 made the purpose of providing professional legal services to select board would clearly place the town at the substantial disadvantage and further move that we enter executive session to discuss confidential attorney client communications made for the purpose of providing professional legal services to the select board under title one sections three one three a one f of the Vermont statutes and invite town attorney David brew public works director Bruce for and town manager Eric Wells to join Move to approve the settlement agreement with Burlington beer company and Move to approve the minutes of June 20th 2023 with the necessary corrections Yes, yeah, no it was my my comment was more that if we are going to make large capital purchases that we would need to consider timing if we're going to in order to use our performance. Yeah. Who was the approval of the minutes of June 28th 2023 with any necessary corrections Considering Prepare to quick remark before we get started as well. Good evening members Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to address you today. I'm Joe Lemna CEO and founder of Brolin to your company First and foremost, I want to reaffirm Brolin to your company's unwavering commitment to minimizing our impact on the shared sword system We are cognizant of our responsibility as local community members and strive to exceed the standards that uphold the health of our city and its environment Our company's success hinges on more than just the quality of our beers But also the relationships we maintain within our community We employ 80 individuals each of whom along with their families rely on both your company's ongoing success We fully understand and embrace the fact this success is intertwining with our ability to be good neighbors and responsible partners for the town of Williston I aim to create a legacy business to work with my children when they grow up and ideally pass it down to them I've been working with a team of engineers consultants and lawyers the last 16 months to craft comprehensive plan to reduce B because footprint in the area Installing our upcoming upcoming pre-treatment system will be a significant step in our ongoing efforts to sustain and protect our local environment Brolin to your company has experienced rapid growth over the past nine years and throughout this journey We remain steadfast in our commitment to do things the right way including fostering a positive company culture offering competitive wages and benefits for our staff and Minimizing our environmental impact to the best of our abilities We deeply value our relationship with the town of Wilson are grateful for your ongoing support and cooperation that we work together on this critical project In closing, thank you times evening and your ongoing collaboration prone to be a company I'm eager to continue our partnership and ensure we remain a value and responsible member of the Wilson community My name is Chip Crocker. I'm from Champion Associates. We're the suppliers for the pre-treatment system As well as we started we're asking the science for one of your company on their discharge So the product we bring forward is called Andrew's and your system I'm here to answer any type of type of questions So it's System So this is a proven technologist and used for multiple decades. And so this is just a newer sort of version of that It's more compact. So what it will do is is this will take and reduce the what's called vod Which is biological oxygen demand. So the current problem that the town of Wilson in Essex The treatment plant is facing is the fact that the strength of the waste coming through is too high in vod So coming through there The vod just shocks the system and it's too much for the plant to treat at once So this will cause through aeration as well as filtration It will cause a microbiological reaction and where microbes will eat and take away the vod as well as the soluble solids And reduce it to residential or even lower than residential rate So you have much cleaner water on the outlet and you just have activated sludge left behind So what will happen is there is going to be multiple tanks in sequence and then from those tanks will go into the reactor The reactor will do its work and filter out as well as clean out that material and it will go to a sludge holding tank The clean water will go to a pump station That's pretty much the synopsis without going a little deeper in the science And the organic material from the sludge holding tank will be brought off site to a digester will it be turned into power Bruce because he's here that our engineers have been through this and we're comfortable. This is the right technology as far as our expertise goes Bruce has reviewed it The thinking about timelines and so forth and in the the grant proposal You know it says that you know this should be up and functioning by early 2024 You don't foresee I mean with so many things right now There's been parts delays and manufacturing delays and things like that, but you don't foresee any delays with that No, ma'am. It looks so right now in a room has been very steady in their lead times for us to get materials so I Have no reason to believe at this time that it would be delayed The biggest thing for us is going to be if the grant is approved It'll be approved late September and then making sure final design is approved quickly so that we can get the ordering process underway Burlington beer company owns enough property to host the multiple tanks for this system Yes, we've worked with our landlord to design a System that the tanks will go in the front parking lot and the MBR filter will go inside the building Move to authorize the town manager to submit a pretreatment grant application to the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation To fund a wastewater pretreatment project at Burlington beer company I Next on our agenda Tim's playing a joint over zoom, I don't see him on Is Welcome and thank you if you could each give a little blurb about yourselves Dennis Francis I have been living in the town for the study for about eight years and eight months. I Are originally from the Caribbean island of Trinidad But I have been living here in the United States for quite a long time. I have been a naturalized since 1994 I just want to give a little Say a little bit about my background I used to live in Maryland where I attended the University of Baltimore and had a my undercard degree in finance and Then I moved I went to the University of Maryland University College where I got a master's degree in finance also and I used to work for the Housing Department there. I worked there for about seven years Then I came to Vermont and when I came here I Was employed by carpet creamer As a cost in a content And I worked there for 13 years and No, I am retired But before I retired I wanted to sort of change my My career. I wanted to get more involved with people so I went and obtained a master's degree in psychology from the University of the Rockies in Colorado Springs and Looking around I saw that I Saw in the observer There was a vacant there were vacancies for people who were interested in the racial equity partnership. So I did submit a an application and Christopher Lee had Called me had an interview with me and I have been with a racial equity Partnership since the inception from the racial equity Partnership I jumped over also to the CJC as a volunteer which has been Maybe for about two years, so maybe less So This this is where I am presently and I like working with people and one of the things I observe or what one of the things I read in the the the CJC bylaws is that the Executive board should consist of people Who sort of Reflect or that the need a diversity board That reflects the people who deserve I I think that I I bring a certain unique diversity being an immigrant And also being a person of color, so you know, that's one of the reason why I also work in the town of willistan as a census during the other census enumerator so I get to know something about the town of willistan and You know here I am today, you know offering my service Continue to offer my service to the town so That's all I want to say for now Thank you Dennis My name is Rob Moholic. I Came to Vermont in 1977 for the weekend and I never left And Actually, I lived over on Mountain View Road Right in the Martell farm in the little ranch house there, which now is encompassed by golf courses and houses and things For the beginning of my career. I was a journalist for about 10 years at WPTZ Covering mostly Vermont we were at that time we were building out, you know That the Platsburg Burlington Marketplace and I got to learn a lot about Vermont Then I actually flipped over to private business working with Ben and Jerry's for about 10 years And then I went back and worked with Vermont Public Television for The period of about six and then I went back to Ben and Jerry's I just kind of did the pendulum back and forth between me and Ben and Jerry's But when I went back to Ben and Jerry's I was actually Able to at that time in my career become the social mission director So I directed the social mission of the company for about 14 years And and during that time a lot of the work that we did was on social Economic and climate justice And that got me moving towards towards this work When George Floyd was murdered a group of us In the b-corp community Ben and Jerry's is a certified b-corp and corporation and We all got together on zoom on June 2nd that followed the George Floyd murder and we said We realized that all of us were white men who had positions of privilege and power and we wanted to Confront what that meant We all agreed that white men have been writing the rules in this country for centuries and for much of that time Those rules favored white men So we said what are we going to do about it? And so from that time on June 2nd 2020 we created a curriculum to understand the history of structural racism and white supremacy and that's actually branched out into How it's affected native peoples in this country as well So I've been driven and we that that group has is now a 501c3 So I'm a founding member of that group and a director of that group national group And one of the things that we wanted to do was to learn first and then take action second to really understand What was happening so we didn't cause more harm than good In the group we started to ask ourselves, okay This is a national focus that we have but what are we doing in our local communities and I've been resident of Williston for most of my life in Vermont and I said, you know, I don't really even know what's going on in Williston I was quite ashamed of that fact. So I started looking around to see what was going on I found the racial equity partnership and Got involved and engaged with that and and I at that time asked crystal Lee I said what more can I be doing and she introduced me to