Select Board - Regular Meeting

All right, Mike is just going to grab the uh a copy of it. Oh, okay. I can start going. He can he can uh then I can read the minutes once we get started. I mean Yes, sir. the announcements.

Okay. Um looks like everyone Michelle, Jim, Roy. Yeah, Billy. All right. Time's now 6:30. Uh, in accordance with chapter 2, the acts of 2025, the Tuesday, January 20th, 2026, 6:30 public meeting of the RenaM select board shall be conducted remotely. The public is invited to join in via Zoom or be with Selectman Harrington at the town hall in the Boach conference room on the second floor. um that uh the the um the login information was posted to the website. Uh so the public had that and as a preliminary matter, this is select board chair Chris Gallow. Please permit me to confirm that all members and persons anticipated on this agenda are present and can hear me. Members, when I call your name, please respond in the affirmative. Uh we'll start with Selectman James Anderson.

Anderson Hill. Great. Uh, selectman Bill Harrington. Harrington. Select woman Michelle Rouse. Rouse. Yes. Selectman Roy Lamoth. Lamoth. Here. Great. Staff, when I call your name, please respond the affirmative. Town manager Mike King. Present. Assistant town manager Greg Enus. Present. Uh, executive assistant Amanda Vazapolo. President.

Great. All right, meeting's now open. Just want to say welcome to all the guests that we have. We have a fairly decent agenda, so we're going to get through that. We also have a 6:35 uh cannot start the public hearing before 6:35. So, what I'd like to do if possible is I'd like to go to um tab two or or uh slide two uh tab one and I'd like selectman Harrington to read the announcements if he would.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, the agenda items 2026 dog licenses are now available with the town clerk's office. The deadline to license your dog is February 28th, 2026. The application can be found on the town website. Contact town clerk's office for more information. An overnight parking ban on public street is in effect December 1st through April 1st. Vehicles found to interfere with snow operations may be towed to a storage area at the expense of the owner. Annual town election nomination papers are now available through February 11th with a return date of February 13th. Contact the town clerk's office for more information. A candidates forum will be held on Thursday, March 5th, 2026 at the Fist Library at 7 p.m. This event is being sponsored by the town moderate by the town and moderated by Michael Mcnite. This is an opportunity for residents to hear directly from candidates prior to voting. Have questions you'd like to pose to the candidates? Submit them on the town website or email candidates forum renth.gov. The Rodri School building project is holding a community forum on Wednesday, January 28th. An operational tour will begin at 6 PM with a presentation starting at 700 p.m. Real estate and personal property tax bills are due on February 2nd, 2026. Pay in person or online or by mail. Please return your 2026 census forms to the town clerk's office. Thank you, Mr. Chip.

All right. Thank you so much. Excellent job. Uh before we get to the public hearing, I'd like to go to the next tab, which is uh tab number two. And uh we're going to approve the minutes. So at this time, chair would entertain a motion to approve the January 6, 2026 open session meeting minutes. Moby uh motion made by selectman, second by selectman Harrington. Any further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Sele. Yes. Anderson. Anderson G. Yes. Harrington. Harington. Yes. Lamoth. Lamoth. Yes.

Gallow. Yes. Motion carries five to zero. Um, looks like we have 30 seconds. Yeah. I don't want to rush any of the other thing. Actually, I could take uh let's do this. Let's go to, if it's okay with you guys, let's go to uh tab seven. This is in uh um a resignation. So, unfortunately, we we have before us this evening resignation of Bill Burns from the zoning board of appeals. Uh we have a letter uh of resignation in our packets. Um selectman uh selectman Harrington, sorry to give you a lot of work back to back. Do you mind reading the the letter into the uh record, please? I don't know. Uh so it's uh from William Burns to William Civera, Gan Lightbody, Sean Go Goff, Dan Humphre, Joe Cameron, Jim Lawrence, the SBO SBO office letter of resignation. Dear members of the RenaM zoning board of appeals, and Mr. Chris Gallow, select board chair. I'm writing to formally not notify you of my decision to resign from my position as chair and member of the RenaM zoning board of appeals. And as a member of the zoning board of appeals effective February 1st, 2026. As I reflect upon my time serving on this board, I am filled with appreciation for the outstanding support each of you has provided me throughout my tenure. Your unwavering dedication, professionalism, and willingness to engage in open discussion have made my experience as chair both rewarding and memorable. I'm especially grateful for the way you have approached our work with authenticity and cander. Even in the moments when our opinions differed or our perspectives did not fully align, you remain true to yourselves and the values you brought to

the board. His honestly and willingness to respectfully debate our positions have elevated our discussions and fostered a spirit of collaboration that I have cherished. The camaraderie we have built together is something I hold with high regard and is an aspect of my service that I will always remember. The mutual respect, trust, and friendship among the board members have been the foundation of our success, and I am grateful to have been a part of such a dedicated and thoughtful group. By informing you of my intention to step down, I hope to provide the board with ample time to consider and identify who should lead this board into the future. I am confident that the strength of our team will ensure a smooth transition, continued excellence in service, servicing our community. Thank you once again for your support, your partnership, and the memories we have created together. I look forward to seeing the board continue to thrive in the years ahead. With sincere appreciation, William J. Burns. Thank you, Selectman Harrington. I got to say that's one of the well most well-written and nicest uh resignation letters I've seen in a long time, both in my professional career and my time, my tenure here as a select board member. So it is with um you know uh much regrets that uh we have to make this motion for Bill Burns. I just want to personally uh you know give him I just want to personally say to Bill you know you know your uh your letter was your resignation letter was well thought. It's heartfelt and it hits home with this board. um we support you and we have supported Bill and and the ZBA um and will continue to do so and I really do appreciate his um his service to this community uh as he you know he served us for uh you know quite a tenure. So at this time uh chair would like to make a motion to accept with regrets the resignation of Bill Burns from the zoning board of appeals.

So moved. Second. Second. Motion made by select Anderson, second by select woman Rouse. Any further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Selectoman Rose, yes with regrets. Selectman Anderson. Anderson, yes with regrets. Selectman Harrington, regrets. Uh, selectman Lamoth. Lamoth, yes, with regrets.

And Gallow, yes, with regrets. Motion carries. 5-0. Okay, let's go to the public hearing now. Okay, this time we're going to have our public hearing. Um and we have Annne Fisk, our town clerk with us. Uh in our packets, we have the hearing notice. This is the vote by mail. We do this every year. So at this time, the chair would entertain a motion to open the public hearing for vote by mail for April 6, 2026 annual town election. So move. Motion made by Selectman Anderson, second by Selectman Harrington. Any further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Selectman Anderson. Yes, sir. Yes. Selectman Harrington. Yes. Selectman Lamoth.

