Select Board - Regular Meeting

Okay, time is now 6.30. We're going to call to order the Tuesday, September 15, 2026 Rentham Select Board meeting. We're located at the Joseph F. Botash II Conference Room here at Town Hall, 79 South Street. Public was also invited live or to join via Zoom. The instructions to join via Zoom are on the town's website. Meeting is now called to order, and I would like to hand it over to... Selectman Anderson, as we stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Selectman Anderson. OK. Let's go to tab number one, which are the announcements. I'm going to ask our clerk. Selectman Harrington to read the announcement.

The stage three water ban is in effect. Residents may engage in non-essential outdoor watering once per week on their regular trash collection day. Outdoor watering cannot occur between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Further information on restrictions and what is considered essential and non-essential water use can be found on the town website. The 2020 26-2027 Federal Council grant cycle is now open and will close on October 15th. Those interested may apply online and more information can be found on the town website. The Elderly and Disabled Tax Aid Committee is accepting applications for real estate tax assistance until October 15th. Applications are accepted at the Town Hall Assessor's Office, the Senior Center, or online via the town website. The Select Board is accepting nominations for the 19th Annual Voluntary Year Awards until October 22nd. Nominations can be submitted on the town website. The Rentham Department of Public Works Water Division will be flushing water mains and hyphens starting September 13th. This action will go for approximately five weeks as part of an ongoing preventive maintenance program to improve water quality. King Phillip High School invites the community to unite in remembrance to honor the lives lost on 9-11 at their own football game on September 18th at 6 p.m. Admission will be free for first responders and select board members. In-person voter registration will take place on Saturday, 10-24 for the state election on 11-3. Registration will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the town hall and the clerk's office on the second floor.

Excellent job. Oh, and just point of order for selecting Anderson. This time, let's go to tab number two, approval of the minutes in our packets. We have the September 1st, 2026 open session meeting minutes. And if there's no discussion. Chair will be looking for a motion to approve the September 1st, 2026 open session meeting minutes. Motion made by Selectman Anderson. Second. Second by Selectman Harrington. All in favor?

Aye.

Okay. So one, two, three. Yes. One abstention. Thank you very much. Tab number two. We will come back to tab number three in just a second. We have two minutes. So what I'd like to do, if everyone's okay, let's go to tab number four. And on tab number four, we have a special event application, Cracker Barrel Fair Fireworks on September 19th, which is this, is it the Saturday or the Sunday? The 19th, Saturday. It's my wife's birthday. I should know that. So documentation, special event permit application in our packet. Attendee, do we have Brett with us this evening?

Hey, good evening, everyone. Hi, Brett.

How are you this evening? Good evening.

I'm lovely. How are you all?

Fantastic. So Brett, we know this is a pretty standard thing. You know, lately when we've been doing fireworks as part of the fire department protocol, they've been asking for select board sign off, which we're okay with. If I'm not mistaken, this one's actually the fireworks are being shot off on town property at the Rice Complex. So Brett, do you mind just giving our board and whoever's listening just a really quick summary of what we're doing that evening?

Yeah, if you all are familiar with the Cracker Barrel Fair, it's an annual event that we put on for the residents of our facility. All of the funding that we use are by and large donations for the residents. And as part of the kind of finale or best ending that we can possibly offer to them as a state-owned facility, we just like to be able to get as many of the residents who are ambulatory or capable of being out there even out on their patios at their buildings to see the fireworks. And so a brief staging would occur over on the Rice Complex, and then we will have the event. And we encourage everyone in town to come by and enjoy, you know, participate with our community there as well.

That sounds great. Thank you for that quick summary. And again, just for the record, before this gets to our packets, this has already been through the formal review process. Department heads have signed off, the appropriate department heads, and clearly they have no issue or we wouldn't be at this point in front of us. So at this time, I'm going to open it up, Brett, to the select board members to see if anyone has any follow-up questions or comments, starting with select woman, Rouse.

No questions at this point.

Selectman Anderson?

No questions.

Selectman Harrington? No questions. None for me either. Mike King, do you have anything to add?

The only thing I'll add is there is construction going on at the rice company currently. We consulted with the general contractor at Diggers, and they have no issues with the safety taking place.

Fantastic. I appreciate that. So at this time, if there's no further discussion, CHEO would obtain a motion to approve the special event permit application to fireworks at Cracker Barrel Fair on September 19th, Saturday, 2026 at 9.30 p.m., pending good standing with public safety. So moved. Motion made by Selectman Harrington, second by Selectman Anderson. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? No. Motion carries 4-0. Okay.

Thank you all very much.

Thanks, Brett. We look forward to it. Thank you for all your hard work.

Hope to see you there. Thank you.

Okay. So this time, let's go back to tab three. It is past 635. Okay. So tab three. This is a public hearing. This is an amendment to water rules and regulations. In our packet, there's a public hearing notice. There's the proposed amended water rules and regulation verbiage. And there's a letter from Edgewood Development with us. Has the attendees changed at all, Mike?

This evening, it will be myself and the Department of Public Works.

Beautiful. Okay, so with us as attendees, we have Paul Scott, who we just met, Interim Director of Public Works. We have Chris Cassidy, who we know very well, Assistant Director of Public Works. And of course, we have our time manager, Mike King. So at this time. Chair would entertain a motion to open the public hearing. So moved. Second. Motion made by Selectman Aniston, second by Selectwoman Rouse. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? No. Motion carries 4-0. Okay, next. Chair would entertain a motion to waive the reading of the public hearing notice. So moved.

Second.

Motion made by Selectman Aniston, second by Selectwoman Rouse. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? None. Motion carries 4-0. Okay, public hearings now open. Mike, would you like to start things off?

I would. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So to bring an overview before the select board this evening, our proposed amendments to the town's water rules and regulations regarding the timing of system demand fee collections. So these system demand fees address the additional capital costs associated with adding new users to the water system. So currently system demand fees are collected when a water permit is applied for, which can result in fees being paid years before a home is actually connected in larger developments. The proposed change would instead collect the fee at the time of certificate of occupancy is obtained, better aligning the payment for when the property actually connects and utilizes the town's water system. This approach is similar to actually the town's prior practice. The process was changed roughly a decade ago to simplify fee tracking, but online permitting now allows the town to effectively track fees throughout a construction process. When there was paper before, there was a little bit more concern HAB-Jacques Juilland, about tracking stuff down the road over a period of years, but with online permanent you know it's really simplified that so you know just to wrap it up. HAB-Jacques Juilland, The proposed amendments for developed collaboratively with the dpw the town building Commissioner director of planning and myself and have been reviewed and approved by town council great.

And just to make sure we clarify, no one is suggesting that we don't get the fees. We're just suggesting that possibly from a cash flow perspective, we might be kind of easing a larger developer or a larger development's cost restraints up front, having to really input a lot of cash up front as opposed to throughout the project. And in your opinion now with our online permitting system and the technology that we've been able to implement, there's really a lot less likely of a chance of us not being able to realize those fees, if I'm not mistaken. Absolutely. Okay. I do want to open it up to the DPW representatives. Would you like to start?

Sure. But the fees considered for the system demand are... quite popular among many, many communities in Massachusetts and around the country. And these fees are important as the system has to grow to meet the demand of those new users. However, larger developments such as the one that sparked this conversation, it makes more sense for all of us to collect those fees and tie them to a document That's a very key document in securing funding to close on. So it helps a little bit more, gives us a little more guarantee that we can collect those fees at that time. And as Mike said, with the online permitting, everything can be tracked so much easier. So we're all for it. Great. Chris, do you have anything yet?

Actually, I don't. Between Paul, Mike, and yourself, and Jim, and you all, You're right in line with the entire thought process here.

Excellent. So at this time, I'm going to open it up to the board members to see if anyone has any questions for anybody in attendance here, Mike King, Paul, or Chris Cassidy, WL Stock, just because he's to my right, Jim Anderson.

Yeah, no, I think the policy makes sense. And I support that.

Okay.

Select one, Ralph. Yeah, same, no questions.

Bill, sorry, Selectman Harrington.

No, you missed it. It seems to align it more with the... closing in the house so that you're guaranteed payment because you can't get an occupancy permit unless something's paid for, right?

That's it. Quite personally, I also think it would help balance out our cash flow. instead of having a huge development say it's 100 units pay that fee one year and then not get any more residual fees when the other units come online. I think it balances our cash flow out as well. So I personally don't have any issue with this. Being a public hearing, we're going to open it up to any members of the public who are here. We'll start with anyone in person just because it's easier for me to manage. Anyone have any comments from the public about this? Seeing none, anybody online? Would anyone like to make a comment online? Raise your hand. Seeing none. Okay. Chair, I would like to take a motion to close the public hearing. Motion made by Selectman Anderson. Is there a second? Second by Selectwoman Rouse. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? No. Motion carries 4-0. And now... Uh, the chair to detain a motion to approve the amendments to the rent thems water rules and regulations as presented. So is there a motion made by select Madison? Is there a second by second one Rouse? Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries for zero. Excellent job, everybody. Okay. Um, now we did that. Oh, no, we didn't. Let's go to tab number five. Okay, tab number five. Tab number five is a special one-day alcohol license application. This is a fall beer and garden and harvest tween at White Barn Farm. We have some dates here in parentheses, September 19th, September 26th, October 3rd, October 10th, October 17th, October 24th. In our packets, we have a special one-day alcohol license application for those dates that I just mentioned, 9-19, 9-26, 10-3, 10-10, 10-24. And a special one-day alcohol license application for 10-17. Why is that one different?

There's a Your garden series taking place on Saturdays. That's one motion. And then they're doing a special harvest. We mean event, which is a statue.

All right. Excellent. Thank you for clarification with attendees. We could have Jessica Johnson and Chris can't Leonard. I see Chris here. Hi, Jessica. Can you hear us?

Yes. Can you hear me?

How are you? I'm here, yeah. This is Jessica. She's taking over events at White Barn Farm. Sorry.

No, you're good.

And so I wanted to introduce her. She's taking over Katie's role, who's been at these before. This is Jessica. If you have any questions, you can ask her right now. But she's taking over events at White Barn Farm.

Awesome. Thank you, Chris. Good to see you. Hi, Jessica. How are you tonight? I'm doing great. So we have pretty detailed information in our packet. Uh, we always give the applicant an opportunity to address the board. Uh, just, is there anything else we should know about this event or series of events?

Uh, the only thing on my end would be that this is the final, um, so this would be our last ones of the season. So I think we tried our hardest this year to get in at least, um, you know, as many as we can in each meeting. Hopefully next year we'll be talking about this in like February or March when we have kind of our whole season planned out a little bit earlier.

Yeah, Chris, notably way more organized, and we appreciate that. It makes our job a tiny bit easier, and it makes it so that we potentially don't miss one of these events. So we appreciate all the work you're doing. Jessica, welcome aboard. And just to make sure everyone either here or on Zoom knows, once again, before these type of applications come to this board, They've already gone through the online permitting process with the town. They've already gone through all the department heads, public safety, police, fire, DPW, et cetera. And I believe there's also, yeah, there's also verbiage in our motion that protects us as well. So without, if there's no more information that you guys want to share with us, I'm going to open it up to the board members to see if anyone has any questions or comments.

Jim Anderson. Yeah. So I've been to some of those events that went by and found they're always well-organized. So it was a good time. So I don't have any questions.