the CJC and restorative justice panels and so I did the training and got involved with that and realized as as a seat came open on the board that This is the work that that I've been kind of preparing my entire life to do and so I was Really happy to be asked to put my name forward to be on the board I'm retired. I've given up some other things to create the time and space that I know I need for this work I know it's Many more hours than are described if you're going to really put you know lean in and I'm all about leaning in so That's me Thank you both for taking the time to come down here this evening and speaking with us You know appreciate it You know you both are active members of the the CJC and And their selected partnership And I know that crystal Lee would not have have recommended you for these positions If you were not in good standing so yeah, I don't have any questions I think both of them come to us well-verred by Police and by crystal Lee and come with excellent credentials. I remember mr. Mahalek from his broadcasting days No, no real questions Yeah He was a great guy Okay, so If there are no questions Move to a point Rob Mahalek to the Community Justice Center Executive Board Is there a second second for the discussion on the motion all those in favor say aye Is there another move move to a point Dennis Francis to the Community Justice Center Executive Board is there a second second further discussion on the motion All those in favor say aye Congratulations, thank you very much Thank you very much. Thank you Thank you for being part of the town I don't see him online either so Well, maybe it's something to come up to see what's been going on in the last 24 We can I'll see if he comes on later. Okay Okay, so moving on to the next agenda So I can I can queue it up for the board Come on up. We get some folks on the horizon here as well So or man may remember a few years ago the town was approached by Verizon wireless to locate equipment in the Repeater across the street here Proposal before the board You'll see includes the destruction in addition to the back of the church to house the equipment for the repeater the use of the building Verizon with the enter into a lease agreement in town in the city Rise of the head of fronting and construction cost for the addition and the installation of the equipment We have the old brick church trustees review the proposal first the original one a few years ago And then this updated proposal earlier this year. The trustees are in support of moving forward and the chair They'd like to be engaged in reviewing a lease agreement if we get to that point and construction documents We have Andrew from SAI communications. He's managing the project on behalf of Verizon So the next step in this process would be for Verizon pursue local estate permitting approval for the project and the town review and Consider entering into a lease agreement for the space. So we brought forward to the board tonight I'm seeking direction whether the select boards in support of this concept being proposed And if so the work would commence on the next steps with the permitting and design And then we'd also look at the lease agreement with that as well should we get Place here, you know, there's there's no Pressure tonight to make a final decision board has questions for me to follow up on or for Verizon's folks here Thank you very much. That was an excellent introduction and didn't leave me with much further introduction Other than Louis Hodgett with Du Bois and King engineer for the project And I think with that introduction If Louis has anything further he wants to add And then we can field questions that there may be for the project. I don't have anything I'll pull up the document you gave me with just the schematics to on the screen here So I know nothing technically about this subject is there This is right next to a major school. Is there any reason I should be concerned about this kind of technology being within 100 feet of the school The site has to comply with FCC guidelines and will be well within those guidelines So no radiation no explosion and nothing. That's could be anything that would be Particularly egregious when you have 650 kids within a few hundred yards No, it's a it's a typical cell site installation and not unlike many that we have throughout the area throughout Williston Burlington South Burlington throughout the state consists of a number of panel antennas that would be situated within the Steeple and then there will be Cableing that then connects that to equipment in an equipment space So it would be similar to many Rooftop installations that you'd see like if you saw some of our installations say UVM Or another other buildings nearby so the building obviously is historical building as you know Part of our center of our town So just no concerns about like anything structurally for the building this won't impact You know the Building in any way like visually we're not going to see it from the road or integrity of the building We're anticipating that will be required to provide thorough Engineering documents which are stamped and we're anticipating probably that that will need to engage in architect for the visual components, I think Louie you've already Look at possible Architects to assist with a project So the the Steeple on that church Was hit by lightning several years ago and fully replaced and rebuilt So structurally we think it is fully capable of supporting the antennas that we are proposing there We would we may have to replace the louvers within RF transparent louver to match so it'd be a very similar Visual louver But it allows the RF signals from the antenna to pass through it unobstructed And then the proposed equipment shed in the rear of the building is an addition on the newer portion of the building Not really visible from the road at all And it will be visible from the library side in the back of the school and over to the park But again, we want to blend that architecturally and with the the rest of that addition In terms of the necessity for this repeater and the self-multiply For you or for you all but why What's in what's the importance of this having this here? This will Be a substantial benefit to Verizon wireless's network We just barely received them today, but propagation plots That I'll be able to Send to you, but literally it was like five o'clock that we we got them We can show the the hole in coverage and when I was sitting here just trying to use my phone. I noticed that Clear deficiency, so there's a clear need through the Population base here to get a sell in this area So you're not you didn't choose this location because of the engineering fact that lightning never strikes No, I mean in an ideal world I It would not be my first preference to choose a historical building That has obvious sensitivity to it from many perspectives It would be much easier to Go say on a farm silo or on some other less potentially sensitive piece of infrastructure, but the fact of the matter is There are quite a few people surrounding this area that are using their devices for whatever their needs may be and Verizon's network They would like to support those uses and the site would do that very well My recollection from one of our was five or six years ago when this was first proposed that the part of it of the And the select board was in favor of it at that time part of the reasons were for the reception and the use of cellphones on it at that time there was a projected price per year that We were the talent we received is that still in effect or is our way that negotiable at this point? Yeah, the proposed price is $24,000 per year the least the first least agreement we've seen certainly if we We move forward, you know, we probably take under advisements with counsel and if there was any negotiation But I guess that's what Verizon presented at this point At that time the proposal was to use the interior of the the addition to the brick church for There's a room upstairs where the heating source is to at that time. There was no talk about a An outside building and I see that at this time I'm less than thrilled with the design that's shown on the on the paper for Looks like a shed to me so It's part of the proposal to look at redesigning that Yeah, unfortunately Since the last time that this project was reviewed The equipment needs Or a little bit less than what they are Today, so unfortunately the space that was previously contemplated isn't isn't Able to be used or contemplated given what the equipment space needs are today So unfortunately that necessitated changing to the exterior building I recognize it would probably be an easier sell and easier to get through if we were not Proposing to place that exterior new building and as far as the aesthetics of that addition that was The plans that you have in front of you is a concept plan We are in negotiations with an architect that we're working with to Boost the aesthetic appeal of that So we do recognize that it's a sensitive building and we want to build something that works for everyone Thank you Any other questions or comments has the historic and architectural advisory committee How to say on this They haven't seen it yet because there hasn't been an application submitted. We have the old brick church trustees review it For the concept of this installation and they and they've always their support after a couple of discussions Certainly if we were to move forward with local town permitting, we'd have we'd have that committee would be ones that would review the permit application So there is no proposed motion Staff is seeking directions What is what are the thoughts of the board? I think there's a lot of rising users be very happy if we get this in And I think there'll be people who are very concerned about the What happens to the church? So but I'd be okay with going to the next step to see what it would look like Something we need to go forward with it Something we need okay So it sounds like consensus is that we should proceed to the next step of the project development process Everything you need right right now. That's what we need pretty much to Go back to Verizon and say yes, you're not wasting your your money or or time you To do a little bit more I do diligence and I think I thank you for your time and and that's what we needed So that we can do that Thank you Next on the agenda. We're a little ahead of schedule the town value visualization discussion Crystal II It's just down here than the last time you were here Really bad cold if I remember So thank you for having us here again this evening to talk about these really important Pieces of our community we certainly the the racial equity partnership in the CJC has been Truly involved as as much as I think we possibly can be and looking at the issues of diversity equity inclusion belonging and anti-racism and Over the course of the past year We've been