 Make the meeting go a little more efficiently and first thing is I'm going to do is I'm going to put my phone on mute So good morning everyone and welcome to the 2021 town of Berlin pre-town meeting My name is Tom Badowski and I'd like to share with you tips that can make this virtual meeting function well and Ensure a pleasant experience for all All attendees are asked to keep their microphones muted so as to keep down any distracting background noise You can mute yourself by clicking on the microphone icon on the bottom left of your screen Find that You can also turn off your video by clicking the camera icon next to the microphone This is helpful when a participant has poor internet connection and your voice will come over garb garbled if you're using both the video and the and And the microphone so if you turn off your video it may allow us to hear you better if you have poor internet connection the There are two ways to ask questions The first is through the chat button on the bottom middle of your screen Click on that button to ask a question Vince Conti and Diane Isabel will monitor the chat and find answers for you The second way to ask the question is to go to the bottom of your screen and click on the participants icon Once in the participants find your name and hover over it with your mouse and a more button will appear Click that button and press raise your hand This will alert me that you want to speak to the group Again, this meeting is being recorded and Now I would like to that our moderator Paul Geely's had the floor. Thank you for your attention Thank You Tom Welcome to the 230th annual Berlin meeting This is not a meeting where we'll be doing any voting. This would be purely for discussion purposes and We traditionally begin with the Pledge of Allegiance and I hope we'll see a flag we can Pledge to we have that Here we go. Join with me. I pledge allegiance to the flag United States of America and to the Republic stands under God Liberty and justice Thank you We are going to take the articles in Order and as Tom explained you can ask questions and we'll find answers for you. So the first article is The election of officers and the first of those is a select board member for a three-year term It's been traditional that if you're a candidate that you might Say a few words and introduce yourself if any of those who will be Candidates would like to speak this is a good time and Then we'll go on to the next there's two select board members for a one-year term That will be on the ballot Are there any of those candidates or any who want to be write-ins who are here to talk about that? Hey Paul Justin Lawrence Been on the select board for two years now Really having a good time. There's a lot to learn and I look forward to hopefully contributing to the town for another year. Thank you Thank you Justin Anyone else? the third officer is for a town moderator for a one-year term and I am the candidate I am in my 21st year and I enjoy doing it and Anyone wants to start picking up after me and that's fine too Let's start with that. Let's go to article two. Shall the town appropriate three million 698,719 dollars for necessary town expenses for the period July 1st 2021 through June 30th 2022 Someone from the select board to talk about this perhaps Yes, the The budget as it's presented is a 2% increase from last year's There are some oddities to it and the fact that we used some of the Undesignated funds or the surplus to buy down debt for this for this year for the So we wouldn't have that Carrying over It shows up in the and then in 2021 budget or 22 budget as a 14% increase in spending, but it's it's just a transfer of funds to this year's to buy down the budget If there's any specific questions, please ask anyone Thanks, Brad Article three This is the longest one we have Shall the town collect its real and personal property taxes to defray the expenses of the town for the period July 1st 2021 through June 30th 2022 and installments One fourth of the talk taxes to be due by delivery or by US Postal Service postmark No private postal meter postmarks honor before August 15th 2021 one fourth of the taxes on or before November 15th 2021 one fourth of the taxes due on or before February 15th 2022 and more than fourth due on or before May 15th 2022 within an 8% Penalty and 1% interest per month or a portion there out to be charged for late payment of any installment This is a traditional article I doubt if it's changed much from year to year, but are there questions or comments about article three a article four shall the Shall the Voters authorize the Berlin SEC select board to seek financing to pay for the replacement of a failed culvert on Fisher Road Payable from revenues derived from the Berlin General Fund tax revenues in an amount not to exceed one million four hundred thousand dollars Subject to reduction from the receipt of available state and federal grants in aid or use of Undesignated funds over a period not to exceed 30 years Perhaps someone could start us with some Background for this cold well, yes the the background on this is The culvert on Fisher Road has had failed and they filled in and and repaved and It failed again within I think was six months We had it inspected the bottom of the culvert is rotting out We attempted to Have it sleeve with an aluminum tube The culvert had collapsed enough so that was no longer round but oval and we couldn't get the hydraulics to work with a sleeve But that left us with Pulling the culvert and changing it out When we Looked at it and got a hold of the state. They no longer wish to have a Solid bottom culvert. They wanted a natural stream flow So what it ended up is we either our choices came down to an arch culvert or with an open bottom or a Bridge the bridge was restrictive in price The reason that the the culvert or the arch is going to be so expensive is when the borings were done Get down to where there's any kind of a footing that would hold the weight It was expensive and this is where we are now Any specific questions on this? I have a couple of questions My name is Tony snow I'm curious is the