Raynham Select Board 05/19/2026

(Episode Description is AI generated and may be errors in accuracy)

A town can feel “stuck” until you hear the decisions getting made in real time. We sit down with the Raynham board meeting audio and follow the thread from everyday public works to big-ticket infrastructure wins, including a headline-making award: $4.233 million in state funding to fully cover construction for the Pine Street culvert. We talk through why the culvert project is complex, what’s already done on the design side, and how permitting and seasonality shape a realistic construction timeline. 

Roadwork planning takes center stage, with detailed updates on Mill Street paving, schedule changes that ripple into traffic flow, and how the Highway Department balances resurfacing needs with community events like the Memorial Day parade. We also break down chip seal resurfacing as a budget-smart approach for side roads, plus the less glamorous but essential work: mowing, ballfield prep, brush pile grinding, and keeping town properties ready for peak season. 

The meeting also moves through the governing nuts and bolts that affect daily life in Raynham MA: appointments, license hearings, a vote to allow earlier Sunday opening for a growing brunch crowd, and a required distillery permit rehearing tied to abutter notification rules. On the operations side, we cover contracting for HR and Health Director recruitment, steps to fill police officer vacancies, and new communications clerk roles as dispatch functions consolidate to support faster emergency response. 

If you care about local government, municipal budgets, road paving, public safety staffing, or how community traditions get organized, hit subscribe, share the episode with a neighbor, and leave a review with the one topic you want us to dig into next.

Transcript

Meeting Opens And Minutes Approved

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Good evening. Call the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Excuse me. Inform the public that this meeting is being recorded by the Rainham Channel for replay by the Rainham Channel. I'd ask those with us able to please join us in the pledge. Thank you. I will entertain a motion to approve both the regular session and executive session, which are withheld from public release. Minutes from May 5th.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

Motion to make that motion. I'll make that motion. Seconded.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

All in favor. Those are approved unanimously, department heads. We have

Highway Department Field And Park Work

SPEAKER_01 0:46

one Norm Sturterman, our highway superintendent, Norm.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Good evening, have good evening, have some updates. I don't know if that's on. Updates from the highway department uh for last month to present. Uh start with the parks and grounds. They've been busy with tune-ups. They've completed nine out of the 13 baseball and softball fields ahead of the season. Uh spruced up some beds for opening the day. And now they've done uh gazebo park, anchor, park, uh, town hall ahead of the Memorial Day parade uh this coming Saturday. They assisted the road crew with putting out the flags ahead of the holiday and the parade. And uh keeping up with mowing around town. They were also able to spruce up the Johnson's fund um area for the fish and derby that took place from the fire department last Saturday, which had a good turnout. Uh the road crew's been busy with repairs. Uh the sweeping has been started, but had to be put on hold with all the road having and uh road resurfacing that we have going on around town with the assistance of that. And also we had some uh sweeper issues that got repaired today. Uh solid waste, the brush pile has been scheduled for grinding for next week. Uh with all the storms that we've had over the last year, that pile has grown to the point where we got a chip and it's just too big. Um that's something we sometimes can stretch off to 18 months to two years with probably about uh 13 months this time.

