Select Board - August 3, 2026

Okay, I'm going to call the meeting to order.

Will you join me in the pledge of allegiance?

I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Good evening. Welcome to the Monday, August 3rd, 2026 meeting of the Westport Select Board under Mass General Law, Chapter 38, Section 20F. This meeting is being recorded. Um I just had a one comment from the beginning. We I wanted to um I received a note from Betty Slade um who asked me to acknowledge um the folks at the point want to thank Chris Gonzolves and the highway department for

the excellent work cleaning up the sidewalks and the road and they sent a little picture of the guys that work. So thank you to the highway department. It's nice when the guys are getting recognition instead of just complaints. So thank you Um, we uh have a couple public hearings, but because we have a large number of police officers here for I'm going to bump that item up on the agenda. So,

we're going to take up 5A first. I'm going to invite the chief.

Welcome. So sheriff 5A, we have a request from police chief uh Chris Dunn to accept the retirement of Scott Arrington effective August 15 and then to basically appoint him as reserve police officer. So you want to tell us about that?

Yes, Sergeant Arrington has been a dedicated um called firefighter, police officer, detective sergeant for our community for the past 31 years. He is announcing his retirement effective August 15th and the next day he'd like to be appointed as a reserve police officer uh to continue with his service to our town. Sergeant is a lifelong resident of Westport. He resides here with his wife Wendy and his two children

Brady and Caitlyn. So I'm respectfully requesting the board to accept his resignation and to appoint him as a reserve police officer for our community.

Thank you.

We have to do two separate ones.

Does it have to be two separate? Can we do that together?

We have it on the agenda separately. I'd recommend keeping them separate. Okay.

Motion to accept the retirement of Scott Arrington.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

All in favor?

I I That's unanimous.

Motion to appoint Sergeant Scott Arrington as a reserve police officer effective uh August 16th.

Second.

All in favor?

I I That's unanimous. And then we have a request to appoint Jacob Days as the full-time police officer effective September 6th.

Yes. With Sergeant Arrington's retirement frees up a position with our department, u we held a lateral police process which we had several qualified candidates. U myself and Deputy Rebello interviewed quite a few and we felt as though um Mr. Days would be the best fit for our community. His wife has roots within our community and it was just learned outside in the parking lot that they've actually um foreclosed um

purchased a home in our community. So, they're going to be here. Um, he is currently a a police officer in New Bedford and he's looking um to be a part of our department. I think he's going to be a great fit and I'm looking for this to be effective September 6th of 2026.

And Mr. Dave is currently right here.

You want to say anything?

You don't have to. It's born in St. Luke's. I've grown up in Fair Haven. Yeah. My wife has roots, her family lives in Westport. looking forward to being a Westport police officer and I appreciate the opportunity.

Thank you.

Great.

Motion to appoint Jacob Days as a full-time police officer effective September 6th.

Second.

Um and just with that motion, I believe uh also continue on successful background check.

Yes. I'm so sorry. Yes. Yes. Just just a background check. Um he's went through a lot of the other processes through the hiring in New Bedford, so we can conduct that through the background investigation.

So, you can amend your motion?

Yep. I'll amend the motion. Um made a motion to appoint Jacob Days as full-time police officer effective September 6th. Uh pending successful completion of background check and other any other information.

Second again.

Any discussion?

As amended.

All in favor?

I I that's unanimous.

Then we have a request to promote field training officer Michael Chica to the rank of sergeant effective September 27th. Yes, Madam Chair, if I may, I'd like to have um Deputy Chief Rebelloo conduct this since they both work together initially at midnight.

Good evening.

I don't know if we've like got the intimidation chair going on there. Keep you low, right? I'm sorry. I'll put it back down. Um so, this one holds a special place in my heart. uh when I started as a sergeant on midnights uh FTO Chica came in to midnights as a new officer. So I just like to say this first before I leave the chief's letter.

It's truly an honor to stand here today or sit here today and say a few words as we celebrate officer Chica's promotion to the rank of sergeant. I've had the privilege of watching officer Cha's career from the very beginning. We started together on the midnight shift when I was a patrol sergeant and officer Chika was a new patrol officer. Even then, it was obvious that he possessed the qualities that would make him

successful in his profession. He was dedicated, dependable, eager to learn, and always willing to put in the work.

As the years have gone by, and I now serve as a deputy chief of police, my respect for Officer Chick has only grown. He has consistently demonstrated a commitment not only to this department, but to this community we serve and to the officers who serve alongside him. Officer Chica has always been someone willing to step up without being asked. He volunteered countless hours with the community outreach unit,

giving his personal time to strengthen the relationship between our department and the community. Those efforts speak volumes about his character and his understanding that policing extends well beyond answering calls for service. He has also become an outstanding field training officer. Anyone can teach policies and procedures, but Officer Chica goes beyond that. He takes the time to mentor new officers, helping

them build the knowledge, confidence, and judgment they need to become successful police officers. He has always been willing to share his experience, lend a hand, and support those around him. Those are the qualities that define true leadership.

Leadership isn't about rank. It's about earning the respect of your peers through your actions every single day.

Officer Chika has been doing that for years. Today's promotion simply recognizes that many of us, what many of us have already known about Officer Cha, he's earned this opportunity through hard work, professionalism, and a genuine commitment to others. Officer Cha, congratulations on this well-deserved promotion. I have every confident I'm very confident that you will be able to serve uh with the

officers under your supervision, this department and the citizens of our community with the same integrity, humility, and dedication that have defined your career thus far. With that being said, the chief respectsfully requests that the board promote field training officer Michael Chika to the rank of sergeant effective Sunday, September 27th, 2026.

FTO Chica has been a valued member of the Westport Police Department since 2020 and has consistently demonstrated the leadership, professionalism, and dedication expected of supervisory officers. Throughout his tenure, he has served in several important roles that highlighted both his versatility and qualifications, including active participation in the department's field training program, community engagement

team, and as a peer support liaison. His promotion to sergeant would be in the best interest of both the town of Westport and the police department as he possesses the experience, character, and leadership qualities necessary to succeed in this role. Fiocha is a Westport resident. He and his wife Miranda have a son Luca and are expecting a daughter daughter Olivia this fall. Um the chief is now not

requesting any additional funding to fill this position.

Thank you. You want to say anything?

Thank you to the deputy for the kind words uh to the deputy and to the chief for this uh promotion here. I look forward to uh my new role in the department for many many years to come.

The pleasure of the board.

Motion to approve Michael Cher to rank of sergeant effective September 27th.

Second.

Any discussion?

My my only question is um is he going to be dual hating as a field training officer or is somebody else going to get promoted?

No, somebody else will take the role as FTO.

Okay.

Yeah. No, they they go on to the supervisory position and he'll be on the midnight shift and be taking care of the officers on that shift and we'll have time for the field training officer position.

