 Okay So I'll call the meeting to order it is seven o'clock by my watch the first thing on the agenda is public comment and Eric we would check with people if there's anyone online who wishes to make a Public comment and if there's anyone in the room that wishes to make some public comment so if you would want you come up to the microphone and introduce yourself and Tell us which flick is tell us tonight Well, good evening. My name is Brian farce of the town energy coordinator. Some of you know me some of you don't I Was a little Surprised to see that town is considering a position for a police dispatcher seem like the options were To add police dispatcher or to eliminate police position. I don't know if that's it all clear My perception is clear or not, but I Don't perceive a a Crime-quite crisis in Williston right now. I do perceive a global environmental crisis Interview I just looked at the TV yesterday found that town of Leighton 300 miles above the West Canadian border experienced 118 degrees unprecedented in the annals of Canada or Anywhere in the world the that town was hotter than 99.6% the rest of the planet We have a we have an environmental crisis. We don't have an energy coordinator Williston Williston is responsible for some of this crisis. We're not addressing it. I Think it's time that we hire full-time energy coordinator implement the plan and to Put a budget together implement the plan and get this thing going you don't have any time to waste I think that That what we're suffering from here is Is what what they call a lack of imagination It was a lack of imagination when 9-11 happened although we knew that that planes work could be used as weapons to Be thrown into buildings yet. There was a lack of imagination to actually prevent it No planes were scrambled. They were led to fly into the buildings and Just this January got another crisis where the capital was overrun by a mob There's a failure of imagination there And we almost lost our democracy The global crisis cannot stand another failure of imagination. I Think this board needs to act and act fast To get a full-time energy coordinator hired town of Hartford the same size as Wilson It's had one for years I urge the board to Their budget meetings To consider hiring a full-time energy coordinator now the energy plan Has no advocate by our department as an advocate these departments that advocate a look works as an advocate There's no advocate for the environment Yet this is the most critical crisis Facing this town this town is responsible contributing to it and needs to clean we need to clamp our own house We can save money We can save energy We can weatherize homes and weatherize our businesses can rather weatherize our own buildings We need to get this plan going and going fast. Thank you very much. Thank you, Brian. Yes Anyone else who wishes to make any public comment for Eric? And we can proceed down the agenda to the fiscal year 22 22 and grand list update from Bill Hinman Eric you're gonna introduce the subject So obviously we've all been in pretty much an unprecedented year if you've read any newspaper article We all know that the real estate values in the state as well as the supply of real estate is at a critical Juncture in Wilson alone. We've seen upwards of 30% The national average I saw yesterday was 15% April to April We're about 30% here in town increase in market values It's just Amazing to see I've been an appraiser for 35 years and I've experienced three recessions during that period of time and All those recessions were preceded by a relatively bold market But nothing compared to what we're seeing right now I think the 0708 recession We had increases in value in one year of about 12% but again Where this ends is a very good question and if it ends badly it could be scary on many many fronts, but You know, we're dealing with the best we can I tried to have legislation introduced back in November To try and control the potential decreases in our common level of assessment Which could see a decrease of upwards of 12 15% in one year, which would in fact turn Tax rates significantly higher for the education rate Before we even look at the budgets that unfortunately did not gain any traction at the Legislature, so we're just gonna have to wait and see what happens The other thing that's potentially gonna happen is with all these common levels assessment dropping so significantly throughout the state There's gonna be mass requirements for reappraisals and there's not enough people out there to do So I'm curious what's gonna happen there and how the state's gonna deal with that moving forward So that's kind of my macro picture locally we saw Significantly more commercial appeals Not as many as I had expected The two sectors that we saw appeals was the hospitality hotel sector And then the other was maple tree place Maple tree place was appealing To get a significantly Lower assessment than even they asked before the last time we went to superior court or they took it superior court We settled I Proposed some different numbers for them Based upon some of their calculations as well as some of our own local information and That's the assessment that we set out to them The assessment Decision was the assessment was changed from 83 million five hundred thousand to seventy five Million two hundred thousand so that was our single largest change And they were looking for roughly fifty two million dollars so hopefully My I sent them an email last week Letting them know that this is an evolving situation. We really don't know what's gonna happen I asked them during the hearing if they had Pursued the