 at the Vermont Council on Rural Development, replacing Paul Costello, who some of you may So the mic is not on on purpose. The folks on Zoom can hear through the mic, but we didn't we thought that our voices would be enough in the room. Great. And Alyssa, you can hear me on Zoom? Great. So we definitely appreciate your patience. Hybrid meetings are tricky and necessary during the pandemic. And so for the folks on Zoom, we will give you some additional detail in just a moment, but please stand by. And for the folks in the room, we're going to ask that everybody uses the mic when they're speaking tonight so that folks on Zoom can really hear you clearly. We can all hear each other here, but it's very hard to hear on Zoom unless you're directly into the into the mic. So I wanted to start by thanking John Copans, who's over here in the corner. Many of you probably have met him. He's done just an enormous amount of work to prepare for tonight and to run this model economy process. I also want to note that Jenna Koloski and Nick Kramer from VCRD are here in the room. And Alyssa Johnson is here on Zoom, helping us on the back end to make everything work. So it's really a pleasure to be here tonight. And there's just a couple of points I wanted to make for folks just to make sure people know who we are at VCRD and what we're trying to do here, right? So VCRD is an organization that focuses on rural Vermont communities. We are a nonpartisan organization, which means that we've been well supported by Governor Scott, but also by Governor Shumlin before him, Governor Dean, Governor Douglas. It's an organization that only works in local communities when it is invited into those communities. So we're very grateful for the invitation to be here tonight. We also don't work for the local leadership, right? So what we want to do is make sure we hear your voices and we want to make sure that as we go through tonight, we prioritize what people in the room want to see in Rochester over the coming months. This is our 82nd community visit over the last 20 years. And I think, John, this has got to be more than half a dozen model community. Number seven, that's right. So almost 90 total visits over the last 21 years. And the reason we've been able to work in so many different communities is that the process does work. We've seen childcare centers built out of these processes. We've seen wastewater infrastructure built. We've seen community centers constructed. And a variety of different things have happened over the course of each of these different engagements. Every community is different, right? There are different priorities, different challenges in those communities. And so a lot of the process today has focused on that. And John will take over and explain a little bit more about what we're doing here tonight in just a moment. The other thing I just wanted to say as we're starting is it's a really timely meeting that we're having here tonight. We are working in a period where the federal government is now quite active. And there are more resources out there than there have been in the past. And so communities that are organized, that have clear priorities and are willing to kind of step forward and engage in this work, it's going to be easier to find additional resources to make those things a reality. It's something we've seen again and again that the different communities that get organized that have clear priorities are the ones that can engage with Montpelier and engage with Washington effectively. And I think what I'll do here is I'll turn it over to John to introduce Jeff, the local chair here, and to explain a little bit more about our process tonight. So thank you, folks. Thanks, Brian. You know, if it's okay with folks, because I feel like I'm at a good distance, are folks okay with me? Can you hear a little better without the mask? Is that okay? Okay. Super. So I'm John Coppans. I direct the Climate Economy Model Communities Program. Really happy to see you all out here tonight. And, you know, one of the things that is so wonderful about our work at the Council on Rural Development is that we get to know towns around Vermont, we get to go all over the state of Vermont, and we get to know wonderful people who care deeply about their communities. And as part of our work, what we do is we find someone who is respected, who people know, and we ask that person to step forward into a chair role to really be a point of contact for this work locally. Someone for us to be kind of a sounding board as we move forward with that. And I want to invite up Jeff Gephart, who I think many of you know. Jeff's lived in Rochester for over 35 years. He's the town energy coordinator. And honestly, he's the reason we are in doing this work in the Quintown region is because Jeff engaged the select board and said, hey, I think this is a cool opportunity for us. So Jeff's just going to say a quick word of welcome, and then we will move from there. So here you go, Jeff. Thank you, John. Thank you to those who showed up on Zoom and everybody who braved the togetherness and came out here tonight. Just very briefly for those of you who don't know me. I retired at the end of last year, but I guess I can't not work on trying to make the planet better for our kids and our grand kids and decided I would work on being the volunteer energy coordinator for Rochester. And I'm also leading the local energy committee, the Valley Energy and Climate Action Committee, and I'm hoping that some of you may decide after this evening to continue your work through that committee. In any case, what we are here to do is to talk about the town assets, our opportunities, our challenges, and see if together we can chart a course to a future for the community in spite of the warming and do what we know to do in order to put a stop to that. Thank you. I'm not a facilitator, so that's really why we've got these people here. I have not worked grassroots, and so we really appreciate the support from the Brunt Council of Real Development. Thank you, Jeff. So we really want to turn this conversation over to you pretty quickly. I always am a little sensitive at the beginning of meetings. We tend to do an orientation, and honestly it always feels like it takes too long, because it's really your voices that are going to make up the bulk of the conversation this evening. Here's what I'm going to do quickly, though, before we do that, which is just give you a very quick orientation to what this is about and what tonight's agenda is going to be. So as Brian mentioned, this program is part of something called, it's a mouthful, but it's called the Climate Economy Model Communities Program. And essentially we've done this work in, this is now the seventh community around the state of Vermont over the last four, about four years now. And the idea is we're invited into a community to really just facilitate a conversation around the future of your town and region and where you have the opportunities in the future and how you want to come together to do that work. And in particular we do that around climate and with a full acknowledgement that frankly climate sometimes feels a little bit like a risky conversation in a community. It doesn't always feel like it is a unifying point of conversation, but I think here's the way we would frame it is that sort of whether or how you feel about it, it's going to impact Vermont moving forward and for Vermont's rural communities there are both opportunities and challenges in facing climate change and it's worth spending some time coming together as a community and thinking about what those opportunities and challenges are. You know, I'll share something personal which is my thinking around this has really shifted a little bit over the last two years in experiencing the pandemic. And the reason for that is that it was a reminder that as much as we I think would prefer otherwise we're not an island in our communities in Vermont. We're impacted by global supply chains and global conversations and we it's incumbent upon us all I guess and this is what I've served. It was interesting someone I won't call them out by name but someone was just nearly in tears with me over on the side here just talking about this place and how much people care about one another here and look after one another here. I've gotten a little bit of a sense of that and so I think as we think about this conversation around the climate and what we call the climate economy and the future of this region it's really about that emphasis around looking after one another and building the kind of region and community where we can look after each other's needs given what's going on outside of our borders here in Vermont and here in the valley the White River Valley here. So that's what this is about. One thing to emphasize and Brian really hit on it is we do not come to you with some pre-ordained set of solutions. It's really following your lead. We simply are the facilitators of a conversation and we establish a process by which you all make some decisions about what you want to work on. And so that's what tonight really is about making some decisions and I should sort of look over my shoulder because we've got another 20 people on screen and all of you here in person. Our goal tonight is to make some decisions around priorities that you want to work on moving forward as part of this initiative. And we're going to split that into two parts tonight. We're going to have a first conversation specifically around energy topics