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Date: 12/27/2022
HUNTINGTON — The Board of Selectmen, Edward Renauld, chair, Roger Booth and William Hathaway, met for the last time in 2022 on Dec. 21 in Stanton Hall. Immediately following the meeting, all town employees and volunteers were invited to a thank-you dinner in appreciation of all the work they do for the town throughout the year.
At the meeting, the board voted to hire CivicPlus Municipal Websites, a website design company, for three years to revamp the town of Huntington’s site. The company designs the websites for the towns of Pelham, Chester and Russell.
Renauld said the company, which focuses exclusively on local governments, will instruct town employees on how to update the site themselves once it is established.
“It’s a good long-term solution,” he said.
Administrative Assistant Jennifer Pelletier said a representative had walked her through the process, and “it’s super easy.” The site will take eight to 12 weeks to get up and running.
Booth said the site will also be accessible on mobile devices, which is difficult to do with the current system. He said of the websites he’s reviewed, the town of Pelham’s works the best on the phone.
The cost of the contract will be $4,325 per year. Booth proposed using funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to pay the full first year of the contract; then, the second year, paying for half of the total amount with ARPA and including half in the town budget, and the third year, paying for 25 percent of the service through remaining ARPA funds, for a total of $7,500 of ARPA funds.
Also approved was a firefighter safety grant of $8,745 to purchase turnout gear for the department.
Pelletier said the selectmen recently voted on a tax rate of $17.05 per $1,000 assessed value for fiscal year 2023, down from $17.56 in 2022.
Immediately following, a full house turned out for the holiday party and catered dinner of baked ziti and chicken parmigiana organized by Pelletier and Treasurer Aimee Burnham, which featured a fireplace scene on a giant screen on the stage playing holiday music. Fire Chief Joshua Ellinger went on the stage several times to warn the youngest residents not to touch the fireplace scene.
Renauld thanked all of the committee members, firefighters, police, finance team, Council on Aging leaders and others for all of their work throughout the year.
“This was a hard year,” he acknowledged, and said the town couldn’t run without their contributions and dedication.