Select Board Meeting 03/16/2024

March 21, 2024 / Doreen Martel /

In attendance: Chair John Cronin, Vice Chair Tina Hein, Clerk Ben Sparrell, Town Administrator Travis Ahern

Host Community Agreement (HCA) Transfer Request for 72 Jeffrey Ave. from Good Feels to Dirigo Cannabis MA LLC

Attorney Sira Grant in attendance for Dirigo Cannabis who gave a quick rundown on Dirigo’s background and perspective. Explained the only change will be “extraction” methods. Questions were raised about noise/odor issues which she addressed but there were still some concerns expressed by the board.

Because of the changes with the CCB there had to be approval from the community first before the transfer even when the plans are still pending. There are several questions which still remain open so it is recommended that SB hold off voting on this matter until next week.

Celebrate Holliston 300^th Update & Budget Review

The board wanted to discuss the budget and wanted to speak with the Committee regarding expenses and budgets.

The Arbor Day celebration will include 3 trees to be planted (100 years for each tree). Mark Ahronian will be taking care of the trees until planting time (Friday, April 26) 5pm is the celebration. The location has been determined to be Green Street.

Parade updates for May 11, 2024 – the parade will take place rain or shine. There have been several signups for spots in the parade and a full list of participants will be prepared.

Calendar review – the calendar is available online by using this link. The next event on the schedule is Arbor Day (April 26).

Any other items of interest — some discussion occurred regarding the placement of Adirondack chairs in/near Blair Square. More details will be provided as Kevin Conley develops the plan.

Holliston Fire Department – Ambulance Rate Hearing for FY2025

The current ambulance rates have not changed in nearly 10 years. A new proposal was submitted (which can be read here) to the board. Several questions were addressed concerning the increase rate in some services. The SB was assured that anyone who was unable to afford services because of lack of insurance or being underinsured that there are alternative ways to deal with bills that patients are sent. was made by Ben, 2^nd by Tina, John voted against, motion passed 2 to 1. Motion to accept the rate increase as of July 1 2024 passed unanimously.

Public Comment – John thanked Bobby and Deb for the excellent work on the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast and made reference to some of the follicle challenges which Tina brought up during the roast.

Weekly Warrant(s) – the motion to pay the warrant by Ben, 2^nd by Tina, passed unanimously.

Comments from the Town Administrator

Next week’s agenda will be a review of the library warrant as well as Parks Department inquiries. Also the agenda will seek Select Board to approve Level 3 budget approval.

Sustainability: 350.org local chapter while we do not have a coordinator at this time, we are working with people who know what they are doing and we have our Decarbonization report on the website (you can see it here).

Town has received a META grant in the amount of $15,000 for a feasibility study. This was awarded by MassDOER.

John expressed some concern that not enough information is being shared from Western Samson and Travis agreed to pursue additional sharing of information as well as providing an email address in the sustainability portion of the town website for people to contact someone if they have questions.

We’ve also been informed that the window for Congressional funding has opened and we’ve been in touch with the respective MA delegation and we anticipate being able to submit multiple requests for projects in Holliston.