Selectmen Met on November 9th
Wednesday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting began with a reading of Tuesday’s election results from Holliston precincts, which are detailed in a separate story on our website. The Selectmen (absent Jay Marsden, who is on vacation) also extended a hearty thank you and congratulations to Town Clerk Liz Greendale and all other staff and volunteers who helped to make Holliston’s voting system function so smoothly this year.
They went on to state that early voting efforts were particularly successful and likely played a large roll in getting Holliston turnout to an impressive 81% -- a number that Chairman Jay Leary said should be the norm in all town elections.
The Selectmen then noted that Veteran’s Day services will be held this Friday, November 11th, at 10:30am. All Selectmen will be in attendance and Selectman Kevin Conley will speak at the event.
Jeff Ritter, our Town Administrator, then updated the Selectmen on the capital expenditures approved in the October 24th Special Town Meeting. The town is currently in the process of acquiring the approved items, with things such as the opening of bidding for a new library boiler, the purchase of a new industrial strength wood chipper, and the upgrading of Police and Fire radio equipment expected to take place in the near future.
It was also announced that the process of inspecting three of Holliston’s dams using a previously existing $28,000 allocation is being accelerated, with special attention being paid to the Houghton’s Pond dam, as it is perceived to be the most vulnerable.
The Town Administrator also updated the selectmen on plans for a regional six-town meeting that is set to take place in the Holliston Town Hall on December 8th at 7:00pm. The goal of the meeting is to touch base with nearby towns to discuss areas of cooperation and the sharing of resources. Currently, representatives from Medway, Sherborn, and Hopkinton have confirmed their plans to attend.
The Selectmen then approved an event permit for the Holliston Business Association’s annual Holiday Stroll, which will take place on Saturday, November 26th. Other pieces of business regarding the 8 Arch Bridge and Andrews School were tabled because of Selectman Jay Marsden’s absence.
Lastly, the Selectmen, Town Administrator, and Fire Chief Cassidy analyzed the results of a study done on Holliston’s behalf by the Boston-based Collins Center for public management. The Center, which aims to improve the functionality and efficiency of government, estimates that Holliston will need to spend approximately $31 million in capital expenditures over the next five years.
Although everybody present agreed that an annual expenditure of $6 million dollars for capital projects is not going to happen, it did prompt a discussion on the pros and cons of using trend-driven models to calculate spending at the municipal level.