Board of Selectmen: Due Diligence Undertaken, Firehouse Addition Alternative Gains Support

11/07/23

The Board of Selectman held their first meeting of the month of November on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7th. Instead of being held in the Town Hall Conference Room, the meeting was held in First Selectman Todd Carusillo’s office since it was occupied with voting-related affairs. Harris began the meeting by motioning to approve October 31st’s meeting minutes. Kinsella made a correction before the minutes were approved, “There should be a correction on page three, first paragraph. It makes mention of the Shane Morehouse Kinsella Fund and dental work and medical work. That would be the Carlisle fund.” There is no Carlisle fund per se but Kinsella is referring to The Caroline T. Brooks Fund which was established by the Will of Alice L. Carlisle. The fund provides medical needs to children under 18 of parents who are unable to afford proper medical care for their children’s eyes, ears, noses, throat, and teeth. The minutes were then unanimously approved. Harris then motioned to approve town payroll and warrants for November 9th in the amount of $38,723.20. This was also unanimously approved.

Carusillo began his First Selectman’s Report by reminding residents that State Police are monitoring the town for speedsters with radar. The police were recently stationed near Lyman Lane and Beach St. The Public Works Department has begun grading roads for Winter. Grading is the process of flattening dirt roads’ potholes and ruts so that plows can easily push snow.  Carusillo reported that Public Works finished grading Eli Bunker Road and Sandy Beach Road so far, “Hopefully everything can be complete before the winter sets in.”

Most of the meeting was taken up by Board of Finance member Robert Valentine who expanded upon his comments on the construction of the new storage facility on Sharon Turnpike from October’s finance meeting. In Public Comment he claimed, “I think that we, as a town, and the Board of Selectmen should take a bit of pause on that proposal and I’ll tell you why. When that proposal to purchase the land came before the townspeople and before that came to the Board of Finance, I actually was the one that made the motion to approve the appropriation contingent upon town meeting approval. At that time the proposal was to purchase the land and put a storage building on it so that we could put some things undercover that are overflow from both the firehouse and public works. When that went to town meeting that was the premise of the purchase. Fast forward to today, we have a design plan of [a] 14,000 square foot building that has a septic system, running water, heat, an area that can be used for an office and showers, along with a paved parking area. A lot different than what people envisioned when the land was first purchased. On top of that there hasn’t been a great deal of transparency as to the creation of the design that’s being discussed now.” Valentine went on to criticize the first meeting of the Subcommittee of the Board of Selectmen, commonly referred to as the Building Committee, that oversees the construction of the new Storage Facility on 190 Sharon Turnpike. Many town residents opposed the building committee's initial plans for the facility and due to this opposition, Valentine believed the town should pause the project and withdraw the application to the Planning and Zoning Commission for site plan approval. “I think it’s premature to do site plan approval when the townspeople haven’t had an opportunity to be able to review things and before the Building Committee can do their work,” Valentine explained. “Secondly, I think the Building Committee should be given a very specific charge and one of the first and most important charges that the building committee should be getting, in my opinion, is for them, as a committee organized by the Board of Selectmen, to first do a needs assessment.” Valentine doesn't think the building should be so large for the town’s current or near future needs and doesn’t see heat, showers, and other features necessary for a storage facility such as this. He wants the committee to conduct cost and benefit analysis and host informational meetings for residents to give input between committee members and townsfolk. Valentine also believes the current project design can easily cost $2 million and force the town to come up $1.5 million to reach that cost.

Following a brief disagreement from Board of Assessment of Appeals member Audrey Blondin, who claimed the building is a good idea and is designed for use over the course of 100 years, Valentine responded saying there’s no need to rush through the design and development of the facility. He suggested the facility’s development be done with careful diligence, “What I’m proposing, that we slow down a little bit. That we actually know that we have a need for it. A hundred years from now, the building will be obsolete if we build it today.” Valentine supported his statements by citing how Public Works’ projects are not increasing and the town’s population has remained around 3,000 for the past 30 years. Blondin responded, “As we all know, time is money and the longer this is delayed or the longer it takes, the more it’s gonna cost.” Carusillo commented as a resident that not every feature of the facility needs to be completed right away such as septic and heating. Kinsella agreed with Valentine that the current site plan for the facility should be reevaluated, “After attending the meeting on Friday, there was a lot of passionate feelings by the townspeople and I don’t necessarily think we—-I think maybe we should pause at this point in time and really do our due diligence. We may in fact build a bigger building, who knows?”