Gotcha. Thank you.

Yeah, sure.

All in favor?

I that's unanimous.

Congratulations.

Chief, are you back for the next one?

I am. We have a request from police chief Dunn to appoint Angelica Amaral as part-time E911 dispatcher.

Yes, we're always in the need of E91 dispatchers and communication specialists. Um, so this is my request to appoint Angelica Ammerald. I don't believe I have the date in front of me.

Um, I don't know if there's one on the I believe it's effective August 4th, 2026.

So, effective August 4th, 2026. Um we always have a need um based on our dispatchers um to help out with our full-time staff. So I'm requesting respectfully requesting for this appointment.

I move approval.

Second.

Any discussion?

Uh just one item as part of that. Um it would be contingent upon the completion of a background check and all required trainings.

Yes.

Thank you. Appreciate.

I'll accept the amendment and uh move as amended.

Second to amends accordingly. Any discussion? All in favor?

I I That's unanimous. You got something big going on tomorrow, right?

We do. We have National Night Out, which very excited. Um FTO Chicker along with Detective Donovan and Sergeant Gonzal have been working very hard for the past couple months over this and we get to highlight captain's new boat. It will be there as well as several other uh townwide agencies. Uh Fund 107 will be there. We should have a helicopter flyover um as well as some next demos.

Um so we're very excited about that and I think it's a great community engagement. um not only for our police department, but for our town.

Can you raise what time it is?

Uh I believe it starts at 5:00 from 5:00 to 8 tomorrow night at the old high school on Main Road.

5 to 8 tomorrow at It was a great event and I think you've ordered up great weather for tomorrow.

Yes, we did. Yes, we And then we have some uh we have some great local vendors that'll be there as well for coffee and refreshments.

Great. No, it was a great event last It was. We um Anything else going on you wanted to tell?

Yes. So, next week we're doing our um two one day active shooter trainings at the new high school. I believe I sent the email out to TA Vitali. So if anybody would like to attend, if you could just send him an email. Um we're coordinating tomorrow with the fire department to go over our last minute kind of what we're doing. So that way if anybody is interested in attending, we

can kind of give you the best time to be there um when we're doing our training.

So we'll make sure we have that on our Facebook pages. We'll get out to social media so people aren't alarmed with the amount of police cruisers and ambulances at the uh at the new high school.

Great. Anything else? That's it for the chief while he's here. That's it.

Thank you. Congratulations.

Yes. Thank you, Chief.

Thank you very much. See you tomorrow.

Okay, now we're going to go to the public hearing. Um, so we have Just don't talk out in the hallway. Take pictures or something, though. Um, so at 6:00 p.m. we have a public hearing on the Westport parking fees. And I think there's actually parking fines for fees associated with incorrect parking.

Go ahead.

No problem. Uh yes. So, uh at the board's request, uh we did put this item on the agenda um to update the town's schedule of parking fines by increasing the following violations from $25 to $50. Uh and this uh what the recommendation would be would be effective January 1st, 2027. Um, I'll go down the list in a moment, but just the reasoning for January 1st is we're in the middle of the season right now. We

also have all the ticketing books. We'd like to get through our existing supply um and obviously give people enough time and notice to know what this um uh updated fee amount will be. So, and just to get ahead of it, this is not include beach.

No. So, this so I'll go down the list right now on that. Um so this is um no Hicksbridge parking permit, no state boat ramp parking permit or daily feed paid, tow zone, fire lane, prohibited areas, obstructing traffic, impeding the emergency vehicles in any way, wrong side of the road, parking on bridges or approaches within 20 ft of an intersection, and there's an other category uh on our schedule fines.

And so the proposal is to increase that from 25 to 50.

That is correct. And can you just explain why we're not upping the beach?

Yes. So, statutoily the town is limited in terms of how much it can uh raise uh based off of Mass General Law and what the town's accepted. Um this is something that we've talked about at prior board meetings and I think the intent is that this is would be a first step with the idea that we could explore uh some of the other fees that we charge um as a potential town meeting article next year.

Thank you. We've talked about this a lot, but does anybody have any questions or concerns? Comments?

No.

This is a public hearing. Is there any comment from the public?

Okay.

Was the pleasure of the board?

Motion to approve the fine increase from $25 to $50.

Second, Madam Chair.

Is there any discussion?

All in favor?

I. That's unanimous.

I don't see our ever source person here.

And yes, I do have an update on that.

Just shortly before the meeting, uh, I was notified that they are withdrawing this request.

Oh, as it is no longer needed.

Chris, I wanted to vote against it.

Okay. So, we're withdrawing B. Okay. Um, so now we're on to license of permits.

Um, so we have a request from the Holy Ghost Cove at 171 Sodom Road for a one-day all alcoholic liquor license at 179 Sodom Road for the following events.

Saturday, August 8th, a fundraiser from 11 to 3. Saturday, August 15, a wedding from 12:00 to 5:00. Sunday, August 16, clam boil from 12:00 to 5:00. Saturday, August 22nd, journey concert from 4 to 9. Saturday, August 29, 71, class reunion from 12:00 to 4. And Sunday, August 30th, 75, class reunion from 12 to 4. So, this is all in order. And we have police department recommendations.

Yes. Uh, we do. The only recommendation they had for those events is they're recommending a detail.

Thank you.

Motion to approve the one day all liquor license.

Second.

Any discussion? All in favor?

I.

I. That's unanimous.

Um, so we have some lingering 2027 appointments. So we missed Rick on the shelf as a shellfish constable. So we have Rick Smith as the shellfish constable, Ray Reposa on the climate resilience committee, and Muriel Kotsa on the capital improvement committee.

Motion to approve the appointments.

Second, Madam Chair.

Is there any discussion? All in favor?

I. That's unanimous. We have a request to accept the resignation of Jared Manley, seasonal cemetery laborer, effective June 11, 2026. Motion to approve resignation.

A second, Madam Chair.

Any discussion? All in favor?

I. That's unanimous.

We have a request to accept the resignation of Joel Sullivan from the beach committee.

Motion to accept resignation.

Second.

Any discussion? All in favor?

I. That's unanimous.

We have a request from the town clerk, Kristen Stinson, to appoint the following individuals as election workers. We have Republican Karen Godzolves and then unenrolled Ricky Larson, Nancy Berlingame, Lori Lavoy, Kevin Patterson, and Allison Morris Morris.

Motion to appoint.

Second.

Any discussion? All in favor?

I I. That's unanimous. We have a request from the harbor master, Bill Chase, to accept a $1,000 donation from his family. Welcome, Captain.

Madam Chair, members of the board, good evening. I just need a minute of your time.

Uh, back on the 4th of July, uh, Dave Simco and I were called out to, uh, what was described as an unresponsive child in the water in the vicinity of Shiprock.

