Notes Tue Mar 17 2026

Call Meeting to Order – THIS MEETING MAY BE AUDIO RECORDED
➢ Review Agenda
➢ Consent Agenda
o Meeting Minutes: 03/10/2026
o Accounts Payable & Payroll Warrants
➢ Select Board Discussion/Decision Items
o Annual Town Meeting Warrant – Review/Discuss 1st draft

• Article 9: Late Bus - not recommended by FinCom. Unable to determine how many, if any, heath students ride the late bus
• Article 11: Requirement of Boards & Committees to give SB a heads up if a grant application needs monies from the town. Elissa to look into the history of the article.
• Discussed where lease monies for each building should go: currently there are no Jacobs Rd and Sawyer Hall rental accounts. Monies from HYPA do not go into a building account.
• Need to review revolving funds regarding needs and requirements. Revolving Funds are listed in Mass General law.
• Robyn would like to close accounts where the requirements are complete and there are no expenses.
• Budget for office assistant

o FY ’27 Budget – General Discussion

• This was truly a general discussion. A lot of line items were entered as placeholders. If I get a copy of the draft budget, I will send it out.
• Discussion of the Police coverage at the Heath Fair paid by the Town.  Per Elissa it is a benefit to many town organizations:  Heath Union  Church supper, the Firemen's barbecue, Friends of the Library book tent, the Historical Society raffle, and the Highway Dept which stores vehicles there over the winter.
• The Fire Dept is dropping its request for turnout gear from 2 down to 1.
• There was a discussion of stipends. FinComm had recommended eliminating some stipends entirely, but the Select Board has reservations. Review of the criteria for stipends, one of which was how often a board or committee meets.
• An issue was raised that the MPL Manager position was supposed to end with the buildout, but continues on. Question was raised as to why the 5 members could not handle the role.
• The Town Coordinator grade was raised, but here will be a discussion later with Mia.

o Lease Agreement Next Steps

• Hilltown Youth Performing Arts - Mia will be doing edits to the lease agreement
• ​Valerie Isaacs - rental of former meeting room in Sawyer Hall. Elissa has worked on a lease agreement which the SB will review when edits are done.  Valerie plans to take possession by April 1 of this year.
• Historical Society has not paid rent for space in Sawyer Hall due to some lease confusion.  The $1200 rent due will be paid once a treasure transition which is taking place has been done.

o Highway Department – Discuss Paving Options

• The two options for reclaiming the roads are binder and chip sealing
• Colrain Stage Rd is targeted to have both done as it has heavier traffic and is an emergency route.  The chip sealing cost for CSR is different from that proposed for the other roads.  It is possible to do the binder this year and chip seal next year.
• Will downloaded guidelines from DOT for roads. He is concerned about culvert replacement.  He also spoke with the Road Boss in Northfield who spoke about the possibility of doing binder and chip seal on the worst parts of the road and other parts the following year.
• Robyn investigated new work chip seal over gravel which is proposed for Number 9 Rd and Sumner Stetson—Conway uses it frequently.  Robyn wants to know the life expectancy of this method.
• Elissa brought up the condition of Jacobs Road. Something needs to be done as soon as weather permits.

o Board’s Clerk Resignation – Discussion & Acceptance – Vote Anticipated

• Elissa and the Boards Clerk met and the clerk is willing  to continue with only the BoH until the end of the year at 5 hours a week. The SB voted to create a temporary position for 5 hours a week at the current rate.
• SB voted to accept the resignation and the position will need to be posted.

o Office Assistant Position – Discuss Position/Tasks

• SB voted to post for the job at 10 hours a week.

o MIIA Rewards – Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association, a different kind of insurance provider

• There is a way to accrue credits which can turn into money

Heath Community Resource Fair – Select Board & Town Coordinator Participation

• SB discussed what they might offer, perhaps talk about open volunteer positions. Taking place on April 18.

o CodeRED Alerts Not Delivering – Update from Support Team

• CodeRED has responded that the cause is at the number for a number of possible reasons. The messages coming back from the attempted call is "Busy".  OOMA may be the source of the problem. 

➢ New Information/Updates

• None

o Town of Colrain Surplus Police Cruiser
➢ Public Comment

• New seating arrangement has improved the audio and a resident expressed appreciation.

➢ Mail

• Resident noted mud season has made for impassable road conditions on Underwood Hill Rd and Sumner Stetson.  Looking for speedy action to correct the situation.
• Building Use Committee (BUC) would like to advertise rental space in the buildings.

➢ New business that could not be anticipated 48 hours prior to the meeting
➢ Meeting Adjournment
Posted in accordance with the provisions of MGL C. 30A §§ 18-25 by Mia Frances