Harris then motioned to have the Public Works Department withdraw their application from the Planning and Zoning Commission to allow the building committee to review design plans and prioritize what the town needs from the facility. This was unanimously approved. Harris subsequently motioned to add Valentine to the building committee as a member, “Being experienced in the construction, also being on the Board of Finance, will be a great help in the operation of putting together our needs assessment and cost analysis for that building going forward.” After a brief discussion between the selectmen whether Valentine should be a member or an advisor due to a potential conflict of interest, Valentine spoke on his behalf saying, “I’m a town resident. I have 16 years’ experience as First Selectman. I think I have a good understanding of the needs and the wants of both Fire Company and Public Works. Being a Board of Finance member doesn’t create a conflict. Quite frankly it’s probably advantageous to have somebody from the Board of Finance because whatever does come out of committee, that individual could advocate for the project to the Board of Finance.” Following a brief discussion on Valentine’s comments, the board unanimously approved adding Valentine to the building committee as a member. Carusillo then mentioned that Public Works Supervisor Garret Harlow requested that he be made an advisor to the building committee instead of being an official member. Harris claimed that the decision to step down from the committee is his responsibility, not the Board of Selectmen’s.

For Correspondence, Carusillo received a letter from property owners on West Street who requested a portion of the street be paved due to ruts. Harris wants further comment from Harlow before a decision is made on repairing that part of West Street. Carusillo  also received a letter from Marissa Wright, owner of the local organic produce Wright Farm, about the storage facility and wants the committee to consider putting the facility in open space.

11/14

On Tuesday November 14th, the Board of Selectmen held their second meeting of the month. All three Selectmen were in attendance, with Kinsella joining the meeting remotely via Zoom. This was Harris’ final meeting serving as a selectman. Former Economic Development Commission Chairman Scott Olson will succeed Harris on the board. The meeting began with Harris motioning to approve last week’s meeting minutes. This was unanimously approved. Harris then motioned to approve town payroll and warrants for November 16th in the amount of $118,215.37. This was also unanimously approved.

Carusillo began his First Selectman’s report by reminding residents that State Police are still monitoring the town for speedsters with radar. Harris then asked if the Subcommittee of the Board of Selectmen, commonly referred to as the Building Committee, withdrew the application to the Planning and Zoning Commission for their storage facility site plan approval. “It’s going to be at the next [Building Committee] meeting, yeah,” Carusillo replied. “They will withdraw, yes. It’s on the agenda for them to withdraw the application.”

For Public Comment, many attendees spoke in opposition to the Building Committee’s recent decision not to allow the public to comment at their second meeting. According to Carusillo, this decision was made by committee Chairman Seth Breakell, “The chairperson took it off the agenda.” Marissa Wright, owner of the local organic produce Wright Farm, commented first, “It has come to our attention after many concerns from the community regarding the Public Works building and a lack of transparency, that the public comment section from the next Building Committee meeting has been removed. Why would you do this, even though Scott Olson at the last meeting strongly encouraged you to be open and transparent and have more public input? We ask that you reinstate the public comment section to the Building Committee meeting and in all future town meetings and allow the townspeople to be heard.” Wright went on to request the Building Committee separate the public works and fire company projects and seek alternatives to the 190 Sharon Turnpike location. All other commenters supported Wright’s views on the proposed storage facility to varying degrees.

Lee Kilmer, who lives in front of the proposed site at 182 Sharon Turnpike expressed concerns, “I don’t know how the Perc Test came up dry. My basement is wet, and my house was built in 1947…and now I have a sump pump in my basement… I don’t see how it’s dry land out there.” Percolation Tests measure a property’s soil moisture absorption rate and are commonly used when installing septic systems.

