2026-09-15 - Select Board

00:14This is the Waterberry Select Board

00:16meeting for September 15th in the

00:18Waterberry Municipal Offices. We'll open

00:21the meeting

00:23and review and approve the agenda.

00:29Roger.

00:30>> I want you want to add make an addition

00:33in the select board matters second item.

00:36It says steel room audio visual. I want

00:38to add also room arrangement

00:40improvements.

00:42So three three topics sort of all say

00:45>> audio visual room.

00:47>> Okay. Room of

00:54>> All right. Anything else?

00:57Go for it, mister.

00:59>> I'll move to approve the agenda as

01:01amended.

01:03>> I'll second that.

01:04>> Any further discussion? All those in

01:06favor say I.

01:07>> I.

01:08>> I.

01:10>> Uh, approval of the previous minutes.

01:13>> This one.

01:16>> Oh, excuse me. Public, you know, I

01:18checked the wrong box. All right. Public

01:20comment. Is there any public comment?

01:25How many do we have our trailer?

01:34>> All right.

01:36Um, I'm going to move on to approve the

01:40previous minutes of September 1st.

01:43>> So, I'm not sure that we ever approved

01:46the minutes from the special meeting

01:48that we had. couldn't find where we had

01:51and

01:52we didn't get to the same.

01:54>> No, I went back and reviewed it. I

01:57>> I think somebody was drowning your mouth

01:59about I had something.

02:04>> So, um I'm going to ask could we put

02:07those on the next agenda?

02:09>> Sure.

02:10>> And we'll approve September 1st.

02:13>> Um

02:14and okay, hold on a second.

02:17that the general meeting. Yeah.

02:19>> Yeah. Yeah. Special meeting minutes or

02:21not,

02:22>> right?

02:27[clears throat]

02:32>> All right. Thanks, Andy. Any questions

02:34or comments or edits to the minutes of

02:37September 1st?

02:44I move to approve the minutes from

02:46September 1st.

02:49>> Second.

02:50>> Any further discussion? All those in

02:52favor say I.

02:54>> I.

02:56>> All right.

02:59There are no consent agenda items. So,

03:03we're going to move to the fire

03:06department, natural disaster, and

03:08cruise.

03:10And who wants to go first? I think we're

03:12going to have fire department.

03:20>> First to the table.

03:21>> Go for it.

03:24>> Thank you for coming in.

03:26>> Well, it's my buddy

03:29>> with a smile. He says that. Uh so I'm

03:33presuming kind of same type of thing

03:35just going to feel you.

03:36>> Um currently we've gone up in membership

03:39a little bit. Um

03:41they're young people which will

03:44meaning there's still a couple in high

03:46school which is great. It catches their

03:48interest. I know have another one that's

03:51kind of playing in in the wind. He wants

03:54to try.

03:55>> I know that he probably is not going to

03:57stick around. He's looking to go to the

03:59Air Force Academy. uh probably not

04:03sticking around beyond involving a fire

04:04department. Um but anyways, we have some

04:07young people it which is great because

04:10some of us are bored uh or at least hold

04:13this job. Um so we're getting there. Uh

04:18apparatus everything's been good. We got

04:20the tower fixed. Uh it was kind of a

04:24scary time. The hydraulic cylinders were

04:27the levelers for the bucket. So, as the

04:31>> as the ladder goes up, it keeps the

04:34bucket level.

04:35>> Uh, they had to be removed

04:39and they were able to get them repacked,

04:41but took a while. New ones are $17,000 a

04:44piece. So, to go repacked. Um, but the

04:49problem was is ours, stoves, and plers

04:52were all out at the same time.

04:54So, we actually had a plan and uh we

04:56recall it seems like a long ways, but

05:00when you're talking about getting other

05:02tower trucks to you, uh Wilston was in

05:05some parts of Waterberry was our first

05:07option. So,

05:09uh but everything's good to go now. Um

05:12our call volume over the summer,

05:15uh is not typical. Typically, our call

05:18volume during the summer is down. Um May

05:22we had 17 calls. June 30, July 31, and

05:26August 23 so far September 13th. Um,

05:31which is not normal.

05:34Um

05:37we can before I said we don't have

05:39anything specific that we could point

05:40our fingers at but this time around we

05:44have been getting a lot of faulty

05:47um smoke detector CO detectors

05:49>> and it's either a faulty detector or

05:51somebody hasn't replaced the batteries.

05:54Um and a lot of times that is somebody

05:57saying well I have hardwired ones not

05:59realizing that they actually have

06:01batteries in them as well. Now, it's an

06:04educational

06:05>> um usually once a year we get a

06:10ad o owner call and somebody calls it in

06:13and it's at night and it's turns out

06:17usually once a year a skunk and we had

06:19that recently. So, we got that out of

06:21the way.

06:24>> Gary, could I ask how many car accidents

06:27are those up? Seems like there's been a

06:28lot this summer.

06:29>> No, not any more than average. In fact,

06:33uh, for the last number of years, our

06:38percentage wise, our crashes are less

06:40than the other calls.

06:42>> And I would say that's probably

06:44accurate. Now, now that's if you

06:47eliminate the calls that we get for cell

06:50phone crash detection. We get a fair

06:52amount of those. And it's somebody that

06:55dropped their phone or they set it on

06:57their car and they went around the

06:58corner and it fell. And then we're out

07:00looking for a car that crashed and

07:02didn't crash and it is long gone.

07:03>> Oh, interesting.

07:05>> So, I think there's there's been a fair

07:07amount of

07:10>> you. Yeah. So, if you're if you get an

07:13iPhone, it's automatically activated. So

07:16if you if it's dropped hard

07:20coming off the carrot it going to call

07:24saying that there's a crash detection

07:26and most time it is not there but we

07:30have had some that were so

07:36>> so yeah there's there's that um you hit

07:40your

07:42watch I [clears throat] got a

07:43four-year-old grandson that has a habit

07:45of hitting my watch and next thing I

07:47know it's getting ready to call 911.

07:50Save yourself. Uh I tried

07:56terrible record.

08:01>> Uh

08:03effective today we um

08:09we're 50 calls higher than we were

08:12[clears throat] last year.

08:15And we're if I did the projections kind

08:19of right, it's hard to tell. We never

08:20know what you're going to have. We're

08:22looking at like

08:24300 maybe 20 or 30 for the year whereas

08:28we had 243.

08:34So

08:35we're looking at not the highest we've

08:38ever had. A number of years ago, we

08:40Okay.

09:24does impact uh you know an alarm. But

09:28what I can say is every smoke detector

09:31activation is a fire until we get to the

09:33proof that it's not. Um we had a fire on

09:36the upper road. It came in as a smoke

09:37detector activation. Uh the next tone

09:40because we always get two in a row said

09:43that there was some smoke in the house

09:45and as we went around the corner um

09:48apparently all the fire was on the

09:49outside of the house and and smoke is on

09:52the inside. So

09:54>> I I believe that anytime we have a smoke

09:56detector activation

09:58>> uh it's it's a fire.

10:00>> Yeah. Sure.

10:01>> But some people say ah it's just another

10:04smoke detector.

10:06That's you crime both kind of thing.

10:08That's right.

10:09>> I've been doing it long enough that you

10:11watch one more night of getting up in

10:12your own room.

10:14>> So, can I ask a question about the

10:15numbers? So, you're you're saying the

10:18summer numbers are are pretty much are

10:20higher,

10:21>> right?

10:22>> And then [clears throat]

10:22year to date is sign significantly

10:25higher. Am I adding words? I shouldn't.

10:27>> No. Yeah, I think you're right. Um,

10:29>> do you think so? Then my question is,

10:31and we've talked about smoke detectors.

10:36Is that the bulk of the hireness work?

10:40[snorts]

10:41>> It's close enough. [laughter]

10:43>> Uh, you know, everything has

10:46an impact. Um,

10:49but it does seem like this year we've

10:52had more

10:54>> without crunching the numbers. And it's

10:55really hard because nationally everybody

10:58had to switch reporting systems.

11:01And so all the information that we

11:04previously had has sunset

11:08>> and so it could be gotten but I have to

11:10call the vendor tell them exactly what I

11:12want.

11:13>> Yeah.

11:13>> And it's kind of a real pain.

11:16>> Right.

11:16>> Um I don't understand it. Um I don't

11:20think there's anybody on our department

11:22and many others that like the system

11:24because you can't add specific

11:27information. It's generalized. And

11:30>> if you're looking for real stats, that

11:32wasn't helpful.

11:34>> Thank you.

11:34>> Sure. Um,

11:38this past uh week we had the blood

11:40drive. Um, unfortunately

11:43they were short-handed and uh they were

11:47way behind. There were people that were

11:49hours waiting,

11:52which is it's tough when you show up

11:54short-handed and then one person leaves.

11:56Um,

11:58but again, we had it um we have it every

12:01year and we've had it every year for how

12:03many years?

12:07>> 15 years.

12:08>> Yeah. Um,

12:13>> so 15 years.

12:16>> But it's worth a while.

12:19We got a we have a couple trainings

12:21coming up. We have a flashoverfire

12:25behavior training next month. It's uh

12:28through the fire academy. And what that

12:31is, they will bring a trailer out here

12:33and they we have people going through

12:38an evening of training first and then u

12:43a live training. They go away. They

12:45light fires and they show mostly newer

12:47people what ventilation does, what it

12:50doesn't.

12:52Kind of interesting.

12:54You get really dirty and salty here.

12:58Watch it from the outside. Uh and we

13:01have a National Fire Academy class that

13:03we're hosting uh for Vermont uh in

13:07January and that is arson investigation.

13:11So

13:13that's kind of it. Um making use of the

13:15station, making use of our people.

13:19I don't have anything else that I can

13:21[clears throat] share that would be of

13:22interest.

13:24But if you have questions,

13:25>> questions from the board. I see a hand

13:28up online. Rebecca,

13:38>> that is an accidental click. Sorry about

13:40that.

13:41Okay. Anyone here?

13:45Um, [clears throat] have you heard from

13:47the new town manager that there's budget

13:50work in the future?

13:51>> Really?

13:52>> Yeah,

13:54>> I have. She's talking about it.

13:56>> Great.

13:56>> Uh,

13:57>> on the horizon.

13:58>> It's on the horizon. Um

14:00>> yeah, it's I I explained to her that um

14:06because it's early that it's there's

14:09[clears throat]

14:10changes that likely happen,

14:12>> but I'm I'm sure I'll have draft one

14:16ready.

14:16>> There's a number of us in the learning

14:17mode, so we appreciate the process, if

14:21you will.

14:21>> It's fine for me.

14:23>> Thank you.

14:25>> Yes, please. Uh I have been getting to

14:27know several uh top managers in the area

14:30in my new role and everyone has gone out

14:32of their way to say what a outstanding

14:34fire department we have and how well

14:37respected you guys are.

14:38>> Great.

14:39>> So

14:40>> thank you. Um it's yeah it's it's a lot

14:44of work. Um I just kind of heard the

14:47cats and the big cats heard the little

14:50cats.

14:51>> So yeah, it's we've got some people that

14:53do a tremendous amount of work.

14:57Good.

14:58>> Yeah, we have we have good crew.

14:59>> Good leadership.

15:01>> Wow.

15:04>> You're welcome.

15:07>> Really appreciate it.

15:11>> Uh so they're natural.

15:14>> Thank you.

15:16>> You want to go?

15:17>> Sure.

15:20[clears throat]

15:20>> Huh?

15:28Are you representing?

15:30>> No, you're

15:35>> somebody's on there from

15:37>> what?

15:38>> Somebody's on there.

15:40>> Uh, that's me.

15:41>> Oh, that's you. You're on there.

15:43>> In case I have something that

15:46>> Okay.

15:46>> I might share.

15:48>> Oh, yeah. We have that printed out

15:51>> uh something else. But uh I'm

15:54>> okay before you start speaking like

15:57there on the table is a a page that Mike

16:02shared with us recently so we weren't

16:05able to put it on the website but uh

16:07there's one for the board and then

16:10there's a couple extras over on the

16:12table

16:14and it sounds like we going to get some

16:15more show and tell.

16:17>> Yeah,

16:17>> go for it. We got a real

16:19>> Thank you.

16:20>> multimedia.

16:24>> But

16:25>> just say your name for

16:27>> So Mike Casey, I am the executive

16:30director.

16:32I crew is community resilience for the

16:35war area. Um

16:39we are a uh nonprofit organization under

16:43the fiscal sponsorship of uh this very

16:48long period

16:51and we were founded in 2023 after the

16:55July 23 flood. uh

16:59founding members were uh Hawaii active

17:03in the volunteer management uh in 2023.

17:09Um and then crews formed as the

17:11long-term recovery group to assist with

17:15just that individual recovery coming out

17:18in 2023.

17:20Um, we

17:22also acted as uh the kind of leaders of

17:27the volunteer management in the December

17:302023 flood and then again in July of

17:332024

17:35um and did

17:38a lot of um

17:40case management and individual recovery

17:43work uh after those events as well. Of

17:45course, many of the same people were

17:48affected with multiple uh events there.

17:52Um crew in addition to Waterbury serves

17:55uh Middle Sex Mtown.

18:00Um and so yeah, recently um now that we

18:04are over two years out from the July

18:082024 flood, um and sort of at the tail

18:12end of our

18:14individual recovery,

18:16uh we kind of took stock of what we've

18:18been doing over the last two years. um

18:22took all metaphorical piles of paper

18:25[laughter] and tried to compile uh some

18:29useful data for the town that we serve.

18:31So, we have these stat sheets for all

18:32five pounds. Um, and uh,

18:37uh, the Waterbury one um, you know,

18:39hopefully gives uh,

18:43some

18:45context to how many folks in town uh,

18:48were affected. And um so the the big

18:52blue circle uh 147 known affected

18:56households those are homes that either

18:59um had called 211 or that we were made

19:02aware of via inerson canvas. Um

19:102011 calls are self-reported. So, um the

19:14extent of

19:16the damage or um you know the incident

19:20at that person's house, it's up to them

19:22whether they

19:23uh side that warrants calling 211 to

19:27report the damage. Um we do encourage

19:30people to call 211 because that is um

19:33one of the major factors that goes into

19:36um assessing overall damage for a

19:39disaster and potentially requesting a

19:43federal disaster declaration.

19:46Um

19:48we do not have access to

19:53people who call people. Uh so uh we have

19:58an agreement with the state where they

20:01were sharing the 211 information so that

20:04we could use that for outreach. uh FEMA

20:07calls are pretty much done

20:12and

20:13>> and the timeline on 211 kind of sooner

20:16anyway. So

20:18for for our needs, but so that's you

20:21know I say known affected households um

20:24because in all likelihood there are

20:25probably people that just called FEMA

20:27and didn't call FEMA one but

20:29approximately 150 affected households

20:31that we were aware of in Waterberry. Um,

20:34Middle Sex also had around the same

20:36amount. Those were our two uh out of the

20:39five pounds, two highest uh numbers

20:42there. Um, we were able to reach

20:46[clears throat] um almost all of them.

20:48We had 127 in Waterbury households that

20:51we were able to contact. So that's after

20:54we get this screw 211 we start making

20:56calls we start sending text messages and

20:59so out of 147 we were able to make

21:01contact.

21:04Um and then kind of the good news is

21:06that the the next circle shrinks down

21:10quite a bit down to 69 homes that we

21:13actively assisted with their recovery.

21:15So that means um that the the rest of

21:18the households out of that 127 when we

21:22called them they said I've got it

21:23handled

21:25um you know

21:28either

21:30my cousin's coming over with the tractor

21:32and he's going to fix the driveway or

21:36we're bailing it out. We're going to

21:37call insurance oursel. We've been

21:39through this unfortunately here. You

21:41know we it's not our first rodeo. We

21:43know the drill. Um so uh that is that's

21:48that's a good sign um that we had a lot

21:51of folks who um were able to sort of

21:55self-resolve.

21:57Uh and then the homes that we did assist

22:00um

22:01spans from uh you know it could be

22:06making sure that they have the the right

22:09phone numbers to call and then kind of

22:11once they're on their way um they are

22:13able to see the process through um the

22:18FEMA appeals process if you haven't been

22:21lucky enough to go through it yourself

22:23is uh just about as fun and intuitive

22:27ive as you would imagine it would be. So

22:28we end up doing a lot of help um with

22:32folks kind of navigating that um

22:36construction management and planning for

22:38people that are actively doing

22:40rebuilding. Um and then we did have some

22:42grants uh that we were

22:47giving directly to folks if they have

22:49kind of exhausted all of their options

22:52for

22:54federal assistance. new grant

22:57administrator or how do you get those

22:59grants or is that just disseminated from

23:01the state?

23:02>> Uh that funding came from community

23:06foundation. Yeah.

23:07>> Uh the particular fund has changed

23:10names. It was the disaster recovery fund

23:12in 23 and then they changed it to the CO

23:15fund. Um but that money um

23:22there's a number about a dozen long-term

23:24recovery groups like ours throughout the

23:26state and uh

23:30many of those groups

23:32received money from BCF to

23:35distribute in.

23:41And so in Waterberry, uh that ended up

23:44being just over $40,000.

23:47Um we did just under $100,000 in um

23:53successful email appeals. And so this

23:55was sort of helping folks through the

23:58email appeal process like I was saying.

24:01Um

24:03often time

24:04>> cool.

24:05>> Oh yeah. Um, I was say oftentimes, um,

24:09what happens is, um, if your home is

24:11damaged, FEMA might, uh, they have sort

24:14of a standard initial amount that they

24:17will give you for, um, whatever line

24:21item, uh, whether it's a

24:24a driveway or a kitchen or something

24:28like that. And then

24:30you get quotes from a contractor and you

24:33submit that. I think hopefully can can

24:36get something close to the actual

24:38um amount that it cost you. Um but

24:42there's a lot of parks.

24:48>> Can you tell us a little bit about um

24:50the event with um Treasure Pichek and

24:55Summit? We're I got to kind of be

24:57watching the clock here. Nudge you along

24:59a little bit.

25:00>> Yeah. So, a couple weeks ago, um I was

25:02down in Planefield. Uh treasurer was

25:05doing a roundt listening session uh in

25:12several communities throughout the

25:14state. Uh this is part of the

25:20um

25:21climate super fund. Um it's an attempt

25:25to sort of put a

25:29dollar amount on um damages done

25:35through that could potentially be

25:38attributed to public damage.

25:40>> So is I understood that the state would

25:43be getting money and PC is preparing a

25:46report to support whether that's enough

25:50or what the actual costs were in the

25:52communities. Does that sound

25:54>> uh I think that's probably

25:57>> there were two separateities.

25:58>> Oh, okay.

25:59>> Oh, okay. That's what I'm asking. Okay.

26:02>> I'm certainly not the person to ask

26:03whether whether or not the state is

26:05getting any money and I think it's I

26:06think this is the sort of beginning of

26:09what is likely to be a very long

26:11process. Uh but they are trying to

26:16um in addition to it being kind of just

26:21a temperature check from a lot of these

26:23communities on on how the recovery went

26:28the last two years. Um really what

26:30they're trying to get at,

26:32you know, what is the economic cost of a

26:36disaster like uh through

26:41people not being able to work, whether

26:43it's because they need to take care of

26:44their home, whether it's because their

26:45business itself was flooded, whether

26:47it's because they need to take time off

26:49to be much old, whether they need to get

26:53child care so that they can go to the

26:55disaster recovery center and wait in

26:57line. um you know all of these

27:00everything from the very tangible to

27:02these sort of intangibles that really

27:04start to add up. Um

27:07and also disproportionately affect

27:10folks um you know if you are somebody

27:14who has a desk job and can be shooting

27:16off emails um you know in in between

27:19calls. That's a lot different than um if

27:23you are working on your feet all day and

27:25can't take 15 minutes when FEMA just

27:28decides to call you out of the blue to

27:30answer your phone.

27:31>> Um and so uh yeah, so they're trying to

27:34track that kind of stuff.