Grants Win And Road Paving Plan

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Uh I got some good news for the town. Uh we had a couple of grants in from DER and uh Mastod. They were both for half a million dollars each. And then I received an email about a week and a half ago that there was a chance that we could get a grant for the Pine Street Covet uh paid for in full. And I was happy to see when I went back to the office today after a long day of paving that we uh Rainham was awarded that from the state uh for $4.233 million. Uh that's a huge win for Rainham, and I'm proud to have something to do with that. That's good for our community. So very grateful to the state. Uh I had talked to some of those folks uh at the MHA meetings, and I I really appreciate them um understanding the severity of that cover with the one-way accessing the point of egress for that particular uh case and having to be built one lane at a time and also taking apart one lane at a time. So that was a huge win. Uh I'd like to thank uh Sidkashi from GPI. He's always such a great help with all our projects around town, and of course, without grants, um you wouldn't know what the decision are from Rainham because if you work with a minority, Rain Ham's in his high. So we appreciate that. Um good news uh on on some road projects. We started Mill Street uh paven today. We got one lane from South Main to Mill Street, that's all complete, and we'll finish up the second lane. Uh we're gonna start tomorrow from Mill Street to King Philip and that will be done. That section of road. I I didn't guess it, but that particular portion of that road is 1.6 miles. So I sectioned it like I did with Elm Street East because to try to do the whole road in one shot is with detours and haven't gotten a street close, it it would it would be a problem. Um I'm also gonna talk to the state um to see if they're gonna still intend in paving 138 for 2027. And if they are, I may not do that other half of King Philip until next year, until that's done. Because depending on where they get the asphalt out of, I'd rather not ruin that portion of the road with tack and all the oils and things if they're gonna become an awful 138 by the time the attire is clean, that will be off the old mix and no no no new stuff. So I'll keep uh the board up to speed on that as things progress. Uh we did get one half of our shimming, uh one half of our road resurfacing done through chipstone. Uh step one has done that shimming, and those roads were done uh last week or the week before, I'm sorry. Uh Richard, Sylvain, Wayne, Wilbur, and Laurel. And the second half of that uh project will be the Chipstone, and that's going to be applied on Tuesday, 526. Um Chipstone is a good road resurfacing project. It's about 60% cheaper than Mill and Pave, and it's excellent for the side roads, and it buys about 10 years for a fraction of the cost. So uh we had some money uh in mitigation. I I wasn't in the seat uh that I'm in now back then, but I believe we got some money from Taco Bell, so those folks are really kind of owed that improvement, and there were some trenches that were settling there. So even though they're back roads, they they needed some work, and I'm glad that we could do that, especially seeing we got some money at one point from Taco Bell. Uh what else do I got? Um the parade, Miss Riley, the weather is shaping up to be much better than it looked like a couple of days ago. Uh I'm gonna put a truck in the parade this year. Uh so that's just some good news. I apologize for the last minute. I'm always last minute on whether I can do it. Um tomorrow I wanted to make one announcement. This has been back and forth. It's how paving projects go. Uh we were gonna be paving Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That changed many times. Uh, even though I paved contractors excellent, things changed, coming out of other jobs, delays, etc. Uh, we're now gonna be again finishing King Philip tomorrow. We were gonna be going jumping over to Britain Street from 138 to King Philip. Uh that is now gonna happen on Friday. Uh they they requested that and they did us a favor getting us done before the parade, so we'll accommodate that. Um for the folks going to the Lions Club tomorrow, we've been back and forth on which end to enter from. And I know Aaron put something on the website from the Senior Center. I apologize again, but the best way for the folks that are listening to enter to that event tomorrow at the Lions Club at 10.30 would be from the Mill Street and 138 end. We're gonna be moving traffic with the paving, with the paver. Uh, and we had to change things up, so it's opposite what she has on her website. I'm gonna contact her uh first thing in the morning and try to get that word out, but out of my control. It's just the way things go with the project. So that's all I got.

SPEAKER_04 6:51

Thank you. That's a lot, my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

It's been busy.

SPEAKER_04 6:56

Great news about the the uh grants for Penn Street culvert. That's excellent. And thank you for everything. The flags look awesome, and thanks for getting that road. You had me a little nervous there, but the road ready for uh King Phillip Street for the brain. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Mr. Andrew.

Culvert Timeline And Equipment Grant

SPEAKER_03 7:13

No, it's I mean it's awesome, Mark. Now, a lot of this grant funding for the culvert, will we be able to use any of this towards design, or has design already been completed, or where was that and what phase?

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Good question. So design is complete. Uh we it looks like the grant is for construction only, but that was the bulk of the cost. Yeah, and we've been keeping up with the uh uh bills from the from the design. Uh so I don't think we'll be able to use that for reimbursement.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

Got it. And then you when do you anticipate um any type of construction beginning on that?

SPEAKER_00 7:46

We're hoping that all the permits will come in by spring. Nice. And I have my doubts on starting a project like that over the winter, like what happened with Mill Street. So I'm thinking um right now, spring of 28. Uh Gardner Street to give you a quick update on that. We're hoping spring of 27.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

So understood. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Thank you, doing it. One more quick thing. I'm sorry I had two grants that I gave you. I apologize, I forgot. Uh, it's a grant that we applied for last year. Um, it was for a new skid steer, a track skid steer that we've kind of outgrown our the one that we've had since 2003. A Ford's still an excellent machine, and we're gonna be passing that on to the cemetery, which is a big win for them. It's in great shape, low hours, heated cab, and after the winter we just had, I think it would be a big deal for them. Uh so yeah, two two departments went off of that one. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Okay, awesome. Thank you, Noah. Thank you, Peter. All right,

Board Appointments And Reappointments

SPEAKER_01 8:39

appointments. Um, first up is cable advisory. Um, our understanding from the administrator is that uh the board has not yet voted to make this recommendation, uh, and so I would suggest to the board that we table. Second, all in favor? Aye. That is tabled. Next up is Evelyn Brown, Council on Aging. Uh I believe we do have positive uh vote from the COA board recommending her appointment. What's the board's pleasure?

