Notes Oct 22 2024

4:30 p.m. Call Meeting to Order at Colrain Municipal Building,  55 Main Road (Meeting will be audio-recorded.)
Meet jointly with the Colrain Selectboard to hear presentation of findings from the 2 Districts 8 Towns Sustainability
Study.
5:30 p.m. approximate, meeting adjourned for Select Board to reconvene in Heath at:
6:00 p.m. Reconvene Heath Select Board meeting, Jacobs, Review Agenda, Public Comment, Review Minutes: 10/8/2024
Resignations with regrets:
Dennis Peters from the Veterans Memorial committee after many years of service.
Don Freeman, a long time volunteer in many roles,  from library Trustees.
6:15 p.m. Police Department: Police Chief John McDonough, mid-year update

• Administrative tasks handled: tasks associated with distribution of pay from National Grid for details, resident calls, firearms renewals, fair detail went well, training started in September in-service training, working with Rowe in sharing  training costs such as firearms training, police car is in good shape.
• Had break-ins on South Rd and Avery Brook Rd, but it doesn't appear anything was taken. Both were vacation homes and break-ins found by care takers.  R
• Trunk or Treat at Jabobs Road
•  Robyn remarked that there is too much speeding in town, unregistered vehicles
• Call John if you have noticed times in particular when there is speeding, seems t people going to and from work
• Route 8A is a particular problem

6:30 p.m. Trail Easement—vote anticipated

• Working to achieve a Deerfield River to Hoosic River, multiday trail
• All trail work is funded through grants, Trowbridge land will enable public access to connect existing trails.

Other Business
Highway Department Update

• The new superintendent will be at the Highway Dept tomorrow to meet with Steve and crew. Will and Robyn will also be there to greet him.
• Elissa took items to bulky waste day for the highway department, Steve said it was a big help.
• There is a beaver creating a problem with a culvert on Rt 8A, a professional has been brought in.
• Plows are ready, things are in great shape.

Salt Shed Progress Update

• Floor has been patched
• Have 100 tons of salt, 250 tons of sand
• We have a site plan from the architect
• Robyn's recommendation is to get a proposal for the shed itself, and a separate one for the site work to help determine how much the Highway Dept can take on.
• Will be using ARPA money, the $100,000 already set aside, and other sources.

FY 2024 year-end financial reports

• Hilma and Robyn are still putting this together, and there are no significant issues yet
• Making sure money has been posted and in the right category in preparation for moving to a VADAR reporting system, https://vadarsystems.com/solutions/fund-accounting/

Community Hall Projects—vote anticipated

•  Painting is preceding well
• Hilma to get quotes for replacing the doors.
• Window replacement - waiting on Mass Historical Commission approval because it's an historical building

Mail

• Don LeBreux wrote a letter expressing his interest in being on the Parks & Recreation Committee. The Select Board voted to appoint Don.
• Looking into cemetery repairs
• Robyn attended a meeting last week at FRCOG and expressed her support for a Regional Zoning Enforcement Officer.  Erving got a grant to update their Zoning Bylaws, Robyn asked Hilma to find out more and would like Heath to be able to do the same. At a minimum Heath could review Erving's zoning laws for to see what might be helpful to the Town.