 6.2 and we got a collection of folks here so why don't we start as chair of the Rochester Select Board. I find that due to the state of emergency declared by Governor Scott as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to addendum 6 to executive order 01-20 and act 92 this public body is authorized to meet electronically. We're providing public access to the meeting using the Zoom platform and you can find out how to connect with that meeting by looking at the posted agendas around town going to the town website or requesting an email notification from the town clerk. Anyway we're here we are and I would like to invite anyone that has any additions to the agenda to bring them up now if we could and hearing none I will move on to the the minutes we the last meeting we could not confirm the meetings for the December 14th meeting because we didn't have them so I looked over those now and they look correct to me so did you guys have any corrections or no? I do. Page two of those minutes from 12-14. The pair says that Joan noted how we are moving forward on the Mount Cushman project and I think it should be how we're not moving forward. Yeah okay I saw that too you're right. Yeah we could clarify that. Frank any? We're still gonna try. We're still gonna try it's just it's just tabled for a little bit. Tabled exactly. Alright so I'd move to approve those with that correction. I second it. All in favor? All right got someone else coming into the meeting and then we go into the minutes for the the birthday meeting on December 28th and I found those to be complete and clear and I'd if you guys don't have any corrections to those I'd move to approve those minutes. I second that. I don't care. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Hello Catherine I see you just got in we were I'd asked earlier if anyone had any additions to the agenda and which there were none but I'd give you the same opportunity to to add something if you wanted to. I wanted to sort of update about the high school building and what's going on with that. Okay. Hey Joan I met I was on mute I was gonna say I just want to give a rundown of the town meeting schedule. Yeah great yeah just some dates and that are important to the community. I've got them listed down here. Great thank you Frank. Yep so we get to so let's um why don't we why don't we start with that Frank because that's kind of an important thing that's coming up and a lot of people are curious about that. Okay the the rundown for town meeting is Tuesday January 12th which is tomorrow is the last day for signed petitions and then Monday January 18th is the last day for consent forms at 5 p.m. Julie is going to be open all day that day and then Wednesday January 20th is the first day that we can post the warning and Friday January 29th is the last day we can post the warning. February uh Friday February 19th is the last day to mail out the town reports and Friday February 19th the worn virtual info information meetings that can be addressed on February 22nd and we felt that we needed two informational meetings on that and I it's up to the board here to figure out if we want to do it because we have a regular scheduled meeting on the 22nd and I prefer not to do it on a regular scheduled meeting I'd rather see a couple of meetings and some of the other stuff I did put out to the public only because they're they're the town report stuff that we have to do in-house and that's about it now maybe Nancy has something she wants to address there yeah Nancy can you hear me yep yep meetings have to be warned in advance of those meetings like around the 20th and no later than the 20th right that's what I said so we need to we need to have them properly warned which would be I had my calendar here February for February 22nd we would be probably warning it at around the 16th and if you do another one that week of the 15th we would have to warn it probably around the night excuse me I'm confused as to did you just is there a meeting on the 22nd or what I mean I know there's a regular meeting regular regular select board meeting on the 22nd what Frank was recommending is that we have the informational meetings for the the town non-meeting and separate from the regular select board meeting so their meetings specifically focused on that that on that are you are is the board deciding on those dates tonight I think they're pretty well set 22nd is what used to be the pre-town meeting it's one week before when we'll be voting I I think we should probably set those a little bit later because we have a regular meeting on the 22nd and then warn them for the week of the 22nd sometime during that week we could are you are you picking out the dates now so people will know ahead of time because we haven't discussed those yet Martha so a little bit of our decision now one of the issues is since people cannot be nominated from the floor at a normal meeting if they want to run for an office maybe we want to have a meeting a little bit earlier so this is all really clear to people and and they don't feel like this is um too compressed and in terms of the time frame June yeah um the people that complete the consent form by five o'clock on the 18th their names will be printed on the ballot anyone else can be considered a write-in there'll be lines on the ballot to accommodate the write-ins okay so there will be write-ins with that will kind of satisfy the the possibility of a nomination from the floor I guess it would have it so now is it um do we need to have an earlier meeting before the 18th so that that is clear to people that that's that's the deadline that that I I would suggest that you have something that that week of the 15th that makes sense to me it would not be very nice to hold a meeting to say oh the the deadline was last week but um I think we should post it around town and also put it on the on the computer there the front page forum and and all that yeah it's out everywhere if anybody is looking around or listening it it's in print everywhere for the consent forms so in terms of the um the informational meetings um we can't have them until we get the town reports