Lamoth. Yes. Gallow. Yes. Motion carries 5-0. Now the chair would entertain a motion to wave the reading of the public hearing notice. So moved. Motion made by select banana. Is there a second? Second. Sorry. Second by uh I think it was selectoman Rouse. Any further discussion? Being none. If it wasn't, I apologize. We'll do a roll call vote. Uh selectwoman Rouse. Yes. That's in a very fe feminine voice. Sorry about that. Selectman. I'm trying to multitask. Selectman Anderson. Anderson G. Yes. That's a deep voice. Uh Selectman Harrington. Harrington. Yes. Select Lam. Lam. Yes.

Sorry. Sorry. Royan Gallo. Yes. Motion carries. Uh 5. Um okay. So here we are. Public hearing is open. We have with us our wonderful town clerk, uh, Ann Fisk. I'll turn the meeting over to you. Can you give the board a brief understanding of what we're trying to accomplish this evening? Sure. Thank you for having me. Can you hear me? Okay, we can hear you wonderfully.

Excellent. Great. Thanks. Okay. So, I'm here to um review the inerson early or vote by mail for the upcoming town election on April 6, 2026. The Votes Act of 2022 requires that early vote by mail, is mandatory for local elections unless the select board holds a public hearing and public roll call by uh no later than 45 days prior to the annual town election, which is where we are tonight. And the board votes to opt out early vote by mail. Otherwise, we're required to have it. We have not had vote by mail, early vote by mail the last four elections. I do not recommend that we have it. It doesn't seem necessary. If any voter anticipates they may not be available to vote in person between 7 am and 800 PM on election day, they can certainly request and obtain a absentee ballot from us with no no challenges, no issues. I'm happy to answer any questions about it. Um if I was concerned that we would lose some voters, I would not recommend it, but it just cannibalizes the early voting cannibalizes the absentee voting. It's a wash.

Okay. It's extra work and money and resources for the for our office if you do it. And that was that was my that was my concern and and in the past this been the board's concern as well. We offer other options like you said absentee uh voting. Um so th those people still have every opportunity to vote. Um you know it was my understanding that when we did offer it turnout was kind of low. There's a a a decent cost associated uh with putting this on that the taxpayers pay. Um, so, uh, I believe Mike King, um, it's been a pretty regular vote of the board not to, uh, pursue this, if I'm not mistaken. Is that a fair statement?

That is correct, Mr. Chair. Okay. So, uh, board members, does anyone have any questions or comments for, uh, Anne Fisk before I I bring this to a vote? Uh, Mr. Mr. Chair, I just think at any opportunity we give the voters to vote is something we should be uh limiting them be it by in person absentee or by mail doesn't seem fair to me as it didn't last year or the two years before that. And I think we should offer any opport any opportunity to the voters to have the choice and the ability to vote. That's all.

I appreciate that. Appreciate that comment. Um, does anyone else have any comments? Um, Mr. Chair, can we ask Ann to go through what the process is to get an absentee ballot? Yes, please. Uh, please go ahead, Ann. Thank you. Great question.

So, um, you just fill out, it's actually the same process. It's basically a duplicate process as voting by mail. Early voting by mail and absentee voting are the same process. You have to fill out a form and then you have the ballot mailed to you. Then you return it and we process it. But we have two separate database systems for absentee and for early voting by mail. So it's extra. It's duplicate work. It's duplicate tracking and it's duplicate processing, redundant processing at election at the polls for the same ballot. We literally send out the same ballot. You just have a different form, a different um database process. So it adds more time. We haven't budgeted for extra time or resources to do it. And I don't have any evidence that it actually increases the voters. If it did, I certainly would recommend it. Um, I talked to the board registers previously about this and they they're comfortable as well with this.

And where if someone is going to fill out an absentee for an absentee ballot or if we were to approve the vote by vote by mail document, both of those documents, do they come in and complete that or is that done online? Um, they can do it they can do it by mail as well. Okay. We signed. Okay. Um, we don't have the online option. Okay. This point. Also, just a sidebar, we are open 7 am to 8:00 p.m. on election day. We're only required to be open four hours. So, we go way beyond the minimum requirement as a town for our hours on election day. Okay.

We could we could revisit shorting that election day if we're going to implement early voting to help balance out the time and cost for this change. Thank you for the clarification. Sure. Great question. Sele, any other questions, comments before I close the public hearing, Mr. Chairman? Yes. Oh, public comment. Is that what you're going to say, Mike King? I'm reading your mind. That's what you're going to say, right? Yes.

So, shame on me. Being a public hearing, we would now like to open it up to the public, our wonderful constituents, uh, for any comments or questions that you might have. Um, if you have any comments, we ask that you raise your hand and we will get to you one by one. And we just asked for I think a it's like a two-minute aotment. State your name and address. Um, if you can put your camera on, all that good stuff. Give it a couple seconds here to see if any of our wonderful public or constituents want to make a comment. Five, four, 3, two, one. Okay. Uh, now I'm going to close mic. Is that okay?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. At the at this time, seeing as though that was all done correctly, the chair would entertain a motion to close the public hearing for vote by mail for April 6, 2026 uh annual town election. So move. Second. Motion made by selectman Anderson and a strong second by selectman Lamoth. Any further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Select woman. Select woman. I know. Could you read I'm sorry. Could you read Could you read that again? Is it yes to for no vote by mail? We're not voting. We're opting out. We're we're we're we're closing the public hearing right now. Okay.

Then I'm gonna make a motion uh to vote in or vote out of Okay. Yes. Yes. Close. Let's just redo that so it's nice and clear. Uh at this time, Chetain a motion to close the public hearing vote by mail uh for April 6, 2026 in town election. I believe selectman Anderson made the motion. Select La Moth made the second. Any further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Select woman Rouse. Yes. Great. Selectman Anderson. Anderson. Yes. Selectman Harrington. Harrington. Yes. Selectman Lamoth. Lamoth. Yes.

Uh Chris Gallow. Yes. Motion carries 50-0. Now, uh the chair would entertain a motion to opt out of the vote by mail for April 6, 2026 annual town election. So moved. Motion made by Selectman Lamoth, second by Selectman Anderson. Any further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Selectoman Rouse. Yes. Selectman Anderson. Anderson G. Yes. Selectman Harrington. Harington. No. Selectman Lamoth. Lamoth. Yes.

Gallow. Yes. Motion carries 41. Public hearing closed. Uh let's go to tab number four. Tab number four is a pretty cool thing uh that I'm excited about. And this has actually been in the works for a little while. Um do do we have Bryant Kohut with us? Hi. Yes, I am here. Hey, how are you?