and here's what I'll say about energy topics. I think we all know they're important but honestly I think a lot of us find them a little bit boring sometimes. It doesn't always draw people in when you're talking about electricity and heating fuel and cordwood and those sorts of things but I think we also know that it's wicked important. A household budget in Vermont, typically a typical Vermont household is spending about $5,000 on energy every year and for a lot of households that's a pretty significant piece of that annual budget. So we're going to have a first conversation around a set of action ideas that you all brainstormed around energy opportunities and then the second half of the meeting will be talking more generally about some community initiatives that you all brainstormed as well and we will do that first topic around energy opportunities we will actually finish that by handing out, I think you guys already grabbed it we'll hand out a survey to you all and we will for those on Zoom you will have an online way to participate as well. We have an online poll for you all to complete as well and then we'll take a very quick break and then we'll come back together and have some conversations around these more community oriented opportunities as well and so there was four handouts in the back of the room and you should all, if you don't have those we'll make sure you get those but those list those different ideas and opportunities. Let me, there's a couple other notes for those on Zoom. Our goal in this conversation, look this is weird, right? Here we are sitting here in a room, we've got people on the screen, this is the brave new world of COVID and the pandemic. But our goal is that everybody in this conversation, whether you're here in the room or on the computer, isn't equal. You have the same number of votes and you have the same voice in this conversation. So that's kind of our challenge. We're going to do the best we can. We hope you'll sort of roll with us if we have fingers crossed that we don't have any technical difficulties as we pull that off. And actually that reminds me, this is a good moment to acknowledge, you see the guy behind the camera over there, his name's Zach, he works for Orca Media and they have just been an awesome partner in pulling this together. VCRD, we don't have the technical skills to make this happen. Orca Media is doing this with us in partnership and it's just huge appreciation to them. Yeah, thank you. So a couple other bits of direction for folks. So for those of you participating online, the best when you want to speak really just know that Alyssa is your partner. She's kind of the interface between you and the room. If you want to speak, use the raise hand function to do that. But if you're not getting recognized for one reason or another, honestly just unmute yourself and start talking. But that does remind me that in general our preference is you stay muted unless you're speaking so that we don't end up with a lot of interference in terms of noise. And the other thing is we'd encourage you to participate with your voice, not with chat. Alyssa can monitor chat for some technical needs but we won't be able to read chat in the room. So we would encourage you to participate with your audio instead of, yes, raise hand. So with that, I'm going to turn it over now to my co-worker the amazing Jenna Kaloski who's going to facilitate our first session around energy opportunities. And here's one more point I'm realizing I didn't make around energy opportunities. You know one of the things that we work on at the Council on Rural Development is when we come into a community, let's be sensitive to what are some of the things that are already going on in that place so that we don't duplicate efforts. And as Jeff mentioned to you in his remarks, there is already an organization, a committee called the Valley Energy and Climate Action Committee, that is meeting it represents the whole Quintown region and that committee is doing some work around energy opportunities. So rather than create a new task force to carry that work forward, this first conversation is really around some priorities for that group to carry forward and so we've got some action ideas that we're going to read as a group and then like I say we've got a paper sort of survey to fill out and then we'll announce the results at the end of the meeting. But with that I'm going to hand it over to Jenna Kaloski who's going to facilitate this section. So thanks Jenna. Alright, thank you John. Hi everyone. I'm Jenna. I'm going to hold on to this because I'm going to kind of walk around the room. So as John said, this section of the meeting is really focusing on those ideas for action within that kind of energy and efficiency sphere. So rather than thinking about those other priorities that we're going to get to, we're really going to focus in on what are the things that this existing committee should take on as you think about the kind of energy and efficiency future of the Quintown region. So what we're going to do, and this is the place where like you're not going to hear from us as much, we want to start to hear from all of you both in the room and folks on Zoom as well, we're actually going to read through that list together. We find in doing this work that it can be really helpful so we're all kind of starting from a similar place to actually go through and hear community members read out the different ideas and the little paragraph describing them. So if you pull up, if you're in the room, you have got a kind of, what is this color? Grayish, purplish gray maybe? Lavender, that's really a lot nicer than what I said. So pull out the lavender sheet and it's titled Ideas for Energy Initiatives and Alyssa is actually going to pull those right up on the, for folks on Zoom there's a link in the chat to that list of ideas and then there's also going to be a slideshow pulled up on the screen that we're going to read through together. So what we're going to do is just one by one, I'm going to ask for people in the room and people on Zoom to raise a hand and to help us out by reading some of these out loud and then we're going to have a discussion to say what do you think is most important and let people kind of champion those ideas that you think the committee should be focusing on now and in the future. People in the room, we're going to have to play along a little bit with the whole microphone situation so in order for people to hear us on Zoom we do need to speak into this microphone and so I'll put my mask on and I'll come around with the microphone and let folks chime in that way and for those of you on Zoom we can hear you loud and clear when you chime in so just go ahead and unmute if you'd like to read one and then we'll hear you in the room. So does everyone have that sheet in front of you? Alyssa let's go ahead to the first one and would somebody like to start us off by reading that first one? Of course the furthest back in the room we can go. I'm Anna Isaacson and the first one is Public Electric Vehicle Charging. Electric vehicles represent a significant opportunity for cost savings and carbon reduction. Rochester and surrounding towns could develop publicly available electric vehicle chargers to serve local EV owners and visitors alike. Thank you very much. Someone on Zoom want to do the next one? We want to hear some Zoom voices in the room. Alright how about in the room first and then we'll go to the Zoom for the next one. Yes go ahead. Promote the weatherization program. For those who qualify the weatherization assistance program is an excellent resource to reduce energy costs and improve the health of homes. The task force should work actively with Capstone to improve local participation in this beneficial program. Great thank you very much. How about somebody on Zoom and you can either use the reactions button at the bottom of your screen to raise your hand or just unmute and go for it on the next one. Red Linda. Thanks Linda. Someone else in the room for the next one? In the back and then we'll come over here. John's coming around with another microphone. Thank you. And then over here John. The next one. Great thank you. How about somebody on Zoom for the next one? Somebody want to unmute and read this next one? Very much. Somebody in the room on the next one? The first one on the back. Yes go ahead. Someone else in the room on the next one? Yep in the back. Great thank you very much. Does somebody on Zoom want to read the next one on the sheet or on your slides there? Either raise a hand or go ahead and unmute. Great thank you very much. And someone in the room on the next one? Great thank you very much. Anyone else in the room on the next one? Go ahead. Thank you. Someone else in the room on the next one here. Yeah right behind you John. Great thank you. And the final one. Does somebody on Zoom want to close us out here with the last one? I'll do it. Establish a revolving minority fund. Municipalities can play a role in the citizens with the deployment of a variety of energy programs to establish a resolve revolving fund to be used on municipal environmental projects or to support residents who take on projects. Excellent. All right so those are all of the ideas that through the course of the conversations in the forums last month we heard from participants around energy and efficiency initiatives. I do want to really quickly check in before we go any further are we missing anything here? And we'll get to those other community ideas