back true so those will be the week of the February 22nd so we just have to pick a couple days for that a couple nights and we could do two meetings that week right so what's your pleasure on that whatever day you want if we already have a select board meeting that I don't have a calendar in front of me it's the 22nd it's money that money is the 22nd yes okay Monday's the 22nd you don't have to announce that right now no we can wait on that and we can figure it out talk about it if you want um I just wanted something to put in my article could I just say the meetings will be uh the week of the 22nd would date to be confirmed soon I wouldn't do that yet you've got another select board meeting on the 25th but of January people will want to know oh okay fine yeah we can have the dates ready by then yeah okay okay but we can't have informational meetings until we have the town report right exactly that's a good point I'll just say the dates of the information meetings will be decided at the next select board meeting here we go so the February 19th is the deadline for the reports to be mailed is it possible that we can have them sent out before then only they'll go out the day they come back from the printer right right so that's all I can tell you I mean I would not ever give you a date except they will be in the mail by the 19th yep we have to we have to have all that stuff delivered to the printer by the 21st of January yeah the the town report will is will go to the printer on at least by the 21st yeah yeah no we're on on line to approve the budget tonight so that's um we're um we're in good shape for getting that information to them what are we uh when is the deadline for appropriations is what tomorrow that's tomorrow yeah yeah yeah okay let me just okay um Frank thanks for being on top of the all the scheduling around this and you Nancy so I guess I'll follow the agenda down here Joan welcome this evening what have you got for us tonight uh just one item I need to discuss with uh the select board and that is um the uh maybe you saw the email I sent last Thursday I think it was about uh information getting information to Chris Bumpett v trans regarding the route 100 paving right we were able to get there to the trouble spots and um they want more like more information uh so they can go take a look at them as I said the email um ordinarily of course they would do it with someone from the town but these days they're they're prohibited from doing that so they'd like me to send them some information and be more specific a little more you know we have to give them a lot of detail but it's more specific about exactly where these trouble spots are and uh I you know maybe do a GPS point and a little description of what's been happening and for how long and then they will come out and take a look at things and get back to us and probably schedule a Zoom meeting for us to discuss them um I did find out also that quite well while they're getting into design phase now I don't think they're very far into it and um he was able to describe the work they're going to do it's simply a new layer of asphalt new layer of pavement they're not going to grind and and redo it no no it's it's a patch job it's a patch job well yeah basically it's a patch job Joan did I hear correctly this is route 100 you're talking about that's right that's right um what was the other thing oh and the paving work is actually not going to be done until uh 2022 but I guess it takes this long to put things together uh whatever those things are so uh I wanted to find how you have find out how you wanted to address putting together these trouble spots I'm more than willing to come in walk around with cooter if you'd like me to do that then put together the information or if you want to do it some other way um I want to make sure that I had all of the sites that I've heard from you um in previous meetings so uh can I do that I just list them I've got one two three four uh you can tell me if there are any more one is uh somewhere between Pierce Hall in the library maybe that whole stretch or is it a specific spot within that area that in terms of puddling of water yeah ponding whatever the problem right right it so yeah no that's that's been a been a problem plus with a lot of um a lot of traffic into there okay so it's the entire stretch between Pierce Hall and and the library entrance it's um yeah basically I mean whatever okay that's that's where the issue seems to to crosswalk is in that crosswalk is that in is that in the section there crosswalk is south of the crosswalk is south of the library uh the pool is at the at the area that comes right down there steps onto 100 so I'm sorry it's more than it's ponding but it's also safety um yeah I'm basically with them just the ice that builds up there over and over because of the there's no drainage yeah okay so there's no drain there now it's not like there's one that's not unfunctional or something there's nothing there now I don't think so I think I talked to Pierce Hall too yeah I'm sorry sorry Tim did you have something to say about that nope okay bar okay bark yeah um that's true that if someone at Pierce Hall would I I think that um talking to um Pierce Hall and the folks at the library they'd have the I mean they're walking there every day they they know what the um okay dude they did a uh repayment job in front of just all the little driveway and everything to that have any effect on where water would pond and everything no no okay I haven't noticed I just wanted to talk to Bruce Bruce yeah okay and then the next one is Sandy's I know where that is yeah yeah um and that's a long time thing right that's been like that that is yeah yeah we've brought that up to to them a few times in fact I had a conversation with Chris Bump this last week and um right yes yeah okay and what were the other two sites that you had um yeah I'm just taking notes here um then there was a sink hole due to a uh e-trans storm drain somewhere between the skit mark and Sandy's and Chris knew about that he did say that they had done some work there they had fixed it and it was a bigger job than they expected