 for the two contract items, 5A and 5C. So optional in case they're desired? Yeah. Great. And we want to pull the meeting minutes from April 10th. Correct. From consent to all three. All three? Sure. What do you mean? Pull them from consent to business item 5C. OK, just to make a question. Got you. How about we just, yeah, 5C? So that's the April 3rd, April 10th and April 12th. Yep. OK. Anything else? Good. I just say something as we start. No, we can do that first, sorry. OK. Then I would entertain the motion to amend the agenda. So moved. Second. We'll give that one to Dan. Any further discussion? All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Those opposed, say nay. So pass unanimously. Thank you. That will bring us into public to be heard. So this is a portion of tonight's meeting where if there are any members of the public who wish to bring something to our attention that is not on the agenda, then that was a time to do so. Seeing as how we have more people in the room than in Zoomland, we'll start off with a room. If anybody would like to address us about something that is not on the agenda, please raise your hand. OK. Going out into Zoomland, is there anybody on Zoom who wishes to bring something to our attention that is not on the agenda? Not seeing any hands there. So we'll move off of that and jump right into Business Item 5A, discussion and consideration of authorization of architect contract with ARPA funds and to Lincoln renovation. Regina. All right. Let me get to this memo. You have my chair all the time. There you go. All right. Let me try to share this. OK. So essentially, the main purpose of this agenda item tonight is to consider a contract with Scott and partners for architecture services. There are a, this is really, the intention here is taking this step in order to continue to do some assessment of this building, figuring out what can actually be changed and what can be done, and also to get a construction manager engaged as well to really figure out a more true cost estimate. What we're working with now is an estimate for sure. It's not as good as it can get with a construction manager. And there's also just in terms of really thinking about all the components of this project, relocation, all of the additional things that would be done in the final work, there's a lot of costs to be considered. And those are not all clear right now and not on the table. So really, the recommendation here is to authorize the contract for architecture and engineering services with Scott and partners. And what this will do is get us that better cost estimate. And if that better cost estimate is incredibly unruly, we pause and we figure out what we do next. So also in this memo, there is a schedule and next steps this is really like if all goes well immediately, these are the steps that we would take. What we definitely will do is issue a RFP and retain a construction manager and then refine the plans and associated construction cost estimates. And that's the point there where we really sit with that and we think about what we do next. If all things are like a well-oiled machine, we go out to bid but the reality is probably something different than that time frame. Then also in the packet, so folks have it, are the schematic plans as they are now that helped me a number of the goals that the council has been talking about for, I think, probably at least a year now. And the cost is in here for the architecture and engineering services contract. And we do also, as you folks saw an email yesterday, we do have some legal comments on that and some details in terms of the contract language itself that if you're comfortable moving forward tonight, we can get those worked out after the fact. Carlin is up here with me, too, as the interim building coordinator, so he's here for questions. John is also here. He can talk through further with the actual proposal of his work and how this will all shake out if you'd like. And also, if you'd like, we can go through the plans. Thank you, Regina. And so just to clarify, the point of this conversation is related to whether or not we're going to contract with Scott and partners. It is not to go into a design charrette where we start figuring out which space is appropriate for which use. It's not about whether these is not approving of the plans. So none of that is at all germane to this topic. And that's not the point of today's conversation, correct? Correct. Great. With that, John, is there more that you want to? John or Harlan, sorry. Is there more that you want to elaborate on? Excuse me. No, I think Regina summed it up pretty well. The thing is, we've been working with the village and now the city for 20 plus years on this building. And we all feel like we know it pretty well, although the nooks and crannies are fairly significant in their places, including the sort of the Western section that haven't been that well documented in the past. And so we're discovering things all the time. And as we move forward, we just need to make sure that that you folks are getting what you need. Working with Harlan and Regina so far has been awesome. They've conveyed program and staff comments. And so we feel like we're headed in the right direction. But until the formal kind of direction comes from you, we're kind of going to have to slow down a little bit, actually. So we've had the consultants in. They've started to look around and see what they have to work with as well, where we feel like we do have a plan and an idea for an improvement to the entry, what is effectively the main entry off the back parking lot, which is relatively underwhelming at the moment. And we feel that without detracting from the rest of the public faces of the building, we can improve that entrance back there as well. So love to get some of the utilities cleaned up back there. It's not the best hardware to have sitting out there in front of your active front door. So those are the kind of things, as well as the feel and the unique qualities that are inside the building already that we can hold on to. And we think we have a plan that actually tries to reinforce some of the beauty of those original detailing like the arch and the entry on this side. So until we hear otherwise, we're happy with what we're doing. We think it's going to work out well. We have recommended a construction manager process to get somebody with the real construction experience to look over our shoulder and make sure that we have all the bases covered. The contracting world at the moment is extremely competitive and volatile. It's not just building materials, but it's mostly, in fact, labor and the shortage of labor that continues to plague the construction industry. So trying to figure out what we're doing and how much it's going to cost really benefits from having people that are deeply connected to that end of the process. So that's why the recommendation for that is in place. We'd love to get them on board fairly soon so that they can start to take a look at what the team is trying to pull together here and comment on the schedule and the cost. So that's what's on the table. If you have questions, I have not seen the legal review of the contract yet. It's a standard AIA contract. It's designed to fit with the other construction manager contracts and the general conditions. So it should be the three contracts involved here, really. So it's 100 pages of contract. And I'm sure the lawyers have a good time helping us with it. I'm happy to go through that with them. I don't know if you guys need to go into that kind of detail tonight. But if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer. Great. Thank you, John. Arlen, anything you want to add? The only thing I wanted to add is your team has obviously been working very closely with the consultants. Some of the things that I remember from the meetings and your request is that you wanted to keep as much character as you can. And as we get into the building, we've found that a lot of the character has already been removed. And most of it is sitting right in this area. So we've elected not to touch this area. And we've actually highlighted