doing a lot of work and listening to people in the community Meeting as the partnership and then meeting within the CJC to talk about how can we elevate and visualize the town values that were adopted back in October and we came up with some suggestions Part of those suggestions came from within the partnership and the CJC But a lot of the recommendations came from Comments that people have shared both with myself and the partnership as well as from various meetings that we've been Invited to attend and just wanted to share these ideas that I shared in the document with you But also to talk about the potential of a process to engage Citizens further and through the work that I have done over the past year with Cornell And really thinking about how can we take those best action? Steps and kind of meld that with the restorative work that we do in the community I would love to to just kind of present the idea of doing a few listening circles within the community to share These recommendations but also to glean a deeper what people's thoughts are around We now have the town values So I'd love to hear deeper thoughts from people in the community about what they would like to see And so I would love for us to to hold a series of listening circles where we could invite community members To to a conversation led by members of the CJC and the racial equity partnership And then after a series of those listening circles put together a comprehensive report for all of you with the Recommendations of what kind of work at the top of those those those listening circles Within that that framework. I also feel that we we have an obligation to to letting the greater community not only know but see and Continually have our town values recognized and spoken and so within this document were some ideas that we We came up with for making sure that we just don't have the town values and that they're just not listed But that we are actually Speaking them and doing all that we can within our town to live in and breathe them So that's open to questions that you might have from the document Questions So you've done this more or less internally with the with the committees that you Currently deal with how do we how do we get public? Awareness and participation in the process, right? And so that's so a lot of this information came over the last bunch of months from people reaching out to us But the idea of how do we engage greater community participation would be through the listening circles So I think putting that out on the town website and Reckon, you know Putting that when those dates are also we can highlight those on the CJC put them in the observer put it on social media And also make it available so that we have morning meetings afternoon meetings evening meetings virtual meetings And also thinking about how we reach out to the people in the community who typically might not show up to those particular places and having the support of our CJC volunteers and our racial equity partners I'm going out and actually doing outreach to see how many people we can either interview Independently or who might be interested in coming to one of those meetings And I recently just did a listening circle with our CJC for the town of Richmond. That was really Successful and was able to provide a comprehensive reports about a very serious issue for the town back to their select board And we had quite a quite a big turn out of of community support So I think they're they're really useful and it does follow best practice in terms of how to Engage members of the community and especially members of the community who might not be so forthcoming to a public meeting One of the things we in doing the community center scoping study discovered to is the is how Very very much our youth really want to be involved in our town processes and how Valuable their input and their opinions are so I would strongly encourage you to to really spend time to get them involved in these listening circles because they have a lot to say and Obviously, you know, they're going to lead a lot of this moving forward So right and I agree with you Greta and we I think all of you know that we have a youth board And so our youth members would be really instrumental in helping to make that happen as well so I would I would ask that for your support in those listening circles and to have those happen over the next couple of months and Have that comprehensive report do back to you by the end of September one of the Problems I've seen on this board and the other boards that have been on is is public participation and what I've Would have come to think is that a lot of times the people who are in the room are very passionate and be a man because they showed Up on a Tuesday 8 o'clock night for a meeting, but that may or may not reflect how everybody else in town and With something like this. I mean I I think you and I have spoken in the past shared with you that You know, I am as mr. Mahal like is I am a white man I guess everybody already knew that but I I am uncomfortable in dealing with these things as well And so I'm wondering how do we get uncomfortable people? To these meetings and make them feel comfortable enough to share things Is is there a way Where you reach out and get? That kind of participation Yeah, I mean it's a great question And I think that's something that most communities are struggling with and I think listening circles provide an opportunity Right it provides an opportunity for people to come and show their support But also on the flip side of that you can provide a listening circle for people who are not in support So you do get kind of that equal balance and I think that without having that that process for both sides It really isn't a fair process And so I think just knowing who do we have in the community who can reach out to some of those groups? And again, I think it's about not working within the communities and working with our other partners And in the other towns to learn from from each other And so we we have talked with other other partnerships to find out what they've been doing and they're facing the Really the same struggle and so I think without you know going door to door right and asking people to participate I think just doing doing the best we can hanging fliers around we did that with the the initial You know ask and we we got a lot of feedback That was really really important But I think that we've done a great deal of work out in the community and people who are in opposition Have really contacted us And I think that they do feel like we are a place that they could be heard and that we do reflect You know what their thoughts are even if we might not be in agreement But that we also need to learn from people who are not In the same, you know kind of believe systems as we are because they can be our greatest teachers And so I think with you know with all of the work that we've we've done and that we've learned and continued to do and Following the model of citizen engagement I think it's the best way to to glean and to present back to the community and again We can't force people to participate But I think putting out as much effort as we can in making sure that we have the virtual option the morning the Afternoon in the evening options and then making sure we reach, you know some of those populations of people We have you know a team that goes out and meets with you know The people who are unhoused and the people who are transient also, you know include their voices We've got relationships with lots of different organizations in the town that that we've reached out to working I think really importantly to with with NAMI and to reach out to people who again might not Feel as welcomed in certain areas of our community and then reaching out and working with our other partners who are doing the work and Seeing where we land And I think that if we give enough time and notice and visualization to to the ask That report back at the end of September I think will be as comprehensive as we can we can have it be based on who's participating Thank you I wonder if there's more a parallel path though because Wilson can't be so unique that we have to go and ask these questions See every community in this country has been asking these questions for three years now Is there is there a parallel path of just seeing like there must be really obvious? I saw you have an equity audit in here There are the school district did that they brought in somebody who had a lot of expertise to look at policies and look at our Practices and interviewed a lot of people and could sort of fast-track that I Think time's a wasting, you know, I hate to do one more study and I do I do value getting the Input from people from people who live willest and that's really important. I'm not trying to undervalue that but The work that Eric and Greta did we know we have policy work that needs to be done We know we have other things need to be done. I Think I would I would value Like diving into some of that, you know just like Challenge the board like what should we have done already? We've had six months, you know, what we have? What have we done in six months and And I would think you know Rob's expertise. He's lived this before too. So it's got me things we can start actually Making change instead of studying this more. Yeah, I agree. I think you know and in this document There are things that we have suggested that we do but again when we think about what the initial ask was When you know, when we put the flag up as an example, right? And then we needed to read this Revisit. Yeah, how do we revisit that and bring in maybe what people have learned over the last bunch of months since it's been What have people felt what have you know have people? Really accepted that right is that now something that we can keep up? Or is that something that we need to think about like where does that that now go in our in our community so that we Still keep that visualization, right? We as a as a partnership. We've even questioned right like From our learning. What's the what's the best message so that it is truly inclusive, right? And so starting to kind of think about those conversations and so I don't think that it's it's a it's a quick fix I think that if we if we act quickly, we're going to miss Critical pieces and so I think there are you know, there are those suggestions in here that I think we all are hoping that all of you Will will become partners and help us do But I think that as far as the visualization of the town values I really think that we do need to to hear more from from the community around how we visualize those values now that we have Officially had them adopted. It was sort of my where I was first going to start like I don't with us the the task of Visualizing is that like literally because you have things like make plaques, you know That's literally visualizing or is it a broader sense of