Raynham Select Board 08/11/2026

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

A town meeting can sound routine right up until the details hit: thousands of police calls in a month, a split second crash that turns fatal, and a zoning gap that could invite a high impact data center before the community has any real leverage. We walk through Rainham’s latest Select Board agenda with a focus on what residents actually care about: public safety outcomes, speed enforcement, and whether local government is being transparent about the work happening on your streets.

We hear the Police Chief’s July report, including call volume, emergency 911 activity, arrests, traffic citations, and the investigations that followed major incidents. Then we dig into why the board wants traffic enforcement documented in a way the public can see and trust, especially when speeding complaints keep coming in. From there, the meeting recognizes the people who keep town government steady, including a Citizen of the Year dedication honoring attorney Burke Fountain and the long arc of planning decisions that shape growth, fairness, and quality of life.

The biggest forward looking conversation is a joint session with the Planning Board on a possible data center zoning bylaw. We break down what a data center is, why it can slip into old zoning categories, and the real world impacts towns are wrestling with: water use, electric demand, diesel backup generators, noise, and utility costs. You’ll also hear votes on a hybrid civil service hiring process, highway equipment spending, a new Welcome To Raynham certificate for businesses, and an overdue town website upgrade that affects how residents get information.

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Transcript

Call To Order And Minutes

SPEAKER_07 0:05

All right, good evening, everybody. Call the meeting to order at seven p.m. Inform the public we're being both broadcasting by the three phone. And I would ask those of you who are able to join us in the pledge, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag to the republic for what we're saying. Thank you. Entertain a motion to accept the regular session and executive session minutes from July 28, with the executive session minutes being withheld. All in favor.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

But I can tell you that August is all I have for you. Thank you. Any questions, Ms. Riley?

SPEAKER_09 1:17

No, I have no questions. I'm sure you'll catch up on that point. But no, but thank you as always for all the work that you and the members of your top into keeping this thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:30

Thank you.

Police Report And Major Incidents

SPEAKER_07 1:31

Have a good night. Alright, next up the police chief David Plan Dave.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

I should have made mine a little bit shorter tonight. So for July, we had 2,548 calls. 531 of those were emergency 911 calls, and of those, 88 were emergency medical dispatch calls. We had a total of 172 traffic citations issued for the month of July. We had 21 arrests and several criminal summonses. For notable events, on July 1st at approximately 8 p.m., the Fort of Midnight shift responded, along with Taunton and PD, to a crash in the area of King Philip and Gardner, where they found a single motor vehicle crash at the bottom of a steep slope in the woods. The driver and the sole occupant, a 54-year-old woman from Taunton, suffered significant injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The crash was investigated by Mass State Police detectives assigned to the VA's office as well as our detectives. That same night at approximately 9.50 p.m. The same shift were dispatched to Gilmore Street. A short time later, dispatch received a 9-1 call from that same resident reporting that someone was breaking glass at a nearby Supreme Plaza business. Through the preliminary investigation, officers learned that the vehicle involved was registered in Massachusetts, had significant front-end damage, and was missing a headlight. Officer Liam Larkin, while following up on an unrelated investigation, located the uh matching vehicle, the description in Taunton. He was on his way to the hospital for another investigation. He followed the vehicle and stopped it with the assistance of Taunton P. D. The two occupants, determined to be uh uh age 19 O Brockton and age 19 of Brockton were taken into custody without incident. Uh during the investigation, officers observed stolen computer equipment in the vehicle. Um, the equipment valued at approximately $1,830 was returned to the business. Um suspects were arrested and charged with BE, laceny over $1,200, and malicious destruction of property. I'd like to thank the witness who recognized the suspicious activity and through the work of our patrol officers and detectives who were able to quickly identify the suspect, recover the property, and make the arrest. At approximately 1.02 a.m. on Sunday, July 5th, dispatch received two 911 calls reporting a noise complaint at a home on Britain Circle. Respondent officers spoke with the homeowner who stated the party would be shut down. Less than 30 minutes later, they received another 9-1 call reporting a disturbance at the same location. While officers were responding, they were advised that shots were fired. The preliminary investigation revealed that a man who was an uninvited guest to the party and unknown to the homeowner had allegedly retrieved a firearm from his vehicle and fired one round into the air and fled the area. That person uh during that investigation, officers recovered a loaded nine millimeter semi-automatic that the suspect had actually thrown into the wrong vehicle when he was fleeing. So uh they were able to recover that. Um Rainham police, including Sergeant Frank Pachico and his canine, uh, the Taunton Police Department and the police drone unit and the state police air wing conducted an extensive investigation in approximately two hours for two hours and were unable to locate the suspect. And uh at 3 30, Taunt Police received a call from an area resident on Field Street reporting a man was knocking on their door asking for help. Um that's when we uh located the prospect. He was a 26-year-old man from Matapan. Uh, and he was charged with discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building and proper storage of a firearm. Um so for community service on July 8th, SRO Jennifer Lang and uh patrol woman Carrie Mellow gave a tour of the station to income in kindergarten class. Um Lang and Patrolman Mellow conducted a mini speed camp at the Rainham Middle School on June 29th through July 1st, and then again July 6th through the 10th. Um Sergeant Frank Pachico also assisted with the camp and officers working in the ship that during those days stopped by to give their support. Uh SRO Lang and Patrol Woman Mellow also participated in uh the youth academy held at Dyton, uh held in Dighton. This academy, hosted by the Dyton Police Department, included residents from Rainham, Berkeley, Dighton, Rihoba, Seacon, Somerset, and Swansea. Uh the two-week program ended on uh began on July 17th and ended with a graduation on July 24th.