it. I know John is speaking that our front door is on the backside of the building facing, but in reality, with the plan, the way that it's laid out, there's a very good possibility. And I would encourage that we use our street doors as well to be open to the public as we want to be a walking and a biking community. I feel like those entrances into the public space of the building will be very highlighted and enjoyed by the public. And like I said, the majority of the character that's left in this historic building is in this general area that the public can actually view and on the outside of the building. And we are maintaining that as we continue to move forward. Thank you. Questions? Well, one piece of the character of this building that I won't see miss would be these wonderful floors. These carpets are really nice from the 1970s or whenever they came, but feel free to replace those. It's been a while. Yeah, I think, and I understand we're not going into the design, but on the other hand, I think if we weren't happy with the overall design, we wouldn't be in the mood to perhaps approve the contract. But I could, just for me, I'm thrilled with the design. I think I love the fact that you've gone upstairs and you've opened up some of that up that very unused office space upstairs. I love the fact that you're getting everyone out of the basement who's going to be storage down there. I like the idea that you finally bit the bullet and we're going to put an elevator in because it had to happen sooner or later. So I think you hit the design hit from what I can see by very amateurish take on it all. It hit all the right buttons. So I'm very happy with the design that you, even though I understand it's still in the hypothetical stage, but it looks really good. I don't know how everyone else feels. One thing I do ask though, it looks like we're 300, just in the raw ballpark estimate, we're about 300,000 off. And I'm going to guess those costs aren't going to go down. If they're going to go, the law of municipal government is always things go up, they don't go down. So I'm guessing that that will go up a little bit, but I'm wondering if you have any estimate of how far off we, and maybe you don't want to say because you don't want to be on track. Well, we put in some contingency factors, mostly to address the fact that we're so early in the process, but also to address the inconsistency in pricing that we're seeing now. It does jump around quite a bit. Lumber, wood prices are allegedly coming down, but some other things are going up and so it's really hard to get a gauge on that. I feel like that estimate is pretty good. I feel like the competitive bid process, so you got a CM who's going to help you through that, you're still bidding all the work out, but you have somebody who's managing that, working with you all the way through the design phase, so they're not way about how to keep the cost down. So we're doing what we can. I wouldn't put an estimate out there that I knew was way off, but as a designer, I'm still not the best person to answer the cost questions. If anybody's tried to get somebody to work on their house right now, it's like those guys are in what you would call crazy. The prices are crazy, and most of that, I think is really related to just the competitiveness right now. There just isn't enough labor. People aren't hungry enough, so the price go up. I was just going to say that part of the reason why we've decided that a construction manager is in our best interest, because they're tied to that industry way better than we are, and they're seeing the ebbs and flows and how it moves, and they're going to be the ones that are going to be able to give us a more of a locked in or a closer price. If things turn out to be way off, is there a natural break in the construction that you see where if we had to pay for one big chunk and then there's another piece that could be held off for a year while we rest and accumulate more money or it doesn't look maybe some of the outside work, but I'm guessing that's not a big piece of the... Most of the outside work, at least on the building, was already done. So we're pretty comfortable with the shell right now, but for example, the entry vestibule could be an alternate. It could be an add alternate. We could bid that separate. We have a number of other places that we have lots of time. I mean, the good news is we have a lot of time right now. We're just at the beginning of this process. So as we work through it and we find out that we're either okay or we're not okay, then we can make adjustments as we go and try and identify things that could be delayed or phased or something. Can I ask one other... It's a non-architectural question by you or Regina. I've been reading that in Washington, the debate over the debt ceiling limit. One of the ideas is to claw back some more. That might be one of the things that the house that the GOP might be trying to do. Now, I'm guessing that the ARPA funds have already been sent. Our ARPA funds that we say are ours are actually in, they're coming from the state. The feds gave the money to the state. The state gave the money to the municipalities. That money can't, could that money, does anyone know if that money can get clawed back to Washington? Is there a time? So I'm not gonna say no, because who knows. But the way that the municipal funding work is really, it basically went federal government straight to municipality, really. There was a role to play for the state in there, but, and it, we have it. We have it. I could see more opportunity potentially for a lot of the state programming dollars that are still being worked out through a variety of funding programs and also federal program dollars that could potentially be pulled back more easily than the municipal dollars. But that, just guessing. And when do we have to spend them? So the money has to be spent by December, 2026. You have to obligate it. So figure out what you're spending it on by December, 2024. Here. Yeah. Yeah. Just two points to George's comment. One about making use of the space upstairs, unused office space upstairs. Just want you folks to know that Harlan and I have definitely had conversations with the seniors last week and had conversations with CHIPS upstairs. And just to be clear, this is not like everybody is in love with the situation. The city needing more space is going to pinch both of those operations. And we will continue to work through that and figure out how to manage that as best as we can. We're sensitive to it. We are aware of the council's wishes to maintain and keep those relationships and those folks in the building. But just want to be clear on the record for everybody that this is not apple pie for everybody. And you also reminded me of another recommended motion in this memo, which is you did previously authorize $40,000 for masks. We're not necessarily feeling like that's necessary going forward. So if you wanted to unassign that tonight, you can not a requirement because we're not talking about spending the rest of this money anytime soon. But it's there for you if you'd like. There's one little piece I'd like to have to respond to. So you were talking about a sort of large chunk of it that we could do on a phase. And that tends to add more cost to the project itself. One of the things that we're looking at and we've been talking with John and what our game plan is. So we know that we've got until the end of 2026, which we would prefer not to go that long. But we could if we found out there were the money is completely complicated. We can pause the project and we can change the schedule a little bit if we needed to allow the city council opportunities to think about other revenue streams or financing to make up the difference. Right. If we were to do it in sections, my biggest concern is, is you move everybody out of the area, you do a large section of it, you move everybody back in and then you move a bunch of people out and it just adds to the cost of the project. So ideally, if at all possible, it's going to be changing the schedule. And there's, in my opinion, there is very few areas that we can