potential for filling their vacant office space and converting it over to apartments Whether that be an option moving forward. I've heard I know that Doug net he is converting some office space and downtown Burlington right now to apartments So that would be logical If their vacancy remains as high as it has been in the last nine to twelve months Again, I think it's a moving target with maple tree. We really have to see How this pandemic has impacted people's habits for retail shopping? You know the short term obviously we saw all the UPS trucks of FedEx trucks out so we know that that Trend is was taken a hold more than it would have otherwise Whether or not people decide to start going out We don't know if the movie theater is gonna open back up So that's a I think they said that was an eight hundred and eighty thousand dollar Rent that they lost last year And so that's one of the reasons for a decrease is that the movie theater was vacant I asked them if they had chosen to go to apply for any PPP And they said that the company that owns maple tree place is too big and they're not qualified So I asked them if the owner of the movie theater Went to get PPP to possibly be able to help pay that rent and they indicated that they did not know if he did or not so That was one of the drivers, but also the vacant a pop the space and the second floor in the square They have about 50% vacancy right now, which is probably close to what it was when they purchased it four years ago the hotels The hotel situation is a short-term issue and I think And so I asked the hotel owners and I and I and all of them agreed I said look, let's let's deny these appeals right now And there's four of them We'll deny these appeals and I'm gonna ask you to do what's called the discounted cash flow analysis That basically puts a value on the income out years ahead Asked them for the actuals from 18 and 19 So we had a history of what was going on and then what their actuals 20-21 Objective point to be an actuals from 20 and then back to normalcy in 22 through year 30 and that way we get a kind of a glimpse as to how that impacted that one year of Drastic losses that a lot of these hotel received. I'm waiting for those to come in So I anticipate that if we can find common ground with those That the we will make a recommendation to the board's little authority To reduce it and I believe that surely an error can talk to What's been left? As far as money and reserve When you set the tax rate to account for those potential settlements that we may have to look at Moving forward on Now a lot of residential developments going on like we've had in the past pennies pretty much done You know, we have one development that's in the process of being built, but that's it the commercial still amazes me Almost all the lots at the farm It's on on Wilson Road, they're where the big you haul dealers going in Come on No, not caught my crossing my hand. What my hand? No, the it's down by We're industry lab and two a come together Roe there are two and two's come together real bear real bear property. Thank you very much. Yeah, I Believe all those lots have sold So there's frontage on shun pike as well as on route two and I believe there might be one more lot left So those were snapped up very quickly And so real estate in Wilson continues to be at a premium Which is a good sign moving forward that we if we do see some decrease as Wilson might be insulated from it To a certain rate, but the jury again the jury's still out as far as what's gonna happen on the residential side moving forward No, and you have any questions, I do glad to Questions for bill So bill I'm a little confused You said you started off by saying there was this 30% increase. I assume that was in the residential. Yes Which is being offset probably Greatly offset by what we're seeing in the decrease in the value of the commercial property in town So that is partially true Jeff Okay, so you have different sectors of the market that are acting differently right now The light industrial space typically a avenue PCD That space is actually going for much higher than I would have anticipated Bobby Miller passed away about a year and a half ago and a lot of his properties have been sold And those properties sold anywhere from 100 to 115 dollars a foot Which was which is about 15 to 18 dollars a foot higher than what I have them assessed at So that was the start they we had the you know It's a sale or two that was down there and it was like wow they put a lot for that But then all of a sudden we had six sales and to the best of our knowledge. I've contacted Tim And they looked like they're all good sales So that side of the market is really doing well the office space What we could not necessarily the bricks and ivy but the strip mall office space if you will So the stuff down on Allenbrook if you will that stuff is very difficult to rent right now They're getting roughly six to seven dollars a square foot. We haven't seen the sales Come in but we certainly have significant vacancies and the rents on a per square foot basis are much lower than what apartments rent for On a per square foot basis Yeah, so there's different sectors. We haven't really had any retail sales So I can't really speak to that at this point, but the warehouse space is that's in high demand Okay, yeah, so bottom line What is the difference between what the grand list was last year when we sat here doing the same exact thing? We're setting the tax rate versus this year. Okay So after grievance, but before we have to think about the settlements for the hotels Our increase right now is twenty two million one