SPEAKER_09 7:18

No questions, just a lot of great work here, Chief, both regular police work and community service. So thank you. Congratulations and thank you to you and the members of the Directory.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 7:29

Um it's always amazing to see how many calls all these police officers get, and they still have the time to do camp. I summed right now the job. It's amazing. They still have all the time to do this with all these calls.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

No, um they do a great job. Thank you, thank you.

Making Traffic Enforcement Visible

SPEAKER_07 7:49

Um I just wanted to highlight one thing, Dave, that's new to your report, the traffic citations. So that uh was something we strategized on, and I think the genesis for that was uh, and I don't want to speak for my two colleagues, but since I've been on the board, the most complaints I always get are from residents concerned about speeding, uh, and that's not um an insinuation that the police department isn't enforcing it, it's people feel a certain way about it. And so I had asked the chief to document this so the residents can see whether it's on their road or not, that the department is actively enforcing that. So I just want to reiterate for July 172 citations were issues, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't include oral warnings. This is actual tickets. So the amount of stops, the volume of stops is significantly higher than the 172.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Yes. Um, I was actually surprised. Yeah. I'm told it's like this every month. So we'll we'll start looking at it every month.

SPEAKER_07 8:45

Yep, good. Thank you. Thank you. All right.

Retirement Appointment And Fire Contract

SPEAKER_07 8:49

Appointments, we have one. Um typically we don't do them in fire. By the agenda has it noted like uh one of our police officers, Tom Clark, is retiring as of September 19th, and uh the chief is requesting he be appointed as a special and to ensure we stay um above the law, it would it is noted that it would be effective for September 20th, so I would have made it be to that effect. All in favor, that is approved. No public hearings. Old business, Miss Riley.

SPEAKER_09 9:25

I have none.

SPEAKER_07 9:26

Uh Mr. Andrew? None. Um new business we have discussed on non-union employment agreement extension uh with our fire chief Brian Lisiveter. It is a three-year renewal of two percent annually an additional one percent uh merit increase based upon its successful performance evaluation. What is the book?

SPEAKER_09 9:44

I'll make that motion appear.

SPEAKER_07 9:46

Second in all favor. Aye unanimously.