town responsible for a hundred percent of the replacement of this culvert or the replacement of the repair on this case, yes I'm just curious because I've worked in transportation for for many years for the state of California before moving to Vermont and a Lot of times when you have a high volume road like that where we're accessing CBMC Walmart the The the auto dealerships and stuff like that. They tend to be an expectation of Partnerships with those organizations that are bringing in all that demand because it's not necessarily Predominantly town residents that are using that road. Is there any opportunity for For funds to come from elsewhere. Is it is it really just falling solely on us? It's falling solely on us believe me. We've you can ask Tom. He's looked It just though there may be some expectation. There's no requirements Anything else on that Tom? I also want to point out real fast It looks like there's several questions in the chat that maybe may not be caught Tom I'll answer the Question concerning the the culvert the cost of the culvert the select board was recently applied for a 1% funding of that and that that's reflected in in the budgets on to go forward so the We did pursue other avenues of Funding B. Trans and such we were not eligible for that Any other questions about the culvert issue? all we have had some In the chat that someone said that they could not Raise that I would go back to the budget article for Paulie Mertriek There you go ready to do that. Paulie It doesn't too complicated just to step back one if you want to ask your question now about the budget But my first one is the police budget seems Incredibly high and I know it has been since we've moved to Berlin and I just don't understand Why a small town has one of the five highest police budgets in the state for capita I Don't really understand what the police all do And especially since the state police are going to be moving just up the road from our town offices And one of the things that concerned me is you know, I look at salaries, but Can anyone answer Paulie's question about the police department Well, I think one of the things that's driving the police budget is the retail section of our town The overall budget itself As Not really increased that much on the police side As far as the number of officers we are actually down a few now And we try to make and the chief tries to make up with part-timers I Don't know What was the other part of your question? Well Just there was a This you know, we have like a 6% increase in our Police budget in other towns Are either pretty much level funded Maybe a few percent increase in some towns have a decrease in the budget So I mean that it just it really I know it's been high all along and it's really bothered me Is there other towns with you know strip malls and stuff and they don't seem to have this high approved budget So that's that's a concern I don't know if you can really answer it But I may vote against the budget just for that reason my other question had to do with the The town administrator salary, which was like a 12% increase and much higher than all the other You know town staff and I was just wondering why that particular salary had a higher increase after On the town administrator's budget After going through the LTC and seeing what comparable towns were paying for an administrator We ended up having to offer more money to get somebody who was qualified to Do the work do the job Okay the The same is true with the police chief On the police side, of course the another thing with the increases in the police and the police budget is the is the Contract that's and that's coming up for a negotiation here soon Hopefully we can take and work a deal there or at least they have a Level funded contract. I don't know how that'll work You never do until you get into it Any other questions on that? No, no that explains it. Thank you. Yeah Can I pop in for just a second? Yeah, sure I'm not associated with the police in any way, but I've asked the same question that Polly has before and So the answer that I have gotten in the past was that We have a very high per capita police force Cost because our per capita, you know of residents is fairly low at something like 2,500 or 3,000 people But during the day because of the amount of industry and the hospital and the shopping and you know blue cross and all that our Per capita rises to something like 40,000 people during the day And that's the primary reason that we have the the size of the force that we have is to deal with that huge increase of daily population not residents Interesting. Yeah, thank you Mike Anything else on the budget or We'll go to article five now Shell the town grant a continuation of the municipal property tax exemption pursuant to 32 vsa section 3840 for the period of one year to the capital city range number 469 for property located at 6612 Vermont route 12 in exchange for free use of the property by residents a minimum of two times a month Is there someone from the Grange that will speak to this Yes, I am here. I'm Tim Swartz. I'm the president of the capital city range As many of you probably know the Grange was Planted exemption from property taxes by the Berlin town meeting back in 2016 And that has been a huge Aid in keeping us all since then we're an all-volunteer non-profit organization and The cash flow that we have comes from renting out our hall to community groups individuals and families from Berlin but also all of central Vermont basically And over the years, it's been a struggle to you know, keep keep going The Berlin property tax was one of our largest bills on an annual basis Since being voted the tax exemption in 2016 we have been giving free use to Berlin residents and Berlin organizations and We have done that well up until the pandemic we were over the the two times per month that we had promised We keep we've kept trying to publicize that obviously since March of last year. We've had essentially no use of the hall by anybody so The Berlin uses have been very very minimal The select board asked us to limit the request for one year so that