hundred ninety seven um So we're 97,000 which represents roughly one percent On the grand list. I had told Eric the beginning of the year when we were going budgeting to not expect any increase So the budget was built around a zero increase in our grand list. We might let you lose On the outside half of that So the increase would be roughly a half a percent But I don't think we lose much more than that off of it, but I did leave a buffer For or ask Shirley and Eric to leave a buffer for those BCA decisions and potential discussions that we have Okay, so could you help me understand if tonight we set the tax rate? But we soon see a decrease because of these appeals in the grand list What happens I? Think I would actually let Eric answer that question because once I give the values to Eric and make recommendations as to how much Wiggle room there would be potentially for losses Beyond the grievances beyond that that final grand list I think he's better to speak about what what he's built into it and calculating or surely calculating for you guys Like take that or do you want to jump in Shirley too? Where did you come up to the table with the mic? Sorry Shirley didn't mean to put you on the spot So you heard Bill talking about This amount that we were gonna reduce the grand list by about seven million dollars for the things that are probably going to Continue through the appeal process So then there was a conversation that Eric had with Terry and we decided the way We've always been the tax calculation is to take the grand list that is signed by the Listers, which is what we've done in this calculation So that I think is a discussion point because I've done it both ways So using the full amount of the grand list as approved by the listers our tax rate is point two seven two one And that's what you have but I also did it taking the grand list and Reducing it by the amount that Bill thinks is suggesting that we should for these appeal and the tax rate is point two seven three zero Does that answer your question? It does. Yeah, okay, and we have that choice tonight in other words We don't have to use the grand list as signed by the listers and Divide that by the amount of revenue we need to raise in taxes to come up with the Of the tax ring to the tax ring Have enough history with that you yeah when I when I looked into it the town hasn't had these particular instances with such a I don't remember such a wide margin for an appeal that could happen I think when we look at the the rate it itself It's it's a very low change between the two so there's certainly We could build it in we could adjust the rate a little bit or you know depending where things fall And we needed some additional revenue the thumb balance make that up and surely as I recall that amount of money was So what was it was maybe $1,200 or so What when we ran that those differences looking at what that oh, yeah, it's like $1,400. Yeah So that was what we looked at as our risk So we felt to just continue with the with the grand list as okay. I'm sorry That went over my that's the difference between the two tax proposed rates. Yes. Yes the $1,400 Yeah about $1,400 total for both grand list values Okay, so okay. Yeah Yeah, so make sure I heard this correctly So if we look at the amount that the grand list might is projected that it might decrease in the future because of these appeals But we use the tax rate that's We I don't want to say it's recommended, but it's presented us tonight that was 0.2721 And those appeals do carry through that becomes truth The most at risk that you're projecting we're at is $1,400 In terms of tax revenue that we won't receive Because of the appeals right being successful Yeah, because it's only 0.009 Okay, and I assume we could either That's that's a risk we we can't accept. Yeah, okay There's a question. We've been that Um Approach I'd have to get my calculator out. Okay, but I'm thinking the number is actually more like 12 or 14 thousand dollars I'd like to go back and do that calculation if I could. Okay. Yeah Yeah You could do that before we go tonight. Yeah, I'll Yeah Do the numbers so I make sure it's still not a very significant number No, it's not in the scheme of things. It's not it's not huge Yeah, it isn't but I will remind you that sometimes when we're having these Discussions about the budget and you know, maybe what to cut, you know, we're we're down to thousands of dollars This is no money. Yes. It is it is real money Yeah, and this is the situation The town doesn't really have been in before when I looked at past history and chatted with a couple folks on it We haven't had this many potential appeals and grievances in one year So it's uh, yeah, the board's discretion of how we want to approach this and appreciate staffs Look to just know what the potential impacts may be and potential risk to look at So well, can I ask Bill a question? Sure So, um, Bill, I was thinking maple tree place neither Eric or I were here So what happened? Do you remember what we did with the tax rate back then because Yeah, I think Mary was here when we did that So just to give the board a tip was here too maple tree place appealed to superior court We was uh So 2013 maybe I forget one year exactly but they had appealed looking for an assessment change from roughly $80 million down to 62 million dollars. I think is the number they were looking for and brought us to superior court We were about 18 months into discovery um, and I went to rick and I said If you've done the numbers if we lose this in court Because not only did we have to repay The municipal taxes, but we would also have to repay the education