SPEAKER_04 9:08

Uh motion to to appoint.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Seconded. All in favor? Aye. That is approved. Next up is the reappointment of Greg Barnes as our rep to Southeastern Mass Municipal Health Group. What's the board's pleasure?

SPEAKER_04 9:20

Motion to approve.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Seconded. All in favor. That is approved. Next is the reappointment of Carol Sullivan to the Serpent Commission representing the board. What is the board's pleasure? Motion to appoint. Seconded. All in favor. Aye. That is approved. No other appointments this evening. Hearings, we have one.

Restaurant Sunday Brunch Hours Approved

SPEAKER_01 9:36

I will call that to order at 7.09 p.m. It's a request from Saxonless Hospitality Group, DBA Barrels and Boards, 1285 Broadway. Their request is to change the hours on Sundays with an opening uh previously and presently being 12 noon and moving it to 10 a.m. for the purposes of accommodating an increasingly popular Sunday brunch. Counselor.

SPEAKER_05 10:00

Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. My name is James Roser, and I represent Saxona's Hospitality Group doing business with barrels and boards. And as the chairman had said, this application is based on consumer demand. My client had gotten a few one-day licenses on some of the bigger holidays to provide for Sunday brunch, and the consumer response to that was overwhelming, and they'd like to make it a permanent uh offering for the restaurant, requiring us to seek an amendment of the license to allow for the opening at 10 a.m. on Sundays and not 12, the present uh opening hour.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Questions, comments, Mr.

SPEAKER_04 10:41

No, it's it sounds great to have that opportunity for our residents and area residents uh to take advantage of that. Okay, Mr.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Andrew likes a good brunch, so thank you. Good. Any questions or comments from the public? No? Seeing none, uh motion to approve. Seconded. All in favor? Approved unanimously. Thank you, Councillor. We'll adjourn the hearing at 710. Uh next up. Have a good night.

Distillery Permit Rehearing And Vote

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Next up, another hearing on farmer distillery and brewing permit, regret distillery, 1377 Broadway. I'll call that to order at 710. Uh, similar to what we had to do a few weeks ago with a couple other establishments. This might be familiar to folks. Uh, this was another one of those uh licenses that the state chose um the desire for them to want to have um notific formal notification to abutters, which necessitated uh the the rehearing of this. Uh the abutters have been notified. Um any questions or comments from the board?

SPEAKER_04 11:42

I have no. Mr.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Andrew, none here. Any questions from the public? Seeing none, I'll indicate a motion from the board.

SPEAKER_04 11:48

I'll make that motion.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Second. All in favor? That is approved. Hearing closes at 711. Uh old business, Ms. Riley.

SPEAKER_04 11:56

I have no Mr.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Andre. No. All right. New

Licenses Contracts And Town Approvals

SPEAKER_01 12:00

business. Discussion and vote on amendments to special legislation, alcohol license of 1348 New State Highway. We received correspondence from Representative Gallagher, who's with us this evening, uh, letting us know that the state, the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, is requesting additional and amended language to tighten it up. The main changes for the license include it being specified as being location specific, not owner or corporation specific, the and the process for returning of the existing bear and wine license, and the final piece of it would be that if it's had dormants for three or more years, the license would dissolve. So this uh, as the board will recall, was a citizen's petition that passed town meeting. It was not initiated by this board. Uh, and the the House is looking for us to uh uh approve or disapprove of the amended language, so that is what's before us. Uh Ms. Riley, questions, comments?

SPEAKER_04 12:58

I think my understanding is this would just make it stronger as far as security for the town, protect the town's interests. So then uh I would think that would be approved. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Is that a motion? I'll make that motion. Okay, seconded. All right, all in favor? Aye. That is approved. Next up is a discussion and vote on non-union employment agreement extension from Melissa Kimmo, adult services librarians a three-year contract with two percent increases each of the years. What is the board's pleasure?

SPEAKER_04 13:27

Motion to approve.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Seconded. All in favor, aye is approved. Next is a tag day request Silver City Cobras on June 5, June 12th, July 10, and July 24th. What's the board's pleasure? A motion to approve. Seconded. All in favor, aye is approved. Request for seasonal outdoor seed in Tropical Lama, 1470 New State Highway. Uh we had done this with tropical llama last year. We had some concerns. Uh the building commissioner worked with the applicant uh and uh there were no issues, no concerns, and uh the commissioner is again um signaling his recommendation to approve this. Uh, it would allow for three picnic tables on the left side of the building, uh, a total of 12 chairs, and the indoor seating would be reduced to correspond to keep the occupancy at 24. What is the board's pleasure?