in a moment but just around the energy ideas are we missing anything that the committee that you think the committee might be focusing on that we haven't captured here? Yeah that's a really important point actually and I think you can kind of think of these ideas as like the headline right like this is what the committee would be kind of charged with working on and when we get to the community initiatives later this is what a task force would form to do. Next month we're going to get into the action planning and resources so kind of voting on these knowing yes there may be grant funding needed yes there may be more resources needed but that's kind of like the first step that the committee might get to so it's kind of exciting tonight we get to focus on the what and then get to the important you know how and resources so hopefully that helps a little bit. Yes in the back well it could be I mean it's not captured here in terms of what you're saying is potentially an action could be kind of a like an advocacy action like Rochester could advocate for policies at the state level yeah I mean I guess my thought would be kind of looking for proposals for like an action item that we listed here so if you feel like what's missing is an action item that would be kind of this committee should focus on advocacy efforts at the state level that's something we could add does that feel right John or do you feel like that's captured other so if you are you making that proposal okay so let's kind of go ahead and add that as a alternative option so you'll see for folks in the room and I think on the online well I think online will be able to add it in but for folks in the room when you get to the voting survey you'll see that all these different ideas are listed and then there's also a place for additional ideas because we knew we might have missed something there might be something added here and so the kind of additional idea number one is going to be this idea that the committee should work on advocacy efforts at the state level so that's another option that you might decide to vote on when we get to that anything else that we're missing before we move on to a discussion of where the committee might prioritize their time anyone on zoom things that are missing alright so not hearing anything let's go ahead and dig in a little bit we want to just spend some time oftentimes we see in a community that people come into a room with all kinds of different ideas about where the work should go right we all kind of come in I often use the example of up in Montgomery where folks are coming in the room thinking you really need housing in this community and others thinking we really want business growth and really need childcare and people came in with really different ideas and then through deliberation and community discussion that evening people started to realize there's one common thing that we need to do in order to meet all of those needs and they ended up voting on wastewater infrastructure which I don't think anyone came to that meeting really excited about wastewater infrastructure but through that deliberation we're able to hear each other and say you know there's some commonality here that we could all be working towards so we find it helpful both with these energy ideas and later with the community ideas to just have some discussion among each other to say what do we think is most important what are the ideas on this list that you kind of champion as you think about the initiatives that this committee energy committee might take on in the future so I'm curious does somebody whether Zoom or in the room have a thought looking at this list what would you encourage people to support yes and John's going to come around with a microphone I don't have to do much I just stand up here and shout things I like the idea of the public electricity vehicle charging where between several different ski resorts were also a stop when people get off of 89 and head over to Middlebury I think it would be a smart way to people would know about the community and would be a useful thing throughout the year so wouldn't just be a seasonal thing great so you'd encourage people to vote for that electric vehicle charging excellent does someone have another one that they'd want to champion how about on zoom does anybody have a one of these ideas and remember that you have the link to the list of ideas in your chat so you can pull that up if you need a reminder for what those different ideas are yeah I see Carolyn raising a hand go ahead Carolyn yes I the mention made of doing things between the schoolhouse and parkhouse in the school is because it would be simple little things that everybody could do and I think you know start off and grow and so many other things just seem beyond the reach of many people you know because of financial reasons or something but if you knew there was something just simple that you could do and the more people do it the more impact it has you know it's just like every little grain of sand it takes to make a beach and I think we need to start like that and feel some reward in a little bit of action and sharing it with children and us here I thought I got in here and I thought school kids could do it and then we sort of share what a simple thing like turning off the faucet when you're brushing the teeth and not leave it running while you're in the process when you leave the room always put the light out you can always put it on again when you go back in it doesn't cost any more but it's going to save something and to have the I understand there's even a game that VEP has put together that could be played doing this and I'm very anxious to see it and start doing something so if somebody could supply I mean I can in my head I can stop with all kinds of little things but I think if it comes from you a list of things that could be done and it goes to everybody then it's more like being part of the team so I'm making that. I think we definitely hear you the energy savings contest seems to be the one that you're really championing so that people can really own it and take kind of individual action Linda go ahead I think promoting the weatherization program has multiple benefits it leverages a community resource and it helps a lot of our community members who are at an economic disadvantage be able to not only improve the impact on the environment but also improve the bottom line themselves financially they have more money to put back into the economy great thank you Linda so a vote there for the promote the weatherization program someone else let's go right back here and then go ahead yeah you may need to raise your voice a little bit but we can hear you what's that sorry oh capstone is and in fact I think Linda who just spoke up works for capstone but capstone is the community action agency in this region so they're the ones that kind of hold that that weatherization program so the committee would kind of be working alongside capstone to promote and bring that to more folks in the community the question was is that different than efficiency Vermont like weatherization versus efficiency Vermont yes it might be able to yeah Linda did you want to very briefly share our weatherization program there are a number of different facets to it but primarily we are out working with low income households to retrofit their homes to do surveys to see if there are areas that we need to tighten up we can help people put in better insulation sometimes we can help them get better appliances so there's a lot of similarities to efficiency Vermont but it is a separate program great thank you Linda so I see another hand so I'm going to first go to there was a hand here in the room and then we'll go back to zoom go ahead when you would like to champion yeah the evaluate solar siting options I've just gone through the process of trying to get several estimates for like a house home solar installation and it just struck me that it's basically the most inefficient way to try and install solar having everybody do their own installation figuring everything out completely on their own when we could be sort of coordinating and you know especially for people who aren't in the best spot for solar or don't have the necessary startup capital you know like there are really good like tax rebates and stuff but you still have to have the upfront that like the money up front and there are financing options but you know it's not like everybody has you know the means to take on $50,000 of debt for solar so it just seems like we could be coordinating a little bit better as a community to bring that asset to more people in the community great thank you so much I'm gonna go back to the zoom and then I'll come back I think it says Annie McKay yeah that's me I'm on her computer I want to pick up on what Anna was just talking about the evaluating solar potential sites and I think that would be well to be combined with the efforts or the initiatives towards the energy resiliency zone because here we have deep pockets with green mountain power wanting to help you know provide a you know infrastructure and to create a resiliency zone even though I know that's going to be just powering the village itself that seems also to go hand in hand with the siting of the solar because there's been an issue in the past there's been many times where the town has voted to throw some money towards solar but then we've come up against a blank wall in terms of where to put it so I just Anna's got a good point about you know support