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For any response, please wait until the chair yields the floor to you. If you wish to engage in colloquial with other members, please do so through the chair. Due to the size of my laptop screen, I may not be able to see all members at once if someone has raised their hand and I have noticed I hear by request tower Bradley or any of the court to please bring this to my attention. So let us take the roll call to determine that you're here and who's here. So Grant Gibion, Shane Blundell. Here. John Ellis, Makai Healy. Here. Brian Beck, Arif Padaria, Sophie Migliazo. She's not going to be here tonight. No, Jonathan Wallach. Here. Shailene, Sarah Harmer. Here. Annie LaCourt. Here. Alan Jones. Here. George Cozer. Here. Bill Keller. Al Tosti. Here. Juan Dena Cemento. Here. Christine Deschler. Here. Dean Kerman. Here. David McKenna. Here. Tara Bradley. Here. So we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 members. So we have a quorum. Okay. Well, let's, first of all, let's do the minutes to get that behind us. Tara, can you put the minutes up? Yes, one second. Is it a minutes of four or four? Yes. And I've had a chance to review them. They look pretty good to me. Any, buddy, have any comments or proposed edits? None that I've received through email. Okay, so I'll push into approved minutes as in order. So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Any further discussion on the minutes? Hearing none. Shane Mundell. Yes. Kaia Healy. Yes. Jonathan Wallach. Yes. Darrell Harmer. Good afternoon. Yeah. Annie LaCorte. Yes. Alan Jones. Yes. Kurt Koster. Yes. Al Tosti. Yes. Wanda Natsi-Mento. Yes. Christine Deschler. Yeah. Dean Corman. Yes. And David McKenna. Yes. Thank you. The minutes are approved. Okay. So let's just talk a little bit about tonight's meeting and actually before we get into the discussion tonight, I'd like to thank all the committee members for really great work this year. We've got a lot done. The finance committee reports about to go to press. You've all been very diligent, attentive, and I know that these meetings go long and go late in the evening, but you've all been great. I know it's been a little easier that we, you know, to stay out until 10 o'clock at night when you're at home rather than being down at the community safety building, but on the other hand, it's still a long evening. And I appreciate everybody's efforts. I know you've all worked hard on your budget groups and we've got a whole lot of budgets under control, but also several members launched into special projects requests, special projects at my request, as especially as I follow Al Tosti's rule of asking members to follow up on when they ask a question. So I'll be, but thank you very much. I also want to thank Al Tosti and the operations research group for their report on the savings from recycling. That's become an appendix E in the finance committee report to town meeting. In addition, I want to thank Christine and the policy group for the work they did in producing the Alton finance committee handbook, which was a prodigious task, very well done. And it's going on the town website and the finance committee report will announce it. And then finally, I'd like to do a shout out for Tara. Her first year as executive secretary, and I think she's- Can we do this, Charlie? Thank you, Tom Frozen, yeah. He was over. We're done. Move to adjourn. Looking like a former chair, Al. Oh, he's not trying to get back in yet. So maybe he's running around looking for his laptop charger. So Alan, you got all the pieces put together for the report? I have all the appendices out there. And I think Tara is going to put it all together. So Al, were you waiting on a comment on article 60 from me? Because I just wrote one in the same SharePoint. I thought Charlie had asked me to write the comments for that. But Alan, are you hearing me? Oh, me? Yeah, you. I think I would have gone to Tara. Okay. Yeah, I mean, that's the tech stuff. I don't- All right, I'll talk to Tara about it. So question here. Did anybody hear anything I said? No. You were thanking Tara, which we all realized we, she's done a fabulous, fabulous job. She's really surpassed, I think, expectations. And that was the last we heard, but we were all thinking that you were very correct about that. So go from there, Charlie. Thank you, Christine. So the next slide was the Houseways and Means Budget. It came out today and the local aid is forecast just as it's in the five-year plan and as enunciated by Al Jones in Appendix C. So we don't have to change anything. So that means on the agenda, the issues that we have to deal with are the overlay reserve of revote amendments to the fiscal year 22 budget for the special town meeting and private way repairs for the special town meeting. So we don't have, there's no official warrant out. So for the special town meeting. So it would be presumptuous and perhaps foolish of us to put a report for the special town meeting in our finance committee report. So I think we'll put a one pager out when we get closer to the special town meeting. I looked it up in the bylaws and the town manager act. And I think the select board only has to do an announcement on the warrant one week before the special town meeting. So what I'd like to do tonight is have a verbal vote. Excuse me, let me shut my alarm system off. So what I'd like to do is on the two articles that we're gonna have in the special town meeting, I'd like to take essentially a voice vote to get the committee's approval for these items. And then when the warrant comes out, we'll write up a report, okay? We also just to give you a heads up, we will have to re-vote the collective bargaining article before it goes before town meeting. If you recall, we got essentially a plug number from Sandy Puehler, but he does have two unions that will settle before we get to that in the town meeting. So it looks like the budgets, it's a little bit uncertain because Greg Christiana is gonna follow the consent agenda method. And so we don't know, of course, how many articles will be accepted in the consent agenda and how many will not. But