I'm doing fantastic. Welcome to the Renthm Select Board meeting. Uh so great to have you with us. I'm just going to kind of paint, uh the broad picture for the board, the other board members that might not be familiar with this as well as our public. Um so, uh Bryant Kohut uh is the son and there might be other are there any other family members here, Brian? Uh yeah, Karen's uh four grandchildren are on this call as well as my little sister. So,

wow. Well, we we welcome uh the whole family uh to our call this evening. So, what this is is, you know, I got an email back, I want to say almost a year ago from Bryant and uh he informed me that his mom Karen, who unfortunately is no longer with us, was the first woman selectman in Rena. Uh and I immediately uh was very engaged to the conversation. we started talking about uh different things that we could do to honor her. Um and in one of Bryant's original emails to me back on May 16th, um you know, he he told me that some pretty cool things already had happened. The 1987 annual report was dedicated to uh to his mom Karen uh and outlined some of her civ civic contributions. the flyer for reelection in 1978 uh was, you know, like he said, a great snapshot from the time. And he says he has all of the original certificates from the Commonwealth recognizing her as the first elected selectman woman in Rethm. Uh the certificates in particular, uh he said he would like to donate to the town somehow. Um and I'm sure they'd be better preserved in the archives or some other similar manner. Um, it said his mom was also covered in both the Sun Chronicle and the Waket Call periodically. Um, but their online archives don't seem to go back that far. Uh, so we just thought this would be such a cool uh opportunity to have Brian and his family come on as the select board and our town manager Mike King uh uh made a proclamation for your family in recognition of your mom. And I I would love to hear top manager Mike King's uh thoughts of, you know, uh your your very generous offer of uh some of those records being transferred over to us. I think the historians in Rentham uh

would in the select board uh I would love to see those. Mike, is that a uh would you agree if that's a fair assessment? He's muted. Tom town manager Mike King. Yes. I uh what I what I would suggest is I can work with uh Mr. Coat in uh in facilitating a conversation with historical commission and talk about possibly assess ascensioning those records um for long-term preservation and um for future viewing of of Refam residents. I'd be pleased to do that. Mr. Gohan, is that something that you'd be amenable to, sir? Absolutely. That sounds great.

That's that's f Yeah, that's that I'm very excited about that. That sounds great. What I want to do before I read you the and your family the proclamation, I know our select board members really enjoy this type of thing. I'm going to turn it over to our board members for any questions or comments uh that they might have to you and your family. And we're going to start with our uh amazing female select board member, Michelle Rouse.

Yes. I just want to um as the woman on this current board um thank your mom um for all of her efforts to pave the way for women like myself to run and be on the select board as well as for other committees in the town. Certainly set a precedence for all of us and um so I just want all of her grandchildren to know to carry on that amazing legacy to for public service. She certainly was a pillar in that. So congratulations on this proclaim um on this get receiving this and uh thank you for coming tonight. Thank you. Very well said. Uh select man.

Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So this actually might come as a shock to to you and your fellow board members, but I actually knew Karen Cohart. I was hoping somebody did. Yep. Yep. and and and I got to tell you, wonderful person and she was a presence around town, not only in town government, but also in different uh charitable organizations throughout the town as well. So, I'm happy this this came forward and uh more than happy to sign off on it. Wow, that's great. That's amazing information, Jim. Thank you for uh now I'm not going to throw a jab at you, you know, referring to your age or anything right now, but I'll just say that a man of your uh maturity, you know, you probably know a lot of people over the years in town, right?

Well, well, remember, Mr. Chairman, we're brothers. Well said, sir. Uh I'll I'll I'll I'll turn and thank you for the wonderful comments. I'll turn it over to Selectman Harrington.

Thank you, Mr. Chance. But yeah, it uh I mean, you know, it's it's a wonderful thing that she did back in those days. I'm sure it was much, you know, difficult back in 77 uh to to run for a select board. Uh quite frankly, it's challenging now. I can't even imagine what it would have been uh that many years ago. Uh and you know, and I'm sure budgets uh and you know, rent them in 77 was probably a much different town than it is today. Uh, so I'm sure she had her hands full trying to run the town and make it better then to bring it to the future today that it is. Uh, just want to thank her and you for bringing it forward. Thank you.

Well said. Well said. Uh, Selecman Lamoff Brian, it sure looks like she was um a pillar in the town and her dedication was at least a decade. How long did she serve? 12 years, I believe. 12. Very good. years total. Thank you for her service. I think it was two two terms. Two terms as selectman and then one as as chairman of the board. I'm not sure how many years that was. Well, thank you and thank you all all your children, grandchildren. That's great. Four years. Thank you. Three years terms. Yeah, they Well, yeah, that's a good question. Were they always three-year terms, Mike? Do you know, Mr. Chair? Yes,

I I believe they were. Um, also back then it was a three-member board, not a five member board. Oh, yeah. Interesting. So, even more work. So, yeah, this is awesome. Uh, and, um, um, I already spoke, so uh, Brian, I'm just going to read the proclamation. And, uh, Mike, how are we going to get him this proclamation? Uh, seeing that Mr. Coat is out of state, we will be mailing it to him.

Okay. I was going to say, you're not expecting me to drive it there. Uh, but no, this is great. We'll mail you this and as needed, we can make copies for the family. Uh, we just want you to know this is awesome and we're so proud of the accomplishments of your mom. So, and you guys, and to Michelle's point, I think Michelle nailed it. This is such a great example for your family, right? uh carry the tradition on. As we as as this board can attest, public service is not easy, but it's one of the most rewarding things I've done in my 46 years uh living uh on this wonderful planet. So, um I strongly encourage you and your family members uh to keep that tradition going. Without good public service, we don't have good government. So, uh with that being said, uh proclamation reads as such. Whereas in 1977, Karen E. Kohut was elected as the first woman selectman in the town of Rethm. And whereas her groundbreaking achievement as the first woman selectman in Rentham represents a significant milestone and paved the way for future gener generations. And whereas Miss Kohut faithfully and conscientiously served the town of Rentham and its citizens through consistent hard work and dedication to the community. And whereas Miss Kohut was the chair of the board of selectmen and also served on the capital expenditures committee personnel bylaw study committee and school building committee. And now therefore it be proclaimed we honor Karen Elizabeth Kohut for her legacy and service to the town of Rentham and its citizens. In witness thereof, we have set our hand to cause the seal of the town of Rentham to be affixed here to this 20th day of January, 2026. Sign the RenaM select board. Chris Gallow, Michelle Rouse, Bill Harrington, James Anderson, Roy Lamoth, and Michael

King, our town manager. Hope you enjoyed that. Uh, it's the least we could do. And I just want to thank you again, uh, Bryant, for bringing this to my attention and Mike King's attention. And we're so glad that we, um, could finally get this on an agenda and and get this, uh, and get this taken care of. I I really want to thank everybody for for jumping on this and the great communication and I really hope very you should be proud, my friend. It's great to have you. It's great to meet you and uh, feel free to stick around for the rest of our meeting. Uh uh but yeah, just congratulations to you and your family. I wish you a great evening. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you.

You're very welcome. Okay, we're going to get back to uh our other business. And at this time, we're very fortunate to go to we're going to go to tab five as we have a council on aging update. With us, we have Janet Angelico. Uh and uh she is the director for those who don't know the director of the council on aging. Uh, and we also have in our packet, uh, there was a a an email update from Kendra Farling. Um, we could read that into the record before we turn it over to Janet. Um, if that's amendable to, uh, select Manharington. Absolutely.

