The January 25, 2021 Select Board meeting began at the appointed hour of 6:30pm by Chair, John Cronin. 

Emergency Management Director, Fire Chief Michael Cassidy presented the Board with his weekly update.

• Holliston currently has 199 active cases,
• Only 27 new cases this week compared to 47 last week,
• Last week’s positivity rate dropped to 5.21%
• Most cases are in single-family homes
• The overnight stay-at-home advisory has been lifted effective Monday, Jan 25^th.
• The current vaccines appear to be effective with the known virus mutations to date,
• On-line Registration for Phase 2 eligible population begins THIS Wednesday, Jan 27^th.
• Double-masking has proven effective with the new variants

There were no specific CARES Act funding requests this week. Cassidy did report that a meeting will be held this Thursday morning for representatives from the Town and Public Schools to do some fine tuning of expenses to date – and remaining funds.

Warrants:  The Board approved the weekly warrant totaling $440,152.45.

Public Comment:

• Mr. Sparrell – None
• Mrs. Hein – None
• Mr. Cronin – Thanked Representative Dykema and Senator Karen Spilka for the Capital Funding bill that recently was signed into law.  See release here-> Capital Funding Release
• Public:
  • Mr. Ken Hyde of 280 Washington Street made the Board aware of a problem involving sump pump discharge from a neighboring property.  The Board asked Town Administrator Ahern to look minutes from previous public hearings by Town Boards / Committee related to this issue.  It may be a civil matter between neighbors.

At 7:05, the water rate hearing was opened by the Board.  DPW Director, Sean Reese (below) recommended following guidance from the Town’s water consultants, Stantec, that the FY 22 water rates remain the same as FY 21 (which was a $3 / 100 cu. ft. decrease from FY 20).  Mr. Reese shared that the pandemic caused an uptick in water usage and therefore the revenues collected in FY 21.

The Board discussed the rate and future needs of the Water Department and decided to take “a deep dive into the Water Dept in the warmer summer months.”  The Board approved the 0% change in the FY 22 water rate.  The Rate Hearing was closed at 7:46pm.

Below, the Water Dept. budget proposal for FY 22 was presented by Mr. Reese and Mr. Ahern.  The departmental total is $2,513,721 which includes borrowing related to building the new water filtration plant on Central Street.  Water from the new facility should be flowing in early Summer 2022. The Board approved the proposed budget.

Comments from Town Administrator:

• Mr. Ahern noted that next Monday’s Board meeting will begin at 7:00pm now that the overnight stay-at-home advisory has been lifted.

Performance Evaluation of Town Administrator

• The Board annually reviews the Town Administrator in January.
• The Board followed the procedure laid out by Holliston’s Town Counsel.
• The final performance evaluation will be stored for public perusal and the commentary will be filed in Mr. Ahern’s personnel file.
• By all accounts Mr. Ahern is off to an exceptional start.  He received 2 Exceeds Expectations, and 1 Meets Expectations. Some of the comments shared are below:
  • Gets things done,
  • Exceptional attention to detail,
  • Has had an immediate positive impact,
  • He finds creative solutions,
  • He is a pleasure to work with,
  • Patient with others
  • Looking forward to more great work in the future.

Board Business:

• Chapter 90 Project Reimbursement Westfield Drive Culvert.  The Board authorized the request for $27,227.50 to complete the State’s contribution to the culvert replacement.

Other Business:

• Mrs. Hein – Asked that the Board at a future meeting discuss the possibility of expanding the charge of the Sustainable Waste / Recycling Committee to be a Sustainability Committee.  Rich Rosenberry has a proposal for how such a committee might work.
• Mr. Cronin:
  • Alerted citizens to an HPD reminder posted earlier Monday regarding vehicle security.  See the entire alert here -> HPD Security Reminder
  • On behalf of the Board, Mr. Cronin passed along condolences to the family and friends of Maria Salomao-Schmidt who passed away last week.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:11pm