What was said

Select Board, August 7, 2018

the recording · 2:16 long, about 18,311 words spoken · captions carried this meeting moderately well

lunenburgbudgetproject.org — written by the Lunenburg Budget Project, an independent tool for residents. Not affiliated with the Town of Lunenburg, the School Committee or the school district. The data this page is computed from: /data/recording-minutes/select-board/2018.json

Posted twice

The town posted this meeting more than once. These are our minutes of the edited video; see also the original. Both are valid, and we read both. Neither recording is missing anything the other has.

The town published minutes (text) and an agenda for this meeting. Those minutes are the record; what follows is a guide to the recording.

The short version

  1. ▶ 1:02:19The Select Board deferred the Keating earth removal renewals to a later August meeting, pending review by the building commissioner and town counsel.
  2. ▶ 32:55The board appointed Susanna Jewell as Parks Commissioner by roll call; a second candidate had also been nominated.
  3. ▶ 1:28:30The board approved the closure plan for earth removal permit 54 as submitted.
  4. ▶ 1:30:12The board approved three license items at hearings, and extended the Bootleggers license to October 31st.
  5. ▶ 1:33:05The town manager reported on the state budget, which included asbestos abatement money for Turkey Hill that can free up capital funds.

Why it matters — our reading

  • Earth removal permits govern gravel and soil operations in town, so the deferral leaves Keating's renewals unsettled until the board acts and the review is done.
  • State money for asbestos abatement at Turkey Hill can free up capital funds, which bears on what the town must raise or borrow for other projects.

Watch next

  • A future August meeting for the Keating earth removal renewals, after building commissioner and town counsel review.
  • The August 21 meeting, set for selection policy items, after next week's earth removal workshop.

legalpersonnelplanning and zoningpublic commentrecreationstate aidturkey hill

Present: Mr. Foyle (member); Mr. Rhodes (building commissioner); Karen Menard (Parks Commission chair). Names are the caption model’s hearing and may be wrong.

Votes

  1. ▶ 16:00Approve the liquor license transfer for Sean Patrick'snot audible
  2. ▶ 18:09Approve Settlers Pub license transfer, seasonal to annualnot audible
  3. ▶ 19:36Approve Kindred Spirits entertainment, jukebox and amusement licensenot audible
  4. ▶ 32:55Appoint Susanna Jewell as Parks Commissioner by roll call (nominated first; Dave Paseos also nominated)not audible
  5. ▶ 1:28:30Approve the closure plan for earth removal permit 54 as submittednot audible
  6. ▶ 1:30:12Extend the Bootleggers license to October 31stnot audible

And 1 procedural: adjourn (▶ 2:16:32).

Against the town’s minutes

The town published minutes (text) for this meeting; ours were compared item by item. 7 agree, 3 caption errors resolved by the official reading, 4 substantive differences. The town’s minutes are a full record.

  1. differsParks Commissioner appointment of Susanna Jewell▶ 32:55

    recording Appoint Susanna Jewell as Parks Commissioner by roll call (nominated first; Dave Paseos also nominated) — not audible

    town’s minutes “mr. toale called for a vote in favor of appointing susanna jewell. ms. menard- nay, mr. mannone-aye,”

    Ours records no outcome, while the official records a 5-2 roll call; check the recording for the tally. Ours also shows Mannone voting is unclear, and Menard/Mannone are listed as Parks Commissioners voting.

  2. differsKeating earth removal renewals deferral▶ 1:02:19

    recording Keating earth removal renewals deferred to a future August meeting pending building commissioner and town counsel review.

    town’s minutes “to move this agenda item to a future meeting in august with consideration of review by the building commissioner of what was submitted tonight”

    Ours adds town counsel review as part of the motion; the official motion names only the Building Commissioner, with town counsel an opinion Ms. Luck requested separately. Check the motion wording.

  3. differsFY19 state budget figure▶ 1:33:05

    recording FY19 state budget: one hundred and sixty two thousand, one hundred thirty thousand

    town’s minutes —

    Garbled figure in ours that matches nothing in the official figures; check the recording at this time to see what was said, possibly a warrant or other item.

  4. differsAttendee: Mr. Foyle (member)

    recording Mr. Foyle (member)

    town’s minutes “board of selectmen: jamie toale, chairman; robert ebersole, vice chairman; phyllis luck, member;”

    No Foyle on the official roster; may be a misheard name for a member such as Mr. Ebersole or Mr. McQuaid, so check the recording.

3 caption errors the town’s minutes resolve
  • Parks applicant Dave Passios name:Dave Paseos→Dave Passios▶ 32:55
  • Skateboard park fundraising figures:Skateboard park fundraising: 13,000, a hundred thousand, 150,000→$13,000 raised, $100,000 cash goal, $150,000 in-kind▶ 1:35:34
  • Karen Menard name and title:Karen Menard (Parks Commission chair)→Karin Menard
In one record only: 0 from the recording, 5 from the town’s minutes
  • Town’s minutes only — Sean Patrick's Common Victualer and Weekday Entertainment license vote: “to approve the common victualer and weekday entertainment license as submitted”
  • Town’s minutes only — ZBA resignation of Robert Cadle and appointments (Blatt, Callahan): “to appoint dave blatt to the zoning board of appeals with a term to expire june 30, 2022”
  • Town’s minutes only — John Lynch Clockwinder appointment: “to appoint john lynch as clockwinder with a term to expire june 30, 2019”
  • Town’s minutes only — Warrants and water commitment figures: “the board also signed an accounts payable warrant in the amount of $336,518.01, a payroll warrant in the amount of $640.040.95”
  • Town’s minutes only — Other decisions: Town Counsel opinion, Goodrich St permit #32, ADA, wish list, liaison discussion: “ms. luck requested an opinion from town counsel. the board concurred.”

