Select Board Chair Mark Ahronian called the December 23rd meeting to order at 7:00pm. The Board approved the weekly warrants totaling $1,129,186.39.

During public comment Mrs. Hein requested that Jackie Winer, Y&FS Director, be added to a Board agenda in February to make the Drug-free Holliston presentation that was postponed due to the earlier snow storm.

Mr. Ritter provided several updates:

• Six applications have been received for the Local Site Professional to work on the 9 Green Street project
• A ‘what if’ plan is due for the town’s dams
• The Town Hall winterization is underway as part of a Green Community grant
• A Recycling Center Supervisor will soon be hired
• One application has been received (with another in the pipeline) for the Sustainability Coordinator position. Applications are due December 30, 2019 (Mr. Ritter will contact Sherborn to follow up on the $50,000 of state funds being shared by Holliston and Sherborn.)

Next up was Mederi, a marijuana cultivation firm. Earlier in 2019 the company had requested and received a Letter of Non-opposition from the Board to move forward with plans and permits to open a cultivation center at 44 Boynton in Holliston.

Meredith George, CFO and Co-founder of Mederi, appeared before the Board to request a separate Letter of Non-opposition for Mederi’s plans to open a Medical Marijuana Dispensary at the 44 Boynton location. The Board asked several questions and asked Mederi to do some data gathering before the Board would act (probably in mid-January) on the request.

The Board: approved the minutes from their December 16th meeting, accepted $5,000 gifts from the Birch Foundation for HPD and HFD, and approved the annual renewal of Package Store licenses.

The Board reviewed an updated proposal from McMahon Associates to improve pedestrian safety and traffic flow. Four signal and software changes costing approximately $24,000 (from the remaining original funds) were approved by the Board

Mr. Cronin, the Board’s liaison with the Finance Committee reported that the FinCom has updated its policies. He reviewed the policies and is drafting suggested changes for the Board’s review in early January.

Committee membership was next on the agenda. Holly Fischer-Engel resigned from the Youth Advisory Council. Alison Quinan was appointed to fill the vacancy. Larry Jacobs (below) was appointed as Holliston’s representative to the MWRTA board. He will bring the riders’ perspective that board.

Mr. Ritter updated the Board on the hiring process for the town’s new Facilities Manager. The pool of 15 applicants has been whittled down to five candidates. Those five will be interviewed by the selection group next Monday, December 30th. Finalists will be brought to the Board in early January.

The meeting adjourned at 8:03. There will be NO meeting next Monday – “Happy Holidays Holliston,” Mr. Cronin was heard to exclaim as the meeting ended.