Um, long story short, we were able to revive that individual and get him back to the state boat ramp where the EMTs took over. Few days later, that individual walked into the Hobbit Master Shack with his whole family. They were from Lexington, actually. And uh they left this note for us with a check for $1,000.

Uh the note says, "Thank you for your heroic and professional response, uh which you perform life-saving efforts for our son, Andrew Smith, uh with our sincerest gratitude, Alan and Susan Smith. Uh, and this is the check. It's written to the town and to the harbor masters department, which is where they would like it to go. Um, pending your approval.

Uh, Rick has come up with an idea working with some of the EMTs for a device, and I'm not familiar with it. Uh, basically, it's a device that sits on a pedestal, and it contains an AED, which any member of the public could walk up to as soon as you dial 911. dispatcher gives you the code to open the box. So, the AED is there for whoever needs it. So, I think uh that

$1,000 is about what it would cost. I think that money would be well spent for such a device.

Excellent recommendation. Thank you. I wish it wasn't necessary that you did that, but I'm so grateful that you were there.

We are too. I think uh the work that we've done with police and fire and kind of getting ourselves part of the team if you will uh is starting to pay dividends. Um and I think the the actions that we took early on last year uh to get ourselves there are starting to pay off. So do we have to do anything to direct the funding to the shellfish or to the harbor master?

Uh so you can say it as part of the motion. Um, but if it was specified within the letter, I think that would be sufficient.

Okay.

So, if you just Yeah, if you want to make it a motion to accept or do we need something special?

I would say for the discretionary use if that was the language that they said within their um their note to the town.

Okay. Thank you.

Motion to approve the thousand donation from the Smith family um directed to Marine Services and to be used by their discretion.

Second. Is there any discussion?

All in favor? I I That's unanimous. Anything else going on?

Uh shell stock is happening on the 15th.

Uh doors open at uh 2:00 in the afternoon, goes till 7. Uh we have room full of blues for your listening and dancing pleasure. Uh I don't know if any of you are blues fans like my wife and I are. Um these guys are uh well, they've been around for a long time, let's just say. now.

So, we're looking forward to that. Uh the reason for shell stock, if you don't know, is to raise money for uh shellfish propagation activities within the river.

Um that is all funded two ways. Some of the money comes from private uh donations um and shell stock fills in the rest. So, this is a big deal. It's important for the river. It's important for the health of the river and it supports the uh commercial shellfishes and the recreational shellfishes as well of which there are about 400 right now.

So, uh this is a great event. This, as I've said before, this is as Westport as Westport gets short of uh the fair of course. Um so, I would hope that all of you sitting at the big table here would plan to be there on the 15th.

Got my tickets. My daughter wants to make sure there's buckshak oysters.

or Kerrion is actually uh donating 600 so she can take a pick. So where's the location again, Bill?

Yeah, it's at the fairgrounds. Okay, great. Anything Anything else?

Uh no. Well, you saw the new boat probably when you when you um drove in.

It's in the parking lot. I really wanted to splash it this weekend. Uh but we're going to save that until after tomorrow night because we've been invited by police and fire to join the uh first night out. So, we'll have it there. Uh Kevin, Andrew, and myself will be there.

Uh Rick is off uh with some police chief's um event that he does every year. So, unfortunately, he can't be here. Uh but we'll be there just representing the uh department and um doing what we can to share boating safety and all kinds of other good river stuff. So, and I know it's not part of officially part of the harbor master duties, but we also have the shallop event coming on the 15th.

Yeah, it's going to be a busy day.

Yeah. So, you've been working with that committee as they work on bringing the Mayflower Shell up. Oh, I certainly have.

The William Underwood.

Yeah. I think it's going to be a great event. Um, if you're a history buff or if you know anything about Paul Cuffy, I mean, I've read a little bit about the man. Uh, wow, what a life and a life worth celebrating. And I know that Betty and David have both either both written books on Mr. Cuffy or they've done it jointly. I don't recall. Um, but they are the local experts on this man and

his family and his activities. So, uh, we're doing whatever we can to support uh them. Uh, I know it's going to be busy down there traffic-wise. Um, I hope we have enough police detail uh for this. That's my only concern because it really gets narrow down there. U, one thing I didn't think about, you know, they've got vans coming back and forth.

Usually when I'm driving down, I'm driving on somebody's sidewalk. Um so it's pretty narrow. So my my only concern is traffic.

Yeah.

Um so but we'll be there and uh and support them in whatever way they need.

So Right. Thank you. Anything else for Bill?

Madam Chair?

Yep. Uh, as Bill pointed out, they've had kind of a busy season already this year. And I think uh I just wanted to point out, I think they had a a rescue at the mouth of the river last week uh with a cap-sized boat and four four victims in the water. It was a team effort of obviously the hover master uh state DCR lifeguards and even Cherry Web lifeguards, the fire and the police. So,

uh, another, uh, great result, uh, from the training and obviously the work they've done with the fire and the police. So, it was, uh, a little bit of a scary situation. Actually, there was a good Samaritan there as well that, uh, helped out and and was able to get a few uh, people into his boat as well. So, um, the mouth of the river at times is very, very treacherous. So, they're doing a good job there.

Thank you, Jake. Uh that was uh that was just as I don't know what the right word is. That was close. That was really close. Didn't take much. I mean the current was ebbing and there was a little bit of a southeasterly breeze.

Just enough chop to overturn a boat that was probably a little overloaded. Um, so if I could say anything to the public, uh, make sure you take a look at the capacity plate that is affixed to the boat as it tells you how many bodies are sick can safely be carried within the boat. This one really pushed the limit if not over. Um, so uh, it turned out okay. Uh, but it could have been just as

bad the other way. So anyway um thank you. Thank you for all that.

Thank you.

See you around.

We have 6B, a request to approve Mass DOT Chapter 90 grant contract and authorize its execution. Do you want to tell us about this?

Yes. Uh so this is an amendment to the town's existing master contract. Um as of right now, our current contract with Mass Dot is set to expire June 30th, 2027. Um this would extend that out 10 years to June 30th, 2037. Essentially, this is our agreement with the state so we can continue to receive reimbursement for approved projects under chapter 98 and just need uh authorization to sign.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yeah.

So, no no real technical changes, just obviously uh extending out the time frame.

That's correct.

Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. I make a motion to approve.

Second.

Any discussion?

All in favor? I I that's unanimous.

We have a request to approve the employment agreement with Lauren Montichello for the position of director senior services and authorize its execution. Do you want to tell us about that one Chris?

Uh certainly. So as the board knows um we conducted interviews uh and recently um we did uh appoint Lauren Monttoello to the position of director of senior services. Um, we have been working diligently behind the scenes on finalizing a contract which I'm pleased to say tonight uh is before you for approval. Um, you know, with the board's approval, um, we would get it signed and have Lauren start later this month.

I move approval and firing um, Lauren employment agreement with the position of director of senior services.

