HomeMy WebLinkAboutCrossroads Veterans Services District - 02/05/2013Minutes of the Crossroads Veterans Services District
Serving the Towns of Easton, Foxborough, Mansfield, and Norton ,iT,,,_I,1ED
February 05, 2013 (' '' OFFICE
Easton Town Hall — Second Floor Conference Room
Meeting Called to Order at 7:14 pm
Present: Tim Giblin, Chairman (Norton)
Paul Dumas (Foxborough)
Dan Murphy (substituting for Sean Noonan -Easton)
Jess Aptowitz (Mansfield)
Mike Johns, Deputy District Director
Heath Hobson, District VSO
1. Discussion of Retirement of John Hogan
2013 AN 2q A 10: 2q
a. We were notified prior to the meeting that Mr. John Hogan had given notice of his
retirement effective March 1, 2013. The discussion was first a thank you to all of the
service he has provided throughout his term in Mansfield and throughout his career as a
VSO.
b. With the open District Director seat, a motion was given by Paul Dumas to have Mr.
Michael Johns take over the District Director position, with the Director salary as
currently budgeted. This motion was discussed and agreed to, with Tim Giblin, Paul
Dumas and Jess Aptowitz voting yes and Dan Murphy abstaining.
c. With now an open Deputy District Director seat, a motion was given by Paul Dumas to
have Mr. Heath Hobson take over the Deputy District Director position, with the Deputy
Director salary as currently budgeted. This motion was discussed and agreed to, with
Tim Giblin, Paul Dumas and Jess Aptowitz voting yes and Dan Murphy abstaining.
d. We discussed the "next step" process in which the District, Current VSO, and Towns
should proceed in hiring a new VSO. It was decided that Michael would place an ad as
well as communicate the opening with all Veterans groups in order to begin the
preliminary interview process. Both Heath and Michael would have first interviews and
recommend the candidates to the Town Manager (Bill Ross) for the second interview.
Mr. Ross would then make the decision based upon all communication from the VSO's.
The District members can also have an opportunity to meet a candidate upon request.
2. We spoke about the Easton State Intervention review. Members of the State Veterans Office
met with Veterans groups (VFW Commander Al Smart, American Legion Commander, Jim
McAvoy) Easton Town Manager Dave Colton, District VSO's, Tim Giblin (Norton) and Dan
Murphy (Easton) with regards to concerns they have had during the first year since the
formation of the District. The Easton veterans concerns was the Easton office hours,
communication from VSO's to Easton Veterans including Easton "outreach" program and
Veterans lists so they can assist with Veterans in need. We spoke of coverage in the office and
establishing signage in order to direct Veterans to the proper area when there is a lapse in
coverage. Michael Johns and Heath agreed to have good communication between the office
and the Veterans Groups. Also, it was determined that Veteran's lists could be given to the
VSO's in order to assist the Veterans groups in "helping their own". The State Veterans Office
did conclude that the District was functioning according to State guidelines and it was not their
position in the meeting to make any decisions, only to "hear" the concerns and make sure the
State was aware.
3. A current schedule of VSO's was spoken of and will be, if not already, posted in each Town and
website. Each VSO now has access to each Town Hall, Veteran's offices and files.
4. Calendar for upcoming meetings
a. February 26, 2013 — Easton
b. March 19, 2013 — Mansfield
c. April 23, 2013 — Norton
d. May 21, 2013 — Easton
e. Monthly meetings (or every other week) of VSO's in order to update on any pending
issues
5. A State Challenge Innovation Technology grant was applied for in November in the amount of
$192,000. Initially the program had $41VI to grant and was recently cut to $2.25M total. Dan
raised the question of what would be lost if we did not receive the grant and Michael said the
main immediate loss would be not to have computer networking within the 4 towns, website
and secure cloud storage for the four towns. We decided to put the $20,000 into the budget
(vote) and have the $5,000 put into each budget if adopted. We will resubmit the grant for
project management, consolidation of documents to assist the District. A technology grant was
applied for $192,000.
6. Motion to adjourn
Motion by Paul, Seconded by Dan, Passed Unanimous
Minutes submitted by Timothy Giblin, CVSD Chairman on March 18, 2013