taxes But because we could not recover that back from the state of Vermont Um, the state doesn't give us the money back Um, so started my quest, but um at that point in time that was the reality Um, and so we agreed to settle with them. I think for 72 million bucks. There was something like that And they agreed to forego any refunds That they were potentially owed for the previous 18 months of taxes So our out-of-pocket expense as a result of that settlement was zero Um, all we did was pay some attorney fees and then we dealt with the tax rate I'm not sure what Rick did as far as the collection or how that was Allocated because we I think it was like December 30th of that that year that we signed that letter All right, probably it was right at the end of the year. It was very close to the deadline. Yeah Had to be done before the end of the year. Um, so I'm not sure how they dealt with the revenue side of it um, but we had to get it done simply because At that point the town potential was on the hook right at that point time of I believe 400 000 dollars Potential refunds, which was like four cents on the tax rate Yeah, and we thought that the Residents wouldn't be taking care of appropriately it based on a four cent increase on the tax rate one year just to Pay for a settlement or pay for a court order Yeah, no, no, that's the number. I remember the 400 Yeah, yeah, it was certainly more than 1400 Yeah, yeah Okay, any further questions for bill or shortly at this point Okay, then I mean, thank you very much. I'll run back in my office and check on this stuff for you Thank you So we'll go on then to the Municipal tax rate and for fiscal year 2022 and early is written Uh memo and uh, also we have the uh a proposal Uh before us as far as the uh a new rate So surely Um, so the approved budget was 11,571,055 And the amount that we can raise from property taxes is the 5,669,389 So whatever our tax rate is that's the number that we're going to tie back to So the grand list and the memo that you have a copy of as well The grand list is the gross number in this memo It does not take into account the 7 million that um bill was talking about from able to replace Um, but does include of course all the other grievances that were settled during the grievance period Um, so that represents an increase of 12,825,000 or as bill said just about 1% and the grand list from 2020 um Based on that grand list and the 5 million 5.7 million we need to raise that tax rate becomes 0.2721 As compared to the tax rate for the current year that we are just finishing tomorrow 2750 so it would be a slight decrease in the tax rate um and again because we um in the budget we also budgeted the um The grand list to be flat so um that had some impact on the budget and we calculated that as well Um, which is really just the next piece. I'm talking about that in in the budget. We did um leave the tax rate flat at 0.2750 so Whatever is decided tonight. It's still good news that it would be a little bit less um So i'm just saying uh with this with the 0.2721 tax rate The tax would be $272 and 10 cents on 100,000 of assessment value And it was 275 01 something like that 275 01 for last year So that would be a reduction of two dollars and 91 from last year's value so the um traditional home in wilson somewhere around 300,000 probably maybe a little bit more than that so Tony will walk away with 10 l are so good and probably uh In their tax bill So questions for surely on uh her memo So is jeff So surely Please don't read into anything i'm going to ask but i do think it's um, it's worthwhile at least to have the discussion and and maybe even um It would be helpful When we go through and set the budget we we look at using some of our reserves for tax reduction and um our reserves are a fund balance where the reserves come from And correct me where I say something wrong. I'm still still on the learning curve when it comes to the financial side of operating a town um That that amount is constantly changing And and the question I have is a at this point When the budget has already been adopted Do we have the ability to say no we'd actually like to use more of the reserves To offset the amount of property taxes we need to raise i.e. To lower the tax rate even further Or we can maybe even decide to go the opposite way use less of the reserves Um and and have the tax rate being higher You could you could um by a vote of the board because you just did that with the dispatch position Which wasn't previously in the budget and it's being funded by Um the fund balance, you know unless we have savings or revenue greater than we anticipate but At the end of the day, whatever we need from fund balance will come from that but it has to be direction from the board to use fund balance And so let me ask then get to my key question, which is What is um, I hope you don't mind if I referred to a staff. What is staff's position on? Should we increase the amount of reserves we're using to pay down the tax rate? And and what would be your rationale for that is not a good a good thing to do I'm going to start by answering your question a little differently. Okay, so Back at the end of may I did a fund balance, you know estimated fund balance projection for you. I remember So in that little calculation, I made a mistake um, so I had projected 800 and let's just say 857,000 that we were going to use a fund balance So we actually are going to use 757,000 Which includes the 80,000 for the PD dispatch position. Okay So it means that now when you look at the 10 for and the 20 ceiling So our projected fund balance at the end of 21 So tomorrow is about 2.9 