of the license. Can I have a second? Uh, can somebody move? The motion shall move in a second. Second. Okay. Um, yep. So, uh, any, okay.

29:21 So, um, all in favor. Okay, great. Good luck. Alright, thank you. Thank you so, so much. Have a good evening. Can I just add Yes. The other person to keep informed is Steve Cummings. Okay. Our building commissioner. ‘cause that’s the key factor that you have to, you have to get through. So I would suggest stay in constant contact with, with Steve Cummins, uh, inspectors. ‘cause they’re the ones who have to sign off before you can even come here for the next step. So I encourage that communication link. Be there also. Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. Luck. Take care. Okay. Um, and now we’ll have a financial planning update.

30:06 I was hoping some of our audience would stay long for this part. We probably should Have done it first.

30:13 It’s on the agenda. Um,

30:20 How’s it going? Hi. Okay. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Good to see everybody. Finance chair Alec Sby and Alicia Benjamin, our finance director. And I believe we have Molly Teets online. Yeah. Um, just to Kind of, I don’t know if Molly’s audio’s going or whatnot, but I can probably cover the fin comm side. Yeah. So, um, we caught up earlier, so Great, great. So you and I have had a lot of conversations about, um, just, you know, providing an update for the board, where we’re at, um, what, you know, where you think that this things are going. And honestly, anything that you’d like to share with us and through the public. Absolutely. Did you Wanna, uh, I just wanna say, uh, thank you to the finance committee for assisting

31:06 and starting really early this year in the summer to get the budget kicked off a lot earlier. Um, in the department heads who got the budgets in by September, that was a huge lift for everyone. And even now the chair and the vice chair of the finance committee are working closely with me with the financial plan and looking really close at the numbers. I appreciate your help. Appreciate your help too. Um, so I guess I’ll just start with key dates. Um, and I’ve prepared a little bit of notes ‘cause I like to, this time of the year as we enter the really depths of budget season, kind of look back at my old notes as to where we landed last year. Um, a lot of that, what I’ve prepared to kind of give you an update is stuff you already know about. ‘cause a lot of it’s what you guys have voted into play.

31:52 But, um, I think it sets the stage as we enter the next steps here. Um, so for key dates around the week of December 9th, potentially Wednesday, December 11th, maybe the day before for FinCon, a preliminary revenue and expense forecast is going to be presented by Alicia and Thatcher. Um, fin com. I came to you all when we kicked this off in late August. I believe we’ve been supporting this exercise through liaison meetings similar to what we do when we do every budget. Um, what we’ve been doing is meeting with departments and, um, having them fill in a, a very detailed, um, effectively roster of all of their employees,

32:38 including steps, lanes, tenure, um, their budgeted salaries in the current year, whether they’re enrolled in health insurance. Really a data collection exercise to help support Alicia for our largest, largest expense item, town wide salaries and wages. Um, in addition to that, those liaison meetings have been preliminarily looking at nons salary and wages expenses and trying to figure out what are the biggest drivers of those across all town departments that could be fluctuating significantly in the next few years. Um, so there’s been a lot of great liaison meetings. They’re all public meetings. We’ve had a number of fin com updates over the last few months, and like Alicia said, we’re working closely to wrap up this expense exer, uh, expense forecast

33:24 for three years, um, which is preliminary as we know. We’ve heard a lot about contracts, they’re not settled. So, um, there’s estimates that have to go into this, but it should give us a good earlier than normal indication as to where things might be. Um, that’s kind of step one, phase one of this from my perspective. Um, phase two of the date is actually not a FinCon meeting, but generally Thatcher, I think you do stay at the town towards the end of January. Yep. Um, presumably Alicia, between December 9th and January towards the end of January, there’ll be even better, more accurate numbers by then. Um, from there usually kicks off our detailed liaison meetings. Um, like I said, we’ve been having kind of forecast liaison meetings all fall.

34:10 Um, but we also have to do like the balanced budget for fiscal year 26 as well. Mm-Hmm. Um, so that’s where we’ll have draft budgets kind of finalized by then, um, for fiscal year, uh, 26. And we’ll do all of our liaison meetings during the months of February and March. Um, budget hearings generally where we vote as a full fin com, not just the liaison groups on all town department budgets that roll up to the balanced budget usually happen, uh, towards the end of March, early April is when we wrap up. And then the warrant hearing is on April 7th where fin com will approve a balanced budget, um, town wide. We’ll have already voted on all the pieces of it, but we’ll vote the full amount and then any other financial implications as well.

34:57 Um, so like I said, those are the key dates. I guess I’ll pause there to see if anybody has any comments or concerns about the dates and the schedule. Good. Sounds good. Alright. So as we enter the, uh, kind of preliminary forecast, like I said, I, I put together pulling some notes down from what I spoke about at town meeting last year and what we talked about the warrant hearing what you all have done in the last few years as well. Some good work. Um, last year we focused on tapping all of all other available revenue sources outside of an override, right? So we had town meeting voted in favor of a hotels and meals tax. When we do this forecast in December, that’s gonna be in there, we should have some decent data,

35:42 not a full year, but we’ll have better data than we had when we were forecasting what it might be. Right. Um, also improved at town meeting where price increases to various town services. Um, I just want to talk about what we did last year on the fin comm to really deep dive in with multiple departments last year into revolving funds to really get a better sense of how those work by department. Um, my first five years or so on the finance committee, we really looked at the, you know, the general fund. It really didn’t see other sides. So, um, schools we spent a lot of time with. Um, the health and waste, I think Alicia and us spent some time with. We were able to find some cost savings within there to say, you know, maybe some of these costs in the general fund can

36:28 be funded by certain revolving funds. Not gonna solve all of our financial problems, but that it’s a step in the right direction. Um, and then also on town meeting was, was you all sponsoring, uh, you know, recognizing the burden of property taxes placed on citizens, especially those on fixed income. Um, there were a number of warrant articles, I think sponsored by Alicia that expanded our TAF tax relief programs. Um, it was overwhelmingly past the town meeting. We like to ensure, um, moving forward that all of those are available to the fullest extent possible. Um, third in the last two years, um, in terms of budget challenges, we’ve seen some department heads make some pretty big operating cuts. We’ve seen police officers

37:13 to funded positions go in the last few years. Um, I believe it’s three firefighters over the last three years. DPW was a heavy equipment operator. And on the school side, there’s been some trimming of both filled and vacant positions as well from their budget over the last two years. Um, to get back to the kind of preliminary forecast, that’s my number four here. As we, we, we kind of look at the last of what we’re doing here before, um, this exercise is we’ve been working, like I said, with the finance finance administrator to develop this forecast. And, um, you know, the main drivers, as I mentioned in August, um, of the cost side, right? Union negotiation, salaries and wages is our largest.

37:59 Um, that’s gonna be a, a pressure on the revenue that’s increasing. Um, we have a new trash and recycling contract that I feel like Andrew Petty’s been talking about for a decade now. So we’re gonna see that highlighted to see what that’s gonna look like. Um, we’ve sort of wrapped up the health insurance analysis at least high level, um, based on a three year trend as well as some published guidance from firms like pwc, marsh and Mercer. Uh, I believe we’re gonna have a 6% increase in that line, assumed for now, for a forecast. Um, and what that means from a monetary exp uh, perspective is about, uh, a million dollars per year. So you can kind of understand when you’re thinking about the revenue, which I’ll get to in a minute here, how that’s a big, big piece of it.

38:45 Yeah. Uh, pension, we’ve got an actuarial report we got I think recently. Yes. Um, or an updated one that we got that’s grown at about 8.6% per year. That’s about 500,000 by itself. So right away, before we even get to wages and whatnot, we’re talking about $1.5 million of, of costs increasing. Um, we’re gonna highlight out energy and utility costs, which have been growing significantly, and Alicia and team are gonna work to see if there’s any guidance on projected trends on those as well. And then general inflationary pressures, pressures, um, on the rest of the, uh, operating expenses, um, we’re gonna have to apply some sort of factor to that as well. Um, so I’ve kind of provided a few of the highlights of, of the expense side.

