SB Notes

Notes for Tue, Mar 25, 2025

3/25/2025

2 Comments

Verified as 3/25
5:00 p.m. Call Meeting to Order, Review Agenda, Review Minutes: 3/18/25
Public Comment -

Thank you to Kyle Jarvis for his100 plus per cent effort on behalf of the highway Dept.
David Peters expressed concern about water coming on his property from Swamp Road. Tyson will address this when things dry up. Also concern that neighbors are tampering with the natural wetlands flow by excavating and removing posting signs on hos property.

5:02 p.m. Appointment: Neil Stetson, Heath Union Church—request for building use fee waiver

SB Voted to wave the fee for an Easter event open to all including an egg hunt for kids

5:10 p.m. Appointment: Skilled Operator Position Interview—with Highway Superintendent

SB Voted to hire Jason Boutwell

6:00 p.m. Budget Discussions with Finance Committee and Highway Superintendent

Highway Dept, FinComm, and SB are looking at where funds will come from for the Hwy Dept budget items.: Truck , Salt Shed, maintenance, road repairs. Number 9 Road is a large expense, may need to be done in sections.
Proposed road repair priority: Colrain Stage Rd, Sumner Stetson, Number 9 Road

Other Business
Animal Inspector Appointment—SB voted to approve Amy Jarvis as Animal Inspector
FRCOG Charter Amendments Article—SB voted to put the proposed change on the warrant for ATM
Proposed Changes to Zoning Bylaws

Changes are with council for review.
The wireless portion is very technical and is a lot to digest

FY 2026 Budget Discussion
Mail

Informational items and items already addressed.

2 Comments

Notes Tue, Mar 18, 2025

3/18/2025

0 Comments

Verified as 3/18
5:00 p.m. Call Meeting to Order, Review Agenda
5:05 p.m. Appointment: MTRSD Administration Officials & School Committee presentation of 2D8T
The presentation was well attended by Heath residents, and Colrain school committee members, and the Colrain Town Administrator. The proposal seeks to be proactive in enriching the school experience of our students and creating cost savings for the districts. There is a link to the presentation on the Town Mohawk Trail School Committee Page as well as more info and links to the
6:30 p.m. Proposed Changes to Zoning Bylaws—discussion with Planning Board, votes possible
Streets:

Starting with 3.4.2 the board is recommending defining a street to be a public way, a private way or a statutory private way in all sections going forward.

Section 4.7 Standards for Multi-Family Dwellings:

Add a definition: Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). A self-contained housing unit, inclusive of sleeping, cooking, and sanitary facilities on the same Lot as a Principal Dwelling, subject to otherwise applicable dimensional and parking requirements, that maintains a separate entrance, either directly from the outside or through an entry hall or corridor shared with the Principal Dwelling sufficient to meet the requirements of the Building and Fire Code for safe egress. ADUs may be detached, attached, or internal to the Principal Dwelling. [General references to ADUs in this by-law include both Protected Use ADUs and Local ADUs.]
Raise the required square footage from 800 to 900 to comply with new state requirements.
Remove the requirement that the property owner must reside in one of the two residences to comply with new state requirements.

Wireless Bylaw Draft

This draft contains significant updates to SECTION 6.3 – PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FACILITIES and 6.10 FIXED WIRELESS BROADBAND FACILITIES.

Review Minutes: 3/4/25
Public Comment - None
Other Business
FY 2026 Budget Discussion

Robyn created a spreadsheet showing the effects of a 3% COLA on current salaries.
The grading system itself is antiquated and needs to be reviewed
Robyn to send out an updated Highway Dept spreadsheet showing step by step how to complete the Salt Shed project.
Some salary adjustments started last year are still needed to bring people to mid-grade based on job performance and longevity

Appointment to Board of Health—SB voted to appoint Jason Erali to vacant position
New Business

Request for a Town Conservation Commission email and a Town Planning Board email.
Hilma can reassign the FinCom and Library email accounts.

0 Comments

Notes for Tue, Mar 11 2025

3/11/2025

0 Comments

5:00 p.m. Call Meeting to Order, Review Agenda, Review Minutes: 3/4/25
Public Comment
5:10 p.m. Kurowski/Wecker Dog Hearing deliberation

Elissa has recused herself from the dog hearing due to a potential conflict of interest.
The Kyle Dragon, Animal Control Officer, responded by email to Robyn's questions to clarify different scenarios.
The Animal Control Officer attending the meeting expressed that a nuisance dog should be physically restrained at all times.
SB decision is that Shamus is a nuisance dog and must be on property at all times unless being walked on a leash by a responsible adult.

6:00 p.m. Proposed Changes to Zoning Bylaws—discussion with Planning Board, Doug Mason, Chair

The proposed wireless bylaw changes are in the PDF below, but the state is making changes that may impact these.
The changes involve Section 4.7 (Accessory Dwelling Unit), Section 6.1.2.1 (Private Ways), Section 6.3 (Personal Wireless Facilities) and Section 6.10 (Wireless Broadband Facilities), Section 9 (Definitions)

7:00 p.m. Appointment: Greg Rode—Agreements with 11 Bellor Road entities

Hilma to write a letter to the parties that the agreements are terminated due to non fulfillment of the agreement.
SB voted to terminate both the developer and the farmer agreements.