Other attendees questioned if the facility was necessary at all and requested the town receive professional assistance in the building process. “I think they need to really look at all this gross spending that we’ve been doing on the equipment and then, obviously a building now to house all this equipment that we’ve grossly spent money on,” stated resident Michael Leonard. Olson was disappointed by the Building Committee’s decision to remove public comment from the next meeting saying, “Being a citizen and a member of this community, I would strongly urge you to have that public comment section put back on…You know, people are not happy with this and right now what we have are people that are asking to be heard. You assured us transparency throughout this process…”

For Correspondence, Carusillo received letters of resignation from Harris and Recycling Coordinator Paul Collins. Harris will resign from all boards he was a part of except for the Lake Weed Committee. Harris currently serves as the chairman for the Lake Weed Committee. Carusillo responded to Collin’s resignation from the Recycling & Trash Advisory Committee saying the town will have to hire a new recycling coordinator. Harris then motioned to appoint Andrew Savage to the Building Committee. This was unanimously approved. “Andy Savage is a resident of the town and he is a stonemason and he called me today cause we were looking for another Democrat to be on the board,” said Carusillo. “He fits the bill, has all the expertise in construction and being on job sites for 40 years. He’ll be a great man to have on the board or on the committee.” Savage is the founder of the West Cornwall-based masonry company Savage Construction, Inc. which builds stone and brick homes, custom fireplaces and pools, and other masonry structures. For other business, Harris motioned to cancel a Board of Selectmen’s meeting scheduled for Christmas Eve, December 24^th, in 2024. This was unanimously approved.

The remainder of the meeting was spent celebrating the many years of service several town officials dedicated after they left various positions this year. The selectmen first recognized former Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Don Wilkes. Wilkes served on the PZC for 22 years.

The selectmen then recognized former Board of Finance and Fire Commissioners member William “Bill” Lane. Lane previously served on the PZC from 2009-2011, the Board of Selectmen from 2011-2013, the Board of Fire Commissioners from 2014-2023, the Board of Finance from 2017-2023, and as a Justice of the Peace from 2011-2017. He personally accepted his citation and spoke of his time serving the town, “Unexpected as it is undeserved, because there are so many more people in this town that do a lot more than I have ever done and this town has done so much more for me that the scales don’t even come close to balancing. But I accept this in the spirit in which it was tendered and I appreciate this very, very much.”

Finally, the selectmen recognized Harris for his years of service to Goshen. Harris served on many town commissions and boards and was recognized for serving on the board of selectman since 2019. Valentine then gifted Harris a custom Dunkin Donuts branded Yeti coffee cup since he always brings a Dunkin Donuts coffee cup to every meeting. First Selectman Todd Carusillo presented Harris with a Tyler Lake sign he handmade.

Harris then spoke on his time serving Goshen. “I’m proud to have served the people and Town of Goshen. I have made many friends, met some really great people, made a couple of enemies and not so great people but by and large, it’s a great community. I hope that I’ve made a difference over the last four years in particular. I tried. I worked hard. Politics is not my thing, but I tried to at least be consistent, be ethical, and be reliable and I thank you for the privilege of serving you folks. Thank you.”

Kinsella then motioned to adjourn the meeting. This was unanimously approved. About a half hour later, State Senator Stephen Harding visited Town Hall to present Harris with a citation from Connecticut’s General Assembly for his years of service to Goshen. Harding currently represents the 30th District in the State Senate.

11/21

On Tuesday November 21st, the Board of Selectmen held their third meeting this month. All three Selectmen were in attendance including First Selectman Todd Carusillo, newly-elected selectman Scott Olson, and Dexter Kinsella, who joined the meeting remotely via Zoom. The meeting began with Kinsella motioning to approve last week’s meeting minutes. Before a decision was made on the minutes, Carusillo issued a correction, “Paul Collins resigned as Recycling Coordinator not committee.” Kinsella made a further correction, adding that former selectman Mark Harris resigned specifically from the Board of Selectmen, Lake Weed Committee, and any other boards or commissions he was a part of. Carusillo and Kinsella then voted in favor of approving the minutes with the corrections while Olson abstained since he wasn’t a selectman yet at the last meeting. The motion carried. Olson motioned to approve town payroll and warrants for November 23rd in the amount of $66,418.15. This was unanimously approved.

For the First Selectman’s Report, Carusillo thanked social media for highlighting Goshen’s current predicament with building a storage facility on 190 Sharon Turnpike to the general public. “I want to say special thanks to social media because I have two contractors in town that want to buy the piece of property on Route 4 on Sharon Turnpike,” Carusillo reported. “One of them wants to put in senior housing and the other wants to put in a sports facility for indoor and outdoor pickleball. How do you like that? So if we don’t move forward with…putting the building over there, I will make a motion to the Board of Selectman about selling the piece of property…” Olson clarified to those in attendance that the property is currently not for sale, local contractors just submitted offers if the storage facility project falls through.