27:36>> Like just real quick, of the 69, how

27:38many are open still? uh in waterberry

27:41and

27:44uh actively doing some work with I think

27:47we're down to one in

27:55>> Yeah. And so uh since the last time uh I

27:58saw all of you, we've done a number of

28:00events, some of them taking place in

28:02this room. Uh we did a workshop on

28:06home interventions. uh simple things

28:08that folks can do to make their

28:09properties more flood resilient. We did

28:12a workshop specifically on flood

28:14insurance and the national flood

28:16insurance program.

28:18Uh we did a rainarrel workshop at Makers

28:21Gear um in conjunction with friends of

28:24the Lucy River that quite popular

28:28again. Uh we actually are going to be

28:30doing another insurance workshop. Um,

28:33we're hoping to do it in Middle Sex so

28:35that we're not

28:37doing everything in Waterbury, but steam

28:40room is actually pretty

28:41>> Oh, yeah. We're at the insurance

28:43workshop.

28:44>> It's interesting to know numbers.

28:46>> Yeah. Yeah. The insurance workshop

28:47between in person and online. I'm

28:49guessing both team um it was recorded

28:53and it's available to view on our

28:55website.

28:56>> Oh, that's great.

28:57>> Home resilience workshop.

28:58>> Yeah. Um, and then, uh,

29:03we were at Water Parksfest, uh, with the

29:07state DVC and their stream table, which

29:10is like my favorite thing in the world.

29:12This is a sort of slanted sandbox that

29:15you can run a simulated uh, river or

29:18stream through. Uh, and it's a very

29:21tangible way for folks to see how rivers

29:25erode, uh, how different interventions

29:28that you might make in a river, um, can

29:32have short and long-term effects. Um,

29:35it's really,

29:37uh, you know, like we get asked about

29:39dredging all the time. It's a really,

29:42um,

29:43nice way to demonstrate why we don't

29:48really do that anymore.

29:50and people kind of it clicks pretty

29:53quickly when you can see it right in

29:55front of you. Um we're going to be at

29:57Warfest in Wartown with the screen table

30:00again uh this weekend actually. Um

30:04and uh I know that I'm trying to keep

30:10things moving along quickly here. Um, we

30:13did just uh sort of officially

30:17launch uh our Culver Crawlers um program

30:23here in Lbury and that's what I was

30:25going to share

30:27on the screen. Um this is a

30:31and I allowed to share.

30:37[clears throat]

30:40Um, so Cobra Crawlers is

30:45a covert monitoring program that

30:50>> residents

30:55um

31:01this um

31:06[clears throat]

31:12We might need to

31:30say I'm sharing. So anyways,

31:33um

31:34Cobra Crawlers is a covert um monitoring

31:38and survey app uh for your smartphone.

31:43Um this is something that um residents

31:47can use to go out and uh essentially

31:51report on the condition of cohorts in

31:54the community. Um, and that information

32:00goes to a website that uh, in

32:04Waterberry's case, Bill Woodruff has

32:05access to. I was going to show you the

32:07sort of map view that he look at, but

32:11it's not a huge deal. Um, essentially,

32:15there we go. Um, so this is,

32:20uh, what Culver crawlers looks like, um,

32:23from the towns side. Um, you know,

32:26Warbury has like hundreds and hundreds

32:27of uh and certainly not hundreds and

32:30hundreds of people on the um road to

32:34crew. Um, we have launched this in

32:36Middle Sex um already. So, I'm going to

32:39actually go to

32:43kind of what it looks like there since

32:44folks have been using it. These pins

32:46will show up on the map and these

32:49represent places where folks have taken

32:52these surveys and

32:59>> they can upload

33:02>> photos of this lovely plug and crushed

33:05and then um

33:07>> yeah,

33:08>> rather than you know hoping that someone

33:10gets around to jumping down in the ditch

33:14and checking on things and all their

33:15spare time with the roads group. Uh

33:18people can do it while they're out

33:19walking their dog or we can do organized

33:22um

33:24uh you know sort of targeted efforts if

33:26we know that there are certain um roads

33:29or things that are uh that have been

33:32house in the past. So we just did our

33:34our first training in Waterberry uh last

33:36week. So um not a lot going on yet on

33:40the map, but we'll keep you posted. Um,

33:43I can also pull um sort of a an Excel uh

33:48spreadsheet based uh report and I've

33:50been doing that periodically. Um, so

33:53they'll actually get a list of stream

33:54addresses.

33:55>> The training online is the training that

33:58you did. Is that faster?

34:01>> Yeah, it is.

34:03Um, it's a it's a little easier to do in

34:06person. Yeah, we've been working on

34:08trying to figure out a kind of faster

34:11way to get people up to speed on this.

34:13Yeah. Um

34:14>> and um

34:18so yeah, we're we're hoping that it gets

34:20to a point. Um this uh this program was

34:24developed by uh a team at Dartmouth um

34:29in tandem with some folks in the Black

34:32River uh sort of budlo cabinish area of

34:36the state. Um and uh they got a little

34:40bit of funding to put this together. Um

34:43they have run through that funding. they

34:45are aware that there are maybe some

34:49tweaks that could be made to make it a

34:51little more intuitive. Um, and so at

34:53this point it's we've kind of we have

34:56what we have. It's functional. Um, we're

34:59hoping to be able to make

35:02you guys,

35:04but we're excited to continue rolling

35:05this out in our five towns and and

35:08getting feedback from Woody on, you

35:11know, we can say this is very useful and

35:14great, but if there are things that he

35:16wants change about it, we are

35:20so

35:22bigger the visual on that is helpful.

35:25Um,

35:26>> all right.

35:29>> We're going to wrap you up.

35:30>> Yeah.

35:31>> Thank you for coming in. Do you guys

35:33Anybody have a question? Roger.

35:34>> There's a one. Um, I want to

35:36congratulate Mike for calling uh the

35:39resilience plan that Barry developed to

35:42our attention. Uh, and I was talking

35:44with Dana Allen, the planning commission

35:47today. It was got like to move forward

35:51with developing one for library. I think

35:54we [clears throat] got a lot of the

35:55elements

35:57>> and just wondering if you or a gift or

36:00anyone

36:01>> uh on your team would be interested in

36:03participating in that.

36:04>> Yeah, there's there's absolutely strong

36:07interest in being part of that and you

36:10can figure out sort of who uh within

36:14best situated to maybe the point person

36:18to town for that. payment. It's

36:20something we would love to see all five

36:22of our towns uh have and it's, you know,

36:25it's a living document. It's something

36:27just to refer to. Um but it would be

36:32great to get a follow along.

36:34>> I think, [clears throat] excuse me, I

36:36think, um been focusing quite a bit on

36:39that and and the idea of the three

36:41existing plans and those Yeah, there's a

36:44lot of parts and pieces. We've got some

36:46really good um

36:48>> stuff to work from. Um and and Barry did

36:51a tremendous job of putting theirs

36:53together. Yeah. Um

36:55>> there's a lot of very specific stuff in

36:57there, but there's a lot that would be

36:59>> sure

37:00>> well served for any

37:03>> and I'm going to put my plugin I think

37:05some really low hanging fruit from that

37:07plan. Some of you have heard this from

37:10me uh already, but um I would love to

37:13see a standing agenda item this meeting

37:17of resiliency updates. I know that they

37:20have been happening under the um sort of

37:24under the municipal managers updates.

37:27Um, I know that we are comfortably asked

37:30by folks in town what's going on and

37:33where can I get information and just

37:35sort of knowing that that is a standing

37:37item on the agenda um go a long way. I

37:41mean you guys meet every two weeks so

37:43it's quite possible that

37:45>> nothing might happen between two weeks

37:46but even just holding the space for that

37:48I think is really

37:49>> and I think you know you hit a real

37:52spot I don't want to call it that or

37:54good but you hit a real key item and I

37:57>> you know Grace is tired of hearing me

37:59say this is that the the whole all of

38:02these flood there's a there's just so

38:04many little flood pieces resiliency

38:07flooding

38:08>> planning commission that are all they're

38:12just they're all genuine but they're not

38:14cohesive and if it if we have an event

38:18where are we going to turn and and that

38:22she's I mean she's tired of hearing me

38:24talk about it. So, I think working

38:27through her and and getting our our

38:29naturalist coordinator and, you know,

38:31there's just pieces that need have, you

38:33know, we've been focusing on getting her

38:35and the town clerk in here and now they

38:38can they're hitting the ground running.

38:40So,

38:41>> we've been lucky so far, but um we got

38:44to get done.

38:45>> Yeah,

38:46>> that's great.

38:48>> All right.

38:48>> Um,

38:49>> thank you. And

38:50>> yeah, wait, hold on. Mike, hold on. Mike

38:53Bart's coming up here

38:55>> to have a word.

38:57>> Mike Bart Waterbury Center. Very quick

38:59question. Out of the 69 uh families

39:04assisted, do you have a number for town

39:06assistance? What what's that cost per

39:10per case?

39:12>> Uh in the town or even also

39:17>> um so the

39:20>> would like to know town. Yeah, I mean

39:22the town would be tricky to calculate.

39:25Um,

39:27you know, the this sort of almost

39:30touches on the the intangibles of

39:32people. You know, we don't have like

39:34hundreds of people that work for the

39:36town that like when that happened,

39:38>> people are switching gears,

39:41>> guys.

39:45We had someone volunteer, right? you

39:47included.

39:48>> Um and uh so you know from within Peru

39:54we try to keep

39:56as it's tricky when you're taking 10

40:00minutes here half hour there. We try to

40:02keep on on the folks that we work with

40:05for uh you know months and months to

40:07months. We try to keep a rough tally of

40:09how many hours we are spending on an

40:12individual case. It varies, but I mean

40:15we have in some instances hundreds of

40:18hours to our most extreme cases to uh

40:23you know with with these with the 69

40:25homes that's folks that we assisted with

40:29in some way. So that might have been

40:31just sitting down with an hour and

40:32making sure somebody had their paperwork

40:34straight um up to a full

40:37construction plan or mediation

40:40>> because you guys do a great job and I'm

40:42sure the taxpayer especially if it's

40:43costing you show all the volunteer time

40:45and stuff like that good for

40:47[clears throat] them to know what the

40:50cost to to the taxpayer is

40:52>> yeah I would say pretty pretty small

41:00nothing.

41:00>> Yeah.

41:01>> Yeah.

41:03>> Yeah.

41:19>> Yeah. All right. Thank you. Thank you

41:22both. Thank you, Mike, for taking on

41:26>> what I'm doing.

41:27>> Yeah.

41:29>> All right. We don't have any.

41:32>> Yeah. We don't have any natural disaster

41:35people.

41:38All right. Um we're going to move on to

41:42the

41:44the town manager

41:47matters.

41:49All right. Um, as has already kind of

41:51come up, um, we are approaching budget

41:54season and it's my first budget season.

41:57Um, as well as some of the select

42:00boards. Um, but we want to make sure

42:02we're well prepared and going through

42:04everything pretty critically. Um, so

42:07with that, um, I have reached out to all

42:10of the different meds to let them know

42:12that I'm going to be setting up meetings

42:13with them and looking over their

42:15historical budgets, um, what they spent

42:18so far this year, and then, um, working

42:21on building out their budgets for next

42:23year. to go with that. Um they're each

42:27going to be scheduled to come into the

42:28select board so that select board the

42:31town's people have time to ask questions

42:33ahead of town meeting day and other

42:35events like that. Uh loosely this is

42:38subject to change but uh we're thinking

42:40October 6 will be cemeteries and solid

42:43waste. October 20th will be fire

42:45department their capital fund and public

42:48safety. Uh November 3rd will be library

42:51and planning and zoning. November 17th

42:54will be parks and wreck and their

42:56capital fund. December 1st will be

42:58highway and their capital fund. And then

43:01capping it off with December 15th being

43:03the general funding act and the

43:04municipal holding. So there might be

43:07other categories that come up that need

43:09squeezed in there. Um and I've already

43:12learned a lot from Phil Sheplac and I

43:15continue to seek him out for guidance as

43:17we go through this process. but it's

43:20still coming together and my hope is

43:22that as it all clicks together we'll

43:24have keep you guys in the town really

43:26informed. Um just to that schedule can I

43:30ask that uh let's see so if you can be

43:37uh let us know so that we can put it one

43:40on the the one that that's coming and

43:43then the one that's coming the next so

43:45that we could we put at the bottom of

43:47our agenda what's next so that we'll

43:49have like four budgets that we kind of

43:52know are two that we're going to do and

43:54then two in the future. That gives the

43:56community a heads up as well.

43:59Absolutely. Okay, cool. Um, with that,

44:03um,

44:05there is the lot money, the taxes, um,

44:10and we've heard that there is desire to

44:14fund more stuff, especially around

44:16downtown, um, as well as other creative

44:19and useful things. So in the coming

44:22weeks, we'll actually put together a

44:24process so that if groups have requests

44:27for tax funds, then they there's a

44:30unified process that they can all go

44:32through and then be compared by it. So

44:35that's not put together yet. Um but I

44:37will keep you guys informed as it's

44:39pulled together.

44:41So, this board needs to pro give some

44:44guidance to Gracie as to what kind of a

44:46budget she's targeting and level funded

44:50cost increase

44:52reduced.

44:54So, we need to be thinking about uh what

44:58we want her to her goals to be here.

45:02I don't know that we need to make a

45:03decision tonight, but I'm just saying

45:05that, you know, the next meeting, you

45:08know, we need to give her some guidance.

45:10>> We've been

45:12sort of bit of background. We've been

45:14trying to keep it level funded uh with

45:17no uh rate increase for a few years

45:20because of uh extensive increases on the

45:24education side,

45:26>> fairness to taxpayers. uh but on the

45:28other hand we are facing inflation and

45:31uh that will catch up to us maybe

45:34already has so let's uh

45:36>> see what some

45:37>> I think we should plan needs are acting

45:41>> yeah thank you Roger

45:44next item

45:46all right so um our interpre

45:50um entrusted me with his updates and

45:52they are plentiful um so the random

45:55metal project um official subdivision is

45:59still awaiting attorney general and

46:01director of property management from the

46:03state to bless this um and have their

46:07legal team review it. It's expected

46:09soon. I don't know what's

46:13uh Tracy, I'm sorry. Can I just add to

46:15that a note that the 180 the statutory

46:18180day uh requirement to to submit the

46:21final flat for that subdivision um

46:24passed on September 5th. So they are

46:29beyond that 180day requirement at this

46:31time.

46:32>> Good to know.

46:33>> Um along with that the corn is due to be

46:36chopped the first week of October. Uh

46:39VHB contract has been written and

46:41signed.

46:43question mark.

46:45I don't know why he put that on. I can

46:47answer one of that, but uh VHB has been

46:50on site delineated wetlands before the

46:52time runs out. So,

46:54>> the ones doing the environmental review.

46:56>> Yeah.

46:58>> Um

47:00then as far as Woody AB goes, uh we

47:03started doing weekly meetings that are

47:05taking place. Um and public outreach is

47:07planned. Um we don't have set dates on

47:10that. the wetlands delineation has taken

47:13place. They're looking into a market

47:15study data in the area to see if it is

47:18pertinent uh to the Woody Avenue site

47:21and public stakeholders have been

47:23identified. So, as far as who we're

47:25going to be reaching out to and talking

47:27with, we're a priority list, but again,

47:30dates are not set and more details to

47:33come. Uh Stanley Wson, uh the market

47:37study is coming to an end. Um so we

47:41should have that um to share out soon.

47:45FEMA buyout

47:47uh 38 Union 42 union and 1634 US route 2

47:52are progressing. Appraisal data and

47:55duplicate duplication [clears throat]

47:58of benefits paperwork is in progress.

48:01The appraiser does multiple properties

48:03in the state. So this sometimes takes a

48:06while.

48:07>> Yeah. uh pre flood value is what is

48:09considered.

48:1133 and 34th North Main are slightly

48:14ahead of the others in the process and

48:16are awaiting environmental work this

48:18fall with quotes that they can be

48:20demolished in the spring.

48:23And then just general public works

48:25updates. Uh there's going to be sidewalk

48:27work on Elm that has begun. Uh Twin

48:30Peaks gravel resurfacing to begin in the

48:33coming weeks. Uh downtown grant still re

48:37are still searching for a contractor to

48:39complete boundary sidewalk and parking.

48:42Remaining historical light fixture is

48:44part of the project and some way finding

48:47signs to be installed next week. Uh

48:50class 4 work on Woodward Hill commencing

48:52nicely. Uh paving on Lonesome Trail is

48:56completed. close out complete of ARPA

49:01>> uh from 2024 and FEMA PCCR for soccer

49:06bill in progress.

49:09So those are his updates your questions

49:12for him. I can switch back. Uh I

49:14understood

49:16we're gonna go 70% of that

49:19but I'm happy to hunt down any answers

49:22that if anyone does have questions

49:25>> questions. Um, one thing, one of the

49:28things that we voted on for the triangle

49:31for better connections was coming the

49:33trees and I don't it doesn't I drive by

49:36it every day and I don't see where it's

49:38been done and I wondered when that was

49:40you can expect that to follow up.

49:43>> Okay.

49:43>> Yeah.

49:44>> Tree removal. We only voted to remove

49:51>> part of that.

49:52>> Yeah.

49:54Uh Mike, come on up.

50:04>> Uh

50:06couple questions on the buyouts. Um

50:12specifically,

50:14do patient benefit forms, uh

50:18and I guess any other paperwork.

50:21So, [clears throat]

50:22are there deadlines associated with the

50:26parks? Have the residents been notified

50:29of said?

50:31Um, kind of a leading question. Uh we

50:35are aware of um

50:39some folks in other communities who um I

50:45think were also part of uh so for those

50:48that are not aware yesterday there was

50:50announcement that 90 homes in Newmont

50:53had kind of finally cleared the log jam

50:56by so there's a lot of people that have

50:59been waiting a very long time and are

51:01now finally at uh next step

51:07still process. Um but uh

51:13we got word from folks that they need to

51:17have their um do forms in within two

51:19weeks.

51:20>> Uh which uh for somebody who's been

51:23waiting for two years and now we have to

51:26fill some stuff out uh within two weeks

51:28uh

51:29>> you know can can shake things up. And so

51:31we just want to make sure that um folks

51:33are being made well aware. Um also those

51:37forms in particular uh on the state um

51:44whichever uh on the VDM website they are

51:50listed under a category of forms joint

51:53property owner and municipality

51:55responsibility to complete. So um

51:59just want to make sure that uh

52:03municipality

52:04uh there's some responsibility there

52:06that folks are talking to each other and

52:08that residents can come to uh town if

52:13they need assistance and if they do

52:16would it be the town manager would it be

52:19who would

52:21be

52:22they can definitely start

52:26Uh I think that is it for

52:30um

52:32blood related stuff. Um

52:35clocking out of proof. Did you say that

52:37the market study for Stanley Wson is

52:40going to be shared?

52:44>> Um I believe it's supposed to be.

52:46>> Yeah.

52:48>> Well, that makes that's going to inform

52:51the next

52:52>> right. So

52:53>> there was a lot of nonpublic information

52:56in the sole uh response that didn't

53:02>> there seem to be a lot of secrecy for

53:04somebody that something that had zero

53:05competition

53:07>> uh in in a lot of that initial stuff and

53:10um

53:11>> so

53:12>> I don't

53:13>> that's great if that's what we're

53:14getting in in return for kind of having

53:17a non beat for a year and a half then

53:20I'm all for it.

53:24Thank you.

53:30>> All right.

53:44All right. Uh, select board. We're a

53:47little bit off. Oh, no. We're good.

53:49We're We're doing good. All right. Um,

53:52first item on the select board matters

53:54is the adoption of the resolution of the

53:56learn tier 1B designation. Is Neil

54:00online?

54:02>> Neil, I'm gonna ask you to speak to this

54:05for me, please.

54:10>> Sure, I can do it.

54:12>> Can you hear me?

54:14>> Yes.

54:15>> All right.

54:16>> Yeah.

