Select Board Holds Two Hearings and Hires An Asst. Town Administrator

The Holliston Select Board met on Monday, September 20, 2021 to tackle a customary “robust agenda.”  Chair Tina Hein called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm.

First up was for the Board to meet and interview the finalist candidate for the position of Assistant Town Administrator / Human Resources Director.  Mr. Ahern introduced Kathleen Buckley (below right) to the Board and those assembled.

Ms. Buckley is currently the HR Manager for the Town of Wayland. Previously she served a similar role for the MA State Senate.  She mentioned that she is very interested in this position because the job description calls on her HR and communications experience.  Human Resources excites her because she gets to interact with generally inspired employees who are doing good work for the community.

Members of the Board questioned Ms. Buckley on a wide range of topics.  She was thorough and thoughtful in her responses.  She has appreciated the Town’s hiring process and professionalism.

The Board unanimously approved a motion to offer the position to Ms. Buckley.  Welcome to Holliston Ms. Buckley!

Warrants – The Board approved the weekly warrant totaling $2,647,270.38.

Public Comment:

  • Mr. Cronin:
    • Congratulated the Celebrate Holliston team for the very successful “Celebrate on Central. He noted the substantial crowd.  He called out Chloe Drohan, HHS Senior soloist for her exceptional rendition of the National Anthem.
    • DPW Updates:
      • Winter Street is 90% complete with paving and final connections to be completed soon.
      • Water filtration plant on Central St. on track for Summer 2022 completion
      • A maintenance matrix is being built / reviewed to better organize the maintenance of Town fields, parks, etc.
  • Mr. Sparrell:
    • Seconded Mr. Cronin’s compliment on the Celebrate Holliston event.
    • The Historical Society’s Harvest Fair was well-attended, and Mr. Sparrell brought home one of the 105 home-made apple pies!
  • Mrs. Hein:
    • In addition to the success of Celebrate Holliston, Mrs. Hein commended Fire Chief Cassidy for partnering with the Holliston Public Schools to store the department’s primary emergency vehicles at the elementary schools parking lot. The equipment was staffed throughout the day in case of emergencies.
  • Public:  None

Verizon Pole Hearing – Norfolk Street

A Public Hearing on the placement of a new telephone pole on Norfolk St. near the intersection with Central Street was convened at 7:40 pm.

Mr. Ross Bilodeau (above) represented Verizon to explain that the new pole is needed to support a line of poles that is currently secured to a tree that can no longer be relied on for stability.  Verizon and Eversource jointly own the pole.  The Board approved the request to install the new pole as specified in its request.  The Hearing was closed at 7:45pm.

At 7:45 pm a Public Hearing was opened to discuss Road Acceptance of Mohawk Path (partial), Mayflower Landing and Indian Circle.  Holliston Town Planner Karen Sherman (below) filled in the Board on the status of the roads in question. 

She and Highway Superintendent Tom Smith conducted a site walk on September 15, 2021.  The review generated a “punch list” of 19 outstanding improvements needed prior to acceptance.   Mr. Jim Sullivan (below) of the engineering firm Guerriere & Halnon, Inc. that works for the developer Fafard, indicated that “most of the items would be corrected by October 8, 2021 and all would be done by October 12, 2021.”

Mohawk Path resident Garrett Brannigan (below) asked if the site plans would be updated to include the three new drainage easements that have been needed to manage storm water.  Mr. Sullivan indicated that the next version of the plans would show the easements. 

Future discussions will be about adding public parking near the Rail Trail crossing on Mayflower Landing .

The Board approved a motion to advance the Road Acceptance of the streets referenced in the request to the Fall Town Meeting Warrant, pending successful completion of the outstanding work and suitable performance bonds.  Also, the Board directed the Town Administrator to forward all pertinent paperwork to the Town Clerk in a timely manner.  The Hearing closed at 8:19pm.

COVID-19 Community Update:

Fire Chief Michael Cassidy updated the Board regarding the current active case count in Holliston:

  • 8 new cases added
  • 15 cases were removed
  • 12 cases are currently active
  • Holliston has moved into the Yellow category on the Green, Yellow, Red scale

CARES/ARPA Programmatic Update:

The Board approved these requests for CARES Act funds totaling $49,231.  $66,208 still remains in the Town’s CARES Act funds.  State guidance that CARES Act funds need to be expended by October 29, 2021.

Update from Town Administrator: Mr. Ahern provided the following items to the Board:

  • Deputy DPW hiring is progressing.
  • The “Viewpoint” video production funded by ARPA is moving ahead.  The production crew is scheduled to be in Town in early to mid-October.
  • Stantec engineering will be at next Monday’s Board meeting to present its final Sidewalk study report and a draft of the Water Modernization study.  The Board is expecting to see reports that integrate the two studies.

Fall Town Meeting Preparation

  • Logistics discussion – Chief Cassidy was back to let the Board know that the Fall Town Meeting will look more like a ‘normal’ Town Meeting held in the High School auditorium.  Seating will be open and folks are encouraged to sit where they’re comfortable.  Currently, the School Committee has a face mask requirement for all who enter a School facility.  Stay tuned to see what is expected when Town Meeting begins, October 18th.
  • Review of Warrant Articles received before Warrant close on 9/20/21 at 4PM

Mr. Ahern walked the Board and viewing public through the current list of 20 articles for the October Town Meetng. They are listed below.

Article 4, the Capital Budget Article, is shown in greater detail below.  The new item in red is for the creation of appropriate office space in Town Hall for the new HR Director and existing Town HR Specialist.

The Board and the Finance Committee Capital Subcommittee have questions about the exact amount the Schools will need for the Rooftop Unit Set Aside.  Finance Committee member Vin Murphy (below) indicated that the Schools would soon have a better number to cover the most likely replacement scenario.

Continuing through the Warrant. Article 16 is sponsored by the Planning Board and relates to zoning for the recently State-approved delivery of marijuana.  The Planning Board is holding a Public Hearing prior to Town Meeting on October 7, 2021 regarding this Article.  Articles 17, 18, and 19 are a sequence of steps to create and move funds into a separate cannabis stabilization account.

Article 20 will be reviewed by the Board with input from Town Counsel during next week’s meeting. The Board will continue discussing / fine tuning the Articles in the weeks to come.

Board Business:

  • Approved Parade permit October 2, 2021 Cystic Fibrosis Cycle for Life
  • Appointed James Keast to Historical Commission, term expires June 2024. The Commission is a seven-member committee.  Mr. Keast will be the fourth member – making a quorum possible.  The Commission is looking for additional volunteer members.  If interested, please contact Mr. Ahern ahernt@holliston.k12.us.ma.
  • Appointed Erica Richardson and David Stevens as Sworn weighers at the Covanta transfer station, term to expire June 2022

Other Business:

Mr. Cronin – Kevin Conley is soliciting more public support for using CPC funds for the next phase of the Blair Square project.  Messages of support can be forwarded to Mr. Sparrell sparrellb@holliston.k12.us.ma.

Mr. Sparrell – “Envisioning Future Holliston” meeting this Wednesday at 7:30pm via Zoom.

Mrs. Hein – Attended the last Town Department Head meeting.  Curious about the next step regarding the 260 Woodland St. property.

The meeting adjourned at 9:40pm.

Chris Cain

1 Comment

  1. Kevin Robert (Bob) Malone on September 21, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    Apropos the Verizon hearing, is there any way to get Verizon to move on finishing the transfer of service and removal of duplicate poles in town? Some of these are a number of years old, and there seems to be no incentive, or penalty, so nothing gets done. Simply looking around will identify a number of these ugly, and even dangerous, situations on our roads.

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