Second.

Any discussion? We did talk about this in executive session.

All in favor?

I I That's unanimous.

Um 6D, we have readoption of the updated hazard mitigation plan.

Can you just tell me like straight off, do I have to read this whole resolution?

No.

No. Okay.

You just need to sign it.

Okay.

Do you know who you're signing though?

I can read it, but do I have to read it all out loud is what I was my question.

I hope Michael presents the executive summary.

If I do, now you're going to have to read it because you are smart, Alec.

All right, go ahead, Michael.

Yeah. So, the hazard mitigation plan, if you recall in December, you all had voted to in um endorse the hazard mitigation plan that we prepared with the fire department, police department, uh board of health, conservation commission, and and uh the planning board. And um we submitted that to FEMA.

They had some additional uh they had some amendments to the plan that they would like to have or had us incorporate into that plan. Um they were all pretty minor. There weren't any changes to the plan recommendations. So it was generally just changes on hazard risks. Um there's a more built out section on invasive species in the area as well as uh risk associated with groundwater, extreme heat, and then some

minor changes to extreme um storms, windtorms, things of that nature. We added some additional information on the public engagement process just made that a little bit more robust talking about the events and um committee meetings that we had hosted throughout the two-year planning process. We gave a thorough overview of the town's flood plane bylaws and our permitting responsibilities. So that included some

figures on uh the number of structures and and value amounts of um structures that have been permitted in the flood plane and we talked about how the hazard mitigation plan will be integrated with other planning um initiatives. So as I said there there aren't any ch any real substantive changes as far as the recommendations go. All of those remained the same. Um, so what we have to do now is have the select board

endorse this amended version of the plan which then will be submitted to FEMA for their approval.

Thank you.

Anybody have questions or comments?

It's complete sidebar, but what's the emblem on the hazard mitigation plan for the town of Westport?

There's never seen it used anywhere in this town before. talking about the the little star thing.

It looks like star.

That was just the branding that the consultant came up with for the plan.

How much we pay for this?

Sorry.

This is the original the original plan in 2004 or something, right?

Yeah.

Move approval.

Second.

Any discussion?

Can you just tell us the benefits of adopting this?

the so it gets the town in line for a couple of different grant funding programs that the town would not have access to otherwise. So there's the building resilient infrastructure and communities grant that you have to have a hazard mitigation plan to have access to. Um the flood and the flood mitigation assistance program. the the building resilient infrastructure and communities or brick as it's called um

is a is a pretty flexible grant resource that we had considered applying for this year with the fire department because they need a new generator at the Briggs Road Fire Station, but we didn't have the plan in in place to apply for that at at the time. So, um we'll have access to additional resources um once this plan is approved by FEMA.

Okay.

M just one quick question. Um the list of individuals on there, is that just the ones that were involved in the process because there's four on there that are either no longer employed or part should be part of that. Are you going to update that or is that it? I I can if you prefer which I'm just that you know it lists the town administrator as as Jim Hartnett. It lists Chris Leonard as the harbor

master. It lists right Annie Sors as a select board. I don't know if some of those we may want to just update or I know there's no select board representative if he wasn't there if Yeah, I can I can update those.

Maybe just update those. Um I'll and I'll I'll amend it to just reflect that some of the people were prior staff.

Okay. Thank you. All right. So, I think we need a motion to adopt the resolution that's been presented to us for the adopt the resolution.

Madam chair, I move to adopt the resolution. Sure.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

All in favor?

I I That's unanimous. Thank you. Anything else from you? Um, I do have some additional grant award uh grant awards to talk about, but it's not been released yet publicly. So, I will be back in uh I think September to talk about that.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Thanks for coming.

Thank you.

Um, so now we're on sixth E. request to approve FY2025 EMPG grant contract and authorize its execution. Tell us about this one.

Certainly. So, in your packet, you have uh a contract in the amount of just about $4,100.

Um this is through MIMA. Um this funding uh is to allow the town to purchase basic sheltering supplies such as CS, blankets, and pillows. um which are things that we currently don't have for a shelter uh here within the community.

Um so definitely supplies that are needed. Um the contract period is for this fiscal year. Um the grant itself, it did require a match, but because the town did uh invest recently in its reverse 911 system, we able to use that as our match um for this grant program.

So, uh, with the board's authorization, I'd like to sign this so that we can, uh, begin the procurement of those supplies.

Thank you. Anything?

Motion to approve the grant contract.

Second, Madam Chair.

Is there any discussion?

All in favor? I I. That's unanimous.

Um, now we're on 7A. Uh, cemetery expansion and interim measures.

Yes. Thank you. So this uh item came up uh from a prior meeting uh as a request for discussion. So um over the last several years, as the board knows, the town has been working with PAR Engineering on the design and permitting for the expansion of Beach Grove Cemetery. Um the proposed design would provide approximately 1,500 additional plots uh on the north side of the cemetery. So, you know, just as an

update, as of spring of last year, um the town uh does believe that we have all the necessary permitting and the design is completed um for the construction of that addition. Uh I did have a conversation with our representative at PAR. Um and I did also confirm that they are signed on to do the construction administration as well when we are ready to go with that. Um as of today, the town has just under 200

plots available. um we average about 65 uh plots that we sell annually. So, you know, based on that, that gives us about three years based off of our current inventory of available plots. Um this May, as the board recalls, town meeting did appropriate $200,000 out of the perpetual care fund to help go towards the construction of this. Um that puts the town at about 750,000 that we available. Um, however, the cost of

construction uh from last year uh was a little bit more than that. So, based off those estimates, we were about 200,000 off. Uh, I did request that PAR provide us an updated estimate as we go into this year uh just so that we can get begin planning for um capital for this upcoming year so that we can fund that remaining gap. Uh I did also just ask them about project phasing and I think

just due to the cost of it um you know it is their recommendation that the town do this as one project to save on mobilization costs uh and save on just logistics with regards to uh earth work down at the property. Um also taking into consideration that it is an active cemetery and there's burials going on.

So it would be less disruption to the operation overall. Um, so knowing that, like I said, um, we'll likely get some more estimates back. Um, so it's probably going to be more than 200,000 at this point. Um, however, that is something that I have noted and I definitely as we go forward would be a recommendation that we submit uh, again to CIPC this year or look at other funding opportunities available to us.

Um while that is going on um there are things you know after I've reviewed that the board could consider on an interim basis uh to increase our capacity in the short term. So as an interim measure the cemetery department uh did temporarily pause uh advanced plot sales while we waited for this board discussion. Um if the board would like to uh you know formalize an action or a policy you know

the idea behind that would be that we're not selling we're only selling if there is a burial that needs to occur or someone you know were to pass away and they needed a lot now. So that would prevent um you know people who don't have an anticipated need for 20 or 30 years. So again, in the interm, that's an option the board could take up to extend that three-year timeline out a

little bit further than what we have now.