54:20So,

54:21we can barely hear you. I'll introduce

54:23it, but I need you to identify the

54:26change. Okay. So there was the tier 1B

54:30municipal resolution which needs to be

54:32filed with the regional planning

54:33commission in order to qualify for tier

54:381B status which is a uh expedited if you

54:42will that's my word uh permitting review

54:45under uh act 250. We wouldn't have to be

54:48doing act 250 and you designate those

54:51areas. Um the planning commission met

54:55last night. The the uh tier 1B municipal

54:59resolution that was posted with the

55:02select board agenda was uh reviewed last

55:07night at the planning commission and

55:08modified.

55:10And

55:12Neil, that's what I'm hoping you can

55:14address.

55:16>> Sure, I can do that. Uh so we uh

55:19basically sused it out last night at the

55:21planning commission. Thanks for

55:22everybody who joined um to contribute

55:25and uh the uh resolution was modified.

55:29One thing was uh the main thing that was

55:31struck was um the res the part of the

55:34resolution that says whereas we have a

55:38flood hazard and river corridor

55:42bylaw. Uh we do not have that. That is a

55:45specific bylaw that uh we would have to

55:48adopt. Um, so we struck that since we do

55:51not have that. What we do have is a

55:53flood hazard overlay zone which does a

55:57lot for resilience and protection, but

55:59it doesn't meet the requirements in the

56:01state statute of the flood hazard bylaw.

56:04Um, so we struck that. Um and then when

56:09we struck that, we also had to strike

56:11the last part of the preceding sentence

56:15um that said uh you would be allowed to

56:18include already developed areas that are

56:22in the flood zone. So that has been

56:24removed.

56:26>> All right. So you're really really super

56:28hard to hear, but I think what you said

56:32was one, two, three, four. The fifth

56:35whereas was it needs to be removed.

56:39>> Correct.

56:39>> And you you've deleted that. And then on

56:42the fourth one you had it. It now reads

56:47the area excludes identified flood

56:49hazard and fluial erosion areas period

56:53because of the fact that we don't have

56:55the u river corridor bylaws. Correct.

57:00>> That's right.

57:02>> Okay. So there I thought there was a

57:05final one of these around it. The um if

57:10you gave it to me, that's a mistake.

57:13Um so the request is this has to be

57:18submitted to the Central Vermont

57:20Regional Planning Commission by the 17th

57:23if the town would like to have uh

57:27participate as a tier 1B

57:30community.

57:33Um,

57:35>> can I ask something? Can

57:37>> somebody explain in layman's terms what

57:39exactly that would mean?

57:42>> It it uh Well, I'm going to let the

57:44planning director do it.

57:47>> You should speak up.

57:49>> Yeah, you got to speak really loud. I'm

57:51not sure if it's the audio here or on

57:54your end, Neil.

57:56>> It's probably my end. Um, so the tier 1B

58:01designation, um, to back up a bit, the

58:06downtown designated area that we have,

58:09we have a downtown designation. Um, that

58:13downtown designation is being phased out

58:16over the next year through the changes

58:17in act 250 with the land use review

58:20board. So they are recclassifying

58:24certain areas into tier one, tier 2, um

58:28tier three is no longer around, but they

58:31are looking for uh tiers, they're now

58:35calling them to um allow for residential

58:40growth in particular in our previously

58:45downtown areas serviced with water and

58:47sewer. Um, and so that would be for us a

58:51tier 1B designation, which would allow

58:54for a certain amount of um, housing

58:58units to be built in our tier one area,

59:03which a lot of that is the former

59:06village and downtown area without not

59:09including the flood zones. Um, and that

59:12would allow us to have some oversight

59:16without everything going to act 250 up

59:20to a certain threshold.

59:24>> Yeah. At the at the end of this it says

59:26now therefore it's resolved that the

59:28municipality of Waterberry hereby

59:30requests to have the town's mapped

59:31future land use downtown center village

59:34center village area and plan growth

59:38areas mapped for act 250 tier 1B area

59:42status. So it's designating specific

59:44areas.

59:47>> Any questions? Chris, come on up.

59:53I watched a short clip on a Zoom meeting

59:56on this particular

59:58tier one issue.

1:00:01>> Tier one A or B.

1:00:04>> I don't recall exactly what it was,

1:00:07>> but it was in Memorial County, Marshall

1:00:09area. Oh, I like that.

1:00:10>> And they were having trouble defining,

1:00:12you know, what areas because the the uh

1:00:18designated area

1:00:21was so broad that it covered areas that

1:00:24they felt

1:00:26were still usable for some form of

1:00:29development. So I'm just my question is

1:00:30it sounds like they may have ironed that

1:00:34problem that question out as to in these

1:00:38floodprone areas or floodways

1:00:41uh that they may have

1:00:45figured out what how to split that out.

1:00:49U

1:00:50>> yeah from the

1:00:52>> stuff that I've been participating

1:00:53[clears throat] in um there's sort of

1:00:55two different things happening here. the

1:00:58town the central Vermont regional

1:00:59planning commission is required to uh

1:01:02generate a future land use map and

1:01:05they've been looking at parcels they've

1:01:07been and then they also look at what the

1:01:10town already has designated as the our

1:01:13plan growth centers and those that

1:01:16criteria but they're also looking at the

1:01:18floodprone areas. So they're overlaying

1:01:20all of this data to identify what can be

1:01:24in and what can be out. And the primary

1:01:28purpose of this, as I understand it, and

1:01:30Neil, make sure you correct me if I'm

1:01:32not misstating this, but this allows the

1:01:36town to have more control.

1:01:38uh kind of gets act 250 out of the way

1:01:42for development or for activity within

1:01:45the uh downtown center, village center,

1:01:49very specific designated areas that I

1:01:51read at the bottom. Okay. So, it doesn't

1:01:54impact the whole town. It only impacts

1:01:56the areas uh that we're looking for

1:02:00growth. Right. So, it sounds like

1:02:01they've come up with some type of

1:02:02formula to allow towns to kind of say,

1:02:06"We know this area is safe."

1:02:08>> It's a it's a back and forth. So, we

1:02:10have the town has gone and the planning

1:02:12commission has done a lot of leg work

1:02:14communicating with the central Vermont

1:02:16regional planning commission. Central

1:02:18Vermont Regional Planning Commission

1:02:19makes a proposal to lurk to the land use

1:02:22review board. So there's these, you

1:02:24know, local, regional, and state levels

1:02:28of review that have to determine whether

1:02:30this all goes through.

1:02:31>> So my question, I guess, the bottom line

1:02:33question is, it sounds like they have

1:02:35land in their feet on something that's

1:02:39uh they're confident that will work and

1:02:42not just throwing something in for now

1:02:45and then end up having to be amended or

1:02:47changed down the road.

1:02:48>> They're starting with these designated

1:02:50areas. Let look at it that way. The

1:02:53safer way is there's if the if there's a

1:02:56village center, designated village

1:02:57center, village area, plan growth area,

1:03:00those are the areas that would be

1:03:02allowed to have tier 1B status. Tier one

1:03:06B stats per

1:03:11any other questions.

1:03:14Um, we will need a motion to uh make

1:03:19this municipal resolution.

1:03:23>> I'll move to adopt the municipal

1:03:25resolution to apply for tier 1B status

1:03:28for the designated areas.

1:03:32>> All second.

1:03:34>> Any further discussion?

1:03:37All those in favor say I. I.

1:03:40>> All right. All sign.

1:03:44Um,

1:03:47steel room audio visual systems and I

1:03:52guess my agenda.

1:03:55>> Let's take a look

1:03:57>> and added well I added on for it. We

1:04:01added what are the arrangements?

1:04:05>> So we had I think I mentioned this last

1:04:07meeting but we had Peter was his last

1:04:10name.

1:04:11>> He worked with Fuzbuzz. Yeah, from

1:04:12BuzzBuzz come and gave uh toured this

1:04:15facility and and his company and he put

1:04:18all this equipment in when this building

1:04:20was first built and opened up.

1:04:23>> I don't know if I don't know if K's hand

1:04:25was up for the last

1:04:28I didn't

1:04:30>> Carrie

1:04:32Krie, do you want to say? Yeah, there

1:04:34you go.

1:04:39>> Um yeah, sorry. Um, I I just wanted to

1:04:43understand like the resolution that was

1:04:45just passed,

1:04:46was that with the amended changes or was

1:04:50that what was presented to the select

1:04:53board

1:04:55originally?

1:04:57>> Was your motion with the amended change?

1:04:59>> I meant the amended version, but I

1:05:01didn't actually say that either.

1:05:05>> What do you have is the motion, Cheryl?

1:05:08uh to adopt a mun resolution to apply

1:05:10for tier 1B status the designated areas

1:05:14as stated

1:05:16that was the motion as stated. Yeah,

1:05:18Carrie um great catch I think we either

1:05:22need to I don't I'm not sure the

1:05:24procedure here but we need to correct

1:05:26it. Uh we Carrie the the one that was in

1:05:30the packet the planning commission

1:05:33identified that we we it can't be

1:05:38sub it can't be executed as it was

1:05:40written because we don't have a river

1:05:43corridor bylaw. So the fifth whereas was

1:05:47not accurate

1:05:50and so they made a motion last night and

1:05:55proposed an edit of removing the fifth

1:05:57one and then the fourth whereas ended

1:06:02uh afterial

1:06:06erosion areas and that's what uh I think

1:06:09the board intended to approve.

1:06:13Um maybe we need to do another motion

1:06:16just to make it official.

1:06:18>> I would like the resolution to be

1:06:20amended before anything is approved.

1:06:24>> So it it falls within the statues

1:06:28of the state law and then you'll

1:06:31actually be able to have the tier one be

1:06:36>> right. And and that was amended.

1:06:41Well, I I I don't think it was um

1:06:46>> it it it was revised last night from the

1:06:50planning commission. The planning

1:06:51commission gave it to the town manager

1:06:53today and I have it here in my hand

1:06:56>> and that's what I was reading.

1:06:58>> Great. I would like that to be published

1:07:01um before you

1:07:05>> before the select board amends before

1:07:09the select board like accepts that. I

1:07:12think the public should see that. Tracy,

1:07:15can you email that to me and I should

1:07:17upload it?

1:07:20>> I the only change Carrie is that the

1:07:23where the fifth whereas was deleted and

1:07:26the fourth whereas was short. So I'm not

1:07:29sure that we need to republish the

1:07:33amended document. It will be

1:07:36>> it will be yeah it'll be published after

1:07:38it's executed

1:07:40>> public

1:07:42in the meeting packet and the select

1:07:45board voted on and approved another

1:07:48>> there's a potential open meeting law

1:07:50>> potential

1:07:52off the top of my head. Yeah, I actually

1:07:55think I did ask this morning that it be

1:07:58posted on the packet. If Hold on a

1:08:01second and Grace is seeing if it got

1:08:03done,

1:08:05it may already be up.

1:08:09>> The version that's on the website.

1:08:12>> What?

1:08:12>> The version on the site right now is not

1:08:14a fresh.

1:08:17>> Okay.

1:08:18>> Is there a time frame or it's Thursday?

1:08:21It's the 17th. It needs to be in by the

1:08:2317th.

1:08:29I apologize, but I just want things done

1:08:31right. That's all.

1:08:37>> Dana, you want to come up?

1:08:40>> This is a process issue at this point if

1:08:42I don't.

1:08:43>> Uh, so Dan Allen, I'm commission chair.

1:08:46Um,

1:08:48heard on the concern. If you read the

1:08:51version as amended currently and vote on

1:08:53that now, I feel like that's entering

1:08:55into public

1:08:58>> record. So I would suggest potenti and

1:09:02board does what they please on this one,

1:09:03but if you read the version as amended

1:09:06and then vote on that, make a motion to

1:09:09vote on it as amended and as read. I

1:09:12think that would allay the concern that

1:09:14we're having here.

1:09:16>> Just a suggestion you can choose.

1:09:18>> Yeah. Thank you, Dana.

1:09:21>> And process wise, I do believe voting on

1:09:23the amendments first before voting to

1:09:25adopt should be two distinct motions.

1:09:31>> All right.

1:09:41Um, I'd like to propose that the

1:09:46document that is posted on the website

1:09:50is what we were given that um we I would

1:09:55accept an a motion to amend this

1:09:58resolution that's posted on the website

1:10:01identified by deleting the fifth Whereas

1:10:05and editing the fourth whereas to end

1:10:09afterial erosion areas

1:10:17highlighted areas going away.

1:10:20Is that what you're

1:10:23saying?

1:10:23>> That's all that goes away. That's all is

1:10:25what is to be deleted.

1:10:28>> Roger. I'll move to amend the uh tier 1B

1:10:34municipal resolution

1:10:36uh to

1:10:39remove uh the uh

1:10:44uh clause except those areas containing

1:10:47pre-existing development in areas

1:10:50suitable

1:10:51for infill development

1:10:54and the following whereas the

1:10:58municipality has adopted special flood

1:11:00hazard overlay district that it was

1:11:03consistent with the necessary standards.

1:11:07>> Second.

1:11:09>> Any further discussion?

1:11:11All those in favor say I.

1:11:13>> I.

1:11:14>> All right.

1:11:19>> No. Need a motion to

1:11:22uh

1:11:22>> I will move to approve the resolution as

1:11:25amended.

1:11:27I'll second that.

1:11:30Any further discussion?

1:11:32All those in favor say I. I.

1:11:35>> Thank you. Thank you, Carrie.

1:11:38>> You're welcome. Thank you.

1:11:40>> All right. Um, National Park Service

1:11:44Resilient Pathways and Back to the Steel

1:11:47Road.

1:11:47>> Oh, I'm sorry.

1:11:48>> That's okay.

1:11:51>> I'm getting way late. I'll make this

1:11:53brief. Um, Peter gave us a a bid or a

1:11:57proposal for the vision of changes in

1:11:59this room to remove a lot of this older

1:12:02equipment and also to put a 95 in screen

1:12:05on the wall. Um, the bit is pretty high.

1:12:09I'm going to talk to about it and I'm

1:12:10going to do some research about it. Uh,

1:12:12see if we can pair it down or wherever

1:12:14we're at with it. Um, the audio part of

1:12:16it, he says we don't need to buy

1:12:18anything. We have all the speakers in

1:12:20the room. Uh, Marth and I looked at

1:12:22them. I looked at them further. I got

1:12:23West to clean them up, put the batteries

1:12:26in, and get them all working. So, uh,

1:12:29those are ready to be used by the select

1:12:31court. My suggestion to the board, and I

1:12:33don't know if we have to vote on this or

1:12:34not, but let's start using the speakers

1:12:37that are handheld. We have a stand for a

1:12:39speaker for people to come in who want

1:12:41to just make quick comments, not a

1:12:42presentation, as [clears throat] they'll

1:12:44have a speaker on a table. As I remember

1:12:46using this back in 14 through 18, I

1:12:48think Chris was on the board with the

1:12:49other. We'd use those speakers. They're

1:12:51a little difficult because you have to

1:12:52have them like right in front of you.

1:12:55Um, let's try them for a while with this

1:12:57board. See how they are. See if they

1:12:58work. If not, we can always put a

1:13:00different audio system in fairly easily,

1:13:03but let's not spend the money right

1:13:04away. His recommendation is try it and

1:13:06see how it works.

1:13:09Yes, the board is okay with it. Any

1:13:11objections? I'd like to start the

1:13:13speakers at the next meeting.

1:13:16As far as room arrangements, uh, you

1:13:18know, my opinion, it's arrangement. I

1:13:20think it's just, you know, a gas to the

1:13:22public that we have people presenting to

1:13:24the board around public matters with

1:13:26their back to the public. I think it's

1:13:28rude. I remember sitting in this room

1:13:30listening to trying to hear somebody

1:13:32speaking this way, but they're back to

1:13:34the public. I mean, they're the ones who

1:13:36own this town and we're all part of it.

1:13:38I know we're representatives, but still

1:13:41I would suggest and like to say that we

1:13:43make this into a beat pattern. Uh so

1:13:46that we are all visible to the public

1:13:47with speakers on the end, more likely

1:13:50this end. And the concern I have is with

1:13:53Sandy and Evan plugging in equipment and

1:13:57you had a concern about having to turn

1:13:59your head to look at the screen.

1:14:01>> As it is, I'm constantly looking.

1:14:04>> What's that?

1:14:05>> As it is, I'm constantly looking to

1:14:07>> No, I know. I know. But but

1:14:08>> but also we would have to turn to look

1:14:11at it while things are being presented

1:14:13on the screen. So

1:14:16>> how that's any different? I mean

1:14:19>> if we're if this is turned out like this

1:14:22>> it's only a V. It's not a straight line.

1:14:24And my suggestion is for those who want

1:14:26to see easier that you're out here

1:14:28farther where is this I mean right now

1:14:30with Beon I it's hard for me to see the

1:14:31screen sitting here because he's right.

1:14:34You know, it it actually is a better

1:14:35viewpoint.

1:14:37>> Shorter people, you need to switch.

1:14:42>> So, my suggestion is I would like to try

1:14:44it and see how these things hook up. I

1:14:47know you're to power and I know you're

1:14:48hooked up to this machine if it could be

1:14:50done. So, you're farther out away from

1:14:53the screen and give it a try. So, that

1:14:54we're facing the public. I mean, I just

1:14:56think it's respectful. And I've seen

1:14:58different uh Zoom meetings in different

1:15:01towns. You know, I was at the Northfield

1:15:03one a few months ago. They're that way.

1:15:05I mean, they have they're they face the

1:15:07public and speakers are on the side. So,

1:15:11>> ask a question. Is there any reason why

1:15:12the select board can't be back there,

1:15:15the TV be there, and the people be here

1:15:18so that we're looking at everybody?

1:15:22>> Well, the public then would have to

1:15:24turn, you know, they would have to turn

1:15:26on the screen.

1:15:27>> Oh, the public would have to turn to see

1:15:28who's on who's

1:15:29>> Well, the presentation. Oh,

1:15:31presentation. Got it.

1:15:36>> Oh, my comment to Don when he sent the

1:15:39picture of what this proposal was is

1:15:42that people are presenting to the board.

1:15:46Not it is a public meeting, but the

1:15:49presentation is to the board. So, feel

1:15:52like we should be able to see what's

1:15:55going on, but also they're speaking to

1:15:57us

1:16:00and not not that they're not talking to

1:16:02the public, but the presentation is for

1:16:05the board and the public meeting is so

1:16:07that others can listen to it, but they

1:16:09still are presenting or asking questions

1:16:12of the board, not of the public.

1:16:14>> What's the concern with the V? What

1:16:17>> is this? For one thing, everything if we

1:16:20use the way that he proposed it was it

1:16:22goes a

1:16:24>> So

1:16:24>> So now you can't see

1:16:25>> now you can't see this.

1:16:27>> Okay.

1:16:28>> So

1:16:29>> could we try it and and see how I mean I

1:16:33think it sounds like it's the angle of

1:16:34the V if it's a it's a cute angle or if

1:16:37it's an obuse angle

1:16:39>> and and I can can make it you know I

1:16:42disagree with Sandy. I mean all we do

1:16:44here is for the public and the public

1:16:46has every right. I remember my first

1:16:48principal job uh before met in a tiny

1:16:51room with the message being is we don't

1:16:53want the public to show up because you

1:16:54don't fit and any kind of impediment you

1:16:57have that doesn't allow the public to be

1:16:59involved and listen I think is

1:17:01disrespectful to the community. I know

1:17:03we're representatives that they have

1:17:04every right. When I sat in the back room

1:17:06last November and back there and people

1:17:09were talking I couldn't hear. I didn't

1:17:10know what was being said. And if I'm a

1:17:12community member um and some people here

1:17:16I don't there's people I don't know

1:17:17maybe they're interested being on the

1:17:18select board but they come and they're

1:17:20not addressed or they can't hear what's

1:17:22going on then they're going to say well

1:17:24I don't I'm not interested.

1:17:25>> I do agree with the microphone because

1:17:27it is hard to hear when you're there but

1:17:30I

1:17:30>> still

1:17:32>> All right, Evan, what's your opinion?