SPEAKER_04 14:15

As long as we have the approval of our building commissioner, I would make a motion to approve.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Second. All in favor? That's approved. Uh discussion and vote to rent the farm stand in board and colony to under the sun farm. It is uh already been voted on and uh recommended for approval by the Park and Rec Commission. That will be the June to September 2026 season for a fee of $1,000. Whether it's a board's pleasure.

SPEAKER_04 14:38

I make a motion to approve. It's awesome to have that opportunity to get fresh vegetables right here in town for our residents. Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Seconded. All in favor. Aye. That is approved. Uh, next discussion and vote to enter into contract negotiations with the Collins Center for Recruitment for HR and Health Director. I had requested this be on the board. This is what we've done the last few years. Uh, in my opinion, with some success, uh, I think having a professional firm that specializes in um screening, uh selection, uh, recruitment, uh, and the whole gamut of bringing in new staff, uh, it's to our benefit, especially where one of the positions is the HR position, and so I would recommend that. And because the Column Center is affiliated with UMass Boston, they are exempt from any procurement required.

SPEAKER_04 15:29

And we have had experience with the Column Center, so I would make a motion to approve.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Second. All in favor? It's approved unanimously.

Hiring Police And Central Dispatch Shift

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Next is discussion and voter and filling police officer position. So um, we have one resignation uh from Officer Samuel McHillop and a retirement of Officer Russ Berry. Uh so this request would allow the chief to begin the process of uh recruiting positions. I say recruiting because this board is the hiring authority, not the chief. So the final uh decision rest will authorizes him to proceed with recommending to us two positions, whether the board vote.

SPEAKER_04 16:07

Yeah, and these are two existing positions, and we already have uh less and a smaller number of offices that we should have, basically. So definitely I would make that motion. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Seconded. All in favor? Aye. That is approved. Uh next is uh the request from the chief again to fill two communication clerks positions. Those are dispatches in the police department. Uh these are new positions within the budget, and these are as a result of uh what was just approved last night, uh, where we're gonna be consolidating dispatch operations and to central dispatch. Presently, police don't do dispatch, fire and dispatch. It's gonna be centralized in the police department. Um, it's gonna allow that firefighter who's on the desk to go out and respond to calls and put these communication uh functions uh to folks who exclusively do that. What is the board's budget?

SPEAKER_04 16:58

I'll make a motion to approve. And as you point out, Mr. Chairman, it'll actually allow the fire department to increase their staffing as far as responding to calls. Thank you. 100% second it.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

All in favor? Any other new business, Ms. Riley?

SPEAKER_04 17:12

I have none.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Mr. Andrade. No. All right.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

Well,

Town Meeting Recap And Community Thanks

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Norm took away most of my thunder, so I have nothing to report. I was gonna talk about the COA uh being closed tomorrow and also the road schedule, but uh he took away my thunder. So uh thank you everyone um for um a I thought a a relatively smooth town meeting and uh it took a team effort and uh we had 25 articles and we got done in about an hour.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

So thank you. So I like the board of report, Ms. Riley.

SPEAKER_04 17:52

Yes, and uh just to follow up with what our town administrator said, thank everyone that participated, preparation, preparing for it and attending. It was a good attendance, I thought, and it did go very smoothly, so that's great. Do we have a few things to report? Want to thank obviously our uh as mentioned our highway department for putting out those those tall flags in town, but also um thank Becky George, our rave coordinator, for coordinating the volunteer effort to put out the small flags, because even in it was a warm day yesterday, but we had several volunteers that came out to assist Becky with that. I'd just like to name them Fandy Leggy, Patricia Calmary, Ellen and Bill Fritz, Patricia Moynihan, Alison Petrick, Kyle Petrick, and Sean Petrick, both junior volunteers, Kevin Economos and his son Alex, another junior volunteer, Hunter Chen, a junior volunteer, Christine Smith and family, and again Becky George and her family. So thank you to all of them.

