Select Board Meeting Minutes
Hinsdale Select Board
Meeting Minutes
Monday, November 21, 2022, at 7:00 pm
Community Room, Town Hall
39 South St, Hinsdale, MA
Present:
Earl Peck, Select Board Chair
Bart Collins, Select Board Member
Ray Huntoon, Select Board Member
Robert Graves, Town Administrator
Clarissa Mitchell, Administrative Assistant
At 7:00 pm, Earl opens the meeting. Next, the Select Board needed to approve the meeting minutes from 11/09/22. Ray motioned to accept the minutes as presented, and Bart seconded it. All said, Aye.
Communications and Reports from Department Heads, Boards, and Chairs:
Shaun Galliher- Finance Committee:
Finance Committee voted to approve Tracy Lussier and Sarah Baumann to the committee. Shaun mentioned that Jamie met with the Finance Committee two meetings ago to discuss and go through capital planning and the Highway’s financials from an administrative standpoint. Everyone thinks he is doing a great job.
Jamie Callahan- Interim DPW Superintendent:
We have had a few plows so far and lots of broken things. The department has gone over machinery that he thought was already fined tuned.
Robert Graves- Town Administrator:
- MassWorks paperwork is in. We will need to get it signed in early December to get our contracts out for January 1st. The previous board allowed him to sign the paperwork. If not, we can convene meetings whenever something needs to be signed. Earl Peck motioned to enable Bob to sign the paperwork as long as we were all involved, and Ray Huntoon seconded it. All said, Aye.
- We received a $5,000 sustainable recovery grant. Last year, we used it to buy recyclable paper for the town hall.
- We had three possible police merger sessions. We had a total of nineteen people attend out of the three meetings. Overall, we did not receive support to merge with Dalton. Chairman Peck mentioned we should not waste any more time. There was hardly any interest at the initial meeting. TA Graves said he would draft up a letter.
- Bob noted he is still working on the grant for the pumper truck.
The next item on the agenda is to appoint two members to the finance committee. Earl motioned to appoint Sarah Baumann and Tracy Lussier to the finance committee, and Bart seconded it. All said, Aye.
Then there was the appointment of a DPW superintendent. Chairman Peck motioned to appoint Jamie Callahan as DPW superintendent. No one seconded the motion. Earl tried to make another move to keep Jamie on through the winter. Again, no one seconded the motion. Earl mentioned that he is nervous about replacing someone this late in the season with someone not up to the job. Bart wanted to hear from the search committee why he was the best candidate. People from the search committee said they wrote down their opinions. Mary Rice recommended an intermission so Bart could read the notes from the search committee. After a broad discussion regarding Jamie and the position. Bart Collins motions to accept Jamie Callahan with a three-year contract, and Ray Huntoon seconds it. All said, Aye.
Resident Laura Galliher noted that getting people to join boards and committees is very difficult. She pointed out that the Select Board does not encourage participation to be on boards and committees after tonight. Please keep that in mind.
The last item on the agenda was to discuss town fees. The Select Board wanted to table the discussion because it was getting late. Dawn Frissell suggested we have a separate meeting to discuss town fees. TA Graves noted the board could have a business meeting just for town fees.
Since there was no further business to discuss, Bart adjourned the meeting at 8:08 pm; Earl seconded it. All said, Aye.
Respectfully submitted,
Clarissa Mitchell
___________________
Earl Peck- SB Chair
____________________
Bart Collins- SB Member
______________________
Ray Huntoon- SB Member