in where is where to do it great so another another supporter of that evaluating solar siting options and it sounds like also maybe that resiliency zone work as well yes you had a hand up go ahead carry on with the theme thank you John and just point out for everybody's benefit the solar siting has actually been done once recently there is a map and the Rochester website under the town plan so anybody who wants to get a lead on that that was done in the last I believe five years or so there's actually a local opportunity going on right now around that so I'll push for evaluate solar sitings as a priority I also like the sharing of success stories I think our local newspapers could get a bite on that and want to point out that there's already already a lot of support for electric bikes in the valley so that may need less energy from this committee glad everybody's supporters okay well that's a good thing to know like maybe there's already some support there it sounds like you're saying some work has been done in that solar siting work but it could use more work and you're encouraging people to vote for that anyway knowing that there's some baseline work and that sharing of success stories as well great someone else in the room have one that they'd like to champion or promote before we get to it there is somebody on zoom who Paula or Kevin Kevin you go ahead and unmute yeah so I would like to advocate for the weather weatherization and my reason is in the early 1970s I worked for the Bennington Rotland Opportunity Council as a carpenter doing weatherization for low income people or people who are having a hard time with it and a memory that stuck in my mind was on one of these 20 below zero mornings we used to have in West Rutland we showed up to do weatherization fix somebody's windows they had a problem with their door wouldn't shut correctly and there's a man and a woman and three kids and they were sitting in their car with the motor running with the heat on them and they were sitting in the car with the heat on them because that was warmer than their house and ever since that time I've been sold on that I think it would be a really good thing to promote thanks so much for sharing that Kevin appreciate it someone else have one that they want to champion somebody in the room maybe there is one on zoom I can't see whose hand is raised on zoom go ahead Robin hi I'm listening to these ideas and I'm wondering especially when it comes to weatherization if there could be some kind of effort as like a cooperative where perhaps people put in a few hours to help someone get their house weathered and get a few hours to help get their homes weatherized I think sharing success stories is important or having a network of people maybe someone use sun common for their solar and someone else use sun run and have a conversation on what their experiences are about so I think those are both important pieces thanks Robin supporting that sharing of success stories and I'm not sure what you're saying is fully captured but maybe we can kind of make a note that that might be a part of it there could be some work locally to work on that together as a community thanks so much other things that people would like to support yes I would say just to tack on to the weatherization program thing I think promoting thermal efficiency for all is equally as important because the capstone weatherization program I think is great but you know it's a program with sort of guidelines and it's sort of you have to do the whole thing like their whole recommendation you can't just take pieces of it and I'm not sure if it's like income based but I know that with other programs there's a certain you know there's a group of individuals that sort of falls outside the income eligibility but still can't afford some other thing so I think a broader idea of thermal efficiency for all is equally as important as specific as like the capstone weather great it sounds like there's support for that weatherization program but maybe some ideas to kind of broaden that a little bit so maybe I don't know if we could take a couple notes that we could maybe build that in should that become one of the priorities for the for the committee that's great were you taking a couple notes Brian on that okay excellent thank you anyone else looking at this list have one they want to champion before we go to a vote how about on Zoom anyone else there have one that you'd like to share before we move to voting so let me just do a quick review before we move on so couple folks have spoken up about the electric vehicle charging weatherization program is kind of lead by example focus on municipal energy opportunities so those are things that the municipality and the town would focus on evaluate solar siting options promote thermal efficiency for all share energy transformation success stories support electric bytes energy saving contest support a resiliency zone address waste in the community unleash the power of creativity so this was about artists and musicians inspiring change in the community and then the idea of establishing a revolving loan fund oh I'm sorry and then our addition one that's right so number one on that additional ideas energy advocacy at the state level so just a last check in before a vote having reviewed those does anyone want to speak up for one that has not been mentioned that you feel strongly about okay right here and then we'll go to the back go ahead thanks I think we should schedule a performance to creatively share success stories at some point in this process that sounds like a little combining of that creativity and the success stories I like that yes and look at the space you have to do it it's amazing yes good I think addressing the waste issue when the community is really important also and working towards reducing that great so you'd encourage people to vote for that addressing waste encourage the committee to focus on that great yes back here John so just kind of along the lines of the resiliency zone as gmp given any idea what that would look like we have a choice or is it just this is what we give you all that maybe John has an answer for that you know dune might be the best person to answer that your select board chair I think green mountain power my sense is they want to work with the community on that resiliency zone and they hope folks see it as an opportunity that what the outcome of that would be is the potential to create what's called an island such that if there was an outage you could have power within a certain area maybe that area is the village maybe it's smaller depending on what size it is so I don't know if that answers your question I see you having maybe another well so I'm thinking usually with solar and wind there too is the most expensive parts connecting it to the system and where the substations are along here are in a narrow valley there's not a lot of room for solar right here so we ever entertain the idea of putting in a battery yeah for them it's a little bit of like pretend they approached us in the spring I'm a select on the select board to and Jeff and I were involved in meeting with them and basically the way our grid is set up is the villages is on 2400 volt and the outlining areas are 7200 and so the village is a zone already and so if we were able to have a solar field close where they could attach to it that would be a good thing and not too expensive for them to to adapt to so it's just the thought we put it out there and they've responded to it and we just it's all up to the voters and whatever comes forward with that oh yeah yeah it's just a start so we don't know much about it yet and they'll be in touch with us more down the road and so a reminder of a reminder that what this question is tonight that we're looking at is should the energy should we prioritize this in their work so should they prioritize and so this isn't deciding yes there will be a result resiliency zone in Rochester it's saying should this be something the committee takes on and prioritizes so that's kind of the question on the table so I'd I'd I'd ask unless either of you want to support that or support something else let's come to you and then I'll do another check in on the zoom I see some hands there and we've got just a few minutes evaluate solar that would also encompass the resiliency so sure I didn't kind of saying that that was doing right that was saying a little kind of saying like that really could be if the committee is prioritizing that this could be a that resiliency zone work along with the select board and decision you know and the town that could include some of that that's great Linda or let me just ask is Linda we've heard a couple times you is there anyone else on the zoom who hasn't had a chance to time in that wants to weigh in right Linda you go ahead and then I'll just do a last call before we vote just a couple of quick thoughts one was established a revolving loan fund could be a tool to get to where Anna was talking about being able to expand that weatherization project to help folks that maybe don't fit under capstone's weatherization program and the other is someone mentioned maybe we could set up a system to help volunteers help with weatherization a tool for that might be the time bank the White River time bank that's being managed by the Kimmel Library and Randolph thank you Linda so let me just we got a couple minutes here we want to move to a vote just a last call for anyone that wants to weigh in in support of one of these if you're on