For Public Comment, Marissa Wright, owner of the local organic produce Wright Farm, continued to call for the property of 190 Sharon Turnpike to be kept as open space after having since received more signatures, now totaling over 160, on her petition, and pointing out that only 78 residents voted for the purchase of the land at the May Town Meeting. “190 Sharon Turnpike should be protected as open space because this land contains a critical watershed resource and is part of the very fabric of this town,” said Wright. “I’ve had a lot of people talking at me recently, telling me our petition doesn’t really count or matter, that we should consider ourselves lucky because it could be worse, and we should be grateful. If they don’t put it here, where are they going to put it? They say there could be affordable or senior housing developments put in. These are fear tactics, and they aren't going to work. We don’t want worse; we want the win/win. We want to protect the land and watershed. We want the firehouse to get everything they need at the firehouse, and we want Public Works to have storage they need…There are countless alternatives that can meet all of these goals. We are here and ready to support this town when you are ready to listen.”

Board of Assessment of Appeals’ member Audrey Blondin also spoke in opposition to selling the property for housing or sport facilities, “I just want to go on the record completely opposed to selling that property and going on the record in favor of pursuing… building that building.”

Town resident Lee Kilmer requested the board make the property’s Perc Test public, following up on his comments last week. He claims the site must be wet due to his neighboring property dealing with consistent floods and overflows in his basement. Planning and Zoning Commission Secretary Lu-Ann Zbinden asked if non-conforming businesses in town could potentially sell or rent their properties for storage instead of building a completely new facility. “It’s easier to get insurance on a new building than buying a building that’s old and dated and gonna need so many upgrades,” Carusillo replied.

For Appointments, Carusillo motioned to elect Harris to the Lake Weed Committee. Olson wanted the board to alert the community of this vacancy in the committee to have more options for other people to run for that position, “Listen, I’m not questioning Mark’s ability to serve in that capacity, okay? He has knowledge of this. However, Todd and Dexter, I feel strongly that when we have these committees, and we have openings on them that we really try to reach out to the entire community to see who’s interested in serving …rather than to just continue to appoint those who are in the tight, inner circle.” After a brief discussion, the selectmen agreed to table this motion for two weeks to have the vacancy mentioned on the town website and in the selectmen minutes.

For Old Business, Olson brought up an offer made by American Legion 46 in October 2022 to donate a 1.9 acre property for the town to use for the new storage facility. The property would be donated under the condition that the town build a conjoined 20 x 30 ft “clubhouse” for the legion to host their monthly meetings in. Kinsella expressed apprehension toward the idea, believing the Legion may use the property to host public parties, “I’m not comfortable with the idea of having a shared commercial property for firehouse and for Public Works along with something for more civilian, generic use at the same property with limited space.” Carusillo previously rejected the offer believing the property was too small for storage needed for the Fire Company or Public Works since only 1.25 acres would be usable, “It’s 1.9 acres and it’s only really probably around an acre and a quarter because the rest is wetlands, and we don’t want to disturb wetlands… acre and a quarter wasn’t big enough because you can’t turn a tractor trailer around in there or a dump truck or whatever…” Olson motioned to table the American Legion’s offer for next week and invite Legion members to discuss the property offer. Carusillo and Kinsella wanted to wait for the Fire Company and Public Works’ needs assessments before they consider looking at other properties. Olson’s motion was denied.

For New Business, Carusillo motioned to pause the Building Committee for the storage facility until the needs assessments are conducted and submitted. This was unanimously approved.

Olson then suggested they have Public Comments at the end of meetings in order for the public to better respond to new developments. Both Carusillo and Kinsella agreed. Olson then motioned to add the Broadband Advisory Committee to the meeting’s agenda. This was unanimously approved. Committee member Marc McCarthy spoke briefly on the committee’s history and the reason for it to dissolve, “We got started as part of a subcommittee for the selectman’s office… We convinced Optimum to build a fiber network. They have since built that fiber network…” McCarthy submitted a final report to the selectmen in October that will help guide residents with Optimum’s new fiber offering. The selectmen thanked McCarthy for his hard work and Kinsella motioned to dissolve the Broadband Committee. This was unanimously approved.