Compared 2026-11-05. Neither record is treated as the referee: a caption error is the same fact heard badly; a difference is for a person to check at the timestamp.

The money

  1. ▶ 1:33:05FY19 state budget

    The state budget raised local revenue slightly and included asbestos abatement money for Turkey Hill that can free up capital funds.

    as heard:one hundred and sixty two thousandone hundred thirty thousand

  2. ▶ 1:35:34Skateboard park fundraising

    The committee has raised part of its cash goal, with the rest of the cost expected as in-kind donations.

    as heard:13,000a hundred thousand150,000

Settled without a vote

  • ▶ 1:02:19Keating earth removal renewals deferred to a future August meeting pending building commissioner and town counsel review.
  • ▶ 2:13:37Next week's workshop on earth removal; selection policy items set for the August 21 meeting.

Documents and exhibits

The town’s minutes

The minutes print no list of documents and exhibits.

Named in the running text, not in a list:

  • Article 22 of the May 5, 2018 Town Meeting warrant
  • Citizen's petition for a Special Town Meeting warrant article addressing plastic bag ban
  • Mr. Rhodes memo (earth removal permits)
  • December 2017 letter / November 21, 2017 Board meeting conditions
  • Engineered report from S J Mullaney Engineering Inc.
  • Color-coded map of earth removal permits (PJ Keating)
  • Closure plan for Permit #54, 151 Leominster-Shirley Road (McCarty Engineering)
  • Sewer Commission memo in Correspondence requesting discontinued liaison
  • Draft business brochure (Business-Town Partnership)
  • Town ADA self-evaluation and transition plan (2009)

Heard in the recording

  • ▶ 51:36the plan consolidating permitsplan or drawing· named in the minutes’ text, not in a list (“Closure plan for Permit #54, 151 Leominster-Shirley Road (McCarty Engineering)”)
  • ▶ 56:16engineered report from SJ Mullaney engineeringreport· named in the minutes’ text, not in a list (“Engineered report from S J Mullaney Engineering Inc.”)

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. ▶ 3:36A resident presented a citizen's petition to ban plastic bags.
  2. ▶ 7:59Stillman's Fair organizers and the school nurse asked support for a William James College mental health referral service for the whole town. — Maryland Hallie, as heard

Where the time went

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

The whole meeting, in order

  1. ▶ 0:00Board comments: ADA-compliant meeting space, land conveyance in open sessioninformational · 3:36 long · facilities
  2. ▶ 3:36Public comment: plastic bag ban, mental health referral serviceinformational · 9:13 long · public comment
  3. ▶ 12:49License hearingsvoted · 7:31 long · legal
  4. ▶ 20:20Parks Commission appointmentvoted · 13:42 long · personnel, recreation
  5. ▶ 34:02ZBA and clock winder appointmentsvoted · 6:38 long · personnel, planning and zoning
  6. ▶ 40:40Earth removal permit renewalsKeating deferred; Powell plan approved · 48:32 long · planning and zoning, legal
  7. ▶ 1:29:12Bootleggers licensevoted · 1:46 long · legal
  8. ▶ 1:30:58Town manager reportinformational · 17:15 long · superintendent report, state aid, recreation
  9. ▶ 1:48:13ADA agenda item and board goals, liaisonsno resolution · 17:00 long · policy
  10. ▶ 2:05:13Minutes, warrants, action itemsinformational · 9:09 long · policy
  11. ▶ 2:14:22Land conveyance executive session debateto be discussed next week · 2:10 long · executive session

What the captions could not carry

  • Vote counts for most motions are not in the captions.
  • Captions garbled in parts of the plastic bag comment.

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.

  • ▶ 1:39:11Skate park costsWhat will the skateboard park cost, who pays, and who maintains it?

These are ours, and they are not the record

OUR MINUTES OF A RECORDING, written by a language model from machine captions. Two derived layers stand between this file and the meeting. Cite the video at the timestamp, never this file. Figures are as heard and may be wrong; names may be wrong; where the town published minutes, those are the record.

Written 2026-11-05 by scripts/write_recording_minutes.py (sonnet) from sources/data/youtube-transcripts/select-board/2018-08-07-bj_ZUj4CnyA.json — 3,026 caption segments, sha256 311f34d5fc63…. All recorded meetings.

Every other report

The budget feed — every board, everything about money →What the town is deciding now →The blog — one finding at a time, in two minutes →This week in town — meetings coming up, minutes and recordings just posted →The boards — each one, in one place →Lunenburg’s homes and the tax bill →The School Committee’s finances — every fund and line it owns →Health insurance →Special education — four reports →School staffing — did it go up, and over which years →If students leave — what school choice would cost →What a family actually pays →

Every analysis this project has written, in one index, is at reports.

What changed

Version 15 — updated September 20, 2026