39:32 Um, just to give everybody an update from my perspective on, on revenues. Um, Alicia will finalize a more detailed by December, but, um, you know, you can kind of look at last year’s levy, right? Without the debt and you can say two point half percent plus 350 grand or so of new growth on average over the last few years. That’s really only an increase for the next three years if you’re just looking at that alone of, you know, somewhere between 2.1 and $2.3 million. So just for context, if that’s our largest revenue source, and I kind of gave a highlight of just health insurance and pensions costing 1.5 alone, then you can kind of see there’s not a whole lot left. Um, state aid local receipts are the others.

40:17 Um, like we said, local receipts will, will, will be up after it passed at town meeting with the hotels and meals tax. That being said, we already baked an estimate into that, so I’m not sure it’ll increase too much more. Hopefully every dollar counts. Um, but effectively what I’m trying to say here in this summary is that, um, there’s been a lot of good work, um, done by the select board Alicia Thatcher since they’ve been here, the fin comm supporting those efforts. Um, but we’ve been setting up to do what we can before an override request. Um, my initial reaction is that when we, when we do see the numbers, they’ll be preliminary in December. Um, and then we’ll see better, better numbers in January. We, my expectation is that, um,

41:03 an override should definitely be considered this year. Um, my, my position on that hasn’t changed from where I was at town meeting, if you all recall, where I said we need to come up with a reasonable request of taxpayers, um, and we need to make it detailed. And, um, I think both townside and school side, um, can find ways to restructure certain parts of their budget over the three year period or whatever it may be, um, to hopefully share in the burden of an override with taxpayers to hopefully lessen that burden, um, as we move forward. Again, this is all preliminary. I know I’m getting ahead of myself here a little bit, but, um, that’s just a recap of all the work that Alicia has done

41:49 and I’ve done over the past couple years now since she’s been here working together and, and where I think things are headed, um, as we entered December, um, and we see this forecast. Thank you so much. Um, did you, did you wanna add anything or? I just think it’s, you know, in this climate it’s so hard when you hear, you know, your new revenues are gonna be, and I won’t disagree with you, about $2 million and you already have 1.5 in fixed costs and, and, you know, inflation’s high, you know, uh, supplies, groceries today are astronomical and asks of what people want. It’s not that we don’t want give those things at the, we fiscally can’t. We don’t have the resources and we truly do need an override at this point in order to operate effectively

42:35 and deliver those level services that residents are used to having. And we’re working really, really hard to come up with a really good, fair plan for the town to see and consider. Thank you. Um, Erin’s in the room. You can’t see her, but I mean, Molly, uh, oh. Yes. Sorry. Erin. Oh, yes. Molly, Molly is in the room. I can see Erin. Yeah. Would you like To add anything? Molly?

43:00 You’ll have to unmute. There you go. Hi. Hi. Yeah, no, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there in person. I think, you know, Alec and I sat down and, and sort of walked through this summary today. And, you know, I, I have to say I agree with everything that he said, and I think, um, you know, it, to me, the fact that our town has been able to go for so long without an override is it’s truly commendable. Um, but I think, you know, at some point we all have to balance the, the low tax rate with investment, uh, in our town and in our community. And to me, it looks like at this point, and again, it’s all preliminary, but it’s difficult for me to see how we are able to maintain our services, you know, without

43:46 approaching taxpayers and asking them to choose for themselves. You know, what kind of town do you want? What kind of services do you want? But we’re at a point where I can’t see how without an override, we, we aren’t facing significant and cuts in that given all the, the inflationary pressures. And the other tricky thing is it doesn’t look like there’s an end in sight for these pressures that we’re facing, right? The wage growth, the inflation. And so the longer that we put it off to me, I’m concerned that the, the more difficult it will be and, um, you know, the, the more significant the cuts and the, the worse off our town will ultimately be in the long term.

44:31 Thank you. Um, okay. I’m gonna open it up to the board for comments and or questions on the topic. Yeah, I guess I, I would simply add, I think the obvious that we, you know, absent an override, we still need to live within a balanced budget. Mm-Hmm. So I think that’s a useful exercise anyway because it explains the, you know, the, the pain that is involved in, in not having an override. And I think, you know, most marble headers are thinking, look, you know, if we, if we get to a point where that argument is compelling, we’ll do an override. I don’t think we’re yet there yet, but I believe in marble headers. I think at the end of the day, if we’re, if we’re clear, if we’re transparent, if people really believe that we’ve really, you know, done our best

45:16 and turned over every rock that we, that we ultimately will get that extra funding. And I think there are some, you know, exceptional drivers on the town side, and obviously there’s a lot of drivers on the school side that we have to really pay attention to and at least address in, uh, in, you know, meeting that in, in, in meeting a balanced budget. So I guess just say a few words. Thank you guys for all your hard work. Yeah. Um, I know that you guys are working tirelessly, um, and really appreciate you getting towards these deadlines. So we’re doing it in an earlier time so that we can actually prepare if we need to do a, an override. I, I love this timeline. That $1.5 million number is, uh, jumps at me. I mean, that alone, we’ve segregated just that number. You talk about 2.1, I mean, that’s $600,000 left

46:02 to cover any inflationary costs, salary, wages, negotiations. It’s very clear that, that we are gonna have to head that way. I would like to say that I think that we just need to work tirelessly continue to work and, and to figure out what that number is. Right. And I, I love your plan. We’ve talked about it, about that we can’t just go to the citizens for everything that we, as you know, I think that we need to build trust back up throughout the town, the schools, the town, um, you know, we’ve had some unfortunate errors on the assessors. So we need to build that up to show that we are willing to work together something on our side from the elected officials that we can work on, as well as asking for the citizens to help. So I think that if we can figure out that number that we can go for that’s sustainable. Um, ‘cause we do need to pay our teachers.

46:47 We need to pay our fire, we need to pay our police, we need to pay our town employees, and we need to figure out a way that we can do that because they’re what’s, and you guys are town employees, so your town employees as well to make this, this, this town great. I mean, this is a great town and it, it has to be built on our employees and having them felt appreciated, um, and, and fair and in order to attract the best people as well. So again, thank you guys for doing this work. I, it’s very clear where we’re heading. I appreciate that. Heads up. And I think what we need to do as a select board finance committee finance is really present these terms in a concrete, succinct way. Um, not having been on this side before, I think a lot of the numbers that have been out there are too many. If we can narrow down some real one or two, three slides with some of these big numbers, because a lot of people, uh,

47:34 it’s a confusing town even when you’re inside on, on how all the finances work. Uh, I mean, I think you’ve been on the finance committee for 10 years or 88. Yeah, it must feel like 50. Yeah. And you know, I know that you’ve done that Moses too, and, and you guys know that. But you know, a lot of people I talk to teachers across this town don’t completely understand that, forget the teachers, the citizens on why we can’t just use money. And we, and we need to, to figure that out and, and sell it in the correct way and comparing it to other towns. And I think, Alex, help me look at a lot of other towns and how low our, our tax levy is comparable on our size and for our expenses. So I look forward to working with you guys over the next month or so and, and you will definitely have my support.

48:20 Yeah. And I just wanna say, I mean, I know we’ve talked about this, but you know, over the last, uh, you know, since, uh, 2023, taking a look at all of the things that were concerning, really looking, you know, you guys have turned over all the, uh, you know, looked under every rock in regards to the revolving funds and really trying to answer all of those questions and all the work that’s been really done in increasing the software and the ability for the citizens to see where things are going, how the money is being allocated, where all of these improvements have happened. And I, you know, I think that has really been through the town administrator and through you, Alicia and Alec and your whole team, you know, have worked. I mean, this is two years worth of round, round the clock,

49:08 like month after month after month to try to, you know, answer all the questions that we received in regards to the taxpayers and the information that we tried to turn around and, and give back so we could educate them. And so I think this is a lot of work to get to this point. I thank you for all the time in that. And I hope that it provides the answers to the questions that we were presented and allows, um, anyone who, you know, needed to know what was going on and wanted to know what was going on to be a part of the solution as we try to move this forward now. So thank you. And I think the timeline too is super important. And I think now we have the tools that help to communicate the information out as well.

