Select Board, January 21, 2020

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

budgetbudget fy27capitalchapter 70debtfacilitiesfree cashhiringlegallibraryoverridepersonnelplanning and zoningpolicyprimary schoolpublic commentpublic safetyroads and dpwstaffingstate aidsuperintendent reporttax ratetown departmentstown meetingturkey hill

Present: Mr. Jeffries (member); Mrs. Adams (member); Mr. McQuaid (member); Mr. Alonza (member); Mrs. Luck (vice chair); Heather (town manager); Damon (capital planning committee representative); the superintendent (superintendent). Names are the caption model’s hearing and may be wrong.

Votes

1. ▶ 20:13Do not permit hunting on the Lunenburg conservation land parcels.passed 3-2
2. ▶ 29:25Approve the class 2 auto dealer license for 36 Summer Street.passed
3. ▶ 1:54:10Postpone the Proctor earth removal hearing to February 11 and invite the building commissioner and land-use director.failed
4. ▶ 1:56:09Approve the earth removal permit with conditions on hours, dust control, no rock crushing, and screening only the top two feet of soil, weekdays only.passed 3-2
5. ▶ 2:08:47Ratify appointment of David Gallagher as Council on Aging van driver.passed
6. ▶ 2:09:09Ratify appointment of Cathy Como as animal control officer.passed
7. ▶ 2:12:16Appoint Patrick Callahan to the Zoning Board of Appeals until June 30, 2022.passed
8. ▶ 3:38:05Sign the Colonial Power consultant agreement, same as last year's.passed
9. ▶ 3:40:11Have the chair sign the town charter letter to the state representative and senator.not audible

And 1 procedural: adjourn. (▶ 3:56:09).

Against the town’s minutes

The town published minutes (text) for this meeting; ours were compared item by item. 9 agree, 5 caption errors resolved by the official reading, 6 substantive differences. The town’s minutes are a full record.

1. differsProctor earth removal postponement vote▶ 1:54:10

   recording Postpone the Proctor earth removal hearing to February 11 and invite the building commissioner and land-use director. — failed

   town’s minutes “vote: 2 in favor, 3 against (jeffreys, mcquaid, alonzo)”

   Both show a failed vote, but official says it is not clearly tied to a motion (Jeffreys had withdrawn his continuation motion) and records the count 2-3 with Jeffreys among the no votes; check the recording for what was voted on and who voted how.

2. differsProctor earth removal permit vote▶ 1:56:09

   recording Approve the earth removal permit with conditions on hours, dust control, no rock crushing, and screening only the top two feet of soil, weekdays only. — passed 3-2

   town’s minutes “motion: m. jeffreys to approve the earth removal permit as requested with the following conditions”

   Official minutes give no vote result or count for the permit; check the recording to confirm it passed 3-2.

3. differsPatrick Callahan ZBA appointment vote▶ 2:12:16

   recording Appoint Patrick Callahan to the Zoning Board of Appeals until June 30, 2022. — passed

   town’s minutes “motion: d. mcquaid 2nd: p. luck to appoint pat callahan to the zoning board of appeals with a term to expire june 30, 2022. vote: 4 in favor, 1 abstention (adams)”

   Both passed, but ours gives no count while official records an Adams abstention; check the recording.

4. differsColonial Power / broker agreement▶ 3:38:05

   recording Sign the Colonial Power consultant agreement, same as last year's. — passed

   town’s minutes “motion: d. mcquaid to sign the agreement with the broker 2nd: p. luck vote: all in favor”

   Probably the same item (electric aggregation broker/consultant), but official does not name Colonial Power; confirm it is the same agreement.

5. differsTown charter letters to legislators▶ 3:40:11

   recording Have the chair sign the town charter letter to the state representative and senator. — not audible

   town’s minutes “to authorize the chair to sign the letters to representatve hay and senator tran requesting them to present the town charter to the state legislature vote:all in favor”

   Ours could not hear the outcome; official says all in favor.

6. differsLibrary grants▶ 3:47:35

   recording Library grants: $3500, $5,000

   town’s minutes “they recieved a $5000 grant from hannafords to replace some bookshelves, they have another request in for another $5000”

   Official gives $5000 and $5000 pending; ours has $3500 for one; check the recording.

Compared 2026-11-04. 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. ▶ 1:50Compost bin and rain barrel prices at the DPW

   A member promoted a bundle price for compost bin and rain barrel.

   as heard:$435680$19 savings

2. ▶ 2:22:48New growth assumption in forecast

   Forecast assumes a lower new growth figure for FY21 and a smaller one for later years.

   as heard:three hundred and fifty thousandthree hundred thousand

3. ▶ 2:36:16FY21 free cash use

   The forecast uses a certified free cash amount for FY21, split among capital, stabilization and OPEB.

   as heard:889 thousand one hundred and thirty three dollarssix hundred and seventy nine thousand one hundred and thirty threehundred thousandone hundred and ten thousand

4. ▶ 2:40:41School five-year staffing plan added cost

   Town manager read added yearly cost of the school staffing plan on top of the projected increase.

   as heard:three hundred and thirty six thousand three hundred thirty dollars1 million one hundred and seventy eight thousand 997 dollars2 million seventy three thousand seventy dollarstwo million nine hundred and seventeen thousand three hundred fifty-seven dollarsthree million five hundred and ninety-four thousand three hundred and twenty-six

