===PAGE 1=== Page 1 of 9 Select Board Meeting Minutes November 19, 2024 Town of Lunenburg Select Board Meeting Minutes Bilotta Meeting Room, Town Hall, 17 Main Street and via Zoom Tuesday, November 19, 2024 Members Present: Chair Caesar Nuzzolo, Vice Chair Michael-Ray Jeffreys, Clerk Amanda Moore, Member Tom Alonzo and Member Renee Emkey Also Present: Interim Town Manager Carter Terenzini Public Comment Participants are listed in the minutes CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Caesar Nuzzolo called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Chair Nuzzolo informed attendees that the meeting was being recorded and broadcast live and would be uploaded to Y ouTube after the meeting. He explained that the agenda listed topics that may be discussed, but not all items may be addressed and other items not listed could be brought up as permitted by open meeting law. I. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion to Enter into Executive Session and re-enter Open Session after exiting Executive Session pursuant to MGL c. 30 Section 21 (a), paragraph 3 to discuss strategy with respect to litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares. Executive Session did not occur at this meeting. II. PUBLIC COMMENT*** • BOARD There were no comments from the Board. • PUBLIC There were no comments from the public. III. ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements. IV . COMMUNICATIONS FROM OTHER BOARDS Chair Jennifer Duffy (Agricultural Commission) addressed the Board and stated that they would like to encourage members of the agricultural community in Lunenburg to join them at their meetings. They would love to get ideas from the community. They are looking to plan an open farm day maybe around the end of April, beginning of May. They would like to see what people ===PAGE 2=== Page 2 of 9 Select Board Meeting Minutes November 19, 2024 are making on their farms and what Lunenburg is producing. Ms. Duffy stated that they are also planning on a monthly farmers market for 2025 on Friday evenings. V . SCHEDULED MEETINGS AND HEARINGS 7:05 PM Board of Assessor’s Presentation Action Re: Tax Classification Public Hearing Clerk Amanda Moore read the public notice for the record. Principal Assessor Lynda McQuade addressed the Board and presented the FY2025 Tax Classification. Some of the data is estimated, the Board of Assessor’s do not set the tax rate. Residents who attend the annual town meeting decide on what services the Town of Lunenburg provides which determines how much the town will spend. These decisions impact the tax rate. Each year the tax rate is determined by the levy and the real and personal property total values. FY2025 valuations were based on calendar year 2023 sales. Principal Assessor McQuade stated that the purpose of the hearing this evening is to adopt a residential factor and to decide whether or not to adopt three exemptions (1) residential exemption (2) open space discount and (3) a small commercial exemption. Principal Assessor McQuade reviewed how a split tax rate would impact Lunenburg. The residential tax rate would decline and the commercial tax rate would increase. There are 112 communities in Massachusetts that have split tax rates. Principal Assessor McQuade doesn’t feel it would benefit the town. Principal Assessor McQuade reviewed the residential exemption and stated that it shifts the tax burden from the moderately valued homes to the higher valued homes and nonowner occupied homes. Principal Assessor McQuade reviewed the open space discount and stated that the Select Board may discount up to 25% of the open space share of the tax levy but currently there is no designated open space. Principal Assessor McQuade reviewed the small commercial exemption and stated that the Select Board may adopt an exemption of up to 10% of the value of eligible parcels. It is designed to provide tax relief for small businesses that own real estate. Leased business do not receive this discount. The qualifying properties must be included on a list provided annually to the assessors by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Qualifying properties must also be valued at less than $1M and have 10 employees or less. Currently, Lunenburg has not adopted this exemption. Principal Assessor McQuade stated that the Board of Assessors recommends a single tax rate and does not recommend adopting any of these exemptions. Member Renee Emkey stated that the tax rate provided is an estimate and asked when they will have the final number. Interim Town Manager Terenzini stated that they will review the recap ===PAGE 3=== Page 3 of 9 Select Board Meeting