Board Chair John Cronin called the April 26, 2021 meeting to order at 7:00pm. He moved to the first item of business, the weekly update from Fire Chief Michael Cassidy.
Coronavirus Community update
Emergency Management Director Cassidy provided the Board with the weekly stats for Holliston, including at least one amazing figure (you’ll see it soon):
The active case count of 70 includes cases that have been counted for several weeks. Chief Cassidy postulated that the Town’s nurse consultant will soon get caught up from their recent vacation and “as many as one half of the cases will be cleared soon.”
Holliston’s positivity rate was at 2.59% while the State overall was at 2.00%. For the 13th week in a row, Holliston remains in the Yellow category. All of the adjacent towns / cities are now in the Yellow or better. The number of towns / cities across the State in the Red category declined from 59 to 48.
Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. Over 100% of people 75 and older have received at least one vaccine. Here’s how that feat was accomplished – 948 1st doses have been given, the State Dept Public Health has a census of 941 people in that category in Holliston = 101%
Cassidy and Town Administrator Ahern encouraged residents AND those who work in Holliston, who are eligible, to use the Town’s special link to schedule an appointment THIS FRIDAY from 9 – 2. There were over 50 appointments available at the time of the Board’s meeting. Click here -> Holliston residents’ private link
CARES Act Programmatic update
There were no new requests for CARES Act funds presented to the Board for approval this week.
Chief Cassidy attended a webinar last week presented by the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) on preparing for aid from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). His biggest takeaway was the importance of developing a comprehensive town-wide plan for how the funds can be used when they are available. Unlike the CARES Act, ARPA is intended to “free up local resources” and attend to human services, infrastructure, and pandemic-related expenses after the CARES Act ends.
Cassidy recommended convening one or two working groups from all Town departments to begin planning.
Warrants – The Board approved the weekly warrant totaling $2,191,011.51.
Public Comment:
- Mr. Cronin noted that the historic cemetery in East Holliston is in disrepair. He asked that Mr. Ahern follow up to determine what remediation might entail.
Comments from the Town Administrator: Mr. Ahern had three updates for the Board:
- He has received several letters of interest from citizens wanting to volunteer on a Town appointed committee. There are several seats still open and he referenced the Civics Sunday article from April 4th as a place to find out more -> https://hollistonreporter.com/2021/04/civics-sunday-opportunities-to-serve-holliston/
- Paving of parking places along Front Street began on Monday. Diagonal parking similar to behind Casey’s will stretch from Central to Vine. Also shown in the picture below is the unpaved space to the left that will ultimately increase the green space available at Blair Square.
- The Board will be signing a memo to the Town Clerk amending the Town’s traffic rules in support of the Town’s application for a Heavy Commercial Vehicle Exclusion on Woodland Street. When the MassDOT approves the HVCE in the very near future, the traffic rules will be permanently updated to reflect the exclusion.
Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) for Dams
Mr. Ahern provided the context of the discussion using the following slides. The Town needs to provide the State’s Dept of Dam Management with Emergency Action Plans for the Lake Winthrop and Factory Pond dams and follow-up inspections for the Houghton Pond, Factory Pond, and Lake Winthrop dams.
Sustainability Coordinator, Matt Zettek (left) and Conservation Agent, Ryan Clapp (right) answered the Board’s questions. Suffice to say here that there was liberal use of the word Dam as an adjective. Ultimately the Board authorized the Town Administrator to enter into two contracts with Lenard Engineering totaling $27,500 from funds previously approved at Town Meetings.
FY22 Budget vs. Revenue
Mr. Ahern reported that the latest version of the budget is still in “a good place.”
Annual Town Meeting Warrant Discussion
Mr. Ahern announced that the May 10th Town Meeting Warrant is now posted on the Town’s website ->May Town Meeting Warrant He noted that the Warrant has 37 articles and the published version is 42 pages in length. The last pages of the Warrant are exhibits from the Stipend Committee (related to Article 4) and the Governance Committee (related to Articles 9 and 10). The Finance Committee’s report is expected later this week or early next week. Printed copies of the Warrant / Report will be available at Town Hall and Library prior to the Meeting and at the High School on the Meeting night. Chair Cronin asked Chief Cassidy to provide the Board with a walkthrough of the Meeting’s logistics at next week’s Board meeting.
Board Business:
- The Board approved the minutes of the April 5, 2021 meeting.
Other Business:
- Mrs. Hein:
- She will be attending the meeting of Holliston Pride Tuesday evening to plan this year’s Pride month in Holliston.
- The Metro West Regional Collaborative (MWRC) approved $5k for a Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) climate project. Matt Zettek is involved in this climate project.
The meeting adjourned at 7:56 pm (no typo!).