1:17:35Let's get the rest of the opinion.

1:17:36>> I don't see any reason not to try it out

1:17:38for a meeting or two. play.

1:17:39>> Right.

1:17:40>> I thought we were gonna be trying that

1:17:42tonight actually.

1:17:43>> Okay, Roger.

1:17:44>> Well, Sandy had concerns that I wanted

1:17:46to have more of a conversation.

1:17:48>> Okay, I want to roll this along. Roger.

1:17:50>> Uh, yeah, I want to compliment John for

1:17:52doing the research and uh finding a a

1:17:56lowcost solution. I don't think it's

1:17:58worth a shot.

1:18:01>> Mr. Vens,

1:18:04>> just my two cents. There's no I don't

1:18:06think there's any perfect solution. I

1:18:08think trying different options

1:18:11>> is certainly the way to go and boil

1:18:13down, you know, don't spend forever

1:18:15doing it.

1:18:17>> Three, four different options. Boil down

1:18:19which one works best and along that.

1:18:21>> Thank you. [laughter]

1:18:24>> All right. Um, we're not going to take a

1:18:26motion on this. Let's just try it next

1:18:28week or next meeting and if it doesn't,

1:18:30you know, we'll we'll get some feedback

1:18:32from there.

1:18:33>> And you're going to continue to work on

1:18:35the audio and the visual. Okay, I'll

1:18:37have the microphone set up on the table

1:18:39>> and Oh, we're going to use the mic.

1:18:40Okay,

1:18:41>> the quick question. You said it was a

1:18:42high estimate. Can you give us a

1:18:44ballpark of how high?

1:18:46>> Um, well, I mean, there was a, you know,

1:18:49variety of things in there. What was the

1:18:51biggest driver was the screen? It was

1:18:53very expensive.

1:18:55>> And I'm going to do some research on the

1:18:57screen.

1:18:57>> So, at least we know where you're

1:19:00starting.

1:19:00>> It's like 17 grand for everybody. The

1:19:02screen was about

1:19:04>> 78,000 just for the

1:19:06>> All right, we're going to move on to the

1:19:08National Park Service Resilient Pathways

1:19:12October 23rd. Chet. Roger.

1:19:15>> Yeah. Um, as has been mentioned

1:19:17previously, uh, the National Park

1:19:19Service has, uh, offered their technical

1:19:22assistance to five communities in the

1:19:26Wooki watershed,

1:19:28uh, including Waterbury, Morttown,

1:19:31uh, Planefield, Mielar, and Barry. Uh

1:19:35this was requested by our former uh town

1:19:38manager Tom Lights and um so uh he

1:19:43invited me to meet with them uh in my uh

1:19:47capacity at revitalizing Waterberry

1:19:52Discover Waterberry. Um and that

1:19:55coincided with a uh change in our

1:19:59strategic plan uh to include uh

1:20:03promoting

1:20:05uh healthier recreational opportunities

1:20:08recognizing that Waterbury is known as

1:20:11Vermont's recreational crossroads. Uh so

1:20:14it was a good uh coincidence for us and

1:20:18at the same time uh we recognized that

1:20:21the wreck committee uh was uh doing a uh

1:20:27some research on improving uh pathway

1:20:30connectivity uh led by uh Alec Sherman

1:20:34of Wada uh and the rest of the

1:20:38committee. Um and so based on that we

1:20:42got together with the committee and uh

1:20:44the new rec director Erica Linsky uh

1:20:48joined and uh we uh hosted a uh summit

1:20:53on the uh Vermont uh I mean on the

1:20:57Waterbury Trails Summit on the 30th of

1:21:00uh April. And since then, uh, we formed

1:21:04a, uh,

1:21:06a steering committee to try to take what

1:21:10we heard and try to develop some plans

1:21:12around that. And this was based on

1:21:14experience that Vitalizing Waterbury had

1:21:17with Jack's Alley. There were a number

1:21:20of com uh organizations including uh

1:21:23Waterberry Arts and Rotary and

1:21:26Makersphere and Revitalizing Waterberry

1:21:28that all wanted to try to move that

1:21:30together, but we

1:21:33concluded that we needed to have a

1:21:35steering committee to make decisions and

1:21:37actually uh develop and implement a

1:21:39plan. So, uh we've got two members of

1:21:42that committee that I'd asked to come

1:21:44forward. uh Jake Ferrer who's on the uh

1:21:48um the rec committee and uh Eric Linski

1:21:53who's our rec director. Um because I

1:21:57have this conflict of interest of

1:21:58serving both on the um select board and

1:22:02the steering committee. I'm going to

1:22:03recuse myself from any further

1:22:05deliberation, but I wanted to ask them

1:22:07to come forward and present what has

1:22:09happened and why we're moving this

1:22:12forward.

1:22:14Thanks, Roger. Um, hi everybody. My name

1:22:16is Jake Ferrer. I'm a landscape

1:22:19architect and recreation planner and I

1:22:22sit on the waterway recreation committee

1:22:25and I serve with Erica. She's the

1:22:27recreation director. Um, as Roger said,

1:22:31the recreation committee have been

1:22:32leaning into looking at kind of timing

1:22:34and pathways and waterberry and in April

1:22:37had a trail summit with about 50 people

1:22:41in attendance and about 16 organizations

1:22:45represented there and there was a very

1:22:48very interested contingency within

1:22:50Waterberry um to look at improving

1:22:53connectivity um and trails within our

1:22:56municipality. And so out of that um

1:23:00effort, we've been working with Discover

1:23:03Waterberry to just try to find a pathway

1:23:06forward. And I think we've, as Roger

1:23:10stated, felt that having a steering

1:23:12committee that can really focus on this

1:23:15effort is the best way forward that

1:23:18works in tandem with the town uh

1:23:20planning commission, recreation

1:23:22commission, the department of public

1:23:24works, conservation commission um that

1:23:26can really focus on trails and the

1:23:30implementation

1:23:32of the recommendations that are going to

1:23:34come out of the town plan

1:23:36And I think the reason we another reason

1:23:39we feel a task force or steering

1:23:42committee is necessary and why not just

1:23:46part this on the recreation committee is

1:23:49that the recreation committee is an

1:23:50advisory committee and Erica is

1:23:54ultimately the decision maker there and

1:23:56I also have a lot of responsibilities on

1:23:58plate already and so we certainly want

1:24:00her input and being part of our steering

1:24:04committee to feel that having

1:24:06dedicated team be working on this topic

1:24:09is really important. And looking out of

1:24:11the survey information for the town plan

1:24:13this year is that trails and

1:24:15connectivity and recreation were the

1:24:17highest priority of um the town.

1:24:23>> A lot will be redundant to speak up.

1:24:26>> Oh, a lot of what I would say will be

1:24:29redundant. So I won't say much but I

1:24:32second Roger and Jake are saying also

1:24:35from a rec department standpoint

1:24:37obviously we would like to focus on what

1:24:39our town's people feel is important. We

1:24:42know that trails and pathways are

1:24:44important. Beyond that we know that

1:24:45pedestrian access and connecting

1:24:49uh again from a rec department

1:24:50standpoint parks and facilities would be

1:24:53really great. We all know that the rec

1:24:55department of two people cannot focus on

1:24:58this year round. We spend about

1:24:59twothirds of the year working on our

1:25:01seasonal programming. Um, which leaves

1:25:04us about a third of the year. September

1:25:06being one of the times where we can

1:25:08focus on some of our trails and

1:25:10pathways. So, to really keep things

1:25:11moving forward and not just standing

1:25:14still each September to September, this

1:25:17committee is really important and very

1:25:19helpful. Not only that, I think it can

1:25:22help us with some other things that I'm

1:25:24hearing are important to our towns

1:25:25people and uh tourists and to welcome

1:25:28visitors such as improve signage

1:25:32um what else for pedestrian access again

1:25:36biking people that kind of thing. So

1:25:38it's a it's a win-win for town people

1:25:40and also visit.

1:25:43>> Great. Just the last piece I add um is

1:25:47that we also have been acting as liaison

1:25:49with the National Park Service in their

1:25:52project in Waterberry and that's done

1:25:54with the municipal task force but we are

1:25:56working with them directly on the random

1:25:59meadow design shred that's coming up in

1:26:01October and then hopefully that whenever

1:26:04they come out with their recommendations

1:26:06that this group could also be part of

1:26:07the team that um carries those

1:26:09recommendations for the implementation.

1:26:14I have some questions.

1:26:15>> Yes.

1:26:16>> Um

1:26:18I don't I was struck by the membership.

1:26:21Um I really feel personally that there

1:26:24should be more and you even just said

1:26:28coordinate with the planning department.

1:26:30Someone like our planning director or a

1:26:33member of the planning commission. I

1:26:34think a planning director with more

1:26:37staff. So it would be uh more staff. I

1:26:40I'm a little confused by

1:26:43um

1:26:46the heavy representation of just the

1:26:48recreation arm of our community and so

1:26:52and and discover waterberry. So you've

1:26:54got two members from the discover

1:26:56waterberry

1:26:58Erica two members from the rec committee

1:27:01and someone from water but there's no

1:27:04planner that looks at what we're the

1:27:07town plan has just been created and

1:27:10implemented and where you're going and

1:27:12where you're not going and who's

1:27:13involved with

1:27:15>> random metals for example and how much

1:27:18is there so I think the balance of the

1:27:21membership from my perspective is a

1:27:23little that is not as balanced or as

1:27:26spread as it could be. Is there a

1:27:28community member that's just a regular

1:27:30community member that at large might be

1:27:34um part of this group that could bring

1:27:38their interest of walking around? I know

1:27:41that this is focused on the downtown.

1:27:43It's not focused on going up to the

1:27:45village or up to the center. So, I just

1:27:48kind of it just I'm not quite sure where

1:27:52I fall on this personally. Just, you

1:27:55know, I wonder if you guys could address

1:27:57some of those thoughts.

1:27:59>> Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think we're very

1:28:03much open to additional members. I think

1:28:06that list is maybe more of who's

1:28:08currently serving and acting,

1:28:10>> but

1:28:12I think working with the town planner

1:28:14and the planning commission more

1:28:16closely. you did present to the planning

1:28:18commission and I think they don't feel

1:28:20like they have the bandwidth.

1:28:22>> I that's why I said the director

1:28:25>> I'm not sure how much this director has

1:28:28time either but

1:28:29>> I I certainly welcome them. I think we

1:28:31would also welcome um community members

1:28:33who are interested as well. I think our

1:28:36only concern would be just having too

1:28:37many people that's ineffective. So I

1:28:39think having a select few would be very

1:28:42welcomed and I would say that we are

1:28:45interested in much more than just the

1:28:47downtown and I think that's one reason

1:28:49why the recreation committee wants to be

1:28:52more involved. You know, I think

1:28:54Discover Water is in charge of working

1:28:56around the downtown, but the recreation

1:28:59committee and hopefully planning

1:29:00commission and whoever else can join um

1:29:04would like to have a vision of the

1:29:06future and of the larger connections um

1:29:09that we clearly hear from our towns

1:29:11people that they would like. And so I

1:29:13think it is ideally operating at a full

1:29:18townwide level and into the state parks

1:29:20and coordinating with um state parks and

1:29:23the other um privately held publicly

1:29:27held lands in our town. So I would

1:29:31concur what Martha said. I mean if you

1:29:33add two members whether that's planning

1:29:35or two community members at large that's

1:29:37a team of eight and in my practice here

1:29:40you know eight people is about all you

1:29:41want it gets up more than that just get

1:29:44you know so right now you're sitting on

1:29:46six but I think somebody from an outside

1:29:48perspective and not necessarily a bike

1:29:50person too because it says multi-use so

1:29:53you know you got the bike part covered

1:29:56kind of at the from the area so maybe

1:29:59have large people who could get a

1:30:02perspective

1:30:03aren't necessarily listen to the

1:30:04recreation conversative. That would be

1:30:08my suggestion.

1:30:12And if you get anybody that's the other

1:30:13part of it, but it would to me it

1:30:15wouldn't hurt to see the Okay.

1:30:19>> Is there an action that is required?

1:30:23>> Maybe Roger can correct me if I'm wrong,

1:30:25but I believe we're asking for

1:30:27recognition as a formal

1:30:30Very

1:30:33cool.

1:30:34>> As a member of the public, not

1:30:37thank you for identifying yourself.

1:30:41>> Um Jake, you mentioned in in um groups

1:30:45that that are potential stakeholders

1:30:47here, the conservation commission and um

1:30:50so I'm just wondering as another town

1:30:52committee that might be worth um

1:30:55reaching out to for a voice on the

1:30:57steering committee um that might be one

1:30:59to consider. I know as a a very outdoors

1:31:03person that a lot of our recreational

1:31:07spaces um are joining or within a flood

1:31:11plane or a wetland area. Um and so um so

1:31:14they might have some really good insight

1:31:16in public on our public lands which they

1:31:19are stewards.

1:31:21>> Yeah.

1:31:24>> That would be nine.

1:31:27>> Yeah. However you want to do it. I'd

1:31:28still keep it. I think that it sounds

1:31:31like we would be

1:31:34adopting

1:31:36or ex um what's that word I want

1:31:40adopting this resolution the founding

1:31:43resol founding resolution that was

1:31:47presented to us and we've made uh we

1:31:51would like I think we have a potential

1:31:53motion here to amend it. Okay, hold on a

1:31:56second. Can I finish talking about Yeah.

1:31:58Okay.

1:31:59>> Um I think what we're talking about here

1:32:02is to adopt this res this uh founding

1:32:06resolution. There's been some discussion

1:32:09here that you would entertain adding up

1:32:12to three

1:32:14members conservation if they want to

1:32:18join conservation planning director and

1:32:21a public

1:32:23>> community member at large. Would that be

1:32:27accurate?

1:32:30>> Yeah. [laughter]

1:32:32>> Do we do we have to say who it is or say

1:32:35I mean like

1:32:36>> Well, you don't say here other than it

1:32:38says a board member from Discovering

1:32:39Waterberry or Discover Waterberry. So,

1:32:41you don't know who that person is, but

1:32:43it's a board member, right? And then

1:32:46Waterberry recctor, two members of the

1:32:49rec committee. You're not saying who

1:32:51they are. You're just saying who they

1:32:52represent.

1:32:54>> Yes. And so I think [clears throat] what

1:32:55we're saying is we'd like to see the

1:32:57planning director added. We'd like to

1:32:59see a member of the conservation

1:33:01commission and a member of the community

1:33:04added.

1:33:06Carrie, you're on.

1:33:11>> You must be on mute.

1:33:12>> Yeah. Sorry. Thank you. I just have a

1:33:14quick question maybe. Um, so

1:33:19I is this establishing a committee,

1:33:24a subcommittee of the recreation

1:33:27committee? Um, I'm I'm getting really

1:33:30confused by we have a recreation

1:33:31department and a recreation director and

1:33:35then we have a recreation committee

1:33:37which is its own entity. And so I've

1:33:41seen some of the notes and I know that

1:33:43there's been a subcommittee created. So

1:33:47I I'm just wondering where this falls

1:33:48into place.

1:33:50>> Good question.

1:33:52My understanding is

1:33:54>> you guys speak up.

1:33:55>> My understanding is this is a new

1:33:57committee. It is not a sub.

1:33:59>> It's not part of protection.

1:34:01>> Correct.

1:34:02>> It's not a subcommittee. Am I correct in

1:34:05that is what we are.

1:34:11So if you are a committee then are you

1:34:13subjected to open meeting laws?

1:34:18>> Yes.

1:34:20>> Yeah.

1:34:23>> Okay.

1:34:25>> Thank you.

1:34:27>> All right.

1:34:30Select board questions.

1:34:33>> Well, you want me to make a motion and

1:34:35we could do it this way

1:34:36>> if there's if you would like to. What's

1:34:37your pleasure?

1:34:39Well, I'll make a motion that um the

1:34:42Waterberry Select Board um recognize the

1:34:46Waterberry Pathway Steering Committee as

1:34:48the as presented

1:34:50>> without a with

1:34:52>> with the amendment of three additional

1:34:57people which could be planning

1:34:58conservation member could

1:35:03I think we I thought we were talking

1:35:06about the planning director not the

1:35:08planning commission

1:35:09>> or planning commission. Yeah, I'm sorry.

1:35:10>> Okay. I just want to be careful what the

1:35:13motion is. It be this adding a member of

1:35:18the conservation commission,

1:35:20a member of the community at large and

1:35:22the planning director.

1:35:29Roger's going to uh has excused himself,

1:35:34recused himself. So, it's up to you to

1:35:37to second it.

1:35:40>> Sure. I'll second.

1:35:43>> So, could you read that entire?

1:35:47>> Well, I do have a question about your

1:35:49wording. Uh, I have a question about

1:35:51your wording. Are you saying could

1:35:54include not to exclude uh you know

1:35:57because we may or may not get said

1:35:59people. So can we be careful about the

1:36:01wording please not to you know lock us

1:36:04into that and then maybe not have any

1:36:06people we need because said people

1:36:09cannot join but then who then could be

1:36:13beneficial to this committee. still.

1:36:16>> Okay, I'm just looking at what the

1:36:18document says and it says membership.

1:36:20Membership includes but shall not be

1:36:22limited to the executive director of

1:36:24Discover Waterberry, forward member of

1:36:26Discover Waterberry, Waterberry

1:36:28Recreation Director, two members of the

1:36:31Waterberry Recreation Committee,

1:36:33representative of of Waterberry Area

1:36:36Trail Alliance, and that the membership

1:36:39to be reviewed and approved annually by

1:36:41the select board. And I think that the

1:36:43question here is that the select board

1:36:45is making a motion to add three more

1:36:49>> yes

1:36:50>> individuals to that list.

1:36:51>> Yes. And I believe that this list is

1:36:54simply because this is who is currently

1:36:57meeting together which was a result of

1:37:00the trail summit and people interested

1:37:03in moving this forward. So it's not

1:37:05necessarily that this group came

1:37:07together and said these are the people

1:37:08who should be on the committee. this

1:37:10list appears to me to be the people who

1:37:14volunteered to start a meeting together.

1:37:16So I we don't hesitate to be so literal.

1:37:19I think we kind of want to open it up a

1:37:21little. I think we do want many

1:37:23viewpoints. I do think we want people

1:37:24from all the um areas you've mentioned.

1:37:28But it's not that we came that these

1:37:30must be the people on the committee.

1:37:31It's just the people who currently have

1:37:34volunteered to meet as unofficial. So

1:37:37the conservation they may not want.

1:37:41>> So Cheryl, could you read what it said

1:37:44about adding the

1:37:47>> three motion um that the waterway select

1:37:51board recognize the waterway pathways

1:37:53steering committee um with an amendment

1:37:55to membership to add three members to

1:37:57the list. Planning director, member of

1:37:59the conservation commission, and a

1:38:00member of the community at large.

1:38:03>> So I'm wondering if we had the word, but

1:38:04I could add

1:38:07Right.

1:38:08>> Yeah. And also these people these uh

1:38:12titles mentioned here may or may not

1:38:15continue to exist on this committee as

1:38:16well.

1:38:17>> Well, it says to be reviewed and

1:38:19approved annually by the select board.

1:38:21So

1:38:22>> sure,

1:38:23>> you know, that's why I think adding

1:38:26those identifiers, the planning

1:38:28director, the conservation commission,

1:38:30and the community member at large, they

1:38:32may or may not be on.

1:38:34>> Right.

1:38:34>> Right. We're just asking for that

1:38:36representation to be considered and open

1:38:39to the that opportunity.

1:38:41>> Sure.

