The Holliston Select Board held its weekly meeting on Monday, February 7, 2022. The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Board Chair Tina Hein. This meeting included a Public Hearing and a Host Community Agreement discussion along with the “normal” Board activities.

Public Hearing on 9 Green Street

At 7:01pm a Public Hearing, to which abutters had been notified by mail, was opened.  The area under discussion is the Town property shown below following the demolition of the existing building.

Mr. Alan Hanscom of PARE Engineering outlined the planned use of the area using the diagram below.

The plan recommends:

• A one-way route along the 11-foot right-of-way that runs adjacent to the Superette
• Stabilizing the drainage ditch along the north edge of the property
• Paving the lot to provide 19 parking spaces, 2 handicap spaces, and six Electric Vehicle charging stations.
• Effectively, the paving places a secure cap over the contaminated sub-soil. Leaving access to test wells in the area.
• The EV charging stations could at some future date be solar powered.
• Wastewater would drain to the Rain Garden shown in the center of the diagram.
• Shade trees would surround the lot – one honoring Jill Malcolm.
• An ADA compliant ramp would run from the parking lot up to the Green St. level.
• Traffic leaving the parking lot would exit onto Green Street to the light at Washington
• A pedestrian crosswalk to Goodwill Park would allow pedestrian access to the park from the new lot
• Some of the fixtures shown below could be included in the plan to allow for outdoor dining (of Superette fare of course!)  All low maintenance and durable.

About 10 people were on the Zoom meeting site and three of those citizens commented on the plans.

Joan Levinsohn expressed her great pleasure with the EV charging station and the potential for solar panels over the site.

Mary Greendale suggested from a previous study that some pedestrians would use a walkway passing behind the Washington St. businesses toward Hollis St.  Of course, the necessary legal machinations would be required to offer this option.

Mark Bunker, a Green Street neighbor, expressed overall support for the concept.  He shared some of his “lived experience” being a neighbor of Goodwill Park.  He suggests adequate monitoring of the new lot and accoutrements to avoid it becoming a hangout, skateboard park, and litter magnet.  Ultimately, when a new traffic flow is established, a left turn arrow/lane from eastbound Washington to Green St. might be necessary.

The Select Board was unanimous in its support of the plan and was anxious to hear what next steps would be.  Town Administrator Ahern and Mr. Hanscom believe the RFP for the building phase could be posted in April or May of this year and that construction would likely take 60 – 90 days once the contract is awarded.

PARE will work with Administrator Ahern to apply for grants to offset the costs of the project.

Mr. Hanscom will return to the Board with design alternatives based on Monday’s Hearing input.

The Public Hearing was closed at 7:43pm

Warrants – The Board approved the weekly warrant totaling – $516,293.65

FY2023 Budget Reviews:

• Technology – $316,957  +7.65%

IT Director Chris Meo pointed to three areas that increased the proposed budget: Software support fees, Social Media expansion and electronic communication retention, and self-paced online training modules for professional development of Town personnel. In an aside, Mr. Meo reported that the IT staff have managed 681 Zoom meetings with a total of 12,384 participants.

• Veterans’ Services – $94,489  +0.06%

Mr. Ahern provided the Board with a sneak peek at the overall proposed budget (excluding the School budget).  The proposed department budgets are 5.31% higher than last year.  The Town Administrator proposed budget will be released later this month and will show how the budgets can pared to meet the revenue projections.

Host Community Agreement (HCA) Request for 72 Jeffrey Ave. from Good Feels Inc.

The Board was joined by the three Principals of Good Feels, Inc.  Jason Reposa and Bella Gelman (with Select Board) and Brett Hunniecutt (bottom right).

The trio provided the Board with a thorough and energetic proposal for their cannabis seltzer bottling operation in the Lowland Industrial Park.

Selected slides from the presentation are below:

The facility will have 26 cameras watching every aspect of the building and operation.

They presented an aggressive timeline for getting the business up and running in Holliston.  From previous experience setting up a similar operation in Medway, they realize that the timing will be delayed most likely in working with the State’s Cannabis Control Commission for approvals.

As with HCA discussions, Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff, below, was on hand to answer any questions the Board might have had. The Board had no questions for Counsel.

The projected revenue to the Town when the facility is working at capacity (100,000 bottles / month), will be in the neighborhood of $10,000 / month.

The Board noted that the Principals had delivered a nice presentation with obvious pride in the product from their experience in Medway and demonstrated a sensitivity for how the facility would fit in near the other businesses in the Lowland Park.

The Board voted unanimously to authorize the Town Administrator and Town Counsel to draft a Host Community Agreement between the Town of Holliston and Good Feels, Inc.

Public Comment:

• Mr. Cronin:
  • Encouraged citizens to consider running for office in this year’s Town election – nomination forms are available at the Town Clerk’s office.
• Mr. Sparrell:
  • The Blair Square committee presented its monetary request to the CPC last week – awaiting response.
  • Asked that representatives from the Community Farm Advisory Committee provide an update to the Board at an upcoming meeting.
  • The Envisioning Future Holliston survey data are being compiled and will be presented soon.
• Mrs. Hein:
  • Mrs. Hein will be absent from the Board’s February 22^nd (Tuesday following Presidents’ Day holiday) meeting.
• Public: None

Comments from Town Administrator:

• Mr. Ahern attended the School Committee’s priority meeting last Thursday.
• Reported that Representative Dykema’s last day at the State House will be Friday, February 11, 2022. There will be staff available after that date to handle constituent calls / issues.
• A thank you letter from the Town has been drafted for delivery to Mrs. Dykema.
• The Board requested that a letter be sent to the Speaker of the House requesting a special election to fill the vacant seat – OR – which other State Reps. can support Holliston until January 2023?
• Mr. Ahern did NOT share the following – here is a link to the promotional video about HCAT’s new feature -> Introducing Ask The TA

Board Business:

• The Board approved the updated Snow & Ice Policy (which will be posted on the Town website soon).
• The Board voted to authorize the overspending of the Snow and Ice budget.  We have already spent 62% of this year’s allotment.
• Approved the minutes from the January 10, 2022 meeting.
• Accepted the donation of time and materials (extended the parking area using recycled asphalt) with a value of $500 from Shady Corner Farm to the Holliston Community Farm.
• Approved the Bertucci’s updated annual Liquor license

Other Business:  None

The meeting was adjourned at 9:03pm.