Another Busy Night for the Select Board
Select Board Chair John Cronin convened the weekly meeting at 7:00. He called upon Emergency Management Director, Fire Chief Michael Cassidy for the weekly COVID update.
Chief Cassidy reported the following:
- 5 new cases of COVID-19 have been added to the Town’s case count in the past week, bringing the total number of cases to 69
- The Chief presented a draft flow-chart (shown below) for how CARES Act requests should get to the Select Board for review and potential approval. The Board requested that a box be added to the chart to show that a Town board or committee has voted to approve the request before the remaining steps are followed.
- The revised chart will be posted in the COVID section of the Town website.
- Cassidy was asked by the Board about how contact tracing might take place with the schools while maintaining confidentiality. The Chief will work on this.
- An amount not to exceed $999.00 was requested by the Sr. Ctr for the purchase of technology that allows Sr. Ctr. programs to be broadcast for remote access. The Board asked that the Council on Aging follow the new flow and approve the request before submission through Chief Cassidy to the Board.
- The Board approved the cost of security camera to be installed to monitor the soon to be installed Ballot Box outside Town Hall.
- The Board heard a presentation from a Youth & Family Services Director Jackie Winer about a proposed use of CARES Act funds to assist town residents in need of mortgage or rental assistance. Action on the proposal was tabled to next week when Ms. Winer can flesh out some additional parts of the plan.
- Cassidy alerted the Board that the Board of Health will be meeting this week to discuss how / when / where to conduct this year’s seasonal flu vaccine clinic.
- Lastly, the Chief assured the Board all safety plans are in place for in-person voting next Tuesday for the State Primary to be held at HHS from 7 am to 8 pm.
The Board approved the weekly warrant of $656,590.05.
Public Comment:
- Mr. Sparrell appreciated the BlackBoard alert he received during last week’ water disruption. He encouraged citizens to sign up for alerts via the Town’s website Home page or to update contact information via the same link to receive future important announcements. Chief Cassidy is available to help people get signed up or updated.
- Mrs. Hein thanked the DPW for the brush cutting along Woodland Street for the opening of schools.
- Mr. Cronin thanked the water department for the speedy repair of the significant damage to the Washington St. water main. The break was due to contractor error and not a decayed pipe.
Town Administrator:
- Mr. Ahern added his thanks to the DPW for correcting the water problem. The Town will be working with the contractor to avoid future problems and to seek reimbursement.
- Ahern reminded citizens of the in-person early voting going on in Upper Town Hall this week.
- A 7-minute video will soon be on the Town website that outlines the Solar Panel project slated for installation on the old landfill on Marshall St.
- MA DOT has been working on the Summer St / Washington St intersection. Brush has been cut. New painting of control lines and words will be done. A flashing stop light will be installed by the town soon.
- The Town has received a “Complete Streets Grant” in the amount of $37,000. This is to help us with technical assistance in prioritizing projects to get us to our new Town Complete Streets policy.
- The Board of Assessors has released $484,000 from the overlay reserves for the Town’s use.
- October 26, 2020 is the proposed date for the Special Town Meeting. Planning will begin at next week’s Select Board meeting.
Trail Easement:
Town Planner Karen Sherman spoke on behalf of Highway Supervisor Tom Smith, who coordinated all the moving pieces to get this plan underway.
There are two easements granted to the Town from Casey’s Crossing property to allow the Upper Charles Rail Trail to make safe passage between Central and Church Streets. The Board voted to accept the easements pending one minor change in the easement language.
Work on Phase 1 of the plan as shown below will begin August 31st and run though the end of September this year. During that period, trail users will ‘detour’ off the trail at Central or Church and use the sidewalk in front of Coffee Haven. Note that a new crosswalk will be installed across Railroad St. to get back to the trail at Church St.
Phase 1 will include drainage, grinding the existing pavement, grading, a base coat of asphalt and the trail surface. In April 2021, after the base has settled, the finish pavement will be laid down.
Kevin Conley (above) and the Blair Square committee convened a joint meeting with the Board to present the most current plan for the Blair Square section of the trail. The goal is to have a ‘community space’ that is ‘more friendly to more people.’ Several ideas were discussed including a possible solution for public bathrooms. The Board authorized the committee to have the soil tested – at no cost to the town – to see if a septic system is feasible in the area.
Regan Harrold (above) from the engineering firm Beals and Thomas explained the steps that lay ahead once the conceptual plan previewed tonight is fully complete.
The Board reminded all citizens that there will be a Public Forum regarding traffic in the Lowland Industrial Park area. The remote Forum begins at 7:00 Tuesday (TONIGHT). Background information and other useful items can be found at https://www.townofholliston.us/home/news/lowland-industrial-park-traffic-public-forum-tuesday-august-25
Representative Carolyn Dykema and representatives from MA DOT will participate. This is intended to be a listening session for the Board and State to gather public input about the truck traffic in the area.