1:38:41>> So, can I ask a quick question? When I

1:38:43was reading through the pathways,

1:38:47sort of a mapping, it also included the

1:38:50Green Mount Rorow,

1:38:52>> the Green Mountain Rors, the Snowville,

1:38:54because they work as maintenance on some

1:38:57of the trails. whether or not they

1:38:59should be I mean I'm not saying have a

1:39:01member of there but that they're

1:39:03notified of where they're planning to

1:39:05move back as far as you know because

1:39:08they will be involved if they look on

1:39:10the trail. Well, I think as these folks

1:39:12have said, anybody can come to your

1:39:14meetings, right? I mean, if they want to

1:39:17participate, but I guess the point that

1:39:19Don and I were trying to make is we

1:39:21would like to make it clear, well, I

1:39:24personally would like to make it clear

1:39:26that the planning director be involved

1:39:27because they see the bigger picture than

1:39:30just the recreation piece and it's

1:39:33multimodal. you know, I think he brings

1:39:35expertise and is a staff position that

1:39:39would be beneficial.

1:39:41Uh, conservation commission, Cheryl

1:39:44points out a good it's on none of these

1:39:46activities are on public lands which the

1:39:48conservation commission is paying

1:39:50attention to.

1:39:52>> Remember the public is in beholden to

1:39:54the bike,

1:39:55>> right?

1:39:56>> Or to the snowmobile community.

1:39:57>> That could be the snowmobile community

1:39:59that's the member at

1:40:02can be reviewed. I would say

1:40:05it says annually

1:40:08I think you come back to us and say you

1:40:10know this is a new committee we heard

1:40:11what you said here's what we've come up

1:40:13with you know

1:40:14>> yeah I mean honestly you'll get added to

1:40:16the [laughter] preoccurring agendas

1:40:20so as a new committee

1:40:21>> but just be careful like you say you

1:40:23don't want 125 to

1:40:26>> yeah I think I back that I understand

1:40:29you're saying that I think the

1:40:30membership list of who's on that list

1:40:33will fluctuate and as we get into

1:40:35certain projects I'm sure

1:40:37[clears throat]

1:40:37bring in new members who are interested

1:40:40as well

1:40:42>> because you don't have a limited not

1:40:44membership will be limited to

1:40:46>> not be limited it says shall not

1:40:51>> right

1:40:52>> then you get into like questions of

1:40:54quorum and who's a voting member and get

1:40:57an actual say in this as a 10th

1:40:59committee

1:41:00>> I don't feel like leaving that ended is

1:41:03a a good idea.

1:41:05>> Since I'm staring at the wording, may I

1:41:07make a recommendation for maybe an

1:41:10amendment to this based on just what I'm

1:41:12hearing? Um motion that the water select

1:41:15board recognized Word Bay with an

1:41:18amendment to the membership to allow for

1:41:20the addition of three stakeholders to

1:41:22the committee. Planning director, member

1:41:24of the conservation commission, and a

1:41:26member of the community at large.

1:41:29to allow for

1:41:31the addition.

1:41:35>> Okay.

1:41:35>> How is that?

1:41:38>> Did we Is that

1:41:39>> Yeah, that's fine. You have to make a

1:41:41motion to

1:41:42>> Well, she's she's helping your motion.

1:41:45[laughter]

1:41:46>> And I don't know if it was seconded, but

1:41:49it was second in a motion and then the

1:41:53additional discussion brought this up.

1:41:55All right.

1:41:56>> Do we have any further discussion? Lisa,

1:42:00>> what? Oh, Lisa, sorry you over there.

1:42:08>> Thank you.

1:42:09>> Hi. Um, Lisa, whatever it um I just want

1:42:12to I'm trying to understand how in the

1:42:15grand scheme of all of the boards and

1:42:16commissions like where this is going to

1:42:18fit in. As you know, we've been talking

1:42:19recently about like openings on boards

1:42:21and commissions. And so, I think about

1:42:22the stuff in terms of like trying to

1:42:24explain this to people. So, is this

1:42:26going to be a commission, a committee

1:42:29just like the other 10 committees that

1:42:31are on our list of committees? Will the

1:42:32select board be making the appointments?

1:42:35Will there be terms of a certain So,

1:42:37you'll be appointed at a certain time

1:42:39and a term to serve certain amount of a

1:42:42certain amount of time. Somebody, you

1:42:44know, comes to meetings or they resign

1:42:46and we're keeping track. Is it going to

1:42:49be like that like all the other

1:42:50committees are? cars are going to be its

1:42:51own sort of other creature than than

1:42:55what the um

1:42:57>> the document that's posted that the

1:42:58bottom it says the steering committee

1:43:00will adopt bylaws to elect officers

1:43:03conduct meetings and establish a meeting

1:43:05and reporting schedule the great

1:43:08question and um I guess the question is

1:43:12it would be the same the terms of of um

1:43:16membership would be broken up into What?

1:43:20Three. There's threeear terms that are

1:43:22basically uh what the other committees

1:43:25except for the conservation committee.

1:43:26They have four-year terms. Would they be

1:43:29staggered?

1:43:30>> Uh I think

1:43:33we haven't talked about that.

1:43:36>> Well, it says will be something now that

1:43:39>> you've gotten recognized by the select.

1:43:41>> Yes.

1:43:42>> I don't Yes.

1:43:44>> I don't think I'm the one that same

1:43:46pattern as the other set up.

1:43:48>> Yeah. I don't, you know, this is a

1:43:50pathway steering committee. It It's not

1:43:53the rec committee. It's not the planning

1:43:55commission. It's something between, you

1:43:57know,

1:43:58>> right? And so I get it just with you.

1:44:02>> Just wonder like where does it fit in

1:44:03and will it follow a similar kind of

1:44:05pattern that the other ones do in terms

1:44:06of how they're numbers are signed and

1:44:10how they're managed. And so people will

1:44:12know, you know, there's a there's going

1:44:14to be an opening. So So term is coming

1:44:16up. Yeah. And you know, maybe I like to

1:44:18serve, you know, try.

1:44:20>> Well, Jake, how do you see this

1:44:22different from the rec

1:44:28uh Yeah. different from what the mission

1:44:32of the rec committee already is?

1:44:35>> I think what it's a great question. I

1:44:37think we trying to tackle that and I

1:44:40think what we come up with and what came

1:44:42out of the trail summit was a kind of a

1:44:45need for a municipal task force not part

1:44:48all the responsibility of the recreation

1:44:50committee we're not plann

1:44:54don't don't have you know the power I'd

1:44:57say to make these decisions and I don't

1:45:00think we want that to be happening

1:45:01unilaterally by the rec committee things

1:45:04that would affect the department of

1:45:06public works planning commission and I

1:45:08think it could happen in the planning

1:45:10commission but I don't think they want

1:45:12to take that on. So I think this group

1:45:14has kind of formed out of the necessity

1:45:16and the function of our our different

1:45:20committees that know when there's no one

1:45:21that really fits this role and I think

1:45:24we've seen and heard from our town

1:45:26people that it's something that people

1:45:28really want and I think it can't be

1:45:31something that just is one group taking

1:45:33out a housekeeping kind of a coalition

1:45:35of people and so I think we would see

1:45:39this functioning as any other company

1:45:41similar to conservation committee or the

1:45:44correct committee having new members and

1:45:46openings and new people

1:45:49in terms as the other committees do.

1:45:52>> I'm not a time check.

1:45:54>> Yeah, I know. Uh I've been kind of

1:45:56watching that too. Um can you guys come

1:46:00can you do you have a calendar of time

1:46:02as to when you'll have bylaws in place

1:46:05that you could come back and tell the

1:46:08select board about? Yes, I think we are

1:46:11currently focused on town plan review

1:46:14but

1:46:14>> okay

1:46:15>> we meet currently we meet monthly so

1:46:17maybe in November potentially depending

1:46:21all the holidays times of course

1:46:23>> let's stay in touch but I think it will

1:46:25be helpful to have you come back

1:46:27question

1:46:28>> Carrie

1:46:32your hand is up

1:46:33>> yeah sorry thank you um I'll get my

1:46:36video on too um I I I'm extraordinarily

1:46:42confused.

1:46:43Um we haven't seen anything from the

1:46:47recreation committee since April. They

1:46:50missed the last um planned

1:46:54commission meeting where there were

1:46:56going to have an update. Um and I I I

1:47:01I'm just I'm really concerned that this

1:47:03is taking a whole other direction. Um,

1:47:07we have two departments again. We have a

1:47:09recreation director, right, who reports

1:47:13to the town manager and that staff and

1:47:16then we have a recreation committee,

1:47:20um, which, you know, we haven't heard

1:47:22much from. And now we're going to have a

1:47:27recreation

1:47:29task force thing. I I guess I'm just

1:47:32very confused. um it in all of that and

1:47:37the last thing that I knew was that we

1:47:41were

1:47:43I don't know six figures in the hole

1:47:45with the wreck department and everyone

1:47:48was supposed to be working on that. So I

1:47:50I guess I

1:47:53I'm confused.

1:47:57can't respond to the financial

1:48:00questions, but I think the only

1:48:02correction I would make in what you're

1:48:03saying is that what we're proposing is

1:48:05not a recreation focused group. It's a

1:48:08connectivity, pedestrian,

1:48:10connectivity, and pathways group that

1:48:13can respond to what we've heard from our

1:48:16town and our surveys looking for someone

1:48:19to steward pathways and safe connections

1:48:21in in Waterberry. I think the recreation

1:48:24committee is focused on a lot of

1:48:25different things and we apologize for

1:48:28not making it soon.

1:48:29>> Yeah. An example an example car that is

1:48:31you know when Steve Lusby was here he

1:48:34pushed really hard to get connected path

1:48:36bike path from the race center to the

1:48:38village which means you go up the golf

1:48:40course. Now there's a path that's brass

1:48:43that nobody uses. They go up the road

1:48:44and you go down this bumpy, you know,

1:48:48it's an awful leg from through

1:48:51somebody's yard down through the linky

1:48:53street. I mean, it's just and he pushed

1:48:55for that and that's where it remains

1:48:58there because there's nobody looking at

1:49:00that and saying

1:49:03>> so so that would help with that. You

1:49:05know, this kind of group would help make

1:49:07those pathways more accessible for more

1:49:09people and more useful.

1:49:10>> Yeah. Then what what is our wreck

1:49:12committee doing then?

1:49:15>> The rec the rec committee

1:49:17[clears throat] is currently studying

1:49:18the town pool and what to do about that.

1:49:21>> Potential future recreation facilities,

1:49:24the management of our recreation fields

1:49:26and our parks and implementing the parks

1:49:29master plans that were previously done a

1:49:31couple years ago. and the rec committee

1:49:34wants to be involved with this and

1:49:35ensuring there's long-term visioning and

1:49:38a connection to the recreational assets

1:49:40in the town. I think this group is like

1:49:43it's almost I'd think about it more as a

1:49:45transportation group and more of a you

1:49:48know town facility management team.

1:49:53Um so operating with some authority

1:49:57whereas the recreation committee is

1:49:58literally just a planning and advisory

1:50:01group. All right. All right. We're going

1:50:04to move on here.

1:50:05>> We have a vote.

1:50:06>> We have a motion on the table. We have

1:50:08it seconded. We've had additional

1:50:10discussion and I take a vote.

1:50:13>> But so the motion on the table then

1:50:14there was discussion of amendments to

1:50:16that motion and so um I don't there was

1:50:20not a motion to to amend them. I think

1:50:24they agreed with your edit.

1:50:25>> Yeah.

1:50:26>> Okay. That was the that was the motion.

1:50:29>> Okay.

1:50:29>> Can I withdraw my second? I think this

1:50:31needs more thought before we take a vote

1:50:34on it.

1:50:35>> Okay. So, the amended motion, Don, are

1:50:38you still making

1:50:40>> I was thinking the same thing. I would

1:50:42have more discussion, have this written

1:50:43up a little differently. Is that going

1:50:45to throw up

1:50:47anything

1:50:49timeline or any urgency?

1:50:53>> Um, no. I don't think got a lot of

1:50:56feedback.

1:50:57>> Yeah.

1:50:59I think the only thing is that

1:51:02we have we are acting as kind of the

1:51:05collaborators with the National Park

1:51:06Service currently

1:51:08>> as a director.

1:51:11>> Uh no it says the pathways steering

1:51:14committee

1:51:16>> and

1:51:16>> which is an unsanctious anti okay

1:51:20>> group of people [laughter] who have been

1:51:23interested because hasn't been other

1:51:25group of people. So I would recommend

1:51:27working this document and put you on and

1:51:29it shouldn't take very long a lot of

1:51:31discussion. So I think

1:51:32>> Sure. I think you know your concern so I

1:51:34don't think

1:51:36>> Yeah. So you're working for suggested

1:51:38dialogue.

1:51:40>> No no just clean up the membership and

1:51:42all that work.

1:51:45>> Yeah.

1:51:46>> I think yeah we can talk more.

1:51:49>> All right. Um the motion is withdrawn.

1:51:52We're going to move on to the next

1:51:55agenda item and thank you for coming in

1:51:57and explaining and let's you know give

1:52:00us give us a heads up connect with

1:52:02Gracie in terms of when you think you

1:52:05would come back.

1:52:07>> Okay. Yes.

1:52:08>> Thank you.

1:52:09>> So a point of order chair I'm wondering

1:52:13if some of the committee members are

1:52:14here more for the discussion of the

1:52:16elected town clerk. Can we move that to

1:52:18the next item and do the select board

1:52:20rules later? flip those two.

1:52:22>> I don't think it'll take that long.

1:52:24>> What's that?

1:52:26>> That's what I think.

1:52:27>> Yeah,

1:52:28>> that's my guess. I don't

1:52:31>> um I I don't think it'll take that long.

1:52:33We I mean I want to get we we're going

1:52:35to need to keep moving. All right. I

1:52:37appreciate your uh concern and I do want

1:52:40to keep the conversation moving.

1:52:41>> Is there a second half of that last item

1:52:44relating to the October 23rd something?

1:52:48They were announcing the sheret that's

1:52:50scheduled for October 23rd.

1:52:53>> Is there more information about that

1:52:54some?

1:52:57>> Um, sure.

1:52:58>> Yes.

1:53:00>> All right, we're going to move on. Um,

1:53:02amended to select amendment to select

1:53:06board rules of procedure. This is an

1:53:08administrative amendment or yeah,

1:53:11amendment to the rule. Article five um

1:53:17outlines

1:53:18um

1:53:20the setting of the agenda and the mod

1:53:23modification that is proposed is to um

1:53:28request that all documentation,

1:53:30presentations, etc. materials in support

1:53:33of a request

1:53:35to be on the agenda be received by

1:53:39Wednesday the the Wednesday prior to the

1:53:42meeting. The other modification or

1:53:45amendment to the uh modification to

1:53:48article 5 is that it says the reason for

1:53:51the addition or deletion should be

1:53:55reflected in the minutes.

1:53:57And then the last line has been added to

1:54:00say that the town manager, the manager's

1:54:03designated staff shall be responsible

1:54:05for posting the agenda and all related

1:54:07materials and late materials may result

1:54:10in an agenda item being removed being

1:54:13moved to the next regular meeting. The

1:54:16purpose of this is really uh to be

1:54:20respectful of the select board's time

1:54:22that materials come in on Wednesday

1:54:25before in preparation for the agenda

1:54:29that the select board has time between

1:54:31Wednesday and Friday to review them, ask

1:54:34questions, um whatever.

1:54:38And then all materials are posted on

1:54:41Friday. Um,

1:54:44and I hope that it will keep things

1:54:47moving a little bit uh smoother.

1:54:52That's the request.

1:54:55Any discussion?

1:54:58Can I take a motion?

1:55:00>> Yeah. I don't feel like this gives a lot

1:55:03of time to work on documentation and

1:55:05presentations in between meetings. Like

1:55:08typically there's 14 days between

1:55:10meetings and this takes away seven of

1:55:13them to do work

1:55:16as we [clears throat] in by Wednesday.

1:55:20So that cuts our time to prepare that

1:55:24stuff basically in half.

1:55:30It's not it's it's not it's not just for

1:55:34select board. It's for So, for example,

1:55:37we didn't get the crew material until

1:55:40yesterday.

1:55:42So, it doesn't get posted to the website

1:55:44by Friday. So, the community doesn't get

1:55:47a chance to review it over the weekend.

1:55:49I just don't think it's fair that the

1:55:50town represent you know the community

1:55:53doesn't the staff the select board or

1:55:56the town community gets to see the

1:55:59materials

1:56:00with enough time in advance.

1:56:04Sandy

1:56:06>> um I just

1:56:09about that I we

1:56:12are not required to give the public

1:56:15which is a courtesy. Um, but I feel like

1:56:18this, if we're going to do this, it

1:56:20should only be

1:56:23I'll get a little bit more firm on

1:56:25things that are going to have are going

1:56:27to be actionable items, not just

1:56:29presentations because I feel like that

1:56:32if a person's going to do a

1:56:33presentation, they're presenting it to

1:56:35us at the time. And if we've got an

1:56:38actionable item that people actually

1:56:40need to really take the time on, that's

1:56:43a whole

1:56:46feel like

1:56:48um on nonactionable items like when the

1:56:52different board committees come and see

1:56:55I don't see a problem with

1:56:58>> the feedback that I'm getting is that

1:57:00we're posting things on the weekend

1:57:02people go the agenda gets posted on

1:57:05Friday and then things keep getting

1:57:07added or deleted or changed and people

1:57:09don't know that because they've looked

1:57:11on Friday and they think this is what's

1:57:13going to be discussed these are the the

1:57:15packet of information that supports the

1:57:17agenda and then it becomes a moving

1:57:20target because things are added later.

1:57:21That's what this this is looking to

1:57:24address. But we could change it so that

1:57:27the email that goes out with the agenda

1:57:30doesn't go out until Sunday. It'll be on

1:57:33the website, but the actual email that

1:57:35goes out saying, you know, with the uh

1:57:39with the agenda on it doesn't go out

1:57:41until Sunday. doesn't need to go out

1:57:44before that.

1:57:46So instead of when they get the email,

1:57:49it's got a list of everything on it and

1:57:52the agenda that can be changed to being

1:57:55I mean I'm the one that sends it out

1:57:57right now.

1:57:58>> So that changes it becomes a staff

1:58:01position.

1:58:03>> Well,

1:58:06all right.

1:58:08>> And I I think getting it out Friday,

1:58:09people at the weekend look at it. I mean

1:58:11getting it out Sunday is Monday and then

1:58:13you know you're working full-time you

1:58:14know it's like gives you like one night

1:58:16maybe or and as far as what you said

1:58:19about the seven days or gives you this

1:58:22time if you present something tonight

1:58:25again if you have to make that much

1:58:26changes I think that's you know I get

1:58:29your point about there's enough time but

1:58:31I can't imagine you'd have to overhaul

1:58:33something we said please have it by the

1:58:35next meeting there's a deadline if

1:58:36you're that close to a deadline if that

1:58:38much changes and something isn't Do you

1:58:41know what I mean? I don't think that's

1:58:44it's a concern.

1:58:45>> Roger.

1:58:46>> Um, I recognize that we're all trying to

1:58:50do what we can to comply with opening

1:58:53law and share as much information as we

1:58:55can. I think we've done a great job of

1:58:58trying to get the information out. And I

1:59:01will move to adopt the resolution as

1:59:04amended.

1:59:07>> I'll second.

1:59:10Any further discussion?

1:59:13All those in favor say I.

1:59:14>> I. I.

1:59:16>> All those opposed.

1:59:17>> No.

1:59:18>> Motion passes.

1:59:20>> Can I just understand sort out the how

1:59:23many of which is it? Okay.

1:59:26>> So, three to two. Thank you.

1:59:30>> All right. Um,

1:59:33discussion of appointed versus elected

1:59:36town clerk treasurer positions. Evan,

1:59:39this is your

1:59:42presentation.

1:59:44>> Share my screen.

2:00:13You serve me

2:00:24now.

2:00:34Thank you.

2:00:36Yeah.

2:01:11It's like

2:01:14you just need to

2:01:18pray. Oh yeah, you are.

2:01:24Oh, there it is.

2:01:26All right,

2:01:28guys.

2:01:52I got to get rid of

2:01:55anybody.

2:01:56So, this is a a discussion we've sort of

2:02:00been

2:02:04>> various points in the past couple of

2:02:07months

2:02:10uh about moving the town clerk and

2:02:12treasury to an appointed rather than

2:02:14elected position. And I put this

2:02:16together as a a summary of everything

2:02:20we've discussed so far and the next

2:02:22steps.