visualization? Like what does it look like in Williston? So I wasn't quite sure what even the ask was that you were tasked with doing here So it sounds like it's a little of everything. It is. Yeah, right because when when when we first came before the select board It was really about how how do we get the message out? Right, how do we visualize our commitments then our commitments became values now? How do we how do we actually visualize them so people see them, right? And they're reflected in and something that that's physical but then from there How do we then put those into into actions? That was and so I think that it is a tiered process that we need to take and I think that in order to do that We need to keep citizens engaged as much as we can and and I think this is a process that we we can do We're not asking for a lot of time to do that But I think that it's fair and then we come back and say here's what what we've leaned from the community You already have our recommendations in front of you then we can make the proposal for the next actions And you all can participate in those forums as well So so I mean and I'm really serious about that because These processes it's not like we're gonna do it. It's done. It's an ongoing dynamic because you can easily see Oh, let's put a flag up with each of the values down the street and we're done Well, you're not so that but that's a step forward So I think that's what Chris Lee saying is is that how do we engage the community to begin to define where we're going? Not define what we're going because it's just the beginning of a process Does that make sense? I it does I also I do I do understand the value of symbols like flags and things, but you know, I just look back on I Was an engineer in the early 80s a woman engineer in the early 80s and not taken seriously Referred to people want to get my attention senior engineers would say hey legs come over here so I know what it's like to be belittled and Flags don't help You know action helps and leadership action helps and so it's Things things need to change in this country and we're taking a long time to do it. Yeah We need to act faster and I agree and I think I think obviously Visualization of these is an act of reminder to our community that these are the things we're all working towards that These are the values that we uphold as a town and that and that when you walk into these spaces, these are the Things that you as an individual participating are expected to you know, just in the ways which are expected to participate and the values that you know, you will see represented from our committees and and you know the select board and within the town Governance The timeline piece comes in. I actually was gonna say I think September's too soon. It is pretty soon Yeah Yeah, to do to really get these listening circles just because you know, we're here in July and It's summer and blur away and you know to really get participation You know even just give that extra September month to get the feedback when people are more out of the summer mode And the swing of things because I really do feel it's that important to get, you know true engagement from our Community and as many members and as broad representation of our community members And I think that there's you know, there are things in this document that are action steps Right that we've put in as as our recommendation Certainly, you know tonight. We'll be talking about the land acknowledgement as you know when we're finished this I think working with our various town boards and commissions. I think it's really important to continue with education We certainly have put forward our requests for for that I think that it's it's essential that we do that and we did that was the year year and a half ago now and I've been advocating for those to continue. So I think that that's something again that We need support and making sure that town employees are continually educated that we provide those educational opportunities Within the community and so if we if you look on on the back of the document, right? There's there's pieces around a quarterly education event that can be sponsored by the CJC in Conjunction with working with the library having guest speakers and community discussions and dialogues Those are all things that the CJC and the racial equity partnership are ready to do and to organize We just need your support to say yes go ahead and do that. So that's an action step I think again the calendar of events that's something we're willing to take on but would need your support to say yes Go ahead create a calendar that can be shared out in the community that strategic plan Right, that's it. That's an ask as well Right, is that something that we as the racial equity partnership along with the CJC can work on developing to come and present? We don't know if that's something that you all want us to do or how how to do that in the best way of that work Right, we we're ready to do it. We've got people who are who are begging to do the work So that that's an ask Quarterly education for the town. That's an ask and then you know the artist in residency Utilize the flag voice those are more of those visual Representations, but there are five asks on this document that that can go into action step pretty quickly There's probably a few things on the list that would be flash points for people in the community But and this is a huge huge job. I sort of Go back to the old saying that how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time? And we've done several bites over the course of the several years and making some progress So a few more bites. I think makes sense So there's no formal action tonight, but What would be helpful from us now? I think what would be helpful Is to to get your support in doing doing the listening circles certainly can stretch that timeline out And reaching out to our partners and making sure that they can participate those partners would include the diversity equity inclusion director for the school district our Our leader our leadership within our religious and faith-based communities Reaching out to our other partners that are part of the CJC and our other racial equity partners Getting your support to do that. I think would be critical support for the continued education for town employees and Making sure that all of you are willing to participate in that education. I think is critical We also would would really love for all of you to attend one of our racial equity partnership meetings to really get to know The people who are who are doing the work It's something that we feel is really really important and then I would say the other You know peace is getting your support around us putting out a calendar of events that could go on to the town website and and share out publicly Certain things that are happening in the community around those community discussions around you know, other listening circles the CJC certainly has many of them and And then getting your support to build out a strategic plan. I think that's what we're hoping to get from all of you tonight That's a lot of bites of elegance One thing I might offer for the board to consider to you know, there's certainly a lot here And you know great great work by our team at the CJC and then the equity partnership and thinking about you know, we talked about creating a strategic planning documents kind of a Road map to help us on on where we're getting started where we're going There's a lot of Paul's potential policy discussion Here as well. It might be something the board to consider with your retreat coming We simply do a board retreat in the fall You know, maybe devoting some more time just to helping kind of think through what that Process might look like and what that overall vision may be is that that will help us up a staff level from a policy formation direction and from a you know, just a supporting the governance model also for our staff and for our boards and commissions as well Something to think just with a larger discussion as well You know, I certainly support I personally and I talk a lot. I certainly certainly support everything she's presenting to the board It's just working through those steps to implement it and making sure we have the good resources in place to do that And to do a good job and make sure it's done I was gonna save this for our wrap-up, you know the agenda items thing at the end but Since we're talking about it anyway, and I'm glad that there's a retreat we can do this at but I Mean I kind of was uncomfortable with just reading the value out loud to each other before every before every meeting But what would be powerful is having a work plan for the year of things that the select board is gonna go through a combination of Education for us, you know action items for us, you know Just like have that laid out for the year so that we don't let these important things slide So that to me that would be more of a reminder of making sure that we're Taking these issues seriously It's a better reminder for me to actually have something on my work plan every time than to or every or maybe every other time I forgot we meet twice a month, but you know, I suppose just kind of Reading something and moving on so this can be gonna be my comment at the end But I'm good to talk about at the at our retreat. That's how we do that. I Support I support it all. I think I think you know recently. We've had a lot of other Conversations around housing and around You know our times energy goals and energy plan and obviously we know That this is all interconnected with diversity equity and inclusion practices and and the kind of systemic injustices that have have occurred or you know, and so I Think as we've seen with the town energy goals in the town energy plan as we've seen with our housing The same is true here. There is we can't focus on one thing and one thing alone. This has been ongoing for for too long to take one approach at a time and so I Appreciate that there is this is a multifaceted approach and that there are lots of different components to this because we need to move forward and as Gene said and you know quicker this is long overdue, so Thank you very much for all your work and for all of your willingness to To act and to participate and and to help move our hand forward We have your blessing to keep plugging away and move things forward that's that's what we were hoping for tonight And certainly we'll put information together for the listening circle and get that information out And get those things As soon as possible and have them go We'll take your suggestion Greta at least through the end of September. Maybe maybe October And as you said, you know, as you said September, I was like, oh, well, that's like the start of school But I think at least you know making sure that people can see that that we're having them And I think also making sure that we continue to have those on