zoom if you haven't found where to raise your hand feel free to unmute and kind of let us know that you want to speak and anyone else in the room alright well let's go ahead and shift John if you're okay with it go ahead and shift to a vote so remember on this one you have got the bright orange sheet that I have thrown on the floor up here and folks on the zoom we're gonna mute in one second so that Alyssa can give you some instructions but essentially you're gonna get a link that you can click and you're gonna go and take the same exact poll that the folks in the room are taking we're gonna add these up and we're actually gonna share the results of this at the very end we're gonna share the priorities set in the next session and these all together and remember the question here this is not a new task force that will be forming or a new initiative this is saying this committee that exists that in fact is looking for volunteers I believe and there's a sign up sheet in the back where should they prioritize their time as they think about next steps for energy and climate action in the quintown area so you've got your orange sheet you have got three votes so you can choose three ideas on your sheet and remember that at the bottom there's a box that says additional idea number one if you check that one off that's referring to the energy advocacy at the state level so we're gonna go ahead and turn off the sound on the zoom so that Alyssa can walk folks on the zoom through are we good? okay so go ahead Alyssa and we're just gonna take a few minutes to do a vote and then excellent thanks act alright thanks everybody there we go round one is done on to round two so as I described at the beginning we're now shifting our focus and I don't you have a set a yellow bright yellow set of action ideas and I've labeled these ideas for community initiatives and honestly I use that term because it's kind of as generic as you could get this is just a bunch of ideas from you all about opportunities you see for the quintown region and here's how this is gonna go we are gonna have a similar process that we just had where we're gonna go through and read all of the action ideas so get your vocal chords ready for that and then we're gonna have a conversation around those action ideas around combining them if you feel like some are overlapping and should be combined you're missing that you would like to add to the list championing those ideas that you're enthusiastic about and then instead of voting by survey we're gonna hand out a little envelope to each of you with three dots in it and all of the ideas are gonna be up on the wall we're gonna get those easels turned around and you're just gonna walk over there and stick your dots to the ideas that you feel like you're most enthusiastic about and then based on the results of that dot voting we are going to initiate two new groups of people two new task forces to carry that work forward so I guess one of the ways I like to frame up this conversation as we get going and we'll get into this more is think about not only what do you think would make the region better and is most valuable in terms of where to invest time and energy but also consider is this something you might like to work on yourself because an idea is only an idea until people rally around it and roll up their sleeves and get to work so and we will be a partner in that work we will provide some support but there's one thing we know at the council on role development which is we certainly can't do it alone it really requires a team locally to carry this work forward so with that I think let's go does anybody have any questions before we read through this list of action ideas any questions before we do that I'm looking at the screen too alright and Jenna I wonder if you mind doing the mic roll like I was doing for you and actually I'm going to ask you to do something which we didn't do the first round if you're okay with standing up those of you in the room if you're comfortable if you're not that's fine but if you are okay standing up when you speak that would be great who wants to read the first action idea anybody in the room or anybody on zoom looking for a volunteer co-working and or business incubator spaces with the rising prevalence of remote work and a patchwork of internet connectivity co-working spaces can serve tremendous value for residents and visitors alike a task force could evaluate different options for developing co-working spaces to serve the quintown region this group could also consider the potential for a business incubator as an additional economic development strategy thank you who else anybody in the room oh we've got one right there great community events the strength of the quintown region is built upon the social connections that exist among neighbors and friends these connections are forged and invigorated at the mix of events where a broad cross-section of community gathers to socialize celebrate relax and have fun could work to support existing community events in the region and to establish new ones that are inclusive and fun this effort could also incorporate the vibrant arts and performing community performance community and to work to establish a better nightlife in the region nightlife thank you all right I'm looking at zoom how about anybody on zoom read any volunteers Linda go for it Linda the quintown area food hub the quintown area has a wealth of farmers and food producers with many shifting their produce and products out of the region there's an opportunity to develop shared resources to improve the economic health and resilience of these producers and to create fertile ground for the launch of new food and agricultural enterprises a task force could focus on the establishment of the food hub in the quintown region that would provide shared processing storage and distribution this task force could also focus on shared marketing opportunities establishing local outlets for food such as a co-op and finding ways for local food to meet the needs of those in the region who are food insecure thank you Linda all right next one anyone looking around the room can I zoom all right here we go we've got someone in the room growing community engagement while there's already a strong sense of community in each town that makes up the quintown region there are always opportunities to improve people's sense of connection to one another and to their to their town a task force could devise and implement strategies to increase community engagement in each town region possibilities could include active outreach to the second homeowners and new arrivals a townwide read a book initiative and an effort to increase cross pollination between area schools and the broader community thank you how about on zoom someone on zoom for the next one I'll take this one facilitate learning and sharing amongst farmers and gardeners with an ample population of farmers and gardeners there's a chance to cultivate knowledge sharing and learning related to successful and sustainable growing practices a task force could focus on creating venues for this collaboration along with establishing community gardens and other programming to help people learn to grow their own food thanks Dan yep all right next one volunteer in the room all right Vic over in the corner Jenna you see economic development in the quintown region the five towns of the quintown region could come together to focus collaboratively on economic development opportunities for the area task force working on this would engage business owners and the residents of the five communities to establish a priority list that could include a shared economic development staff person participation state economic development programs employer recruitment shared marketing broadband coverage and more this task force should consider impacts to all socioeconomic levels evaluating particular priorities thanks Vic next one how about on zoom is there somebody on zoom who wants to read this next one I can take this go for it welcome new residents whether because of a global pandemic or the impacts of climate change Vermont is expected to become an increasingly desirable place to live at the same time newcomers particularly those from other nations and cultures do not always feel welcome here a task force could focus on making Rochester and the quintown region a more welcoming place for those visiting or moving to Vermont from afar next Larry over there tiny homes and technical skills the quintown region along with Vermont as a whole faces a lack of affordable housing options and a lack of the workforce needed to build new homes and repair existing ones a task force could design and implement a program that would provide the education services for participants to build a tiny house program participants would gain technical skills and could also have a role in building their own home next in the room yep increasing volunteerism and community service the towns that make up the quintown region are sustained and supported by strong collection of volunteers who serve the community in various capacities some may serve a local organization or select board others may organize youth programming and other service members of fire department or rescue squad given the importance of these volunteers a task force could focus on creating new avenues and strategies to facilitate more people getting involved and service to the community I'm going to go off script and suggest that and the growing community engagement all seem to be a