49:53 I mean, I think that’s kind of what, um, you know, Jan’s point is as well. It, it’s really taking that and allowing people to know where things really are and how we’re in the place that we are and how do we get the resources and provide the services and respect our employees and give our employees all the things that they’re, you know, entitled to as well. So thank you. Thanks. I think it’ll be interesting couple of months. Mm-Hmm. Can I say one more thing? Is, is that I think that I’m hearing from people out there that they’re willing to work to get this, that people are starting to acknowledge that I think it’s been brought to light from the teachers. So I, you know, I, I would, I don’t want to talk about the past anymore about how we haven’t gotten it.

50:39 I think we need to focus on the future and really ask the town to help us have meetings with people if we need to educate and really, and, and there are groups out there who are willing to work hard. So we need to rely on our citizens as well, our citizen groups to help us on that. Yeah. If I could add something else. Chair, uh, you know, you’ve, you’ve covered two kind of townside drivers and they’re huge 1.5 million, right? I just wanna lay out three, you know, and I, and I’m obviously, we’re right in the, in the throes here of the school negotiations, right? And, you know, over the years, the schools have been, you know, an important driver of the, you know, of our, of our fiscal situation. And I do want to say that we, you know, the whole town has been in a demographic

51:27 shift, a big one, right? And I think back to when I was in your position 10 years ago, in 2014, let’s say our enrollment was at a peak, right? And our birth rates have since collapsed 20%. And it’s almost a forced function that enrollments follow that 70 to eight years later. So between two in the past decade up to this, this timeframe, enrollment has gone from, uh, at the schools, it’s gone from 2,293 to 202,617. ‘cause that’s a 20% decline. You know, just over 20% decline. That’s a big number. 672 fewer students at the schools. Okay? Simultaneously, we’ve had a 45%

52:15 aggregate increase in the school number. You know, that’s been, that’s been moved over to the, to the schools. Okay? So we have grown a half, again, in terms of the school budget with 20% fewer students. And we have the same FTE level that we had back when I was, uh, you know, chair of the FinCon, right? So it’s still, it’s gone from 245 to 245.8, you know, FTEs in the school system. Okay? Now I point that out because, you know, and I know a lot of folks say, Hey, you know, we’re a different town. We have special needs, and that’s all true. But I think even if you look at the, uh, the student to staffing ratios in other towns,

53:02 we’re an outlier pretty much out there with Lexington, right? And so I just, I bring this up only because I think it may be germane to a discussion with the mediator. I think it, and there are three very simple facts, right? 20% that client in enrollment, nearly 50% increase in the budget and a, and a level FTE count at the, at the schools, which drives be, you know, pensions, it drives benefits and all these other issues. So I put that out there, uh, to, for, for PE for folks to think about. And, uh, and that’s basically all I have to say. I I, I consider it a a, you know, yeah. There, there’s a key key driver here. Yeah. And any opinions, uh, that you may, and We’ve had, we’ve had conversations, um, with the old administration of the schools and the new administration of the schools about this

53:49 because, um, as a fin comm member, I’m focused on numbers and data, right? Um, I always say when I meet with the superintendent and, and, and Mike’s in the audience, the finance director, I don’t know how to run a school, but I do know how to analyze numbers. And, and, and what you’ve just said is true, um, in speaking with them. And that’s kind of what I’m getting at with, with the sense of, and Dan said it too, like sharing override requests and what can we do on the school and town side as well separately, right? Um, to bridge this gap in budget. And, and if those metrics tell us that, and, you know, in order to keep our schools fully, all of the positions funded at the level that they are,

54:37 that override number may be very, very high, right? So is there a way over a number of years to revisit that and maybe realign some of that while asking for an override for everything else? Um, because the challenging part for me personally, um, is I attend, you know, a budget hearing last spring in the afternoon with the school committee, and we talk about surpluses and stuff, right? On their, on their fiscal year 23, 2 0.4 million on the salaries and wages line. So from a numbers perspective, I’m wondering what’s going on here, right? And then I decide to go sit at the school committee hearing that night, and I hear all the teachers say about how, how much they’re struggling to, to do their job. So that’s right to me.

55:23 We have a new administration on the school side, um, leading the way, and it’s a combination of, you know, how do we fund the schools? How do we fairly pay our teachers, and do we need the roster that’s of funded positions that we have right now to do so? Because there’s a lot of vacant positions based on that template exercise that we completed in September still. That’s right. That’s right. So, um, I’m saying all this because I’m acknowledging what you’re saying. Well, listen, I’m, I’m kind of speaking to the, a little bit to the elephant in the room, and, and I think, you know, at the end of the day, our capacity to have concrete answers Yeah. And to have explored this is going to improve our chances dramatically for successful override. But I think that, you know, the taxpayers or Marblehead are looking for us, you know, to, to have kind

56:08 of a fact base approach to convincing them Yeah. That we’re resolving these key drivers and we’re being reasonable, uh, about, about doing that. So, can I just take a couple go? Um, and if I, oops, sorry, if I could also comment too, um, you know, just these, these challenges of declining enrollments, if I could, you know, this is actually not unique to Marblehead, and I think it’s tricky to look at sort of that student count to, you know, that to teachers over time as that shift has happened across so many districts, and the, the nature of education has changed a lot over the last 20 years as well, and the challenges have changed. And I think that probably, uh, what’s more helpful is

56:54 to look at what you mentioned, which is what do our FTEs look like now compared to peer communities? And I do think, as Alex pointed out, that is a really, that is a question that I think a lot of people are, are focused on and looking into. And we’re lucky because we do have a new interim superintendent at the schools, and we do have a new director of finance there as well, who both are very experienced and very capable, and, you know, we need to just give them time, I think, to get a handle on that view as well. But I know, you know, for those of you who do work in finance, and you, you know, and, and I know that, um, Moses, you are definitely one of those people understand how difficult it is for schools having such high fixed costs.

57:42 You cannot, it’s, it’s not an easy, um, exercise to reduce costs in line with students, right? Because if you lose 10% of your student count, right? You still need a principal, you still need a music teacher, you still need, you know, the, the cost of running the school itself and the custodians. And so the fixed costs are difficult to cut. And so it’s really more, it’s not a direct correlation. You’re taking steps over certain, you know, amounts or of student decline. So it’s a tricky exercise, and the true efficiencies among schools is gonna be more on consolidation and looking for ways that we can use our assets more efficiently. And it’s a difficult process, and it’s also difficult in small districts like ours.

58:30 So I just wanted to sort of clarify that point, but say the question on FTEs, uh, I, I’m sorry. FTEs on the, you know, FTEs per student though relative to peers is something that I do know that are the administration of the schools is working on. Yeah. Well, I may, this is probably a question for you. I’ve, before joining the select board, I’ve, I’ve heard that, you know, we don’t always have full information, full numbers from the schools, so sometimes it’s hard to dig deep and truly understand that. I’ve heard that with our new finance, uh, director over that, that we have is that we have a lot more information. Do you feel like you have been able to gather the information that you need to really understand what’s, what’s going on? Um,

59:16 I mean, last year was not to oversight Molly, but last year was a much deeper dive, like I said, than we’ve ever had. Um, we certainly saw the full operating budget request from the general fund, um, and then we saw like a rolling three to four year history of revolving accounts and, um, grant accounts and things like that. So, um, that was done by, even before Mike was here. Um, my experience with Mike so far has been great as well. So I, I expect things to only get better. And, and Molly and I sat down with Mike and John in, I think July, maybe August. We maybe let them breathe for two weeks once they got here. Um, and the first thing I said to them was all

1:00:01 of the history that I had with the schools for the past four years. And I said, that’s probably a lot. I’ll, I’ll type this up in an email. What I want as a finance committee member. And, and I, I’ll say it again, I don’t know how to operate a school, but you two do, right? You have a lot of experience. Certainly Mike, my experience with him has been great in the, in the finance, uh, position. And then the superintendent, like, let’s do the right thing here. Like, if there’s opportunities to restructure the budget, that doesn’t necessarily mean letting go of people. There’s certain, like I said, there’s certain un funded positions that aren’t filled right now. Mm-Hmm. There’s opportunities to restructure the budget let’s do so, but that’s up to your professional judgment. Um, and I think they’re, they’re both acknowledging and they’re, they’re new here, so like Molly said, let’s,