Yes. Uh, so that's a letter from um, Kender Filing. Hi Mike. Unfortunately, I do not do Zoom, which is required for POS meetings. However, I would like to offer the following in regard to COA and senior center. Recently, we have updated the building's locking system, the HVAC system, and new free. The COA stays on top of all maintenance and upkeep through Glen Gillespie. He has been very easy to work with and always responds to any issue promptly. Currently he is trying to repair the refrigerator. Future concerns. Our bus has over 69,000 miles on it but is but is responsibility of Gatra. Our car has been on the capital budget for 2 years. So we will be looking to replace it soon. We are concerned about the large old pine tree surrounding the senior center. We would like to take back the issue of appointments to the COA. last year was a difficult one regards to member reappoints. We hope to be moving forward communication can be improved upon. I would like to add one more item regarding the side door to the parking lot. I think it would be much safer if it had a window. I would be grateful if you would report these items to the BOS meeting on January 22nd. Thank you, Kener filing co.

All right. Thank you, Sleman Harington. And let me take a step back here. So if you're wondering if anyone listening is wondering why we're doing this uh this board is is hugely committed as per our goals and our objectives through the strategic plan um that you know we we want to increase communication um and civic engagement is a big goal of this board and we want to increase communication uh between all the departments and between our board and all the boards and commissions and departments that we have in the town. We feel that communication is key. So what we've been doing strategically as our uh agendas allow, we've been inviting different boards and commissions um on our meetings. We've been talking to either the chairpeople or the executive directors um you in this case the director uh Janet uh just to talk just to let everyone know at the Council of Aging that this board is here. We're very active. We listen. We respond. Um, you know, we work very closely with town manager Mike King on any issues that are brought to our attention, but more importantly, we just want you to know that we're here as a resource and we appreciate all the hard work that the COA does. So, I just want to set the tone for that. Uh, Selectman Harrington, thank you for reading that into the record. And at this time, I'd like to welcome Janet Angelico to our meeting. Uh, and Janet, we just want to say hello. Thank you. And, you know, per my my my comment there, uh, please feel free to address the board however you see fit.

Thank you. Thanks, Chris. Um, thank you all for inviting the COA um to come speak with you this evening. Um, I know Kendra was unable to do it because she unfortunately does not do Zoom and doesn't have that capability. Um, I'm actually hanging by a thread here on an old iPad, but it's working. So, we'll keep crossing my fingers on that one. Um, our COA board works very hard to aid the senior center in in keeping up um what we do at the senior center. Um, I know the list that Kendra read, um, I have to comment that we're very appreciative to the town. I can tell you that it's been a long time, um, before things were addressed that were an issue. And what we find now is that the town really reacts quickly to any issues that we have. And, um, uh, I can't thank the facilities people enough um, for what they do. and they're always out there working hard for us. Any issues, any problems we have, they're they're there for us. So, um I wanted to make that comment, but the the board um is a very supportive board for the friend uh the council on uh yeah, the council on aging the senior center and we appreciate them very much. Um, one of the comments I wanted to make tonight was the um, amount of services that we now provide to the town and the fact that they are growing um, tremendously and we're seeing that we're beginning to bust at the seams at the Council on Aging and just wanted to put that out there for the selectmen just so you know what's what's happening. We have huge

amounts of classes and activities and people you know today we had uh cribage with 26 people at the same time painting with 16 people and then chair massages with 12 people and so it's it's quite a busy place. Um and we're beginning to see that we the room issue is is becoming harder and harder. So, we're hoping that that's something in the future that the town can address. So, um and then on the other end of what we do, the social service part of of what the um senior center does is also um exploding as you can well imagine. Uh transportation is a huge issue for seniors um and the disabled actually and and getting rides for them to appointments that they need to make is a almost a full-time job itself. Um fuel assistance in the town is growing as you can well imagine. Everyone knows the cost of uh gas and electricity now. So that's another issue that that Robin Tobin, our outreach worker, handles and that just for the whole town, not just for seniors, but for everyone. And then food assistance, of course, is always an issue and that's something we try to keep on top of. So we're finding that our services and our activities are growing tremendously and we just it's it's um always an ongoing issue to keep up with it. No, that's fantastic news. U and I I I I know you know this, but I want to say it how much this board cares about you, your staff, and our seniors. Our senior population in this town. Um you know, they're a treasured uh group of people. Uh and we want to, you know, obviously make sure we're doing everything we can to help you provide them with all of these things that they deserve to get,

uh need. uh you know, and I would say too, let this board know if there's events that come up and you need help, volunteers. I'm sure this board will be happy to show up uh and volunteer for an event or two. Um but I've said enough. I want to turn it over to the other board members. Janet, thank you so much for everything you do for us and please continue to keep in touch and let us know how we can help you. We're going to turn it over to Select Woman Rouse. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Janet, so good to see you. Thank you. and the Council of Aging. I am amazed every month when I read your bulletin in terms of the activities and services that you are offering those in town. Amazing. Spectacular. So, thank you for all of those efforts. Um, and also your social services. I know personally I've reached out to you and Robin for advice for a resident in town and you were so quick to respond with so many different resources and suggestions. So, I know how you guys work. It's amazing and thank you so much. Um, I do have a question. Can you just give some clarification? So the gatro bus and the car, do they do the same sort of thing getting people to appointments or are do you use them in a different way?

Um we generally use them in a different way. The bus of course is for the seniors and uh rent them disabled um citizens to take them to appointments uh errands shopping that type of thing. Um, we do occasionally use the car for that reason if we have a conflict with transportation services or um if the bus for any reason is out of commission, which doesn't happen that often, but it can. But the car is more for um Robin uses it a lot for outreach um to go visit people or she'll she'll spend time at say Liberty Pines. Yeah.

Or um you know, Garden Lane to go visit seniors up there. So that's generally what that car is used for. Yes. Excellent. Thanks for the explanation. Appreciate it again. Good to see you and thank you. Good to see you. Thank you. Great. Uh, Select Man. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hi, Janet. First of all, I just want to say it's so nice to see you again. Um, thank you. Yeah. So, so I only have a really a comment. I've known Janet for for many, many years.

She's always done a tremendous job at the senior center. She's a very caring woman and uh Jen, I would just just ask you keep up the good work and I'll let go the the the sentiments of of Chairman Gallow that there's anything we can do to be of assistance. Uh please feel free to reach out to our office. Thanks Jim. I appreciate that. We're showing our age Jim. Well, according to Luckman, I mean Jim and Gallow. Jim, uh, excuse me. I didn't say anything about uh, Jin and Angelico.

I'm just kidding. You both look fantastic. Fantastic. Uh, before I get myself in trouble, let's move on to Harington.

Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Ch. So, uh, yeah, good good segue. Yeah, a great, you know, we greatly appreciate the work you do and it does amaze me how many programs that you put on uh on a daily basis for the seniors. Uh it's great. Uh some of your requests on on this little list here don't look uh out of hand. Uh and uh obviously we'll get together with Mike and uh Glenn and uh see if there's some of the items we can help you with. And again like uh Select Manison said, if there's anything the board can do, uh please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And Select Mammoth

mute. That was me. Janet, thank you very much. Everyone's uh really appreciative of the kind of work you've been doing in the years you've been doing it. I just have a a curiosity type question. How how many of the seniors find their way to the events that you sponsor at the senior center and how many do you have to transport?