Memorial Day Parade Details And Lineup

SPEAKER_04 18:53

And just a reminder to everybody the parade is on. The weather has improved, and it will be this Saturday, 12th annual Rainey Memorial Day Parade, and it steps off at 10 o'clock sharp from the Merrill and La Liberty Elementary Schools, proceeds down Pleasant Street through the Four Connor intersection, and along South Main Street, going right by Town Hall here, and taking a ride on to King Phillip Street and concluding at the Gazebo, where we will have a very nice Memorial Day ceremony. We've got a great turnout five divisions, Iranium Police, Patriot Riders of America. I'm not going to go through the whole list, but we've got Iranium and Bridgewater, Fire Department Engines, Police Honor Guard, Bridgewater and Tiffany O'Brass Society Band. We've got some pipes and drums coming as well. One new addition this year is the All-American Assisted Living of Ranium is coming with their van with some of their veterans at the facility. And lots of our school, our VR band, marching band, the robotics team with their robot, and Maryland La Liberty Elementary School students. They have a float, rainwater players, and the list just goes on. Lots of sports groups, just 36 uh entries, um, different entries, not including, not counting all of our VIPs. We do have Representative Gallagher, Senator Dohner, both of you gentlemen, um, our town administrator, superintendent, and uh several others that will be joining us for an awesome celebration of our community spirit and tribute to our veterans past and present. So hope to see everybody Saturday morning.

unknown 20:38

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Thank you, Ms. Riley. Mr. Andrew.

SPEAKER_03 20:41

Um, I'd say also to a company that was the uh uh fire department putting on the fish and derby this year, recently on Saturday. I was able to attend with my two kids. It was awesome, it was a blast. All the way from registration in the morning at 7 all the way through 12 o'clock. It was an amazing event. Weather was great, couldn't have asked for a better day.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

So that was awesome. Great. Thank you, Mr. Andrew. Uh just echo uh the administrator's comments and yours, Miss Riley, about town meeting. Uh I thought it was a very successful 25 articles in about an hour and a half. Um I think it was a productive discussion on the items that uh prompted any discussion, and uh it's always good to have our business done in a professional and uh respectful manner. And that's what, as uh the moderator says, what we always do here at Radium. Uh

Community Day Request And Health Resignation

SPEAKER_01 21:29

correspondence, we have two items. We have a letter from Rave uh to the Chairman Pachico and members of the board on behalf of the board of directors. Rave uh wishes to request permission to hold the annual Ranium Community Day celebration at Gazebo Park on Board and Colony property on Sunday, September 27, 2026, with a rain date of Sunday, October 4, 2026. This traditional event took place for many years through the efforts of the Ellis. Four years ago, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the RAVE organization was able to bring back this wonderful tradition by taking on Rainham Community Day as a special project. Although RAVE was originally established in 1981 by the Rainham School Committee at that time to provide volunteers and volunteer programs in the Rainham Schools, the organization's role over the years has expanded, and the community as its board has increased to include several town officials serving as community liaisons as well as the school district officials and other community members. In addition to providing volunteers and volunteer programs in the Rainham Schools, RAVE community projects include the American Flag Project, decorating the center of town with large and small American flags for our patriotic holidays, and of course coordinating the now annual Rainham Memorial Day Parade and Memorial Day ceremony, in addition to the annual celebration of our town at Rainham Community Day. They have checked with the park and rec director, Tim McCrae, to make sure the gazebo is available on September 27, as well as the rain date, and the park and rec commission has approved the dates. As with other community projects, they will work closely with Rainham Police and Fire and the Highway Department with the board's permission. They are hoping to make Rainham Community Day 2026 another wonderful celebration of Rainham that showcases many wonderful, showcases many of the wonderful groups and organizations as well as the town departments and individuals that make Rainham such a great place to live, work, and enjoy life. And that's from Robin Barnes and Becky George. What is the board's pleasure?

SPEAKER_02 23:29

Second.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

All in favor? Aye. That is approved. And then the correspondence. We also have a letter of resignation from our health director. Please accept this formal notification that I'm resigning from my position as health director for the town of Rainham. My last day will be Wednesday, June 24th. Thank you for the opportunities I have had during my time with the Rainham Board of Health. I've appreciated working with the team and wish the town the best. During my final days, I'm committed to ensuring a smooth transition of responsibilities. Paula Rossi Clapp. And we certainly thank Paula for her service to the town.

SPEAKER_04 24:00

Motion to accept me for that.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Seconded. All in favor? Aye. Approved. Press time, we have none. Emergency business, we have none. Citizen community input. Any? Performance of the administrative duties to inform the board. The finance director and I have signed the reign invoice and payroll warrants.

Warrants Signed And Executive Session

SPEAKER_01 24:24

At this time, I will entertain a motion for us to enter executive session. We will return from exec for the singular purpose of adjourning the executive session is on the Mass General Laws, Chapter 38, Section 21, A2, and 3 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union personnel or to collect conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with non-union personnel and to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body. And the chair so declares the fire union, highway superintendent, and fire chief.

SPEAKER_04 25:02

I'll make that motion, Mr. Chairman. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Second. And roll call, Ms. Riley. Aye. Mr. Andrade, and the Chair votes aye. Thank you. We are adjourned. Have a great evening.