Select Board, July 10, 2018

The town published an agenda for this meeting. No minutes have been published; the recording is the only record, and what follows is a guide to it.

contracts and unionseconomic developmentexecutive sessionfeesgrantslegalplanning and zoningpolicypublic commentroads and dpwtechnologytown departments

Present: Adam Burnie (land use director); Scott Medeiros (presenter, Woodard and Curran consultant); Heather (town manager). Names are the caption model’s hearing and may be wrong.

Votes

1. ▶ 8:08Approve transfer of liquor license to AG LLC doing business as Kindred Spiritspassed
2. ▶ 45:41Impose a 5% technology fee on all permits to cover part of annual maintenance, remainder from general fundpassed
3. ▶ 1:20:52Adopt the Complete Streets funding program project prioritization plan as presentedpassed
4. ▶ 1:24:47Approve the one-day entertainment license for the skatepark fundraiser and waive the feepassed
5. ▶ 1:51:20Adopt the three Board of Selectmen goals for FY19passed
6. ▶ 2:00:54Accept the town manager's goals as presentedpassed

And 2 procedural: enter executive session (litigation, then dpw union collective bargaining), returning to open session to vote on the mou (▶ 2:04:44); adjourn (▶ 2:28:06).

The money

1. ▶ 17:04Online permitting annual maintenance

   After a state grant paid the first year, annual maintenance is a recurring cost covering cloud storage, upgrades and support.

   as heard:thirty two thousand eight hundred dollars

2. ▶ 18:07Technology fee on permits

   Permit and license fees brought in about this much in FY17; a ten percent fee would recoup the full cost, a five percent fee about half, the rest from the general fund.

   as heard:three hundred and thirty thousand dollarsten percentfive percentsixteen thousand dollars

3. ▶ 32:07Permit fee example

   Calculator example for a house permit and the five and ten percent fee amounts.

   as heard:$4,500$225five hundred fifty dollars

4. ▶ 10:25Warrants

   Accounts payable and payroll warrants were read.

   as heard:eighteen thousand seven hundred and twenty seven dollars and twenty nine centssix hundred and seventeen thousand four hundred fifty $7.991 million two hundred and twenty nine thousand five hundred

5. ▶ 52:45Complete Streets grant funding

   Once the plan is approved the town can apply for construction funding each year; project costs range widely.

   as heard:four hundred thousand dollars68,000550 thousand

6. ▶ 1:23:03Entertainment license fee

   The one-day entertainment license has no set fee; $25 charged in the past.

   as heard:$100$25

7. ▶ 1:30:41Insurance participation credits

   Credits received will be applied to FY19 insurance.

   as heard:10,000 $197.00seven thousand nine hundred and thirty nine dollars

8. ▶ 3:06Pay-as-you-throw bag program

   Disposal costs come from the solid waste enterprise account offset by bag sales; price may be reviewed.

Settled without a vote

• ▶ 8:50Three board appointments postponed to next week.
• ▶ 2:03:21Liaison and board assignments to be taken up substantially at the next meeting.
• ▶ 3:06Bag supplier to rush deliveries to retailers and set up emergency stock.

Documents and exhibits

State law asks minutes to list the documents and exhibits used at a meeting (M.G.L. c.30A §22(a)). Names from the recording are the caption model’s hearing; the two sides are matched by name, by script, so a document named two different ways can be missed. A place to look, not a finding.

Public comment

1. ▶ 4:08Asked when the weathervane on the town hall will be replaced. — National gone, 73 Lancaster Avenue, as heard, resident
2. ▶ 36:40Supported the permitting system and fee as speeding the process and helping business. — Greg Bittner, 32 Sandy Cove Road, as heard, chair of planning
3. ▶ 1:12:28Praised the Complete Streets plan but raised speeding and truck traffic on Lancaster Avenue.

Where the time went

Minutes of recording by subject, from the topic spans below. A topic with two subjects counts toward both.

• fees40 min · 27%
• grants35 min · 23%
• roads and dpw35 min · 23%
• technology31 min · 21%
• planning and zoning31 min · 21%
• policy25 min · 17%
• legal25 min · 17%
• executive session24 min · 16%
• contracts and unions24 min · 16%
• personnel22 min · 15%

The whole meeting, in order

1. ▶ 0:00Announcements, trash bag shortage, public commentinformational · 4:50 long · public comment, fees
2. ▶ 4:50Liquor license transfer hearingvoted · 4:00 long · legal
3. ▶ 8:50Appointments, minutes, warrants, committee reports, opioid litigationinformational · 6:50 long · legal
4. ▶ 15:42Technology fee hearing for permitsvoted · 31:28 long · fees, technology, planning and zoning
5. ▶ 47:11Complete Streets prioritization planvoted · 34:39 long · grants, roads and dpw
6. ▶ 1:21:58Skatepark fundraiser entertainment licensevoted · 3:27 long · recreation, fees
7. ▶ 1:25:30Town manager report, 925 Mass Aveinformational · 13:50 long · legal, economic development
8. ▶ 1:39:21Board and town manager goalsvoted · 21:49 long · policy, personnel
9. ▶ 2:01:14Liaison assignmentsreferred · 3:26 long · policy
10. ▶ 2:04:44Executive session and adjournmentvoted · 23:36 long · executive session, contracts and unions

What the captions could not carry

• Vote count on most motions not stated
• Executive session vote on DPW MOU not captured
• Parts of Complete Streets presentation garbled

Reports this meeting suggests

Our reading of the discussion: questions where numbers were in play and a page laying them out would have helped. Every meeting’s suggestions are merged into one register.

• ▶ 18:07Permit technology feeWhat does the online permitting system cost and how much would a technology fee recoup?
• ▶ 1:25:30925 Mass Ave cleanupWhat would assessment and liability cost the town at 925 Mass Ave?already answered: thread:925-mass-ave

Written 2026-11-05 by scripts/write_recording_minutes.py (sonnet) from sources/data/youtube-transcripts/select-board/2018-07-10-O0vw6EZvfnU.json — 2,598 caption segments, sha256 c962a71fccea…. All recorded meetings.