Um it can vary on the event. Um Roy, it can be um we we have very popular classes. Um, and then we have things that are more, you know, like a yoga class, which is more like 8 to 10 people, which is fine because that's more uh a a subtle type class, but then we have the things that are extremely popular. Um, and one of them, which I'm really proud of, is cribage because it brings out um retired men. And I have to tell you, it's very difficult to get a retired gentleman to come in to a senior center. So that's one of the things that we can draw a large group of people which really um helps us get to know them and to connect with them and then if they have any issues you know they then they feel freer to come to us to talk about it. So those are the kind of things we do and then um I can show you an example. We had a a a trip that opened up today. Um tall ships that's going in July and literally uh 50 slots were filled within a few hours from rent residents because we we always start with rent them residents first. So, that was an extremely popular activity that filled up right away. And we find that a lot of our things do fill up right away and um we have to unfortunately have a waiting list, but for the most part um we have uh very good participation in what we what we do at the senior center.

Okay. Thank you. Where are the tall ships in Boston or are they in Providence? Boston. Yeah. Okay. Austin, how old do you have to be to go to this? 60. Mr. Mr. Chairman, I think Listen, I think they're a little bit too young. Okay. He can drive He can drive the bus.

I'll drive the bus. Something to look forward to. See that? All joking aside, such a testament to the great work you guys are doing to selectman Harrington's point. We'll look at that list and work with Mike King and Glenn and see if what we can help you out with. And to Select Mananderson's point and selectman Lamoth and Select Woman Rouse, let us know how we can help you. And um again, we just want to have you on. Tell Kendra we really appreciate all her hard work as well. And make sure the seniors know how much this board and this town cares about them and wants them to be happy.

Thank you. Thanks so much. We have a great staff. the senior center work together well and the council on aging is so supportive and yeah we just you know as long as our our biggest issue is to make people aware of what we do and you know what what happens out there and and what the seniors are in need of. So thank you. Great. Well, listen, have a wonderful evening and keep in touch. Have a great evening. Thanks again. Okay,

Mike, I'm going to take something out of order here. I want to bang this snow and ice thing out. So, can we go to uh tab 8 real quick because this is going to be a real quick one and then we'll jump on the strategic plan. So, uh if the if anyone if everyone could please go to tab 8. We have our annual snow and ice deficit notice. Uh we have Christine Dupris with us, our finance director and town accountant. We also have obviously our town manager here. Um Mike, who wants to take the lead with this, yourself or Christine? You know what? Christine doesn't give a lot of faceline with the board. I I'll turn it over to Christine.

I was hoping you'd say that. Christine, welcome to our board meeting. Thank you for being here. Can you give us a high level uh understanding of what this is and what we're trying to accomplish?

Yeah. Um, of course. So, this is the annual notification that the snow ice budget has exceeded its appropriation um of $150,000 and is now in deficit. Mass general law allows us to deficit spend um as long on snow and ice operations as long as we appropriate equal to or more than the prior year, which we always do. Um we've historically used free cash to fund the deficit at the end of the year. And this is not um uncommon. This has happened every year. You might be familiar with it.

Yes. Uh we are. And I would ask I'm gonna ask you the question I ask every year in case there's someone new listening. People often say, "Well, if you have to, you know, if we overspend, why don't we just raise the budget and at and add additional budget line item or increase the line item?" Good question. Once you increase the budget, you can't decrease it. Excellent point. So, you can't decrease it. You have you're married to it. Um, so it's best to just leave it alone. So, it's good. It's good municipal finance procedure to leave it alone and then do what we're doing right now. This is a best practice. Correct. I agree. Yes.

Okay. Well, thank you so much, Christine. Board members, this is protocol. We do this every year, but I want to give you the opportunity. Does anyone have any questions or comments before we make the motion? Seeing none, uh Christine, thank you so much uh for being with us this evening and explaining that to the board. Appreciate that. Thanks for you and your team, all the hard work you do for us in our town. Um, and at this time, the chair, do I have to Mike, do I have to approve this or is this just to let us know? This is just an FYI. The the town manager has the authority to sign off on the expenditure. So, this is providing a notice to the board. Well, thank you.

Thank you for doing that and thank you for saving me a step. Uh now at this time we're going to move things over to uh tab number um six. So this is the last item I think on our agenda besides public comment. Um as the board very well knows, we've been working very closely with Bill Keegan and his team on our capital our capital strategic plan. Uh his team and he and his team have put a lot of work into this and so is our board and town manager Mike King, Greg, Amanda, everybody. So, uh, uh, Bill, welcome, uh, back. Welcome to one of our meetings via Zoom. Um, you know, please, you know, feel free to take over as I believe this is the culmination of a lot of hard work really putting this together. I do want to just set the stage quickly. Uh, just so my fellow board members know, we're not looking for a formal adoption this evening. This is supposed to be kind of a highlevel presentation on where we're at. Um, obviously we want to be able to communicate freely, but if we have anything that's, you know, in and that you think we need to dive into uh in the spirit to keeping the move the the meeting kind of moving along, we would ask that you uh send an email to Bill, Mike King, and myself uh with any topics that we can't resolve, you know, in a few minutes, I'd say. So, at that time, I just want to turn it over to Bill. Thanks so much for being here, Bill.

Thank you very much, Mr. chairman and uh good to see all of the the board members and the staff members that may be listening on tonight as well. I've been working with all of you um in developing this very important plan. I know that Manda, we have a presentation to give you. It's it's about 15 slides long, so we'll try and get through it fairly quickly. Um and thank you for sharing that. Now, so the uh the strategic planning process began back in um in actually in October of 2025. uh with meetings with the department heads and then uh with the board of selectmen I know or the select board uh as the more modern name is referred to and uh we started the process off using uh questionnaires for both the department heads as well as for the the board members and uh we took that information and then we started to develop what is now going to be referred to as the ranthm strategic plan. Now, um, if you can go ahead and start with the first slide, uh, Amanda, you can go to the next slide, please. So, why do why do we need a strategic plan and rent them? Well, there a lot of great communities actually do this because it actually helps many communities develop a a roadmap forward. uh more often than not there's a lot of different competing interests in uh in cities and towns in uh in Massachusetts and throughout the country where the focus gets drawn away more often than not to to issues that that suddenly just become important in the community. Uh what this does is to remind people that we have a a number of issues that we've identified that actually are ones that are considered priorities for the town to try and get completed over the next uh two to three years. So what the plan does is provide an internal alignment on shared priorities for the town. It defines the town's mission and vision statements and core values uh which many