Citizen Of The Year Dedication

SPEAKER_07 9:49

Uh next up uh is some good news this evening. Uh we have the chance every year as a board to um select a citizen of the year and to dedicate our annual town report. Uh and this year's dedication is to attorney Burke Fountain, um, who served on the planning board for a number of years and uh in April chose to retire after uh a number of years of service. And so I'm going to read the dedication. In November 1991, he Burke Fountain was appointed to fill an open seat on the Radium Planning Board. The following year he was elected to serve the remaining four years of a five-year term. He was re-elected in 96 and again in 2001. He was re-elected in 2006, 2011, 2016, and again in 2021. When his tenure on the board ends on April 25th, 2026, Burke will have served for seven consecutive terms for an impressive 35 years, making him one of the longest-serving elected officials in history. He's seeing a lot of changes as the town has ruined from a population of about 11,000 in 1991 to over 15,000. He explains his long tenure simply his way of giving back easily the motion about home person died life. He served briefly in 81 and 82 on the Conservation Commission, but with his knowledge and experience as an attorney specializing in real estate, probate, and business law, he believed that serving on the planning board would be the best way that he could give back to his hometown. Those who have served with him over the years agree that he has been a valuable asset to the board, and his wealth of knowledge and expertise will be sorely missed when he retires from the board, where he rarely ever missed a meeting. Born in the early 1950s, Burke grew up in Rainham and attended what was the center school long before it came Rainham Veterans Memorial Town Hall, and then the Lillybee Elementary School. He was in the first class attending Rainham Junior High before going to Coyle, and then Stonehill, where he graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then attended New England School of Law to earn his law degree. Admitted to the bar in 1979, he joined the local law offices of Fairbanks and Sylvia that year. In 87, he ventured out on his own to open his law practice at 111 Dean Street in Taunton, where he would serve a community as an attorney for 37 years. When he first joined the Planning Board, there were only a few pages of rules and regulations in place to guide the board and its deliberations. Burke is most proud of using his legal expertise to help create comprehensive rules and regulations that the board has at its disposal today to ensure that the town is protected to the extent possible under the law while allowing landowners to leave the race in the fair in a consistent manner. Current Planning Board Chairman Chris Gallagher credits Burke with being the chief architect of the planning board's rules and regulations and several zoning bylaws. He believes that it is not only Burke's legal expertise but also his years of experience on the board and the historical knowledge of the town that he has gained over these years that have served the board and the town so well. Laureen McKenzie, Planning Board Administrative Assistant, who served the longest report, describes him as being very knowledgeable, very thoughtful, and thorough in his deliberations. After every meeting, Burke would carefully review the minutes to ensure that all the details were accurate before approving them. He would use his knowledge of real estate law to carefully examine plans, present them to the board before approving them as well. He has been a steady presence on the board, easy to work with, always professional, and always very respectful to everyone. For his dedicated, uh for his years of dedication as an elected official serving the town with distinction, the select board is proud to honor Part Fountain with the dedication of the 2025 annual town require. Ms. Rideway.

SPEAKER_09 13:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 13:34

Any comments?

SPEAKER_09 13:36

No, I don't have a dedication. But um no, just uh really an honor to be able to recognize for his many years of service. Um, certainly a proud Ranian resident, um, who served his community very well, and we are so thankful. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

I had the honor of serving one of them for five years on the kind of boy instrumental on Rhanium. I mean, he's a well he has a well-deserved vacation ahead of himself.

SPEAKER_09 14:04

Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 14:04

Um I love Park. Um I've known Bark probably, I don't know, a little over 20 years now. When I first ran, I reached out to Burke and we had lunch. Uh, and Park, I consider you a friend and we've stayed in touch. Park ended up being my boss when I was the director of Crow Home. He was my lawyer when I bought property, uh, he was a friend when I wanted advice, he was a campaign supporter, uh, but most importantly, he was a dedicated and committed public servant uh as the dedication we just read stated. And uh I've learned from Burke. I think anybody who's been in government has learned from Burke, and certainly Berk of the town has benefited from your class, your intelligence, uh, your commitment, and your grace. Uh, and so I certainly thank you for that. I wish you many happy years ahead and a lot of fun in the woodlands, because I know that's where you like to escape. The secret is out now. Um, but I also just want to say one other thing because for years Burke did this, and Burke always told me not to tell anybody, but I'm gonna tell people now. For probably 15 years, every year Burke would make a donation to a town project. Whether it was the basketball course, on Pleasant Street, the baseball fields, uh, or a host of other projects, Burke was a significant financial contributor to those projects, and never once did he seek recognition, never once did he receive recognition because he didn't want that recognition. Um, and Burke is rarely the type of person who I think is what makes Radium a special place to live in for. And so, Burke, you have my uh endless respect and appreciation and genuinely thank you for everything that you've done. So, you might think all of you have said it all.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Um I really enjoyed not just with the planning board, but life in general people look back and say, Where did all the time go? And um if I didn't have a calendar in front of me, I would have guessed I was on a ten years, not thirty-five years. Thank you all and thank you for the calendar for all you've done for me.

unknown 16:43

Does anybody else want to have anything?