because it wasn't just the drain it was a section of fight they had in place which they don't ordinarily do um but any case I think I heard the last meeting that there was still a problem there is that correct now wait you just meant that's the same spot that we're talking we were just talking about between the no no no this is um not right in front of Sandy's and the driveway there but then going from there up basically along the skit mark up to the intersection somewhere in there I'm not aware of that one no okay so there's no issues there well there's some shrinkage there that probably should be addressed shrinkage yeah it's kind of a rough spot there it's it's got a couple sags in it and I don't know whether there were some pipes that we'd worked on in there over the years that it's kind of settled there a little bit you can see it if you walk by it okay so I'll just say it's pretty obvious okay and then oh yeah one thing Chris did mention also is that when they do these jobs V-trans will do in the in the state right of way but they don't do anything that goes underneath the roadway so like they could drop in a new drain or or fix a drain or replace it if necessary but they won't put in a new pipe even if it's needed for this kind of job because all they're doing is you know putting another layer of pavement over looking to dig it up but we did talk about the obvious thing point which is that there is something that needs to be replaced that goes underneath the road roadway it would be best to find out now rather than later yeah um okay uh and then the last one I have is this the perennial one where uh somewhere in the neighborhood of the the new park um or something connected with brook street brook I'm not really clear about where the problem comes from there except that all the water runs down drains down there and maybe doesn't have a place to go so a better description of that would be well that was uh there was a pretty significant sinkhole they actually had a steel plate in route 100 for um for a month or two um a couple years ago when that that had caved in and I believe they did a bunch of repair to that um at that time so it's um it's interesting that would that show up on their their list of problems so maybe that's the sinkhole that Chris was talking about um he wasn't really clear about where it was so is that sinkhole still a problem no they they repaired that okay the one down by the park now that's um and that that pipe then just dumps into the um the um that creek there it doesn't um you know that's that that's the terminus of that that's the swell is that the brook it dumps that too or is there a swell no there's no swell it just jumps them's just just um downstream of the bridge yeah um so they're saying they will they're not doing any improvement of that infrastructure in terms of adding um adding um drains well he didn't say that specifically uh I think he was starting out by saying well let's take a look at things and see if there's some things we can do you know you also know a certain amount of this is going to be the town responsibility and I said yeah we understand that but if there was a way to cooperate um in some way because a lot of these problem areas are in the state right away then we want to find out what can be done so I mean it's probably like don't expect too much but they'll give it a try yeah we should keep keep bugging them about it I mean it's yeah usually not until all of a sudden I have to put a steel plate in the middle of route 100 that they really pay attention to it but yeah yeah should we uh uh take a look at these here with cooter or possibly walk through them yeah I think we should definitely go see them yeah so Frank you want to you you may include her that work that's fine and are there any other sites that you know about that I might have missed or well not that wouldn't include adding drains adding um drains to the system you know I mean there is um we have a lot of issues um there is um the storm drain that's um just at the the crosswalk going down to the school that um drains into a pipe that kicks out that bank that pipe separated and now it's eroding um pretty significantly there was a um there's a swale down at the bottom of that hill that those that pipe was originally fed into and now that pipe is broken in the middle and it's it's eroding that bank Lee um pretty pretty good that's okay we'd pointed out them to them uh was it the state or was it the um oh the stormwater for the stormwater master plan right stormwater master plan I know they spray painted the you know mark that spot but that's that's um that's not showing a problem in the roadway but it is an issue um you know back to bank there yeah okay okay probably not something that they would consider is affecting their their skin coating the road probably not but I'll tell them everything you know that we have and maybe I'll come up with some other ideas for us yep okay that's all I have all right well thank you um yeah it's um a process working with the state on stuff like this yeah well I have to say I know they've been very responsive at times we know that like with Bethel mountain road and all that are pulled in a lot of different directions on the other hand I was a little frustrated and not hearing back from anyone um just to know that we were in touch and that they knew we had concerns until I contacted uh Rita Cito and then she just sent a friendly email to v-trans and all of a sudden there were like six people on this email saying hey what's going on you know uh we're a little flustered by it and you know I just said yeah yeah when I talked to Christy's like oh we'd really appreciate it if you just came to us instead of going to the the planning commission because then it gets more complicated but yeah well it's it's good to know that I you know I'm not looking we're not looking to get them you know in trouble or anything but one question he did ask and I didn't have an answer for he asked well you had these problems I'm going for a while why didn't you talk to the guys at the state garage facility and I said I I didn't really know um you know there's nothing