communities believe it or not do not have uh but which actually help define the reasons why you do the work that you do and and the reasons and the vision for what it looks what the community is going to look like in the in the years ahead. So the the committee then becomes much more missiondriven in that in that approach. uh plans like this encourage solution thinking between department heads and department and town administration and the select board uh combined. So it's not just one group versus the other. It's a combined thinking that actually helps to result provide results that make sense for the community going forward. And it also helps to establish short and long-term strategic goals for the town. Um by uh by that we mean that that you'll see throughout the plan later on that there's several goals and and and uh in in in various areas and subtopics that we'll be getting into that show the the the important priorities that the community has has established for the town over the next few years. And then and lastly, it establishes a work plan for achieving those goals. It's one thing to have goals, but also we what we've tried to do and provided for you in this plan is a work plan to actually get those goals done. So, what we've done is we've assigned work to individuals plus we've also then provided a timeline to get that work done. Next slide, please. And the next one, that'd be great. So what we have done and what we've achieved over the past several months and this is based upon conversations we've had both department heads and with the board directly is a is a is is Rentham's mission statement and what this is uh is is a culmination of many thoughts and ideas as to what really is what the the community is all about and what it is that drives us to to do the work that you do in the community. And what it says is it is established. It is the established mission of the town of Brentham to provide highquality, transparent, and fiscally responsible

services to the community that supports public safety, education, businesses, and recreational opportunities while preserving Retum small town character by planning by planning responsibly and actively engaging with our residents. There's a lot of a lot of things packed into that statement which are really really critical and and important for the community to to uh to try to embrace with with a statement like this. It tells the entire world and and particularly the Ranthem community as a whole that these are the things that are important and what drive us to do the work that we do for you as as as residents. And I think that that's putting these things in writing and putting them into a form of a statement like this says a lot about the community and what the quality what it means to drive quality in what you do. Next next statement. Uh next slide please. The next one is is the Renom's vision statement. And what we what we use this for and this is really important for is is to what we think the community should look like and aspire to be in the next several years. And this this could take as long as it takes to get there. But what we want to do is that we want to tell people that we do have a road map to where we want to go. And so the town of Ranthm in this statement says they aspire to be a welcoming, resilient and connected community with a strong small town character that provides economic opportunities for all while maintaining a modern infrastructure, modern. We are a place where voices matter and all generations thrive. And what's significant about that is that you know you notice that word small town character is identified actually in both the mission statement and the vision statement. I think that's actually a critical statement for from from where I sit as a person who tries to put these plans together is that what you've identified as board members and as as town department heads and leaders in the community is that the small town character is very very important to what the town of Brentham is all about. People move here for a reason and being

being a small town community that provides great services is a reason why they're here for the most part. Next slide, please. So we we then move on to what we I refer to as as the core values. And they so these are individual words or statements that actually uh define what the work is that what goes into the work that that gets provided to that goes into providing the services in the town. And and and what it defines is is is the is the ability that we that we what drives the work that we want to provide as well as the fact that we uh we're actually proud of the things that we do and this is and and we and we stand and these are the kind of core values that we take when we actually think about the decisions that are made and what kind of services that we provide. So we are we we strive to be apparent to be transparent, accountable, professional, quality focused, responsive, fiscally responsible, collaborative and responsible stewards of of effectively taxpayers dollars. Next slide, please. So when we did the uh when we took the the the the two questionnaire processes, the one from the the select board and the one from the department heads, we actually we had a number of different responses, things that were identified as what was what were the things that were that you think are most important for the town to do. And a lot of a lot of things were identified by by individual departments is what was important in their department. But we what we tried to focus on are the things that were actually most important from a community communitywide basis. And what we did was effectively come down excuse me to eight key outcome areas. And these outcome areas are defined as governance and communication, facilities and capital infrastructure, budget and

fiscal health, personnel, staffing and culture, technology and innovation, housing options, economic development and performance account performance and accountability. So these there there are actually eight different actually very significantly different types of outcome areas but there are very there are several priorities that are listed underneath each one of those areas and let we go we go into how we define the key the key outcome areas in the next few slides. You can move on the next slide please. So the first is the is the governance and communication priorities and the and the the definition of governance and community priorities is um is the process of enhancing the delivery of public services. Uh let me see just okay just want to move this over here. Uh process of enhancing the public delivery of public services by improving internal and external communication capabilities. This is accomplished through increased community outreach and engagement, proactive and internal communication leading to the strengthening of inter interdep departmental coordination and taking all necessary steps to ensure transparency and accountability in the town's actions. A strong emphasis is placed on professionalism and all interactions with our with our customers. Now, I'm not going to list the individual areas for the short-term, midterm, and long term. Those are actually they all speak for themselves. But I think what's important here is that we've taken these individual priorities and and I and it's interesting to note as I was listening to your me our meeting tonight a few minutes ago, you actually you actually were focusing on how you communicate and and and talk to different boards and and uh and the community itself. And I I appreciate the you're effectively taking the steps of the plan is and putting it to work even before the plan is actually delivered to you. So I appreciate that a lot. So I hopefully uh we've actually struck a few cords with everybody.

Bill, we were trying to get some brownie points with you. So there you go. Well, you scored some. So there you go.

Uh the next next slide, please. Next slide. There we go. Um so next one is budget and fiscal health priorities. The town is committed to operating fiscally financially responsible with strong emphasis on long-term sustainability. This includes consistently identifying new and realistic funding pathways with supporting operational needs to the greatest extent possible, remaining fiscally nimble by addressing by both short and long-term funding needs for the community while always remaining focused on being strong stewards of the taxpayers's dollars. I mean, that's about as uh as financially responsible statement as you can make. And by the way, what's what's important about having this kind of a plan is that it's noted that and and congratulations for doing this is that each year uh the the the community has been actually in the in in uh in contention to receive the GFO budget award. And the GFOA loves statements like this. They just when they and not only you know the other the other agency who loves this is companies like Stand and Pores who does your bond rating. They want to see that you've actually taken the time to to put a professional twist on all the work that you do and you basically are not afraid to come out and state it to everybody who's wants to listen to it. That's really really critically important and it and it speaks well to the professional organization that you currently have. Next, next slide please. Uh the next one was personnel and culture and staffing priorities. Now, this one's we we got a lot of responses from the various department heads indicating that they really would like to uh that a lot of folks think that we could actually use some additional staffing help in various departments, but it was difficult to actually make those decisions absent any kind of a staffing plan, a strategic staffing plan that you kind

that you that that really not is not in place at this time. However, the process of maintaining highquality services in the community but by defining a staffing plan that is both efficient and realistic towards supporting daily operations is important. This includes strong emphasis on best practices and recruitment, hiring and retention, a high level focus on staff training and professional development leading to strategic alignment with succession plan. This is a actually a very critical area for all cities and towns right now because there there is a challenge in in filling positions in government in it in and of itself. Um but more importantly that there needs to be a more of a focus on professional development within the organizations so that you can actually have your own succession plan for each one of the positions that you currently have. Um that means that anybody who's who's aspires to to grow in an organization can actually do some professional training and actually and then follow along in development of those individuals so that they can actually be in a position someday to compete for those positions when they become vacant. And I I strongly encourage every city in town to take that approach because it's difficult to reach outside the organization and bring someone in with a with a skill set many times uh that that is that that that aligns quickly with the with the needs of the organization. So I um it's there are times when that's appropriate but more often than not there are times when it's really import it's more important to actually develop people internally and hope that hope that you don't have to look outside the organization to do that. All right. Next slide please. Um technology is again another very important area and this is where the organization as a whole really wanted to focus on innovation innovation priorities. This is an organization that's committed towards being technologically innovatively driven in our in our work. We consistently utilize technology to enhance work efficiency