Great. I would concur. Michelle? No further questions. Bill? No further questions. Okay. So, Mike, and if I'm reading this correctly, if both applications are approved, White Barn Farm will have obtained 15 special one-day alcohol licenses in 2026, and they have one more remaining?

So there's a 16 cap. Okay. So bring in the 15, so they're well-informed.

Until 2027. They reset January 1st. So, Chris, you got one more, buddy.

Okay. You may see us again then.

All right.

Sorry. We must have did our math wrong. I think there was a rain out. That's probably what happened.

Now that I think about it. I'm happy I could give you some good news.

Yeah. Nice.

So at this time, the chair would entertain a motion. We're going to do two separate motions, okay? So at this time, chair would entertain a motion to approve the special one-day alcohol license application for White Barn Farms Fall Beer Garden Series to take place on 9-19, 9-26, 10-3, 10-10, and 10-24, pending good standing with the Board of Health, Building Inspector, and Public Safety. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Motion made by Selectman Harrington, second by Selectman Anderson. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? No. Motion carries 4-0. Thank you. Hold on, we've got one more. At this time, Chioda detained a motion to approve the special one-day alcohol license application for White Barn Farms Harvest Tween Festival to take place on 10-17. Pending good standing with Board of Health, Building Inspector, and Public Safety.

Second.

Motion made by Select Naneson, second by Selectwoman Rouse. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries 4-0. Congratulations.

Thanks, guys. We'll see you there. It's Saturdays, 12 to 6.

All right. Sounds good. Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. Yep. Bye. Okay. Okay. This actually works out well. I know Liz Harkins has to get off sooner than later. So let's go to tab number six. Tab number six. is an update from Rentham Community Media. We have documentation in our packet, everybody, from Liz Harkins. I know we just got this today. I'm not sure if you had time to read it. If not, we'll ask Liz to give us a quick summary. Liz, are you with us?

I am. Don't you worry. I wanted to make sure you had something just tangible in front of you to review, but I'm going to go over all these points right now.

Hold on. We just want to welcome you to the meeting, say appreciate all your hard work, And as we discussed before, although we don't have a select board member sitting on your board, we do welcome you anytime that you feel like we need an update and we love getting updates from you. So that's kind of the premise behind this agenda item. And at this point, Liz, we're gonna turn it over to you. Welcome to the meeting and the floor is yours.

Thanks so much. Well, thank you all for the opportunity to speak tonight. I wanted to give a brief overview of where Run the Community Media stands today financially, legislatively and operationally, and what we're doing right now to make sure we continue to serve the community. The reality is that our current funding model is not sustainable long term. Despite reducing expenses, increasing efficiencies and making changes to our operation, we are continuing to operate with a structural deficit. We are being very careful with resources we have, but there is a limit to how much we can reduce expenses without eventually affecting the amount of quality and programming of programming and services we do provide the community. At the same time, the demand of what we continue to do grows, which is a great thing. We are producing programming all over town, covering community events, government meetings, such as this one. We're actually covering it right now for those at home. expanding community engagement and developing new opportunities for students and residents. So the challenge is not the lack of activity or community need. The challenge is making sure that our funding model keeps pace with the need. So where does legislation stand? As I promised, I wanted to make sure I gave updates regarding legislation. PEG funding legislation remains an important part of the larger picture. We continue to follow and advocate for H.91 and S.2556. which could significantly impact the future funding model for PEG. Unfortunately, the session has closed. So unless this passes during informal session, we unfortunately have to go back to it. And I'm working with MassAccess's legislative board right now to determine our tact moving forward. Um, uh, John Moschino has been really leading that charge and, and frankly, she has been a huge advocate for peg stations and we, we absolutely appreciate her support. Um, but, uh, I, I throw this out there as far as, as we reinvigorate our approach this next time around, if there's any suggestions as far as, uh, someone, uh, you know, at the house, you know, that we can really talk to, um, that can help, um, drive this mission. We're always looking for other support and other avenues as well. Marcus Vaughn is in support of this as well. So we have been working with Marcus and a number of other representatives. We had quite a number of sign-ons this time around. Why it didn't reach the floor? is really, it's a lot of the verbiage and the jargon people want to reread and read through again. And it did not go into a study this time around, which means better things. And I still have hope that things will head in a more positive direction. From my perspective, it is very much a matter of time when this will happen, not if it will happen. But unfortunately, the timelines that are in front of us are really, we just don't have those timelines just yet, unfortunately. We have not been sitting still currently. We have already taken significant steps to reduce expenses at Rent the Community Media and make our operation more sustainable. We have reduced staffing expenses, including my transition, which is part of my announcement here. My transition has gone from a full-time role to a part-time role to help sustain our staffing potential. I did not want to see our coverage and our momentum and everything that our staff has really put forth. I didn't want to see that step back. So the big number that I could figure that we could effectively manage what we want to still continue to serve our community was me stepping down to more of a More of a, again, a part-time role up to roughly about 20 hours, unless that is needed of me more so. I have transitioned to a full-time opportunity at Franklin TV. So I'm the executive director over at Franklin TV currently. And my goal is to continue to serve my community, my hometown of Rentham, to the best of my ability for as long as possible and to find avenues to continue to sustain our growth. We have become much more deliberate in prioritizing the work and using available staff and volunteers and resources efficiently. We continue to rely heavily on volunteers and community participation. So if anybody's tuning in, looking for some philanthropic endeavors, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. We're always looking for people to collaborate with, to learn fundamental skills in multimedia production and really just be part of a great team. We have a great team here at Rentham and we continue to pride ourselves on that. We are expanding our internship program, creating additional opportunities for students to gain real world experiences while also strengthening our capacity. You'll see Ben Braden out in the community may have seen them at run them day. You'll also see individuals like Daughtry who. operates behind the scenes. But if you go to our website and you go to that big wish list item of our programming and you go click on public educational government or the HD channel, you'll see a very dynamic program schedule right in front of you listing exactly the times that your program is either live or your program is running. And that goes for all the content that we produce. It's a really a great feature ad that we've worked really hard to produce. And Daughtry at the high school is a brilliant mind who's been able to develop coding to establish that workflow. We continue to look for sponsorship opportunities, underrating opportunities, fundraising partnerships, and other revenue opportunities. Currently, I am applying for the Cultural Council grant in hopes that that can help a little bit on that front, as well as some other grant opportunities. We have continued producing programming and covering community events despite our financial constraints. And these changes have helped us manage the immediate financial picture, but they're not a permanent solution to a structural funding issue. So lastly, where do we go from here? I don't believe it's all doom and gloom. I really don't want to think that way. In fact, there's a lot happening at Rentham Community Media that demonstrates why the organization matters. Our community continues to use our services. Our programming continues. Our internship program is growing. We are finding new ways to engage residents and provide opportunities for students and volunteers. And we have also recently been recognized as the 2026 NPO of the Year through Acquisition International and 2026 and 2027 Community Broadcast Initiative of the Year through Corporate Live Wire Global Awards, which is a tremendous acknowledgement of the work being done here. What we need now is a broader conversation about sustainability. That could mean looking at a combination of approaches, municipal support, partnerships. I hate the word regionalization, but regional collaboration, I think is a better term. Grant sponsorships, fundraising, and earning revenue and other opportunities we may not have considered yet. The goal isn't simply to cut our way to sustainability. The goal is to build a funding model, an operation model that allows us to continue producing and serving Rentham for the long term. We've demonstrated that we can accomplish a lot with limited resources. Now we need to determine what resources we need to continue doing it. um so thank you i really appreciate the board's time just hearing you know where we are and what we're doing and and what we're hoping to continue to do um and now we're our board is currently uh looking at avenues as far as how we can again create a that sustainable model we're looking for

Great. Thank you, Liz, for the update. I just want to say that you and your team have always impressed me. You've always been professional. You know, every event that I go to as a selectman and there are a lot of them, I'm always greeted by someone from your team. We were just at a swearing in for the police department. And who was there? Of course, I'm going to forget it. Ross. Awesome guy. Great job. you know, all the team members are just top notch. So I would concur your sentiments about yourself and include you in that as well. I am sad to hear that we don't have you full-time anymore. So that's a little bit depressing, but I am happy for you. I think you said you took a full-time opportunity in Franklin, next door in Franklin. Okay. So we're sad to lose you full-time, but we're happy to keep you part-time And again, I can't speak enough about the level of, you know, just the quality of the work, the upgrades that I've seen on the website, the content since you've been at the helm, you know, and you continue to build that team mentality. So I just want to give you a little accolade on that. So thank you for all your hard work. I do want to open it up to the board to see if anyone else has any questions or comments for you, starting with Selectman Anderson.

Hey, Liz, how you doing? Good to see you. Good. Good for you. So quick question. What are the current revenue streams now?

So currently how we're funded is still through franchise funding through Verizon and Comcast. We get the full 5% from each of the cable providers. And we currently do a lot of fundraising, which I'm glad you asked, because we currently are pushing our next Home for the Holidays event. It is scheduled for December 22nd. We have quite a number of individuals who are helping with our efforts this year. The original Congregational Church is actually going to be hosting it at their location. So we're inviting all of the community to come out that day, not only to help support Rentham Community Media, but to support the culture, the atmosphere, the holiday season. I know I'm a little early on that, but it's never too early to start planning. And that event in itself is one of our big fundraising events that we host annually. Some other initiatives that we have is grant writing. I'm working with a number of grant writers to submit certain grants out there that are pertinent to our efforts. One specific arts and culture grant would actually be a grant that would fund a museum display in our organization, which is why we've retained a number of our old cameras and some old gear to show progression of technology at our facility. So those are some of the avenues we've gone. We do get some donations and we also open up our paywalls through a sponsorship opportunity that route. So we've had community members, for example, the Rentham Youth Softball and Baseball League asked us to cover Friday Night Lights, but keep the paywall down. So they actually funded the effort to take our paywalls down in order for that to be disseminated out to the community live. So we're trying to think tactfully, but we are always open to suggestion and other ideas that we may not have, again, already thought of.

So Liz, what's your current budget now? And what's the goal you're trying to reach?

Currently, we operate right around 230,000 annually. What our goal is, is to reach a 300,000 annually so that we can not be living paycheck to paycheck, if that makes sense. So we really, right now, we're breaking... we are operating in a deficit. We're basically eating away at what is left in our revenue pool, so to speak. And with the franchise funding that we have coming in, it's really what's sustaining us month to month.

Okay, thank you. No other questions. Good questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hi, Liz. Nice to see you. I echo Mr. Chair's sentiments about our loss to going to Franklin, but so happy that you are staying with us for a little bit. I think that, you know, just a comment in terms of sharing this information in this meeting is so helpful for the community and residents to really understand because you guys are everywhere and you do service so many of us in town. And I think the more outreach we could do, if that means you going to different board meetings or commission meetings, committee meetings, and sharing this information and message and educating individuals about the financial implications that are happening and how that's affecting you and your team. I think it's going to be so critical during this time too. So any way that we can assist with that outreach, I'm happy to, to participate.

Absolutely. Thank you, Michelle. I'll definitely reach out to you and see how I can best coordinate that. Okay. Thanks. Thank you.

So nice to see you, Liz. Thank you for staying on. Obviously that's a pretty tall task to take a full-time position over in Franklin and continue to run, um, Obviously, you're going to continue to run Brentham Community Cable. And the budget is not quite that outrageous as I thought it would be to run it. But the regionalization is something that I think you should definitely look into. We've been doing quite a bit of tri-town merging with different boards and departments in an effort to save some funds. And I'm curious if that would work for you with Norfolk and possibly Plainville.