we could have a larger discussion in an in-person town meeting Next year, which seems very reasonable to us and we hope that the town will vote for the article as it stands And then we'll have a more in-person and vigorous discussion next year. I expected that along with continuation I'd be happy to answer any questions that people have about the Granger about this arrangement Anyone I just asked a quick question. I think this is pretty great. I'm just curious some what what's the What are the numbers look like as far as the amount of times you guys have rented out for free and what it would have cost for other folks to rent it Versus the the cost for the taxes on the Granger. I don't have a number for that. I'm afraid our rental rates We try to keep affordable and you know, we have to be competitive with other venues Which includes a lot of places that our tax exempt like churches and things like that property taxes, I mean, we're a nonprofit organization, but We're not a 500 and C3 I don't know the exact number for that. I'm afraid We think we're a benefit in general be in addition to the uses that we get to Berlin Renters for uses we like to call it free rental is a confusing pair Anything else on this article? I've been reminded that it would make sense if you even though your name often appears that You give your name before you give a comment if you're unless of course you're in a continuing dialogue So now article six shell the town authorized cannabis retailers and integrated licensees in town pursuant to seven vsa section 863 Someone to speak to this that article was um Put on put in here by the Angelina and I think she's here so she should be able to speak to it Yep, it was requested by one of our Berlin residents for us to put it on the ballot So I just followed through with that. Okay anybody else comments on article seven Cannabis retailing This is Polly McMurtry and I I sort of thought long and hard about this but and Talk to several people and Somebody made the point that you know we sell alcohol in the town and this is just you know another form of You know a drug that people like to use to relax so I personally don't see a problem with it But I know a lot of people are concerned that Then you know this will lead to drug abuse, but I don't think that's You know that's going to happen any more than it already does people are already smoking So mr. Gillis, this is Vince Conti Town administrator. I'd just like to add a little bit of information For the residents on this as well. There was an article in the paper last Wednesday. I believe it was last week Wednesday around Waterbury as well, but I think it's something that if people want more information on Define to find they can research it a little bit, but it's it's based on An act passed act 164 by the state legislature back in October Which was just creating a framework for legalizing and regulating the sale of recreational cannabis statewide So in order to do this The law requires individual towns and or cities to opt in by a public vote To determine if they want to allow the sale and production of cannabis in their community So again, that's just it's just information for everyone Somewhere they can go to look up further the law around that and also to point out that the retail sales Will be taxed by the state and the town will not get any portion of that tax as well And that's all information that's out there for people if they want to look at that and get more detail The other comments or questions on article seven then article eight Well, that's that was six that seven shelled the town appropriate Two hundred eighty five thousand and seventy nine dollars to the Berlin Volunteer fire department for payment of necessary expenses from July 1st two thousand and twenty one to June 30th 2022 there's someone from the fire department here to speak Good morning, Paul. This is John stop for the Berlin fire department I guess what I'd like to start by saying is shortly after last year's town meeting and and the covid-19 epidemic kind of came into play I'm gonna say that the Berlin fire department really looked long and hard at the budget and was unsure of the economic outcome for our community And so we were ready. We were already working on decreasing where we could There was a few things that Came into play which we were able to to address and use some savings and one is the unfortunate Number of volunteers is not what it used to be so we could actually We had a savings and some gear which was actually somewhere around the three thousand dollars. We were able to decrease our budget by and then the need to Replace a fire truck We were talking at last town meeting about came about and In the purchase of that fire part of that fire truck We also were able to pay off a loan which gave us You know quite a large savings To the budget the overall budget so this year's budget is coming in about eight point three percent less than last year for expenses Good any questions for the fire department? I have a question paul Not really a question to comment I was very pleased to see this year that you have provided us with a very detailed budget Comparing to last year and I just want to commend you on that. Thank you Welcome I should have at some point asked if I know anyone would object if non-residents speak and I've fallen short on that but It's With your permission Anyone who has a isn't a resident could speak and I'd ask that if you are a non-resident that you include that in your Introduction as to who you are Article eight shall the town appropriate thirty thousand four hundred and two dollars to the keloch Hubbard library Anyone Yes, hi. I'm dan green. I'm the trustee of the keloch Hubbard library representing the town of berlin As you can well imagine this year has been a challenging time Um with cova to serve the library patrons and the keloch Hubbard library has really done an exemplary job serving our folks carolyn carolyn brendan is in attendance right now She's the co-director and she's here to give us more information about the library's request carolyn hi I am not a resident of the town of