scale back. But as John mentioned, there are a couple of areas on the aesthetics part of the building that we could change a little bit that would save us some. Thank you. Other questions? If there are no other questions, then we do have those two motions. Maybe start off with the first motion or if there are members of the public who had something to questions on this topic, starting off in the room. Not seeing any hands. I don't see any hands in Zoom. Okay, motion or? Yeah, please. Move it, City Council signed $231,419 in ARPA funds for this project, authorize the contract and authorize the city manager to execute the architect and engineering services contract with Scott and partners for an amount not to exceed $231,419 pending legal review. Also, to include, I move that the City Council, can we share with it, rather than two, several ones, City Council unassigned $40,000 in ARPA funds for MAS that was signed by the City Council on 125,2022. Thank you, Dan. I'll second both motions. Thank you, George. Any discussion? That's pending our attorney's comments being received positively. Yes. Did you feel, you don't feel it? I don't feel a need to, for us to go look at the attorneys to debate the attorney's comments. We don't plan to do that, but right. I wasn't planning on it. Okay. If there's no other comment, all in favor of the two motions, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Those opposed, say nay. Great, so that passed unanimously. Thank you all. John, thank you as always. Arlen, thank you as well. Good job. Making progress on that one. I'd like to thank our two departing Council members here for their year of good service. That come late. We'll bump into each other on the bike path, John. And so next we have Business Item 5B, a discussion consideration of IT segregation and managed service contract. Yeah, so let me get there. A lot in this packet. Those are still... My room are calling in my early days. I wrote down the PDF page numbers for myself. 83. Oh, thank you. You're welcome. I didn't want to assume. You don't want to shout it out. Excellent. So we also have some open approach folks in the room. So I don't know if one of you wants to come up and sit here at this table or like a few of you could come up. We've got some spare chairs. All right, so I will walk us through this memo and then we can introduce these folks and they're all here for questions if you have any. So essentially the city needs to... migrate off the town's IT system by July one. And I've included the RFP process to date. I think everybody's fairly familiar with that at this point, but just to keep it in the record. So at this point, we are ready to recommend that we move forward with a contract with open approach for segregation from the town's IT system as well as managed service contract for FY24. Open approach has prepared a scope of work and cost proposal for both of those two projects. And we also have a managed service agreement as well. Also you folks saw yesterday in your email the legal comments on the managed services contract. So again, if you'd like to go into executive session to review any of that tonight, we can do that. And essentially the... from the local option tax in FY23. So we are set on that side of things. I've got the put in the local option tax spreadsheet from the budget in there for you. And then the managed service contract as we put the FY24 budget together, we definitely said that the IT budget is probably the most unknown at the moment when we were putting that together. We have about 125,000 budgeted for everything that's covered within this managed service contract. And the managed service contract is closer to 166,000. Again, that will fluctuate throughout the year as folks come on and off for the licensing and different pieces of that. But it is about 40,000 shy. We anticipate that we probably will not hire all new staff immediately on July 1. And so we may have some cost savings for that. And we also don't want to continue to use the local option tax. Definitely thinking back to George's remarks at the last meeting that we really want to keep that retained for capital and for rainy day funds. But it's there if we really need it to make ends meet as the year goes by. So our recommendation at this point is to engage, is to authorize me to move forward on both of these contracts and pending legal review. But we've got that review and it's really pending working that out. Yeah. And in terms of just level of urgency with this, given phase one needing to be completed. So phase one being the migration from the town to now the city and being able to have those services be segregated and separated needing to happen by July 1. There is a high sense of urgency as every day that goes beyond this would be another day of delay. So we need to resolve this tonight. Correct. Yes. And I'll just... No pressure. Yeah. I'll just add that it as is is going to evolve a lot of off our time and we are running out of off our time. Right. Right. So urgent questions. My questions were answered in the background. Okay. I mean, I guess I'm my only question would be to come back if it looks like the legal issues can't be resolved if there's trouble, which I think would probably happen to you. Yeah. And if that's the case, I think I'd probably be asking for a special meeting so we can just figure out how to get this across quickly. Sounds good. And same as John mentioned, these folks don't have those comments yet. I wanted to give you folks an opportunity to talk about them tonight if you wanted to before I get them to them so. I think that the comments are great. I don't have any further comments on the comments so to say. Amber, see your hands up. So the only additional comment I had was I didn't see in the comments that any language regarding the indemnification and insurance that is required in the purchasing guidelines. So I just note that when as part of the pending legal review to have Claudia and just double check that that's included as well. Regina was nodding her head, yes. Not sure if you can see. Sorry, got it. It's all good. So if there are no other questions, we do have two motions. Sure. But I'm, you know, the stars of the show. All right, but I want to, but you've got all your questions. I know you, and I appreciated your question by the way, because you brought some things up that I, I appreciate it. I did appreciate it, Raj. I read all of that area. Yeah, no, I'm comfortable with that. I think Regina got the answer for me. I don't know if you, these folks want to add anything or we do forward. He did come out tonight. Is there anything? I'm sure this isn't the order. Any of your needs as they might arise, technical, administrative, possibly legal without the absence of our attorney as well. But we want to thank the city. This was a grueling process. The RFP, much like others have mentioned, it had its challenges, but we saw through them. And I think we've developed a solid proposal to get the city where it needs to be from an IT perspective. And we're very excited to get started as soon as we get the thumbs up on it. So, and we're, we're anticipating meeting your deadlines. I mean, that's our goal, right on that cusp, right? And you talk about it, but we wholeheartedly want to try and meet your deadlines. So that is our goal. Right, yeah. In terms of a technological thing, as long as our IT needs are resolved and addressed and making sure that when we come into these meeting rooms that we have Wi-Fi that help facilitate these meetings. And on the side, if there were a smart espresso machine during our meeting that we were able to have delivered to us, that's okay too. I'm kidding, don't spend the public money on that. Yeah, that's all. So there are two motions. Okay, I'll move that the city council authorize the city manager to execute the following contracts with open approach. Segregation of city and town infrastructure for an amount not to exceed $94,284 and manage services for an amount not to exceed $166,245.60 annually. And I, on the second motion, I will move that the city council authorized city manager to execute the contract with open approach for segregation of city and town infrastructure for an amount not to exceed $94,284 pending legal review. Thank you, George. You got a second? Second. Thank you, Dan. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, say nay. Great, so pass unanimously. Thank you all. Thank you. Appreciate your support. Appreciate you being here. All right. Well, oh yeah, fine, minutes. No, it's fine, you pulled them out. So going on to the minutes of first April 3rd, or is it just one comment in general for all of them? I think, I'm just trying to find my notes. Last meeting, a resident brought up the fact that while we knew who was in the meeting, spoke with her, the minutes did not reflect her name. She had joined by Zoom with her initials. So that is just trying to find a spelling of her name. So I can, one thing on that is how someone chooses to present themselves on Zoom is something that they can control. So we see for instance, Ken's iPhone, Chris, and if we may know who that person is, I would say making sure that it's not our responsibility to make sure that somebody is identifying themselves in the way that they want to be identified. If somebody participating on Zoom wants to be identified in a certain way, they should go into the setting, they should change the name so that they can be identified in the way that they want and not have it be a requirement that our minute taker know who Erna's iPad is or iPhone 2. Right, and I think it's the same method, folks that joined us tonight, hopefully signed a piece of paper by the door, and if you didn't please do. Thank you. We know who's here, so the minutes can reflect it's the same thing. So the minute taker is also not in the meeting. Right. So yeah, Raisa Maren, M-E-H-R-E-N is R-S-M in the three meeting minute notes. I can assume, but I'm not gonna make a change. The Annie's iPhone is Annie Cooper, but since I don't have that for sure, I can't make a change. And I don't know any of the others that are not to us. So in all three, I think R-S-M appears, so that's Raisa Maren. So are you asking that we change them? I'm asking that we change the R-S-M to Raisa Maren and that's M-E-H-R-E-N, I believe? I checked. I suppose if we wanna do it this one time, I'm okay with it since you're bringing it up, I would just request moving forward that it be upon the community member to change their name broadly, so that it be changed and how they want to be reflected. Agreed. So then the only other change that I would request is on the April 10th minutes, it said that I called the meeting to order and I did not do that. That was our moderator, Steve Eustis. So I would recommend that Councilor Brown be struck out and instead moderator Eustis be replaced. Any other comments on the minutes? If not, I would entertain a motion. I will move that we accept the minutes as amended. Second. Thank you both. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, say nay. Great, so pass unanimously. Now we are going to move into the fun part of tonight. Not to say that everything else that we did wasn't fun or anything else, but we have two former trustees and counselors whose institutional knowledge is going to forever be missed as somebody who had spent the last 12 years with the two of them and terrified as all can be of what we're about to lose. But that's just me. And while certainly there are a lot more things to say, one of the difficulties in also having a resolution for people like George and Dan is a simple fact that a piece of paper can't truly account for all that you two have done. It can't truly account for how personally I feel towards the two of you. And I know I'm only one person speaking for this at this moment in time, as well as just the fact that the things that the two of you have done are seriously impacting our community in a fantastic way. How many hundreds if not thousands of people can now call Essex Junction home because of the two of you? How many times we can go to places of business that we couldn't go to because of the two of you? So I just am deeply appreciative of all that you have done. And I know that I'm not alone here and that we have two other counselors who would, I'm sure like to say other things as well as maybe a couple other people in the audience. And so I'll turn it over. Amber, do you wanna go first? Sure. George, you are the reason that I'm sitting here today. You know, if it wasn't for you motivating me and literally taking me around your neighborhood to help me get signatures on a petition, I wouldn't be sitting here and I'm thankful for you doing that. Some days I'm not so much, you know that, but as I'm sitting here falling asleep, but I generally 99% of the time I'm thankful that you have encouraged me to get involved and I appreciate that. And Dan, you and I have not always seen eye to eye, but we have a great relationship and I love that. And I'm gonna miss you, but I'm sure that I'll see you around the hood as I'm running through by your house. And thank you both for all that you've done. Thank you. Thank you, Amber. I don't know why I had to go last, but I guess I'll just echo what Andrew and Amber have said. And George, I remember when I was thinking about doing this, meeting you at Firebird, or sorry, Nest, excuse me. Yep. And you're not talking me out of it. He encouraged me. Actually encouraged me. And I really appreciate that. It's been a very different ride than I thought it would have been. We spent a lot of time with Max, I believe, doing some charter work and sub-meetings and trying to merge. I learned so much from all of those hours of struggling over the charter. So, yeah, I'll just echo what everybody said. Really appreciate your support. And Dan, I just had to laugh at what Amber said. You and I both agree. But you're one of the people that I know I can disagree with passionately and then want to figure out how we can go for a bike ride together. So, look forward to you having more time and getting out on the bikes with you and seeing you outside. Thanks for everything. Thank you. And so I know that there are plenty of people here. I'm assuming somebody in the room might want to say something or even out on Zoom land. So for those of you on Zoom, if you want to raise your hand if there's anything that you'd like to say in regards to George or Dan, I saw Dottie's hand first and then from Dottie we'll be, yeah, we'll figure this out. You be comfortable. Okay, I know George best because he and I served on the trustee board of the Brownout Library. And Dan, I don't know you as well, but I appreciate. It goes back so many years of the service of these two men to the junction, whether it be a village or a city. And you are gonna be missed in the head of government but you are always gonna be here. Thank you. Thank you, Dottie. Max? Sit down. Mr. Chair. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. I do want to say congratulations to both Dan and George for the many years, I think 15 years which is quite a run to be catching javelins all that time. So, but I wanted to talk to focus kind of on George because I was chair of the select board at the time when George was president of the trustees and we started our journey pretty close to the same time. I only could hang in there for 12 years. He went the whole 15. But we rolled up our sleeves and worked together when the town and the village were close, closely working together on a bunch of projects. And it became abundantly clear to me that George was committed, hardworking, rather intelligent. And the thing I admire most is his sense of humor which even during the when we were working and things would get tough, he'd always find a way to make you laugh. And that was important to me and still is. We probably worked hundreds of hours together actually and became good friends. And even though I've been off the board for three years we're still good friends and we actually meet pretty much every week to chat. There is one moment that stands out for me and that was back a long time. It was about eight and a half years ago. It was, to be exact, it was October 20th, 2014. And that's when IBM announced that global was gonna take over. And it was a big deal