I'm gonna say to him about it but I was just kind of curious I um I never thought really that that was the the initial direction to go they would usually send uh you know work on instructions from their higher-ups not making decisions on their own but yeah okay yep okay fair enough right um thank you um we don't have um Tony here to talk about the library at all um I am here I don't know why that's oh I see you're just called Brenda yes all right computer I guess all right yeah you have you got any reports for us and do you have any input about the the drainage out in front of the library yeah I'm glad that you're talking about that because that has been bad for a long time and and it is dangerous and slippery and miserable for people to get through so yeah that's a good thing I was also glad that you are putting money into the building maintenance fund apparently uh we're trying yeah you're trying that's good and let's see as far as the library is going it's uh we're still doing uh porch pickup and we have a trustees meeting uh tomorrow afternoon at 545 and that's of course on this thing okay on this thing meaning the zoom thing the zoom thing yeah zoom thing okay all right all right um thank you thank you um so I'm gonna move on to the the first item on the new business which is the approval of the 2021 first class license and outside consumption permit for maple sole and I guess outside consumption is because they have the porch there um I guess this is they're anticipating um perhaps being able to move away from the takeout only but I guess we will see so I have um no problems with approving that and you how about you too no problem no I'd move we approved um seconds oh sorry um favor hi all in favor yep yeah Martha I'm sorry I was just speaking of maple sole I don't know if you saw the article I had in the paper this past week about what maple sole and CV oil are doing to help people in the area maple so the whole month of January uh five percent of their sales the money is going to go to CV oil and CVL is going to use it to give credit to customers who are having trouble um you know who are needy and and um to help them pay for their heating bills yeah so I thought that was really nice that too you know there's been a lot of people helping each other out during this hard time you know and um it it was nice to hear about that too when I when they called me no yeah that's great where I'm lucky to have them so yeah that's the silver lining to the cloud all right um so now to the um the piece on the agenda that's um taken the most amount of work from the budget and finance committee is the approval of the fiscal year 22 town budget it's um so it's um it's this will be um this does not include voted articles um like the werva library recycling and reserve funds or appropriations which would amount to 167 344 dollars 167 344 dollars they're not part of the budget will be voted in addition to the budget so the um we're looking at um the total fund expenditures for the operating expenses of 1,095,483 of which 766,670 dollars shall be raised by taxes and this results in um Greg what was the final um increase on the the tax rate we kept it under 3% right you're muted hey Greg you got it you're muted I think it's around 2.28 2.28 yeah which is um so of course this is the the um just the municipal aspect of the taxes it's the school taxes that really um wield the big hammer and have the big effect on their taxes so we have um yet to see what what that's gonna happen with that but um I um do we need to approve that or just present that so okay I guess I would move to um move to approve that um setting of the the budget and the amount due to be raised by taxes for fiscal year 2022 uh second that no in favor right all right yep and thank you everyone um for their hard work on actually I found the zoom platform made it a little easier to navigate that and Greg having us all look at the it's a paper on the screen and we're all on the same same page that that was very helpful so um thank you all for for your work on that yeah yeah I agree June yeah much easier okay um and we don't have to go out and snowy cold weather not that it's been that terribly snowy or cold yet but knock on wood so um another agenda item on new business is to appoint Becky Klein to the vacant planning commission position and um we're lucky to have her join the team she's been around and has a lot of um knowledge about the town and I think she'll be an asset to the the planning board so I'd I'd move to appoint Becky to that vacant position a second that yeah in all in favor all right all right is she replacing someone or has this been vacant no she's replacing um you've had a a couple people step out Joan Panias has stepped back and um Eric Bowman has just stepped off of it so we had um yeah had a need for for more more energy there and could share field Eric Bowman's right right all right they've been around for a long time so thank you they had been put a lot of time in there yeah okay um so Catherine you wanted to um to chat some about the the status of the high school building well I wanted uh to know know what the budget committee's final thinking about you know the possibility of the town acquisition whether they were intending to put any funds towards that potential I also wanted to get an update from Pat who met with Ethan today to know where the negotiations are between the school board and the select board because we haven't had an update and it's important that the committee have been working on be in the loop in terms of conversations that are going on with the powers that be i.e. the select board and the school board Pat you want to handle that sure I did have a meeting this morning at 10 o'clock it was the first meeting uh uh to have any type of discussion about the building so uh we've all been in the dark uh up until this morning um the only point of the meeting today was to submit the preliminary subdivision lines for the property physical divvying up of the property um they want to keep that confidential at this time because it's preliminary so it's not until the uh what is anyone else having trouble