berlin. I live in montpillier um, but I am one of two co-directors at the library And I wanted to say that You know currently well actually I should start by by thanking everybody for Now a number of years of support from the town of berlin. We really appreciate it This year for I think the fourth year in a row. We are requesting level funding from berlin We have a collection of over 70 000 physical materials and 80 000 digital downloadable materials In 2020 for libraries across the state and beyond there has been a big emphasis on increasing digital access for patrons And so we have two new services that I want to make sure everybody knows about One of those is canopy, which is a streaming video service that you can access through our website if you have a library card And which was much requested in the years prior to this year and it's just it's expensive So we hadn't added it previously And the other one is called flipster and that is a magazine a downloadable magazine service And um, so I encourage everybody to check those out. Uh, you can also ha ha check those out. Sorry And uh And uh, oh so the town of berlin pays less than 11 per capita for uh as the cost for the library And I wanted to mention that that is about a third of the state average per capita support for libraries So it is um I know 30 000 is a lot of money, but in the grand scheme of things I I do feel that the town of berlin is getting a pretty good deal for library services And the kello cupboard is I've worked at a number of libraries around vermont And the kello cupboard is really one of one of the best And I am happy to answer any questions anybody might have Anyone questions on the library Thank you Thank you Article nine shall the town appropriate 15 000 to the montpellier senior activity center Anyone from the Senior center here. Yes Go ahead Hi, i'm jannah claire and I am not a resident of berlin. I live in montpellier I serve as the director at montpellier senior activity center And we've been grateful for the support of uh town of berlin voters for quite a few years now We are seeking level funding again this year and I'll just share a little bit about how we've been operating in the past year during the pandemic As most of you can probably guess we've had to close our doors to the public for group gatherings But we are maintaining a few one-on-one essential services including foot care clinics in partnership with central vermont council on aging And right now we're doing low contact tax preparation at no cost in partnership with aarp We've also maintained our Meals on wheels and my colleague sara is going to say a few more words about that in just a moment We've pivoted to instead instead of having inside group meals. We've also Started curbside to go meals twice a week We've added an aging and place coordinator this year through the americorps program and through that are able to provide a lot of technology training to area residents and we've pivoted to change our typically about six Dozen weekly classes to online instead of in person We're doing fewer classes, but most of our classes are open to adults of all ages We do primarily serve residents in the surrounding area 50 and up But we're really emphasizing intergenerational activities in our programming We continue to do presentations partner with community organizations we We are really pleased to provide meals on wheels to residents of your town some of your most vulnerable Um, and I'm going to let sara say a few more words about the feast program She's here with me sara lept in our feast program manager Hi, good morning. I am also not a resident of berlin. I live in callous Um, I'm loving serving the feast senior meals program, which msak organized a while back And which I really am happy to clarify for you offers meals on wheels and feast curbside meal pickup on tuesdays And fridays and someday we'll go back to eating together again But last year we served 2,800 meals To seniors in berlin Through our meals on wheels program and anyone is able to access that by calling us It's at no charge to anyone over the age of 60 There were some more restrictions pre-pandemic, but that relaxed a little bit Just to make sure people are getting what they need We also offer wellness calls and check-ins and packages with you know information and resources and We try to bring more than just meals which are delicious and nutritious We try to bring more engagement as well to our seniors at home So we are right around the corner pick up a call anyone you know that needs our services. We are here And I'll just add that we served at least 47 residents of berlin in the past year despite the pandemic And one last point i'll make is that we have some vacancies coming up on our advisory council And we would love to have a resident of berlin Join that group To help advise our staff on our operations. So if anyone is interested or you know anyone that might be interested Please put them in touch with us. We've got a deadline of nominations for march 31st If there's any questions, we'll be happy to answer them Any questions for the senior center? This is polly McMurtry. I don't have a question, but I just want to echo How wonderful that senior center has been I know a number of us older folks in berlin have You know taken part in some of the activities there And i've been thankful that they have been able to continue a lot of the classes on zoom So I don't feel so Unconnected to the others that were in my class It's a very worthy organization Thank you Anything else for the senior center? We'll go on then it's thank you for your time Thanks Article 10 shall the town appropriate 10,920 dollars to the green mountain transit Is uh Is Is there anyone to speak to that? No Okay Article 11 shall the town appropriate I'm sorry and ask a quick question sure what what exactly does that money do for green mountain transit is that Is that for providing services? Is it providing a bus stop? What exactly does that do? Well, if we had someone who knew the answer to that It would be helpful It may be that the Article in the town report would give you an answer to