Ongoing I think we'll also build connections build relationship And as you're saying keep it as an actionable step as we continue to grow I mean, we're certainly looking for more people to to join the partnership And the CJC as you're saying Greta write the issues of housing Eric knows the CJC is embedded in that I was out yesterday helping people move from from dangerous locations to safer places We've got people who are helping people on the daily With finding housing and we've got Dennis now who's with us with some housing expertise I'm so I think that you know what we've got We've got a lot of talent and we're looking for additional talent to join with us great Okay, so thank you and as we as we look at this this document Pat Brown who is both a member of the Williston racial equity partnership as well as the CJC I will speak about the land acknowledgement as part of this as well. Okay, great. So Sounds like a good segue So let's go to the next agenda. I am the land acknowledgement Pat is actually going to Give a short overview if that would help yeah So I believe we had a request come our way from the select board in the fall of 2022 to say hmm How about a land acknowledgement? So we took that to task as part of the racial equity partnership And we did typically what you would do, you know, you pull together a group of people and you say so Let's take a look at what this even means. What's a land acknowledgement? You know did a web search Began to draft things got some feedback back and forth from each other We looked at a variety of I'll call it sort of frameworks and looking at Acknowledgement statements where they begin to say yeah before you start you need to reflect You need to do your homework You need to think about appropriate language like what language are you going to put in here? And how does it resonate with the town and also with the local people who were here who were trying to acknowledge and And take all those into considerations, you know the location your intention the history sort of the present-day reality And actually asking yourself. So what kind of actions might come from that? So that was sort of the framework we took as we sort of went in We looked at a variety of Acknowledgement statements and also there's you know, I don't know if we would ever live without Google in the internet There's so much information out there. So Trying to parse that down and there's some there's some there was a site I particularly looked at it was called native gov.org though truly had a whole collection of information Maybe looked at a bunch of other sites related to communities. We looked at Mount Piliar We looked at some institutions Middlebury College and UVM One of the ones that kept popping up was the one from the Audubon Organization on a national level So we took all of that together and Drafted a statement we I've got a friend of mine who is active in the abnaki the missus boy Abnaki group and I connected with her to find out. So we're doing this over here We don't want to do it in isolation We want to figure out a way to have some communication with folks We will who were part of the acknowledgement process and she connected me to Joanne Crawford Who's the current chief of the abnaki of missus boy? Organization so we drafted what we did sent it to her her feedback to us was a Quote because it was nice excellent job at acknowledging the land and our history on it So what you have today that we did there were a few grammatical edits I think we plugged in today from an earlier one Which is great. I love it's always amazing how you have multiple people read something and everybody misses it Like saying how did I miss that Amy's telling me you should let me read it. I'm just like Daniel. Yeah, but that Anyways, so what you have today is sort of the product of that And you should know that communities and institutions all handle it in different kinds of ways some of what we were talking about before About how do you visualize this and some of it could be a statement? That's printed in a doorway. It could be some institutions or some organizations even within institutions will read the land acknowledgement before every meeting And I I worked at UVM for a number of years and I can tell you some people who did that There are members of the audience who would begin to sort of sit back and tilt disengage and roll their eyes because it's like well I would are we going to do this at every meeting? Some people do some people don't so it's really I think that the Pete first step is it to approve a land acknowledgement and then the second step is What do y'all want to do with it that could really come back to the visualization conversation as well So there you go So we do have a draft before us and We'll come And I think you missed one word for in the This is a type of in the last Paragraph the second line higher evaluations. I think it's all higher elevations That was Higher elevations and in the last sentence down to bottom weight we added an and to we encourage all people to explore and to become better informed the And was Disappeared somehow and save process. We did make those edits and send them forward to it's a Greta and Eric earlier today Good catch. Thank you. I'll start setting all of my I've been noted proof read things before So how much have you had public input on this document as well? Just from the racial equity partnership in the CJC the CJC Did choose to adopt it? just within our our organization as We were encouraged by the state of Vermont through our grant to do so So what I'll suggest is that the three of us are familiar with the two-week rule So when we have something for adoption And we're seeing it for the first time we postponed taking action on it We discuss it in in depth on the On the surface and then wait for public input for the next next meeting or whenever we want to take it up so I'd be Proposing that after we discuss it. I Have a sort of a technical thing and then something I bumped on I'm a little uncomfortable with Referencing somebody else's website just because we've no control over that so maybe instead of a website. We just Must be some other way you can you can say become better informed through Sources you could find I yeah, we have no control of that website I just kind of bumped and maybe you can just say a little bit more about Williston recognizes that colonialism Is an ongoing process. I just kind of bumped on that as a phrase And some Some late acknowledgments don't address that and some do So I think as you sort of discuss it it's really a question of how far do you want to go on making those kinds of statements and There's not I guess as I've read the numerous Land acknowledgment statements some go way beyond that There's a recent issue because Ben and Jerry's posted some things around Fourth of July and saying we need to give back land to the people who we took it from and then everyone's Raising questions to them about well, what about your factories in Vermont? So, you know, I think it really comes down to how far you all are feel comfortable in going in making sort of some of those statements And it's hard it's it's hard for me because I think as we sort of how do you have those conversations? So when you say something like, you know, the colonization is still ongoing There's about multiple layers underneath that of what that means. So When you say something like that it can complete turn people off or it say something like that and begins a conversation We tend not to have the conversation as much as we do people then saying yeah, it's it's not what I want to do I Think is as I went back and as I sort of talked about going back and looking at history and looking doing our homework and looking at Language and location and really understanding things for me the Conversation on colonization, which is another whole conversation is is one that has some real value But it does raise those questions. So there's not a right answer Yeah, one of the concerns I had about that was that Maybe it's because I'm a lawyer, but colonization is a is an actual historical thing It's not just it's not synonymous with badness or racism or something. It involves those things, but it's not those things So I my concern was as a matter of accuracy that you know Colonialization colonialism is is not it's not going on the effects of it are We're still dealing with the effects of our of our original sins but the Legal, you know, we don't have a mercantile system, you know, putting cotton back to England Triangular trade system So I was I was a little concerned with that as well. And then the other thing I'd say is that the If it does start a conversation the issue I would have is that this this is not a conversation as a statement So this would be like the end of the conversation and One of the concerns I've had and again, this is from being a communicator as part of my profession Is that if if you're using a phrase to communicate and you have to explain what you meant it's probably not a great phrase and So that's that's another concern that I have I did toy around with language that I Wanted to suggest to you and I can either just hand it off to you or To replace the sentence Well, I think we're putting this forward as a draft we're putting this forward This is our effort to forward it to you all if you want to send it back to us and have us continue to sort happy to do that if You want to take what we have and tinkered around and so that the language is is something that you all can agree At least I'm fine with that You know, it's it's it's the town statement It's a town acknowledgement and really you all in the end have to approve it So we could go back and forth with different edits, but if you all feel like you can take the court Sense that's here and make it feel better for you all I I'm I'm fine with that too. So I I do appreciate that that the sentiment and then the possible tweaking of the word colonialism, although I do think it's important that we Leave the recognition that the effects of colonization and that language and that verbiage in there because it is ongoing It is not static. It is we are feeling it the Supreme Court as of you know, just a couple weeks ago has made decisions that that are Exacerating the effects of the the colonialism and colonization However, you phrase that You know, we are seeing it Very much still throughout this country throughout our state throughout our towns And so I I do think that it's imperative that we use that language in there personally because this is not Because this is something that we need to acknowledge before we can talk about How we are going to repair Yeah, I think I absolutely agree if we're talking about the effects of yeah, well, that's that's funny because that's what I What's here at Ted? Williston recognizes that the effects and consequences of colonialism and oppression of native peoples Continue to have painful adverse effects