hearing hearing Pat yeah I can't hear you Matty maybe turn off your video you'll get more bandwidth here comes the green bay packer cheese head um my team um is that is that better that's better I think so yeah um so we had a meeting this morning and the purpose of the meeting was to submit the preliminary uh lot line adjustments for the subdivision of the property um no decisions were made today I'm not I don't have the authority to make any decisions on my own um in order for the school board to continue down the path of a wastewater permit for the secondary septic system um they need to submit the actual lot lines so uh one hand needed to take care of the other um I have that in hand and we will have an executive session at the end of this meeting to discuss the the proposed lines how they're divvying up the property um and then we will discuss um whether or not they're going to bring it to the zoning board which I'm sure that you know they probably will and um if we can approve if we can approve the way the lot lines are adjusted on this new proposal then they can go to the next level on getting a secondary septic system um they still have a lot of work yet to do um oil tanks and and uh removing their systems from our building if we take it and um so it's it's a very slow process for them um and they you know we talked about how we still have much to do um and um um they they know it and um that's that's all we had for a discussion today it wasn't a big major decision-making thing I cannot do that on my own right just wanted to have uh information update I remember at one point you actually uh question the need for executive session on this since we're not negotiating a sale price so why why is it necessary to go into executive session about these property boundaries their attorney asked if we could keep it confidential for this initial show and tell of the lot lines when they present the the lot lines and um they they want it to be final so once we approve it then it can become public knowledge and um the question can open I have a question this is big um what's your best guess about when the property would be available for acquisition in other words if you know some oil millionaire came in from Abu Dhabi and put down a bunch of money and wanted to buy it or you know I'm just trying to get a sense when all the the process is completed the process that's underway right now just to get a sense of timing I don't understand the question because you're acting because I would be in commercial sale all I'm saying is I'm asking when the process of the division of property and it's availability for acquisition by anybody whether it's a town or anybody else would be available it's got to be approved by the zoning board and they have a time schedule on that so it's whatever they have to present it to the zoning board the zoning board's got to rule it and uh and go from there I'm not sure what it what it entails for time wise it's it's not a huge amount of time but it is some time so they'll have issues with that I'm sure so um just it's up to them they got to go through the process okay well they also have raised an underground oil tank which they haven't even started that process they had a discussion with a contractor and that's all they've done about that so that would need to happen as well if the underground oil tank is stable um that would be fine and dandy but um it's been underground since the 70s so um if it has any type of seepage or a pinhole of uh oil leaking down there that that's probably going to take another couple months to resolve so following up on uh what vic and frank just said before it goes up to any kind of commercial sale the town would have to refuse acquisition is not correct because we get first we get the first offer of a dollar right we have first right of reasons yeah that's right so what is the um attitude of the select board right now about that option opposed that I know yes I am but you're one of three you're one of three people but I am opposed could you go on record as to why yes there's only three options there Catherine to my knowledge there's one to keep it as a school and it's still going to cost us a hell of a lot of money the other is put it on the tax rolls and tax it by somebody if they're going to use it for a commercial property and the third one is to wreck it tear it down a strength for example there's the auditorium there and there's all kinds of value to the town it in my it doesn't matter we can't afford it in your opinion you look at you look at our budget yeah yeah there is um I guess the fourth the fourth option which would be um is the bigger challenge and has the possibility of um more creative use of it is for the town to take possession of it and facilitate a reuse of it in some way that is going to support the town and and help that some there's a lot of unknowns there and that's um and um my take on it is that nothing to be rushing into there's a lot of in terms of the committee working on trying to come up with a reasonable proposal to the town about what the building could be used for they need more time this is not something you put together right away you asked earlier did the budget committee put anything in the budget to potentially support the building and and we did not because it's um and we're we're scrounging to just keep the budget as um as stable as we can and there was no guarantees that um this is going to happen that soon and that's um so we we did not put 20 000 in the budget to anticipate buying the building that's not saying that that couldn't happen but you've heard frank's um feelings on it and it's um it's a complicated thing um there's a lot up in the air the whole issue of the stock bridge requesting to uh a vote to demurger throws the whole bunch of balls in the air and we're not um they they don't have the power to um force that demurger if rochester doesn't vote to support that option but if all of a sudden we were um the whole school was thrown back in our lap then I think we would reevaluate the the situation with that building in a different light so it's um it's the the pressure to make decisions right away