2:02:24Uh I wanted to first explain how we got

2:02:27to this point and why we're even having

2:02:28this discussion. So

2:02:32early this year the incumbent clerk left

2:02:36amid massive turnover at the town

2:02:38office.

2:02:39uh exactly the reasons for that I don't

2:02:42feel are really relevant to this uh

2:02:45discussion at this point in case the

2:02:48board has to deal with the issue as it

2:02:53came to us. We can't go back and change

2:02:56what may have happened with the previous

2:02:58board or staff.

2:03:01Uh [clears throat]

2:03:02the key factor is that it left us with

2:03:05this very important position to fill.

2:03:08And between the former clerk and all the

2:03:10other staff, there was a lot of

2:03:12institutional knowledge that was lost.

2:03:15Uh to fill that vacancy, we made an

2:03:18interim appointment

2:03:20uh at the town elections.

2:03:23Uh no candidates filed to be on the

2:03:25ballot for either clerk or treasurer. Uh

2:03:29the previous clerk was reelected as a

2:03:32right-in candidate but refused to take

2:03:35office again for reasons that aren't I

2:03:37don't feel relevant anymore. Uh which

2:03:40left us to make another interimm

2:03:43appointment. We opened up applications

2:03:45and waited and waited and waited. Uh

2:03:50and it was I forgot to check the exact

2:03:53timeline. It was several weeks that this

2:03:55position was opened and I was pestering

2:03:58the interimm clerk about whether there

2:04:00had been any applications yet and there

2:04:02wasn't and there wasn't until very last

2:04:04day. One person

2:04:07uh put in an application to be the town

2:04:09clerk.

2:04:12>> Uh I had reached out to people and sure

2:04:16the rest of the board did as well. Like

2:04:17I reached out to people I know who might

2:04:19possibly have been interested. No

2:04:21responses.

2:04:23uh which is a big problem anywhere any

2:04:26year but this is an election year and

2:04:28the elections process was already

2:04:30starting to get in motion when this

2:04:32whole thing was happening. Uh

2:04:38uh we went through the formalities of

2:04:40the interview process but we ultimately

2:04:42had little choice but to hire the one

2:04:44person who had applied.

2:04:48Uh, which tells me that people in this

2:04:51town are not very interested in being

2:04:53the town clerk, which is

2:04:57>> it's funny, but it's also a problem.

2:04:59Cool. Okay.

2:05:01>> Uh, the problems here, the three core

2:05:05problems are that there is low public

2:05:08interest

2:05:09uh in either the election or the

2:05:11application process and nobody stepped

2:05:13forward to run.

2:05:16Uh two is the institutional knowledge

2:05:18and experience that we have lost and

2:05:20need to try to rebuild. And the third is

2:05:23that these roles require some

2:05:24specialized skill sets with legal

2:05:27compliance managing a pretty significant

2:05:29budget and they aren't necessarily

2:05:32suitable to be filled by just anyone

2:05:35either through an election or through a

2:05:37a hiring from a tiny pool of applicants.

2:05:41Neither one of those is going to

2:05:42guarantee that we get somebody who's

2:05:44qualified to do the job well. And the

2:05:47fact that our current town clerk has

2:05:49been doing well so far uh to me really

2:05:53just highlights that it could have gone

2:05:55much worse.

2:05:58So the proposed solution here is that

2:06:00the uh town clerk and treasurer can be

2:06:04appointed by the select board instead.

2:06:06This is an option that we have under

2:06:09state law. Uh

2:06:12state law also allows us to elect or

2:06:15appoint people who are not residents of

2:06:17Liber to these positions.

2:06:24Uh

2:06:26I see several merits to making this

2:06:28change. First is that it allows us to

2:06:31pick from a broader pool of applicants.

2:06:34uh removing the residency requirement

2:06:36enables to open it up to qualify

2:06:38candidates anywhere in the state. Uh we

2:06:41wouldn't be limited by whoever happens

2:06:43to express interest in any given year.

2:06:48Uh second, elections aren't a good

2:06:51process for finding qualified

2:06:53candidates. An interview is a much

2:06:56better screening process.

2:06:58uh

2:07:01elections can turn into a popularity

2:07:04contest. They can be in some way

2:07:06representative of the town, but there's

2:07:09a reason we don't elect judges in this

2:07:11country. You know, positions that have a

2:07:14specialized skill set need a better

2:07:17process for finding those qualified

2:07:18applicants.

2:07:21Uh third is stability, which is true for

2:07:24both the town and the office holders.

2:07:29The lack of long-term job security makes

2:07:32it un unattractive to potential

2:07:35applicants. I know at least one person I

2:07:37reached out to back in April

2:07:41said, "Yeah, maybe they would be

2:07:43interested, but for basically financial

2:07:46reasons, they couldn't do it at the

2:07:47time."

2:07:50uh

2:07:51and this greater stability and being

2:07:54more attractive goes back into the first

2:07:56point

2:07:58uh would draw more people to this

2:08:00position.

2:08:02Uh

2:08:04it also benefits the town by keeping

2:08:06experienced people in the job for longer

2:08:09and that institutional knowledge can be

2:08:11built up and we can plan for transitions

2:08:14without these sudden [clears throat]

2:08:16uh interruptions.

2:08:20And the last reason is the one why the

2:08:23legislature made this an option in the

2:08:25first place. There was an issue in some

2:08:27other town where there was uh somebody

2:08:30in one of these offices who was

2:08:32misbehaving in some way. U it is

2:08:36possible for a clerk or treasurer to

2:08:38misuse their position. Uh pocketing

2:08:42public funds trying to influence the

2:08:44outcome of an election. uh or even

2:08:48without any ill intent, it's possible to

2:08:50do the jobs poorly when missing

2:08:52deadlines, losing paperwork, stuff like

2:08:54that. And currently, there is no way to

2:08:57remove a clerk or treasurer once they're

2:09:00in office.

2:09:02Uh if these were moved to appointed

2:09:04positions, they could also be removed by

2:09:06the select board, which provides

2:09:08oversight and accountability.

2:09:11Um the town would also have some more

2:09:13flexibility in terms of defining job

2:09:15descriptions and clarifying

2:09:16responsibilities or combining it with

2:09:19other positions like bookkeeper or

2:09:20finance director which is something

2:09:22they've also floated the idea of

2:09:27uh which gives applicants a better idea

2:09:29of what to expect from the job and gives

2:09:32us a clearer picture of when those

2:09:34expectations are being met or not.

2:09:39Uh there are some potential drawbacks,

2:09:41some of which we know ourselves and some

2:09:43of which have come from the public

2:09:45already. Uh first is that it may not

2:09:48actually provide the benefits that we're

2:09:52hoping for. There might still be very

2:09:53few little from interest from

2:09:56applicants. You know, if you live in

2:09:58Ducksberry or Underh Hill, why would you

2:10:00care about being the clerk of

2:10:02Waterberry? Like uh it's not your town.

2:10:05It's not your business. So it's very

2:10:07possible that this won't actually help

2:10:10thing.

2:10:12Uh second is that the select board would

2:10:14be overseeing a position that oversees

2:10:16our own election. And some people have

2:10:18expressed concerns that that might uh be

2:10:21a possible avenue for abuse.

2:10:24Uh and third it is removing a choice

2:10:27from voters like this is um a choice

2:10:31that the voters get to make and we would

2:10:32be uh taking that away from them.

2:10:39uh to address these in order. I think it

2:10:42is true that it might not get us any

2:10:45more applicants, but it definitely won't

2:10:47get us any fewer applicants.

2:10:49I only really see an upside uh in this.

2:10:54It might not be a big upside. It might

2:10:56be a very big upside, but I it

2:10:58definitely won't make things worse.

2:11:03Uh second, the town clerk currently

2:11:06oversees their own elections. So if we

2:11:09think this kind of abuse isn't likely,

2:11:10then we should also be concerned about

2:11:12it. Right now,

2:11:14uh select board members are also members

2:11:17of the board of civil authority. And if

2:11:19people are worried about us influencing

2:11:21the town clerk, they should also be

2:11:23worried about us influencing our own

2:11:25elections through that avenue currently.

2:11:27So, I don't see this getting any worse

2:11:30for potential abuse or accountability.

2:11:33Uh, again, only upside, the current

2:11:37system has no oversight that would let

2:11:40us discover improper behavior or if it

2:11:42was found, there would be no opportunity

2:11:45to correct it except hypothetically

2:11:48impeachment by the legislature. But you

2:11:50can probably imagine how likely that is.

2:11:55Uh, a lot of damage could be done in 3

2:11:58years while you're waiting for another

2:12:00election to happen and the voters get to

2:12:02weigh in again.

2:12:04Uh, I

2:12:05>> Evan, can I Excuse me. Can I interrupt

2:12:07for just a second? So, are you saying

2:12:09that

2:12:11um an elected town clerk or elected

2:12:14treasurer?

2:12:16I thought the legislature could made it

2:12:18so that they could now be removed

2:12:20>> if we move to appointments.

2:12:22>> Oh, only if they're appointed. only if

2:12:24they're

2:12:24>> okay. Thank you.

2:12:26>> Yeah.

2:12:26>> Okay.

2:12:26>> Wait a minute. So, if a town clerk is

2:12:28embezzling

2:12:30thousands of dollars and they get

2:12:32arrested and found out, they remain

2:12:35there. No legislative, no oversight by

2:12:37the state

2:12:39>> unless they were impeached. As far as I

2:12:40know, they're in their impeachment by

2:12:44the legislature.

2:12:45>> So, there is a process.

2:12:47>> Yeah.

2:12:47>> The state legislature.

2:12:49>> Yeah. Right.

2:12:52Isn't that Coventry that they couldn't

2:12:54get the clerk was in?

2:12:58>> It would have to be pretty egregious. I

2:13:00mean, you know.

2:13:00>> Yeah.

2:13:00>> Well, that's why they put this law in

2:13:02place.

2:13:04>> Go ahead, Evan.

2:13:05>> Other positions of county sheriffs and

2:13:08states attorneys that have done some

2:13:09pretty serious misbehavior recently and

2:13:11have not been impeached for it.

2:13:12>> Right.

2:13:13>> So, I think the chances that the

2:13:15legislature would bother with a town is

2:13:19pretty unlikely.

2:13:25Uh

2:13:27and as far as democracy is concerned, I

2:13:29think it's already undemocratic. Uh

2:13:32after this concern was raised by a

2:13:34member of the public, I went into the

2:13:36archives and looked at the history of

2:13:39town clerk elections. And since the

2:13:42since they were moved to Australian

2:13:43ballot in 1976, there's only been one

2:13:46contested election in this town for

2:13:48clerk. and three for treasurer.

2:13:52Uh if people are worried about voters

2:13:57being able to make a choice, they

2:13:59already don't have that option.

2:14:03I could tell you the years if anybody

2:14:06cared, but it uh

2:14:10you know if democracy means people get

2:14:12to choose their elected officials, they

2:14:15have not been able to do that in this

2:14:17century. Even when a town clerk has left

2:14:20and the position was vacant, there was

2:14:22only ever one uh person running to fill

2:14:25that vacancy.

2:14:28And it's also important to note that

2:14:31moving to an appointed position is not

2:14:33something the town can do or the not

2:14:36something the select board can do on its

2:14:37own. It would be a vote of the town to

2:14:41decide whether this is a thing we're

2:14:43doing or not. and the town can decide

2:14:46how democratic they want this to be and

2:14:49how important that is.

2:14:55>> Uh the town at the annual meeting in

2:14:58March would have to decide whether this

2:15:01position moves to appointment. It's not

2:15:03something the select board can do. We

2:15:04can just decide to ask the voters that

2:15:07question.

2:15:11Uh so that brings us to how I propose to

2:15:13implement this change. Uh there's a lot

2:15:16of moving pieces here and several votes

2:15:19that would have to be put to the public.

2:15:22I've reviewed the statutes and consulted

2:15:24with PLCT and so as Sandy, she's helped

2:15:26me on this. Uh I've come up with a

2:15:28timeline that targets the final decision

2:15:31to be made at town meeting day 2027.

2:15:36Uh there are three different votes of

2:15:38the town which we'll go through first

2:15:41and then we'll go through the actions

2:15:42the board would need to take and when to

2:15:44make that happen.

2:15:48Uh the first public vote is on whether

2:15:52the final decision should be made by

2:15:54Australian ballot or whether it would

2:15:56default to a floor vote at town meeting.

2:16:00Uh uh this would have to be held at a

2:16:02special town meeting which I have

2:16:04targeted for January 11th which roughly

2:16:07aligns with the petition deadlines for

2:16:09candidates and special articles which

2:16:11are both in the mid to late January.

2:16:14That'll give plenty of time for the

2:16:15ballots to be prepared and printed.

2:16:18Uh this meeting is held at a floor vote

2:16:22with like all town meeting questions

2:16:25default to and there would be four

2:16:27articles which I've written up here of

2:16:31whether to use Australian ballot to

2:16:33answer each of these four questions on

2:16:35the residency and appointment for each

2:16:38of the two offices.

2:16:43uh this is not what is going to decide

2:16:45the question itself just the method we

2:16:47use to decide the question. Uh, I

2:16:51include this step because I feel very

2:16:52strongly that decisions of of this

2:16:54magnitude that affect the sort of

2:16:56structure of town government should be

2:16:59made by as many people in town as

2:17:01possible. And we've seen as a lot of

2:17:04data to show that Australian ballot

2:17:06consistently gets much much better

2:17:08turnout than floor votes at town.

2:17:13>> However, this would be all decided.

2:17:15These questions would yes the decision

2:17:18about whether to use the ballot is a

2:17:20flaw vote

2:17:20>> right.

2:17:25>> Uh the second public vote is at the

2:17:29annual meeting. Uh depending on the

2:17:32results of the special meeting it would

2:17:35hopefully be on Austral on on the

2:17:38ballot. Otherwise it would again default

2:17:41to a four vote.

2:17:43These would all You're saying these

2:17:44would all be Australian ballot ballot.

2:17:47Australian ballot articles

2:17:50>> if if these ones pass.

2:17:53>> Right.

2:17:53>> Yes.

2:17:54>> Right. Okay.

2:17:56>> Uh

2:17:57>> it would go on there with electing

2:17:59select board members, library

2:18:01commissioners, all the other stuff that

2:18:02usually goes on the ballot.

2:18:05Uh if the earlier questions fail, we

2:18:09could still put these to a floor vote at

2:18:12town meeting. I just feel it would be

2:18:15less representative and less fair.

2:18:18Uh

2:18:20regardless of how it's decided, this is

2:18:21when the final decision would be made.

2:18:24And uh the

2:18:27town meeting warning can and I think

2:18:30should include an article dedicated to

2:18:32discussing and debating this question.

2:18:35It's just that no action would be taken

2:18:37under that article if it's decided by

2:18:41instead.

2:18:45Uh the third vote that I am proposing

2:18:49and I I want to make clear that uh Sandy

2:18:53does not support this after our

2:18:54discussions uh but I feel that it's a

2:18:57related and should be asked at the same

2:19:00time uh whether to seek a charter change

2:19:03to enable recall elections for town

2:19:06officers.

2:19:08uh a

2:19:11this is a accountability measure for

2:19:13members of the select board to help

2:19:15alleviate some of the concerns mentioned

2:19:17earlier about democracy and the power

2:19:19dynamics and potential for malfeasants.

2:19:22Uh

2:19:24applying for a charter change comes with

2:19:26its own separate procedure

2:19:29uh and requirements. It's a decision

2:19:31that would ultimately be made by the

2:19:33legislature. Uh but this is the town can

2:19:36vote to sort of kick this off and make a

2:19:38formal request to them. This is also

2:19:41targeted for town meeting to maximize

2:19:45the public turnout and

2:19:47uh decide the question will people have

2:19:50it in their minds and they're deciding

2:19:52the other questions.

2:19:58Uh that brings us to the select board

2:20:01actions that would be needed to

2:20:03implement

2:20:04uh this timeline.

2:20:07Uh each of these

2:20:10special meetings comes with its own

2:20:12warning requirements which I didn't

2:20:14include on this calendar because it's

2:20:16already cluttered enough.

2:20:18But I chose these dates to align with

2:20:20our regular meetings

2:20:23um throughout December, January, and

2:20:25February.

2:20:27Um with the exception of the January

2:20:2911th special town meeting because that

2:20:32is a town meeting, not a select court

2:20:34meeting. And the LCT advised it should

2:20:36not be combined because it's a different

2:20:39group of people making that decision.

2:20:42Uh

2:20:47the warnings for the special town

2:20:51meeting would be uh finalized on

2:20:53December 1st. Warnings for the two

2:20:57hearings regarding the charter change

2:20:59would be uh finalized on December 15th.

2:21:03Uh January 19th is when we would be

2:21:06finalizing the town meeting boarding if

2:21:09not sooner.

2:21:11uh would also be holding the first of

2:21:14the twoformational hearings about the

2:21:16charter change. And

2:21:18>> these are public information.

2:21:20>> Yes,

2:21:21>> it just says information, but this is

2:21:23open to the public.

2:21:24>> Yeah, publicformational hearing like we

2:21:26had at our our last meeting about

2:21:27donations.

2:21:32uh February 2nd would have

2:21:34theformational hearing about the uh

2:21:38final decision and we've

2:21:42uh heard from some town clerks in other

2:21:45towns that have considered this and made

2:21:48that decision who would be willing to

2:21:49come and speak with us about their uh

2:21:52opinions on the matter. And this would

2:21:54be when I would target most of our

2:21:57public outreach forward. If uh if people

2:22:02want to come express their opinions

2:22:03about it, this would be the time to do

2:22:05it.

2:22:07Um

2:22:09February 16th would be the

2:22:10secondformational hearing and then the

2:22:12final decision is March 2nd at the

2:22:14annual meeting.

2:22:18So the question for the board tonight is

2:22:22are the rest of you interested in

2:22:24pursuing this and if so on this timeline

2:22:30go forward with some parts of it not

2:22:32others

2:22:34>> that timeline.

2:22:35>> Yeah.

2:22:36>> Okay. Thank you.

2:22:37>> And are there any other questions that

2:22:39still need to be answered before we make

2:22:41uh decision about this?

2:22:46I have a question.

2:22:47>> Yeah.

2:22:48>> Um just because my brain works in

2:22:50buckets. Um

2:22:53the

2:22:56I'm not I don't I'm not following the

2:22:58charter change, but the charter change

2:23:00does not relate does the charter change

2:23:03relate to

2:23:05the process of determining appointed

2:23:09versus elected town clerk and town

2:23:13>> procedurally. completely separate.

2:23:15>> I included it because conceptually I

2:23:17think of them as related and and being

2:23:20tied together, but procedurally two

2:23:23separate things.

2:23:25>> How are they related? I don't understand

2:23:28what you

2:23:28>> because the reason I propose the charter

2:23:30change is to address the concerns about

2:23:33accountability

2:23:36regarding the select board having that

2:23:39power over the town clerk.

2:23:43Um,

2:23:44>> so you could remove the select board

2:23:48at this point.

2:23:49>> What did you say?

2:23:50>> You could remove the select board if you

2:23:52felt they were abusing the town clerk.

2:23:55>> All right. Thanks.

2:23:56>> And I I felt like if we're asking the

2:23:58town to give us more authority, we

2:23:59should offer more accountability as

2:24:01well.

2:24:02Well, if the town if if all of this went

2:24:05through

2:24:07and there was a change to appoint these

2:24:10positions,

2:24:12uh it's called appointed, but it would

2:24:14be very I mean I would expect it to be

2:24:16similar to the way we hire the town

2:24:20manager.

2:24:21>> Yeah.

2:24:22>> So there's you know like we could do

2:24:23even the select board could have three

2:24:25committee teams and Okay.

2:24:27>> Yeah.

2:24:28>> It's not just the select board.

2:24:30>> Yeah.