today And we commit to building public awareness of both their history and present-day consequences and the need for action to address these complex issues That address is my concern It's slightly past it to me Without us taking ownership of it Yeah, I'm not I'm not sure. I don't know if you as I said it just feels a little bit passive rather than I Do think it's going on. I don't think it's you know the Yeah, the effects of colonialism are not something that we can just acknowledge it's it's Colonialist policies are still impacting the lives of people today and are still informing the policies that are in place around our country and so Yeah, I think we're gonna like this is gonna be Somewhere there's a middle ground somewhere. Maybe I don't know right So I wonder if maybe so that we don't take up too much time this evening with this is if we Do a little word smithing you do a little word smithing and see Maybe we can email back and forth and then come up with a second draft Because I think Greta what you're saying like so many of us agree and Ted what you're bringing up I think so many people agree with as well and Jean what you're saying and so again I think how do we how do we take all three of those? Those thoughts and come up with something that's going to be reflective and truthful Right about what what has not only happened But that is continuing to happen and the effects of that and the daily impacts and again I think what Pat was saying is how how deep do we really want to acknowledge and that That has to actually come from all of you right based on what our our recommendations are Certainly if there's anyone in the community right who wants to have have input I would also encourage them to contact us We've you know, we've reached out to the state of Vermont and have you know as for their guidance and shared This with them with which they they thought was really well done as well So I think that there's just you know, there's parts and pieces but as as a community What is it that we want to acknowledge? What are we willing to accept as as the truth right some of that Sitting in that that discomfort of the truth and then taking into account Once we accept that right as as a document What are we then willing to do and so I think what like all of that has to come into play and again I'm not wanting you to to put something in there that that just looks good, right? But that is is truly reflective of the honest The honest reflection of what what people are are still impacted by Kelly They're both the same goal. Yeah, is it appropriate? I mean two of you You know getting the sharing thoughts. There's not as not a quorum. So you could both share I'm sure if you could get if they could come up with something you could both agree on I would agree with I don't think we're disagreeing on no concept And I really appreciate you all spearheading this this was I Definitely felt very passionately that we this was this was long overdue Gonna use that phrase a lot But this is something that our town very much needed to have and to have done and to And to actively continue to openly acknowledge that this is this is land that that we have taken and So I really appreciate all of your efforts to make this happen. This is very important for our town Heavy lift. Thank you very much Thanks. Thank you We go home now Let's just go home and not do number 10 So next on the agenda the local cannabis control Commission Following up on the board's June 20th discussion Receive consensus that place a possible action item on a future meeting So I've pulled up possible resolution to consider establishing a local cannabis control Commission with your packet I've used the model of resolution not the state campus control board I can solve it with our plan director Matt Lanjie Cannabis regulation is certainly proving a dynamic environment There were some questions from the board about want to make sure we look at everything possibly do from regulation standpoint Our staff suggests and is that the board wants to delve into that a little bit further We'd like to want to engage the town attorney with with that as well I've included for the board and my memo just the It's from the rock canvas control boards website the authority of miss valley has to regulate cannabis establishments I think the important takeaway miss how they may not regulate cannabis Establishments in any to any greater extent than they could any other business Place conditions on the operation of the establishment create special rules for them. That's not within their zoning authority So certainly this is still a new and emerging endeavor with this regulation Staff would certainly Dig into this further where I went any further with any legal advice I wanted to bring that to the board it's kind of two two parts of this discussion here You know the first question Commission would function so much the liquor control board. It was a select board serving in that role. I Would if we've got an application if we go to our planning our zoning administrator to make sure that Follow the rules and I would get that Feedback before The board's limited with what it could do beyond does this comply with Some local control challenges Brilliant current state law. There's So I just need to go back to where I was Two weeks ago a month ago whenever we discussed it I just am very uncomfortable just being on a rubber stamping committee commission that just has to say yes, in fact, I'm not Even entirely clear since we have not approved retail sales how Important this is to hurry up and do I think this whole law is still evolving and you know, maybe a Maybe a pause would be in place. I Can see Myself being really caught in something that comes to the board and either we have no information Because these things are heavily redacted and then we turn out that we approve because we have no other choice a home You this Talk to mad about this a little bit today You could have a home a small home processing facility in the residential district Right next to where some kids live. It's that's not out of the question in here We would have to say yes because we don't if long as it's approved in our zoning We don't have a choice and I don't really want to be approving that kind of thing With this though, this wouldn't be to approve the Assessing right this would be sales. No, it's everything. This would be it'd be everything I'm so growing they could grow anywhere in the ag world district those Those my understanding is that this is Rather odorous and ugly kind of farming, but it wouldn't be anything we it could be right across Mountain View Road Which is ag world? You know, it's we would have to approve it and then we'd be on the record of approving it And I'm just I don't see a huge benefit to I Don't see the benefit given that we will have to be on record of approving things that we don't approve or don't agree with Is my is my concern? I'm wondering if a cannabis control board would be helpful in controlling future cannabis ordinances But they'd be they'd have the authority to You know make it more difficult if that's what they approve. That's what they wanted Are you talking about the state level Mike or the local at the local level? By the way, the statute's written now if there's a local commission, you know, it's authority is very very limited You know, it would need to make sure it complies with zoning So if there was something like say there's an active zoning violation on a parcel that could be something Where you know approval could be withheld But if it's in compliance with local zoning and you can't write the zoning laws to Specifically call out cannabis as a business to regulate it differently than any other business And that's based on way that the state statutes So so so then essentially better or better off better off not having a cannabis control board The one the one thing it allows you to do is is be that if there's an issue with local zoning to To not allow the appellation to proceed because otherwise in my understanding is this at the state level these will get Approved by the state. There's not a lot of local control and the way the regulation is written right now Great, it's this isn't very much local control It's your discretion if you want to And it's your purview if you want to stand this up at any point in time You could consider if the town does ever take a retail cannabis vote. Maybe you want to visit this at the same time We see these applications coming in from these other uses now the zoning department So it's it's the board's decision if you want to be engaged on a local level or not What kind of uses are coming in? The request we see things some some manufacturing in the industrial district We we see some of the home-based grow operations I think we're talking about we see a hand a handful So far yes He might share last time other other towns are kind of rankling with this as well The zoning that we passed A couple years ago That that's really only for retail Yeah, it focuses kind of where the retail is but and we don't have any authority to pass zoning regulations for home businesses That are doing production work or something like that Not you consult further with matter initial read is no I think it's you know if you're allowing other home businesses You can't say you can't have a cannabis home business necessarily I'll check with him. We did have a DRB feel to that I just just some more information about specific occasion, but Certainly a tricky But there's certain like friends is the example again of home businesses are there certain Zones within town where that would not be feasible or is it? Just because of the way the zoning regulations are like or that could essentially happen anywhere in town Yeah, my math said it was that's basically anywhere a residential zone where you can have a home business, right? You could have this there's no way to say no, but it's within the home business Still like you know The other matter is like so the amount of cars that could come and things like that all of that all that's all that's right It's not because it's exactly the nature of the business that that we can regulate Is that I'm sorry Is that the case for other kinds of home businesses if we had Somebody said, you know, I want to do a home business of making cigarettes and the bails of tobacco get brought in and I have a my grandfather had a cigarette making machine before he died of emphysema Is that We would our zoning wouldn't allow us to regulate that or if somebody said well, I have Bourbon come in and barrels and then I bottle it in my basement Does our zoning Allow us to regulate those things about where they're going to be I would need to just check on that. It's not going to answer Not my recollection is that this is unique that the state government said There's not much you're gonna be able to do about cannabis in your town if you approve retail sales You can have you can regulate