million originally. I had 2.8 million um, the 10 percent Ceiling would be 1,160,000 The 20 percent. I'm sorry the 10 four and the 20 ceiling is 2,314,000 so We Got some room to do that. Jeff. Okay I think it's I would add to traditionally the town. It's budgeted $500,000 for multiple years to offset the the tax rates from the fund balance and We've tried to do that for multiple years with good intention and we haven't needed to touch the funds for a number of years as well Um, and I believe surely we're we're likely not needing to touch them an FY 21 as we project it right now We've got to close the book still and see where that lands, but we'll be real close Yeah, yeah, but the other piece too is On town meeting day the voters approve a budget that we're going to raise through taxes So really throughout that budget process is projecting how much of fund balance we want to use to offset it so we're The town's locked into how much we need to raise from from taxes at this point. Right, right My sense is and maybe i'm wrong about this is voters have I would be under Justifiably upset if we had to raise the tax rate for whatever reason They probably are going to be much less upset if we lower the tax rate because we have available reserves Where we're still within I mean, we're still above the ceiling in terms of our reserves. Yes but we also know that kovat is is We haven't recovered from kovat yet and so i'm guessing You know the financial impact of kovat is still being felt by many, you know families and residents So i'm i'm interested in learning how much would Would folks feel as reasonable to use from the fund balance to pay down taxes somewhat further this year the tax rate Pay tax rate down this year if that came out, right if that Expressed that well. Yeah to reduce the amount needed to be raised by taxes. Thus the tax rate other questions for surely I'll build you that some information for us. Yeah, so um when you reduce the value That is in effect a grand list reduction of 70 000 So if you take the 70 000 and multiply that tax rate of 27 cents Um, that comes out to just around 19 000 dollars in lower revenue okay So it's basically the map not equation 70 thousand point two seven is 19 thousand Okay, although we're only we're talking about the difference between the point two seven three zero and point two seven two one That point zero zero nine is what eric and i'm talking about but if i lower if you go the other the other rate Yep, um, it's a difference in collecting 19 000 dollars less in taxes Yep, as a result of that seven seven million dollar reduction Bill are you anticipating that the grand list for fy 23 will remain like Static or do you think that we'll see um, you know another uptick next year? um And that's what you want to spot um if history is Any indication um, I would hold on to your wallet because We can be seeing things that haven't been seen since the 70s Yep, um inflation numbers are through the roof and they're not reporting immaculately Um mortgage rates are starting to go up Um the you know the plan I think is going to be forced to make some moves significant ones Um, and I don't know if we're back to the 70s when we had 17 and 18 mortgage rates, but um We could be in for some significant challenges um with the markets because we just We've never experienced this before I've been doing it 35 years. I've never seen anything remotely close to it. So I would be very hesitant to even Give a guess Yeah, it really it really is Global markets involved now and things are so much different than they used to be they might have more control Um over the markets that they did even back in seven and eight Um, you know when things almost collapsed on us Yeah So bill if I could if I could read between the lines of what you just said Just tell me if I if I'm grossly wrong is you would not recommend we use the fund balance to pay to Uh help reduce the tax rate for this year. That would not be in my purview. That's right. I get that I I Yeah, I didn't mean to put you on the spot from an assessment point of view Um, I am taking a very cautious approach um to potential Uh, definitely set we could be running into um, and it's going to be state national Um, it's not to be just realistic. Yeah, um, but there's potential Um for um, you can't you can't add 20 percent of the total cash in a country In one year and not having precautions Yeah, what I meant by my question is is if anything you anticipate in the near future The grand list in wilson could decrease and potentially significantly It could yeah That that's which in turn Somebody in my shoes might say now is not the time to even though we are fund balance exceeds the ceiling Um Probably now it's not the may not be an appropriate time to In a word touch the fund balance Because we may need it in the future It's a bad analogy, but raining or starting to rain now But you're you're you're for seeing a potential thunderstorm coming down the road, right? Yeah, that's what i'm hearing from you. Anyways. Yeah. I mean, there's just There's so many so many potential negatives and not that many positives Now, um, you know, we we talk about unemployment labor shortages Um, there's big businesses that are going out of business because people are unwilling to go back to work Um, and it's going to be long term and so those shortages for employees Is going to do nothing but create more inflation because the prices are going to go up because you've got to pay more people for money Yeah, uh, so it's just a just a whole host of things that could potentially Be a problem. Okay I would say jeff my my my thought is that the town's budgeting