I think are um there's a lot of resistance to that well that's why Vic is asking for a projected deadline by which you think that the building will be a formally uh offered to the uh select board and which and and when the select board has to make a decision I mean nobody wants to to to spin their wheels in working and this committee has put a lot of effort in and it sounds to me from you know that frank you know has just summarily made up his mind because nobody has proven to heaven of another option but certainly there are other options and as we've gone ahead and started to explore uh funding options and so forth I think we really need to have a lot more confidence than what I'm hearing tonight about from the select board that in fact there is a potential repurposing we've always said that you know the school could still be uh used for education this school was closed for this school year because of the pandemic and the pandemic now the vaccinations have been rolled out could potentially you know be in person again and the building be used because I do believe there's a greater vote from Rochester than there is from Stockbridge in terms of where the level of the building is usage so I feel like whatever the size of this group in Stockbridge is Rochester is a bigger voting block than Stockbridge and why why is it that suddenly you know we're being squeezed into this corner about this building now why is that happening why are we like being put into some sort of corner about it well that's it exactly and then to to time push the issue um into to a situation that is not properly unfolded and has not been properly explored it's not um there's a lot of resistance to that when you say properly explored what do you mean properly properly I mean we're some realistic and clear um offerings about what you know what could happen you know what what's you know not just um we would like to do something but we would like to do this you know that's what we are working on right they're working on but what is the point of working on this and pulling in you know state agencies and funding sources if in fact you guys aren't even giving us you know anything in terms of like the work that we're doing are we just spinning our wheels out of here I understand that we we formed the committee you're on the committee to present to us potential uses of what could happen with the building so aren't we kind of waiting on the committee to answer our question which is why we ask it's done it's it's a good question pat and I think what it's done is in collaboration right so there's three entities here right and two of them have legal authority with the school board and the select board we are a volunteer group who's been working in coordination and collaboration with the powers that be trying to get funding and people and so forth all organized to actually go forward to create a repurposing concept a proposal but if Frank has already made up his mind that it's not even possible and and you know doing is saying something like you know proper I I guess I'm not feeling the confidence of the select board that that you know there's credibility in the work that we're doing well it's um it's it's still a long ways out no matter what happens that's a ways out so what is a ways out right give me an idea I don't know Catherine it's a whole process it has to go through it's up the ball is in the hands of the school board and they have to do what they need to do subdivide it and then we figure it out from there we need to have voter approval to even think about this because it is going to be a massive undertaking financially and I don't care if you get grants for this or anything else that building's been there for over 50 years and we haven't put any any money into it at all and now it's going to come do where it's going to need a lot it's going to need a roof it's going to need many things the outside doors are all gone the sills are needing work there's just a lot of stuff that's going to need to be done to that and I don't see where the money's coming from and if you put it right down and you get grants for all this stuff you're not going to get grants for the maintenance and it's just going to be a burden on the community and I don't see us being a landlord I just don't see it it's just too much if I might be the notion of the repurposing committees to come up with a proposal that would be self-sustaining that there would be programs that generate revenue that would be desirable for grant-giving organizations we haven't got the whole picture yet and you know this pandemic has has just you know made it very very difficult to have meetings and get input and you know do all the things you ordinarily do my my primary concern is around time availability in other words is is the school we're going to call the question before we can come up with a reasonable proposal that's my primary concern and mine too I mean and as of tonight I just I want a clarity on that point what are we looking at and it sounds as though nobody knows what we're looking at in terms of time and we are in a pandemic I mean even if we created the best programs we are still limited by the pandemic in terms of actually offering things getting people in place we're talking about a place for congregation at a time when people can't congregate right and so that's that's hamstrung us you know I mean tune you have the you know the building down the block which you're gonna call the vellum on in how how long has it taken you to pull the funding to get that thing up and going so that's a viable business right it takes time you certainly you certainly do understand what it means and who you have to meet with to get the the funding committed and there's all different things about funding yes there's funding for renovations and changes and capital improvements but there's also you know you need you need regular income for people who are actually going to use the space whether that's an adult day child care maker space whatever that is you're going to have to establish a an ongoing funding source and we are talking to people about those very very specific things but if