Archive 2008 - 2019

Board of Selectmen Met 07/24/2017

by Ben Kaplan
7/27/2017

Once again, the Board of Selectmen met for their bi-weekly meeting at Town Hall on Monday night. This week’s meeting was relatively short with few pressing issues at hand.

Bill Mayer officially retired from his position as Town Counsel. Mayer served on as Holliston’s Town Counsel for 10 years. Mayer has also been an integral part of the community since the 1980s; serving on the school committee and Board of Selectmen and a number of other local organizations. He said he is looking forward to remaining active in the town.

Bill Mayer makes his final remarks as Town Counsel

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be here,” said Mayer. “I look forward to coming to town meetings with a number of issues I would have like to have spoken about over the past few years but had the Town Counsel’s muzzle on so now I won’t be shy about that.”

All three selectmen offered their thanks for his services over the years and wished him luck as he begins work for the Governor’s Office on the Judicial Nominating Commission. The Selectmen’s official statement can be found tomorrow on HollistonReporter.com. He will be being replaced by Mead, Talerman, & Costa LLC.

The Town Administrator’s report involved an update on the Eight Arch Bridge and 27 Everett St. medical marijuana Facility projects. The bid proposal for the railings for the Eight Arch Bridge has been approved by Town Counsel and an invitation to bid is being prepared with a presentation date of August 7th. Progress on the medical marijuana growing facility is being made since the board passed a letter of non-opposition to its placement on 27 Everett St. The company is working with the Planning Board and other relevant parties to create a Host Community Agreement, which will also be reviewed by the Town Counsel.

Police Chief Stone presented the department’s new five year strategic plan, a follow up to the department’s five year plan from 2012. Chief Stone said that a mixture of surveys of the internal department and local community were used to compile a list of goals and will have three overarching themes public support, trust from the town government, and officer morale.

Chief Stone lays out the Police Department's 5 year strategic plan

“We had over 1,000 town members take this survey online to tell us what was important to them,” said Chief Stone.

Along with traffic enforcement, juvenile and drug issues, mental health and domestic violence were areas that the department and community wanted to focus on. The opioid epidemic in particular was one of the survey takers’ top issues. According to Chief Stone, each area has a focus leader that will provide an update at the end of each year on what the department has done to improve on that certain aspect. One proposed support system is the addition of a second school resource officer for the middle school. The board is in full support of the plan.

“It really shows when 75% of responders [of the survey] say that the department has taken steps in a positive direction since the implementation of these programs,” said Selectman Ahronian.

The board also appointed a new officer to the police force. After interviewing two potential candidates, the board appointed Officer Tess Lacoss.The Selectmen were impressed with Lacoss, who had previously worked for the Woburn Police Department. Her extensive resume ranged from experience with community outreach to undercover work. Lacoss is a self-described “small town girl,” who said she is most looking forward to working in such a welcoming and tight knit community.

Officer Lacoss is interviewed for a position in the Holliston PD

“I love the people I see on a daily basis, like the woman I see at Dunkin Donuts every morning. I love the group of little old ladies that I see,” said Lacoss. “I just love to make connections with people and I love that everyday is something different.”