1:00:48 let’s give them a little bit of time to do so. For sure. Yeah, for sure. Can I ask one more question? Maybe outside of schools, Alicia, um, heard a few places around town and at different meetings I’ve been in about, uh, free cash and some recommendations on, hey, how we deal with that. I know a number of about $8 million has been thrown out there. I’m pretty sure that that’s, there’s no, we, we don’t have our free cash numbers yet. Can you just talk about, there’s been some suggestions about using that for one-time payments. Yes. Can you talk about your approach to that? Yes. So for the last couple of years, because we’ve passed a reduced services budget, we have not been funding the stabilization reserves as we should be. We also cut the OPE funding last year. So what we need to do is we need to hold On one sec. Opep funding for anyone who might be listed than

1:01:33 That. Oh, other post-employment benefits. Thank you. Yep. Um, liability. We didn’t fund it. Um, we need to fund those. Yep. That’s important to maintain our bond rating. Mm-Hmm. So those are some of the things where we should put it. In addition to the policy financial policies that your board passed to maintain free cash as a reserve in order for us to re, you know, keep our bond rating. And now I am going out, I just did a ban and for those listening, a bond anticipation note last May for some borrowings. And, and the town did pass a big borrowing for pavement and infrastructure, which I’ve been working with Amy, um, on as far as cash flows and what she needs. So that’s gonna be a large borrowing, but we also have a large school debt falling off in fiscal year 26.

1:02:19 So we’re looking at that and modeling that in, in addition to working on the long-term plan. And that will be presented to you as well. Wow. And, um, I guess since you’re asking about free cash, I’ll give credit to, uh, the rockstar vice chair, Molly Teets on the line here for putting this together for this meeting. I don’t wanna take your thunder here, Molly, but, um, put together a little summary of free cash right off the DOR. Um, so since I joined the fin com, uh, free cash that year was certified at 13.4 million and we’re at 8.7, so you can kind of understand the trend. Um, and I think there’s been, like your question, I think there’s been some question about how you use that. Right? And, and I think Molly pulled some DOR recommendations and, you know, about eight to 12%

1:03:07 of the operating budget should be in free cash. Right now we’re at about between the free cash and the stabilization fund, about eight and a half percent. So we’re kind of at the lower end of that range. Um, so I don’t know that free cash is the solver of the school contract negotiations from a, from a financial perspective, Right. When you deploy it to operations, it’s not, it’s not generally a good idea. And I think you’re, because, you know, it’s one time source of, of money, really. And I think we were trying to get the free cash to be stable at, you know, around the level that we’re at right now. Right. So, Yeah, so, You know, The best place to use free cash, you’re gonna have organic free cash right at the end of the year, but you also want to build it up to the policy levels by this board is at least 5% of operating budget. So we’ve, we’ve, we’ve got it up to two

1:03:52 and a half percent of operating budget thus far in two years. So that’s accomplishment. Um, that’s right. And using less free cash, the, the overall free cash is declining, using less of that free cash to cover our annual operating expenses. Again, free cash is considered one-time money. Your operating expenses are ongoing commitments. Uh, so to use less free cash for that and utilize free cash more for capital programs and projects, um, which is considered one-time expenses. So we’re trying to match the proper use of the revenue source to the proper use on the expenditure side, applying it more and more to capital.

1:04:37 So we, we, we used a million of free cash this for this current fiscal year, plus another 400, some odd thousand that Alicia and her team swept from prior year projects that were completed with some remaining balances. That was a, a nice hit. But that’s not gonna be, you know, the, a a, a big source going forward as we’ve cleaned that up. But as we better manage our, our free cash, we’ll have more of it to apply to its capital, um, and, and rely less on our operating budget. And that puts us in a strong financial, uh, situation, especially for our bond ratings bonding, um, as well as having healthy reserves for who knows

1:05:24 what that may impact us. Yeah. And that’s, that’s, I’m interested in seeing where that gets certified at, and then the plan for what you’re using to, uh, to balance the budget. ‘cause you know, last year certified at eight seven, we used five and a half to balance the budget. If we’re using less than that to balance the budget, that’s a drop in revenue. So we talked about the increase in revenue, so, um, we’ll have to see where that lands. Um, we did leave some right over 2 million available that we didn’t use. We’re starting the next year’s free cash higher. So hopefully it comes in. Um, I don’t know when it’ll be certified, but Audit starts in a couple of weeks. Okay. And I think better than Last year. So that, that’s, that, that’s just another indication this December presentation is, it’s an estimate, right.

1:06:09 So it’s gonna have to come up, estimate. So the piggyback and what you just explained and understand, so as our, our free cash generation is declining, budgets are getting tighter. There’s less surplus in line items because we’re squeezing and squeezing more, but we’re building up the free cash reserve. So it will hit a point that our free cash certification numbers may be higher, but it’s only because we’re carrying forward the free cash we’ve reserved from the prior years. But they’ll still be less free cash being available to inject into the operating budget. Makes Sense. And I’m assuming the investment returns are part of that.

1:06:56 That’ll be in the revenue forecast. Yeah, that’ll be in the revenue forecast. So we’ve done forecast, we’ve done really well over the last two years. Two, right? Yep. There was a rate cut. So the banks let us know right away, and they’re expecting two more rate cuts in 2025. Yeah. So That’ll decline on That. Right. Makes sense. So we’re being conservative on that. Yeah. So just last thing on free cash and fiscal year 23, we use 10.2 to bounce the budget. So we’re half at that last year. So, and if we’re trending in a direction of using less free cash to bounce the budget, ‘cause that’s, we need our bond rating too, then it’s, it’s just a challenging situation and we’re just trying to get started early. So that’s, I think Molly had a, had her hand raised before. Yeah. So thank you. I just, um, while we’re having this conversation, I think another piece that’s really important to mention is our stabilization fund.

1:07:43 And, um, I attended a, at, at Alicia’s recommendation, actually a, uh, annual conference for finance committee members across Massachusetts a couple weekends ago. And there was a presentation, um, devoted to bond ratings. And, you know, one thing that we’ve seen across Massachusetts communities is the buildup of a stabilization fund, less usage of free cash and more towards stabilization. And, you know, um, you, the select board, you know, created this count account. We’ve, we put money in it, we now have $500,000, which represents about, you know, um, 500 basis points or, or 0.5% of our annual budget. Um, and so another thing as part of the financial policies

1:08:28 that Alicia put together that I think are so helpful to have as a framework as we, you know, think forward about free cash, building up that reserve as to be between three to 5%, which is, you know, the target that she laid out, I think is also something that we should be, you know, thinking as a use of free cash as well. Mm-Hmm. Well, we’re really making such great progress in on kind of weaning ourselves from free cash, because free cash is kind of a misnomer in a lot of ways. It’s neither free, not kinda really cash either. It’s not being generated in a, you know, in kind of a profit, uh, way. So Yeah, it’s, that’s tremendous. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, yeah, I mean, it’s clear,

1:09:14 clearly unsustainable to continue down a path trying to, um, you know, live within the confines of proposition two and a half and without offering some opportunity for the voters to, to, to, and consider something else. Um, you know, just at a time of 8% inflation costs, like for health insurance, and we, this has been years and years and years since post covid inflation, it’s a global problem. It’s not just a marblehead problem, it’s not a school committee problem, it’s not a select board problem. It’s a global problem, these rising costs. And, um, so, you know, we, that’s the root cause of our, of our financial challenges, plain as simple is these, you know, escalating, fixed rising costs and the confines of living within the prop two, two