SPEAKER_06 16:51

I'm the current chairman of the planning board, and I think there's no coincidence that we had a little bit of business with the selectmen, so somehow it got coordinated so that the entire planning board is here to see the town report get dedicated to Burke. Um, I've known Burke for a lot of years. I mean, I was on the planning board with Burke, I'm still on, but for my first 23 years, I was on with Burke, and prior to that um I'd have to go in and get beat up on vocational Thursday nights presenting projects uh through my engineering company. But I find myself now keep looking to the left when I have a question or a legal question, you're not there. But um tremendous help over the years. I learned a lot uh from Burke, and it was just such a pleasure having him on, and um I he he just quietly gave a lot to this town, and so thanks, Burke, and um this is all the new new folks now, and uh it was so great having you, and I wish you the best from here on in. And like Joe said, just enjoy New Orleans and enjoy your life. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 18:07

Thank you, Chairman Gallagher.

Planning Board Opens Joint Session

SPEAKER_07 18:11

Um, next up, we have a joint meeting with the planning board, and uh, Chairman Gallagher, I'll turn it to you to call your meeting to order. Yeah, if you don't mind, that would be great. Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_06 18:23

Um again, for those of you that aren't sick of me yet, um I'm Chris Gallagher, the chairman of the planning board, and I'd like to call Planning Board Meeting to Order. Um and um I have uh to my immediate left our new member, Frank Winslow, who many of you have not met. Um I've known Frank a long time. I think he's gonna be a great member. Um behind next to Frank is Pair Mancone, who's our clerk and has been doing well. She's got a year in. And then Brian Oakfield, as is coming on his fifth year in and uh member. And I don't see our vice chairman, so there's four of us here, so we have a quorum. Uh first thing we were gonna discuss was the vote to appoint an associate member of the planning board. Uh we've had discussion. This job that was posted. We had applicants. Um we had one applicant who applied before and may have been the associate if uh wasn't for Matt Andre getting selected at the time. He was like very close second. Um and also he was the only one to show up uh for the interview uh last Thursday at our last meeting, and that would be Tim Wells, who's sitting over in the corner. Um I've known Tim, I knew his dad for a long time before that, um from Randolph, and been in Ringham for quite some time now, probably 20, 30 years. Um we didn't have an official vote, so we thought um I I don't know how you want to handle it if all of us vote or if we take a vote as a board.

SPEAKER_07 20:16

And then yeah, what I'm thinking is um unlike last time where you came or the recommendation, I think I would entertain uh any motions from uh the membership, either my board or your board, uh, for anybody. And then if there's a second to that, um we'll see if there's any other motions and if there isn't, I'll call for a vote. Uh so instead of doing up or down for multiple people, we'll just have open nomination.

SPEAKER_06 20:41

Then I'd entertain a motion from any member of my board who will appoint for an associate member.

New Associate Member Appointed

SPEAKER_06 20:53

Motion to appoint Tim. Tim Wells were here. Second, sir. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye, aye, aye, aye. So we have four uh one to I guess was that a recommendation? Sure, Ms. Riley.

SPEAKER_09 21:08

Yeah, then I will make a motion to support the planning board's motion for Tim Wells. Um, obviously he's a Radiant resident, has a good background in construction, has shown a considerable interest in the planning board.

SPEAKER_07 21:21

So I would uh vote for Tim Wells as well. Right. I'll second that. Right. Any further discussion seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Aye. That is uh two unanimous votes, and Mr. Wells, we appreciate your persistence and uh wish you well continued position. Thank you. Thank you all right. Thank you. And uh next up, Mr. Chairman, uh is discussion regarding the possible data set to bylaw.