11/28

On Tuesday November 28th, the Board of Selectmen held their fourth meeting this month. All three Selectmen were in attendance. The meeting began with Kinsella motioning to approve last week’s meeting motions. Last meeting’s minutes document was not completed this week due to how long the meeting was and delays imposed by the holiday weekend (last week’s meeting was about an hour and a half long). Before these motions were approved, Olson issued two corrections. He claimed the vote regarding the pausing of the building committee was mis-listed in the motions document, “The vote was, and I was very clear on this… to pause the meetings of the building committee. That’s what we had voted on, not to pause the project.” Olson’s motion to table the American Legion’s offer for an alternate storage site for next week, while denied, was not included in the motions document. He requested this motion appear in both the minutes and motions documents. Other errors that appeared in the motions were repeated instances of Harris taking actions instead of Olson. Kinsella then withdrew his motion to approve last week’s minutes. After reviewing all corrections in the motions, the board unanimously approved the motions document. November 21st’s Meeting Minutes will be reviewed and approved during the next Selectmen’s meeting on December 5th. Olson motioned to approve town payroll and warrants for November 30th in the amount of $109,729.14. This was also unanimously approved.

Carusillo began his First Selectman’s report by reminding attendees that public comments should relate to topics listed in the meeting's agenda. This is in response to how last week’s meeting discussions went far beyond what was originally planned. If residents want to speak about something that’s not on the agenda, they can submit requests to Carusillo’s office prior to selectmen meetings. The City of Waterbury is conducting property inspections for both business and private properties. “They are checking because Goshen is on a watershed,” Carusillo explained. “They are checking for any contaminants or any farms that have piles of cow manure or goat manure to make sure it’s not getting into the water system.” Inspectors Katherine Rice and Jason Hailstones were last seen on Sharon Turnpike, Bartholomew Hill, and Allyn Road driving in a blue Chevy pickup truck.

Carusillo reported that the town received a letter of resignation from Olson from the Goshen Human Services Task Force. Public Works Supervisor Garret Harlow submitted a letter detailing the sale of two old, rusty containers from Camp Cochipianee. One was sold for $200 and another is expected to be sold for another $200 to the same buyer. Former selectman Mark Harris submitted a letter to the board expressing his credentials and desire to serve as chairperson for the Lake Weed Committee. This is in response to the board motioning to delay Harris’ appointment at the last meeting in order to give other potential residents time to run for the position. Since the tabling of this motion was not mentioned in last week’s motions doc, Olson suggested they further delay the appointment for two weeks starting this week, “We were going to solely use the minutes of last week’s meeting and that was going to be the sole way of letting people know that there was an opening. However… it didn’t appear on the minutes of last week so I’d ask rather than to have the appointment next week we give the town two full weeks of notice.” Carusillo agreed with this suggestion. This vacant position has since been noted in the minutes doc for this week’s meeting, posted on the Goshen town website on Thursday, November 30th. The senior assistance organization Litchfield Hills Chore Service, Inc. sent a Thank You Letter to the town for donating $525. The LHCS provides local seniors 60 years old or older affordable transport, housekeeping, shopping, yard work, and other services. Carusillo ended his report by congratulating Town Historian Henrietta Horvay on being appointed as chairperson for the Economic Development Commission. 

Resident Audrey Blondin began Public Comment by criticizing the lack of information on the motions document and questioned the absence of the minutes doc, “I was not happy at all with the minutes from last week either… Going forward, anyone that speaks in public comment should be reflected in the minutes.”

“Wednesday was the last work for me for the holiday,” First Selectman Aide Lucille Paige explained. “Thursday was Thanksgiving. Friday, this building was closed. So, I did not have enough time to put the meeting together in the correct fashion. So it wasn’t that it was deliberately eliminated.” Paige spoke with Town Clerk Barbara Breor and she said the motions legally needed to be posted that week due to the holiday circumstances, hence why there was only a motions doc and not a complete minutes doc. “It was not an attempt to squash any public comment,” Paige continued. According to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, motions and votes must be made publicly available within 48 hours of town meetings with exceptions for holidays and weekends. Any town agency meeting minutes must be made publicly available within seven days following the meeting.

A few other residents asked for selectmen contact info to directly ask them questions or bring up town concerns. According to the residents, only Carusillo’s official email can be found on the town website. Olson claimed he’s working on setting up an official email that will be listed as: olson@goshenct.gov. The selectmen plan to address this lack of contact info.