obviously. And the governor at the time was Peter Shulman and he called a news conference and George and I said, let's go there. So we put our jackets and ties on and we just wanna sit and listen. But we got there and somebody told the governor that we were there and come up and say a few words. And that's really not my style. I'd like to at least prepare something. But we got up there and nobody booed, nobody cut the mics. But I do have actually a picture I wanna give to George of that day where the two of us were up there talking about the situation. We had Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott was there. The mayor of Burlington, Meryl Weinberger was there. Gap Smith, the speaker of the house and a couple of senators were there. But anyway, I wanted to give this, you can hang it or not, but I thought it kind of represented the work we did together and through thick and thin. So I do wanna thank you for your many years of service and particularly for your friendship. Max, I remember, well, and one thing you remember, about eight months before that, someone from IBM came in here and offered us if you wanna take our water treatment. Yes. We'd like to take our water treatment. And Max and I and Dennis Lutz and Pat, we all got together and say, why is IBM giving us their water treatment? What does that mean? And we didn't really want it and what would we do with it? And then that began a whole year of intrigue and mystery. It was like the mythical journey, like where are we going? And then to our horror, it finally dawned on us. That means they're leaving and what's going to happen. But I think it was just through our angst and our swept and our determination, even though I don't think we actually contributed to the decision at all. But somehow it moved some kind of a mystical force and global foundries came in at last minute. So I remember at that meeting because we were thinking we were greatly and profoundly relieved that we weren't gonna be having this gigantic hole. This huge loss. Yes. It tells me how you feel. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're coming up together because we want George and Dan to have that laugh. We had to leave early. They're cooking up now. I'm feeling very nostalgic. I mean, I'm remembering, you probably all remember, after we had some issues and worked hard to elect Dan and Lori to join George, the lone trustee at the time who was kind of on the right side. And I'm remembering backstage and the trivia and how much both relief it was and how much fun it was and how much community we built during that time and feeling really thankful to both of you, George for your, Dan for your enthusiasm. Basically, George for your enthusiasm and your historical perspective and your even-tempered approach to things that I would just do. So I just so appreciate the two of you so much and I know that we will see much of you in the future. I hope you just don't drop off the Essex Junction map because we need you, we need your perspective and Marcus and Elaine will need your assistance as they join the board. And it's a tiered thing and we need to help each other but I'm just saying I just feel very nostalgic tonight. Yeah. I was sitting around last night thinking about tonight and I mean, what a great ride. I mean, for me to come in with no history of being involved really other than the farmer's market and that one incident and to have you both there and going through it together was really incredible. And every time I walk around this community, I think about conversations that we've had. One, do we do the people first or do we do the businesses first? Do we build or do we attract? I mean, we went round and round and so many things but it was always done with pure respect. And I think the thing I wanna say to you both now is thank you because I use what I've learned from both of you through this process every day in my failure. I know that the only way to make something happen is to disagree where you need to, agree where you can and at the end of every meeting you go out and have a few laughs and you keep the friendship going and that's what makes stuff happen around here. So thank you for that. And like Bridget said, don't drop off. Thank you so much. Thank you. So we've got Tim and then Elaine online. Good, I guess go before Elaine. Those of you who don't know me, I'm Tim German. I'm the guy who kept the legislative seat warm for 12 years waiting for Lori to get there and that's really paid off also as a trustee. And I also, I have so many thoughts. Well, just being in this room, I'll save the Lincoln Hall for last but I wanna mention something. Max talked about the meeting with the governor and that jogged my memory that the governor had come up to me at that meeting in the morning and said, I don't know anything about IBM and global boundaries. What should I do? And I said, well, George and Max, they love to talk. So just, just call on them. So that's how that happened. That's how that happened. Now, for all the times you've been in an argument with Dan and you say, who's the guy that may, who was responsible for having this guy run for trustee in the first place? Bridget? Before that, it goes back to when I was on the planning commission with Elaine when, well, with Amber's father, I believe. Amber thought it, Mark Keybow was on the planning commission but this gentleman here is responsible for all that. That goes back 18 years ago. Well, I'd go home from the meeting and Dan would call me and start complaining about something and I said, when are you gonna stop complaining and run for the board? So he did. And George actually took my seat. I didn't do half the time you did. I mean, I'd be serious for a second. It just, the two of you have just been wonderful. I mean, all of you have done a fantastic job and I feel so blessed having been able to serve and then to leave both jobs that I had here in just wonderful, wonderful hands. It's amazing. George, you and I had so many conversations over the years and going back to the beginning of all the village town stuff. So it's really, I was so excited that Andrew, thank you for asking, telling me about this, asking me to come back for this occasion. And I do wanna say just in context of this whole thing, because I was on the Historical Society, still am for so long, this building and really this room in this building is the beating heart of the city of ex-exjunction. It has been for so many years. In 1942, Hadj Ruri was the village president and the building was pretty much falling apart at that time. And he wrote a story afterwards, which really touched me and he said that he was walking by the village cemetery one night and he heard a voice talking to him and it was Abram Stevens saying basically something like, Had, the building that I built is falling apart. What are you doing about it? And then he went on to say that that's what got the trustees going. And I think the first renovation was then and there's been several since then. There will be several more after this one. So I didn't say it during that discussion, but this is one of the most important things, keeping the history of this place alive. It really is right here and this building is so important to the history. So enough of that, but it's really been, I'll always feel connected here like this is my home, but you guys, the work you did was just, it's stunning to me, how many hours you put in and I think in some ways only somebody who's done it can appreciate all the work that's done. And I think it's much harder in the time of, I started before the era of social media. I mean, if people wanted to talk to you, they'd call you, you'd have a conversation. Now it's much harder because it's just you know, really quick stuff on social media, usually angry or frustrated. And that's really much harder to deal with. So thank you all for doing this and keep up the good work. And I hope to see more of you guys after. Thanks for getting us involved, yeah. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Tim. Go ahead, Elaine. Thank you, Andrew. So Dan, you and I go way back on the planning commission and we always seem to connect the most when it comes to planning and we've been on CCRPC together for so many years. I really just have enjoyed every minute that I served with you as a planning commissioner, as a village trustee. You have always been a voice of reason and common sense and often see things in black and white when all I could ever see was gray. And I know that we definitely had our moments of I remember one particular shouting match where we were angry about the library for some reason. I have no idea what it was, I don't remember. But we went out to McGillicuddy's afterwards, which is what our board did because we were respectful colleagues first and then we did the business and we had our disagreements. And I always used to say, I've said this to people many times, I always felt that the village trustees and the city council were like a bubble because I see so many other municipal boards and other towns just imploding with dysfunction and unhappiness and inability to get along. And that has never once in my memory affected the village trustees or the city council. And that's because of the two of you largely. And George, I just don't even know where to start in terms of my gratitude to you for your service to S extension. Like Amber, you are the reason I got on the village trustees and never looked back. And I'm so glad that you saw something in me that made you encourage me to run for office. And I love serving with you. And I really do wanna call attention to the whole period of time of where are we going to merge? Would we separate? Would we merge in all those years? You probably have an honorary PhD in municipal charter law and have written, what? I think you've written three or four charters at the, 10, 10, that's more accurate. So I cannot ever underestimate the, or overstate the help that you were when I was the chair of the select board and we were going through some very difficult times. And what you did to help Essex Junction when we all decided to come together and try to separate. Dan and George, both of you and everyone on the board was just astonishing in the effort, the motivation and the hard work that we all put in. And I think we would not be where we are today without you. I don't think that's a stretch at all. So we're gonna miss you so much. But I intend to keep track of both of you and follow you around for your institutional memory. And I don't want you to go away. Don't ever go away. And whenever we go to McGillicuddy's after meetings, we'll save a bar stool for both of you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Elaine. Thank you, Elaine. Hi, Greg. I stood up early. I didn't come here to say anything, but no surprise I have something to say. But I came to applaud. So that's what I was planning on doing. But two things came up that I wanted to mention. First, I would like to thank both of you and perhaps the rest of the board for fixing something that I tried to save 25 years ago when I was on the board. Because I couldn't believe we were gonna put vinyl siding on Lincoln Hall in a historic building. And we did, I tried, but I didn't succeed to keep that off. But you fixed it. And every time I'd go by here and watch those guys pointing the bricks and fixing it, I said, thank you because I couldn't get that done. So you guys get a lot of credit for that. Thank you, Dan. Thank you, George. The second thing, Max, opened up a can of worms with that. And it's interesting if five people, and I think at least five people here were in the room at the IBM Global. And it wasn't a sale. It was a transfer, as we all know, because Global got two billion for taking it, as I remember. But so Tim was in the room and... So we weren't invited, right? So they didn't think to invite the people that hosted it. So we went down. And I didn't know the part that Tim just told where he had told the governor that you guys knew what was going on. All I knew was we walked in, and I'm saying, we need to be part of this. And immediately you were drawn upstairs and found yourself in the middle of the fray, as I remember. And then you came down. The great thing for me was the room was full. It was the governor, GVIC, all of those people. It was, everybody was there, including the mayor of Burlington. And I often go, why? But yeah, but whatever. And there was a lot of press. There was more press in that room at that moment, because this was a huge deal for Vermont. And who did they want to talk to? They wanted to talk to you two. The press had questions for Shumlin, for Max, and you. Well, you had, it was... You were the best-looking guys. No, yeah. You were the people on the ground who knew what was going on, and it didn't take them long to figure that out. So thank you for doing that. I just thought that was a phenomenal moment. And I saw it a little differently because Max and George are too... What's the word I'm looking for? Modest to talk about the impact. They had that key moment in the state's history. So, good. Thank you for your service. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you, Gretchen. Governor? Yeah, I would like to speak as a resident raising my children here. And I think our first... My first meeting with George was, I was very active going to school board meetings, and then we ran into a bump in a recreation issue that was going on. And I would like what I really enjoyed about you, George, and we've been through a few bumpy roads through Merger as well, and I've been very active in a lot of those conversations. You were very even keeled through it all. I always felt like you were listening to the public. You wouldn't so much change your mind, but you were very good about finding that center ground to really move the community forward. And I really appreciated that about you, and I really want to thank you for that. Dan, if I remember correctly, I was actually going to run for trustee at the time that you did. And because I was working for the school district at that point, and I was a little concerned about conflicts of interest at that point, I had stepped away and you had stepped in shortly after that. What I really appreciate about you, George, or I'm sorry, Dan, in these small boards, I always worry about getting a board that things completely alike, and sometimes will not listen to the community as a whole. And you were a different voice, and you were a different enthusiasm for this community. And we've had many conversations. I've been very fortunate to bump into you throughout town, and we've had some great conversations about this community, and you really cared. And you were a different voice. You were the devil's advocate in some conversations. And I really appreciate that about you. So thank you for all the years that you got here. But Dan, on all the bumpy roads, you went down. Thank you. And I appreciate everything that you've done. We're a better community for it. Thank you. Thank you, Harlan. Thank you. Thank you. I wanted to say thank you to both of you, George. I met you when you were around a library trustee. And I think one of the first times I went to a meeting and I was demoing the co-host system, you had just great, thoughtful questions and they really have never ended. And I've just seen you grow into, you were the village trustee president and now you're retiring from your role. And it was, it's an arc, but you're going out, which is wonderful. And Dan, I really appreciated your perspective on the board ever since you've joined and your law enforcement perspective has been so important to keeping us safe at Brown LA and the community. And I really appreciate that. You've both have been such, you've, this community has grown so much under your guidance and it's such a good way. And you're always so thoughtful about the people that live here and they're with their monies being invested in. And it's something I've really taken to heart over the years and just listening to all of the perspectives and really coming out with that, what's the best for the community. And so I really just wanted to say thank you very much for your work and volunteering and guidance and really growing this community to what it is and will be in the future. Thank