Proposed Data Center Zoning Rules

SPEAKER_06 21:45

Yeah, what what uh you know for those that haven't seen the background happen is uh our clerk Pen Mancone had uh asked to be on the agenda on our meeting and you know submitted some information on the data. Centers. It's a new thing. I mean a lot of it, you know, I think you know, after discussion, we thought it would be a wise move to, if not, you know, we typically don't do the fall meeting, but maybe target the annual meeting, but put something together for a bylock these data centers. But the biggest thing with them is, and I'll let Pam talk about it shortly, but the biggest thing that we've seen with them is their water use and their electric use. Um in Ringham, it's not as bad. I talked to the water departments, and they said if we don't, you know, we don't have to allow someone to take a massive amount of water. So they can be, you know, dead in the water, actually, literally. But um, and as far as power, we don't really control that. So we as a board don't control the power of the water that's the only huge water supply, and I'm not sure what's available, is we have the aquaria line running through town. And I know they're looking for users, from what I understand, so that's a possible water source for them, but that wouldn't tap ours. But I mean, I think it's something that we should look into, and so what my suggestion when we brought it is that it be brought to the selectment so we work on an article together similar to when uh Matt brought you know when the MBTA zoning came in um when they first wanted to put it in certain places. Matt said, wait, wait a second, let's we need to look into this deeper. And he got the assistance from the town administrator, from uh building commissioner Bob, I afraid, and also Ted Serpent stepped in, and they may still have funds available, but you know, I don't want to put any more work on Greg, but I thought uh anyway. But so I thought that would we'd approach it the same way Matt approached the MBTA uh zoning article, which ended up to be a very successful article. So with that, um I'm gonna ask Pam if she wants to talk about it all and if any of my other members do, and so basically I'm just gonna repeat what I did um speak about at the Thursday night planning board meeting.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Um just a quick overview of what actually is a data center, um, just for people that may not be familiar with what it is and why I am very concerned about it. Um by definition, a data center is a highly specialized facility that houses computer servers and related equipment used to store, process, and transmit digital information. Unlike traditional office or industrial buildings, data centers are infrastructure-intensive uses. They are characterized by high electronical demand, mechanical cooling systems, backup generators, and relatively few on-site employees. Um, like Chris mentioned, some of the biggest concerns with a data center is um water electricity, and um one thing that he didn't touch upon is pollution. Um this is not a fact-checked statement, but what I read was that large facilities can consume up to five million gallons of water daily. Massive electricity demands can increase utility bills and trigger trigger local power shortages. Um other things is that where you have a situation where we use municipal lighting, we have Taunton municipal lighting where the rates are a little bit cheaper, um, that makes our area more attractive to anybody who's potentially looking to build a data center, so it's kind of like an unknown target. Um the pollution concerns are um described as continuous operation of heavy backup diesel generators and the cooling systems that just create air and noise. Um the bylaw that I'm proposing that we take a look into is um to create the amendment to the uranium zoning bylaws. Um what I'm looking to try to accomplish is to define and regulate the data centers. Um our existing zoning bylaw does not specifically define a data center, so as a result of that, any such facility could potentially be interpreted as a form of an office or similar commercial use. It kind of could fall between the cracks, uh, depending on their configuration. Um, like I said before, they do differ from traditional office uses in that they are primarily infrastructure-based facilities, high electricity, mechanical cooling systems, and limited on-site employee. Um the passive of a the passing of a bylaw would be a proactive approach to protect rehamp. Um we talked at our meeting last week about how Chris opined that we don't typically put bylaws on a fall meeting. Um I know that we have in the past. So um I know that Mr. Barnes is busy, I know that everybody's busy, but I also feel that this is something that I would like to try to strive to do for the fall town meeting, give it our all, and if we can't for some reason pull it off, push it off to the spring as a last resort. Um, I do think being proactive is the key here. Um, when I am faced with these kinds of what's my timeline, I always ask myself, what's the worst thing that can happen and can I live with it? And to me, the worst thing that could happen if we're talking about these data centers is that we talk about having a bylaw in place to regulate it or define it or control the use. Um we don't have a bylaw in place, and then we have an application and we we have no leg to stand on. So I am of the opinion that if this is something to move forward on, which I'm I'm happy to undertake it. I know that everybody here is busy, um, but I'll I'll spearhead it, I'll I'll work on it solo, I'll work on it as a team approach. It doesn't matter to me. I just really want to push forward through it and at least define what a data center is. Um, maybe get some type of um outline or regulations of limitations that we could put in place to at least, at a bare minimum, control if we do have it come in, maybe tweak it later on down the road if there's a possibility of doing a a full ban, which I think we talked about, and I don't think the attorney general will ever allow a full ban of use on something, but that would be a legal question that I'm not qualified to answer. Um to finish it off, my bylaw's intent would be either to ban the data centers altogether, which I don't think we can do, but at a bare minimum we could prevent large-scale high-impact facilities from locating in radium. And we could also ensure that any smaller scale proposal is carefully reviewed on a case-by-case basis. So, my intention with this bylaw is to protect municipal infrastructure, natural resources, and the neighborhood quality of life. And I want to maintain local control and transparency. So, as a summary, the proposed amendment would add a definition for data centers, clarify that they are not considered office uses, and regulate the allowed use.