that There's a Series of reports there that you can look at but anyone know the answer to that question Yes Go ahead tom, please It's to help with their general operating expenses It's a it's a common line item in the town of berlin and for many Communities in central vermark which the folks provide bus service in Okay, anything else anthony No, okay We'll go on to article 11 to the town Appropriate 10,000 dollars to the berlin corner cemetery association cemetery not town owned Anyone have anything about that? Hi, I'm jeff mugford president of the berlin corner cemetery and The bcc is the only active cemetery in berlin and is managed by an association The bcc is not a town owned cemetery and the cost of upkeep and labor has made the cemetery unsustainable um With with the help of the berlin residents Uh Last year we were able to put in water and power into the cemetery, which has really helped things out a lot um We also give berlin residents a discount on lots And that's about it For me Any questions for jeff for comments on the berlin corner cemetery itself Article 12 show the town appropriate 6450 dollars to the central vermont home health and hospice Paul I'd like to speak on that by me um I'm pat mcdonnell and i'm a resident of berlin and i've spoken to the pre-town meeting for many years about central vermont home health and hospice I've been on the board and recently serve on um several committees I just wanted to focus not only on their services, which include home care hospice care maternal child health care and long-term care But all the work that they've been doing uh to step up in the Can you hear me should I go off mute? I mean Bye everybody. I'm gonna do that. Okay, so um The during the pandemic They have had multiple free public flu vaccines to homeless at area motels They've delivered over 3 000 prepaid meals via the vermont everyone eats program which has been a godsend to this area They have administered the covet swab tests for patients and residents of assisted living facilities and um Have just reached out to our community to help them in in many different ways starting um having them use telemedicine Just to make sure that we're in constant contact with our with our patients In berlin the number of patients that have been seen by cvh hh is 133 total visits 4406 home care visits 2,700 hospital visits 303 long-term care 1 309 and maternal child health 94 I can tell you that on a personal basis and a professional basis This is an amazing organization everyone in my family Except me. I guess I should say fortunately They have all used their services after surgeries and and illnesses They are just a wonderful organization and we really thank you for your support 80 percent of their operating revenue comes from medicare and medicaid And they set the reimbursement rates and over the last 10 years medicare has decreased the numbers of dollars that they provide and so The the money that we ask from towns really makes up the difference in What what we have is a budget and so we really thank you all for your continued support Thanks. Any questions? I'd be glad to answer Any questions for central Vermont home health and hospice Article 13 to the town appropriate $2,000 to the washington county mental health Is anyone here to speak to that? Yes, hi, i'm john casaris from washington county mental health I I run the marketing communications and development and I just want to thank you all for the opportunity to Provide insight and why we can use berlin's funding support As many of you may know, we've been uh, we're a non-private non-profit organization has provided services to communities in washington county since 1967 we provide mental health developmental services Substance use supports to adults and children and their families Wcmhs provide services to people in schools homes and our office locations, which are primarily located throughout barry Opelier in berlin We also provide 24-hour emergency services working with first responders emt's law enforcement and of course a team at cbm at cbmc 93 of our funding is by state medicaid and we provide about one to two million dollars Per year of free care And we also respond to schools who have serious events and have done this in berlin on multiple occasions throughout the years for in our charge As we take this as a as a as a pretty primary mission as a community mental health provider We also did this following tropical storm Irene going door to door the message We like to give is that we are there for the community and berlin needs us Whether for individuals law enforcement or groups will come We take this on as a mission and greatly appreciate the support Uh with all that said wcmhs is seeking additional funding or funding in the uh In order to provide the care needed to our communities throughout washington county and in particular berlin Uh, we are very grateful for the 2000 granted in past years This past year in fiscal 2020. Uh, we've provided, uh, 6,000 6,739 of the individuals with over 336,000 individuals units of service that's throughout the county In fiscal year 2020. Uh, we've provided a 5971 units of service which totaled 14,043 hours of service to 121 berlin residents Um, those numbers are increasing dramatically as you can imagine I may have seen uh on cax earlier this week That the surge that we're seeing as a result of the covid pandemic has put some Incredible pressures on our on our system and and on the folks in throughout washington county and of course the state um In terms of detail, you know support for case management our total units were uh, 1611 for a total of just under 900 hours clinical services total units were 940 total hours of uh, 605 community support 2900 for 9900 hours Consultation and educational services are just seven hours Crisis 27 hours 27 units of 21 hours and uh, and I can go on. Um, we're requesting as I mentioned $2,000 in order to help continue our work We provide we provide services to our communities that are beyond our standard services and therefore not funded or underfunded The gap between the 93 percent Medicaid funding is significant as you all