1:09:59 and a half absent a general, uh, operational override by the town. And, you know, we, you know, as we go forward and, um, you know, consider we have to present a truly balanced budget, right? Um, that’s our legal obligation, and we have to do that. And that has each year looked, you know, diff more difficult and more difficult to do. And frankly, after last year, I’m, I’m, I, I am, I’m not looking forward to, you know, the department heads and, and people presenting those budgets. ‘cause um, uh, you know, even despite that we’ve made such, uh, progress in terms of maximizing our revenues, you know, that will just, that really productive and making that number that we will need to ask for

1:10:47 be less than it otherwise would’ve. So, um, maximizing every opportunity outside of the property taxes is important. It’s was a good exercise, and I think we took last year to do that as such. Um, yeah, and it, I think as Molly said, this is becoming a, like a real crux in, um, running the town and a time for reflection about what type type of town do we want to be? What do we want our school system to look like? What are their service deliveries we want to look like? Um, you know, uh, what type of emergency services are we comfortable with and how does that compare to communities that we think we compare to? So, um, I really appreciate the preliminary numbers. I think it helps, you know,

1:11:33 there’s obviously heightened interest in the community right now around this topic. So I think, um, it’s great that that’s why, you know, we all wanted to have this conversation now, and it, it’s something that we’ve been talking about in August, but, um, the, you know, normal, um, Marblehead residents, you know, are just maybe, uh, starting to, to chew on and, and get caught up to speed on. So December we’ll have the preliminary numbers and Then and documented assumptions, so you all know how we came up With those. And then we’ll have the state of the town and the end of January. Um, and those, so the forecast, and then that, that will be then at the state of the town we present after that, we’ll have a level funded budget with the budget hearing After account. Yeah.

1:12:18 Yes. Right. I mean, state of the town’s basically similar to the preliminary forecast, but just uplifted by our town administrator and even more so by Alicia. Okay. And so in going forward with creating and working, uh, collectively around, um, a, a general override operational override contingent budget, um, what does that look like in your point of view? What is ideal for that that would be during state of the town? Yeah. I mean, like Moses said, and I’ve always said too, we, we need to have a balanced budget. So there’s like the blocking and tackling of fin com, like right, regardless of the noise and the outside of override potentials

1:13:04 and whatnot, which we don’t sponsor as fin comm, we, we need to do that. So that’s gonna be a challenge working with Alicia and all the department heads to do that exercise independently of this forecast. And then state of the town should give an idea of a longer term, three year projection where things may be, and then, um, kinda, I would say up to the professional designees of the select board and the select board to determine, you know, what you want to go for. And then that would be Yep. Something FinCo would review, um, and vote on as well. Okay. I got that. All sounds good. Got it. Okay. Thank you guys. All Right. Awesome. Thank you very much. Thank you. Great, great, great, great review And thanks, Molly. Talk soon, Molly. Thank you,

1:13:49 Molly. Thank you, Molly. Okay.

1:13:57 Okay. So that brings us to, um, a draft statement that I, I hope everybody’s had a chance to look at. I think, um, the impetus behind it was to help, you know, to weigh in as leadership on the town, um, of the, you know, heightened public interest and, uh, ongoing teacher strike. And as well as provide some frame of reference and context for that conversation from, you know, where, where we sit. So, um, does anybody have any comments about it? Are anybody like to make any changes to it? And if, um, and we can see if it’s something that we’d like to, um, approve as a statement of the court.

1:14:49 Does anybody have any changes or, okay. So, um, then I, uh, can I have a motion to approve the statement of the board? Um, I guess I can read, I’ll read it and then we can, I’ll read it first. Okay. Probably should do that. Yeah. Okay. Um, Statement of the select board on teacher strike and contract contract negotiations. Marble Head’s fiscal constraints are impacting our entire town, not just our schools. The teachers and staff of Marblehead Public schools deserve competitive wages and improved working conditions. In addition to the five bargaining units under negotiation for the school department, the town is also actively

1:15:36 negotiating new contracts for our hardworking police and municipal unions. Marble Head’s Labor Force is dedicated and deserving of increased wages, yet any contract must be economically sustainable for the town. The select board and school committee are responsible for negotiating labor contracts that maximize competitive wages, while also balancing acceptable levels of risk to services that they may entail. For several years, the town has faced financial challenges, rising costs, outstripping new revenues, and each year this problem compounds for more information. Please see the FY 25 budget finance committee report, which is linked when we’ll put this on our website. Addressing this challenge will require long-term budgeting, discipline, and an override proposal

1:16:22 that is achievable at the ballot box. Any contract with the teachers is one piece of this puzzle and must fit within the framework. That framework. We believe that Marblehead is an exceptional community that prioritizes and deserves strong schools and high quality town services. And we hate to see our community divided like this. We strongly urge the MEA and the school committee to continue to work together to reach a fair and sustainable solution that will put our students and teachers back in the classroom where we know they all want to be.

1:16:57 Okay. Shall move? Can I, I so moved. And do I have a second? Second. All in favor? Okay. All right. So, um, now we have some, um, votes. Uh, just, um, some consent agenda items. Let me just, okay. Um, and on our consent agenda is the minutes of October 9th, 2024, October 23rd, 2024, and November 4th, 2024. Um, accept the donation of OWL Technology Equipment and to send a letter of appreciation, the Chamber of Commerce 53rd annual Christmas Walk, tree Lighting Parade, December 6th through the seventh, 2024, um, to approve temporary parking restrictions for annual tree lighting, Christmas Walk Parade,

1:17:44 December 6th to the seventh, 2024. And, um, that is one more at the very one Oh, Abbot, right? Sorry. And Abbott Hall, the use of Abbot Hall, January 4th, 2025 from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM for an Eagle Scout Court of honor, um, to, can I get a motion to approve the items on the consent agenda?

1:18:08 Uh, can I have a second? Second. Okay. All in favor? Okay, great. And next we have some contracts. Um, we are gonna pull out a couple of these. Um, so next we have, um, consent agenda items relating to contracts. And, um, I’m, I’m going to pull out, just go ahead and pull out Raymond Design Associations Associates, and the, um, the award of the, uh, there’s an f it’s not on the, uh, agenda here, but, um, the award of contracts, uh, that our town planner will speak to. So for purposes of voting of the board’s consent agenda items, contracts,

1:18:50 Um, we have professional service supplement number one, foster architecture, a change order number 0 0 1 to amend the contract for MDPW dash 23 dash zero six Stormwater Management Consulting Services, MSS four General permit support. We have change order number 0 0 2 to amend the contract between the town and the environmental partners. And a change order number 0 0 1 to amend the contract between the town and Greenman Peterson, Inc. GPI, We have a motion to approve those, uh, consent agenda item contracts, some moved second. All in favor. Okay. Um, and then we, we’ll take up the, uh, matter of the contract between the town

1:19:36 and Raymond Design Associates for Designer services for the Marblehead High School roof, um, which has been reviewed by council, um, and it amounts to, uh, $425,000. Um, I do have our finance director from the school department here, Mike Ping, if you would just kind of, um, speak to this for us. I, I, and, um, we had a couple conversations too, because this is part of an article. You can come sit down, please. Yeah. At the table, The, the owl’s gonna see you. Yeah. So It’s not in our packet, but we, um, because it’s enormous, but we have it electronically. Um, and so the, is it, my, the, the substance of the contract is for, for the, is for the design, correct.

1:20:22 Of the high school roof. Okay. So, right. So, um, there was a warrant article, I believe last year’s town meeting, uh, to replace the roof. Uh, the first step is to hire an OPM, which we did, uh, left field, uh, which worked on our Brown school project. And then, uh, through that we did an RFP to, uh, hire a design service provider for an architect. And, uh, through our RFP, um, Raymond, RDA, I call him, um, Raymond something, Raymond Design Associates. oh’s? Yes. Raymond, RDA. Gene Raymond is the, um, he was the architect on the Happy Something. Excuse me. I’m sure they’d love to be referred to as Raymond close enough. Yeah. So through the, um, the RRP process, we did, um, with the help of, uh, left field, select them as a design, as our finalist for design, uh, drafted a contract.