an adequate portion of fund balance right now We we increased in recent years Knowing the outlook with the grand list and anticipating when when the board set this budget We did a lot of cutbacks begin with on the operating side and thinking about deferring some of those things from 22 and what we need to look at in 23 Those reserves become additional potential revenue sources if we decide we need to make those investments Trying to spoof any any large tax rate impacts in 2030 So I I think the town's done well to have that fund balance over time And we've been trying to spend it down a bit, but um, I think it's a good time to hold our position Okay, and the interesting Point don't make is that you know, we've been very closely watching our delinquencies both for tax water sewer storm water And we aren't seeing any increases in our delinquent tax balances actually dropped a little bit So it's interesting From what we would have anticipated No So is there anything we should talk about in terms of the you know, I'm going to use the number 19 000 that we might Decrease in tax revenue That we might see due to the successful appeals And I I ask that of everyone Do that again So we're I'm asking because of the the magnitude of the number that we believe the Will not be raised By taxes because of the appeals decreasing the grand list and And thus if using the tax rate that's presented to us, we might see 19 000 short call in taxes rates Is there anything we should do about that or is that still For lack of better words. These aren't the right words, but small enough that The risk is not Doesn't warrant Revising the tax proposed tax rate Or Do you want to take the grand list minus seven million? To get the tax rate that's the yes 0.2730, right? Yes. That's yeah It's certainly a policy discussion for the board that the town hasn't faced before for for setting this this value. So, yeah, yeah It's the only time that we set a budget By the end of december We're the end of january It's a big guess That's to oh, yeah, how much we need to expend and We saw that during the course of the Of coven that we got expenses Because we were concerned About what we were going to get as far as income Uh, fortunately we were successful in Both putting expenses and holding the line With income coming in And we have no idea what's going to happen in the course of the next year. We we anticipate What we have put on paper up until this point in time um My concern with fund balance is we we have over the course of A long time used some of the tax of the money's few offset taxes and Spending one time money and this is one time money spending one time money for ongoing expenses. So there's always um A crapshoot at best But we've been very successful on in keeping our our fund balance At a very good level So I would at this point. I think with the all the information that we have But the recommended tax rate is what we need to Approve tonight Can I just give you one more thought to ponder? Um, so because we don't know what's going to happen next year. We don't know what's on the grand list, but um, just thinking about if we can Prevent a big jump in the tax rate Year over year. So, you know the difference between again, it's a policy issue as Eric pointed out But the 2.7 30 versus the 2.7 21 if it goes up next year, maybe that's a little smaller um increase Other questions for surely or for bill Just real quickly. I'll try to be brief. I'm on it's the tax rate calculation The rounding adjustment, um, there's a line item there and that's just if Whoever chooses to round I'm wondering what that refers to the rounding adjustment. It's um It's it's um trying to think of how to describe where it is You're thinking of the point zero zero zero six No, no, I'm above that. Um, it's like a subset. It's like the oh Yeah Oh, yeah, it's zero right now. So It used to be used to make the tax rate And the round number. Yes. Okay. So and zero or five. Yeah Okay, and then the other question I had Is the um Current use and veterans uh exemption. We don't know what that is Or doing is that kind of a guess at how much that will be? Um The 12 five is the number. I'm taking it right from the grand list So we we used to have it. It was called tax stabilization. Right. So we said, let's call it what it is. So it's clear it's current use and the veterans exemption is the Difference between the states 10,000. They reimburse us in the 40 000 that we have Okay, so we're pretty confident in that number It's not okay. All right that I always thought it was sort of an that's because we didn't know who would apply for it, but it No, so, um, it used to be a little bit different the way they do it. Um, now it's state administered So we've received a email from ed Ed Burkhart um state veterans repairs Um every year with all pounds and all the names And so we simply take it from there and plug it in. Okay, um, you know, supposedly they're not supposed to be able to get Exemption if they don't file that by the 1st of May Um, but they have had exceptions in the past. Um, just because we want to support our veterans Okay Okay, that's it If there's no other questions or comments, uh, I'd be looking for a motion. I didn't bring my glasses. So But I can try Uh, can borrow mine You want my heater if you read it jeff? I will probably say Okay I move to set the fiscal year 2022 tax rate at 0.2721 dollars per One, uh, $100 of assessed value correct Thanks, cell. Yes Is there a second? I'll second We have a second Is there a discussion on the motion? Very not all those in favor of the motion and say aye. All right. Hi We have four to nothing there's no negative