Yeah, it's definitely something that I have been tackling for a couple of years. Unfortunately, North TV was approached prior to my time here by Plainville. So North TV actually does operate all of Plainville operation, which is a real, real, it was disappointing to find out, but they are in good hands. Pete over in North TV is fantastic over there. And The sad thing there is that they started at 2% and in the past year, they actually up to 5% and that in my head is a good $150,000 loss that we could have incorporated into our operation considering the amount of costs. district coverage we do between our work with Unlikely and our work with the school system. So my effort pivoted over to the Norfolk NCTV access station and for a year we had collaborated on an effort and a mission to find a way to regionalize and kind of work more cohesively and find a mutually beneficial relationship since rent them community media in case people don't realize we program and broadcast all of the educational content through Norfolk as well. Norfolk only handles public and government. So from my perspective, I felt like they should be helping in some regards since they're funded for all public, educational and government. Sadly, the previous board after their chair was relieved of his duties, the board no longer was aligned with those efforts and that mission, and they did not like the numbers that were presented as far as what we thought would have been fair. So unfortunately, they lost their executive director. I currently believe they are under some form of new management because I have seen a bit more movement over there in terms of their social media presence and so forth and their activities going on at their facility. I have reached out to Mike King to see if we could coordinate an effort to speak with their new town manager to see what efforts we could work and collaborate on moving forward.

That's great. Absolutely. Very fiscally responsible. Thank you.

Absolutely.

All right, Liz. We appreciate everything. We appreciate the update. And, well, of course, we'll be in touch. And please let us know, like Michelle was saying, any of the fundraisers, any of the things you're doing. I think you know our board's very supportive. I think I was in the dunk tank last year for you guys, if I'm not mistaken. And I got dunked quite a bit, which is fine. Good for a good cause. Happy to do it. So please keep us posted, and we wish you the best.

Thank you so much. I appreciate everyone's time and I hope to see everyone in December and look forward to great things this year.

Thank you, Liz. Okay, moving on. We're going to go now, we're going to go to tab number seven. Tab number seven, as we got an update at our last select board meeting from Dr. Cameron from Rentham Public Schools. As always, we wanted to invite our regional school, King Phillip University, Dr. Richard Olay, superintendent, to also give us an update and talk about some things that are important to KP and some goals for this year. So at this time, I'd like to welcome Dr. Richard Olay, superintendent, to our meeting.

Thanks, Mr. Gallo. Can you hear me?

Again, I can see you. I can hear you. It's great.

Yeah. Next time I'll be there in person. I thought you were still mostly remote. So thank you.

We do both. But this one, we had a swearing in ceremony at the police station right next door. So we said, let's do a live meeting. And, you know, we change it up and try to keep you on your toes, Rich.

Well, thank you very much for including me and for welcoming me tonight to Mr. Gallo, all the members of the Select Board, Mr. King. And I wanted to just let you know with me here tonight from King Phillip Regional School District is Ms. Jill Brillant. Jill is the Director of Finance and Operations. So I asked her to come in case there are any questions about any of the financials. You're welcome, Jill.

Thank you.

So is it okay if I just kind of give a beginning of school update? Please. All right, thanks. So I just wanted to let you know we've had a great start to the school year. Just to highlight some positive things. Our high school recently received full accreditation from NEASC. That's New England Association of Schools and Colleges. So they did an extensive review and visit last year and we were granted full NEASC accreditation at our high school. I think Selectman Anderson mentioned this Friday night, we invite everyone to our first home KP football game of the year. All. First responders, veterans, also any select or town board members will receive free admission if you'd like to come to the game. Right at the beginning of the game before the national anthem, we're going to unveil Assistant Superintendent Colleen Terrell and I and a teacher at the middle school and an assistant principal at the high school have been working with some student leaders. So we're going to display a rock garden, red, white, and blue in the background. to look like the American flag as best as we can and have American flags around underneath the American flag and do a brief moment of silence and acknowledgement of our first responders and 9-11. So we also did an announcement at the schools at 8.46 a.m. this past Friday. So thank you for inviting me to that ceremony this past Friday. I was with the students in the schools. And so that's going to be something that we are looking forward to. And that'll be right before the national anthem at the beginning of the game. Hopefully we get a first win. Mr. Gallo.

Let's make one suggestion. So I think this is a fantastic idea. I'm going to try to get there myself. But you do not need to let any Rentham Select board members in for free. We can pay. So you can tell anyone that identifies himself as a Rentham Select board member. Select McGowan said you could pay double. How's that sound?

All right.

But it sounds great. This sounds awesome. Thank you for inviting us and the other the town select board members as well. The first responders. Sounds fantastic.

Thanks. I'll make sure to give a picture of you to the ticket people at the gate. Make you pay double. Sorry to interrupt.

Please proceed.

No, thank you very much. So I just wanted to mention that. We're bringing back parent-teacher conferences this year. I guess those went away a number of years ago. So we've worked with the teachers union. We'll be bringing those back this year. And we... We funded and added another full-time SRO this year, which was great because it was important for us to have a full-time SRO at our high school. Officer Schwalbe is great. I believe as a result of that, that benefited Rentham Elementary as well. So they have a full-time SRO. So that's something that we're proud of. uh to to make school safety as best as we can and um something will continue um the other things i wanted to talk about tonight i'm hopefully you have it in your packet if not i could share my screen i had sent to the tri-town managers mr king to share with the select and any other board members in town a memo about upcoming capital improvement projects. Is that something that you all have access to? We do. Yeah. Great. So I wanted to be able to go over that. Jill's with me as well to just talk about some upcoming important capital improvement items for us. So if I could just briefly go through these three and then if you have any questions. The first one, which would be the most expensive, is the roof replacement at both the middle school and the high school. KP Regional School District from E&D Funds has designated to pay for schematic design costs, $375,000. And MSBA would give us 51% reimbursement if this project is funded moving forward. We've been assigned next level OPM, and we're working with them now on schematic design. We've been told, I believe, by December 10th that they should be finished with the schematic design to the point where they submit to MSBA with real costs. At that time, we would share those with you as soon as we got them so that you would know what the real costs would be, which we would ultimately request for funding and a warrant article at the spring Tri-Town meetings. That would be the most expensive that would. And then most likely if that project moves forward, that would be done, not in the summer of 27 but in the summer of 28. The second item is the high school turf field and track replacement. The track is in dire need of replacement. The turf field is now 10 years old. These type of turf fields last 8 to 12 years old. So with the amount of use that we have, it's really ready for replacement. We also would look into some add alternates for if we wanted to upgrade lighting or add new bleachers or a new press box. So that's something that... Um, with school committee approval, we've designated, uh, funds and we're having, um, those schematic design costs. Um, now and so again, we should have real costs. Ahead of a spring town meeting and, um, you know, of course, that is not funded and we're also looking into tennis court, uh, replacement, um. Because those need to be redone as well. So we would share all of that information with you. Again, being a summer slammer, that wouldn't be until the summer of 28 when that work is done. Jill, did you want to say something, Ms. Brillant? Oh, sorry, I just said.

No.

And then the final thing, which is the least expensive, but, you know, maybe the most important in terms of school safety is, you know, as soon as I started at KP, I noticed the front entrance at the high school, the vestibule, as we call it, really could be improved. In the summer of 2023, they used remaining COVID monies to do this at the middle school. As you know, when you walk into the high school, once you get through those set of doors, it's kind of free reign to the high school. We trust that in the signage is to someone to kind of make a U-turn to check in and go to the main office. But it's a safety concern. I've talked with Chief McGrath about it. He was very helpful, by the way, in securing that additional SRO. So thank you to Chief McGrath and Mr. King for their collaboration on that. This is something we're paying $28,000 for schematic design costs for this fall. And we should have real numbers on that. If it's low enough, we would pay for that ourselves. But we do think it would probably be at least half a million dollars, which we wouldn't be able to afford most likely. And that's to connect, you know, people get buzzed in and get into that first set of doors. And then there's a transaction desk. And that transaction window connects to the main office with the main office secretaries. And then someone would go sit in the main office waiting for their meeting or whatever it may be during the school day. That's something that's important from a safety perspective. And so that's that third capital improvement item that could be done next summer. But they'd need to reconfigure the entrance and connect it to the main office. And then lastly, again, most likely at the Springtown meeting, our KP finance subcommittee has talked at length about wanting regional school districts can have special education or capital stabilization accounts. We do have E&D, which is like our free cash, but we don't have either of those other accounts. We do budget for special education out of district tuitions. I'm not sure if the elementaries do. They might take it year to year. But we're also looking likely in the spring. We got this through Norfolk in 2024, but we just haven't gotten it through Plainville or Rentham for an establishing a capital stabilization account. And that's just... the tri-towns would vote. And that would allow us to, if we have turn back monies, besides going into E&D, they could go into a capital stabilization account. That way, when projects come up, such as the vestibule, for example, if we had accumulated, let's say up to $500,000 to $700,000, that we could use those capital stabilization account funds. So that's another warrant um, article that could come before at Springtown meeting. Um, You know, in terms of teaching and learning, we've really been working on adding a lot of STEM courses. That stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the middle school and now starting at the high school and working on establishing pathways for students to start to take sequence of courses that might help with something they might be interested in pursuing in their future as well. So those are just some highlights. Obviously, the focus is on the capital improvement. items, but I just wanted to open it up for questions now. If any of you had questions about that memo in particular or about any of the capital items for KP.

All right. Thank you, Dr. Drillet. Let me go through the board members one by one, see if anybody has any questions or comments for you. I'm going to start with Selectman Anderson to my right. I think it was Chip.

Please call me Rich. Everyone, please call me Rich.

Okay, Rich. Wishing you a successful school year. I don't have anything specific tonight. I may wish we get some of the high numbers on these projects, but keep up the good work.

Thank you. And in the future, once we get those hard numbers, we'd be happy to come back or come. I could give an update at the fall town meeting, or we could bring the OPM or design teams to answer any questions as well. So we'll definitely be in touch in the future and I'll communicate directly through Mr. King. So, so thank you very much.

Perfect. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Rich, nice to see you.

You as well.

Welcome back to school. It's good to have everyone back in session. Absolutely. Just for clarification or education for me. So those three possible, um, projects could come at the same time. Are you thinking the same time for town meeting?

They could be definitely, um, with the MSBA involved the roof. Um, you know, I've, I've already given them the tentative dates of the three tri-town meetings and they said that should fall in line. Um, We'd have to definitely do it no later than springtown meetings because I think their 60- or 90-day window starts in February or March at a certain time. But they've confirmed those springtown meeting dates would work for the roof replacement projects. The turf field and track and the vestibule entrance at the high school, we also feel like those are – And, you know, should be should be, you know, done as soon as possible. The turf field really needs to be done, too. As you know, we have a great sports program and with the use we get at the high school and we only have one turf field. You know, some other high schools our size have two or even three. So that's very important. And we do, you know, we won't have the numbers in time to get a warrant article before the fall town meeting. So, you know, we do think the spring town meeting would be, you know, would be the most appropriate time.

And if either you or Mr. King can educate me, how is that done in terms of dividing between the tri-towns?

And Jill, either Mr. King or Jill's with me, too. In terms of the cost, correct me if I'm wrong, Jill, but there's the initial total and that when that goes out to bond, it's based on the percentage enrollment from the towns. And then let's say it was a 10 or 20 year bond annually. Right. once a year that can change based on the change in enrollment in the tri-towns. The assessment.