you. Thank you, Wendy. I appreciate that. Others, I know that there are a couple of voices from people who couldn't be here, one of which Pat Jaidell has a very important dinner date tonight that he cannot miss and completely understand. So he does send his regrets to both of you for not being able to be here. He's looking forward to the next Bud Light with the two of you. Okay. And wishing you both well in your next steps. Another being Jim Jutris who being a couple of states away, unable to be here. He did provide something that I'll go ahead and read. So bear with me here. Trustees to Councilmen, to citizens. This is a progression for Councilman George Tyler and Councilman Dan Caron as the new city of Essex Junction moves forward. They hand over their leadership positions in Essex Junction unique adventure. Their efforts for the community were not always what they had signed up for. Regardless, they persevered in their work with an open mind and open ears and always willing for the, always working for the greater good of the community. No matter what the topic might have been, George and Dan provided help and support in this extension policy and management process. Both have been the first to step up for tasks or assignments while stepping aside to give another trustee, council member or community member an opportunity to lead. Both are community leaders with a determination to do the right thing. This has been the key to their success. Their energy and ideas made the staff work more enjoyable. Each engaged in policy discussions with their own opinions. More importantly, they actively listened and took part in the process of working for the community and working with staff for the best outcome. There was support without micro management of the implementation. In recent years, most meetings had a full agenda, sometimes requiring much time for public input. Regardless, the board always made time for operational needs. He specifically recalls one time where there was a packed agenda and seemingly no time for additions. There were procedural requirements for the wastewater facility where time was of the essence. He was given five minutes in front of the board by the manager at the time. The board accommodated four actions in that short time with most of the motions by George and Dan. We got it done and it took a few seconds more than the allowed time because of a question for clarification. Both George and Dan have followed through in their community positions as trustee and councilman. Most importantly, they have been directly involved in the transition to a city council form of government. Would their tenure and their legacy as community bridge builders, they are leaving a challenge for those who replace them. Good on you both, George and Dan, for a job well done. I wish you the best of luck in your newfound time in the city that you both helped build. You can both move on with heads held high and with community admiration for a job well done. George, no shovel was needed. With congratulations and appreciation for your service to the Essex Junction Community, James Jutris. If there are no other comments, we have Amber, would you like to go ahead and read a resolution? Yeah, would you mind putting it up on the screen for me, Regina? Just one second. Sure. Okay. So whereas George Tyler was elected to the village of Essex Junction Board of Trustees in 2007 and whereas during that time, George held the role of president of the Essex Junction Board of Trustees from April 2010 to April 2019. And whereas since that time, George has served on numerous committees while serving as a trustee, including the Essex Junction, Essex Town, Williston Tritown Commission, the Essex Junction, Essex Town Joint Stormwater Committee, the CERC Alternative Committee, the Essex Junction, Essex Town Subcommittee on Governments and the Chittenden Solid Waste District Board of Commissioners, and whereas George will end his term as a city counselor on April 30th, 2023, concluding 16 years of dedicated service and leadership to the village slash city of Essex Junction. And whereas George helped guide the Essex Junction Board of Trustees and Essex Town select boards through a sustained governance change effort that ultimately resulted in the establishment of the city of Essex Junction as a fully independent municipal government. And whereas George helped bring the Crescent Connector Project from the planning stages through the approval process. And whereas George helped guide and support Essex Junction's assistance to the Champlain Valley Exposition to secure federal funds for the rebuilding of its Pearl Street entryway and facade. And whereas George helped acquire the Park Street School for the Essex Junction Parks and Recreation Department. And whereas George helped Essex Junction acquire an easement on NECR property between Central Street and Grove Street to create the multi-use path and whereas George helped coordinate the Design Five Corners Downtown Strategic Planning Project which was subsequently incorporated into Essex Junction's land development code. And whereas George led the trustees efforts in the $15,230,000 award winning the rehabilitation of the wastewater treatment facility. And whereas George helped establish Essex Junction's Capital Project Committee, Tree Committee, and Bike Walk Committee. And whereas George's influence on downtown redevelopment and community has welcomed hundreds of new community members and many businesses. And whereas George has welcomed and mentored public officials in being an open and a collaborative community leader. And whereas George's positive influence and impact on Essex Junction will be realized for generations now. Therefore be it resolved that the city council on behalf of the staff and citizens of the city of Essex Junction hereby extend our most sincere appreciation to George for his commitment and dedicated years of service to the residents of Essex Junction. Ooh, that was a long one. Congratulations, George. Couldn't have done just a little bit more, I don't know. I think the, I don't have any, I don't have a prepared speech. Thank goodness, right. But I think maybe the dates are of the opening. I think you were president, or 2000. It's a little early. I don't know. Well, I don't think, I don't know. At least St. Glickin figured this out. If I could just say one or two things, so I decided I didn't want to make a prepared statement, but I wanted to go into my thoughts. First of all, I feel very strongly to Elaine's comment. I think the bubble, even though it is a bubble of congeniality and fellowship, I think the bubble will continue. I'm very confident in Marcus and Elaine, and the other, the three councils I'm leaving behind. I think it's gonna, working with the staff, and I think you know this, I discovered what a tremendous group of people were assembled here. Confident people, people like Ricky Jones. I mean, everyone, everyone I've encountered, Wendy, Bradluck, everybody that I've worked with, Jim Judas, down through the years, I'm sure I'm leaving a lot of people out, but when I realized that I could get, I could help them by understanding what they did and getting in and how they serve the community and being supportive of them, how much that benefited everybody. Really helping them do their job and knowing when to back off, but also appreciating what they did for this community. Tremendous, tremendous people, and that legacy, I haven't gotten to know some of the new people as well, but my gosh, they're just tremendous, tremendous staff. Rick Hamlin in the back, tremendous people. I wanna say, all of the managers I've worked with, great people, Dave Proppard, Pat Scheidel, Evan Teach, I am leaving very, very capable hands. I've known Regina for a long time. I was so thrilled that we were able to get to steer her away from the regional, the time was right. I guess there's something probably, I guess there's a pattern here of me encouraging women to do, but for good reasons, always good reasons. But I just wanna finish one final note about the trustees and now the city council. I think the words really touch me that we can disagree and we