votes So we have passed the um the tax rate and I'll have a A document for us to sign tonight before you leave I'll regarding that and we're moving on to Minners of report Thank you, and I just don't recognize Shirley and bill for all their hard work on this It's a lot. Yes. Thank you. Lots of crunch together and I appreciate Appreciate their double checking that for clarity tonight for the board. So We've got a tax right now. So what we'll do is the treasurer's office will get tax bills mailed out by July 15th They'll be due by August 15th back to our normal schedule this year You might recall we had to shift it last year with COVID and the time to get bills out. So That'll move right ahead here Just a couple notes from my written reports. We received a couple significant grants recently from homeland security Just under $150,000 For some security camera work at the police station fire station and a couple additional here at town hall This is in the police capital budget to replace their cameras and currently don't have any at the fire station so we're able to incorporate that in this grant as well And fire department also received a $52,000 grant to replace some handheld radios accessories and helmets The muddy brick culvert replacement project. They're working to get their schedule set for that to I have a permanent fix to our temporary bridge that we've had for a few years over there now So what what I'm hearing From project managers in south burlington They're showing some prep work now and they anticipate the closure of the bridge will begin around august 2nd And just paying around a 13 week closure right now off some further information. But we're going to get that message out to the community As that project commences here The board will have some bond documents It's next meeting for finalization on for that project's financing Then another note occurred yesterday. You might recall the lake Iroquois herbicide treatment Application that was in for priscilla core. It was granted last february and that treatment actually occurred yesterday at lake Iroquois so I've So received that information recently I would like to update the board with sooner on these in case you got any any inquiries But I know that that's happened and I'll check them with the association the recreation district to see how how that work Has helped address some of those issues with the algae blooms up the lake moving ahead Only other thing I'll I'll mention this evening is on the topic of energy I recently met with the regional planning commission And they've had received funding from the state to fund a regional energy coordinator position I met with um map along jay And myself met with staff there to discuss about the town's potential needs with our energy plan and what Some potential projects may be for that position I checked this afternoon and the rpc has advertised the position and in speaking with their director They hope to have someone on board later this summer so that's Chatting before the meeting and certainly when you add a new program and a new position It's trying to figure out how it can serve especially at a regional level But I think it's um exciting to know there is going to be an additional resource out there to help Williston and in our neighbors as we think about implementing our energy plan That'll be one resource we can look at as we try to think about other resources. We want to we want to set up in the future here That's that's all I have tonight for the marriage report. Thank you Wonder other business. We do have two kid ring permits to take up tonight and Eric Yep, um or Steve won the other day. It's going to be on july 4th It's going to be a memorial service. Um, it's on village grove That there it's going to be catered by Jericho tabern So What I have tonight is approval of that catering permit. They expect somewhere around 50 people or so I chatted with public works and public safety on this Our main concern is if there's any obstruction in the street for emergency vehicles And the hosts have have assured me they'll make sure there's a travel lane And we talked about having some people maybe park over at the school on sunday and they can they can walk there pretty easily so Staff is confident that that'll take place and they expect it to last for about four or seven In the afternoon, so that staff has no objections and inappropriate for the board to consider approving this Any questions for Eric from that one? We need a motion then I'll move to approve the xxx catering permit Is there a second of the motion? a second It's your discussion on the motion. It caught me till the off-court. I guess I haven't been attending these meetings in a while We haven't had a catering permit to do in a while jcat, right? Yeah Jericho, yeah, yeah, actually I should just go to the more standard so moved You know All in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. We have all four And the second one and the second one is an event by catering by dale It's to service for Isham barn for a wedding on august 21st From five to ten p.m. They expect about a hundred people there We've had multiple weddings and it's up for review set the isham barn and staff has no objections to for the board to consider here Staff has no objections. No objections Is there a motion so Is there a second I'll second it's a discussion on the motion You're none. All those in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. We have all four again So any other business we need to talk about tonight? If not, then we are adjourned. Thank you all for being here Good business tonight Eric, I didn't get a chance to