1:21:08 It’s been through legal, and this is all covered under the, uh, bond from the warrant from last year. Okay. Okay. And what about the, so the, so, okay, so this, we are voting the four 25,000, and it’s coming out of the bond that we borrowed already. Yes. Okay. So does anybody have any questions for Mike? And in relation to the cost, obviously we don’t have a full cost on that, right? We estimate that that should be in the, that 400,000 versus what the actual cost for the placement would. So that is the, that is the primary, well, one of the primary, um, responsibilities of the designer is to do a cost estimating also. So once they’ve been awarded the contract, they’ll go through their cost estimating, uh, design out the roof, uh, for materials, um, HVAC units that are on the roof, what’s,

1:21:54 what’s aged, what’s in good conditions still, uh, what needs to happen. And then they’ll put together a, um, a cost estimate. Uh, but then we still have to go out to bid. Um, we’d have to go out to bid, uh, between left field and the architect. They will help us design the bid document to make sure all of our T’s are crossed and i’s are dotted. And, um, you know, hopefully we should be on the street for bid, um, within the next six months, I’d say. Great. Yeah. When would you foresee, when would you think This was gonna happen? Yeah, unfortunately, I think, um, just due to the turnover at the school department, uh, with the administration, it’s probably will not be a summer project for this coming year, unfortunately. Uh, just going out to be getting the materials, getting, uh, um, you know, a company that’s not already booked up for the summer to do this. This is going to be a probably a three month

1:22:40 project, uh, start to finish. So we’d have to be prepared to start the day school ended. Uh, however, we don’t know what that day’s gonna be as of right now and, and hopefully have at least buttoned up and ready to go back before school came back into session. So it’s a very short window. Um, you know, there’s, there’s possibly if we we’re probably gonna have to kick it off to the next summer regardless. Um, but there’s some, maybe some things that we can do over like April vacation when students aren’t in school, April of 26, uh, in preparation so that when school ends in, uh, June of 26, it can get right, right into work. So that would be our, our target goal would be for the summer of 2026. Okay. In the meantime, what is the condition of the leaks and, um, HVAC kind of, somebody had mentioned that there’s an HVAC related, I mean Yes, sir.

1:23:27 Are you troubleshooting those course until 2026 and that that’s What we can do? Right. So right now the bond was for a roof and two HVAC units that was, that were, that are on the field house. Uh, both of those units are in very poor condition. And from what it’s been explained to me, it’s the salt air, um, being three, three sides of salt air hitting it on a constant basis is, is, is a very harsh environment for our rooftop units. Um, probably all of our buildings, but, uh, particularly there at the high school. Uh, so the bond with a warrant, I don’t know the correct terminology, but that was to address the roof and those two rooftop units. Um, preliminarily I’ve been told that we should really be looking at all rooftop units on the roof. Um, PR mostly because if we put a new roof down and we choose in three years

1:24:13 to replace the other rooftop units, um, we’d be concerned about what warranty liabilities we would have or lose by now touching that roof after it’s been installed. So, um, that’s one of the things that the, both the OOPM and RDA has kind of given, given us a hint to. And one of the things that they will design, uh, I think we’ve kind of leaned towards, give us a cost for the roof, gives us a cost for the roof with the HVAC units. Uh, and there was also a question, they did some thermal imaging already, um, you know, is there enough insulation in the roof and what would that cost? So they’re gonna do some, some different scenarios for us, and we’ll bring those back to, uh, school committee as well as the board and, uh, work with Alicia, my new best friend.

1:24:59 Are we able to patch the roof now? Yeah. So right now, um, I understand that there are very few, if, if, if any, leaks on the roof, we’ve, I think we, we have been patching the roof. Yes. It’s not beyond patch patching. Um, but every time we patch one, two more pop up, so, you know, we, we have been staying on top of them and there’s been an expense to that, uh, both not only a financial expense, but also an educational, you know, expense. You know, students in classrooms with leaking ceilings are not, yeah. It’s not a primary or not a, uh, a great learning environment for our students to be in. So we do want to address this as quickly as possible. Okay. Yeah. ‘cause we did authorize the bond, I think in 23, so there’s been some delay two, and I just article 11, fiscal 23 challeng Fiscal 23. So, Yeah. So, okay. Yes. So we’re All correct. It is a, it is a priority. There, there are a couple of bonds out there, a couple of,

1:25:44 no, I’m not sure if they’re all bonds, but there are a couple of projects out there that, um, we are focusing on right now between that and, um, the, uh, Glover school. We do have a bid on the, on the, um, on the street right now for the Glover School, HVAC that was approved. Um, so we are, we are moving along very quickly with our facilities. Yeah. We, we know that there’s been some, I Know there was a change in administration and all that, so We had a lot of other issues last year, I’m sure they were addressing. So we, we’ve made it priority right now to get our facilities, uh, plans back in place and moving forward. Okay. Thank you for explaining that since it, it’s a big number. Yeah. And we that appreciate, we appreciate you explaining it every, every year that this gets put off, there’s escalation costs. Sure. So we, we don’t, you know, we were disappointed to think that we are not gonna be able

1:26:30 to get it done this summer, but I, I wanted to give you reality and not Yeah, sure. Appreciate it. A pipe dream. Yep. I don’t wanna sit in here and say, oh, yeah, we’ll get it done this summer and come back in three months and say, yeah, it’s, And because of the supply shape stuff you said, like, No, I think more, I don’t think it’s so much supply, but we are gonna have to order materials and they do have to do a full assessment on the roof. So RD that’s the first step is RDA. Okay. Um, and I probably should have been before you two weeks ago with this, and I apologize, but we’ve been Yeah. You know, a little busy, a little bit, just fine. Okay. So, um, I would like a motion to prove the contract between the town and Raymond Design Associations incorporated for designer services for the Marblehead High School roof as reviewed by council not to exceed $425,000 and authorize the chair to sign on behalf of the board. So moved. Second. All in favor. Great. Thank you. Thank

1:27:18 You very much. A pleasure to meet you all. Thanks for all your work. Thanks. Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay. And then, um, we’ll move on to, we have three contracts that Alex is bringing before us. Um, Alex, if you would join us,

1:27:34 um, I don’t know if you wanna take ‘em one by one. I have them as Salem Sound Coast Watch, state Street Landing, Tuckers War Resilience Project, um, 33,000. Yep. Right. So, Yes. Um, I can just go, just walk us through. Yeah. I can just walk through the three contracts. Yes, this is great. So we were awarded, uh, $210,000 502. Um, and that was recently given to the board, uh, to approve and accept the grant. Uh, right now we have lined up three consultants to work with our new department to make sure that this gets done properly in a timely manner. Um, this grant needs to be completed by the end of June, the 30th of 2025. So we’re trying to get this started as soon as possible

1:28:20 and make sure that we have the contracts in at the moment. Um, we have worked with them in the past to make sure that we get the right amounts, um, kind of settled before, uh, we actually get awarded the grant, which we have been. So these three contracts are basically to make sure that this is done properly. Um, for the first one for Salem Sound, uh, we have, um, Barbara Warm. So she will be working with us on the project management aspects as well as stakeholder engagement, um, to make sure that it’s done properly. And we work together, uh, particularly myself and Donna will be the two working with her. Um, second contract is with Woods Hole Group. Uh, they will be assisting with surveying, permitting matrix and alternative designs that’s required within the grant.