Uh in addition, uh the board could limit the purchase of new plots to town residents or set additional restrictions um for out oftowners um to purchasing plots within the community. Um I would say for that one probably would be um something we would refer to town council just to make sure that that's structured properly. Um the other long-term item again not necessarily a decision for

today but just uh the overall life of the cemetery is uh in addition to plots you know a lot of cemeteries are looking at cremation and having designated sections or walls um again dedicated for uh people who are maybe looking for that alternative to maximize the space we have over there. So, um, again, I just wanted to provide that update on the project. Um, you know, PAR is, like I

said, here and ready to engage with the town when we have the funds in place to begin the work. Um, and certainly there's things we can do in the meantime if the board wants to take those actions.

I don't remember, did somebody request this on the agenda? I don't remember.

I did. Yeah.

Yeah. Did you have a question?

Yeah. A couple points I guess just uh speaking out loud is we got the cheapest graves of any surrounding community.

So I think our rates should probably be at least comparable to the other communities. That would help slow down internments. I'm not saying to make it expensive, just to make it on par.

We did raise the rates not that long ago. Do you remember? It was a couple years ago.

Yeah. I know I'm opening up a whole other can of worms, but like I know the highway department has the equipment, but not the manning to be able to do that at a lower cost, but that's a much deeper discussion.

Yeah. And I know that's one that um you know, Jim when he was here, I think he had some of those discussions and I think there's been some work that we've been able to accommodate in house. Um just taking a look at what the savings would be by doing some of that work. Um, I think we'd still have a little bit of a gap. Um, and obviously there's certain things where, um, I would say you'd want

to have a firm come in here and be accountable for some of that work that's being done outside of just clearing and um, the standard earth work. Um, but that's certainly something as we go forward, you know, as we're getting these update estimates, if there is an opportunity for savings in house, we'll do that so we can keep the ball rolling here. You also have to consider those are unionized workers and that

would be out of the scope. So you'd have to negotiate with the bargaining unit I would think.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And then the third point I guess is um I guess this was all looked into in 2016.

So like there's no reason to reinvent the wheel, but people have mentioned this other town property if we want to have grave sites there, but I don't see a need for that given the size of beach potential expansion. Yeah, I think um from what I reviewed and just again just based off of how many plots we sell annually um this expansion would be really additional 20 years of life. Um and then um their recordeping at the

cemetery is getting caught up to the 20th century.

So there's a possibility that there's plots there that have been sold and abandoned since the 50s. So yeah, so with their new online platform, I do know that they're looking at trying to reconcile what they have on paper and obviously their various records, seeing if there is available plot spaces. Um, I think that's something as we go on, you know, we'll continue to audit certainly.

I've got anybody. Anybody else?

All right. So probably so we're looking for funding requests probably in the upcoming CIBC or town meeting for some to complete that expansion.

Yes, madam chair. Y so some of the recommendations that you did lay out will we address that at a later date or do you think whether it's the cost or town residents or so those are actions that I can bring forward you know if there's interest this evening and having that for additional discussion me we can certainly bring that forward and um informalize it. Uh, like I said, right

now, um, as an interim measure, we did temporarily pause it for advanced lot sales.

Okay. As long as that's done, that's Yeah. So, if the board again is fine with that as a temporary measure, um, we can continue that. Um, if you want to take a formal vote on it at a future meeting, we could do that. Um, we could, again, I could refer it to council on town outside residents or non-residents um, purchasing lots. Again, it won't solve the issue, but it would give us a

little bit more time in addition to what we have currently. um you know should something take longer or you know that's tricky though because you you get somebody who's been displaced and has to move out that has lived here for their whole life and you know you don't necessarily want to exclude people from other towns because they had to move Fall River and New Bedford care or something

you know or if the board at a later date wanted to you know explore restrict not a ban necessarily but maybe a restriction um or certain parameters or eligibility requirements events. Um, certainly that's something that we could explore and bring forward.

I would say making sure the advanced lot sales restriction too is a loose restriction because if you have someone whose spouse passes away, you want to give them the opportunity to buy in a budding lot next to their spouse.

Yeah.

Yeah. It's trickier than it seems on the face value. Yeah. So, um, it sounds like it's probably worth revisiting the fees though because and we It wasn't just last year, was it? Do you remember?

It was a while back.

It was a little while ago.

You don't want That's not the place where you want to stick people with high fees, but also we should be comparable to nearby communities. So, all right. So, if you can maybe I'll point out particularly as we start talking about cemetery expansion and needing more money for that. I think that it makes good sense to kind of look at um while we're looking at that project to look at the overall the charges and the um

policies.

Absolutely.

Okay. All right. Anything else on that?

No.

Okay. Energy management plan overview.

Yes. Uh so this evening with us we have Kathy Stanley. Uh so there are some slides up that she had prepared prior to the meeting as well. Uh so Kathy Stanley has been serving as the town's energy manager. Um there's a lot of work um that Kathy does behind the scene to advise the town um and make sure that our dollars as it relates to energy are being spent wisely and we're maximizing

the benefit that we get through our state partners and utilities and all the sorts. Um, I know that I don't know if this presentation or this discussion has come before the board recently or um recent history, but I thought it would be extremely beneficial because again, this is a big cost driver for the town and it's something that I think the board should know about and be able to

ask questions about. And um also just for what Kathy does um also this is an opportunity for her to share with the board and the community um the successes that we've had which I think do need to be celebrated. So with that I'll turn over to Kathy to get started.

Thank you Chris. Thank you very much for seeing me tonight. I greatly appreciate this opportunity to talk with you. Um, I don't think I've been before this board before except maybe once. And when I Chris was at Dartmouth, so he knows what at Dartmouth is also one of my uh one of my towns. I routinely show up once a quarter and fill everybody in on what's going on. So, it would be great to know

that I could come back from time to time and let you guys know what's going on in the energy world. Um, I'm a shared energy manager. I work for several municipalities in K through2 school systems in Massachusetts. I refuse to get on 128 or 93 anymore, so they have to be some where I live.

Um, but it's it's a interesting role.

Um, I meet all of my clients where they are. So, I don't show up and tell you what to think, feel, and believe. That's entirely up to my clients. But, um, if my expertise and experience can help you get to where you want to be, then that makes me happy. So that's sort of how I approach this. Um, go to the next slide.

So this is like a list of of energy topics that have come up over the past uh couple years we'll call it. Um, and I I work on different things at different times. Just sort of gives you a list of the types of things that we're going to talk about. Um, you can go to the next slide.

Um, I did want to talk about the Westport town hall decarbonization project, which was the town hall project um that we recently completed to implement uh replacement heat and cooling implement cooling and and replacement heat for this building. Um, I think this was a very successful project. It was a very long-term project.

It uh involved the replacement of a failing steam system in this building.

and a failing steam distribution system.