Minutes November 19, 2024 sheet with the finance team. She stated she expects to have their approval by Thanksgiving and then the tax bills can be printed and sent out. Member Tom Alonzo asked what the average increase is on the tax bill. Principal Assessor McQuade stated that the average tax bill for FY2025 would be about $7,255.18, where last year it was about $6,787.97 so the difference is about a $467 increase which is about 6.8%. Member Alonzo asked if there is any category of home in town that saw a larger increase. Principal Assessor Quade stated the great majority was up 5%. There are quite a few homes over $1M, everything seemed consistent. There wasn’t a huge difference between single families and condos. There were 9 new industrial condos. Vice Chair Michael-Ray Jeffreys stated that the goal is to get every property in the 90th percentile and asked what the starting point was for the five different indexes and the variances in index 1. Vice Chair Jeffreys is wondering what the lowest one was because that is what triggered the correction. Principal Assessor McQuade stated that they are at 95% from assessment to sales ratio and that she will get that information for the Board. Member Emkey asked if the assessed value on the current bill is the correct value or will it go up for Q3 and Q4. Principal Assessor McQuade stated that is the correct assessed value but she recommends that residents call the office because the online rates may not be up to date. Jack Rabbit, 314 Towns Harbor Road (Board of Assessors) stated he is not speaking for the Board of Assessors as they have not met yet and looked at the numbers. Mr. Rabbit stated they have to look at the whole flow, there have been some fluctuations. The impact could be significantly less than anticipated. Mr. Rabbit is interested in what type of scrub went on to reach the final numbers. He stated that he does understand they do need to get the tax bills out but they don’t want a reoccurrence of what happened previously. Mr. Rabbit is recommending they put the vote on hold for a week. Vice Chair Sarah Cammer (Board of Assessors) stated that their property values were reviewed by Vision and they have recommended adjustments needed to put properties in the appropriate range based on sales. The only thing new today that has not been fully reviewed by the assessors is the numbers plugged in to get the full tax levy. Dan Proctor, 1529 Mass Ave, stated that he is a business owner in town and he is very happy with the presentation by Principal Assessor McQuade. He would like to keep the tax rate as is, they pay enough in taxes as business owners. John Fortune (ZOOM) 50 Hemlock Drive stated that the presentation looked good and asked if there is any further information for waterfront homes. Principal Assessor McQuade requested his email and stated she doesn’t believe there was much of an increase regarding the lakes. John Bowen (ZOOM) 162 Highland Avenue stated that he is for the split tax rate. Businesses typically have the resources to create revenues to offset an extra couple of thousand dollars a ===PAGE 4=== Page 4 of 9 Select Board Meeting Minutes November 19, 2024 year, whereas a homeowner does not. Mr. Bowen used Melrose as an example of a town utilizing the split tax rate and how they have great businesses and roads in the town. Member Alonzo moved to close the public hearing. Seconded by Vice Chair Michael-Ray Jeffreys. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0) The Board discussed the Assessor’s recommendation to go with the single tax rate and agreed that is the way to go. The Board discussed the three exemptions that were presented to them this evening and determined they are on board with the recommendations to not adopt the exemptions. Vice Chair Jeffreys moved to adopt a single tax classification and to not adopt any available exemptions. Seconded by Member Alonzo. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0) 7:35 PM Meeting with Lunenburg Skate Park Re: Request for Letter of Support for grants Greg Roy, 105 Chestnut Street stated that he is not on the board for the skate park. Mr. Roy stated that they would appreciate their support. Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated that they have previously applied for the $50,000 grant from T-Mobile and were denied. They wanted to see more letters of support from the community and there is no stronger letter than from the Town executive for a project. Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated he has no problem preparing the letter. Vice-Chair Jeffreys moved for the Select Board to provide a letter of support for the Lunenburg Skate Park T-Mobile grant. Seconded by Clerk Moore. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0) 7:45 PM Request from Little League to use Old Primary School Property for T-Ball in 2025 TJ Laughlin, 207 Rolling Acres Road, stated that they are looking to do the same agreement they had last year for exactly the same reasons and rules. Chair Nuzzolo asked what dates they are using the property. Mr. Laughlin stated some time in late April/early May. Member Alonzo asked if they have the same insurance as last year and Mr. Laughlin confirmed. Member Alonzo stated he has no objection. Clerk Amanda Moore stated she doesn’t have any issues with the request either. Vice-Chair Jeffreys commended the adults who oversee this and for the resourcefulness of all the parents. Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated, since Mr. Laughlin has used the space it would be helpful if ===PAGE 5=== Page 5 of 9 Select Board Meeting Minutes November 19, 2024 he could come to an upcoming Municipal Building Design Committee meeting and provide how big a greenspace needs to be so as the parking lot is planned they can prepare an area of fill. Chair Nuzzolo stated he fully supports the request as well. Member Alonzo moved to approve the request to use the old primary school property for t-ball with Lunenburg youth softball and Softball, Inc. as presented tonight. Seconded by Member Emkey. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0) VI. APPOINTMENTS, RATIFICATIONS, AND RESIGNATIONS Ratification of the Town Manager’s Appointment for the DPW Laborer Driver, Autumn Buck Interim Town Manager Carter Terenzini stated that Autumn Buck has been as seasonal laborer with the town and reports on her have been very good. Ms. Buck has expressed interest in climbing the ranks by earning a CDL and perhaps hydraulic licenses. Interim Town Manager Terenzini stated both himself and the DPW recommend her for appointment. Vice-Chair Jeffreys moved to ratify the appointment of Autumn Buck as DPW Laborer Driver. Seconded by Clerk Moore. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0) Action Re: Agricultural Commission Appointment (Ryan Stober) Term to expire June 2027 Ryan Stobber, Pierce Ave addressed the Board and stated that he grew up in the ag world and he likes to farm. He doesn’t own a farm, he works in a business. He would like to help the Ag Comm bring more community events to the people. There are a lot of small farms in town. The Ag fair was great and made him want to rejoin. He had resigned in 2019. Member Alonzo stated it’s always a good thing when someone comes back to something they left. Member Alzonzo stated that he knows Ryan and he thinks he’ll be great in the role. Member Alonzo moved the Board to appoint Ryan Stobber to the Agricultural Commission with a term to expire June 2027. Seconded by Clerk Moore. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0) VII. INTERIM TOWN MANAGER REPORT Interim Town Manager Carter Terenzini stated that the library exterior paint project was completed in time and on budget. The punch list is complete. They are awaiting the warranty to issue the certificate of completion. The generator at the adult activity center was inspected and the electrical inspector pulled a panel and found some corrosion. The fence change order with funding approved has been issued. Of the $12,000 approved it came to $12,033. The roofing work at the adult activity center commenced and they hope to be done by the end of the week. ===PAGE 6=== Page 6 of 9 Select Board Meeting Minutes November 19, 2024 They are awaiting contractor submittals for the DPW roof and flooring. They are expected to start December 1st. Town Hall roof and Library teen room projects are both expected to begin January 1st. The Municipal Building Design Committee is meeting tomorrow evening with their preferred vendor. He has asked the Facilities Director to push forward with the HV AC replacement bids at the adult activity center. The audio update for the Bilotta room is scheduled to begin Tuesday, November 26th and be completed by end of day on November 27th. Interviews for a Director for the Council on Aging began today. They did make an offer to the preferred candidate for sewer business manager but they declined the offer. The position remains posted along with a police officer, a videographer and an assistant to the sewer business manager. Member Emkey asked if this was the second time an offer was declined for the sewer business manager and Interim Town Manager Terenzini stated it is the third. Member Emkey asked if he can speak to the reasoning for the three rejections. Interim Town Manager Terenzini