we don't have the confidence of the select board that you would actually like to see a Gifford medical center adult day in there which would be good revenues right or a child care center which would be solid revenues I mean we're looking at things like that right now and talking to people to try to get commitments but if we have a select board that is saying impossible is not going to happen it feels like it's sort of putting a little cloud over anything that we're trying to muster and lift you know what I'm saying I'd like to hear at least a little bit of optimism to kind of inject that into the work we're doing it's important that we have that right I would just want to say for the record that Gifford has not indicated that they would partner with us to not yet the acres well then I mean say not yet that's that's not even you know for discussion but but there's facts that we know about the adult day more facts that we know about the aging population yes but don't assume that I don't want it to be on the record that we're not putting it on the record Vic I'm just saying where those conversations have started no negative we're only asking them for some help in figuring out feasibility that's it and I want to be very clear about that well then I just understood your your conversations apologize for that maybe I apologize if there's bad communication there yeah it's all we're all kind of caught in a little bit of a catch 22 because you know where everyone's looking to everyone else to to give the clarity of like okay this is what's going to happen and this it's it's a it's a long process you you ask how long it's it's it's been five six years we've been working on this project next door here so it's not something where um the select board has the power to say this is going to awesome we're going to buy this building and make something cool happen that's not the job of a select board the select board but we are here to support the town and into and invest in things that have vision and that will we be positive for the town but we are legally we're we cannot just be a landlord you know it has to be something that is is involved with the town so it if perhaps it's a a transitionary stage but you know I I I don't think we should tear the building down you know I personally think it has the potential for something creative and and you know more than just becoming the town garage but it's to to be able to answer the question is like you know yes we're we're gonna whatever it is something's gonna happen and we put money in the budget for it we couldn't do that like I understand that so I think we all understand that right now because of the the economy and how it's been affected by the pandemic there's a lot of uncertainty across the board about a lot of things right now and in some level I think it's it's unfair that we're being pushed up against the wall to make decisions at a time of great uncertainty I agree and we we pay into the school budget and the cost of keeping that building last year was 0.9 of the school budget so oh in a way it seems a little artificial that we're being driven to a decision at a time when when somebody said earlier that we're not even clear whether Stockbridge is going to attempt to demerge you know and then what the building will come back to us anyway right right so so so where is this push coming from I mean what is the percentage of the voting population that has got our backs up against the wall about having to make a decision at a time when there is so much uncertainty political pressure from those Stockbridge people on the school board I mean there's a sentiment for every nickel that is spent on anything having to do with Rochester and that they're putting that on the school board and they're under a lot of heat it's a very complicated and difficult situation and I understand your position entirely Katherine but you know I think Frank is kind of courageous to just kind of make this absolute point because the numbers are very serious and and that doesn't mean it'll never happen it doesn't mean anybody's saying no but but I'm gratified to see Frank just being realistic about it because it's it's very expensive and the budget process we just went through shows how thin the ice is yeah that doesn't mean it won't happen but it's very complicated and it should be done very carefully and slowly as Doon is saying I think careful is is right I agree with careful but uh but I also do not like if there is a small group of people that are is driving this because I don't even know what kind of numbers we're talking about even sort of pushing the school board towards a decision because it's become such an unpleasant and and chronic complaint you know I just I question the fairness of it that's all I question whether it's a a reasonable representation of the voting public in two towns well the fairness of it and and the wisdom of it because as the uh at the last school board meeting that I sat in on and the um the the superintendent shared the information about the tax rates for the individual towns and what they projected would be with a demurger and and regardless of what happens to the high school the tax rates for both towns would go up with the demurger so I think this drive to to um demurge the schools is is shortsighted and and um and there's you know this the building has been brought forth is this um this you know topic of of concern and and and a lightning rod for this um the force for for whatever the animosity is but it's it's it's kind of a red herring there there's there's more play here and and it's um I I think that's we've been playing a waiting game there's no question about it there's no sense in trying to jump in and say we know what's going to happen and this is what we're going to do but we'll see what happens at the the vote and Stockbridge and that that does not determine that we will demurge that it will just force the town of Rochester to then take up a vote in response to that and the um more that people are educated and understand the ramifications of what that vote is that you know we'll see what happens but it's that's that's why we're all kind