Select Board Notes Apr 2 2024

These notes are skimpy, I recommend listening to the audio, or at a minimum to the Natalie Blais portion. SB 2024-04-02 N BlaisSectionofAudio.mp3
Full meeting audio: SB 2024-04-02 Audio.mp3
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6:00 p.m. Call Meeting to Order, Review Agenda, Review Minutes: 3/26/24
6:00 p.m. Meeting with State Representative Natalie Blais
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• Sue expressed concern that Mass does not consider ambulance an essential service
• When Colrain bills insurance, they only get what the insurance wants to give. This causes  financial hardship that impacts the ability to keep people.

Natalie's Initiatives/focuses

• educational aid for rural communities
• transportation: https://www.mass.gov/northern-tier-passenger-rail-study​
• ​more involvement by younger people in community service

Issues raised by FinCom and Select Board with Natalie

• educational costs
• infrastructure costs
• rural communities can not do what is dictated by the state, we can not be treated the same by the State Legislature as non-rural communities.

7:00 p.m. FY 2025 Budget Planning—with Finance Committee
Recommendations:

• Fund salary increases
• Fund Colrain ambulance service, $22,000
• Fund replacement truck from stabilization
• Fund new leaf blower rather than repair existing as that would not be cost effective (made in Italy, expensive repair, not a long term solution.)
• Fund storage container

Other Business

• ​MTRSD Agreement Articles & possible meeting: no response from the district
• Community Hall Windows Fundraising—update:  $10,677,
• Community Hall/Sawyer Hall—Mold Remediation update: Tim continuing to paint in CH. When done he will call Hartnet to reinstall plumbing. Contractor to get back to Tim with quote on replacing the ceiling. Current ceiling tiles are no longer available. SH to be painted next.
• CH Repairs needed: facia boards, cupola repairs
• Town Report Dedication:  Hilma did not have time to write

New Business

• COA wants to do a bake sale at ATM, SB voted to approve.