2:24:31Legally, it's Justice Black, but I think

2:24:35they're in charge of the process,

2:24:36>> right? Okay. All right.

2:24:41>> Um, yeah. Uh, first of all, thanks for

2:24:44doing all this work.

2:24:45>> Yeah, a lot of work there.

2:24:47>> Um, I are we the first, uh, municipality

2:24:52to, uh, be pursuing this appointment

2:24:56versus elected?

2:24:59>> No. Uh I don't know the exact numbers

2:25:01off hand but it's somewhere in the range

2:25:03of

2:25:0560ish towns have changed the clerk and

2:25:08somewhere around 90 have changed the

2:25:10treasurer and

2:25:14>> not a majority of towns by any means but

2:25:16a pretty fair chunk of them have have

2:25:18considered this and a lot of them have

2:25:20made a change

2:25:22>> and we could pursue this without having

2:25:26to pursue a charter change if if we were

2:25:29If it passed to go to move to

2:25:32appointment, then the select board would

2:25:35have a procedure to move the town clerk

2:25:38if the case of the dozen. Yeah, they're

2:25:40malfunctions.

2:25:41>> Correct. These are options that already

2:25:43exist in state law

2:25:46both for the appointments and the

2:25:48residency. That's not part of the

2:25:51chaggeration.

2:25:54This wouldn't um because it doesn't

2:25:57happen until town meeting day.

2:26:02We're still going to elect a treasurer

2:26:05and town clerk at the next town meeting

2:26:08day regard.

2:26:10>> Yes.

2:26:11>> And what term are those two positions?

2:26:16uh they would be elected for a

2:26:17three-year term and then if the

2:26:19appointment vote passes uh it would be

2:26:2345 days from that point which would be

2:26:26April 16th is when those terms would end

2:26:29or whenever the select court makes its

2:26:31appointment whichever comes first.

2:26:33>> Wait, so it's three years plus No, it

2:26:36replaces it replaces the three. Okay,

2:26:39that's what I saw. All right, thank you.

2:26:42>> All right, hold on a second. I just want

2:26:45to get the rest of the board here.

2:26:46>> Just one question. On March 2nd, it says

2:26:48include time for public discussion on

2:26:50the floor. Meanwhile, people are voting

2:26:52on Australia.

2:26:53>> Yes,

2:26:54>> it seems a little comfortable. I mean,

2:26:56some people are getting information

2:26:58questions. I voted early and I get

2:27:00there. I wish I would have known.

2:27:03>> Yeah, I know that seems a little long to

2:27:05me. It's not electioneering at a polling

2:27:08place because there's a specific carve

2:27:09out in the electioneering at a polling

2:27:13place law that says you can do this. You

2:27:15can discuss Australian ballot items from

2:27:18the law tell but it would be

2:27:23a little convoluted. Yes, people voted

2:27:26early.

2:27:27>> But that's why you have twoformational

2:27:29meetings. Okay. I just wanted to make

2:27:32sure and you'd want to be encouraging

2:27:34people to go to those first two

2:27:35meetings.

2:27:36>> Yeah.

2:27:37>> Sandy, did you um The only thing I I

2:27:40guess have to say before we go any

2:27:43further with any of this, the select

2:27:46have the right or the

2:27:49um the ability to put these on the town

2:27:53meeting articles without having any. So,

2:27:58I think the question is, do we even want

2:28:01to do that? Because it would have to be

2:28:03the majority of us deciding yes, we want

2:28:06this on the town meeting articles.

2:28:10And if everyone says yes or a portion of

2:28:13it, yeah, we'd like to do the town

2:28:14clerk, we don't want to use the town. I

2:28:17mean, it's the board's decision to do it

2:28:19or not do it. And then

2:28:22>> put it on the

2:28:23>> put it on Exactly. not to make the

2:28:25decision but to put it as a floor vote,

2:28:28we have the right to do that as the

2:28:31governing

2:28:32whatever the legislative body for the

2:28:35town. So if none of us are interested in

2:28:39doing that, then we're done.

2:28:42Um maybe we're interested in only the

2:28:45like I said the town clerk only, not the

2:28:47treasurer. Maybe we're interested in

2:28:50dropping the residency on both one. I

2:28:54mean all of these are articles. If

2:28:56nobody wants to do any of it or we only

2:28:59want to do one or two at that point we

2:29:02decide okay the next step is to work on

2:29:08making this or asking the town whether

2:29:10or not they want to put this as a

2:29:13Australian bow. So that's kind of where

2:29:15we are where I feel like you maybe

2:29:17should just figure out whether or not

2:29:19people even want to go any further.

2:29:23Great. Let's just hear from who's here.

2:29:27Come on up, Bill. I'm just gonna go

2:29:28around the room here.

2:29:30Um

2:29:31>> I hope I'm not two minutes because

2:29:33there's a lot of stuff that I here. Um

2:29:37first of all,

2:29:37>> I'll give you three.

2:29:40>> I I disagree with the number of premises

2:29:46that

2:29:48were stated as this is necessary. really

2:29:52uh we had a debacle in East town uh in

2:29:5725 and into 26 with regard to

2:30:02you know 10 people leaving this uh

2:30:06employment in this town. Uh the town

2:30:10clerk resigned, manager resigned. uh it

2:30:13was not a fun situation

2:30:17and I think to to take a big leap to say

2:30:21that we have to go through this whole

2:30:23process to elect uh to to rid ourselves

2:30:29of electing courts and treasuries is a

2:30:32big overreach right now. I think that

2:30:35maybe you could let the town let things

2:30:39settle. We have a new town manager now.

2:30:41We have a new select board now. And

2:30:43yeah, you had you had difficulty getting

2:30:46people applying for this position. And I

2:30:49hope I don't offended people at this

2:30:51board, but the there were 300 voters who

2:30:55elected somebody to the town clerk's

2:30:58office. Even though nobody ran, there

2:31:01was somebody elected to that position.

2:31:03There was somebody elected to the town

2:31:04treasurer's position. This board chose

2:31:07not to even talk to that person. She

2:31:10came. No, let me finish. Okay.

2:31:13[clears throat]

2:31:13>> She came in at the at the 9th hour, the

2:31:1711th hour, whatever, whatever you want

2:31:19to call it, and said that she wasn't

2:31:22interested. But prior to that,

2:31:25all the communication and the public got

2:31:28to to know was what happened. We didn't

2:31:31know what happened at executive session

2:31:33here.

2:31:33>> We're going to debate that, okay?

2:31:36side of the story and the board has

2:31:38another side of the story and and what

2:31:40evidence the question here is whether

2:31:43the town whether the select board should

2:31:45be looking at appointed versus elected.

2:31:48Let's not we're not going to go into who

2:31:50said, she said, they said, he said.

2:31:53>> Okay, let's be where we are right now.

2:31:54>> Let's where this is where we are now.

2:31:56>> That's fine then. Is that's fine.

2:32:01So, we got to the point where where the

2:32:06the elected clerk decided not to take

2:32:08the position. And now we're here. We've

2:32:12got a town clerk. We've got a town

2:32:14treasurer. and we have a good town

2:32:17manager. The town treasurer's position,

2:32:20I think, you know, I would like to have

2:32:22you give Gracie some opportunity to to

2:32:26decide what she might need in terms of

2:32:29having a staff here. I don't know, maybe

2:32:33you know, but I don't think the public

2:32:35knows all of her skill sets. Is she's

2:32:38got good experience with budgeting? Is

2:32:40she an accountant? Does she know how to

2:32:43to uh direct the bookkeeper? I don't

2:32:45know. So, this is a big step, but let's

2:32:51just talk about this. Your proposal to

2:32:55um you know, I agree with Sandy. If

2:32:58you're going to do this at all, just put

2:33:00it on the town meeting agenda. We had a

2:33:02town meeting two years ago and we had a

2:33:05lot of discussion about whether we want

2:33:07to go to Australian ballot and the

2:33:09voters clearly said no, they didn't want

2:33:13to do that. You're proposing to have a

2:33:16special town meeting in January to have

2:33:20a discussion about whether we want to go

2:33:22to Australian ballot for this one

2:33:24question.

2:33:26I think you're going to have very few

2:33:28people there. Uh so maybe you get what

2:33:30you want. Secondly, if you have that

2:33:33vote on January 11th, have you factored

2:33:36into the equation that there's a 30-day

2:33:38appeal period where people can have a

2:33:41petition and decide to overturn what

2:33:43they did on January 11th? That would you

2:33:46could have a petition that comes in on

2:33:48on February 11th that says you have to

2:33:51have another town meeting to to

2:33:53reconsider the decision that was made on

2:33:56January about it. And you need a 30-day

2:33:58warning for that. So that puts you to

2:34:00March 11th, which is after town meeting.

2:34:03So I think your timeline is a little bit

2:34:05next time.

2:34:07>> So anyway, I think that if you're going

2:34:09to do this at all, just put it on the

2:34:12agenda. But I would suggest that

2:34:16over 200 years, we've elected clerks in

2:34:18this community. We've never had

2:34:20difficulty. Maybe we didn't have people

2:34:23running for the position, but how many

2:34:25of you select board members over the

2:34:26past 35 years have had uncontested

2:34:29races? I wouldn't get too worked up

2:34:32about

2:34:33>> Thank you.

2:34:34>> Rick

2:34:41Rick West

2:34:43and town resident. Um,

2:34:47I'm going to start by saying I actually

2:34:49favor the appointment of the clerk and

2:34:52treasure, but I agree with

2:34:55some of the things that Bill said, which

2:34:57are essentially

2:34:59go slowly and really work this through

2:35:01and think about just what it is you want

2:35:03to do. Um,

2:35:06my reasons for

2:35:09making that appointment actually made

2:35:10sense. um despite the few hundred years

2:35:14of

2:35:16success we've had in the current system

2:35:17and I I don't actually doubt that

2:35:20although I haven't read the history

2:35:22books uh

2:35:25always start with asking question what

2:35:29problem is it that you're trying to

2:35:31resolve the problem it seems to me that

2:35:35we have it that was exposed in in the uh

2:35:39activity

2:35:42in everything that happened in the last

2:35:43two years is that um

2:35:47there's a mismatch between authority and

2:35:49responsibility. It seems quite odd at

2:35:52times that uh an appointed official town

2:35:55manager

2:35:58is in a position awkward position of

2:36:03directing and cannot direct the

2:36:06activities of an elected official.

2:36:09The clerk and the treasurer are both

2:36:13roles that are primarily

2:36:15in my view and I could be wrong about

2:36:17this non-political but and therefore

2:36:21administrative and ministerial primarily

2:36:25and that's important. So electing

2:36:29those positions

2:36:34doesn't have for me the uh

2:36:40with of is that the right word of um

2:36:46democratic concern that's being raised

2:36:48here and by the way the use of the word

2:36:52democratic or democracy in this

2:36:54discussion seems to be tied entirely to

2:36:58the electoral process and the electoral

2:37:01process is not the only means by which

2:37:04we exercise or act in democratic ways.

2:37:09My opinions on appointments versus uh

2:37:12well no versus well yes I guess versus

2:37:15elections are already on record uh in

2:37:18the Waterbury rounded out just a month

2:37:21and a half ago not with respect to this

2:37:23issue but um

2:37:26there's a general matter

2:37:29with respect to the roles

2:37:32and responsibilities of the legislators

2:37:34and um the commissions that they

2:37:39have some experience in this. So I feel

2:37:41strongly that I it's

2:37:45entirely within the

2:37:49jurisdiction and authority of

2:37:51elected bodies of legislators to appoint

2:37:54commissioners to to do [clears throat]

2:37:56specified limited work on their behalf.

2:38:01I think that

2:38:03I see no reason why the the roles of the

2:38:05clerk and the treasur fit in that in

2:38:08that

2:38:11view.

2:38:12So I would merely I'll finish up by

2:38:14saying I think you should seriously

2:38:17consider this the process that we choose

2:38:20to do this. I think Bill is right that

2:38:24and Sandy are right we shouldn't blush

2:38:27this. we should think long and hard

2:38:29about it and and have the kinds of

2:38:32public discussions in which these views

2:38:35get aired. Um,

2:38:38and I would just say that

2:38:41I guess I've already said it. I'm not

2:38:42worried about select board abuse. Uh, me

2:38:45neither. I I don't actually I I don't

2:38:48like the idea that my initial reaction

2:38:50to the proposed trigger change is uh

2:38:54negative. Okay.

2:38:56Recalling elected officials because

2:39:00we have elections every year. That's

2:39:02what elections are. They are recalls.

2:39:05We've already got that need. So, I'd be

2:39:06careful about that. Very. Um,

2:39:11and lastly, um, well, I've just said it.

2:39:13I don't think that that a legislative

2:39:16body appointing

2:39:19officials to do specific

2:39:24um

2:39:26work that is within their jurisdiction

2:39:29jurisdiction of the legislative body and

2:39:31then

2:39:33specifically defined for the positions.

2:39:35I don't think that's undemocratic.

2:39:38I think that human ele

2:39:41Thank you.

2:39:42>> Thank you.

2:39:49My first initial question was um we

2:39:52don't need to answer it right now.

2:39:54There's no law in state legislature that

2:39:57if a town u

2:40:00clerk or treasurer somehow abuses their

2:40:04position [clears throat] that there can

2:40:06be a special election to

2:40:10recall or vote that person out. That was

2:40:15second question is if the board if

2:40:18you're asking

2:40:20for

2:40:22a vote on whether or not to allow the

2:40:25select board to appoint these positions

2:40:29with the revolving select board year

2:40:32over year

2:40:34who fires those people if need be? Is it

2:40:39then become the town manager's position

2:40:41to do that or does the select board that

2:40:45perhaps didn't hire that person now have

2:40:48the responsibility to fire that person

2:40:52>> is the select

2:40:54>> whoever whoever happens to consistent

2:40:57>> I see that problematic because the

2:41:01future select board that may have to

2:41:03deal with some needless action for

2:41:05whatever reason doesn't know how that

2:41:08person got put there. It just seems like

2:41:10it's shifting the responsibility to

2:41:13different people who may not be all in

2:41:17on what could place get that person, you

2:41:21know, to have a desire to have that

2:41:23person move. That's just my thought

2:41:26process.

2:41:27>> And then how does that conflict with the

2:41:30town manager's

2:41:32relationship, if any, with those two?

2:41:35[clears throat] Those two P those two

2:41:37positions have three-year contracts. Is

2:41:40that what you're Is that I mean you're

2:41:43>> That's Yeah.

2:41:43>> Yeah.

2:41:44>> I mean, I would set it up as an

2:41:46indefinite contract like the manager.

2:41:49>> Well, no. Manager has a three-year

2:41:52contract.

2:41:53>> That's negotiable.

2:41:54>> That's negotiable.

2:41:56>> So, how is that any different than

2:41:58electing the town people electing?

2:42:00>> As Evan just said, I don't think you

2:42:02heard it. She doesn't have to petition

2:42:04for her. But that's completely all of a

2:42:07sudden Gracie who you know would rather

2:42:10have

2:42:13no different

2:42:14>> what I just recognizes she doesn't have

2:42:15to petition for her. Well, that's part

2:42:18of the problem, you know,

2:42:21people don't want a petition [laughter]

2:42:23for the for the petition.

2:42:26That's a drawback,

2:42:27>> right?

2:42:28>> But that's an ad. I mean, everybody's,

2:42:31>> you know, and uh so and then as far as

2:42:34the charter change, I agree with Rick.

2:42:37>> To me, that seems like it's stepping

2:42:39into the realm of,

2:42:42you know, your tight.

2:42:45>> Yeah. transition. I'd rather see that

2:42:48just

2:42:50>> again that's an option for the voters in

2:42:52the town. If they don't ever want to

2:42:54remove any of us, they don't ever

2:42:56circulate a petition.

2:43:01>> I'll be very brief.

2:43:05I I don't want to recant what a lot of

2:43:08the other folks have said, but I do

2:43:11think

2:43:13something that the select board needs to

2:43:16consider. I do think the problem with

2:43:20like if if you have a rogue

2:43:24uh

2:43:25treasurer or town clerk, that's what the

2:43:30legal systems for them in jail. Hey, I'm

2:43:34Scott with money. I'm sorry. I believe

2:43:36in law and order. You know, if someone

2:43:39does something illegal, they should be

2:43:41put in jail.

2:43:43>> But but then they're sitting in jail and

2:43:46we have no clerk.

2:43:49>> I understand. But to me, if someone does

2:43:52something so heinous they can be money.

2:43:55>> I understand it. What you're

2:43:56[clears throat] saying is if it's an

2:43:58elected position, right, that's that

2:44:00elected position. That elected person is

2:44:03sitting in the jail not taking care of

2:44:05our town.

2:44:07>> Elections.

2:44:08>> We have to have a new election.

2:44:11>> I

2:44:11>> Okay. I just wanted to

2:44:13>> I totally understand that. And I maybe

2:44:17um Evan could clarify this. If we have a

2:44:20town clerk sitting in a jail cell, we

2:44:23have no recourse to hire, you know, to

2:44:26have a new election.

2:44:28>> Not that I'm aware of at all. They're

2:44:31still the town clerk in jail.

2:44:33>> Exactly.

2:44:33>> Would have to go to the legisle, right?

2:44:34I mean, they would have they would have

2:44:38problem. You know, I I do just in

2:44:40summary, I do believe because these

2:44:43positions have become so complex that I

2:44:47think appointment does make a little

2:44:50sense, but I don't think we should rush

2:44:52right into this timeline, make make a

2:44:55quick decision. I think that's just

2:44:57foolish. I think we should give it a

2:44:59little bit more thought, elect, you

2:45:01know, have a have an election and look

2:45:04at this maybe in 12 months.

2:45:08I I just want to point out we have been

2:45:11posting for the treasures position and

2:45:13have gotten no applications. Just put

2:45:16that out there.

2:45:20>> That's happening with so so many

2:45:22>> I know it just because you know a

2:45:24fiduciary responsibility of that

2:45:26position

2:45:27>> and it falls back on you. But I feel

2:45:30like if that was a position that was

2:45:33offered somebody to apply for,

2:45:36>> we might have some.

2:45:39>> That's just

2:45:40>> I'll tell you what, I know a few people

2:45:42that would, but they don't want to deal

2:45:44with being going for an election.

2:45:45>> Going for election. I I understand that.

2:45:48>> Yeah.

2:45:49>> All right. Thank you, Mike.

2:45:52>> All right.

2:45:52>> Miss,

2:45:56thank you very much.

2:45:57>> Thank you. Thanks for coming. All right,

2:46:00let's bring it back here. Everyone's

2:46:02commented. Is there anyone on the

2:46:04website or on the whatever?

2:46:08>> What's your pleasure, Board?

2:46:12>> I'm going to start. I think we should

2:46:14hold off on this and do due diligence on

2:46:18a process that does not involve a

2:46:20meeting in the middle of January. I

2:46:22would like to see us take this on during

2:46:24better weather and have these meetings

2:46:26like in the spring or fall, you know,

2:46:28it's easier to get to. I also, and Rick,

2:46:30that's my comment. I think what'd be

2:46:32interesting is to have two community

2:46:34members debate this and videotape Zoom.

2:46:37And I thought that'd be an interesting

2:46:39process like, you know, the debate to

2:46:41actually hold a debate whatever the

2:46:43rules are around this so the public can

2:46:45hear the pluses and minus versus just

2:46:47sitting. And again, no offense, we'll

2:46:49have those public meetings. But to have

2:46:52two people really narrow in the back and

2:46:53forth would be an interesting, you know,

2:46:56way to get some information on the

2:46:58pluses and minuses of both. Sandy.

2:47:04Um, I'm against obviously like you said,

2:47:08I don't want anything to do with the

2:47:10charter,

2:47:11but I feel like I if you ask me right

2:47:15now if we should have these four

2:47:17questions on the articles, I would say

2:47:20it's because I feel as though there are

2:47:25a lot of people out there that would be

2:47:26excellent in this position.