and for the development of transparent information to the benefit of the public. uh this requires continuously modernizing software and hardware. We recognize the benefit of pursuing the use of artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and to further pursue the alignment of internal systems. Now I don't I don't think I need to tell many folks that that how important AI is becoming and it's really important that we've acknowledged it here and it's part of the the overall uh thinking and and strategic considerations of how technology is going to be provided to cities to to the to the community overall going forward. So this uh this plan includes and and acknowledges that and actually has a way to address it going forward. Next slide please. Then the next one, next important one was housing options. I think we all know how important housing is as as a for each community around Massachusetts and how and how and how u housing has become very expensive and it's challenging for for communities that to actually have options for for the individuals within the community to grow and to stay in the community to to cons for the for the long term. Uh but here in in Retum you are you achieve you you are achieved by by housing options are achieved by encouraging housing development that that exhibits controlled and reasonable growth. You strive to try to balance the town's housing needs with existing conservation plans. So in other words, you're not just growing halfhazardly. You're you're actually considering that very seriously. Um, you support this the housing plans that do not overburden town services and you respect the small town nature of the community which was acknowledged several times in previous slides. You also acknowledge the need to develop long range housing options for for both elder and younger segments of the population. Uh, and that goes without saying and I think it's really critical that it's it gets acknowledged

as part of your strategic plan. Next slide please. Uh, the next is economic development priorities. The town is committed to strengthening its tax base for the purpose of providing financial resources to support highquality service for the community. This includes pursuing new developments that will sustain sustain that that will be sustainable over the long term. Uh you you have a strategic focus on route one corridor development downtown revitalization and you support support small businesses. Uh clearly um the biggest taxpayer in the community is um is the is the mall is the uh is the is the um is is the is the uh RTM village um which is actually provides a significant amount of economic support for the community and um it's a great uh business to have in town but you also you're looking at other areas along Route One now to see is as as that area starts to evolve. I think what you know, one of the things that will have to be looked at is, you know, the the the the development of infrastructure capacity that will help develop Route One in a way that makes sense. But it's there's a lot of open land along that area and it's an opportunity that has to be looked at going forward, particularly as part of the vision the visionary visionary piece of the plan that we've that we've that we've outlined here. Next slide, please. And this is the this is the last of the priorities, but a very important one. This is a commitment to to per to performing the organization's duties and responsibilities through a datadriven decision-making process. This includes measuring services quality measuring service quality by establishing clear and definable benchmarks and by utilizing municipally based key performance indicators otherwise known as KPIs to measure our performance across all department. So, um, it's not only a commitment that that we want to do the work right, but we're al also willing to actually measure our performance through data data driven

decision-m uh items. So, we in other words, what we want to do is take a look at other what other communities are doing in terms of body measurements for this type of work, the type of work in municipalities and look for that look for ways that can actually be used uh to develop key performance indicators. So those meas those are measurements that will be considered throughout the year and I think this is a really important uh document in that regard. So as as will be a will be a good perform performance indicator for the budget itself and actually could be used as a budget planning document uh utilizing the the performance indicators in each department. Next slide please. So to sort of wrap things up, the the what what I I I made a a key uh fairly bold statement here by saying, you know, work the plan. So now that you have a plan, uh what would what I encourage you to do is to work that plan. So that as as the plan has been presented to the town, CSS respects and this is that's the firm that we that is is the firm that I represent respected the board's desire to focus on short and long-term priorities with the longest term for a priority to be two to three years. that was that the board the board's desire and I think that was done you know obviously very purposefully um because obviously the terms of of office are are in the in the two to three or four range um in in terms of what you do but also it it is it also provides realistic assignments and priorities so that it can be so you actually will see some real things get done based upon that timeline. Sometimes when you put timelines out 5 10 15 years they say sound like good ideas but more often than not they get they get lost in other priorities that get that come in their place. This is a a having them in the two threeyear uh priority range is actually a very workable approach that you that you've adopted here. So each

each priority you will will be assigned to someone or group of individuals. I actually uh define that in the plan itself uh which uh which I I I encourage you to read and and to look at and and determine if if certain pieces certain assignments can be moved around or should be or should be changed uh altogether. Uh but it should be reviewed annually. So it's a working document. So I that's why I say work the plan means that you can actually change it as as if necessary. uh but as things roll off as as things get completed you can you can you can pop in new new priorities so to be looked at uh for the next year uh but but really what's important here and this should be reviewed annually is that what this is is a perfectly uh perfectly is a very important budget document budget planning document and so I do encourage you to do this do the review the plan annually prior to developing the budget to make sure you you everyone sees particularly the community as a that you're making progress in what you said you said said you were going to do and separate set of priorities. So u in regard to assigned responsibilities the plan got to place assigning a priorities to individuals or groups of individuals to to get that work done. The assignment means that they are the ones responsible to complete the work associated with that particular priority and then report back to the to the town at as to what they've done. You want to evaluate by annually and annually uh a progress to review. It should be conducted prior to the start of the next budget planning cycle to determine how the work is being progressing for each uh for each priority. And and then finally the prior to review is assignments get completed or in the process in the if the process if the progress on the priority is delayed or or any unforeseeable reason the town as part of the bannual annual review process can can should actually determine if the property should be revisited. And I think that's important because uh sometimes things happen and

it's just not achieve a achievable during that during that time frame. So you can either push it out or you can rep prioritize something else should be considered until that situation uh revenues itself and gets repaired over the over the over the coming months and years. So uh next slide please. I do believe that's it uh for Yes, it is. So, so that's the that's the summary uh sort of the executive level summary of what what you've done during the past four months.

Grateful for the work that you've all done and the fact that you've really been engaged in this process because um this is your plan. It's not my plan. It's your plan. I just have actually helped you get there. But you it's all based on your work and and what's important to the town of Retham and it's been a pleasure working with all of you to try and achieve that. So, thank you, Mr. channel. I'll turn it back to you.

