 January 29th special select board meeting the border with us tonight on my left is Flo Smith and Joe Staub. On my right is Tor Nelson and Karla Newiesel. This also is Caller Street or Town Treasurer by Brad Town and any additions to it? Yes we have two. First we do have warrants to be signed tonight and also I have a bunch of signatures. Public comment. Is this the only opportunity to comment on what? Oh I'll comment on everything now or? Oh you can if you want. Oh okay I don't want to jump the guns. No no. I'm reading this I have no problem with the 1% tax. Yeah. I didn't hear what he said. You still said 1% tax. I'm sorry. Could you repeat that? Yeah I have I didn't hear what you said earlier about earlier. I just asked him about the what was on the for the special meeting for the hearing. Oh okay because when you set up public comment I don't know if this is the only opportunity to speak. No speak speak. Oh so just go ahead and speak. I don't want to jump the gun here. I don't know if Ross asked. I don't have a problem with the 1% tax and I'm looking I was reading the you were in the paper yesterday about the property taxes and trying to make cuts and everything and I can appreciate all property taxes and all all the things that you do I'm trying to keep that down. I have an issue that's a different concern though about this building that we're doing down at the town center. I have a question about that is it appropriate to ask about that now. Okay my concern is watching what's going on globally and watching the migration that's coming across the border and watching people being shipped here and there and everywhere and deals being cut to bring people into hotels and getting paid by the federal government. Is there anything that we can do proactively to prevent a situation where a deal will be cut if this building gets built down there at the town center so that we don't wind up in a situation where we have completely unvetted people coming into the town. Clarification the buildings in the town center are mostly commercial. The hotel that was talked about is over at Comfort Inn. Okay. They are going to add extended stay with a 90 rooms. 90 to 100 rooms of extended stay. I'm just talking about in general in terms of what I'm seeing going on globally with this situation with the migration where if you take a look at New York City and they're filling up all the hotels with illegal aliens who haven't been vetted. And my concern is that we're going to build up units that we're going to make for apartments. 30 units was it? Yes. That's why it's fine. Okay. My concern is that is there anything on any way of preventing a situation where a deal will be cut will be bringing in people who are coming across the border into tent, you know what I'm saying? Oh yeah. Because that will bring a problem. Yeah, we'll be making more taxes. We'll be bringing in more tax revenue if that building gets built. But we can have real big problems down the line. So that was a concern of mine. I totally agree with you on that. And I don't know what if anything we can really do proactively on that. But I, you know, I would look at the flip side is that affordable housing is, you know, such a critical, I don't know what I'm trying to say right now, need right now that I just don't have the opportunity to How is that? Yeah, I have no problem. Like if we're housing our own, you know what I'm saying? And we have a problem here that we have to solve. And the Fox Run is a product is a build of What's the organization? Down Street? Down Street Housing. And they typically, I don't think that they would, that's something that they typically would get involved in. I mean, I think it's really geared toward workforce housing. The hospital has expressed a huge need for housing located nearby because oftentimes the lower paying jobs can't afford housing and cars and that allows them the ability to walk to work if they need to. So the idea, I mean, I understand what you're saying, but based on the builder and the people that will operate the facility, I don't think that would be a concern. Down Street, I think is more interested in long term. Yes. Not short term. Yes. And meeting the needs of Vermonters I think is really a key thing for them. Yes, sir. What would be considered low income? This is a workforce housing. It's not like geared toward which is I think is different than some of the subsidized housing. I'm not an expert in this area. I don't pretend to be. But my understanding is what they're calling this is workforce. And there's some market rate housing in there, which means that they need to keep up the facility or the market rate units won't get market rate. Okay. Basically, from my own experience, when they do build low class housing, what they're doing is they're trying to change the workforce from the local and native to immigrants. My experience, they're working at a lower range. And that's something you have to watch out for. I mean, whoever shares in the companies that build this benefit from it, there's a lot of behind the scenes deal going on. Well, I think sometime along here, we'll have asked Down Street to come in and give us an update and we can express your concerns then. Well, I'm interested in basically people like shares companies we're talking about. You know, is it out of your stock exchange? I don't know if it's a public, I don't know if it's a... I think