similar force all right well hold that thought we'll get to it who else who else is someone on zoom want to read the next one yep Bill Matthews grow the local workforce as with all other areas of Vermont employers in the quintown region are struggling to recruit and retain employees a task force could collaborate with partners including Vermont technical college and Hartford technical center along with area businesses and employers to better understand and then work together to reduce workforce gaps wonderful thank you and is there another person on zoom I think maybe I saw Carolyn on muting I don't know Carol if you want to read the next one climate focus on the floodplain climate models predict a greater frequency of high precipitation events in Vermont a phenomenon very familiar to those living in the quintowns a task force could develop and deploy strategies to mitigate the erosion and other impacts that result from these weather trends approaches could include encouraging a butting property owners to embrace mitigation efforts including vegetated riparian zones and livestock and agricultural free zones and floodplain assessments that accommodate floodwater dispersion thanks Karen I gave you a tough one there was there was a lot of words in that one alright next one somebody in the room do we have a volunteer up we've got somebody here promote transportation alternatives transportation presents challenging rural places like the quintown region owning and operating a car is a significant expense and alternatives to cars are sparse at best a task force could survey the community to better understand the potential for alternatives to cars the group could then devise strategies possibly including shared vehicles shared rides improved transit and safer conditions for walking and biking in an effort to provide alternatives to privately owned vehicles thank you next somebody else you don't have to support it how about on zoom is there somebody on zoom who wants this one it's a lot of words isn't it intimidating sure I'll do it so addressing affordable housing renting or buying a home in the quintown region has become increasingly costly representing a significant hurdle to anyone looking to move to the area and a challenge for area residents who are not homeowners a new task force could engage the community and undertake research to better understand the gaps in available housing the group could then develop strategies to address those gaps approaches to this challenge may include inventorying existing and available properties making adjustments to zoning shared housing options and providing a solution to the demand of the community to further dedicate municipal resources and finding balance between short and long term rentals thank you alright who wants to bring it home somebody up we've got alright protecting forest and agricultural lands the quintown region is renowned for its glorious landscape including mountains forests agricultural lands and a beautiful river increasingly important in a time of climate change a task force could inventory the natural resources of the region and then work to ensure that area forest and agricultural lands are protected wonderful thank you everybody well done alright so let's ask a first question of you all which is missing from this list are there things that you would like to see added and if there are we will we will write them up so yeah Sue I'm going to hand you the mic I don't think this would be a separate thing but like I don't see any mention of children and families but they I guess maybe would be as long as people kept them in mind when they think of each of these topics then they would be included well stated and good point so that's sort of a general suggestion of don't lose track of families and children as we think about this work some of these have implications more than others probably but in general let's not let's not forget about the children other do other people see anything missing that they want to add to this list and that goes for you on zoom as well Carolyn are you raising a hand there unmute yourself yes what we just mentioned about families and children couldn't that be included in the community engagement I think that you're right that that probably does have a home there so maybe we just take that as a friendly amendment that is we think about community engagement consider that it's inclusive of children and families does that seem like the right move I see some nods in the room do I see some nods on zoom okay great thank you Carolyn and we're even adding a note here on the on the on the board thank you yes I was thinking from the previous list of tapping into our creative community and the music and arts community that could probably be the other thing to add with the growing community engagement getting everyone involved excellent and I might reference back to Kinley's point which is community engagement and community events and there was a third one you mentioned to volunteerism so before alright so we have a proposal actually on some combination of a few because they're similar but before we do that I want to make sure is there anything else missing from this list before we get to Kinley's proposal around combining a few of these ideas is there anything that folks want added as a whole new different idea before we talk about our do any of these ideas kind of fit together and make sense to combine alright let's take up so Kinley has done what I was going to ask prompt folks to do which is do any of these ideas sort of belong together and does it kind of make sense to merge them and I'll just give you like a little strategic here's the tension around combining and the opportunity around combining the nice thing around combining ideas is if people care about those different aspects you're likely to maybe get a few more dots if you combine them into one the other side to that calculation is if a task force has too broad of a mission it's kind of hard for them because they're like huh what are we really are we doing this or are we doing that so I'm not prejudging that in regards to what Kinley's proposed but I just want to raise those two flip sides and I see you've got something to add to the conversation so I'm walking to you here well I would hope that a couple other members out here might speak to this but the first two the co-working and incubator space and the community events they some people here may not know there are groups already working on these two aspects we have you know committees trying to you know come up with ideas in repurposing our high school and gaining ownership of that building and in the absence of that the arts committees the theater the music different groups are also working as a test a separate task force to go ahead and implement programs and work together so it seems like I think we are addressing that in our town now and maybe someone else would speak to that before you do let me just I want to bring things back actually to to Kinley's proposal let's try to sort of resolve that question although I think what you raised was pertinent to it but I think what we have is a proposal to combine three of these into one and I'm going to remind you which three they are it's around community events it's around growing community engagement and it's oh I'm wrong about that well maybe just tell us first oh I'm sorry I misunderstood so excuse me Kinley's proposing grow community engagement welcome new residents and increase volunteerism and community service he really sees those as kind of a package and he is suggesting that we make those into one idea so if you think about those three distinct texts if people were to support this they would a task force that was created would then take on sort of all of that let's say and so here's how we're going to is there somebody who wants to speak on this specific question before we move and I do see a hand back there Jenna if you don't mind right here aha well so now you're suggesting two different well one same and one different as combined I think what we need to do is really decide on Kinley's proposal before we go on to that one I guess and we will just say as an observation that when we host this conversation no matter where we go there is often a tendency to combine there's an inclination to want to combine because you see the network and it just makes sense a word of caution that sometimes you want to resist that temptation because if you take on a task that's a little too broad it can be a challenge but often we get it wrong in terms of how we write these up so here's what I want to do and I need to do it on zoom and in person but I'm going to ask for a show of hands around combining three ideas and those three are growing community engagement welcoming new residents and increasing volunteerism and community service and let's do in the room can you show hands for if you think it's a good idea to combine those into one idea how many people support that wait keep them up okay now now on screen I wonder how about everybody who is supportive can you raise hands and then I'm going to ask somebody to give me a tally if you know how to raise your hand on zoom go ahead and do that if you don't know how to raise your hand on zoom you could actually unmute if you want to express your support or chat with Alyssa if you want to express your support alright we're watching the tally go on screen here we've got 7 I'm seeing on the screen and I'm hoping we're not missing anybody okay 8 okay 8 we've got 8 on the screen we had 