Other Business
Sawyer Hall water/heat issues—vote anticipated - An insurance rep has visited the hall and the Town will file a claim.
Rental Space RFP/Appraisal Update -
FY 2026 Budget Discussion

Robyn is working on a spreadsheet to cover all the financial regarding the highway department will include equipment and building maintenance.
Responsibility levels must be factored into any increases.
The method used for salary increases is now outdated
It is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to get a CDL to drive heavy equipment which makes it hard to find a person with the license willing to work for the salary advertised.
Robyn to look at the salary structure.
Hilma: Utility expenses are convoluted due to trying to allocate these costs to each building and/or department. She would like to consolidate all the utilities in one account.
The Building Use Committee is looking into how to promote short term rentals.
Need to look carefully at Town Coordinator transition when Hilma retires. How much time is needed for an office assistant.

Update
Community Hall - window work will start within the next 2 weeks.
Mail

Per request by Harry Hallman, the SB voted to close the road in front of Community Hall for the art exhibit

draft_wireless_bylaws_2025.pdf
File Size:	374 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

0 Comments

Notes for Tue, Mar 4 at 5 PM

3/4/2025

0 Comments

Agenda Items
5:00 p.m. Call Meeting to Order, Review Agenda, Review Minutes: 2/25/25
Public Comment - none
5:15 p.m. Kurowski/Wecker Dog Hearing deliberation—vote possible

Meredith Wecker wrote a letter to the SB which was forwarded to Kyle Dragon, the Animal Control Officer.
Kyle's recommendation remains as it was last week that Shams be labeled a nuisance dog due to an escalation in aggression.
To not label the dog a nuisance opens up the Town to liability.
The SB is going to continue deliberation until next week until further questions can be asked of animal control.

Budget Hearings & Discussion held jointly with Finance Committee
[I did not have copies of the individual department budgets so the discussions were hard to follow so there may be mistakes. If anyone requests a particular budget or budgets I will try to get a hold of them.]
5:40 p.m. (started at 5.47 PM) MTRSD School Committee Representative—Budge Litchfield, update

Budge went over the budget for the district: FY26 Mohawk Trail District Budget
Heath had a decline in the Total Operating Assessment: HEATH $1,018,085 $998,725 -$19,360 -1.90%
The Town will need to set aside money in case the money coming from the state and federal contributions are not known at the time we vote on our budget.

6:00 p.m. (6:24 p.m. start) Fire Department Budget Hearing—Chief Nick Anzuoni

Nick was concerned that the state was not aware of the severity of the recent situation where Towns were without power for up to 3 days. Nick has done a write up for Natalie Blaise.
National Grid kept saying the power would be on in a short period of time so many people stayed in their homes.
The effort by National Grid to get the power back on was not managed as well as it could be.
There is a communications issue in the building that needs to be addressed.

6:20 p.m. (6:45 start) Highway Department Budget Hearing—Supt. Tyson Howard
Equipment

Two pieces of equipment are in need of replacement: 2002 International Dump Truck and 2016 Dodge 5500 (not dependable and cost more overtime as it was down for maintenance). Cost $5500 in maintenance this winter.
A 5500 is a non CDL truck which removes a limitation allowing outside drivers so should be an equal replacement not a smaller truck.
The 2002 truck is not fixable because parts are not available.

Paving

Costs may go up, and how much paving depends on Chapter 90 money.
Tyson has difficulty getting quotes

Preservation
Garage and trucks have been neglected in the past so Tyson is playing catch up.

If something is not done the building will have to be replaced.

Signage

Many roads do not have signage which is a safety issue for emergency vehicles that come to help from other towns to help.

7:15 p.m. (7:30 p.m. start) Library Budget Hearing—Library Trustees and Library Director

Kate Barrows went over the budget and is willing to answer any questions.
Budget has appeared to decrease, [but again, I could not follow].
Library usage has regained from COVID

7:40 p.m. (7:47 p.m. start) Police Department Budget Hearing—Chief John McDonough

May need more hours to get out into the town.
Expenses are not increasing too much.

State of Emergency (unanticipated topic)

A question was raised by Wendy Whalen of the Finance Committee about communication during the state of emergency in Heath. Hilma attended a meeting in Conway with the governor regarding transportation. She raised the issue of the tremendous cost of our state of emergency. The governor was there to listen so took in the information, but did not provide feedback at the time.

The internet did not go down so a backup battery would have provided access to the internet.

Other Business
Sawyer Hall water/heat issues

Still no heat and no water.
A number of pipes have pinholes, slices, or valves that need replacing.
New valves are needed as the old valves are not replaceable. New valves have a 2 week lead time and have been ordered.
Hartnet Plumbing will move forward with the known problems and once those fixes are done they will see if there are more issues.
Sawyer Hall will need to be cleaned once the work is done.
Hilma has filed for insurance and an appraiser has been contacted.
SB passed the motion to accept the Hartnet estimate of $14,389

Community Hall Windows Project Update—vote anticipated

The committee was disbanded with many thanks.

Rental Space RFP/Appraisal Update

No updates

HCA with True Cannabis—vote possible

A resident requested the Select Board to declare the HCA with True Cannabis null and void.
The HCA has no value given changes in the government regulations. The SB is willing to terminate the HCA.
SB wants to look at the developer agreement.

Mail not previously discussed

There is concern by the property owner about the use of their property without permission by the bridge construction company.
Distribution of Chapter 90 money is determined by population rather than roads.

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Notes for Tue, Mar 25, 2025

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