can imagine In addition, we offer mental health first aid classes throughout washington county for your charge And it's helps to build awareness Understanding about how to help someone who may be in mental health crisis or at risk in developing More serious challenges and we continue to offer many programs that are not fully funded And the support from berlin is very important helping us continue to do this Uh, again, um the impact of uh, of uh, of covid has had a tremendous effect on us and um in our system We as you may again as you may have seen or heard on wcx earlier this week We have a wait list of about 100 people which translates to about 10 to 12 weeks of service Um our wait rather and we've been pretty innovative and incorporating group therapy and things like that to get people in the door just to give the support that they need and we're actually Going to be providing some self-help messaging in the coming weeks. Actually we plan on starting that this week Again, just to help support people that are really struggling given the pandemic Anyway, I just wanted to um say thank you. I appreciate your consideration at this year's town meeting And we look forward to continuing to be of service to the folks of washington county and in particular berlin Thank you john any questions on uh, washington county mental health Article 14 shall the town appropriate $1,200 to the central vermont adult basic education anyone to speak to that No Then we'll go on a 15 shell of the town appropriate $1,000 to the remont center for independent living Anyone to talk about That subject Article 16 shall the town appropriate $1,000 to the central vermont memorial civic center Anyone questions comments support article 17 shall the town appropriate $975 to circle Just jump right in if you have a comment or question Article 18 shall the town appropriate $800 to the family center of washington county Article 19 shall the town appropriate $800 to prevent child abuse vermont Article 20 shall the town appropriate $700 to capstone community action Hi I'm here to speak for capstone community action. Uh, my name is allison calderera I'm the chief of programs and advancement for capstone and I am not a berlin resident Uh, capstone community action is a community action agency That serves washington lamoille and orange counties Our mission is to lift people out of poverty and to create economic opportunities for adults and families We provide a wide range of services crisis services for utilities We provide early childhood education adult education to achieve your high school diploma We weatherize homes we We have a food shelf Where participants come and get boxes of food and we've also this year with the pandemic Very much changed our whole systems of delivery I can speak to that Personally, I joined I joined capstone Right the week the covet pandemic closed everything down And I have never seen such an effort by an organization To be able to try to provide the services when there were so many isolated people That couldn't get out of their homes and people that were it economically impacted Last summer we produced 25,000 meals For people who were um living in the motels And also at other different sites throughout the city and and I will say that um The other piece is that um We were I was so delighted to hear uh everyone eats mentioned Because we last fall we became the regional hub For everyone eats And if you're not familiar with that program it distributes meals To community residents And it is also a partnership an economic partnership with restaurants And with the local farmers So everyone wins we're supporting our restaurants. We're supporting hungry vermoners And we're supporting local food producers The entire program and across the state has actually delivered back $800,000 into the community and economic support Right now everyone eats is delivering four to five thousand meals Uh in our service area. I wish I could tell you how many uh berlin residents were getting those meals But as we heard with vermont the health and hospice we are supplying meals there as well So i'm sure it's a good it's a good amount Last year we served 113 berlin households and that was 256 individuals 127 berlin individuals accessed meals or or meal equivalents at the food shelf 25 berlin households were able to keep eating their homes with access to crisis and supplemental fuel Uh four households need needed and received emergency furnace repairs And we also completely replaced a furnace for a berlin berlin resident One of the things that we've also found uh is the new oil tank Repair that's our that is necessary because of the vermont law that came in to play Last july we've been spending much time helping people Make sure that their fuel tanks are inspected and safe We also have served a homeless family that lived in berlin and i'm proud to I'm proud to report that they are now successfully housed We have three children in early head start and uh head start programs which is our early childhood education program for the kids and for their families And these are at risk low-income families And during the pandemic we Completely supported our families remotely Plus we also fed each and every member of the family with food deliveries to make sure That the kids and all their family members had access to good healthy food We weatherized six houses in berlin Six to seniors and two to residents with disabilities so they can stay warm And have energy efficient homes We counseled We provided financial counseling and coaching to eight of your residents We also counseled five budding entrepreneurs with business counseling Who folks that wanted to start a business? 