SPEAKER_07 29:35

Thank you. Anyone else want to play anyway, Mr. Windlow? Okay, that's right.

SPEAKER_09 29:41

No, I I thank um Mrs. Manconi for bringing this forward. I think it's it's very important. Obviously, we've seen other communities across the country actually with um with issues very controversial. The water supply scares me the most because even though the water districts may say if they don't have the water, they don't have to supply it. But if somebody gets a permit, all of a sudden there's a lawsuit. Um so I think that's a concern and electricity again. You know, we have great rates from our TMLP, but um something like this could affect that. And then I've also heard there's an issue environmentally with wildlife and other things. So I think it definitely should be looked into. I think just personally, I think that the way that Matt and the planning board went away around the MBTA um uh bylaw um was a was a great model. And um, so I certainly would support this, and I also think that it's something that you want to move on as quickly as possible. So if it was possible to bring it to the fall town meeting, I would say go for it. Okay, thank you, Mr. Andrew.

SPEAKER_04 30:46

Yeah, I would agree. I think it's I think it's a great idea. I uh Pat and I were both there at the Planning Board meeting, so we got to hear it before. Um during the three-day overlay stuff, I worked with Surfit, so I reached out to the Surfit group, uh Robert and Lizette. Both of them sent emails back. They sent me the links to the Mansfield bylaw, because Mansfield has a municipal electric, and they said that Mansfield did a very good job with theirs. So they kind of recommended, like, hey, you try and craft one similar to Mansfield's, and the fact that they labeled like tier one, tier two, tier three facilities, restricted it to like a five thousand to twenty thousand square foot building, and like cap the megawatt usage and all this other stuff. So he had sent the bylaw to me and he said that if the select board was amenable to it, they would allocate some of the uh the hours that they have allotted for the town of Brainham to basically look into something that would would be proposed for a bylaw that could then be looked at by their council, then reviewed by Rainham's town council, and then go to town meeting. But I I don't see any reason why we couldn't make a stab at getting it to fall town meeting. Yeah, yeah. Man, it that was like the first thing he sent, and like that was what I read over, but it was very clear, like they did the description, they showed it tier one, tier two, tier three, they put a cap on size, cap on megawatts, and like very narrowed it down very well. But I mean, surface was a great tool when you know we worked on stuff before, so I think if they're like the first filter to look through things, they kind of have a lot of that like type of background to make sure that it's not going to get to like the higher ups and get crushed.

SPEAKER_07 32:36

So no, I think I think there's unanimity around this issue, and I think it's definitely a goal to have it on the Octobertown meeting. I think using uh Mansfelds as a model makes sense. While I think none of us would be opposed to outright banning it, I would caution hesitation, and I think the smart thing is to get a bylaw on, as Ms. Vancone's talking about, to define it and put limits on it, because then we have something, and then you could go back in the spring and try a ban. But if you go for an outright ban and it gets thrown out by the AG, then we're back to square one and left completely exposed, and I don't recommend that. If the goal here is to be proactive and protect the community, going for a home run when you can get a triple is is not sound. So um, in terms of that, that's where I would fall. Um to your point, Miss Riley, I agree with the process that was utilized for 3A. Mr. Andreid, it seems like you're uh eager to get into this. So if it's something you're amenable with, I would recommend to the board uh that you would be RLEA's on and you can work with Mrs. Lanconey um and bring the resources necessary.