can argue, but then we can all go out and have a drink afterwards or go out and just be friends afterwards and never really take it personal. And this will sound like I plagiarized it from a Hallmark greeting card, and I probably did, I'm thinking it's mine. But for Elaine and Marcus and for the three sitting city councilors, you are bright people, you are stars, but just keep in mind that you all shine when you, much brighter when you shine together, okay? And the other point is, if it's not fun, if it's not interesting, then it's time to hang it up and do something else. But I just can't thank you, all of you, all of the staff, all of the people I've worked with in the entire community of Essex Junction. Fundamentally, it has just been such a privilege. I'm gonna get a little teary-eyed, so I'm not gonna go there, but it really has been a privilege to be part of this community and be able to be engaged with it and involved with it in such a wonderful way. Thank you. And I'll leave these over here, I guess. Yeah, you give that. But, Jordy wanted to give you a flag of recognition for all of your ears, thank you. Thanks. I appreciate it. Yep, that's good. Nice. You're welcome. Shh. You're gonna get one. Just one, probably two. So you'll get these two, but this from Public Works. Both your t-shirt, and this just from the city. Thank you. Right here, your next few days. Okay. All right, and so next, yes. Okay. All right. All right. Whereas Dan Karen was appointed to the Village of Essex Junction Planning Commission in 2006, and whereas Dan was elected to the Village of Essex Junction Board of Trustees in 2011, and whereas during that time, Dan held the role of vice president of the Village of Essex Junction Board of Trustees from April, 2011 to March, 2016, and whereas during that time, Dan served on the Essex Junction Recreation and Parks Advisory Council, and whereas during that time, Dan served as Essex Junction's representative on the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission for 12 years, bringing Essex Junction's voice to regional transportation, land use, environmental, economic development, and emergency management planning, and whereas Dan will end his term as a city counselor on April 30th, 2023, concluding 17 years of dedicated service and leadership to the Village and City of Essex Junction, and whereas Dan helped guide the Essex Junction Board of Trustees and Essex Town Select Board through a sustained governance change effort that ultimately resulted in the establishment of the City of Essex Junction as a fully independent municipal government, and whereas Dan participated on the Essex Police Facility Committee and site selection process for the new state-of-the-art police station, and whereas Dan assisted EJRP staff at winter carnival events and other community events over the years, and whereas Dan's influence on the built environment and community has welcomed hundreds of new community members and many businesses, and whereas Dan's positive influence and impact on Essex Junction will be realized for generations. Now, therefore, be it resolved, the City Council on behalf of the staff and citizens of the City of Essex Junction, hereby extend our most sincere appreciation to Dan for his commitment and dedicated years of service to the residents of Essex Junction. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, like I said at the beginning, Tim German is as much as George mentored many people in his room and profited into the public light. Tim was the man for me who came merely back in, it was 05 or 06, 05, I think. Larry Yanda was the chair or the president of the board back then when I went to the Planning Commission and well, so many people on the Recadvisory Council and Bridget and many others and just moving the process, well, they say it takes a village to raise rent, well, it takes, you know, a village, we've got a great city, I compare a lot. I'm a native of Monterey, grew up in Monterey and many times I cite my past and things in Monterey. I'm still hopeful we're gonna have an indoor rec facility someday. Comparable to what I had in Monterey or better and but it's such a great community. I mean, coming up here when I was a kid in high school, competing at that's a high school in sports and football and track and field. I mean, I enjoyed this community and then trolling this area as a state group for a little over 26 years and raising my daughter here. It's just, it is spectacular, it's special. There are many communities in Vermont but very few that compared to this extension not really for what it offers, you know, it just has a character, the walkability and Loria always was big on walkability and that Monterey has that as well. There are very few communities. It's just been chitting and counting. I see it in the regional planning commission. We all know it. Williston, there's so many communities around us that seek to have what we have. You look at Williston, look at Colchester, look at South Brunnen, they're trying to build a downtown, I've said this years ago. A downtown, my brother, younger brother moves out and eat and prayer in Minnesota, suburb of Minneapolis. They put in a new downtown area there. What doesn't have the same character that we have here? This is such a beautiful community. I mean, the history and the eclectic, you know, structure, everything, it's a mix of everything and that, that's something that evolved. You can't build that in a day when we have it and it's such a precious thing and to have everybody in here, everyone contributes. It's not one person, as George said, you shine brighter together. We as a community shine better together because we're all focused on making this the best community for everyone here and the new people that come here. So thank you, thank you very much. All right. Can I say one more thing? No, you're done. No, you're done. There's one person in this room that I would never have dreamed of and I, in my nervousness, I left her out at Susan McNamara Hill. My God. And I don't, I remember 2013 is the year you and Lauren became the managers. That was a wonderful year. We all learned something about municipal government. And the other thing about Susan, when it came time, when we were consolidating, you took that on, I mean, you just took that on and took it over and everyone in the town immediately loved you. It was fantastic what you did. So I really appreciated everything you've done. Thank you so much. Unfortunately, we have a couple of last things to do. Dan, George, thank you both again. Thank you. So we have a consent agenda. Good question. Are we meeting about the emergency management plan after this, you know? Nope. I'm hoping to approve the consent agenda. Thank you. I had a couple of questions about it, but maybe we can connect them. I don't think they're gonna require approval. I think it's just names. Okay. So, all right. Good. Second. Any discussion? All in favor of saying goodbye by saying aye. Aye. Aye. I'll oppose nay. Any other counselor or manager comments? Well, I spoke to Elaine already about this, but the regional planning commission, I'm the member representing our community. Elaine has been the alternate and I believe she's willing to step up and take the member role and I will move into the position of the alternate regional planning commission. Okay. I appreciate that. We'll see. We'll see. I was gonna say. Yeah. That's been approved of yet. Yeah. We shall see. So then before we head on out, this was not on the agenda. I just have one final motion. I would go ahead and make the motion that the city council recognize George Tyler and Dan Cairn as honorary council president and vice president for the rest of this meeting. Any further discussion? What does that mean? It means you're gonna see us out of this meeting. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, too bad. George, Dan, it's your meeting. Well, I would like to hear a motion. I'd like to entertain a motion with that we adjourn. I won't be adjourned. I have questions. Second. Any further discussion? Amber, come on. Say something. No? All in favor? Aye. We're adjourned. Thank you. Recording stopped.