Technical Glitches Force Kingston Selectmen to Abbreviate Meeting
Audio issues plague July 16 session, leading to postponed agenda items and makeshift solutions
KINGSTON, MA - July 16 - The Kingston Board of Selectmen's July 16 meeting was cut short due to persistent audio problems, forcing the board to postpone several agenda items and huddle around a laptop to conduct essential business.
The meeting began normally, with the board approving requests for Hope Floats' annual memory walk and a neighborhood block party. However, things quickly went awry when board member Tyler Bouchard's remote "aye" vote began repeating unexpectedly.
"Tyler, it's funny. Your ‘Tyler, aye’ keeps coming through over and over again," one board member noted. Another added, "Every now and then we hear you say ‘Tyler, aye,’ just in the middle of nowhere."
As technical difficulties mounted, the board was forced to crowd around a single laptop to continue the meeting.
"We're gonna do one quick item and then we're probably gonna have to reschedule the rest of the stuff," Chair Eric Crone explained, acknowledging the challenging circumstances.
Despite the setbacks, the board managed to address several urgent matters before adjourning. They appointed Kathleen Barrett as the new finance director and town accountant, filling a vacancy left by Carol McCoy's resignation. Jennifer Stiers was also appointed as the new outreach coordinator for the Council on Aging, a position that had been vacant since August 2023.
Town Administrator Keith Hickey explained the urgency of one appointment: "This could have probably been just a housekeeping type thing that was signed in the Selectman's office, but just to be safe, I brought it forward tonight at a regular meeting."
The board also made appointments to the Affordable Housing Trust and Historical Commission, and reappointed the town's plumbing and gas inspector.
However, several agenda items had to be postponed, including a review of the police chief's goals and objectives. "Chief, I apologize for that, we're holding up a couple of weeks," a board member said.
Before adjourning, Hickey provided an update on traffic detours for an ongoing water main project on Route 3A near Cancun. He explained that MassDOT had initially denied a detour request but has now approved three detours likely to start the following Monday.
"We apologize for any inconvenience and we'll provide more information on our website and directly to residents impacted later on this week," Hickey said, acknowledging the potential disruption to side street residents.
The meeting concluded with an announcement of a vacancy on the Kingston School Committee due to a recent resignation. Hickey said a joint meeting with the school committee is tentatively set for August 27th to interview candidates and fill the position.
As the board moved to adjourn, they again apologized for the technical difficulties. "We apologize to the public. There's some power issues at the local scene. So this was as quick of a solution as we could get," a member stated.
*editor’s note: the technical issues also made it difficult for the AI to identify speakers.