Thank you. Thank you very much for that. Uh I want to thank you as well uh for all the hard work that you put into meeting with us, meeting with all the department heads, um and getting to this point where we're at today. Um you know, as we've said to you, uh the strategic plan is very important to us because it encompasses our goals and objectives and those are the things that we kind of charge Mike King with, you know, in in everything that he does. uh you know, his budget directive, um you know, all of the things that we ask him to accomplish every year. Um, so Mike, I I know we've already discussed this, but uh my my two cents obviously before we turn it over to the other board members, you know, per our conversations and per the board's conversations, we want to make sure that we continue to implement this into our annual review of all of our goals and and strategic uh objectives, you know, uh and make sure, you know, before, like Bill said, before we roll out the budget initiative, we make sure that we review this annually bianually um to see how we're doing and then make adjustments as needed. Um and I think this is going to serve this board and hopefully many many many more boards after us to come. Um so with that being said, uh thank you Bill. I'd like to turn it over to the other select board members for questions, comments, concerns. That will start with selectoman Rose. You're on mute. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Bill, I just want to thank you for summarizing and incorporating all of our thoughts and processes during this this uh project planning. Um you did a great job really getting into what was important to us and uh putting that together in a great understandable document. So, thank you for your time and efforts with it.

No, you're quite welcome. Thank you. Sorry, that was my fault. I was thinking someone else was go uh select Anderson. Thank you. Yeah. So, Bill, um I just want to thank you and your team for uh helping the town of Ranthm put this document together. Um reading through this document. There's a lot of good stuff in there. I'm looking forward to hopefully um with my fellow board members and uh our town officials is you know implementing some of this stuff and uh making sure the town continues to grow and move forward. So thank you again Bill. You're quite welcome. Thank you Jim.

Uh Selectman Harrington. Thank you Mr. Chair. So, Bill, yeah, you you know, you made the process very easy, very workable. Your explanations as to, you know, where we were going and what we were doing, you know, certainly made the process a lot pretty efficient and very fluid. Uh, it's a great document. I, you know, I look forward to working with it with our select board and town employees. Great. Thank you, sir. Thank you, uh, Select Lamoth. Bill, thank you very much. The you set the gu guard rails uh for us to work within and uh a great vision that the team has put together. So, thank you. Thank you.

Great. Mike King, do you have anything to add? So, I'll just reiterate if the any select board members have further comments or something that they see that they think needs to be adjusted to send an email to Mr. Keegan, um Chairman Gallow, and myself. Um and the intention would be um barring any major overhauls that are proposed um to adopt the strategic plan at the next select board meeting. Great.

Sounds sounds fantastic. So please get those emails uh over to us u when you can board members um so that we can uh be ready to adopt at the next meeting if possible. Uh at this time if there's no further discussion again thank you Bill and your team. I'd like to turn the meeting back over to uh town manager King uh for his town manager report. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, yes. Would you like me to do my town manager report before public comment?

No, you know what? You're right. I crossed I'm getting ahead of myself here. I crossed out public comment before uh I gave an opportunity. So, let me back up. I apologize. Thank you for keeping me in line. Before we get to the town manager report, we are going to do public comment as we always do. Uh residents who wish to participate in public comment will be allotted two minutes to speak and must state their name and address for the record. At the start of comment, a timer will be sent via messenger from Amanda Vasipo. It should be visible on top of the screen and an alarm will chime in when the town time is up. Uh please, anyone would like to make a comment, go right ahead. Give it a couple of seconds here. 5 4 3 2 one. Okay, Mr. King. Back to you for town manager report.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a few updates for the the board this evening. I'd like to start with the FY27 budget. Um, as a reminder, departmental budgets are due February 2nd. We're still early on in the budget process. Um, but we've had some favorable information on on some of our fixed costs, um, property liability and workers comp insurance. Um, have some favorable renewal rates. Um, as well as we got information on a low assessment for the Norfol County retirement system. Um, in terms of fixed costs, our our biggest budget driver in that regard is is usually health insurance. Um, we don't have that number as of yet. We will be receiving that later in February when the rates are set. Um, additionally, um, one update that I have in terms of the FY27 budget, um, it involves Tri County. U it, it did receive its excess independency certification, which is the regional school district equivalent of free cash. Um, it was greater than 5% of its operating budget, which results in a reduction in FY27 member assessments um, to towns that are a member of the Tri County system. Um so that means there's going to be about $1.3 million that will be used to lower the assessment of member towns which um is favorable for us for budgeting purposes.

I have a further update on the MVP 2.0. Um so we had our kickoff meeting last week with the MVP 2.0 core team um on developing an update to the town's 2018 mun municipal vulnerability preparedness plan. Um, attendees included representatives from town departments as well as town residents who applied to be community ambassadors. Uh, they provide local perspectives and outreach for the project. Um, updating the MVP plan will position Refam to apply for grant funding. Um, this can be for culverts, dams, and storm water infrastructure in particular. Um, in addition, by updating its plan, Retham is guaranteed seed funding of $50,000 for a locally selected project. Uh I have an additional update on the World Cup working group. Um on J January 7th we had our World Cup working group kickoff meeting uh where there was significant discussion surrounding public safety impacts of the World Cup events as well as how the town can cons can support the business community. Um during this time the the working group will meet regularly in advance of the games including tomorrow we have our next meeting um where one of the topics of focus will be outreach to the local business community on possible opportunities as well as what the impacts could be in advance of the World Cup games. And my last update um today is the first day for the new to Norfolk town administrator. His name is Rob Gity. We wish him the best in his new role. I look forward to developing a relationship with Mr. Gity as a KP town partner and in working with him to strengthen some of the regional initiatives um such as the Metaccom Public Health Alliance and the Metaccom Emergency Communication Center where both Retham and Norfolk are members and that concludes my report.

Game day chili cheese sliders. Thank you. Uh

thank you Mr. King for that. We appreciate that. Uh, I would also just like to welcome the new town manager of Northfor. And I'd also welcome the opportunity, Mr. King, to, you know, have a welcome meeting at some point with, uh, yourself, the town manager, and maybe the select board chair of Norfork and and then maybe we could also do it with um, uh, invite Plainville as well. As our board knows, Rentham and Planeville town managers and select board chairs uh, have tried to develop a much stronger working relationship. We just understand that, you know, being, you know, the the KP towns, it's so important for us to have good working relationships. Um, and this started with Joe Boach, but he's passed it on to myself and the current chairman uh of the select board in Planeville, um, Mike, uh, M Kelly, Brian Kelly. Uh, and we've just, you know, really enjoyed getting to work more collaborative, and I hope that we can do the same thing with Norfor. I think it's only going to be a benefit uh to our residents and taxpayers. So, uh appreciate that update. Um thank you for all your updates. Does anyone have any questions or concerns uh for the town manager regarding his town manager report? Seeing none, we're going to move to the next and last agenda item, which is an executive se uh executive session pursuant to Mass General Law C3A21A. So at this time, the chair would detain a motion to enter into executive session pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 38 section 21A discussion of strategy with respect to litigation and only return to open session for the purposes of endurement.

So moved. Motion made by Selectman Harrington, second by Selectman Anderson. Any further discussion? Being none, we'll do a roll call vote. Select Selectoman Rouse. Yes. Selectman Anderson. Yes. Selectman Harrington. Harrington. Yes. Selectman Lamoth. Lamoth. Yes. Chris Gallow. Yes. Motion carries. 50. We're now in executive session. And with us we have attorney Matt Preventure, Town Council. Uh as everyone remembers