5. ▶ 2:44:56FY25 school expense and gap

   A member compared forecast pages and questioned a large school increase and a multi-million deficit.

   as heard:46 million eight hundred and forty seven thousand dollarsfour million dollars in the red40% increase

6. ▶ 3:24:19FY21 capital requests

   Capital requests total was reported, with Vertex items excluded from the recommended list.

   as heard:four million two hundred and thirty-nine thousand four hundred and thirty-eight dollars1 million 329 thousand 133

7. ▶ 3:27:09FY21 recommended capital plan

   Recommended capital plan to be funded by tax revenue and free cash.

   as heard:1 million three hundred and twenty nine thousand one hundred and thirty three dollars

8. ▶ 3:37:42Colonial Power aggregation adder

   The broker's fee adder was confirmed as in the prior agreement.

   as heard:point zero zero one kilowatt hour

9. ▶ 3:40:51Warrants

   Accounts payable, payroll deductions and payroll warrants were read.

   as heard:one hundred seventy three thousand four hundred fifty seven dollars and thirty eight centsseven hundred eight thousand nine hundred forty six dollars and seventy six centseight hundred thirteen thousand sixty dollars and ninety eight cents

10. ▶ 3:47:35Library grants

    Library received a grant for shelving and has a request pending for programs.

    as heard:$3500$5,000

Settled without a vote

• ▶ 3:18:25Board will add a weekly budget and forecast discussion item to its agendas until Town Meeting.
• ▶ 3:53:38The January 28 meeting will be a public forum on the five-year forecast and capital plan instead of a regular meeting.
• ▶ 3:42:01Board will try to invite the former state representative to a future meeting to be recognized.
• ▶ 3:46:35Community recognition awards to be discussed at the workshop.

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. ▶ 4:00Two residents asked permission to hunt with firearms on town conservation land. — Paul long, as heard, resident
2. ▶ 13:57Conservation Commission land use policy prohibits firearm discharge on its land except Hunting Hill; spoke as himself. — Bob Pease, as heard, resident, Conservation Commission member
3. ▶ 1:00:28Abutter at 68 Townsend Harbor Road objected to dust, noise, septic risk and three years of earth removal. — Mark Resnick, as heard, abutter
4. ▶ 1:07:04Abutter at 70 Townsend Harbor Road objected to scale of removal, truck traffic, and the original ten yard letter; said he would sell. — Clifton Smith, as heard, abutter
5. ▶ 1:37:57Asked engineer whether abutters' septic systems were considered. — a speaker, citizen
6. ▶ 3:18:25Finance Committee member said the forecast leaves out unplanned debt so the committee can see wiggle room. — Terry Burchfield, as heard, citizen and Finance Committee member

Where the time went

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

• legal125 min · 53%
• planning and zoning101 min · 43%
• public comment101 min · 43%
• budget65 min · 28%
• budget fy2765 min · 28%
• staffing65 min · 28%
• policy24 min · 10%
• public safety24 min · 10%
• facilities19 min · 8%
• library15 min · 6%

The whole meeting, in order

1. ▶ 0:02Opening, member comments, announcementsinformational · 3:37 long · public comment
2. ▶ 3:39Request to hunt with firearms on conservation landvoted: denied 3-2 · 23:32 long · policy, legal, public safety
3. ▶ 27:11Class 2 auto dealer license hearing, 36 Summer Streetvoted: granted · 3:39 long · economic development, planning and zoning
4. ▶ 30:50Earth removal permit hearing, 1325 Mass Avevoted: approved 3-2 with conditions · 1:37:37 long · planning and zoning, legal, public comment
5. ▶ 2:08:27Appointments ratified and ZBA appointmentvoted · 4:12 long · personnel
6. ▶ 2:12:39Town manager report: vacancies, old primary facilities funds, MassDOT meeting, upcoming meetingsinformational · 3:54 long · town departments, facilities, primary school
7. ▶ 2:16:33Five-year financial forecast and school staffing planinformational; weekly agenda item agreed · 1:05:19 long · budget, budget fy27, staffing
8. ▶ 3:21:52FY21 capital plan and TC Passios extended day building concernsinformational · 14:48 long · capital, facilities
9. ▶ 3:36:40Colonial Power agreement and charter lettervoted · 4:11 long · contracts and unions, legal
10. ▶ 3:40:51Warrants, action items, committee reports, upcoming meetings, adjournmentadjourned · 15:18 long · library, roads and dpw

What the captions could not carry

• Vote count on the charter letter motion was not stated.
• Several figures in the forecast presentation were garbled and the page 23 versus 29 reconciliation was unclear.
• Exact vote tally on the postponement motion; the outcome is inferred only from the next motion being made.

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.

• ▶ 2:16:33Five-year financial forecastWhat does the FY21-25 forecast assume, and how large are the deficits with the school staffing plan?
• ▶ 3:24:19Capital planning requestsWhat is in the FY21 capital plan and what was left out?
• ▶ 3:30:00Extended day spaceWhy were vouchers refused at TC Passios and what fixes would cost?already answered: thread:extended-day-fee
• ▶ 2:40:41School staffing planWhat does the school five-year staffing plan add each year?

Written 2026-11-04 by scripts/write_recording_minutes.py (sonnet) from sources/data/youtube-transcripts/select-board/2020-01-21-tJloRWoDzCs.json — 5,077 caption segments, sha256 2da7377c7631…. All recorded meetings.