1:29:08 Um, and then the third contract is with call engineering, uh, to do the engineering and design drawings, as well as to do the, uh, near term and long term maintenance costs. Um, these three consultants will be working on the same project, and we have split the cost up to make sure that they add up to the amount that the grant was awarded for. Um, there’s one stipulation in there for the Collins Engineering. We are going to have to pull some money from a different pool. Um, I’ve spoken with our CFO Alicia as well as Donna, who’s the grant coordinator to make sure that this works. The reason for this is because we, uh, for task three under the contract, it’s for the, um, near term and long term maintenance that is typically done, done by Collins when the grant was initially applied for

1:29:56 that column is not actually included in there. And so we need to make sure that we make up for that. Um, collectively as a department, we feel like this is a, a good use of the money, and it makes sense to have the near term and long term maintenance. So that extra amount of money, the 12,000 is there to make sure that it fills that gap, um, which is, uh, over 12,000. Um, so we wanna make sure that we get the whole project and we don’t lose out on maintenance costs. ‘cause that will give the town in the future the opportunity to understand how much it costs to repair these in the future. Okay. Okay. So this is the same team we had in the, the commercial street, the first part. So it’s a, it’s a well honed team

1:30:42 that’s been working well together. So excited to keep the team going. Okay. Okay. So, um, anyway, any questions right there? Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Good. So, the first contract for Salem Sound Coast Swatch is for 33,000 Collins Engineering. We’re authorizing, um, um, them to conduct, uh, a site survey model flood risk, estimated costs, and developed designs for State Street Landing. That is, um, $103,728 40 cents for, um, that portion of the work. And then our third, um, the third contract is for $86,157. Okay. So, um,

1:31:29 I guess we’ll just vote them all together if everyone’s okay. Mm-Hmm. Um, can I have a motion to award the following three contracts, Salem Sound, coast Watch, state Street Landing and Harbor Master Tucker’s Wharf Resilience Project, the, um, project management and stakeholder engagement support contract. Second Collins Engineers Inc. State Street Landing and Harbor Masters, Tucker Wharf, resilience, project engineer design, conceptual work cost, estimations and surveying, and Three Woods Hill, the Woods Hole Group, state Street Landing and Harbor Masters, Tucker Wharf, resilience Project, project Coordination and meetings with the project team. Site specific data collection and coastal flood risk analysis, resilient Design Alternatives and Analysis, and Public Stakeholder Engagement Services. So moved. Second. All In favor. Great. Thank

1:32:17 You. Thank you. Thank you, Alex. Thanks, Alex. Keep it to see your face. Keep moving face to face as well. Keep, keep it moving. A lot about you. Keep moving. Thank you. Okay. And, um, okay. So now, uh, we’re gonna, um, I’m gonna ask Alicia to join us again to explain the Senior Tax Write Off program, 2025 amended rates. Um, this is, uh, from a request from Lisa Hooper. And, um, I’m sure she’s coordinated with Alicia on this for, um, to raise the income eligibility. Uh, yes, she has. So this year for the 2025 senior tax work off, she’s asked the current income eligibility be increased. So it was at 400% above poverty the previous year, we wanna raise it to 500% above poverty. So it was 50 1005 28 per single person. Mm-Hmm.

1:33:06 In the previous year, that would bring it to 75,300. That’s about a $23,000 difference. And the two person household from 69,684 to 102,200. What this does is it expands the income eligibility. So as we’ve increased the, uh, tax exemption of 2000, we’re also increasing the eligibility to get more seniors to qualify for that exemption. Okay. That’s great. Thank you. Thank You. It seems like a no brainer. Yeah. All right. I need to ask for a motion to approve the request from Lisa Hooper, counsel in Aging to increase the income eligibility guidelines for the Senior Tax write Off program at 500% above the 2024 property guidelines as presented and re reviewed by our finance director. Second. All in favor. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.

1:33:53 Thanks. Okay. Bubble bar, one day liquor license.

1:33:58 Um, Okay. I just, Um, Let’s see. Okay. Our usual liquor, one day liquor license is asking for a motion to prove, um, the request from Bubble Bar Boston for two one day liquor licenses, beer and wine only for December 7th and December 8th, 2024 at Abbott Hall, 12 noon to 6:00 PM subject to the usual conditions, delivery of and receipt by the licensing authority of the required fee, $50 delivery of and receipt by the licensing authority of proof that the alcohol will be purchased from an authorized source, proof that the applicant can receive proper delivery prop, provide proper storage and disposal of all alcoholic beverages purchased. All in accordance with the requirements of General Lodge Chapter 1 38, liquor Liability insurance, and no alcohol is allowed to be stored on the premise overnight.

1:34:43 Um, So can we have A, Oh, sorry. Oh, this is a polled vote. Poll Vote Yes. So moved. Second. Okay. Mr. Fox. In favor, Ms. Singer? In favor, Mr. Grader? In favor, Ms. Newton In favor. Okay. And it is unbelievably time to open the warrant. So, um, we town meeting, um, we’re going to set is for May 5th, 2025, or it is, it is to be held May 5th. May 5th, 2025. It’s 7:00 PM Um, so, okay. So we’re gonna, uh, ask for a motion that the annual town meeting be held on Monday, May 5th, 2025 at 7:00 PM at Marblehead Veterans Middle School Auditorium at Duncan Slay Square 217 Pleasant Street.

1:35:29 Um, and can I have a mo can I have a, so each, each, I think these are each separate actions. Yeah. Okay. So, so moved on the first. Second. Okay. All in favor? Okay. I need a motion to open the warrant for May 5th, 2020 five’s annual town meeting. So moved. Second. All in favor? I need a motion to close the warrant for the general public on Friday, January 25th, 2025 at 12 o’clock noon. 24 24. So, oh, I’m sorry. 20? No, 25 January 24. Yep. Do that. 25. Okay. I’m Sorry. Yeah, you said 25. All Right. Yep. The warrant will a motion to close a warrant for General Public on Friday, January 24 at 2025. Uh, 2025

1:36:11 at, at 12 noon. Does that work? You, You got it? Okay. She got it. Second. All in favor As presented in, yeah. As what that says. Motion, uh, then finally, a motion to close the warrant for town government boards and commissioners on Friday, January 31st, 2025 at 12 noon. So Second. Second. All in favor? Okay. Great. Um, and holiday hours. Um, okay. And then we, these we’re just taking, making note of these, um, the following holiday hours are to observed at Abbott Hall and the Mary Alley Building Monday, November 25th, eight. These are all this year. Monday, November 25th, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Tuesday,

1:36:58 November 26th, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Wednesday, November 27th, 80 8:00 AM to two 30, Thursday, November 28th. Closed all day, Friday, November 29th, closed all day.

1:37:13 Okay. And then we just have some mail.

1:37:21 Um, so, okay. We have, let’s see, letters of interest from our, um, for, uh, fair Housing Committee, alternate member Nisha Austin. Um, okay. There are, um, and we have a, uh, um, a letter from Peter Kent for the Harris Street Cemeteries Oversight Committee, which there’s still one vacancy on that. And we have a letter from Judith Black for the MBTA advisory board. Um, okay. So,

1:38:03 um, how, okay. So do we want to, so there’s, okay, so we’re gonna hold on Nisha. ‘cause I’m saying we’re gonna, I’m not sure about the vacancies, if there is a vacancy right now. Yeah, there isn’t, but I don’t know. Um, alternates are attending. Maybe I could reach out. Okay. That’d be good. Yeah. Worth reaching out.

1:38:31 Okay. Um, so do we want to set an interview? We already have, um, letters of interest deadline for the cemetery. We have one at large vacancies. Should we set an interview date for our next meeting? You, You’ve appointed three of the at large already. Oh, okay. So there is no vacancy for Peter Kent. Uh, I’m Sorry. There is, but, um, you’ve made appointments already. Right. Okay. So, So this one could be on a rolling basis. Right? So we have a vacancy, we have at least one interest, right? Yes. So, okay. If the board chooses to go forward to, to fill it, um, this would be the opportunity. Yeah.

1:39:16 Okay. Do we want to, Yeah, let’s just set a set a, when’s Our next meeting To summer, fourth? Um, or is that the, the 11th. The 11th, sorry. Gotcha. So the Friday before that is what? The eighth? No. Would the, uh, fifth, what

1:39:40 We’re talking December. I’m, I’m just throwing Dart said two more days. So get to Friday the sixth. Sixth subtract seven. The six. Thank you. Uh, December 6th is Friday. And that’s the Friday before the December 11th board meeting. December 11th is our regular board meeting. Yes. So presumably it’s, it’s, uh, February 6th for any other, anybody else interested in the position? Right. And then interview on the 11th is what is being suggested. February meant December. Yeah. Okay. Cool. Just wanna make sure we’re, we’re having some issues here. Okay. So let’s see if Mr. Kent can interview on December 11th. Yes. Okay. That’s right. Deadline, that prior side. Okay.