So similar to the budget that's done every year. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Just wanted clarification on that. No further questions.

Those are some good questions.

Selectman Harrington. Nice to see you, Rich. Timing-wise, I don't think you could possibly be coming in at a worse time for looking for big projects at our spring town meeting. Just want to share that with you, obviously. And one curious question on the entrance to the vestibule. We had done some window film, window treatment at the school, the elementary schools. Do you know if the outside exterior windows have been treated with that protective film?

I would have to check with our facilities manager, but my understanding is some but not all. So just in strategic locations, for example, the main office and certain doors, they might have that protective layer. But I could find out for sure and get back to you. I know not extensively.

No. And would it be included in this new upgrade plan?

Oh, so that's a good question. I would want to talk to the OPM about that. I would think so, especially with that front entrance. But that's something that we could ask for them to include in the scope and the price because they're just engaged in it now. Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you.

I think that's a good point on the bullet resistant or whatever it's called, ballistic. film.

Absolutely. And I'll also share too, I know there's never a good time to ask for money. I know that the new elementary school was recently approved, which is impressive being at that Springtown meeting, how it seemed unanimously approved. And what we're trying to do is prolong the life of our schools, the envelopes, the roof, and we don't foresee going for...

uh you know no schools anytime soon our buildings are older but they have been upgraded and maintained and we plan to continue to do that yeah absolutely thank you thanks great any uh any other comments mike king do you have anything to add before i let uh rich go uh i'll just add that i'll continue to work with dr gerlay in terms of coming up you know responding to these costs supplements because there's going to be a conversation Yeah, specifically with Rube, you know, we're talking about debt exclusion. Right. Some of these smaller projects can be used for free cash. Right. So working with him, just a lot more to the financing.

Right. And obviously collaboration with the other two towns as well. So, all right. Well, Rich, listen, thank you so much for taking some time to give us an update, you know, presenting the needs and the updates and the progress with us. We know you're going to have a great year this year and go KP.

Thank you very much. Go KP.

All right, you just went dark.

It's because I didn't move around. I'm in my office and the lights go off if I don't move around.

That was great. All right, Rich, have a good night.

Thank you.

Take care. That's fantastic. Let's go to, let's keep it moving. Let's go to tab number eight. So tab number eight is a finance committee update with chair Paul. Paul, I apologize if I'm going to butcher your name, but Malagrifa.

Malagrifa, that's right. Oh, Griffa. Sorry, I did butcher it.

That's okay. Paul, we appreciate all the hard work of the Finance Committee. And as you may have heard, this board has really put as one of our strategic goals, you know, we want to do a great job in increasing communication between our board and all of the boards and committees in town. Obviously, FinCon is a very important board. committee in our town. And this is not formal. We just wanted to invite you on, say hello, get an update from you. You know, let us know if there's anything that we could be doing to help you. And, you know, just kind of give you the floor for five or so minutes. And just thank you and your team, as I know it's a team, for all the hard work that you do for the residents of the community. So at this time, we'd like to welcome you to the meeting and turn the floor over to you, Paul.

Well, thank you very much. My Warm greetings to the select board and other members of the town that are in attendance. I appreciate being given an opportunity to, you know, spend a few minutes speaking. You know, the finance committee is a tight little group where right now we do have a full complement of seven, including, you know, myself. We've got some pretty dedicated folks, Kristen Andreozzi, Stephen Johnson, Joe Caggiano, Tim Rouse, Chase Ross, and Kevin Cavanaugh. very enthusiastic. You know, I think one of the things that would be helpful from a finance committee perspective would be a little bit more ability to review sort of the, get an insight into the budget process and get a little bit more insight into rather than just having a single presentation, almost engage in a little bit more of a discussion around that, just so that some of the members feel like we're actually fulfilling what we believe our responsibility is, which is to be sort of the eyes and the fiduciary eyes and ears of the town folk. So that we really have a good sense of kind of the financial health of the town. I think Mike does a fantastic job and has been incredibly inclusive. But I think if there was an opportunity to get a little bit more visibility, that might be a little bit more helpful. Otherwise, I think, you know, we've got a fairly, you know, a fairly crisp process that we use. And I think, like I said, the board, the finance committee, you know, has a very enthusiastic group of participants.

No, Paul, I appreciate you saying that. And of course, we can always look to, you know, we can always look to make sure that, you know, we're being as inclusive as possible. I will say, though, this came up, I don't know why this came up, but our finance committee, Mike, and maybe you can speak to this, is slightly different than other communities because of the fact that we actually have a strong town manager. And if I'm not mistaken, a lot of your responsibility, actually, I know I'm not mistaken, is the budget. So can you just kind of speak to that on how different FinComms and different other communities might have slightly different roles and responsibilities as opposed to us here in Rentham? But obviously we want to have collaboration as much as possible with that FinComm.

Yeah, so absolutely. So in many communities that may not have a town charter or a strong town manager, it's the FinComm that's actually putting together the budget. They are the primary group of individuals that are pulling together the document. The finance team is more of support for them in terms of assisting them through the process. They're sitting down and they're meeting with all the department heads and then deciding on how to best allocate those funds from the initial step rather than later on in our process where they're more of a recommendation. And so when the town went with a strong town manager form of government and adopted the charter, HAB-Jacques Juilland- responsibilities of developing the budget fell upon the town manager yeah as well as a formerly outline budget process. HAB-Jacques Juilland- So it's it starts with saying you know when the town manager is supposed to put out the initial call for departmental budgets yeah when the town manager has to submit a budget to the select board when the select board has to review and approve a budget. And then once the select board reviews and approves the budget to then submit it to the finance committee for their review and recommendation. So the town charter really outlines the process of how we budget in the town of Rathbone. With that being said, it's a great group. The finance committee, they've been a pleasure to work with. They ask really great questions and any opportunity we can do to continue to include them in a process. collaboratively, I think will only really strengthen the town's finances.

Yeah, I would concur with that. I would concur. I agree with everything you said. I also agree that we've got a very dedicated and highly intelligent group of FinCon members that I think provide an invaluable service to the taxpayers as checks and balances and seeing things that could have been missed or potential oversight. So I think, you know, Paul, to your point, we can always work on communication and that's a goal of this board. We're trying to be one of the most transparent boards in the town's history. Are we perfect? No. Do we make mistakes every single day? But we own up to them and then we move forward and try to learn from them. um so uh i think collaboration is a great thing exposure is a great thing um and we'll take that under advisement uh but you know if you don't have any major updates for us i'm just going to open it up to the different board members to see if anyone has any questions for you paul and absolutely send you on your way to enjoy those beautiful clouds and scenery uh that i see behind you thank you i'm going to start with selecting anderson to my right okay so paul is what no real questions just want to thank you and your committee members

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Paul, thank you and your committee for all your hard work. I may be biased in saying this, but I think it's one of my favorite committees with some of your members on it.

In case no one got that, her husband served on the list. A lot of questions. Anything else, Michelle?

Selectman Harrington. Good to see you, Paul. Being a previous member on your board, I felt it was rewarding on my time there. I know you guys do work hard to participate and get it done. I appreciate what you guys do. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Great, Paul. Keep up the good work. Let us know if you need anything from us and we'll see you soon, especially at the next town meeting.

Absolutely. Thank you.

Okay. Moving forward. Next agenda item. This is an automated surveillance technology discussion with us. We have resident Michael Smith. Mike, do you want to feel free to come up as well as chief McGrath with us as well. So just to paint a little bit of background here, the board was, uh, notified of Mr. Smith had some questions about current use of cameras and technology. There was discussion about potentially a citizen petition. We immediately wanted to engage, obviously, as we do when residents bring questions, concerns, or potential issues to us. I believe Mike King, if I'm not mistaken, I wasn't there, but I believe Mike King sat down with yourself Mike, as well as Chief McGrath, just to have kind of a preliminary discussion, dialogue. And let me back up. Anyone that has been watching the news over the past, I don't know, 90 days has heard the terminology of flock camera and some sort of surveillance. So we know this is a hot button topic in a lot of communities right now. So we thought it would be beneficial uh, to the town and to the board, um, to have Mr. Smith at this meeting this evening, just to have a dialogue, preliminary conversation, um, about, you know, uh, what your concerns are, Mr. Smith, uh, what you've been hearing, what you've been seeing. Uh, we also wanted to invite Chief McGrath who might be able to shed some light to us. Uh, you might already know, but to us as to what he's seeing out there, um, and, and what in fact Rentham is, is, is utilizing right now. Right. And, and I'm, uh, I'm a firm believer of protecting people's privacy and security, but I'm also a firm supporter of law enforcement and our ability to keep bad guys off the street and yada, yada, yada. So this is a healthy dialogue. This is more of an information session for the board. And we're going to potentially, depending on how the conversation goes, task our town manager, Mike King, with some follow up. So I apologize for the prelude, but I'd like to now welcome you. Can I call you Mike or Michael? I like Michael. Michael, I'll call you Michael. Thank you. Whatever you want. So I'm going to invite Michael to kind of lead us off here as to, you know, why we're here this evening and what your thoughts are, what your concerns are. Yeah.