20 residents Had their taxes prepared at no charge Through our tax assistant program which is completely driven by volunteers And we had one proud graduate from the community kitchen academy Which launches folks with culinary skills into the job market This has been just a quite a year For the record books. I don't need to say that. I think everyone else has has said that as well We are so grateful for the support for basic needs that we receive from from the town of berlin Simply we keep people warm fed housed And we help them get on with their lives in a positive and secure way So thank you very much, and i'm happy to answer any questions you might have Any questions Thank you again Article 21 shell the town appropriate six hundred dollars to the good samaritan haven Anyone to speak on that article? Yes, hi, um, my name is uh, craig pelt here. I'm on the board of the good samaritan haven um, thank you for entertaining our request I live in the town of uh, I live in cows for a long time, but I currently live in lump hillier Not a berlin resident As many of you probably know, um, we're the primary shelter For central berma for over 30 years the good samaritan haven has provided emergencies shelter and support Services for adults experiencing homelessness in our community As has been previously said and we all know the coven 19 pandemic has increased The level of homelessness and greatly challenged our work this year. Um This winter we're providing shelter and support services to over 300 individuals and motels shelters And on the streets, uh, this includes the hilltop in berlin With the help of many partners including the berlin police and many others We have continued to provide essentials while keeping our guests Our staff and our community safe Um area town funding is important to the good samaritan haven we typically get funding from Uh, 10 towns in washington county, uh, each program year um This funding contributes to the cost of our facilities food In clothing and we're very very grateful to the town of berlin for supporting us in the past and Uh, hopefully we're hopeful you will continue to do so this year And with that i'm happy to answer any questions Thank you craig any questions on the Haven If not article 22 shall the town appropriate $500 to the people's health and wellness clinic Anyone to speak to that article 23 Shall the town appropriate $500 to the vermont association for the blind and visually impaired Someone to speak to that Article 24 should the town appropriate $500 to the washington county youth services bureau Anyone comments article 28 of the town appropriate $500 to mosaic vermont formally the sexual assault crisis team of washington county Hi, i'm an ward. I am a resident of berlin, and i'm the executive director of mosaic vermont Most of you know us the sexual assault crisis team of washington county. We changed our name in april of 2020 right in the height of the The beginning of the pandemic crisis and We stayed as open and available as possible throughout we provide services Both in acute incidents of sexual violence as well as long term supporting folks for whom maybe child sexual abuse or or former Experiences of sexual violence impact to them later in lives Later in their life in a variety of different ways and We have a shelter in berry that needed to pivot pretty hard in this past year We provide congregate care to people fleeing People who are homeless due to fleeing sexual violence and in a lot of in most cases that involves some element of sex trafficking Which is pretty prevalent throughout our area And this year we we had to move from congregate care to to separate facilities and then work to support the the real need for for love connection and belonging that people experiencing this kind of violence and and homelessness need without without the support of being able to be together and share meals and and Do that kind of healing work together We also maintained our presence in a number of washington county schools Our school programs throughout the year Much of our work, of course switched to virtual But we serve hundreds of people a year throughout washington county who Who have these experiences and are otherwise? Are otherwise not not very public or You know, it's not it's not Widely known how much sexual violence is experienced throughout our area so we are incredibly grateful for the support of towns and Our ability to our ability to exist and and provide this service For everyone. Thank you Thank you. Any questions for an Article 26 shall the town appropriate $500 to community harvest of central romant Hello, i'm here to speak on half community harvest Can everyone hear me? Okay Um I'm allison levin the executive director of community harvest of central romant and I am a burlin resident And for those of you who are not familiar with our work. I wanted to just give a little bit information We bring the community together through gleaning to recover surplus produce From area farms to feed those with limited access to fresh local food Um, and in the process help the community gain a greater awareness and appreciation for the local food system healthy eating and waste reduction A community harvest of central romant is a 5 1c 3 non-profit based here in berlin Um, and as you can imagine, uh, we've we've been a little bit busy this last year Um, we work with two to 400 volunteers each season and we actually work with more individuals this year than ever before Um, very creatively but and safely but we were able to do that They help us recover nutritious nutritious food to feed all of our neighbors that may not have access to it. Um, we glean Food that has been grown by local farms that cannot be sold by them and would otherwise go to waste I founded the organization in 2014 and since then we've donated more than a million servings of food Through our partners at food shelves senior meal programs early childhood and after school programs and other organizations Feeding members, um community members in need here in washington county Um, this last year has been very very busy for us. Uh, since the pandemic started. Um, we increased Um substantially the work that we've been doing Um, and even now in the middle of winter we send three and four car loads of food out to our partners every week Um Including a lot of the federal food that has been um sent along We've been helping helping get those boxes out to those who need it. Um at our partner sites Um, so originally we were a very seasonal organization and we're certainly now fully year-round All season long, um