SPEAKER_04 33:41

Yeah, I'm not opposed. I'll send Pam the server ref people's names, like the email that they sent me, and then that way we can kind of go back and forth and hopefully get something to the fall town meeting. I think that would be ideal. So like Pam's point, because I think that if we just keep kicking the can down the road, you know, you don't it's not gonna solve any problems.

SPEAKER_09 34:00

So if I make that motion, can I ask for a two-part motion?

SPEAKER_07 34:04

One authorize the use of SERPID, and two uh to designate Mr. Andrid as our uh envoy on this. Make that motion. Second. All in favor? It's approved unanimously. Thank you. Anything else for us, Mr. Chairman? No, I agree with you to uh having uh band with uh really young strip joints. I remember um I remember, but there's a reason.

SPEAKER_06 34:30

But um when they wanted to do an all-out ban, uh the AG came in and said you have to allow everything in a zone. So in that particular case, when we crafted it, and Burke was around back then who was helping out, um, ended up putting it on like Pine Street, which didn't have water, sewer, anything like that. So location would be something to be considered in this because it would be an allowed use in a certain area, so that would be part of the equation. And I think with the contact with serpent, and if Pam wants to try to get this going, um we can shoot for the ball. And if it gets tweaked by the AG, so be it.

SPEAKER_07 35:21

Good. Thank you. If you have nothing else, you just I'll let you adjourn your meeting.

SPEAKER_06 35:25

Okay, uh entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Okay. Second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay.

SPEAKER_07 35:35

Thank you all. Have a good night. Thank you. All right.

Hiring Model And Town Approvals

SPEAKER_07 35:39

Uh next up, discussion and vote on civil service hybrid hiring process. Uh the department's requesting that we shift to a hybrid model, which will uh in theory uh give us more latitude uh and flexibility to fill some vacant positions we have. It's a 50-50 split between utilization of the traditional civil service list and 50% non-civil service list. Uh, and that comes with the recommendation of the chief. What's the board's closure?

SPEAKER_09 36:05

I'll make a motion to approve.

SPEAKER_07 36:06

Seconded. All in favor, aye. It's approved. Thank you. Uh next up, discussion and vote to allow the highway department to enter into an agreement and expendance funds for highway equipment. That's recommended by the town administrator and the highway superintendent.

SPEAKER_09 36:20

Motion to approve.

SPEAKER_07 36:21

Seconded. All in favor, aye. That is approved. Uh discussion and vote for the uh approved, uh, the welcome to Rainham certificate, Miss Uh Riley. You had brought this up at our last meeting. Uh you distributed a copy to us, which I think we all had a chance uh to review, and so I will turn it over to you for any further comment.

SPEAKER_09 36:38

Yeah, no, just something that we can present to welcome new businesses to town. It basically says the Rainham Select Board officially hereby officially welcomes to the town of Rainham, then it would list the organization or the business. On behalf of all the residents of Rainham, we are pleased to extend an official welcome to the town of Rainham. We offer our sincere congratulations and our very best wishes for a long and very prosperous experience here in our town where we fully appreciate the essential role our business community plays in the success of our entire community, not only financially, but also as a key component in the vitality and in the lifeblood of our town. And it would be signed by the three of us.

SPEAKER_07 37:17

Is that a motion?

SPEAKER_09 37:18

And that is a motion. Okay.

SPEAKER_07 37:19

Seconded. All in favor? Aye. It's approved unanimously.

Town Website Upgrade Plans

SPEAKER_07 37:22

Town and ministry's report, Mr. Barnes.