For Old Business, the selectmen received a letter from Goshen Fire Company Chief Barry Hall requesting the selectmen delay their plan to host a special meeting at the firehouse on Saturday, December 2nd. The selectmen planned to invite officials and residents to examine the remaining land on the site to determine if a storage facility can be built behind the firehouse. Hall requested the delay since they already planned on hosting a toy drive that day and they’re still forming a needs assessment for the storage facility. Carusillo assured residents that while this meeting is canceled, it will be rescheduled for a later date. He additionally reported that building an addition onto the firehouse may be more plausible than originally determined, “We are going to visit the firehouse. I believe if we could get the building or the addition to that, we might move in that direction. I think that’ll make—I guess there’s a percentage of the firemen that think that all of the equipment should be there and not across the street".

12/5/23

The Board of Selectman held their first meeting of the month of December on Tuesday, December 5th. Dexter Kinsella began the meeting by motioning to approve both November 21st’s and November 28th’s meeting minutes. Before the minutes were approved, Scott Olson made corrections to both minutes, which were then unanimously approved. Olson then motioned to approve town payroll and warrants for December 7th in the amount of $82,501.05. This was also unanimously approved.

Carusillo began his First Selectman’s Report by reiterating that the property at 190 Sharon Turnpike is not for sale. “Because there’s a lot of stuff being posted on social media, apparently my phone rang off the wall here today wondering if the land is for sale…The land is not for sale,” Carusillo explained. “So, please stop posting that it’s for sale. That you're trying to raise money, because it’s not for sale.” Note: See summary of November 21^st meeting, above. Carusillo reported that two contractors had expressed interest in buying the property and stated that if the Town doesn’t move forward with building there, he would make a motion to the Board of Selectmen to sell it.

Carusillo will attend December’s Board of Finance meeting to ask them to secure the $500,000 STEAP grant for the 2024-25 budget and match that fund before next year’s May town meeting for the eventual storage facility. Once these budgets are secured, Carusillo claims they can move forward with the building committee to draft a budget for the facility to present to the state.

Neil White submitted his letter of resignation from the Economic Development Commission. Goshen residents may now apply for White’s former EDC membership. Kinsella addressed the EDC vacancy and town official resignations, saying, “Customarily, what was done in the past, is if it’s a Republican who resigns, we ask the Republican Town Committee to do some research in terms of who would be interested in serving this position and present the names to the Board of Selectmen who have the purview of appointing the people who are recommending. We do the same thing for the Democrats.” Despite this custom, Olson urged the board to keep the vacancy on the minutes in order to allow town residents to become aware and to apply for these positions. The discussion also related to the board delaying Mark Harris’ reappointment as chairperson to the Lake Weed committee in order to allow people interested in the position to apply. Kinsella agreed with the delay but didn’t believe anyone else in town was fit for the role. No other residents have expressed interest in the position since the delay was issued, according to the selectmen. The appointment of the Lake Weed Committee chairperson will be held during the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, December 12th. Olson ended the discussion, stating, “I look forward to appointing a chairman next week.”

For Public Comment, Board of Assessment of Appeals’ member Audrey Blondin responded to Carusillo limiting public comment discussion to meeting agenda items exclusively unless the selectmen are sent requests to speak on other topics prior to the meeting. “I’m just public commenting as a former selectman for ten years in Litchfield that, in my opinion, public comment should be public comment. That the public should be able to say whatever it wants,” said Blondin. “... I’m not comfortable with only sticking to the agenda items or having to send a letter.

Planning and Zoning Commission Secretary Cynthia Barret asked the selectmen how they can better notify residents of vacancies on town boards or commissions. “[White’s EDC vacancy] is an ideal opportunity to take advantage of The Goshen News,” Olson suggested. “... I’m hoping we can get to a point where we can do a period of 30 days so we can get these vacancies listed in The Goshen News.” Barret jumped off from Olson's comments and suggested the selectmen write an article to the Goshen News to inform residents how to properly contact the board about interest in any vacant position. (See Publisher’s Note, pg. 2, for The Goshen News’ response.)

For Other Business, Olson motioned to move into Executive Session to discuss municipal insurance. According to the minutes document for this meeting, this session specifically discussed insurance pending claims and litigation. This was unanimously approved.