11 yeah we're an even split a 50-50 because I think we've got about 20 in the room so I think we're not going to do it because if there's a consensus on it it feels like let's do it but it feels like we're an even split are there other things that folks feel like we should combine so I'm going to let's move on to the next one we did have a proposal in the back around welcoming new residents and workforce do you want to sort of am I characterizing that right do you think those two should be combined we do okay does anyone have anything to say about that or should we just go right to a show of hands who thinks those two fit together and to remind you that is to welcome new residents and I'm looking for the grow the workforce grow the local workforce who feels like those should be combined let's see a show of hands for yes for combining those in the room alright and on zoom you guys are getting the hang of this I love this we're like learning as we go alright I think that's pretty clear that I think we're not ready to combine those are there other things that folks feel like really should fit together go for it yeah I think establishing a food hub and learning and sharing among farmers and gardeners okay might be something that would go together maybe not yeah I can see it so establishing a food hub and learning and sharing among farmers and gardeners you can see that there's some commonality there show of hands that those two really are pretty similar show of hands in the room who thinks we should combine those alright that's a pretty clear consensus in the room and I see a fair number alright let's those two are combined so if somebody could cross out one of those and then sort of add it to the other one if that makes sense so we're gonna yep alright thank you anything else that folks want to combine or should we get to the discussion of these please combining the affordable housing with the tiny tiny houses overall we have a challenge of housing I'll say in the Valley or Quintown area and there are many different solutions there that could be worked on at once including those two things that we have listed so I would propose combining those great thank you Dan so Dan has proposed to combine the tiny house idea with the affordable housing show of hands for those that think they're basically similar or could go together alright we've got a good majority in the room and I'm looking at hands raised alright yep we're gonna combine those two you guys got that affordable housing and tiny houses are coming into one common idea alright anything else I'm ready to move on here but anything else that folks want to combine before we do move on I'm unless Regina wants to speak on this I'm guessing her hand is still up in support of one of the combinations but alright let's move on to the next question I want to ask you all which is and we started to get at this and actually I think I may call on Vic right off the bat but one of the things as you think about these action ideas is what is already going on in the community in relation to this and somebody here mentioned school repurposing as a conversation that's very much alive here in Rochester so I just thought it might be what you don't see as an action idea specifically around school repurposing it certainly came up in ideas amongst folks but my sense was that this was something that had a home already in the community as a conversation and so it sort of didn't make sense to sort of create a new task force around that but I do want to give Vic a very quick chance to just give an update on that just so that people have a sense of the status so go for it Vic. Thank you so yes there is a committee working presently on a feasibility study for the repurposing of the Rochester high school building the town has the opportunity to acquire the building from the school district for a dollar the facility has many assets and it has certain liabilities that come along with it as well so the feasibility is being studied we have received a grant that will help us conduct this feasibility study it's scheduled to be concluded by this coming June I think it's going to be a pretty thorough process the types of programming that we are investigating for inclusion of the building are co-working spaces on the top of the list here as well as converting the shops into a maker space having the performance and educational space for various forms of arts and recreation and whatever else the community is interested in having done and a child care center and an adult day care center and we've also received interest from various parties about renting space in the building quite a bit of interest in doing something with it a lot of potentially very exciting opportunities for this property but as I say it has certain liabilities it needs capital improvement it has high energy costs so we're evaluating all that to see if it can make sense and work economically some very invigorated volunteers working on this and I'm not sure if this is an auscript or not but if anybody's interested in working on those two topics at the top of the list co-working space and community events see me talk to me we'd love to get you involved in what's already underway and get additional input on that so hope that Thank you Vic that's really helpful as some context I see Linda on screen has something to add to the conversation Yeah just to piggyback on what was said earlier about existing opportunities that could be leveraged so wearing two different hats right now one is capstone community action we are doing a ton of work with communities and partners in the local area around affordable housing and so there is support there or networks to tap into and then as the chair for the Hancock Wreck Committee the piece about community events we have started through COVID working together with a bunch of towns within the Quintown region so we've really started talking about how we work more as a region versus individual towns and how we can leverage those resources so I would think that would be a great place to again have an existing resource that could be leveraged Wonderful thank you Linda Alright Is there anything else to add before I think we want to transition at this point to let's get to the championing part which you guys have already experienced once which is you have the opportunity to persuade one another about which idea you feel like has the most merit and so I think we should we should do that at this point so who might have one of these action ideas that they want to champion Oh great Dan go for it Thanks Yeah I would advocate for the housing topic I think it has a lot to do with attracting families families with children to the Quintown area has a lot to do with workforce and just quality of life in the valley Thanks Thank you Dan Others who has something they'd like to speak to Jeff Well I would like to advocate for addressing affordable housing but I also going off script here too would put that together with grow the local workforce we need increased income and affordable homes So Jeff are you making a formal proposal to combine those two? Is that what I just heard? Okay Alright You guys have gotten so efficient at it that I'm going to take that proposal We just had a proposal to combine affordable housing with grow the local workforce given that those two are pretty related topics So let's see a show of hands who think those two really belong together Who does? Show of hands Okay 9 and how about on the screen? I see Alright I feel like we're at that even split So let's not do it We're going to keep those two separate Who else wants to speak in favor of one of these action ideas? Maureen I see go for it Maybe Maureen was raising hands in favor I'm guessing Let's see Anyone on Zoom here in the room want to champion one of these action ideas in the back of the room Well it doesn't say it specifically but when I read Welcome New Residents I think a lot about immigrants and refugees and new Americans and the opportunity that we have as a state with such a We're just such an awesome place and I think we could do better in terms of attracting people of color and having opportunities to do that and I think welcoming new residents is an opportunity to sort of do a little bit better in that regard and I would say I would champion that one Wonderful thank you Others We've got to hang into you Well I looked this over and I think they're kind of all in I mean there isn't a single one I would cross off the list but I do think that protecting the forest and the lands around us it's what draws so many of us here and we need a whole lot more volunteers in this community so that's my So in favor of protecting the lands and increasing volunteers in the community No Oh okay Did you catch any of that I'll start over I'll start over I'm looking at the food hub and the learning and sharing among farmers and gardeners I was saying that for myself a lot of our stuff gets shipped up north just because I don't have time I work full time and do that stuff also I don't have time to deal with the advertising and all the other stuff that goes along with that so having an area where I can people know that somebody is going to be there with this on this day for this price and has this much that all I have to do is show up for my stuff and that also allows more locals to be buying more local food which helps with all sorts of carbon emissions and all of this other stuff along that line and you know the learning that's huge too a lot of people want to try this I've run into tons