SPEAKER_05 37:26

Yes, um, we uh have been working with uh our vendor for our website, Civic Plus. Uh our current website is a code called Drupal. It's entering its end of life, and we want to go to um a uh a code uh that that Civic Plus provides called Central. Uh so I am signing a contract, it's no additional cost to the town to upgrade our website from Drupal to Central that should occur uh by the end of the uh the year. Um we uh we picked uh a format uh for the site. It will have a uh a new look to it. I'm also using this as an opportunity to look at content, and I know there's a number of items that are located. I'm trying to work with my department heads on uh trying to get uh that that content upgraded. It depends on department by department, but one of my chief goals is to make it uh very clear to each department that there's an expectation that they keep their pages up to date. A good portion of how the public deals with the town these days is through the website, and all the more important, uh that says we don't have the request we had in the past. Um it uh it is important to uh that that that that's uh up-to-date and comprehensive information. Okay, Greg, anything else? Um I already mentioned this to the board. I will be going on vacation for the week. Uh, it still can be reached uh by cell phone. I will be back next Thursday and prepare for our next meeting. Any question?

SPEAKER_09 39:32

No question.

SPEAKER_07 39:34

Not thank you, Greg. Slightly what you require.

Community Celebration Day Planning

SPEAKER_09 39:37

Yeah, I have a brief report of RAID organization. Held its third special meeting to plan and prepare for Rain and Community Celebration Day 2026. And volunteer coordinator Becky George had an update for us, confirmed exhibitors and vendors thus far in RAID hosting the Welcome Table Bakesale and Pie Baking Contest and open house at the Senior Center, those who have already confirmed their participation, Rainham Police Department, Rainham Fire Department, Rainham Cultural Council, Rainham Veterans Agent with Patriot Riders of America, Bridgewater Rainham Regional High School Cheerleaders, and Bridgewater Rainham Music Boosters, Rainham Lions Club will be in the food court with uh free uh drinks and hot dogs, as always, friends of council and aging, drama kids in southeastern Massachusetts, Scouting America, 243, which we're kinda savings bank, Commonwealth Mobile Oral Health participant, Taunton Federal Credit Union, the Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant with NHG New England. You'll have three electric vehicles, Silver City Dance, Ray Green, Real Estate, Unity Marshall Office at Eastern Massachusetts Festival Forest, also members here, Spencer with the future, and Captain Western Spear, United Strain at Greenwald Right Club, and California Fox, Radio Blockham Center Resolution, Fortnite's Karati of Rainhouse in the Parish over Rainbow, and the Affection Services, Foster, Massachusetts, West, and Massachusetts, 255, Associates for Human Services, so we're 32 and counting, and we're looking for more. So anybody that wants to help us celebrate Rainham, our next meeting will be Monday, August 31st, beginning at 6:30, or you can send the reach out by email to be volunteer for Gmail.

SPEAKER_07 41:39

Thank you, Mr. Randley. Ms. Danger.

SPEAKER_04 41:42

None to add.

SERPED Hours And Meeting Adjournment

SPEAKER_07 41:43

Correspondence, we have one. It's a letter of interest from Polly and Fitzgerald to fill a vacancy on the COA board. I'll entertain a motion to forward that to the COA. Second it. All in favor? It's approved press time. Mr. Shimmer, please at the same time.

SPEAKER_08 42:00

Yes, uh, real quick. Um Mr. Andrade mentioned uh something about uh allotted hours from SERPED during the uh discussion about the Dynasty. Can you elaborate on that? Is there like some sort of uh contract that the town has with Survey?

SPEAKER_07 42:16

All the member communities, I think that's about 20 buy-in, and the buy-in is per rated, and you get a set amount of hours. You can procure additional hours, but the buy-in that we have as a member community gives us a certain amount. Craig, do you know what those are?

SPEAKER_05 42:32

I I don't know the exact number of hours, but yes, as far as being a servit member, we get a certain number of hours without cost uh to use the surfing for any item we we wish to consultation service. It's like DA. Okay, okay. So and we did uh uh we had a grant with the MBTA app, but we used uh servit extensively for the MBT app.

SPEAKER_07 43:00

Anything else? Alright, thank you. Uh no emergency business, no members of the public still with us. Uh inform the board that I've approved the invoice payroll bars on the finance director, and I will continue to adjourn.

SPEAKER_09 43:13

I mean that we'll keep second.

SPEAKER_07 43:16

Second. All in favor? Aye. We are adjourned, have a good evening.