of in limbo and in trying to work towards you know and understanding you know what could happen with the building what will it really cost to support the building what what creative forces could could rise to to want to do something with the building you know I still wonder if it's not going to be an asset for if we move into a a time in the future where increased distance is required I mean the the outdoor tent thing is not that sustainable you know and this may be a big asset for the school to have a lot of room I don't know but I think that rushing to decisions is the mistake and being pushed by by a relatively small group I really think is is also a mistake I mean this it seems like the building has become a symbol of of something a bad marriage or something like that but it really isn't the building it's a something else now even though that the building's on a path to resolution one way or another they you know there's still a lot of anger and among some Stockbridge folks so I think it is a red herring a lot of I think state of limbo that we that that we have been in for the last few months have been a gift of the committee to to get some work done saying that you need another year to come to conclusions at all um perhaps you need to throw more members at this you probably need some help so that you can uh so we can make a little bit faster progress I that's what I'm hearing here I'd also want to mention that the the building is an asset to the town for simply for the section with the auditorium where we've always held our town meetings when we didn't have a pandemic and our theater group and other organizations have held things there I mean that auditorium is a real asset to the town yeah it's not cut and dried by any means no well I also feel that you know yes this committee is a volunteer committee and it out it grew from the envision group and the reason that the end or one of the principles in the envision group was a recognition of the elder demographics of this town and I've become pretty much an expert on the elder demographics of this town as being the you know the senior advocate for 23 years and I got to tell you guys we got to bring young people in we have got to bring young families in otherwise who's going to get your services you try right now to get a plumber you try to get an electrician we need young people and that school is a possibility that building is a possibility I would like it all to be education quite frankly but I'm just saying we can't lose sight of what we need to put into place to bring young families into this town and I know patty feels that way too because she said that and it's just we can't just settle on being an older town afraid of our taxes going up and I guess that's all I have to say and thank you for the time yeah so thank you and I did hear that a number of new families have moved into town via in the past few past six months the school helps us do something good and and bring more people that are living full time into our town I heard that there were new kids at the school that's just what I was going to say so that's good news so you know hurry up and wait right I mean there is there's pieces of the puzzle you know floating around and they're getting more information but it's it's um you know it's patty you know chatting with Ethan this morning it's not you know it's not happening next week it's not happening next month it's not happening this winter this is um this is a big project so um so thank you for your energy on the committee to try and come up with uh envisioning of what could happen and and how it could be turned into an asset and and turn it's um it's um it's not not easy but it's um it's what we have to work with right now and um hey something something to do right it's just off the street yeah yeah you know not going out to eat not going to movies might as well work on one of the creative projects yeah um does anyone else have anything they want to say about that the issue yeah I just add that if if the town were considering selling the the facility then it would be about three thousand dollars for a commercial appraisal of the building and I've been quoted about ten grand for a realtor to to market and and list and sell it and that's something else that patty has said that I've agreed to it's just like why doesn't the town sell the building if the repurposing ideas don't come to the kind of fruition that they need then at least the town would get the money for the building yeah well yeah when it comes down to it that'll be something to consider you know but it's not ready to be sold right no but you know yeah I do understand that the town has to vote on any kind of repurposing idea and I would only want it that way too but um in terms of an asset to the town it is an asset to the town and even if the town decides to put it on the commercial market that's still an asset to the town whatever that would sell for so all right um in the end we'll all get schooled by this experience what we know well it's important to work together it is it is um that um and really I think um that was pretty much everything that we had on the agenda for tonight but you guys have an executive session to discuss the property lines divisions for this particular subject right yeah okay thank you um and is that anything that you'll be making a just I'm sorry to interrupt but it may be probably not based on this conversation we just had is this information Jeff can you send me what you read from at the beginning the act uh 92 yes yeah yeah I need I need that language for the uh tri-town yeah yeah well let me um I'll um find that it's um it's a whole you know a couple pages but you can summarize the the most important aspects of it is and I'll send that to you yeah thank you okay yeah it's got that one word that we can't pronounce well oh um that um and it's so fun to say though contemporaneously yeah we all need to be able to contemporaneously um interact and contribute to the meeting um let's make a note okay did it very nicely do yeah I have a lot of practice all right well thank you all for coming and have a good evening yep thank you thank you