So, the steam distribution pipes that were failing were behind architectural surfaces and couldn't have been um replaced without demoing walls.

Uh we were able to secure a substantial amount of grant money for this. And one of the overwhelming uh issues that really pushed Gemini in this direction was that um the town of Westport has a sub substantial number of net metering solar credits that we have accumulated through contracts that were executed in 2014 and we could use those credits to buy down the cost of electricity for the heat and cooling of

this building. that was important to us because there wasn't going to be a lot of things that we could do about that.

So, um, we completed the project. We were able to secure funding from green communities. Uh, I think we were one of the first decarbonization grants that they gave us. And um we also at that time since the project was too large for us to complete through um our our our procurement efforts at that time, we made the decision to go out to bid to hire an energy services company through a 25A section 11i procurement.

That gave us the ability to include all of the town and school buildings in the procurement. What that means is we can hire our energy services company to work on any energy related project. We don't have to rebid it. That does not mean we don't get competitive pricing. It means that we have control over those projects and we can um execute any energy project through our approved vendor for the next

20 years and uh that gives us a lot of flexibility. In addition, should we decide to apply for additional grants, we would be viewed favorably because we have completed our procurement and it would indicate that we would be able to be shovel ready and move forward. So, this is just an overview of the project.

Um, I'm very happy that we have been able to complete a very rough winter uh without any problems in heating this building. I'm very happy that we were able to get through a pretty brutal summer without having any problems uh in cooling the building. And you're never sure until proof is in the pudding. So, I was pleased about that. So, that's the overview of that project. You can move on.

Um yeah, I think I covered all this, right? Yes. Okay.

So, we had Westport has two solar net metering agreements. They were executed in 2014. I didn't I guess I didn't update the slide. I thought I did. Um, and they will expire in 2034.

I was not with Westport when they executed these two contracts and I'm not sure how it was determined that they should execute the number of solar net metering con uh credits that they did, but we have almost twice the number of credits that we need. So, our options are to find ways to utilize those credits or they'll just pile up on top of the accounts that they're assigned to

or we could sell them to at a discount to to another municipality, which is obviously not ideal.

So, um this plays into our decisions about how we're going to go about heating and cooling our buildings because we have to pay these contracts.

We don't have any choice. And so if we can use these credits a little more exp um expeditiously that would be in our financial favor.

Thanks.

I did want to give you a little update on the Westport electric aggregation program. Uh we have an standard price of 14.346 cents per kilowatt hour for our residents here in Westport and the Eversource residential basic service price is 17.323 currently.

Um, so we are saving a substantial amount of money for our residents and I think that the irrigation program is a really important program for our residents here in Westport because they save money. But more importantly, there are some unscrupulous electric suppliers out there who like to prey on unsuspecting residential customers in Massachusetts because we have such ridiculously high costs here

and dupe them into signing short-term contracts and then they jack up the rate. If a c if a residential customer is in our aggregation, they're protected from that because they are already in an aggregation program and uh that contract has been vetted by the town's attorneys and it's um actually saving them money.

So I think there's a two-fold benefit to the residential customer for electric.

Is there an open enrollment period or is it ongoing?

It's autom it's an optin program. Yeah, that's an opt out program, which means you are automatically enrolled unless you choose to opt out.

And that is standard for this state.

There are no such thing as an optin electric program because you would not have enough members of the program to entice anybody to price it. So that's why the department set it up that way.

But anybody can opt out and it's not hard to do that.

Okay, that's it.

So, I have been meeting with uh Dr. Roy over at the school. I also meet with her staff regularly to see what we can do to help them with any kind of projects that they have. There's been things that come up with respect to energy um from time to time and we've been talking about what we should do about the Westport Elementary School uh heating system which is approaching its

end of life and um so is its distribution system and so are the pumps and so are all of the components of the HVAC system there. In addition, we have a need to provide air conditioning to our schools. uh we're seeing temperatures that are very high in our school systems and we need to be able to cool a lot of those spaces to meet requirements for special populations and that kind of thing.

So, we're started the process of evaluating whether it's a good idea to um change the HVAC system at the Westport Elementary School to a heat pump system that would provide both heating and cooling.

When we first looked at this project, we asked our energy services engineer that we are working with that we selected through our procurement to um do a study of the Westport Elementary School, which was actually paid for by the utility. So that was nice to determine what the approach should be, what the likely cost would be, what the benefits would be, what would the um comparison to uh existing conditions be

like what if we just replace the existing system, what do those costs look like and that kind of thing. So, um, quickly it became obvious that there were, I think, six different scenarios that we looked at and the airsource heat pump VRF system was the one that made the most sense. It was going to bring in the most potential grant money. It would bring in the most potential incentive

money. It would provide a solution to the whole HVAC system at the school. Um there were many benefits to that. We also looked at ground source heat pumps which were four times the cost of that I think. Um and we looked at replacing the HVAC system there. Problem with that was we would have to also replace the entire distribution system the the hot water distribution system as well which be became very problematic.

So, we decided to see if we could put together a grant application um to try and get the fund get some money to do this. Green School Works is a funding organization uh under Clean Energy Center in Massachusetts that provides uh grant funding for K through2 schools who are interested in doing this kind of work. We applied for a grant. We were not given the grant. we were denied the

grant. Um, when I looked at all of the folks that won that round of funding, half of them were ground source heat pumps, which gives me a lot of pause.

Those projects are very expensive and they're very high risk, which tells me that they're not all going to go because this is a reimburseable grant, and if they don't go, that money will be left.

In addition, we got notice a month ago that there is an additional $25 million that was given out to Green School Works. So, there will be another round of funding. We think it would make sense for us to go after that third round of funding. The first round of funding of Green School Works had a requirement that every school had to be at 40% or more low income. We wouldn't have met

that, but we are at 39.

So, we feel like there is at least a potential here for us to try and get this grant funding.

In looking at some of the other facilities that seem to win these grants, there's definitely some work done where the community and the political leaders in the town get together and really promote that project. And so, when I met with Dr. Roy and her team. And I thought maybe we should have an open house. Maybe we should invite our our political leaders in the town, our uh school committee, um

our state political leaders to come and look at our boiler room and see what we've done. I mean, in my opinion, Westport schools are some of the finest maintained facilities I have, and I have many, many, many school systems, but Mike Dwarte was amazing. He He was amazing. He he even maintained his pneumatic control systems which is unheard of and um we should be congratulated for that and we should be

rewarded for that. Like our schools are this school is what 60 years old or something like that for 40 50 years old that nothing's going to last forever. we have to make a plan for how we're going to deal with that. And if we can get some grand funding to do it, great. You know, so we have decided to have an open house in September and invite everybody to come to our boiler room and have a

cup of coffee and a donut and see if um it makes sense for them to consider funding it. I have extended an invitation to the green schoolworks team and I haven't heard back from them, but I'm hopeful.