making sure that people have the access to the food they need Um, we serve about 11,200 individuals overall that receive the food that we glean And in 2020 We more than doubled the amount that we donated to the community over the amount that we sent out in 2019 So we now serve about 30 organizations Um, just here in washington county including organizations like capstone and feast that you heard from earlier And This last year we donated 138,000 pounds of food Um of nutritious food from local producers And some other food that we collected as well. So that's 38,000 pounds of food just in 2020 Um community harvest has provided glean food to berlin residents for the last seven years since we started um And through our partnerships with as I said food shelves senior meal programs meals on wheels Like feast and others um that are in all the surrounding towns around berlin We also partner with the berlin elementary school and their farm to school program To provide students hands-on opportunities to glean eat and learn about fresh produce and healthy eating This last fall we had to skip taking students out into the fields with us But we continued to send vegetables into the classrooms to help them learn about fresh food grown on local farms We also partnered with two berlin farms, uh, dr farmer farm and rogers farmstead To recover surplus produce and crops that they Produced to make sure that they did not go to waste and they were able to share those with the community um, we are asking For a small amount of funding from all the towns that we serve to cover a small portion of the costs Of rec coordinating and the recovery and distribution of all the food that we glean with the help of hundreds of volunteers each season We asked for support again this year The same amount that we've asked in the past As we work to continue um, and to meet the expanding need Here in the community and we know it's certainly certainly not over yet There's a long a long way to go to get back to where we were which was certainly A lot of need before this all started. So um, happy to answer any questions that anyone might have About our work Thank you questions Article 27 Shall the town appropriate three hundred dollars to the good beginnings of central vermont Is there anyone to speak for that? Yes. I'm here Gretchen Elias. I am not a berlin resident Um, I am a resident of montpelier. Can folks hear me? Yes, great. Um, so I am the executive director of good beginnings of central vermont Our mission is to bring community to families and their babies We were formed in 1991 by a northfield mother and have served all of washington county including berlin For the bulk of that time. I believe we've been on the ballot in berlin for the last three or possibly four years We're asking level funding this year of three hundred dollars And we do serve Anyone who is caring for or expecting a baby with a variety of free services with an emphasis on the mental health and social support of the caregiver So obviously the last year has been a challenging one for us because those who are Caring for a new baby were even more isolated But our options for providing the kind of hands-on support that we Are used to providing. We're definitely much more limited and tricky Uh, we did pivot to a range of virtual options for nearly all our programs Our flagship program is when we match a family with a volunteer And our volunteers are now providing phone and zoom support And in certain cases we have been able to provide in-home support when it's been safe to do so and when the family has been Really in need For mental health or other reason We've also been partnering with a lot of the other programs who have spoken today in order to provide food through everybody eats and Partner we've partnered a lot with home health and hospice to deliver supplies and baby carriers to families due to a lot of door drop-offs and Groceries and baby supplies. So a lot of collaboration in new ways with other organizations in order to make sure families get what they need Uh, our groups that we provide for new parents are primarily happening online And we've had great attendance with those and we've seen a lot of Increase in need for our early parenting workshops and parent education We think that a lot of families who used to rely on grandparents or friends for that kind of Hands-on knowledge are turning to us instead because of the the pandemic So we're doing a lot of zoom tutorials on basic infant skills We served 14 households in berlin this past year a number of them did attend our in-person events before the shutdown We've also provided something around 30 hours of Individualized support to two berlin families through a postpartum angel We have one Rockstar volunteer who is a berlin resident and we're very grateful for her and we would love to have more volunteers From berlin if anyone is interested reach out And we're really grateful for our for the support that we've received from berlin in the past It's a small amount But all told the requests we make from area towns that we serve End up being about 10 of our overall budget and a and a really important part of our financial stability So i'm happy to answer any questions Any questions for Gretchen? Thank you That comes to the end of the uh listed Articles in our warning, but traditionally we have An extra one and I think we can intuit that it exists there for other business and that would be This would be a time where anyone could speak about anything at all and uh If there are people or things that to be said now, this is a good time to do it Is there anyone interested in other business? then I will entertain a motion to adjourn And uh, although you have a little function on a Hand up you could just Put your hand up in the air perhaps, but uh all in favor of First of all, will someone move to adjourn? I can Second good all in favor of adjourning the 230th annual Berlin town meeting until tuesday Say hi Hi Hi Thanks for all the organizations and all of those who attended it was uh inspiring this year and thank you very much Remember to vote on tuesday if you haven't already