it's not a, it's a Vermont. I haven't heard of it. I'm not sure what type of entity it is, I believe. I think they're not profit maybe. That's what I'm thinking, yeah. That's what you're not on stock exchange. No, I don't believe so either. Do you have anything else you want to add? I just wanted to come down and speak about my concern about the building and who's going to be coming into the town. You know, you want to bring in the tax revenue, but you don't want a problem. I don't want a downside that you're not looking at here, there's any way of preventing that. Any other public comment? If not, we'll move on to convening the charter change hearing. A motion? I make the motion to convene the charter change hearing at this time. A second. A discussion. Hearing none. We are now in the public hearing. Berlin is considering the following changes to its charter. Shall the Berlin Town Center be hereby amended as follows? Section 3-2, powers of the town addition paragraph D as follows. The town Berlin Select Board may assess a 1% sales tax. The town of Berlin Select Board may assess a 1% rooms tax. And the town of Berlin Select Board may assess a 1% meals and alcohol beverage tax. This tax be imposed on the authority. This section shall be collected and administered by the Department of Taxes in accordance with 24 BSA 138. Revenues received through this imposition of tax in this section shall be designed for capital projects within the town. Any comments? Any questions? I don't, you know, bring nothing online. I guess if I may, what we're looking at doing here for everybody's benefit is currently, you know, Berlin's population is around 2900. But during the day, our population swells to around 12,000 between all of the employers in town, the hospital and all the commercial enterprises and everything like that. All these, you know, out of town people are using the services of the town. We're having to maintain and plow the roads and, you know, provide a police force and everything like that. But they do not provide anything towards our property tax base. So all of the town expenses in which we're going to talk about later on tonight with the, you know, next year's budget is basically entirely borne by the property tax payers of the town. This, these three components of the options tax, the sales tax, meals tax and rooms and alcohol tax is an opportunity to get these out of town residents to contribute towards their requirements. They're required expenditures of the town. We're looking at, and this would provide, based on the state tax department, about $600,000 a year of additional revenue. And our proposal is to use this for, as the chair mentioned, capital projects, which is vehicle and heavy equipment. You know, the snow plow trucks, the police vehicles, the road graders and loaders and things like that. Paving out the roads, culvert maintenance, bridge maintenance, all sorts of things like that. Which typically we spend between $300,000 and $500,000 a year on, which is not enough to keep pace with the expenses that we should be to keeping these items in good condition. So we don't, not faced with a situation like the Lovers Lane Bridge where, you know, due to the deferred maintenance, it's now been closed for four or five years at this point and probably at least another year before it's reopened. So we can be more proactive in getting these needs taken care of. I was just sad that I think being proactive reduces the cost overall because when there's an emergency, like when the culvert fails, it's going to cost more than if it was done on a schedule. Here again, the State Tax Department estimates that between three quarters and 85% of this revenue would be paid by out-of-town residents. So we're, you know, so we're definitely looking to capitalize on that. Now keep in mind some things that are not included in this, which are not subject to the state sales tax are groceries, clothing and shoes, drugs and medical supplies, motor vehicles, gasoline and diesel fuel, and residential farm, residential and farm utilities. And probably the biggest, you know, question is, so we do implement this and we've got this additional revenue coming in. How can you be assured that we as a slick board are spending this money in a responsible manner? And keep in mind that any expenditures of these funds will still be, you know, vetted to you through the annual budget voted at the town meeting. So you still have the opportunity to weigh on those expenditures, including not making, you know, any or that much that year and saving it for additional rainy day fund. Some day-to-day impacts of this fund, you know, you go to the grocery store down the street and you buy, you know, you buy some chicken and potatoes and lettuce and bread. You know, you're going to cook dinner for tonight, invite me over if you would please. You would pay nothing extra on that because those items are not taxed, you know, the sales tax that would not be subject to the local options tax. Likewise, let's say you go out, you go out to dinner and you go to a fast food restaurant for your family and you buy four meals, you know, burgers, fries and drinks. And that could cost you $40. You would pay an additional 40 cents on that meal for the options tax. And if you do that once a week, every week for a year, we have a total of 21 additional dollars over the course of the year. You know, that's the power