The Board deferred action on the updated Capital Request Policy until Finance Committee input can be gained later this week.
Board Business:
- July 2nd and 8th meeting minutes were approved
- The Board approved the appointment of Mr. Sparrell as a member of the Blair Square Committee replacing former member Mark Ahronian. Martha Ellis and Herb Brockert, Jr. were appointed as alternate members of the committee.
- Rebecca Weissman’s 3-year appointment to the Conservation Commission was approved along with thanks for her previous 3 years of service.
- A liquor license for a September 5th wedding at the Historical Society was approved. Chief Cassidy is working to ensure COVID compliance.
- Joan Shaughnessy and Shelley Bochner were appointed to the Stipend sub-committee. 3 more volunteers are being sought. If you are not currently on a board or committee and wish to serve, please contact Mr. Ahern.
Other Business:
- Mr. Ahern sought the Board’s authorization to apply for a MAPC Climate Resiliency Grant to conduct a town-wide tree count. This would support the efforts of our Sustainability Coordinator, Matt Zetteck. The Board approved the request.
- Mr. Cronin invited Chief Cassidy up to recognize two HFD members who recently completed all three phases of the Town’s firefighter training. Congratulations to Travis Gross and Jay Marcoaldi.
The meeting adjourned at 9:17 pm.
4 Comments
It is troubling that the Select Board spent 30 minutes on a substantive discussion about providing rental and mortgage relief at their meeting last night, including a specific presentation by the Director of Youth and Family Services, without having this as a specific agenda item on their agenda. Had I known that this was to be discussed in such detail, I would have made an effort to attend the meeting given the significance of this. I was glad to see that Mr. Sparrell requested a delay on action on this until next week (hopefully there will be an agenda item this time).
On the merits of the program, while it is noble that the Select Board is looking to provide relief to our neighbors, we simply do not know yet if we will need this money to help with the cost of reopening the schools or to pay for costs incurred during a potential second wave in the fall. It would be imprudent to begin making payments to individuals (as much as we would all love to do so to help those in need) before ensure that the needs of the town as a whole can be met.
Additionally, as envisioned, Youth and Family Services would manage the requests through its advisory board (appointed by Select Board) and Community Action Fund under the overall oversight of the Select Board. Essentially leaving the Select Board as the final arbiter on funds being paid to individual taxpayers. While they might not officially know the applicants, Holliston is a small town and it could easily be the case that a resident approaches a Select Board member for help and they then refer them to the YFS, but at this point they know who is applying. In fact, while the initial proposal would be just a $25,000 transfer to the Community Action Fund, Mr. Cronin wants the Select Board to vote on each application individually!!! (even if anonymous this is still wildly inappropriate).
Finally, the exact qualifications for this program appear to be vague and while YFS has an application, the qualifications seem very broad. Does an individual who has lost his/her job but has $1,000,000 in the bank qualify? What about the retail employee whose had his/her hours cut back by 25% but still has a job but has no money to speak of in the bank? Based on the flow chart shown during the meeting, any individual who has a financial hardship which includes just the loss of a job and isn’t receiving other assistance qualifies. This seems like a very low hurdle and would potentially allow someone who has lost a job but has ample funds themselves to receive money from the town.
I strongly urge the Select Board not to proceed with this action at this time, certainly not until we have a better grasp of financial needs through the end of the year, and that if they go forward with the program that they simply transfer the money to the CAF and have no further direct involvement in the process. The Select Board should not be handing out cash to town residents.
The Town is not handing out cash to residents. Mortgage and rent relief is an eligible expense determined by the Federal government. For months the Select Board has made all Town departments aware of the eligible expenses under the CARES Act. For months the Select Board, through the Emergency Management Director, has reviewed requests from Town departments during the COVID update on the agenda. Following this practice last night, the Select Board heard additional information on a prior Youth and Family Services request for rent and mortgage relief. This request is in response to a need within our community. As we have heard from the Schools and their lunch program, the Pantry Shelf, and the Senior Center’s meal delivery program there are Holliston residents who need assistance in response to the pandemic. The Select Board will continue to deliberate on all eligible expenses under the CARES Act for the benefit all residents of our community.
Thank you to our board of select ! You certainly show how much you care about the whole towns needs. We’re all lucky citizens to have our new Town administrator also looking out for the whole towns best interests. You all deserve our thanks for meeting often during the summer to keep us all informed about many challenging subjects during this harsh pandemic. Many of us are grateful of your service to our special town. We know these times are difficult for leaders of our community, but you handle our towns business with great care, diligence, and love of our town or you simply wouldn’t be there. My best always, Mark Ahronian
We are also fortunate to have a local citizen who is willing to publicly speak out and raise additional questions about a complex issue. Hopefully, our elected and appointed town officials will consider all points of view with open minds as they continue in the decision-making process.