that through zoning But all this other stuff The farming stuff, I don't think we can regulate nearly at all Would it be worth it to have the planning commission kind of go through it and see what their take on it is, you know in terms of Are their Zoning as we can change or we should be changing or you know and also consult the you know our time attorney to and say You know, like what's what really are the parameters? My other question would be are we the rape? I mean, I know we do it for alcohol, but Would there be a subcommittee of the planning commission or the DRB that does this? I Don't know. You know, are we the 100% right It's certainly the select board's discretion, you know historically the board served as local liquor control board board of health these other authorities for misal governments and rules of select board members, but it's It's your discretion And I think you know if this were to be stood up, you know, it's very clear of what's what the parameters review are so and I think the state the state has the authority to You know review those local decisions to some extent I did ask Matt what happens if the board just votes no even though we're not allowed to vote no And he said well, it would just probably get overturned at the state. So it's like, okay, I'll just vote no It'll get overturned at the state So I think I was trying to figure it out and I didn't have time to actually Get this confirmed but just from I think Burlington. I think it's a subset of the city council It's not the whole city council that makes these decisions And they only do retail at least at the time that the articles are written they only the commission only reviews retail Which we don't have so If we don't put this in place that the state is the one that issues License places for the business. Yep. Yeah, hopefully the state is the licensing entity And this is kind of somewhat a litter control board say we approve this locally It fits our zoning. We don't have anything within purview as a body to not approve it If the state does the state take into account our zoning regulations I'm not sure they give it that close of a necessarily if they didn't I Should think we'd be able to enforce our own zoning. Yeah, that's where this becomes, you know, the local review first I'm not sure exactly what the state process looks like if they're if they're saying, okay Let's pull up Wilson zoning and make sure that this is in compliance or not Primarily related if our main Kind of considerations are With the only kind of authority we have and this is related to the zoning and then they kind of go back to the maybe This is a DRB or a planning commission Matter more than a select board matter because they would know better the zoning pieces and things like that Because if it's gonna be if they're all gonna be approved regardless Unless there's a zoning issue You know, we you know, we'll just have to be advised. There's a zoning issue and then approve it or not, but it Stopped the planning or the DRB even So are you saying we should we should create a cannabis control board, but we should make it one of the other boards. Yeah Yeah, I Don't know if you could Give that authority the town's owning administrator under the zoning administrator duties to say this is this meeting, you know If it doesn't look there's a lot of subjectivity to this review, it's doesn't meet doesn't meet the standards or not That could be something I also have I mean these our agendas are packed enough and we're already talking about what we don't you know Can and can't afford to make time on the agenda for so, you know, just spend more time Looking at a highly redacted thing and trying to guess where it is and if we're going to approve it It was just as well more thing when we don't really have any Options just seems like not the best use of this like board's time Feels like the only option we have is whether we opt in for retail sales or anything else is state statues already determined that for us Yeah, but even if we do that We still have the same limited amount of control or retail sales license If we went ahead and did this it would be are you in compliance with our zoning? If you are then we have no choice, but the rubber stamp it and give you your license Yeah, I think that's what's Mike saying is that we don't don't have any choice on all that the only choice We've given an any of this universe of dissent decisions is the opt-in, right? Yeah I Would like to do a little more investigation on is are we the right body to do it or is there some other body that could do this? I'd be interested in what other towns have done and what their experience is Is it I know that there's a few towns that have been like all in But What there are lessons if there's any advice or lessons I guess Sounds like sounds like it's at the level for you know Or staying reps I'm sure they would love that I Mean I do understand I don't want anybody to think that I don't understand why Why cannabis is legal and all the implications around that that's not the topic here the topic is really the select board's Role and approving something the town that states told us we have to approve well And it feels a much more business related matter this level. I mean again regardless of what we are talking about We're approving Whether or not your business can be located in a certain place, which we've been even now But again Yeah, it feels much more like a business where it's owning So it sounds like we are not Ready to proceed Well, I will do some more research Is there is a separate sort of ask to Gretis point about like Who is who's looking into is our zoning as tight as we can legally get away with I Would probably the board's direction to engage in town attorney I guess the only thing would be like who I was Matt here when we did the other zoning thing about the retail So whatever expertise he brought to the table to say that that was Something that we thought would be at least arguable. That's that's kind of all we're thinking about We'll take that lens on retail and say is there that lens on home businesses or you know something else that's You know to Ted's point if there there must be some Must it can't be a free-for-all. I haven't read the ordinance on home businesses But there might be something that could we could tighten it up for all sorts of Probably in a perhaps inappropriate home businesses in our residential zone So we're shooting blanks in the dark eventually We have we have no idea what they people of Willis would want as far as cannabis sales And someday we got up at the sign a ballot Not until a meeting day because you know the people vote Not a ballot in November when people come out and tell us what they want whether they want to be in or want to be out Don't you think we would get that if someone brought a petition? By what a petition? I mean no one's brought a petition forward. It could it could be we have We have the opportunity to it ourselves We had a request to do this when two years ago To put it on the ballot we chose not to there was no petition at that point So next item fiscal year 2024 tax rate been in consultation with our Understand that if we're going to set the tax rate as recommended in the manager's report that we first have to Move to recent recent our prior decision setting So once that's rescinded, then I guess we have a blank slate Next motion can be made So if people understand that our favor of that Eric, could you maybe just like for the record kind of like why we why we doing this? Yeah, so we calculated with a grand list that was a $24 million increase and we realized we need to set that at a $26 million increase which Lowers the rate by point zero zero three cents Original intent was to allow a little room for appeals My understanding says something town may have done in the past I was I was incorrect in that and then we we realized and Pragmatically our software not allowed for that to happen either so you know less than learned on what we you know Can't add that a little bit of room in here So it's a it's a very low rate change always really wants to be The grand list is two million dollars higher and it reflects on Thanks So that I would move to rescind the action that the board took on June 28th to set the tax rate at zero point three three six two Is there a second? Discussion on the motion all those in favor say aye The eyes have it is rescinded Another move to set the fiscal year 2024 municipal tax rate at zero point three three five nine Is there a second second? Is there a discussion on the motion? All those in favor say aye All those opposed nay Okay Managers I just want to my report but I certainly want to just recognize what's been going on the last day here throughout our state and in Our community They were a couple updates last day as this unfolded locally So our Winooski River at Essex as of right now It is 22 and a third feet High major flood stage is considered 18 feet Last night. Well currently north Williston Road and River Cove Road will certainly be closed over overnight and Probably work strike for Bruce Wars anticipating damage at River Cove Road We have a couple bridges we own there with the low line connecting South Burlington When the water does receive only to inspect these structures clean the bridge on north Williston Road which I asked last night to Remember we own half of that bridge and Essex owns the other half of the bridge Similar to the bridge in the South Burlington we share it, you know As of right now, I'll show you a couple pictures I got but Our larger concern for public works is those bridges on River Cove Road So we'll keep an eye on that. We had no sewage overflows We did have to pump up 50,000 gallons from the north Williston Road pump station of water Coming in there Contractor assist us with that Last night. I activated the emergency operation center about quarter seven convene a meeting The town departments in the school district. We opened an emergency overnight shelter at Central School We we had some residents from Richmond needed a shelter about Herbie this morning Shelf were there with some cotton and some food. I Got back there about 8 a.m. To check in and they had returned they had gone to another location at that point We convened our EOC group at 9 a.m. And again at 3 p.m. Today We decided to close the shelter as about 3 30 I consulted with the Richmond town manager It's over there fire in that service Felt the errors of Richmond that were evacuated everyone was in a safe place. They weren't need of a shelter in Williston Last night we alerted about 14 homes in the fey Lane chap Lane lower north Wilson Road area of our concerns of the rising water You know a couple of those homes left to go to another location Fire Department vives the voluntary evacuation. We didn't have anyone else come to Wilson Central School We've been monitoring it throughout the day. We see the water continuing to rise but as of