So, we just completed our second meeting. Um and uh that is scheduled for September 21st, I think. I think. Okay. So, that's what's going on there.

So, we have a failing HVAC system at the Westport Public Library. We need to replace the rooftop units there. We put in a grant request for $250,000 and I was notified Friday that we did not get this grant. This is of a cons a concern of mine because this is a green communities grant. We had our designation grant in 2020. We had another grant that we were awarded in 2021. We did a lot of weatherization and

insulation work with that grant. We were awarded the decarbonization grant for this town hall project in 2022. We have not been granted any other money from green communities since then. One of my concerns is that I didn't get my grant money at Stoton either. So now I want to know what's going on because it is it a matter that their funding has been cut substantially? Are they awarding? So

our response to this is going to be a meeting I just talked to Chris about this today. We're going to pull together a meeting with me and Chris, Lisa Sullivan, who's our green communities coordinator and the engineer that did the scope of work for this project and we're going to ask some questions like what's going on. Is it is it a lack of funding? How many grants did they award?

What was was there a problem with our submission? And try and figure out what we should do next because there's another grant round of funding in October.

But if we need to tweak our application, we need to know that before we just blindly throw it back out there again.

Um, so that's what's going on with library.

Unfortunately, we have some other uh miscellaneous projects that we're doing. Westport Junior Senior High School has had a rather bad run with the controls that were installed as part of the new construction.

And um we have put in an application for a retrocommissioning grant. It's a meta grant municipal energy technical assistance. $15,000.

Not a lot, but you know, we go after every dime. And um we may get that, but if we don't, we're still going to move forward with the retrocommissioning of the Westport Senior Senior Junior High School so we can figure out what's going on with those controls and get that straightened out.

We may look at demand response. Demand response is an opportunity for us to make money using our control systems. So we have a brand new school. We have an operational control system. We can sign up for demand response. Which means that for example, um there may be three or four different events during the course of a summer where the grid is at a very high level.

And if we can shed 200 kilowatt hours by turning set points up in unoccupied areas of our school or somehow implement a sequence of operations that allows us to shed that, they'll send us a check.

And if it's just not going to impact how how our comfort levels are in a school that isn't fully occupied anyway, why wouldn't we participate in that? So, we are looking into that.

I know that the Westport Junior Senior High School has a solar ready roof. I have been hesitant to um encourage solar development because of our high number of net metering credits.

That won't that's just going to add to the problem. But we need to re revisit the number of credits that we have and see how the electric use in this building has been impacting that. So, that's on my agenda to sit down with Chris and Nicole. She's been managing that really and uh see how we're doing there and if it makes sense for us to uh think about solar panels on uh the

Westport Junior Senior High School. Not really sure.

I know that the town is looking at the old senior old senior junior high school for renovations. And so when we did the procurement for our energy services company, I included that school in the procurement so that we would have the option later of hiring letting our energy services company do HVAC retrofit work there without having to go out to bid and hire a new company to do that.

Um, again, that doesn't mean we wouldn't get competitive pricing. It just means we would not lose control of the project and we wouldn't be put in a position where we had to take low bid. Um, so I revisited that discussion today with Chris as well as we stand ready to help you. I don't know what the uh plan will be, but whatever it is. If there's something we can do to help, we will do it. And

I think is that it? Yeah, that's it.

Oh, thank you very much.

That's what's going on.

Very comprehensive.

Did we have anything?

Any questions?

No, but we did work together on this project here with with Jim Harden.

designated me select board did and we got to know each other and as Kathy has pointed out this this was a successful project.

Yeah, I think so. Um I will tell you just another quick note before I leave.

Electric prices and natural gas prices in New England are some of the highest in the country. Um and they're not going to go down soon.

Especially natural gas. natural gas is going to get much much worse because we made a decision as a state, I didn't make it, but somebody did uh 15 years ago to not build new pipe. So, we weren't we weren't going to increase the flow of natural gas into our New England area. Um, that's a real problem and it it's it's causing a lot of higher prices and doesn't look

like there's a way out of it. The only good news I can share with you is I have seen a change at the state level on um policy regarding nuclear and that's exciting to me because that's the only thing that I can see that will help us down the road. Uh there are a lot of new nuclear technologies.

There are um some very interesting and exciting things going on in the nuclear business. I know there is two small modular reactors that have been installed down at uh in the Connecticut plant in Waterford Milstone which is actually the plant that delivers 30% of our nuclear or more I think in New England and I've seen changes on the regulatory level in Massachusetts where they're removing hurdles to that and um

I belong to the American Nuclear Society and I am staying as close as I can to that. So I'm happy to update you with respect to that possibility when I when I come back and talk to you from time to time. And I'm also chairing a panel of four nuclear experts at the Association of Energy Engineers, World Energy Conference in September. And I will continue my efforts to keep that word

getting out as much as I can. So I have that. That's anything else. Madam Chair, Kathy, I I know you're doing your best and actually you laid it out well. Uh you're doing your best for the town of Westport, but you know, I I I want people to realize because I think that's the biggest thing we hear is my Eversource bill um here in Massachusetts, and you pointed it out. I mean, without the elected officials on

Beacon Hill making changes to their policy, we're going to continue to see that to go up. Massachusetts is the third highest electricity rate in the country behind Hawaii and California.

And that's all based upon simply implementing these renewable policies which aren't really helping.

But but they're not reliable today. It's reliable with wind, but it's also not reliable with solar today. And if you look, and I would tell people, you know, that watching or whatever to go on ISO New England, uh it's a great website.

Right? It tells you where the system demand is, where our resources are. I mean, only 12% of our mix is coming from renewables. And of that, amazingly, 12% is from burning trash.

Yeah.

Okay. Now, I don't understand how you call that a renewable, but that's that's what they they focus on. So, I appreciate everything you're doing for the town. I just want people to realize that a lot of these grants that we are getting are coming back to us because you're paying in your Eversource bill.

That's absolutely true. from these from these mandates that that's why they go after them so hard because if we have to pay them we're at least gonna get them back.

We're gonna get them back. So I appreciate what you're doing but I also want people to realize that I mean as we move towards more electric whether it's mini splits whether it's you know um heat pumps whether it's electric cars anything under the sun the demand is just just isn't there. You can sit take a look at what the system demand is and what's actually being created. Uh, I had

to replace. I walked into my house and my AC unit was not working. So, I called the AC guy. I said, "Hey, I I don't know what's going on here." Comes back, goes, "Oh, it's just a capacitor. Your AC kicked on when there wasn't enough load to come into your house. Now, I got to pay a $250." And I looked in the back of his truck and he had about 15 of them.

So, we're in a situation where we're we're moving everything to renewables that aren't dependable. And then we're forcing everyone to put in electric car, use electric cars, put in mini splits, put in heat pumps, and we don't have the uh ability to to to support that. So you you've already pointed out no pipeline.