2:47:30if it was a hired position

2:47:33that we would not have the ability to

2:47:36have with our current

2:47:39it would open it up for people that are

2:47:42very qualified and um not that we do not

2:47:46have anybody qualified now. I'm just

2:47:48saying it would I feel it would would

2:47:51change a lot of things and I and I would

2:47:54be putting it on as an

2:47:57Roger.

2:47:59>> Uh I am uh favorable to the idea of uh

2:48:04moving towards an appointment. Um, I do

2:48:09share some of Bill's concerns about uh

2:48:13going into

2:48:16more uncharted waters just at a point

2:48:18when it seems like we're we're settling

2:48:21down. So, I think we could take a year

2:48:23to further debate this without uh any uh

2:48:27real danger.

2:48:34That wasn't obvious. So can I ask a

2:48:37question to this group influences? So um

2:48:40my understanding is West Pollock was

2:48:42appointed

2:48:44only until Tommy. Right.

2:48:46>> Right.

2:48:46>> So you could have two people let's say

2:48:49run through

2:48:50>> town

2:48:52>> or none.

2:48:53>> Well just

2:48:55>> I mean he would have Wes would have to

2:48:56run

2:48:57>> but Right. He would have

2:49:00two other people. I'm just saying three

2:49:02people plus food. Right. And then

2:49:03whoever votes. So he could be out of a

2:49:05job after what? That's right.

2:49:06>> Eight months or seven months to hear it.

2:49:08Correct.

2:49:09>> If he's not vote,

2:49:12>> I'm just saying that's a danger that we

2:49:13have, right? I mean, who knows?

2:49:15>> Right. That's a danger about every

2:49:17election we have maybe.

2:49:20>> Well, that's why we didn't have a lot of

2:49:22people apply because I could be out in

2:49:23seven months. At least you have three

2:49:24years of a job

2:49:26done. That's some a little bit of

2:49:28stability. But I mean, I aim in the West

2:49:30for taking that chance. I mean,

2:49:32>> yeah.

2:49:36because you're right. I mean the

2:49:38timelines as Bill mentioned you're

2:49:39concerned about the Thursdays that kind

2:49:41of stuff.

2:49:43>> Yeah. Did not affect our decision.

2:49:47>> I should say I'm against the charter

2:49:50change. I think that's something we

2:49:54didn't read into right now. So you're

2:49:57suggesting that um this kind of timeline

2:50:01slide to the spring which would be a new

2:50:04select board

2:50:06theoretically

2:50:07>> well some right

2:50:08>> right some uh and so

2:50:12let let yeah

2:50:15okay

2:50:16>> I do want to clarify that the January

2:50:18meeting you mentioned is just about

2:50:19moving the questions to Austral IC

2:50:21ballot.

2:50:23It's not about the debate about the

2:50:25actual appointments. That decision has

2:50:28to be made at the annual meeting. So the

2:50:31debate about that would always be

2:50:32happening in January, February, no

2:50:34matter what.

2:50:38So if you took the charter change out of

2:50:40the equation, that conversation, you

2:50:43have the January town meet, special town

2:50:46meeting to put the four articles on the

2:50:50ballot

2:50:52that only authorizes

2:50:56that only the vote at town meeting day

2:50:59would be to authorize the select board

2:51:02to appoint and then and the residency

2:51:05question.

2:51:06>> Correct. question would only be whether

2:51:07or not it's on the

2:51:10>> Australian ballot

2:51:12>> because at that point it's already been

2:51:14decided that it's going to be that it is

2:51:16going to be on Australia. So the town is

2:51:18voting in March and so you spend

2:51:21February with yourformational meetings

2:51:24as to why this is being put on the

2:51:27ballot.

2:51:27>> No. Well, we

2:51:30>> that's not what has to be done. I mean,

2:51:32you can you're trying to

2:51:34>> if it's on the ballot, there is a

2:51:36requirement for anformational hearing,

2:51:37>> right? But I'm just saying the what he's

2:51:40talking about is if the board decided

2:51:43that they do want to put this,

2:51:46>> you know, it would be to have the

2:51:48meetings to make people understand, but

2:51:51we also would have that special meeting

2:51:53to say, okay, if you would rather vote

2:51:57Australian ballot than to have it as a

2:51:59floor vote, then we need to have a

2:52:02special meeting to allow that to happen.

2:52:06Yeah, that's what happens in January.

2:52:08What I'm asking is what I'm trying to

2:52:10get at here is the timeline really is to

2:52:15um address the issue at this coming town

2:52:18meeting day. I feel extremely strongly

2:52:23that's terrible. Sorry. Uh I feel very

2:52:26strong that Lee that there needs to be

2:52:30public education and outreach. And so I

2:52:34wanted to understand what those two

2:52:36meetings in February would be. To your

2:52:39point, Don, about having a debate with

2:52:42town clerks or community members that

2:52:46would that would have to happen in

2:52:48February.

2:52:49>> Yeah.

2:52:49>> Yeah.

2:52:51Um

2:52:55so the alternative I think I'm hearing

2:52:57is um two of you are interested in

2:53:01pursuing that direction and two of you

2:53:03are saying do it next year do it uh

2:53:08>> start it up after we select you know

2:53:11back there

2:53:12>> start it a year later I mean

2:53:14>> well I mean you would start a process

2:53:16and figure out all

2:53:17>> well you still wouldn't have the vote

2:53:18until the next you'd have the vote

2:53:20uh 2028

2:53:22>> but it would have a new select board to

2:53:24make that decision.

2:53:25>> Right.

2:53:25>> I mean this board

2:53:30>> or the other thing is we can table it

2:53:32for another meeting and

2:53:34maybe have some people come in to speak

2:53:37like you had said before different town

2:53:39man [clears throat] town clerks that

2:53:41have different opinions not necessarily

2:53:43all that are for or all that are against

2:53:46because I'm sure we can find both.

2:53:47>> So that's a good point Sydney. What's

2:53:49our drop dead date?

2:53:50>> That's a good point, Sandy.

2:53:52>> That is pretty much what this timeline

2:53:54is. Like this was targeted towards the

2:53:57annual meeting. And then

2:53:58>> Can you put it back up there? Well, it's

2:54:00the January 11th date. That's the that

2:54:03they have to warn that January 11th

2:54:05date, right?

2:54:06>> And that would be just about deciding

2:54:08ballot versus floor vote.

2:54:10>> And that we could warn the special town

2:54:13meeting at our next on October 6th if we

2:54:15wanted to and hold it in like mid

2:54:16November. So it's basically anywhere in

2:54:18that window like mid November mid June

2:54:20>> which allows for the 30 days.

2:54:23Yeah. Yeah.

2:54:23>> Yeah.

2:54:24>> We said it.

2:54:26>> So the other thing Yeah. Um also with

2:54:29this um the 45 days after

2:54:32uh town meeting the reason for the 45

2:54:36days is that a petition can be put up to

2:54:39reverse.

2:54:40>> Right. We have that too,

2:54:41>> right?

2:54:43regardless of whether it goes either

2:54:45way, if it's Australian or if it's a

2:54:47Florida.

2:54:48>> I think I mean I think do from my

2:54:50perspective I think Don brings up a good

2:54:53I feel like I' I'd really like to hear

2:54:54from some town clerks quite frankly. I I

2:54:57know of I know of two I know of both

2:55:00sides but I think that more people uh

2:55:04hearing both sides would um help inform

2:55:09a path forward if that's all right

2:55:13>> maybe making to have another meeting

2:55:16where we have a little bit more time.

2:55:18>> Yeah. So well we're running into

2:55:21>> there's a lot of hot topics these days I

2:55:23know right

2:55:24>> um

2:55:27Yes,

2:55:33>> I'm a strong advocate for the open town

2:55:37meeting, but if you're if you're all if

2:55:40your goal is to have an Australian

2:55:43ballot question to do this, you can do

2:55:47this by amending your chart as opposed

2:55:50to having a meeting in November that

2:55:54people are going to come out to decide

2:55:55whether or not they want to change um

2:55:59you know to a special

2:56:01Australian ballot for one item issue.

2:56:04Charter changes have to be done by

2:56:06Australia. So you can have all of your

2:56:09discussion and all of your education

2:56:11between now and the time you put your

2:56:14warning together. You have to write the

2:56:16charter and it could be a simple charter

2:56:20meant I mean you you got a a local

2:56:23option tax that's like two through two

2:56:24through two through two through two

2:56:24through two through two through two

2:56:24through two through two through two but

2:56:25the charter is one page long right so

2:56:29you can say

2:56:32shall the voters amend the charter to

2:56:34allow the select board to appoint the

2:56:36clerk and treasur and then you have that

2:56:38vote by Australian ballot at town

2:56:41meeting and you can have all the

2:56:44education you

2:56:46So if you're trying to have an

2:56:48Australian ballot, do it that way. And

2:56:52for my two sense, if you're going to

2:56:56amend the charter and allow somebody to

2:56:59be

2:57:02a hired person as opposed to elected

2:57:05person, then write the chatter and let

2:57:08the town manager appoint the clerk and

2:57:10treasurer. And that person is an

2:57:13employee like every other employee in

2:57:15this building that the town manager

2:57:18appoints. And if the town manager then

2:57:22the town manager gets to uh evaluate the

2:57:25person. If there's issues, the town

2:57:27manager can discipline or fire the

2:57:30person. Speaking as someone who served

2:57:33five different boards with three or five

2:57:36members, it's not great to have more

2:57:39than one boss. So the town manager

2:57:41already has to have five people to be

2:57:44responsible. That's correct.

2:57:46>> But other employees really it's helpful

2:57:49responsible to one person,

2:57:51>> right?

2:57:51>> So if you're going to do this, let town

2:57:53manager be the person. So what's the

2:57:56timing that

2:58:01>> you know?

2:58:04Who's at the speed of the legislation?

2:58:05It might take until the end of the

2:58:08legislative session.

2:58:09>> Yeah.

2:58:10>> I mean, Burlington has had some charter

2:58:12changes pending for several years

2:58:15because controversial

2:58:18depends on

2:58:19>> what the issue is.

2:58:21>> Yeah. I mean, Teresa, we would have the

2:58:24support of Teresa. So,

2:58:26>> so thank you, Bill.

2:58:27>> I mean, I think that's something that

2:58:29>> So, I think what I'm hearing here is

2:58:33more research. more.

2:58:35>> All right. Um

2:58:39I I guess I'll talk with one of you two

2:58:42as to what you want to do for next steps

2:58:45in terms of putting it back on the

2:58:46agenda and I am very respectful of how

2:58:50much work you have put into this. It's

2:58:51massive and I really appreciate it and

2:58:54so I don't want to push it but I

2:58:57recognize we also have a timeline that

2:58:59you have to look at. Well, I guess my

2:59:01question is

2:59:04if we're interested in it, do we try to

2:59:06do it for 2027 or like Don suggested,

2:59:10push it till next year and do it in

2:59:122028?

2:59:14>> I don't think we've made that decision.

2:59:16>> Yeah, but I just want again for our

2:59:20work.

2:59:20>> The only thing that you know me got all

2:59:23the evidence and why you're doing this

2:59:25that doesn't go away. It's a matter of

2:59:26how we want what's the process we want,

2:59:28>> right? Whether we go with this on a

2:59:30different timeline or whether we do as

2:59:32Bill suggests we do a chart of J and all

2:59:35that evidence and all those rational

2:59:37still exist.

2:59:38>> I think you have to find out about the

2:59:39change process.

2:59:41>> Yeah.

2:59:42>> Okay. All right. So we'll table this for

2:59:45now.

2:59:46>> What do you need to know about the

2:59:47charter change process?

2:59:49Well, as Bill was just proposing is

2:59:51that's a third that's to me is a third

2:59:53alternative

2:59:55>> process

2:59:56>> that does not have to be tied to town

2:59:57meeting. Uh that can be done literally

3:00:00anytime.

3:00:03>> I I understand that. I guess what I'm

3:00:05most concerned about is communicating

3:00:08all of this information in an organized

3:00:11presentation to the community because

3:00:15whether it's a charter change for

3:00:17Australian ballot, whether it's putting

3:00:20it doing special meetings and putting it

3:00:22on Australian ballot, whether it's the

3:00:24residency question, uh there it's a it's

3:00:27a big change and um I'm respectful of

3:00:31the timeline

3:00:33that that may be the best solution is to

3:00:36just put it off a year or not. But it

3:00:40may be not doing it all. I mean, putting

3:00:42it it's we're not putting it off a year.

3:00:44We're putting it off. It's Yeah. Okay.

3:00:46It's a yes or no. And then it's a

3:00:49charter change. It's there's three

3:00:51processes in there. And from my

3:00:53perspective, it's complicated. And so

3:00:57the most important

3:00:59>> piece of this whole discussion is how we

3:01:03educate our communities as to what is

3:01:06being discussed. Roger. And I can just

3:01:10like to add that uh I really do uh

3:01:12respect all the work that you've done on

3:01:14this, but it seemed like it was based

3:01:16primarily on the experience within

3:01:19Waterberry and there's a whole uh you

3:01:23know 250 other towns out there uh that

3:01:27have considered this and I'd like to get

3:01:29some of their experience into the

3:01:31discussion to better educate ourselves

3:01:33as soon.

3:01:34>> You know the I I just want to comment on

3:01:36that. I just want to comment on that in

3:01:38that the town clerks that I talked I did

3:01:41talk to a few because I wanted to

3:01:42understand whether this was worthwhile.

3:01:45Um and the the repeated comment was

3:01:49there the the the technical the

3:01:53legislative the know the rules that they

3:01:56have to work under the state statutes

3:01:59that they have to abide by

3:02:01>> are just huge and it's getting more

3:02:03complicated. Colchester was one of them.

3:02:06Um and then the other side of it is the

3:02:09the the personally the concern on the

3:02:12financial side is putting someone in

3:02:15that treasur position is responsible for

3:02:18all of our account

3:02:21and you know we've been blessed having

3:02:23Bill but uh you know

3:02:26>> all forever.

3:02:27>> Well I'm afraid not.

3:02:30Um, so that was the

3:02:32>> No, I I totally get it and I just think

3:02:35>> having that as part of the discussion

3:02:37will be the swirl even more, you know,

3:02:40as our political climate changes

3:02:43>> and it's more divisive and reading an

3:02:46article in the Atlantic about what's

3:02:48going on in local elections is where all

3:02:50the crap is starting to really happen.

3:02:52>> I'm just curious is the town clerk on

3:02:55their own has elected without much

3:02:57protection by the town. So they don't

3:02:59apply or is there better mor protection

3:03:02if you're an employee?

3:03:04>> So it would encourage people because

3:03:05there's a lot going on and a lot of

3:03:07>> yeah children and if you think Vermont's

3:03:10immune to it

3:03:13>> yeah it's

3:03:14>> all right we're going to table this for

3:03:16now.

3:03:17>> Is there specific questions I can

3:03:19research and answer like do you want an

3:03:21alternate timeline? there want

3:03:24>> I think you I would research getting a

3:03:28couple of town clerks pro and con I mean

3:03:31you know ones that advocate strongly for

3:03:34their their elected or having been

3:03:36elected whatever you know what but I

3:03:39think that's a key piece I think the I

3:03:42didn't you know we didn't really talk

3:03:44about the process that Bill just

3:03:46presented in terms of the charter making

3:03:48it through a charter change process I

3:03:50think that's relevant

3:03:51>> says no offense

3:03:53Yeah,

3:03:54might be able to find others that

3:03:57>> company still changing its charts. We

3:03:59had the town before.

3:04:01>> Yeah.

3:04:03>> Just look at this.

3:04:04>> Yes. We didn't we didn't really get that

3:04:06presentation. So, I would look at those

3:04:08two elements. Um, and you guys let me

3:04:13know when you want to bring it back to

3:04:15the table.

3:04:17>> Okay.

3:04:17>> Sure.

3:04:19really thank you both for what you're

3:04:22doing. Is that the last?

3:04:28>> Oh, last item. We got to approve the

3:04:32private road. Could you bring up the who

3:04:34has the map? Uh the pager, the one

3:04:38pager.

3:04:43>> Thank you very much for having the map

3:04:45and the explanation.

3:04:47zone administrator.

3:04:52>> So, um more of the same. Um downtown

3:04:56density um creating uh triggering the

3:05:00need for a new private road. Um in this

3:05:04particular context, the And if you'll

3:05:08let me point, this single family

3:05:10dwelling has literally been picked up

3:05:13and moved to where that black square is.

3:05:15Yeah.

3:05:15>> Um so has moved from 73 North Main

3:05:18Street to the parcel currently known as

3:05:2175 North Main Street. Um that makes for

3:05:24three buildings on that parcel each with

3:05:27a separate locatable address and three

3:05:29buildings equals a private road.

3:05:32>> All right. And the property owner has um

3:05:36has requested that the select board

3:05:38consider um Hearthstone.

3:05:41>> All right. it take a motion or do you

3:05:44have questions?

3:05:46See, we all had plenty of time to look

3:05:48at this.

3:05:50This is was very helpful.

3:05:54I didn't have to do it when I was

3:05:56working.

3:05:56>> Love that you really approve that

3:05:58numbering. That's measurements.

3:06:00>> Yeah. Is there a motion to approve? Oh,

3:06:02could you put that back? I was reading

3:06:04it.

3:06:07>> There you go. to approve a new private

3:06:10road named Hearthstone Circle off of

3:06:13North Bay Street.

3:06:17>> Roger. Motion, Roger.

3:06:19>> Uh I move to approve a new private road

3:06:22by the name of Parkstone Circle. Uh it's

3:06:25located on the map.

3:06:28>> Is there a second that?

3:06:31>> I said I will second that.

3:06:33>> Okay. Any further discussion? All those

3:06:35in favor say I. I.

3:06:38I'll vote to post. I didn't hear you.

3:06:41Oh, you said I Okay, thank you.

3:06:43>> All right. Um, next meeting. Um,

3:06:50>> more items

3:06:52holding task force.

3:06:54>> No, that's the next meeting.

3:06:55>> Oh, okay.

3:06:57>> Roger.

3:06:59>> The housing task force is coming with uh

3:07:02Bonnie from BLCT to talk about the chip

3:07:04strategy. So, we are going to need some

3:07:06extra time there. You're going to have

3:07:09two committees probably or two draft

3:07:13budgets for us to look at. The better

3:07:16connections final recommendations.

3:07:20It it says an adoption. I'm not sure

3:07:22that I got to find out what they're if

3:07:25there's any action required by us or if

3:07:28they're just going to project present

3:07:30the final report. Okay.

3:07:31>> Which is what you already have. But

3:07:33that's the one.

3:07:34>> Yeah. I just got to find out what

3:07:35Duncan's got in mind here. Uh I just

3:07:38want to

3:07:39>> confirm it and secrete commission and

3:07:43the housing task force.

3:07:46Um Gracie may be at a conference. We're

3:07:49trying to figure out if she can be in

3:07:51person or if she's on Zoom. So um more

3:07:55to come on that. I'll probably be in

3:07:58person.

3:07:58>> You're just amazing.

3:08:01Uh, she likes to drive as far as I can

3:08:04speak. She came all the way from Idaho.

3:08:08>> We'll see.

3:08:09>> Anything else?

3:08:10>> Just a note that Wes will be sitting in

3:08:12for me taking minutes at that meeting. I

3:08:15will be in Ireland celebrating my 50th

3:08:18birthday.

3:08:20[clears throat]

3:08:24>> Uh, I do have one more. Um September

3:08:2723rd is our open house for our welcome

3:08:30for Gracie Wes. I see you there. Yeah,

3:08:34Wes. Um we hope you'll be able to attend

3:08:38that and um it'd be great if Myra could

3:08:41be there as well. Others

3:08:43um it's here 4:30 to 6. Thank you. And

3:08:51uh great time to have conversation with

3:08:54our some new key players in our

3:08:56community.

3:08:59>> All right. Um that's Wednesday,

3:09:02September 29. Okay. There's something

3:09:05else that just came in. All right.

3:09:07Anything else? Uh motion to adjurnn to

3:09:11move.

3:09:14>> All right. All those in favor said I

3:09:17>> Thank you.

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