Please. I wrote everything down. Just it. keep myself organized. Sure. Um, thanks for the introduction and thank you to the select board for having me here this evening. Um, I don't believe I'm alone in expressing concerns about the expanding use of automated surveillance, uh, in communities, big and small across the country. As the, um, chair said, this is in the news a lot right now, uh, flock safety, um, and their automatic license plate readers, ALPRs are maybe the big, um, the big brand name that everyone sees out there, but there's a lot of other producers of this technology out there that are maybe less recognizable, including Motorola and Axon. In my research, I was personally relieved to see that this technology hasn't yet crept into Rentham. That said, the proposals that I put together, the proposed bylaws that I put together and had sent to the town um, take a broader stance on other forms of technology, including, um, facial recognition types, things, um, shot detection technology, a lot, a lot of that stuff. Um, it doesn't put any rule against it, but it's looking to create some guardrails about how it could be implemented into rent them in an open and transparent process. Um, so, um, with them in the spotlight, this seemed like an appropriate time to begin looking at those guardrails before they come in to rent them and before we're having an issue. In the last month, four neighboring communities, Bellingham, Easton, North Attleboro, and Plainville have been grappling with the questions of privacy, surveillance, and transparency after implementing this technology. I sent a handout into your office, into the town manager's office for you all, that had and I provided the four kind of press releases, public statements that those towns made around this issue. These towns aren't alone in wrestling with this issue. They're just in our immediate backyard and it's very proximate to where I was already working on this. I think I sent my initial proposal to the chief back in either June or July, but these were coming up in August. after I already kind of started scratching my head about this. Generally, the communities are only taking action to implement guardrails after the technology has already been implemented and either residents have objected or there's been an incident of inappropriate use. To that end, I've reviewed surveillance technology oversight ordinances either already enacted or in the approval process. from, in a lot of cases, much larger municipalities from Lawrence, Medford, Cambridge, and Boston, Boston and Somerville, and use them as models to create two bylaw proposals for Rentham. I've met with Town Manager King and Chief McGrath to review these proposals and gather their feedback. I'm grateful to both of them for the time they gave me and the thoughtful engagement on the topic. The first proposal that I submitted was titled Surveillance Technology Oversight and Accountability, and it establishes an oversight and approval framework for surveillance technology used by town departments. Its core requirements are straightforward. Town agencies would need town meeting approval before acquiring, installing, or subscribing to surveillance technologies as defined by the bylaw. That approval would be technology specific and use specific in town. The bylaw requires an annual public report on how any approved technology is being used. Franklin does have a transparency portal, which Mr. King pointed out to me in our meeting, and I've taken a look at. North Attleboro is rushing to implement one now after the fact. This oversight bylaw also covers donated and grant funded equipment. A lot of towns You know, every penny is watched going in and out of the pound budget. A lot of times it's been easier for departments and to acquire this technology through grants. And then it comes in a lot quieter as a result. So specifically in the text of this bylaw looked at, even if it's coming in from a grant, it's still the actual installation of it needs to be approved prior to it going live. Based on feedback from Chief McGrath, I'm also looking at language regarding temporary deployments to provide a streamlined path for the use of technology in the short term for investigative purposes that doesn't require town meeting approval. On the last page of your handouts, I provided an example of how Lawrence contended with this need in their own ordinance. And I want to recognize the desire to balance operational flexibility with the concerns of transparency. The second bylaw titled Disclosure Signage for Automated Surveillance Systems on Private Commercial Property requires businesses open to the public that operate the defined automated surveillance systems to post clear signage and register those systems with the town clerk, creating a public registry of commercial surveillance in town. This was Um, already on my radar, but also was kind of relevant to what came up in Plainville, where they had to acknowledge that, um, they have a few cameras in place, one on Taunton Street, um, that they own and maintain that aren't flock, but flock is also in town at, like, the lows. Uh, and Plainville has flock safety. Obviously, the town doesn't have any control over that exactly. What this bylaw is just saying is, like, if you're pulling into the parking lot, you should know that you're being monitored. I think that's a reasonable expectation set, and I think within the purview of the town to make that expectation. A lot of towns do that with just surveillance cameras that they announce themselves on property. Maybe that's voluntary more often than not. I want to address a concern I've heard while collecting feedback on this text, that existing conventional CCTV cameras would not be covered under this. They're specifically excluded. In most cases, both proposals are specifically focused on emerging automated technologies, specifically with AI analysis, and have the explicit definitions and exclusions kind of outlined in the text. When we met, Mr. King raised the possibility of the select board enacting a town policy as an alternative to a bylaw. I'm open to that. It really just depends on the specifics. I don't know that the signage could be done through a town policy on the commercial property, but I think a lot of the acquisition and implementation by town departments could be controlled through a select board policy. I urge that that policy address the same core concerns prior approval through a public process acquisition before acquisition or installation controls on data sharing agreements and some mechanism for public reporting. The strength of the oversight framework matters more to my concerns than which governing vehicle carries it. In closing, I wanted to quote Chief Boone from Easton's statement, because I think they capture what's at stake better than I can. Earning and maintaining the trust that is the foundation of effective policing, a formal oversight framework is how Rentham earns and maintains trust before it's tested rather than after. And yeah, I'm happy to take questions and Thank you all for having me here, and I'd be happy to participate more in a collaborative process to look at this further.

Yeah, I appreciate the, Michael, we appreciate you being here. We appreciate you bringing your concerns and opinion to our attention. In my humble opinion, I think we're way early in the process. I think, you know, to have these type of conversations now preliminarily, and then, you know, depending on how this goes, we have some action items that we're going to charge Michael King with to kind of take this to the next level. Again, I think we're way early to be talking about, you know, proposed bylaws and whatnot. But I'm very open to the conversation, as I've said. So you gave us kind of a general perspective idea about what your concerns are. Now, I'd like to turn it over to Chief McGrath, because I have no idea if any of that stuff's even happening in Rentham. And I'd like him to, you know, comment on, you know, what are we doing now, Chief? What do you see us trying to do with regard to these two type of this technology that he's concerned about. Do we have any? Do we see ourselves getting any? And my biggest thing is I'm not looking for any kind of a knee-jerk reaction. I know there's a lot of other communities that are panicking, and to them, maybe they did poor planning. We don't do that in Rentham. We vet things. We make sure we don't have to be the early adopter. We say, look at us. We did this first. We'd rather do it right. So I think that this is a good start.

Chief, would you like to address? It's a great start. And Mr. Smith and I are more on the same page than you might think. Great. It's absolutely vital. And now more than ever. I appreciate Mr. Smith bringing this into the sparking the conversation here. Because you don't want to bring this kind of technology in without some level of oversight and transparency. That's the way you get into trouble is by bringing in technology, the same as you do with tasers or the same you do with new firearms or anything new that comes into law enforcement has to be preceded by sound policy that includes the use of the technology, the use of the weapons, the use of whatever it is you're bringing in. trainings required. That's the way we operate. That's the way we do everything. Again, the taser is a piece of technology. The MDTs, the computers and the police cruises are technology. And by the way, all of them now have an AI component to them. The body-worn cameras have as much AI and capabilities as the LPRs that we see in the streets. They're just used in a different way. So All of it is subject to oversight, some policy and policy that evolves with time as the technology evolves with time. You know, I think along with that, you know, there are these outlying cases of misuse and they are outlying cases because if you look at the entire country or for that matter, the whole world of law enforcement that's using this kind of technology, it is those departments that that don't have sound policies and clear penalties that get into trouble. And a lot of times it's also a lack of training. You know, when you bring, you don't bring in any kind of technology, including LPRs, or I can go back to CEGIS, which is the way we access information through our license plates. You know, when they first implemented CEGIS, that's when these lessons first became apparent. Decades ago, we put computers in the car They were networked with the registry of motor vehicles and the board of probation. And we did so kind of, we got all excited. We said, let's put them in there. And in many, many cases, there was no oversight. There was no policy because that just wasn't the thing back then. And what happened is you had, again, in rare cases, you know, there's half a million police officers in this country. And when a handful mess up, it looks bad for the rest of them. Sure. So. That became kind of the turning point when we said we need to have policies and consequences for all of this stuff. And more important, just training. You need officers who understand what the technology can do, the implications of what it does, and then to use it effectively for lawful purposes and with that accountability. So that's the way we both agree. I mean, it was a very productive meeting we had with Mr. King and Mrs. Smith. And we all agree that we don't go forward with LPRs. We don't have to worry about it now. The benefit we have now is we're not, we don't have any of those companies on any public ways and rent them. And as far as your private sector stuff, good luck with that. I don't know how that works, but I will say, I agree with you again. The signs are a great idea. If you're going to go into, you do have, you don't have a right to know on private property. But I don't think you'd get much resistance, honestly, because a lot of them post those kinds of signs. To deter. Right. So they actually put them up there on their home. And I think the ones that don't just don't think about it. I don't think it's a matter of their mission to not tell people the cameras are up there. We all know what they look like. Most of them have little red flashing lights and things. Sorry to interrupt.

I do think that LPRs are basically just cameras at their core. And so a lot of people think that they're surveillance cameras. that are locally managed and networked and not necessarily beaming their license plate information up into the cloud where they're accessible potentially across the country.

And I'm certainly, I mean, I've talked with enough AI people to know that there's no such thing as an AI expert, but I do, I can only speak to how police use ALPS. And that is, and a lot of, by the way, this has become a controversy that's worth talking about, worth discussing. And what I'm seeing now is Axon, Flock, Motorola, these manufacturers, they're responding to it. Their market is being impacted right now. Anyone in business knows that if your market is seeing a negative impact, you speak to that. And that's what they're doing. They've already sent out press releases and notices to users that we're changing the way. Let us hear the concerns. Let us change it. So the questions come along. Who owns the information? Who keeps this data? It's about ownership, sharing, networking, and how all of that works. And frankly, without people like Mr. Smith and others questioning it, it may never have got questions. So I think we are way ahead of the game here. And we have a strong advantage because we can go slow. And we can see how it shakes out with these manufacturers who are going to change their ways to improve their sales, to regain their market, we have that time and that pause in our favor. Now, I did receive funding, grant funding for LPRs, and I decided in the midst of all this, actually before we met, that I wanted to reallocate those funds. It was a community mitigation fund award that we received. for a significant amount of money. I think it was $75,000. And it specifically said, you can use this for LPRs. So as this started to come up, I said, probably something else we could do with this money right now. And we do have other options and we'll pursue less controversial options. But as far as I'm concerned, we're 100% on the same page in terms of admission. I know there'll be probably some points of discussion as we go along in terms of how things are managed. There's obviously always investigative concerns and privacy concerns when we're conducting police operations. You know, I don't want to have at some point if we have LPRs. I think they're invaluable. You talk about the use of LPRs. Generally speaking, they're great if you have a crime and you look at the solvability factor in a crime with the network of LPRs goes from Average to way above average. Because really, that technology properly used is invaluable. You know, if you have a child abducted or someone, you know, a school incident, God forbid, a school shooting, could be something that happens in another town. It's this network that has allowed police and courts to both detect and arrest people. and prosecute people far more effectively than they ever could before.

And Chief, if I could just add one thing while it's fresh in my mind. Although I agree with you that there are some communities that are very concerned about this, and as they should be, and as Chief said, it sounds like these manufacturers are going to be making some changes that might help this conversation and ease some of the concerns. There's also a lot of communities out there and chiefs that stand up and say, I actually use these and they're very good for our community as well.

Oh, I think a hundred percent. And I would say, although I think we have the time to pump the brakes here and slow it down and see how it all evolves. Eventually, I think they're an extremely effective tool. I think it makes us a great partner with other law enforcement agencies. I mean, I can tell you, I mean, I could, I was just looking at cases today of success stories and most of the success stories have nothing to do with criminal activity. They have to do with silver alerts and, They have to do with amber alerts, silver alerts being people, elderly people who wander off and, you know, they're missing for some period of time. And they can be so critical, it can be life or death. And the same thing with amber. But I'll say mostly amber being children. But, you know, in the case of silver alerts, we just had one last night in Newton, and it was AI technology that saved the day. You know, it was on the news this morning, and it was a woman who just, within a block of her son's home, and I'm speculating she was staying with him, just wandered off. And within a couple of hours, through the use of all of this technology, they found her. And if you were watching the news, they were walking around the woods. So, you know, it's lost children. They have great ability. And to throw the baby out with the bathwater would be a mistake. You know, to just surrender and say... And I don't agree with... the knee-jerk reaction of, okay, so there's somebody in the community who's upset about it. Let's get rid of them. But we're not there anyway. It doesn't matter. For us, we're taking advantage of an opportunity that Mr. Smith is spearheading, and we'll just get it done right. The nice part is we're not under fire. There's no urgency. We're not on the spotlight. So let the ones in the spotlight take the heat.

And let us learn from them.

Right, right. Like you would with anything else.

Right. I think that's a great start to the conversation. I would like to open it up to the select board members to see if anyone has any additional questions or comments. And I would like to start with Jim Anderson, who happens to be former police chief.

So I do have a couple of questions, one for each. So Michael, that draft policy that you forwarded to us, is that something that you came up with or was another community already using the policy?

No community is using that exact policy. There was bits and pieces and tied together by me, pulled from the model language that I called out in there. I think a lot of it came from Lawrence in particular, but it was cobbled together from examples. Okay, now Mike.

Question for Chief McGrath. Does the Mass Chiefs or does IACP, they give you any recommendations as far as a policy?