that this 1% can provide to the town over the course of a year. I do see a question in the chat. How do I... For my folks at the wayside restaurant, I would imagine it would be significantly more than 600,000. We would hope so. And with the, you know, growth coming into the town, we do expect that number to increase. But based on the numbers we're getting from the state tax department, that's what we've got so far. That's interesting because the wayside is in both towns. The restaurant part is in Berlin. The cat restaurant is in Berlin. The parking lot is in Montpelier, but the, even the so-called Montpelier side of the wayside is still in Berlin. I've been told. Now I do have a question for the wayside. I know you have a fundraiser coming on tomorrow night. If you wanted to jump on and say anything about that. That would be wonderful. I don't see, you're muted. Here you go. Sorry, I'm not very good in the Zoom. Yeah, we're working with Union Mutual. They have a Penguin plunge team for the raise money for the Special Olympics. We're working with them tomorrow night to donate a portion of the proceeds from the evening sales. Oh, nice. That's wonderful. So I'll throw it out right now. I'll pay $200 if I can pour a glass of ice on Alex's head. I would let you do that for free. I would be willing to pay you to do that. Oh, no. Anything else concerning the public hearing? If not, I'll entertain a motion to close it. I make the motion to close the hearing at this time. Second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. Chatter change. Public hearings closed. Okay. Just the year 25 budget adoption. So we hammered a lot of things out last week. And the final numbers come in at $4,558,276. So I found an error in my spreadsheet. I got it corrected. Thanks for coming. Thank you. Appreciate your help. So you are, so really no changes to the budget itself from what we discussed last week, and I will make the motion to adopt. Your second? Second. Any further discussion? Yes. I just want to go on, Mark, as I know we have to cut and I'm not opposed to the cuts. I do, I did send an email that you all saw that I just had concerns that due to the uncertainty I thought might be worth considering financing a large purchase equipment as opposed to paying for it to provide flexibility in the budget. And I know I'm, this is new to me. I acknowledge that. But I felt like it would give us a little bit more flexibility. And so this is a precursor to my vote. Well, my, my counter to that is we do have the funds reserved for this piece of equipment. Preserved but not restricted. They are, they are restricted. They are restricted to highway equipment. So it's not, it's not restricted to the loader versus a grader or something on the road, but it is restricted for highway equipment. And how does that work? I didn't understand that. When, when you put forth a budget such as this one, once the town votes. So this was from before? Yeah, correct. The money is then locked into what is, what is. I was understanding it was being part of this new request. So I, I misunderstood that. Okay. So I thought, I thought it was money we were setting aside, new money that we were setting aside. And one of the things we want to remember, even though, even though if you were to borrow money or that or whatever, piece of equipment or whatever you want to call it, with the interest rates today, you are going to be, it's going to be costly money. Right. And I recognize that, but I guess my thought was, you know, that can be, you know, assuming everything goes well, that can be paid. You know, you don't have to go to the term, you can pay it off. It's not something that you're set, that's set in stone. So it was just, you know, I struggled with this all weekend because I was so traumatized by that last meeting. And I did still put my petition in, but. Anyway, so that was, that's my only comment. And if that's restricted then it is reserved by a previous vote and I will support the budget. Did you have a good chance to talk Connie Banks today or? I didn't hear back from her. Okay. So I even looked community because that's what we do most of the stuff and she was going to look into it but hadn't gotten back to me. So. Any other comments on this? So just to clarify the reserve is the 253,000? The 253,000 for the loader will come out of reserve, previously reserve funds, correct. And then the implication on the tax rate, then we've got ARPA funds and other things we'll be looking at as well. But, you know, that'd be a discussion on June. Exactly. Wonderful. Okay. Thanks for your time. Thank you so much. Thanks for all your efforts and all your thorough review and asking the question before. Thanks. No glad you put your petition in. Joe. Any other comments? No comment. I'm sick of looking at this. Hi. All in favor? Hi. I'm resounding on. Motion carries. March 24th, I mean March 2024, how meeting voting adoption? So, this is pretty straightforward compared to other, you know, based on other years. The article two is the budget we just adopted. Article three is the Charter Change Local Options Tax. Option, option. Article four is the, at this point, the appears to be a tentative agreement with Gary Hotels for the purchase of the 1.5 acres. Article five is authorization to borrow for flood repairs. For the coming year, it's just authorization. I mean, it's not a sure thing, but it's just a flexibility