​ From: Bill Lattrell <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2022 1:16 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Select Board Notes for Feb 18 2022
 
I agree totally with sentiment that Selectboard Members are under valued and under apreciated. There is a stipend, however.  I once did the math when I was a member and figured my compensation came to about $1.50/hour!  People do this job because they love the town and want to contribute.  That does not mean that they are beyond critique or crticism but it does mean thst they should be treated with respect and people should tone down the negative rhetoric.  We all recognize that there are differing points of view on every topic.  Some will agree and some will not.  Personal attacks are NEVER acceptable. We live in a representative democracy where we get to choose our government.  That comes with the responsibility of supporting those who choose to serve and are chosen by the voters. If you can't support those elected than disagree with respect and let your truthful views be known.  It really is simple and does not have to be devisive.
Sent from the all new AOL app for Android
 
On Mon, Feb 21, 2022 at 4:23 PM, Heath Connects
<[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Folks,
The Select Board notes for Feb 18 are available at 
https://www.heathconnects.org/sb-notes/meeting-notes-feb-18-2022SB Notes, Feb 18
 
There were many items discussed along with follow up from previous weeks. Some topics:

• SB needs to make a decision on a Special Town Meeting to allow for the transfer of money to cover the costs of the AT&T lawsuit. 
• The  MTRS draft FY23 budget  shows a significant increase.

[ I checked the draft and it showed  $1,132,316 over the FY22 budget which will have an impact on Heath. Last year our assessment for Mohawk Trail and Franklin County Tech was $996,620 and accounted for almost half our budget. If you go to the notes, there is a link to the budget.]

• Robyn responded to some questions regarding an idea previously suggested for the town to hire a consultant. The task would be to pull together all the work that has been down to date by committees on town buildings and extend that to a more global view of how to use all our properties.

Personal Comment: Being a Select Board member is a part time unpaid job with a lot of homework outside of meetings and with many folks grading that homework. Remember that this work is public service and keep in mind  what Abe Lincoln said: ". . .  you can't please all of the people all of the time."   

Published: 2/15/2022 6:35:30 PM
Modified: 2/15/2022 6:33:41 PM
​Reading the article about the Heath Library last Thursday one might think that moving the library to 18 Jacobs Road is a good idea. In fact, the majority of citizens of Heath want to keep the library in Sawyer Hall in Heath Center. Our current library is perfectly adequate for our small town of 700 souls. The primary excuse being used to promote the move is that the space is not ADA compliant. Sawyer Hall is ADA compliant and there is a plan in place to further improve the current library space, and the money to implement this plan.
The Library Trustees have prematurely voted to recommend this move without consulting the Friends of the Heath Library, the patrons of the library, nor the citizens of our town. A small group of people who hold power are promoting this imprudent move. At the last annual Town Meeting we voted to keep the town offices and library in Heath Center and the Select Board is ignoring this fact. The Select Board has refused to do any surveys of the desires of the community because they know the results will not confirm their agenda. It’s past time for them to listen to the community. The citizens of Heath deserve to have a say in this hugely impactful decision.
Heath Center is the heart of our community. Heath Center is a meeting place, centrally located, where we see our neighbors on a daily basis. 18 Jacobs Road is far removed from the heart of our community in so many ways. The lack of responsiveness by the Select Board to our concerns has split our beloved community. The move of the town offices and now possibly the library will only serve to deepen this division.
Bob Dane
Heath