stated sometimes they have excellent employees that leave and the next person coming in wants incrementally more and there is some resistance. Member Moore stated she is concerned about the sewer billing and asked if they have thought about a temporary employee just to move things along. Interim Town Manager Terenzini stated they are having those conversations and they did authorize over time. VIII. OLD BUSINESS 1. Status Update, Discussion & Possible Action Re: ARPA Chair Nuzzolo reviewed the spreadsheet with the Board. Vice-Chair Jeffreys asked if they got an answer regarding the tree service maneuver and Interim Town Manager Terenzi stated he had. The short answer is they can do what they proposed if the money comes straight from the Treasury Department. The funds came through the state so they need to go through ARPA. Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated the library trustees told him if they need additional funds for the teen center they can lean on the Friends of the Lunenburg Public Library for the difference. He asked if the Friends supply the difference and still comply with prevailing wages. Interim Town Manager Terenzini stated as long as the contingency can be identified the contract can be signed. Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated he will follow up with them. Chair Nuzzolo stated there is $222,499.88 remaining that they do need to commit as well. Vice Chair Michael-Ray Jeffreys moved the Board to change the allocation for the Marshall Park Project from $1M to $2,250.00. Seconded by Member Tom Alonzo. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0) Chair Nuzzolo stated they did receive new requests this past week from the Lunenburg Historical Society as well as the Boys & Girls Club. The Boys & Girls Club put in requests for the remainder of the FY25 after school program. They are asking for the full amount for five ===PAGE 7=== Page 7 of 9 Select Board Meeting Minutes November 19, 2024 computers, 3D printer, one passenger van. The Lunenburg Historical Society is requesting HV AC upgrades for the attic, wire shelving units, seating for display and meeting rooms, computer upgrades and a glass negative scanner. Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated he is in favor of the requests from the Boys & Girls Club and the Historical Society. He asked what the expectations of commitment is for the Board tonight. Chair Nuzzolo stated it is his recommendation to make a decision and not leave $222,000 unallocated going into December. Member Emkey stated she doesn’t see the request for moving MUNIS to the cloud. Interim Town Manager Terenzini stated he is trying to get a bottom number. They are working with legal to commit to a 2-year contract with a 10% discount for each of the years. Vice-Chair Jeffreys moved to commit $5,649.95 to the Lunenburg Boys and Girls Club for 5 computers for coding and digital literacy education, $699.98 to the Lunenburg Boys and Girls Club for a 3D printer, $499 to the Lunenburg Historical Society for HV AC upgrades in the attic, $1,400 to the Lunenburg Historical Society for wire shelving units, $4,000 to the Lunenburg Historical Society for seating and display in meeting rooms, $999.99 to the Lunenburg Historical Society for computer upgrades, $1,299 to the Lunenburg Historical Society for glass negative scanner and $33 for the Council on Aging. Seconded by Member Alonzo. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0). 2. Review & Discussion Re: Draft of Proposed Purchasing Credit Card Policy Vice-Chair Jeffreys asked if they are assigning it into the Select Board rules and regulations. Interim Town Manager Terenzini stated they are assigning it but they don’t yet have a number. Member Alonzo stated that it looks ok to him. Chair Nuzzolo agreed. Vice Chair Jeffreys stated it is Section 3.11. Vice-Chair Jeffreys moved adopt the procurement card policy as Section 3.1.1 to be formatted consistent with rest of the rules and regulations. Seconded by Member Emkey. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0) 3. Discussion on Annual Climate Survey Policy Chair Nuzzolo stated that this has been on the agenda for some time but it can be continued until December unless people are ready to start discussing. Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated he is in favor of December. 