Honey, you should ask. I had my first day of a three-day conference today with the Mass Chiefs, and the focus was on generally AI. And within that, they talked about ALPIs. So the Mass Chiefs is in the process and I think actually has completed but not disseminated policies on AI and ALPIs, recommended policies. So as soon as I get that, I'll share all the information. And, you know, all of this, that along with whatever these companies do to uh to like i say regain their market which means they're going to make changes in the way they retain credibility loans and all of that there's going to be that big effort so we're going to take those changes whatever changes they may be you know recommendations on policies from the mass chiefs and from iacp which is the international association of chiefs which i'll be attending that one as well and uh that's what this is about we'll just bring it all together and um And I think it's, I don't think this is a big challenge. I think it's just us going along and getting it right and doing it at a pace that makes sense when we're, as we follow what else, what's going on that we don't have control.

Great. Do you have any other? That's it. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think, you know, just to expand on that, I think what we do here in town normally is we're very conservative in our approach in implementing new technology or new changes. in getting feedback, being transparent, and working together to make sure that we're not like the majority of these towns from the research that I've done, quickly implemented, thought it was the new exciting technology to bring into their town and now scrambling concerns. And in these discussions, I think it's important to also remember we want to support our businesses, support the safety at the school, and whatever that entails to make sure guardrails are things that we put into place does all of that as well and looking at all sides. I'm just curious, airports, are they function? Is this at the airports when you're checking United Airlines?

Mine are LPRs at every airport. There are LPRs. MassDOT is using them to collect their tolls. So your info is out there no matter what town that you're in? We are, yes. The majority, I think what you're saying, you know, you have to use caution when you follow traffic. the media. Because the media is going to bring up the high profile cases of AI or LPR misuse like they do anything else. Theirs is about the story. But if you take a real look across the whole country or across the whole state, most towns that have LPRs are keeping them. And as you said, they're doing some fast moving effort to have policies if they don't. A lot of the towns, they're just sitting back and letting things evolve like we are. We're just talking about it. So there's a lot of communities out there who have LPRs, who no one in the community right now is saying we have any concerns about it, who they've had no incidents. So they're just sitting back and waiting and seeing how things evolve, just like I'm saying we should do. But we just don't have the added measure of actually having them out there doing the job which would concern, which would be a little bit of a wrench in this whole thing if that was happening, because now you're talking about an urgency to do something, right? We don't have that urgency, so.

I think it's great for us to have, you know, all the perspectives in this discussion. I think it's really helpful to get it out there.

Even more so that, like I said, you know, Mr. Smith and I and whoever else has those concerns, we're on the same page.

Yeah.

It's just better for everybody because I don't want police officers fired from, you know, And if you move forward with technology and then you don't include training policy and penalties before it's all implemented, then who's your go-to guy when something goes wrong? You're going to just go right to the person who misused it, and then they're going to turn around and go, I didn't know. I didn't mean for it to be. In some cases, they were egregious, but in some cases, they're not. It's just a. It's just a general misunderstanding and lack of training that got them into trouble. And that can all be easily avoided by doing the right thing. Sure.

Anything else? This technology has been around for years. For years. They're on every bridge. They're on the Bourne Bridge, Sagamore, Zakem. They're right here on... They're in Renthal. This is nothing new. Now it's advanced along and There's been a misuse of it, which has been sensationalized.

And I think most people... Just hold on a second. No, no, no, you're fine. But the way it typically works is we let each other talk. So I gave Selectman Harrington an opportunity to talk. Let's let him finish. And then you'll go through me. And then I'll say, Michael, do you have anything to say? And then you can respond. We just keep it so there's order.

No, no, thank you. So like I said, at any rate, they're out there. LPRs, they're on us. Bionetal Police use them on their equipment. Mass State Police use them. DOT has them. This is nothing new. There's just been an influx of it. And we're fortunate we don't have it in town so that we can move forward and set our own policies in place. But once it comes, I mean, it's bound to come once you pull the trigger and decide this is something we need as a tool to protect the citizens and continue on advancing in policing. and it's great to bring it up to the table. Well, we're all on board with speaking about it, and thank you for sharing it.

I think the ubiquity of the technology has been part of what's concerned a lot of people, that it's become a lot cheaper for governments at different levels to get into the technology. A lot of times, it's been used on the Mass Pike for a long time to collect their tolls, like she said. And that was a process that was very much announced and participated in throughout that process. And you know it when you're going on the Pike. When I'm driving through a town, when I'm driving through Rentham, is a different experience than driving on the Pike, is I think the concern that a lot of people have when they're close to home. And the objective with Rentham with both of these proposals was not to govern the actual use of the technology, but to create those fence posts around it before it comes in so that it comes in transparently and through that public process. Absolutely.

Yeah, I think it's a great point. Of course, though, Chief Holdup. But, Michael, I think that's a great point, and I think that's exactly what we're all saying here. Let's agree on what the guardrails look like. Let's pump the brakes. There's no knee-jerk reaction needed because we don't have the technology. And before we implement the technology, let's make sure we know exactly what we're doing. We balance people's privacy and safety with the ability of our law enforcement people to do their jobs as well, right?

What were you going to say, Chief? No, I was just going to say that that's what it's – I mean, with or without – Any community group coming forward, this technology would not have been implemented without policy and oversight and accountability. That's the way I run the course. It's a degree of caution that every chief should be taking everywhere. We would do that anyway. Now, with the input from the community, because this happens to be one of those things that some people are concerned about, it will come down to the fine details. And I don't see really a lot of issues getting there. We don't want anything to, if we get the technology, we don't want the process of using it to defeat the technology. So that's really what it comes down to. I mean, every time you want to use technology, if you had to go to a town meeting or to the select board and say, can we do this? that would be an impediment of a job. It really would be.

Yeah. So with that being said, I'm not trying to cut anyone short. I think we're all saying the same thing. I think the dialogue is healthy and professional and courteous. I think we need to continue in that way. So if the board's okay, I'm going to make a motion to direct the town manager, Michael King, to investigate the use of license plate reader technology and report back to the select board with findings and recommendations, utilizing an advisory group at the town manager's discretion as part of that review. So second motion made by select minutes and second by select one Russ, any further discussion being none all in favor. Aye. Any opposed motion carries four zero. All right. So that's what the next steps are going to look like. We'll continue to communicate and be involved. We appreciate your feedback. And, you know, again, to chief's point, I think a lot of us are pretty close on a lot of the concerns. All right. So thank you for putting the time in. Thank you for being here tonight. Thank you. Thanks for being here, Chief. Okay, last item on the agenda. So the last item on the agenda, we're going to go to tab, quickly go to tab 10. Just to give a little context, this is Mira Lake CPA project discussion. So there was a project put forth to the CPA regarding Mira Lake. And there's a question raised by a group of concerned residents about the use of CPA funds on this type of project. There are certain things called preservation. There are certain things called maintenance. We had our town council weigh in on this. after the concern was brought to our attention. The town council weighed in. They sent a letter to us and the CPA with a recommendation. My understanding is there may be some gray area in the letter that was sent. The purpose of this meeting tonight is to only identify what town council's position is to remove any gray area if there is. And then we're going to do one of two things. This board, just to clarify, This select board has no authority over the CPA's votes, okay? We have a member of our select board, Selectman Harrington, who's the appointed member of the select board who sits on the CPA. We asked Selectman Harrington to let the CPA know what our feelings are as a board regarding projects, but we don't ask Selectman Harrington to vote in a certain way because Selectman Harrington is his own individual and votes how he sees fit. All we ask is that the board at least has some level of understanding whether our board, the CPA board, has an understanding whether our board supports or doesn't support a project or if we have concerns. Okay? So with that being said, all we're trying to accomplish tonight is get clarification from town council so there's no gray area. Now, what do we do with that information? Once town council speaks and lets us know what their opinion is, I'm also going to invite the chair, Robin Cuddy, if she wants to participate. She's more than welcome to come up and participate in this part of the meeting. Obviously, we have Bill Harrington, who's the vice chair with us. The CPA board can do a few things. So if our board decides at the end of this conversation that, well, we want to follow the motion in our package, which is to direct the town manager to draft a letter from the select board asking the community preservation committee reconsiders its vote. They don't have to do that. they can tell us to bounce in if they want. But we just want to make sure that it's noted if that's the case. Because if this does go to town meeting and there are concerns, we want to make sure that everyone knows where everyone was advised and where everyone showed support or not support with this particular matter. So the crux of the conversation is, are we allowed to use CPC funds for this type of event event some people think it's maintenance some people saying it's preservation um so with that being said um we do have a letter in our packet uh i'm going to invite attorney liz laden to come up to the table uh and um i'm also going to invite uh chairwoman cuddy if you want to come up more you're more than welcome if you're comfortable with please come on up it's great to have you and great to see you again um and then um so what i'd like to do if that's okay attorney laden Um, can you clarify the letter from town council town council's position on this matter.

I think the confusion probably lies in the fact that preservation isn't allowed to use. And this was characterized as the preservation activity for the late, um, preservation activities can include maintenance. In other words, maintenance can be considered a preservation activity. But the definition excludes maintenance. as an allowed use of the funds. So if you are treating weeds to eliminate an invasive species, the first time you do that, it can be considered a preservation activity. If you continuously do that, say there's one follow-up treatment that could be under the same umbrella of the original, if that comes up frequently, say yearly, it becomes a maintenance activity. And in the letter, and the request for the funding, it specifically acknowledges that the current management program has been successful, but invasive species management requires ongoing maintenance rather than a short-term solution. And when you are continuously treating the same weed over and over again, that's akin to when you're undertaking historic preservation activities. For example, you paint a historic structure to one of the original colors. That's considered preservation. if you paint it again a few years later, it's no longer a preservation activity, it's now maintenance because you're touching up the paint, right? That's similar to what we're doing here. So my opinion is, yes, maintenance could be for preservation purposes, but it's specifically excluded from the definition of preservation as an allowed use. And so that's why when we see the same, use coming up over and over again, the same request for funding. Now you're crossing the line into maintenance activities.

Okay. And just to back up before I turn it over to you, Robin, and see if you have any input. I just want to make it clearly known because, again, we get phone calls about this stuff all the time. I can't speak for my board members, but I'm going to speak for my board members in saying that. There's no one sitting on this board here that doesn't support the lakes. We want the lakes to thrive. They're integral to our community. They're integral to recreation. They're integral to the aquifer. There's just so many benefits to the lake to thrive. I support the lakes. I think we need to figure out a way to fund this project. My personal opinion is we shouldn't use CPC funds to fund this project. We should figure out a different way to fund this project. And I'm open to many different considerations that arise. So I just don't want there to be a misconception that, you know, our board or our town doesn't stand shoulder to shoulder with the residents of all of our lakes, including Mira Lake, as we do. However, when it comes to our fiscal and fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayer, part of that is making sure Mike King as town manager doesn't misappropriate funds. And this could be seen as a violation of mass general law and a misappropriation of funds, which could open the town up for a lawsuit. And, you know, in lieu of recent events, I don't think anyone wants to be in a position where we're being sued over something that we could find alternative funding sources for. So that is my humble opinion. I want to get your opinion, Robin, and you can definitely, obviously through me, but address your concern or your take or interpretation of Attorney Leiden's letter to the CPC. Sure.