of people that I can talk for this stuff with ours that people have never raised an animal in their life and they're really interested so having that ability too would be great Oh yeah wait do you need this back Excellent thank you Others have something they want to champion How about on Zoom Anybody want to chime in on Zoom to chime in for a second regarding welcoming new residents and also the school repurposing I know the school repurposing is that's already underway but I'm wondering if we couldn't include in that study the possibility of using at least part of the building as an opportunity to welcome refugees to central Vermont, to Rochester, Vermont and use the building for housing a safe place to live and get situated in Rochester and also in the US Alright thank you William I think that's the sort of comment that we can take under advisement I would say and certainly Vic and other members of the school repurposing committee are here and have heard that I see Does that seem okay there Alright Super Others I see Yep, Sue I would speak up for promoting transportation alternatives we've got probably too many cars in our area My brother lives in Hancock with his wife and they need 1.2 cars but they have 2 so if we had more alternatives and I think in between the Quintown area you've got economy of scale we should be able to figure something out but also in that description I really like the safer conditions for walking and biking Yeah, sidewalks Thank you Sue Who else This is your chance Go for it Combining focusing on the flood plain and protecting forests and agricultural lands those seem like they could be compatible to me Alright we've got another combination proposal around protecting forest and agricultural land and focusing on the flood plain that those are pretty similar as I think what I just heard are the hands if you think those two really fit together I'm looking for some hands 2, 3 So we've got 12 in the room did you guys hear that? So the idea was focus on the flood plain and protecting forest and agricultural land as a combination, a late proposal to combine are there hands on zoom that support that Alright show me in the room again up to 2 Alright I'm gonna make the call that we've got enough we're gonna combine those two into one So that's focus on the flood plain and protect farm and forest and farm land Alright other championing who else has something they want to say is this actionable can it be successfully addressed which idea is most important most doable most impactful I see dunes got a hand up go for a dune Yeah I think the addressing housing and the you know the housing and the tiny house and that kind of support and that's important Excellent thank you others I'm also going to say a word about the food hub and advocacy for farmers and gardeners so much of our food is imported from places that are straights relative to water supply they depend on irrigation and that resources rapidly being depleted to those areas we have a wonderful climate here that does not require irrigation to raise crops and I think that that resource here is underutilized that the idea of a co-op which is sort of mentioned in here and the possibility of having a resource for preserving and providing resiliency to the food opportunity in the valley in this region I'm looking both on the screen and in the room I'm kind of feeling like it might be time for some voting I'm seeing some nodding of heads that it's some time for some voting so here's what we're going to do we're going to turn down the mic and Alyssa is going to handle you're going to have another poll and for those on zoom that Alyssa is going to walk you through that oh you're writing it down okay so we have some results and actually we're going to give you Alyssa if you could share I don't know if you're ready to share a screen oh nope, Nick says no okay I'm going to let you know actually what are remember you all filled out your first survey for energy action ideas I'm just going to let you know what came out in the top four there and then of course we will share with that committee the full list and the total tallies but it seems easiest to do that so I'm going to do this from memory explore solar sighting was on that list leading by example in terms of the municipalities and energy opportunities was on that list weatherization the weatherization program was on that list and the final one Brian was ah public electric vehicle charging was number four so that's a great list team that covers a lot of territory there so did everybody get that electric vehicle charging the weatherization program municipal energy opportunities and leading by example and then solar sighting in the valley as the four and now the two action areas folks in the room could see the dots and the tallies and these really came out on top with some clarity addressing affordable housing and tiny homes and learning and sharing amongst farmers and gardeners and the food hub really rose to the top so here's I'm going to hand it over our work here to some degree is done but actually it's only just started which is we've got some priorities for work and now the hope is that you all as you leave this room and as you talk to your neighbors and friends we'll recruit folks to join this effort and to join these task forces that are working on these topics so for those in the room we are going to have sign up sheets at the back table and there are three sign up sheets there's one for addressing affordable housing there's one for the food hub and then there's one for the Valley Energy and Climate Action committee that will be working on those four priorities and other topics as well and for those on Zoom Alyssa is going to share an electronic sign up sheet for you to sign up as well I'm trying to think of what oh, here's the other thing the final step I can't believe I haven't mentioned this in all of my talking with you tonight the final step in this process is actually we have a third gathering we call it resource day and here's what's going to happen on resource day we're going to convene these two task forces and in coordination with Jeff the Valley Energy Action Committee and we are going to facilitate a strategic planning exercise an action planning exercise for each of these three areas and here's another key part we're going to invite a resource team to come back to the community with expertise in these areas so that you're not planning and strategic planning in a vacuum in fact you're going to get people who are either regionally or at the statewide level involved in these areas and who have some expertise not to tell you sort of what you should do but really to tell you what you can do and to help you understand what resources are available to make that possible so we are tentatively holding that final sort of formal step in this process a month from tonight Monday December 6th details to follow but I'm hoping you all will mark your calendar we've got your information so we're going to follow up with you one way or another but I'm now going to hand over the microphone to our executive director Brian Lowe to just give you some closing remarks and really appreciate all of your participation and honestly this is a pretty exciting outcome we have such a fun job just to get to partaking a conversation like this and to get to see you all the wisdom of the crowd never ceases to amaze us so with that let me hand it over to Brian. Thank you John you know I'm so new that this is the first time I've seen a meeting quite like this and one of the things that John and Jenna have said to me is that you start to really fall in love with the communities that you work in and I can see why that's true coming out of a meeting like tonight in a space like this with the discussion that we had right I mean it is really awesome to see the power of John calls it the wisdom of the crowd the power of our ability to solve things collectively and there are real challenges on the horizon so what I want to leave you guys with tonight is really three words urgency uncertainty and optimism I think there's real urgency for us in this room and for the folks on zoom to move together collectively right now and get organized for some of the challenges that lie ahead and to secure federal money that is now a more realistic outcome than it was in past years right there's a real opportunity to move and to make a difference there's real uncertainty about what the future holds you know I'm coming into this job from a background in Syria in Afghanistan where it's a really different set of challenges a really different set of priorities and it is a reminder to me of how uncertain democratic governance can be each generation has to step up and analyze institutions that surround us make difficult choices and solve complex problems and I feel like that's what's happening in the room tonight and the third word I want to leave you with is optimism I just I do feel like what this group is doing tonight in laying out clearly and proactively a set of priorities is exactly what we need to be doing and I think John's right we have some of the best jobs in the state learning from folks and going town to town trying to build proactively for the future so thank you very much folks and sorry one last thing I really want to acknowledge everything that John Copans has done Jeff that you've done as the chair of the committee here it's really wonderful it's a great team at VCRD and I think a lot of the credit for tonight goes to John and the folks in this room so thank you