1:40:28 And, um, we have this MBTA advisory board. How long has that been open? Um, it went vacant at the end of the fiscal year. Yeah. And we, okay, so, um, let’s, have we set a letter of deadline or we were just waiting for No, so we haven’t had, you know, the, there was some indications of interest, but we, we had not officially, this is our first, I I’m aware of any official interest in filling that vacancy. Okay. Have the same dates. So we have a letter from Judith Black. She’s interested, and, um, why don’t we, let’s say, you know, letters due by December.

1:41:15 December 6th. Sixth, yeah. Same as, and then, yeah. And then, um, interviews to be held on the 11th. We’ll let, um, Judith know. Okay. And there’s just a letter in here. I just wanna acknowledge the national, uh, multiple Sclerosis Society is, has held their, uh, annual, um, walk or walk here for a while. And I don’t see it right now, but I know of it. Something else. Oh, here. Um, okay. So they, and they are, uh, just expressing appreciation to the community, uh, for allowing, uh, the event and providing space. And, um, but going forward, I believe that they are uniting with Walk Ms. Boston. So they’re just giving us,

1:42:02 you know, let it, making us aware. Nice event. Okay. Um, and then we have the retirement boards notice of the annual 2025 budget

1:42:15 in our packet. And I don’t know that this So Fires any action. So, no. So this is, uh, it’s a requirement of the lot chapter, uh, uh, 3 0 6, the acts of 1996 that the retirement board has to submit, um, no, no later than, or sooner than 30 days before. So they’re on a calendar basis for their budget. So they run from January to December. So they’re required to notify you more than 30 days, which at the end of the year of submitting their budget. And I think, does it get voted at? Does it go on the warrant for town meeting? The retirement budget? No, I don’t recall.

1:43:00 It’s a pension appropriation. Just, okay. Anyway, so this is a, a reporting requirement for the retirement, um, uh, board of retirement to notify you of their calendar based budget. Okay. Thank you. In there. Oops. So I think that just brings us to select board announcements. Are there any announcements from the board? Uh, I just want to congratulate our, uh, veteran’s agent on her first, uh, great job at the Veteran’s Day ceremony, in addition to the breakfast as well. She really represented us, uh, really well. And, uh, just wanna say thanks to Ro I’d like to say something as well, if you don’t mind.

1:43:46 Um, in regards to schools, um, like I say, I’d like to, I’d like Marble to be as great as a place to work as it’s to live. An important part of that is paying our employees competitive wages. A strong education system is key to a thriving community. And our educators, the backbone of our schools for too long, Marblehead has deferred addressing its fiscal challenges. Leading this moment where Marble Hood’s ability off of competitive wages to our educators and other town employees is constrained. While I support our educators goals of fair, of fair and equitable pay, that means the MEA strike is impacting our students’ learning as well as their social and emotional wellbeing. Town leaders and school administrators are not the ones who decide to pursue the strike, but they do have control over how we react to it. Students are missing milestone events, which they’ve trained prepared, because adults are not prioritizing students.

1:44:33 Other towns in our same situation, have made decisions to minimize the impact of the strike on students. And I believe Marblehead should do the same. Ideally, the MEA will end a strike and enable students return to the classrooms performance spaces in playing fields, if not town leaders need to make decisions that prioritize the experience and wellbeing of our students.

1:44:57 Thank you. Um, yeah, I just had a couple thoughts too. Um, I wrote some notes, uh, just as a fellow educator, I know the emotional and mental commitment teachers have for their students, even when we’re not in the classroom, we’re thinking about our students and planning for them. Uh, essentially great teachers make great schools, and I want great schools in Marblehead and to fund educator salaries and keep our talented teachers in the community, and also ensure all our town employees are paid competitive wages. Um, we need to provide excellent town services and excellent schools. Marblehead needs an environment where all of our employees are valued and respected, and the people need to invest in the community to understand that. And, you know, in 2022,

1:45:43 the town highlighted the structural deficit. And we looked, there was the school had put forth a override that had failed in 2023. There was a general override to address the deficit that had failed. Um, we’re still facing that structural deficit, and I hope we all can come together to support a long-term plan to address our budget and support, um, all of our programs and all of our staff, and ensure we keep our talented workforce, uh, our outstanding staff is the backbone of this community. And I value each and every one of these individuals. I have faith in this community, and I ask that every taxpayer works together to ensure that we can guarantee these excellent services for all and come up with and work together to get a comprehensive plan.

1:46:29 And I, you know, I look forward to addressing this together, and I have faith that we will. Okay. Um, I just would like to, um, commend our finance director, Alicia, for, um, all of the hard work. I know you’re firing on like 15 different cylinders right now, and I know, um, sticking to an, uh, an accelerated, um, schedule is, is really challenging in addition to a Munich’s migration and just your regular day-to-day, uh, oversight over the department. Um, so we really appreciate that. And you, thank you. And I wanna acknowledge also, um, uh, Thatcher Keer who has been in, I couldn’t even begin to imagine

1:47:18 how many hours of negotiations since you were in, in you were invited to participate. Um, even before, even from the get go. These went long nights. We’re talking about, I think I re I, you know, I was, I was, uh, saddened to see, you know, an, a letter that had referenced, you know, people meeting for an hour at negotiation. It couldn’t be anything further from the truth. And I know since, um, whenever it was you were invited, I mean, those meetings go from three, four o’clock, three o’clock se sessions, four o’clock, um, into late, late into the evening. And of course, now it is nonstop 24 7. Um, and also recognizing that you’re, um, still per, it’s still here to, uh, oversee your administrative duties

1:48:05 and, uh, have our other two unions that are, um, also active in negotiations. So I, uh, wanted to acknowledge that, um, for you and, um, you know, it just, I, I understand that it’s a very emotional time in the community and, um, and it’s really hard personally to see the community come to, you know, such, uh, polarizing or seemingly polarizing positions on, on issues around, uh, what we all can agree on that our teachers deserve the best we can possibly afford to give them. Um, and, uh, and I, it breaks my heart to hear the struggles since Covid,

1:48:50 uh, and, um, that the, the teachers find themselves in. And, you know, with technology, I know that there’s, uh, you know, it’s different, it’s different teaching today than it was 10 years ago. It just really is the, the students are different. Um, and there’s a lot of social emotional needs that are, uh, that aren’t something that they may be anticipated going into the career. They’re wearing many hats. And, um, so I just, I wanna acknowledge the teachers that, um, you know, we, we hear you, we see you, and, um, we appreciate you. And just for the general community, I would like to say that, you know, the temperatures are, are, is high, but I think in the el the, we can, we can keep the discourse

1:49:37 and the rhetoric, um, in town on social media to, to a civil and respectful, uh, content and productive, uh, discussion is welcome. And, uh, these are our neighbors, whether they’re elected officials, they’re employees for the town, they are, um, you know, our neighbors, taxpayers, you know, I just, I just would like to remind and encourage the public and everybody participating in the discussions to really, um, you know, keep it constructive and productive. And, um, you know, the, we don’t, it, it’s hard to see personal attacks and, and some of the things that I’m seeing on social media. It’s just, um, it doesn’t really have a productive,

1:50:25 constructive place in the conversation. So, Madam Chair, I concur with what you said. You well said. Okay. And I just, I think Dan, you had said earlier, but I think it echoes true, was just we need to look at where are we right now and how do we move this forward? Okay. Point of information, especially to, to your comments, part of the negotiating team. We have on multiple occasions offered to the negotiators on, on the union side, uh, to allow the, their negotiating team to be released from their normal school duties to continue all day negotiations.

1:51:09 If the rest of the, the, the system would return to the classroom, um, we wanna continue the negotiations full-time, full press, but we also wanna get the kids in the classroom. And so, so, you know, we feel it’s a, a, a, a, an important offer to say we will continue full-time negotiations and allow the 15 negotiators to be there if, if we can get the rest of the, the folks back in the classroom. So, um, we’ve not received a positive response to that as yet, but we are hopeful. Okay. Thank you. All right. So I just need a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. All in favor. Thank you. Thank you everybody.