right now We're not having concerns with with folks need to be I think danger the property it's really monitoring it overnight We're not interested yet So it's sir. I think it's around level of Irene may be a little bit higher at this point So we see everything from central Vermont. It's flowing this way now Share a couple pictures our police department took with a drone today. They're pretty pretty So this is looking towards Essex on north Williston Road We see that those lands of Essex under water there Here's looking back towards towards Williston. You can see that the bridge is there This was probably about four o'clock this afternoon or so after we we wrapped up at the EOC So that that's about 22 feet now This is down in the bottom of Two hill just to before you get to the Richmond lines. This has been closed by governor Chitton and road as well bit and Finally, this is at the dam on route 2a looking downstream towards new skis to give you an idea of what we're dealing with for intensity of water We've seen a lot of folks taking a look at this on my two way throughout the day In their vehicles and on foot Because i'm public messaging out today You know, please be careful in your car We can store them from public safety. We'll have some accidents occur on the bridge with people Observing this force of nature right now, so Continue to get that message out to folks and back it up traffic all the way into Taft corp three. Yeah I always go so fast over any bridge That kind of water under it. I would not be pausing at all Um, so I just want to really recognize our our town staff Works public safety working Throughout throughout the night to monitor and keep everybody safe our our colleagues at the school district I reached out to rid marino about six o'clock last night when I was watching the news Checking in about just operationally if you need to stand up the shelter within an hour We decide we were going to do it. We can feed convene everybody at the fire station. We made a plan We learned some lessons just from having to go through this exercise last night So we'll be Prepared further in the future part of it is Making sure we have additional costs at the town owns, I think We couldn't get through day one at the red cross or runners to manage the last night There's inundated understandably with with the situation throughout the state, so To say it's uh, you know continue to monitor north wilson road. It's going to be a couple days I'm just asking folks traveling be patient be smart. We've you know, if there's any water on the road Don't drive into it turn around We'll get that as a child, but Just that's off to our great staff here just for Service and support us as we work through this Yeah, we can support other towns. We've uh fire chief has been deployed to assist in some in vermont We've slipped the water rescue the last few days as well, so Yeah, the board is any any questions for me. That's kind of where we are operationally right now I'm probably not the one to officially pass this on but I can tell you the school district folks Were very very impressed with the operations of the town of wilson bruce bruce's job and the fire police everybody who was there and how fast everything worked and how efficiently and You know the even like the the eop I said, well, this is kind of like a tabletop exercise Yeah, so the hats off it was uh, they were very impressed in terms of uh Folks volunteering and supporting to I know that the state has been messaging that they Are asking people to really stay local Try not to travel anywhere to help right now to help anybody because they you know road conditions are unstable everywhere And the state is actually Undertaking a large-scale volunteer recruitment process to help in areas recovery. So if you go to vermont.gov slash volunteer you can Enroll to be a volunteer and you know, let's direct expertise and then they will actually Provide you with volunteer opportunities that meet your areas of knowledge And send you out into a place that they know that needs your support. So so anybody needs a good spreadsheet I'm your man I think a lot of people are really grateful that big sign at the wilson federated church about north wilson road being closed I heard a lot of grumbles today about when people that travel two three miles down a road to find that the You know the road was cold. There's no sign previous to that. So Kudos to the town of wilson for doing that Yeah, we I think pop works has certainly learned over the years. Yeah, trying to get that information out there early to folks some folks, uh, still went around the signs I heard today from the police department and Yeah, it's hoping My message out there to the media earlier was follow the signs As a fast-forward Jordan people do and yeah checking that So we'll we'll continue to monitor and uh rise of anything changes over right here Reminder your next meeting schedules a little different this month july 25th We're also working on a refresh to our website. The template Needs to be refreshed with a company that bought the company we used we did some research and made sure This was the best deal for the town still on a web hosting. We looked at about four or five different options So we all this was good to stay for continuity and the price right now. So we'll be working on that project in the next couple of months And I shared with your materials a memo from the planning commission a couple of their last meeting at the end of june Just with some comments. They have when you consider For future commissioners as they have a couple of things or advertising those rules right now So do they What's the so I just learned a new process with the CJC executive committee right that was approved So does the planning commission just come to us like the rec department or anybody else somebody fills out an application and we're the first Ones to interview them. Yep. Yeah, it's a Kind of different with the CJC with their bylaws They have just the executive board that's appointed by the select board and their volunteers are appointed by the executive board For every other town order commission their advisory to the select board. So We would staff would take any applications in schedule those interviews and then The sitting planning commission wouldn't necessarily have any Recommendations for people being interviewed the board would get those scheduled the interviews and make any decisions for appointments. So That's going to be a tough job with the Everything on their plate in the next year or two. So I want to make sure people know what they're getting into when they're not just going to They're not just going to you know, get get on the board vote for against One thing you're passionate about and then You know Be done with it. So it's We've encouraged folks when when they apply and uh, Aaron Dickinson takes the lead on the town volunteers to Reach out and schedule time chat with the town staff who support boards and commissions Um encourage them that some people do some people don't but Just so they have some time for dialogue about what that role entails So they they understand kind of what's coming up on the agendas for for these bodies as well Well, it's good to know But we should definitely make sure that happens because that will probably be my first question to anybody who comes It's like did you sit with staff and understand what this is all about and if they say no I didn't bother that might that would be something but but if they say no, I was never invited that would be That would be harder for me Well, these started, um It's something application for advertising. Yep. Yeah, we started the end of june. I think we may have one or two applicants now you know Given the summer we're trying to leave a little space to try to See us what we get and certainly as we're looking at You know equity of boards and make up a board So wanting to certainly encourage as we look at different commissions and the planning commission as a certainly a policymaking board that Say of all the boards and commissions the select board sees that policy from from that commission quite a bit Using this as a good lens for us as we try to get people To consider applying for this and so you so you have a good potential slate of applicants to to consider Just giving a little space to allow that to happen. Great And that's all I have to managers report Other business two catering permits First is a It's a wedding at the isham family farm august the 19th 802 cocktails Staff has no objection in this application Is there a motion? Is there a second second discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed. Okay Abstention unable to vote one obsession Then second a catering permit from the sausage shack at the red garden gardens for a pet food warehouse private party July 26, wait, I don't know where any of those things are Expecting about 70 people so I would suggest for the board I don't have a temporary event permit for this yet The board may consider approving this liquor application On the condition that a local or a temporary event permit is also approved for the event It Meets the threshold where it would go to the manager unless the manager felt the need to be forward to the select board But I have received that application But the board's discretion So it was actually a serious question. Where is this the red bargain gardens, which is Down route to Oh, yeah on the side They've used it as Events at times for some weddings and other things as well They had some temporary event permits last year as well But I think I need to just remind them that they would need one for something Further questions or a motion Move approval with the subject to the approval of the temporary permit Is there a second second discussion all those in favor Final thoughts on agenda items From this meeting So the board retreat is Has it been scheduled or when does it usually happen? And we typically look at the fall sometime. So I um the last couple years I've uh Um Looked out a couple dates to pull the board on um, I think usually in august I think we've we've met me sit down over the last couple years. Um, sometimes a month and there's an extra tuesday So I've in the Previously I myself and rick require would look at some possible dates and um Presents some possible topics for the board. Um, maybe pull the board on on where to how to focus the retreat it's typically been Similar structure on um on an evening for a couple hours really focused on a deeper dive into one or two topics Last year we did some equity training with abundant sun was Greta and I worked with on the The cohort know them a little bit and have them do some board training that you think we've done I think some economic development discussion other Goal setting some years a few years back Number different different ways the board could approach the retreat topics each year Anything else hearing nothing we are adjourned