Yeah, no, I appreciate the opportunity. And I certainly don't want anybody to think that sitting here, I'm a lawyer, not a lawyer. And I have a lot of respect for the opinion that we have. I also don't want anybody to think that it was disregarded in the process that the CPC went through to arrive at our decision. You know, we had, I think, a pretty public. We followed the process that is put in place for CPC applications and eligibility. I always appreciate regular communication with Tom manager, regular communication, came here and spoke to the select board in July about the projects that we were considering. And we even spoke about the Gray area of preservation and maintenance, I think, at that time and said, you know, this is something that we're working through and struggling with. And so I think, you know, certainly want to acknowledge that we think it is a gray area. And we think that the repetitiveness is at question. Our group deliberated for quite a while around when do you cross the line? When is it we've not made any more progress? And so therefore we're really just repeating the same activity and we're not preserving, we're maintaining, we're not getting anywhere. I think one of the questions was asked, well, will it ever be eradicated? I think the answer was doubtful. Doubtful you're gonna eradicate every weed and any lake. And so if that's the measure of the outcome that we need to be, then we probably would never get there, right? I think one of the recommendations we had in the application spoke to the fact that many communities have seen in five years success in eradicating majority of the weeds. And in fact, Merrill Lake actually returned, I think, $14,000 that they didn't use because they didn't need to use it for repetitive treatment. They had made substantial progress in eradicating some of the I think it was bladder wart. And listen, I'm not an expert on weeds like so. I'm just speaking to my understanding here of what's happening. So I think what our last deliberations, just to share, was that we'd like to continue with the next three years of treatment. that we understand and don't dismiss or disregard the opinion of town council. There's a state coalition of folks that advise and provide guidance They would tell me, they have told me it's a widely accepted use of CPA funds. I know that doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it that nobody can sue us, but people can sue for anything they want to sue for. It's not that whether somebody else does something or not doesn't make it right. I understand that, but there is precedent there. There are many communities that have repeatedly treated for invasive species of weeds and under the preservation of an environmental open space and keeping it from destruction and harm and injury. And again, not a lawyer. I don't want to pretend that I understand all the nuances. I just simply think that CPA did weigh all of the nuances here, considered the letter, considered the gray area, and spoke to, well, gee, maybe we should say we're going to fund it this last time and then we're not going to do it again. We're going to put in the minutes that we don't want to continue to fund this because we feel like that would be going too repetitive. However, we also recognize that we're not necessarily all going to be sitting in that committee to make that decision and remember that conversation in three years. So can you tie the hands of a future committee that doesn't know that you had that vote three years ago? I don't know that answer either. I would encourage the select board to consider allowing the or not disregarding the due diligence and the process that CPC went through to arrive at the decision and to rather just advise against future funding for this use and not get into a situation where if there's a vote tonight asking us to reconsider and go through a process again where there's not really any new information that we're going to be bringing other than that you've asked us not to do this. That we go forward with this vote that has already happened. We bring it to town, meaning it's not a done deal. The town has the opportunity to hear what's happened. make their decision and then advise against future funding for this use and hopefully find an opportunity in a way to, I think, go where we hoped it would go in the first place, which is all of the lakes meet with, I think it's the Board of Health individual and coordinate an approach that hopefully has evidence-based using all the information that all these three lakes have learned through the different treatments over time, and come up with what we think is the best for the town. And know that I speak as I have tonight, with only the best interest of rent among Noel Will here, just doing the best we can.

Of course, and let me, I should have said this at the beginning, Noel Will was perceived, and we have nothing but respect for you, Chairwoman Cuddy, Vice Chair Harrington and the hard work that your committee does. It's not an easy job. And we know that. And we were thoroughly impressed with your presentation with us when you came to present to the Select Board. So nothing but respect and gratitude from us. A couple quick points that I just want to make that are fresh, and then I'll obviously turn it over to the board. One of the issues that I continue to have, though, is you're making very eloquent points. But at the same time, you continue to say, I'm not an attorney. I'm not an attorney. I have one right here. And she's been pretty clear about what her opinion is. My job is to listen to my attorney and not put the town in potentially a precarious situation over $8,000 a year that I think I can find funding for a different way. That's my biggest takeaway from this conversation. Yeah. And with that, I'll be quiet and turn it over to the other board members to see if anyone else has any questions or comments. Starting with selecting Anderson.

Jim, I do have a couple of questions. Please go ahead. So Attorney Lydon, if this was to go to town meeting and passed, what are the potential pitfalls and consequences that the town could face?

So if this goes to town meeting and it's approved by town meeting, it does not prevent. So say you have not the majority, obviously, because it wouldn't pass, but a strong group of people who feel strongly about this and who don't want it to pass, you can have a 10 taxpayer lawsuit brought against the town to have the funding returned to the CPA.

And does the state give any recommendations at all?

It does, not on the specific issue. So that would be determined by case law. I did look. There was no specific case law on weed treatment, specifically. And a lot of the case law had to do with rehabilitation, which this couldn't be used for rehabilitation at this property because we didn't acquire it with CPA funding. But I mean, the risk here is that we get a lawsuit from taxpayers who feel that it should not be used for this purpose. And then you incur the legal costs associated with defending that.

Right. And is it possible that we could get by the state for misuse of CPC funds? I don't believe it.

I did speak to Department of Labor Council generally about these types of issues. And he said that they don't make it a habit of, they rely on the opinion of town council and they don't go after towns for things that they make decisions on. Mr.

Chair? Of course. So are we. You had the opinion before you guys voted, right? And you admitted that you were in some type of gray area.

Exactly.

Yes. So what was the tipping point where you knew you were in the gray area and possible consequences that made your committee to still go that extra step to approve it?

Yeah. So, you know, considering what... The attorney just suggested, what's the exposure here? You know, if the exposure is returning $8,000 to the CPC fund, just what I've heard you all deliberate about tonight, there seems like there's a lot of exposure that's much more grave than that. However, in the end, the committee said there's been a report of a 60% reduction. There is progress being made toward preservation of the lake. The recommendation was five years worth of treatment for the curly pond weed and the other. We had only done three. They had to return some money because they skipped the treatment and wasn't needed. So the tipping point was, let's give them another couple of years and then they're on their own. Essentially, that was the general consensus of the group. Not that we want to or think that it's in the best interest of anybody to to do this forever. And again, you know, there's multiple towns who have done the same treatment year over year over year, you know, and again, you know, no, it doesn't necessarily make it right, but it also doesn't make it wrong, right? There's precedent across the state. Justin Sharon, they just re-upped another, I think they've been doing it for nine years in a row. So, I don't know that it's wrong. I don't know that it's right. Some place in between.

Yeah, that was all using CPC funds? Yes. Oh, okay. And what was the vote on your committee? Six to two. Six to two. Okay. The only... Go right ahead.

I could clarify one thing. The exposure isn't just return of the funds. If a lawsuit gets filed, the town is required to have an attorney file an appearance. If the town loses... you would also probably be responsible for attorney's fees and not only your own, but the plaintiffs.

And my, my, the one thing that you said about precedent rang a bell with me. I'm more concerned about precedent. We want to be consistent in my humble opinion, when we do stuff like this. And if, if, if another organization or group sees that, you know, I keep hearing it's only a thousand dollars. It's only a thousand dollars to me. It doesn't matter if it's $8,000 or $8 million. It's a precedent. If we do it for one, now we're expected to do it for others. And now we're getting into a really gray area of setting precedent of potentially violating mass journal law, misusing CPC funds, and the next project could be a lot bigger one. So I just think we have to worry about precedent as well. It's not just this one event. It's any future events that might come before you. So- Go ahead. Yeah, please.

So I was speaking of precedent also, right? Dozens of communities that have done this repetitively. So we're both talking about precedent. We're talking about precedent, setting precedent to do something continuously in this town. And I'm just simply saying precedent also exists, that there's many communities. No, and I concur.

There's probably a lot of people driving without seatbelts and that speed. But if they don't get caught, there's never a problem. And there's only a problem until someone makes it a lawsuit.

Except for the difference there is that there's a law that says you need to wear a seatbelt. And the law here says... It has to be preservation and maintenance. And some people are interpreting one thing and other people in other communities. And I'm sure the general counsel has reviewed warrants are interpreting it differently. So this is where it's gray versus we didn't walk out of a store with stolen goods and get arrested. And somebody said, well, you took that. It's not bad. It's not black and white like that.

It is gray. But again, I have our attorney saying that. she's pretty confident that we'd have an issue.

If I may, the letter that the attorney wrote was not definitive.

I think she just clarified right now, though.

Well, the one that we voted on, this is what we have in writing. is not definitive.

And that, I mean, I read it and I got a pretty definitive response to it when I read it, but that's why we're here, Robin, because we want to make sure there's no gray area. And if we do decide to make a motion to have Mike write a letter to ask you guys to reconsider, you don't have to, but I just want to be clear that we're pretty clear that she's pretty clear. So with that being said, I'll pass it over to him.

Yeah, I appreciate you being here. A lot of my questions have been asked, but I participated in that meeting, and I did feel that there was a disregard for legal counsel's opinion, and there was a lot of talk about that gray area. Do you feel as though that gray area has been explained for you, or do you have any other questions?

I absolutely would suggest that when a letter says maybe, seems, could be, and then that the community preservation should weigh these facts as presented in the application for any prior requests for the same and determine whether the current request constitutes preservation or maintenance. They asked us to do, to consider that. And that's what we did. Not with disregard. I mean, you know, I don't want you to think, I mean, I've lost sleep over this. This is not something that I just dismiss easily. I take the responsibility of facilitating a meeting that's fair and transparent and everybody has their give and take. And in the end, I'm not suggesting that we know better, we just had a different opinion. And I asked the group of folks after they read the letter at the meeting, if they felt they needed more time. If you were listening, I asked, would you like more time? Do you think we need to speak with legal counsel? Do we need a different legal opinion? If there's a lawsuit, And one group of people are arguing one point, somebody else is arguing the other point. And then, you know, there's a group of people who are impartial and they hear those two points and they make a decision. That's how things go, right? That's not how this is going, right? This is going where we're trying to weigh all of the information and make what we believe is in the best interest of the community. And- That's what we did not. Please don't think we disregarded. We don't know.

I listened to the meeting consideration. Obviously, I've talked to vice chair of CPC and getting his opinion and other members of the CPC in terms of, you know, their thoughts on the process. I think that a couple of comments in the meeting and even tonight. Again, what Mr. Chair had said, like if it's $5 or 5,000, we have a responsibility to our tax dollars. So to be so lighthearted about it could be a potential lawsuit and who cares, let's just see what happens is something that we take very seriously. So, you know, it's not us attacking anyone on the CPC or your decision, just making sure that all of our answers are found here this evening. Because I think there was a lot of questions after that meeting from residents. We got those questions. We had questions. And I think this is a great opportunity for all of us to kind of get those out, to get that clarification of that gray matter that you felt. And to also, you know, I don't think Brentham goes with the flow with other towns. We always analyze everything. We always go our route and what's right for our town and for our residents. So for me to hear about Sharon or other towns and what the risks that they took, I don't care. I care about residents in Brentham and what we do and to protect our residents and doing the right thing. So. I appreciate you coming and giving your perspective. I appreciate the work that you do on the chair. And thank you very much for that clarification. So I just want to make sure that you had all the answers that you may have needed as related to that one letter that you referred to in making the decision. Yes, we did. And giving more information that you have received this evening to entertain the thought that possibly your other CPC members may want the opportunity to have further discussion after getting more clarification that was presented this night to give that some consideration as well, if that's recommended.

Selectman Harrington. So first and foremost, putting on two hats.

Of course, yeah.