We 56 56% of our our electricity today is coming from natural gas. Yet we won't actually expand our ability to get that.

So that's just my little on a soap box today because I just I see it constantly in the fact that I now have to replace capacitors and AC unit. It's almost like we're in a third world country depending on this renewable stuff.

Thank you.

Nothing that you need too, but you actually already covered it. You you talked about I think new way and it's it is a cons a huge concern because we had as I said I'm active in the association of energy engineers. We have a big meeting every year. Um, and we asked the ISO to come anytime they come. They are so good, right?

It's I'm telling you, their website is amazing.

They are amazing. It's eye opening for people to see exactly where your energy.

Yes, that's a great a great website to go to.

Um, and those are the people that will pay us for demand response. So, they don't have to build another power plant anytime that so we'll take their money, right? Um, but it was interesting. They said to us to a a room of 125 engineers, energy engineers that um with respect to energy storage, battery systems in New England, we have six hours of storage.

Six hours.

But good luck getting someone to, you know, no pun intended, green light a battery storage. It's like a d It's like a data center. It's nobody wants that in a neighbor. very difficult to well and ask Somerset ask some and the you know the bottom line you know um new nukes would create a baseline load for you that would probably deliver once they get a lot of the the costing issues under control that could be 100%

renewable France has been doing it for years they um use all of their waste as they also don't have air conditioners ask them how they can that's a problem too but they have the power so but I will love to come back from time to time, tell you what I learn, tell you what I find out, and um tell you about our successes or our or efforts. And I think it it's a great

thing for me to be here, and I really appreciate your time.

Thank you for coming. Anything else before?

Yeah, my wife is actually a nuclear engineer. She spent five years uh defueling and refueling nuclear reactors for the Navy. And it makes me really happy that the public sentiment is changing in those regards because the nuclear reactors of today are not the same ones from the 70s and this country is stuck with plants from the 70s.

And then I don't want to sound like a monster, but like I did the math on the uh carbon decarbonization, the town hall, and it's only 11,815 pounds of JP8 saved, which I can burn through in an hour, right? And I've had like one week of my life where I went through 661 years of carbon savings in this building. So like gains are good, but like we're not the issue, right? We're not the issue.

But we're a little town and we have to use every dime they give us.

Yeah.

To do what we can. But you're right. And go Navy for Navy nukes. Um because they have been they have saved us. I mean they have a 70year success rate. Rick over and my son is a nuclear engineering PhD candidate at the University of Tennessee. So between the two of them, we'll get there.

Get nuclear.

Cut down the windmills, put nuclear in.

Thank you very much.

Um the next item we have is the town administrator reports.

Thank you. So keeping the train here moving, we'll just pull that up. Um, so as it was mentioned earlier this evening, uh, we did take delivery of the pumpout boat on Friday. So you can see up on the screen, uh, that was a picture of our Arbormaster. Um, right here at the back of town hall. Um, the boat will be available at night out tomorrow, uh, to showcase the newest

asset. And, you know, just a reminder to the public, half of that was funded through the Clean Vessel Act. So, um, you know, trying to get those grant dollars, uh, to help us get what we need here. Um, the second thing I just wanted to bring to the board's attention is the old high school master plan update. Um, the meeting minutes uh for the recent discussions with the different stakeholder groups uh were sent out

along with um draft square footage summary. Um so we have been getting feedback from the applicable individuals and departments.

Um in addition to that the consultant has been working with the trust on soliciting proposals for engineering firms for the well and uh well and septic testing. Um and that is currently underway. So we should have an update for the board uh very short shortly on the first set of deliverables.

Um the other thing I just wanted to bring to the members of the community's attention is just um if you've been watching our meetings recently, we've had a number of positions open up. Um if you or someone within your network is interested into applying for one of our various openings. Um information is available on the town website. Um www.wwestport-mma.com.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh, we have minutes for July 6th and July 20.

It's July 20th.

Just July 20, right?

Just July 20th.

Motion to approve the minutes from July 20th 2026.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

All in favor?

I. That's unanimous.

Uh, we have a report on the bill warrants. Well, the informed reader will note that this latest report was quite large, $9.9 million.

But it's the time of the year when a lot of stuff comes due. I highlighted a few things just to your uh knowledge uh at the bottom in the note, retirement pension assessment, $4 million. bond principle on the retirement bond 2 million and a lot of a lot of 50 80 60 90,000 items. Um but these are it may look like a lot but these are the standard ones that just all occur the

first month of the fiscal year. So that's that doesn't have to be approved but uh everything was in order however expensive.

Thank you.

Um, so we have the time for committee reports and suggestions for future topics. Rick, anything from you?

I have nothing.

Great.

Uh, our IOC meeting was, uh, cancelled and we had a climate resiliency committee. I'm sure you can cover that.

That's it.

We had a climate resilience committee.

We're final working on finalizing the report. We've got um the final I don't want to say the final draft, but the almost final draft. getting there.

Um that we're going to actually start voting I think on the next meetings to actually include or exclude some things that are still being debated among the uh committee. There is a school building committee meeting uh later this week. I think that's all for me. So I'm your representative as a leazison to the landing commission and you probably saw a photo in uh shorelines which was the opening of the Nicksbridge

west landing that's on this side of the river small landing that was not being used and now it's got some value and there cars can park there and uh I didn't make that meeting so I'm not in the photo but uh that's my my mistake.

But anyway, uh I think that's a good thing that the uh landing commission is doing and as you know they they are interested in reclaiming some of these landings and to put them to use. They're valuable pieces of public property.

Which leads me into the next item, which is the Open Space and Recreation Committee, which I serve as your appointee. And with the help of SERPED, we are revising the Open Space and Recreation Committee report of 2016, I think it was, and that's going along very well. Last week on Wednesday, we had at the annex uh a public event where people could come in and see what we were doing and we had a number of

placards and we discussed that with we had about 25 or 30 people and the people were very interested in what we were doing. Uh that report by the way uh the updated report of the open space and recreation plan will be available in the next couple of months and then then the work will be completed. So that's going well. But that was a a good good event for us and that's about it.

Thank you Craig.

Uh the affordable housing trust the week before our last meeting reported on it.

The opioid settlement advisory committee did not meet in the month of July.

Okay. Um do we have any comments and statements from the public?

Mr. Gendro.

Got two public members here. What the heck?

Our um our next meeting is three weeks from today. Not two. three weeks on August 24. I am not available. So, you will be in Jake's fine hands. I told him I put all the big hairy stuff on the agenda while I'm out.

Controversial items August 24th.

Um, is there anything else that we need to discuss? N.

All right. I will entertain a motion to adjurnn.

Motion to adjurnn.

Seconded.

All in favor? I. I. That's unanimous.

Thank you, gentlemen. I think