for the slipboard if we need it. Then our article six through 26 are the appropriations including article six to 424, 296 for the fire department. And these, and the above were all on Australian ballots. Voted on that Tuesday the fourth. And then starting with article 27 is the traditional floor vote for town meeting on Saturday, March 2nd. The moderator reports town officers. Article 29 is the quarterly payment of the property tax and should be noted on here that February, February 15th is actually a Saturday. But luckily at our last meeting, the chair asked our candidates if they'd be willing to work on a Saturday and they both said yes. I guess we wouldn't be having people here. Or the treasurer has stated that as long, anything that's in the lock box when she arrives, that Monday morning will be counted as on time. Then article 30 show the voters of the town of Berlin call upon the United States Postal Service to establish a post office in Zipco within the town to service its residents and businesses. So that's something new. And any other business that may legally become before the meeting. I don't know if our concert would like to have anything. I don't have an addition. Thank you for something that allots. That was perfect. Yeah. If you all agree to this, don't have any changes. I'd just be looking to get signatures today. And then we can order ballots. That's wonderful. Rachel, is there an absentee ballot? There is going to be. It hasn't been printed yet. So what we're going to have on hand right now is for the presidential primaries. So those are available for absentee right now. And then these should be done no later than February 14. Whether you're up to request them. Sorry. So moved. Second. I was just going to say, why did you have to request absentee ballots? Why? You can request them right up until 3.30 the day before. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. And assistant treasurer appointment. If we care to go into executive session and come out and vote. I think it probably would be a good idea to go into executive session quickly. And I will make that motion. Good. In terms of executive session regarding the assistant treasurer appointment under 1VSA 313A3. And I do anticipate a decision tonight following this executive session. Any second? Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. We're in the executive session. We have an odd. We have a person or we have interviewed a person for a assistant town treasurer. And we would like to offer Shelly Rue the position of the assistant town treasurer to have a motion on that. I make the motion that we hire Shelly Rue for assistant town treasurer. No second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. Yes, thank you. And let's see here. We've got warrants. I make the motion to approve payable warrant 24G17 with check number 23681 to 23690 in the amount of $75,529.05. Also payroll warrant 24-17. For payroll from January 14 to January 28, 2024, paid on January 31, 2024 in the amount of $67,910.56. And the Berlin volunteer fire department selections orders from November of 2023 as well. Second. Any discussion? Those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. And what was the other one? I have a lot of signatures I need from all of you on stuff that was previously approved. Not signed. Okay. And Mr. Chair, I did receive an email regarding the options tax during the meeting from Cedric Sanborn. Just as food for thought, the 1% sales tax will also be collected from each business in town as businesses pay the Vermont sales tax on both their electric bill and their heating bill oil slash propane. It's not just free money collected from out of town shoppers. Thank you, Rick Sanborn. So it's only residential and farm that's not collected on the electric? On the state thing you read it. Seems like it says something about electric and heating. That much is on residential. I'm going to say residential and agricultural utilities. This is yours. Thank you. Well, I'm assuming that the tax... Anybody who's using the purchase as an expense, like if you buy a gas for your business, it becomes the business expense. That's true. Right. So that would be the only reason that you would collect the tax on fuel, on heating fuels and whatnot. And don't we all feel good of everything that's been accomplished tonight? And everything leading up to it tour. I put in a lot of effort. What is here for you? I broke the bad news to Tom. About his family commission? Oops. I got to sign this from two places. So I take it tour. I sign it somewhere in here. Let me see if those were already all signed. I think they were. I don't see any place else. Oh, there was. I broke Pine Hill to three of my neighbors. They were unscathed. Then I asked to borrow the newspaper. We actually, we used to get the newspapers delivered and it just expired. And now there's an offer being made. My husband said we should get that started back up again. Yeah, I agree. Shelly was excited. We're still, we're still, we're still putting ink to paper. Still on the record. Okay. Anything else to come before the board tonight? Technically the, there is no German on the agenda. So I don't think we can adjourn. Well bet. Nice try. Entertain a motion to adjourn. I make the motion to adjourn tonight's select board meeting. I'll second that. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Aye. Both in carries.