I'm elected as a select board member from the town. We want to do everything we can properly, accurately, transparent. We work very hard for it. Pointed by the board on the CPC. That board does the same exact thing. The other appointed members deliberate, talk, discuss. That letter to me, I mean, I spoke to it prior to this meeting. That letter was very great. If you read it, it could be interpreted either way. The problem is, Now, I'm being told by you that there is a group that has threatened a lawsuit to the town if we move this forward. And our attorney said that we shouldn't have. So now we've got to fight this group, whatever, and have an attorney that's not in the fight.

Well, she might not even be able to represent us if that's the case.

I understand that. But our town attorney has posted it and said we don't agree with it. We shouldn't have done it. Sure. It's a difficult decision. Sure. Robin works hard. That group works hard. The group, we don't take things lightly in this seat or in that seat. To me, it's a tough decision. I can't honestly sit and say that we should not represent it to the committee for the deliberation knowing that we are going to be sued based off your conversation with me, and that people on this board don't support it, which is going to kind of make all of us look like... You're there to fight for what you believe in.

My opinion is my opinion. Your opinion is your opinion.

Right. But that's what I'm saying. Knowing the fact that we're going to be sued based off the conversation we had, going into it.

I can't, listen, all I can tell you is, and Mike King, I'm not at liberty to say much about that. All I can say is there's a group of residents that reached out with grave concerns that said they will be at town meeting and will be monitoring this closely. And if we misappropriate funds and violate mass general law, they will act. I mean, that's, are they bluffing? I don't know.

I don't know either.

I can just share with you what was shared with me.

So again, this chair, second board, agrees that we should revisit with the other members and opening.

Yeah. And again, I can't stress this enough. I don't think anyone sitting at this table is undermining or undervaluing the level of commitment that Robin and Bill have for our town. I can't stress this enough. I've said it once. I'll say it again. I'll say it till I'm blue in the face. The level of commitment that you and your team have is is like It's a huge commitment. Not only does Bill have his commitment with us on this board, and we're a very active board, I know the CPC is also very active. So the amount of work that you put in, Robin, the amount of work that Bill puts in, the amount of work that your whole team puts in, no one is discounting that. And we don't think that you're not always trying to put the Rentham residents at your best interest. I just want to be crystal clear. We can agree to disagree and still be friends and still both love Rentham. Right. This is my interpretation of, you know, what I'm hearing is what I'm presenting tonight.

So, and then Mr. Chair, I think also just to reiterate, please, we support anything to do and preserving it.

And so to me, this is a little bit ridiculous because I think I can find the funding without going this route.

Well, I've been, Can I speak? Of course. I think that was the last conversation I had with the town manager. You know, this is, this doesn't seem to me that it needs to be at this pinnacle. And, you know, certainly I can kind of get my back up, uh, about a threat of a lawsuit, you know, creating a decision, but at the same time, I don't take that lightly. You know, I, uh, You know, I think whether personally or professionally, I've been in a situation where I've had legal opinions and you've had to weigh that opinion and make your best decision. This is not the first time that I've been, you know, dealt with that. I don't know if you like that, if you like to be told that, you know, if you do something that might be might be considered illegal, you know, that you're going to get sued. that's just not where, where anybody wants to be. And I don't want to have a divisive situation. Um, and if it's not necessary, um, you know, why, why, why have it right? Why not find the money someplace else, you know, and move on, you know, uh, let's not, um, but also know that, you know, we ask people to go through a process. We went through the process, you know, uh, and, um, and came to the best decision we were capable of.

I think you did a great job at that. I would just say, maybe we involve town council on some of these decisions. I don't know what the, again, I'm not on the CPC. I don't know what the checklist looks like, but Mike, at what point do we run projects by our town council ever? Have we ever had to run projects by our town council? Or is it kind of like, if you think there's a potential issue, you would consult town council?

Yeah, that's the latter when I'm asked. HAB-Jacques Juilland- We get an opinion on something I will normally they're not reviewing every single project they're often reviewing the deep article language before it goes on the journey. HAB-Jacques Juilland- Sure sure sure.

HAB-Jacques Juilland- Okay, does anyone else have anything to add on this matter before we know to counsel.

HAB-Judy Nogg- I just want to say that. HAB-Judy Nogg- Although it is my opinion that it rises to the level of maintenance, the reason I wrote the decision, the way that it did is because of what I mentioned earlier, is that there's no. specific case law on this exact topic. And there's no guidance on this exact topic. And so the CPC has the discretion to make those decisions and recommendations. And ultimately it's decided if it goes on the line by town meeting. And the risk here, as you know, is what it is. And that's always the risk. And I know that there's other communities who have given me a spreadsheet before they go into what their recommendations are for town meeting. And they say, These are the proposed uses that are in front of us. And they highlight whatever is maybe a gray area that they want an opinion on. And I've waited on that in the past and have to do so if that ever comes up. Yeah, appreciate that.

All right. So I appreciate this dialogue, but I am going to go ahead and ask if anyone would like to make a motion to direct the town manager to draft a letter on behalf of the select board requesting that the community preservation committee reconsider its vote. to advance the Merrill Lake weed treatment project town meeting.

I'll move that. I'll second it.

So there was a motion made by Selectman Harrington. I'm sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Let the record. I apologize. There was a motion made by Selectman Anderson, second by Selectwoman Rouse. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries 4-0. Mike King, please drop the letter. I will do so. And we, again, Robin.

Our meeting is the 28th.

HAB-Jacques Juilland- Wednesday Wednesday yeah next one.

HAB-Jacques Juilland- And Council, thank you for being here this evening.

HAB-Jacques Juilland- At this time we're going to go to tab number 11 which is public comment. HAB-Jacques Juilland- residents who wish to participate in public comment will be a lot of two minutes to speak and must state their name and address for the record if they're on zoom please come off camera or putting camera on. At the start of the comment, a timer will be sent via message from Maya Matarazzo. It should be visible on the top of the screen and an alarm will chime when time is up. Sorry, when time is up. Would anyone like to make public comment? I'll give it a few seconds, 10 seconds. I have a raised hand. I saw you second. So I have a raised hand via Zoom. Can you? unmute, put your camera on, state your name for the record, please.

Chuck's not muted. Is that Chuck Woodhams?

Chuck, you're muted. Sorry, I'm on my phone. I don't usually do it from my phone. I apologize.

It's okay, Chuck. Go right ahead. Welcome.

Thank you. Chuck Woodhams, 420 Madison Street. I am the planning board representative to the CPC. I just wanted to weigh in on my take on the The issue with the Mirror Lake, I also battled with the concept of whether this was maintenance or preservation. And there were two things that tipped it in my favor, one of which was that this program is intended to be a five-year program. We had only funded three years. And so my thinking was we should fund it for at least two years so that they could get the benefit of the full five. But the other thing that got to me was the conversation that if this is not continued, the weeds will take over the lake. The lake will eventually die. And in the letter from the lawyer, from the attorney, on the second page, it says, maintenance means incidental repairs that do not material add to the value of the property. And this is the part that got me. Or appreciably prolong property's life. And that was the thing that actually tipped it to my making the decision that it was preservation is the letter from the attorney herself, you know, discussing appreciably prolonging the property's life, which I believe is what this weed treatment will do. And without the weed treatment, the property's life will be significantly shortened. And that was my, that was my reasoning for going with that decision. Um, As far as us reconsidering it, we'll take that up at the next meeting. But I think it's a dangerous precedent that we should be making all of our decisions based on whether we think we might get sued or not. I think that's a dangerous step to take. Thank you for your time. Appreciate it. Thank you, John.

Thank you, Mr. Wadhams. Anybody else? I know you would like to say something. Would you like to go right ahead and please state your name and address for the record?

Stephanie Bird, 41 Sleepy Hollow Lane. I wanted to speak to the earlier discussion about the automatic license plate readers. And I just wanted to follow up and say, I think that appropriate use is really not the problem. It's potential for misuse and abuse that's the biggest concern, I think, in general for the public. And that's, I think, something that can and should be specifically addressed in policies and particularly in prospective training. I appreciated the police chief's emphasis on training, the prospective use of technology. And I think that that's extremely important if we don't want our town or our town employees to find themselves in a bad position because of inadequate information. and understanding about consequences of their use or misuse of the technology.

Thank you very much. Is there anybody else that would like to address the Board of Public Town comment? I'm going to start a countdown. Five, four, three, two, Okay, moving on, let's go to tab number 12. Actually, there's really no need for tab number 12. I think we already have the update. Roy's not here. So Bill, we've heard from you this evening. Thank you again for all your work. Let's go to tab number 13, town manager report, Michael King.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have several updates for the board this evening. First being the ice complex improvements project. The project remains on schedule with irrigation having been installed. HAB-Jacques Juilland, In the improved areas of the right complex and seeing is scheduled to begin this week, which will allow them to take full advantage of the fall growing season. HAB-Jacques Juilland, Speaking of the rice complex, I also have an update on the pavilion project. HAB-Jacques Juilland, As previously reported the bids for the rice complex pavilion came in over budget the procurement approach moving forward has been revised. HAB-Jacques Juilland, So the town will purchase the pavilion structure directly through a cooperative purchasing contract. and separately build out bid out the assembly installation. The installation piece is currently out to bid, it is actually seen significant interest in requesting the bid documents and those bids will be due on September 24 I will have an update from the board and what those results are. I have an update on town meeting as well in the progress we are currently making. So the administration is drafting an article that we previously discussed with the select board to update the position titles in the town bylaws to be more consistent with the town charter. We will also be working with the CPC, including the chair and article language for CPC projects. No articles have other articles have been submitted to date, although we are expecting an article from the planning board specifically on moratoriums on data centers, but that is still forthcoming. A draft warrant will be presented to the select board at your upcoming meeting on October 6th. I also have an update on our strategic communications plan. The town communication survey element was launched at Renfam Day and will remain open through October 13th. It is in both electronic and paper formats. The survey seeks feedback from residents and community stakeholders, including our business community, on how they receive information, their experiences accessing information, and their communication preferences. The responses are anonymous, I will note, and they will help us guide improvements to the town's communication practices going forward. So I really would encourage the public to participate in the surveys. I also have some staffing updates for the select board this evening as well. Set to announce the town and school facilities director Glenn Gillespie has resigned with his last day being October 9th. Glenn has 28 years of facilities experience with the town and his institutional knowledge will be greatly missed in our month. I'm working currently with American public school superintendent, Alan Cameron to post a position for this upcoming both town and school joint vacancy. I will also note that we currently have posted vacancies for town government or a part-time planning department office assistant and both light equipment operators and lead equipment operators within the Department of Public Works. And I'm going to end my town manager's report with some recap on recent town events that we held within the community. So first of all, thank you to everyone who attended Friday's 9-11 Remembrance marking the 25th anniversary of September 11th. It was one of the best attended ceremonies in recent memory with the full select board presence and attendance as well as Chairman Gallo providing some opening remarks. I'd like to thank Fire Chief Tony Marino from Public Safety for organizing this very important Remembrance event. I also want to mention that Saturday's 40th Annual Renfrew Day was a great success. This year's expanded event included the closure of a portion of 1A and incorporated Sweat Park into the festivities. Overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees I'd like to thank the recreation director Jeff Clinton and his team for organizing and now they're successful. And that concludes my report.

Great. Anyone have any questions for the town manager before we move to adjourn? Being none, Selectman Anderson, who is yours? Mr. Chairman, it's been a long day. So I'm moving to adjourn. Is there a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Motion carried.

Adjourned.

Thank you, everybody. Have a great night.