4. Discussion on Select Board and Town Manager Goal-Setting Process Chair Nuzzolo stated the same with this item, we will push it to December. ===PAGE 8=== Page 8 of 9 Select Board Meeting Minutes November 19, 2024 IX. CURRENT BUSINESS 1. Discussion and Possible Action Re: CCC Host Community Agreements Chair Nuzzolo stated that their host agreements have been updated and there are new sections that need to be included. They need to rewrite their host agreement with Bliss with the draft format from the CCC. They have received an extension until the end of February to include the new draft language. Vice-Chair Jeffreys asked for more information on the host agreements weakening. Interim Town Manager Terenzini provided an overview of the changes. The biggest thing is how the community impact fee is calculated. Chair Nuzzolo stated he needs more time to read through it. 2. Debrief of Special Town Meeting Chair Nuzzolo stated they are tracking tasks that the Board needs to do. Interim Town Manager Terenzini asked if Article 10 Brooks House is to be delegated to the Municipal Building Design Committee because if not they had planned to assign it to the planning staff. Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated he thinks either option is fine. He feels it’s a technical request, it’s not just a policy issue. He thinks the Municipal Building Design Committee would have the capacity to take it on in January and get to a result probably by the end of February/March. It seems pretty straightforward. They have two engineers on the committee and they also confer with Chris Ruth. The Board agreed to send it to the Municipal Building Design Committee. X. MINUTES/W ARRANTS/ACTION ITEMS There were no Minutes. There was an accounts payable warrant in the amount of $241,981.46. Action Items: Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated that he thinks it’s really important that as much information as possible makes it into the Google drive at the time the meeting agenda is posted. With these heavy topics it is really important to have the information ahead of the weekend so that members can be fully informed. XI. COMMITTEE REPORTS Member Emkey stated that the Budget Task Force met last night and they discussed the Community Preservation Act and some efficiencies. There is a desire to reduce the amount of accounts and streamline accounting. School Committee meets tomorrow and Stormwater meets on Thursday. Member Alonzo stated that the Screening Committee met last night. They reviewed the applications and have chosen 6 candidates to interview on December 11th and 12th. Capital Planning meets the first week in December. ===PAGE 9=== Page 9 of 9 Select Board Meeting Minutes November 19, 2024 Member Moore stated that the Economic Development Committee was supposed to meet this Thursday but there was no meeting posted. The Master Plan Steering Committee attempted to meet last week but were unable to make a quorum so they had an informal session where the Consultant form Over Under provided a quick update. There is a town wide meeting open to the public on December 4th at the library. The third survey is available on the town website and on planlunenburg.org. They still need to reorganize the Master Plan Steering Committee. Vice-Chair Jeffreys stated the Municipal Building Design Committee met last Thursday and they were going over interview questions for a bidder scheduled tomorrow evening. There is a kick-off meeting scheduled for the first Monday in December. He will be at the School Committee meeting tomorrow night to provide an update. They had a soft meeting with the developer and the planning department for a soft idea to build senior housing and starter homes. It is a Planning Board related issue. Chair Nuzzolo stated that the Planning Board hasn’t met since the day of the Special Town Meeting. Council on Aging met the day of Special Town Meeting. XII. UPCOMING MEETING/EVENTS SCHEDULE December 3rd; December 10th XIII. PUBLIC COMMENT*** • INTERIM TOWN MANAGER: None. • PUBLIC: Ann Nelson, 435 Towns Harbor Road (Lunenburg Historical Society) expressed gratitude for approving their request. They run on a shoe string budget. They really do appreciate the money, it makes a big difference to them. The food pantry also needs a vehicle, they travel to the Worcester food bank once a week. If there is an opportunity to share a vehicle with the Boys & Girls Club that would be great. She has not discussed this outside of this meeting. She invited everyone to come and visit the Historical Society and become a member. They are only open on Wednesday mornings. • BOARD: None. XIV . ADJOURN Member Alonzo moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:21pm. Seconded by Vice-Chair Jeffreys. Call for the Vote: Five-aye. The motion passed unanimously (5-0-0) Respectfully Submitted, Leanna Harris Minute Clerk These Minutes were reviewed and approved by the Select Board on: Tuesday, September 29, 2026