we're guessing that the budgets won't come up before May 9th. And on May 9th, what we'll do is table all the articles until the Minuteman article and we'll have Dr. Bo Quillen come to that night and give his presentation on Minuteman. Then we'll do the other budgets we might do that night, but on the 11th, which is a Wednesday, I believe, we will start the special town meeting and that should take about an hour, an hour and a half. And then immediately following the social town meeting we'll go back into all of the other budgets and financial ward foreign articles. And if we have to postpone zoning issues or whatever until after that, we'll do that. That's already been arranged with the moderator. So we'll see what happens the first night of town meeting, but we may not have to have any finance committee meetings until May 9th, but please reserve Monday and Wednesdays anyway. And after the first night of town meeting, I can let you know what it looks like for what we may need to be doing. So we also have to hear in the future from the Breakup Committee and Breakup Dinner Committee Makaya and Sophie, Altosti and Tara. So we'll probably hear some news about that during the early part of town meeting. Finally, before the end of June we will have another meeting to do a final review of required departmental transfers from the reserve fund. There may not be any required, but on the other hand sometimes there are special funds that are required for people who will retire and have a big retirement payout coming or other extraordinary things like that. And the town manager and deputy town manager will come with requests for reserve fund transfers to clean up the books before the end of the year. And then finally, either at that night or a nearby night we'll have our organizational meeting to get the committee set up for next fiscal year or next whatever we wanna call next calendar year. So that's sort of the order of battle here. Anybody have any questions or comments? None, okay. So let me take up what may be warrant article, I'm sorry, let's take up the overlay reserve revote which is warrant article number 69. So we originally voted $750,000 to transfer from the overlay reserve surplus to the Override Stabilization Fund, I think it was. In the town, so the two articles that will be before us in the special town meeting, one is the million dollar article that we've talked about several times. And the other is $100,000 appropriation for filling up the gas tank, so to speak in the private way repair a revolving fund because they have a number of big projects. We already made a transfer and did that this year for this year's requirements but they still have more requirements next year. Keep in mind that this money doesn't really leave the town, it's essentially working capital to fund the operation until the butters to the private way who are having the work done either pay it all at once or pay it over time in taxes but eventually the money comes back to the town. So it turns out that the town management missed the need to put this article in the annual town meeting warrant so it's going into the special. But in order to do this in the special, we're gonna use the money, $100,000 from the overlay reserve surplus. So that means we need to reduce the $750,000 transfer that we made on that article to 650,000. I forget what the article was. Apparently I think it's article 74 but we didn't, what we ended up voting was to just vote the 400,000 and just have the rest reduce the take from the stabilization fund. I've got it that we voted 750. I believe we voted 750, yeah. March 30th. That's what I had in my records. So I would be like to see, what's on your summary sheet? 400. 400, uh-oh, that's a little discontinuity here. Al Jones, say again what your proposal was. Well, we didn't need an article to transfer money from the overlay reserve fund into the stabilization fund. We would just take, you know, less out of overlay reserve and it would trickle down more out of overlay reserve and it would trickle down into less of a take from the stabilization fund. Or is it in transfer? I think we have to appropriate that overlay surplus into somewhere. It can't stay in the overlay surplus, the 750,000. Right, but if we take it for general use then we don't need to, we don't need to transfer it into the stabilization fund. We just don't take that much from it. But that's what we did. We voted 750 to go against taxes. Pay for the budget. Okay, yeah, maybe I misspoke there, but so I'm just trying to think here about a way to do this that doesn't unbalance the budget. 59, are you, maybe you're working at last year's? You looking at last year's appendix C? Your April Fool's joke was three weeks late. Yeah, you're right, 650. What, was it already 650? Yeah. Okay, then we don't have to do anything. Well, we voted 750, so we need to re-vote. Okay, well, that's where I started out. And that's what the agenda says, to have a re-vote. So let me go back to my original statement. And it's been an interesting journey, a little walk around our minutes and so forth. So what's in order here is a motion to reconsider the vote on Article 69 and change the amount from a vote of 750,000 to a vote of 650,000. Altos- Don't move. I move reconsideration of Article 69 and with the same vote to lower the previous vote of 750 to 650. Is that, I hear a second? Second. Second. So it's moved and seconded. So, Al Jones, you sure you don't want to change the 400,000? Yeah, not this year. Okay. All right, any further discussion on this? Okay, Shane Blundell? Yes. Makai Healy? Yes. Jonathan Wallach? Yes. Darrell Harmer? Yes. Andy LaCorte? Yes. Allen Jones? Yes. George Koser? Yes. Al Tosti? Yes. Wanda Nascimento? Yes. Christine Deschler? Yeah. Dean Carmen? Yes. David McKenna? Yes. Okay, so thank you very much that vote has passed. So we have ratified what is now in the report that says 650,000 is transferred from the overlay surplus. I knew we were gonna do that. Okay, so then that brings us to the next, to the votes for the special town meeting. As I just mentioned, I'd like the committee to vote this. First of all, for the movement of a million, Al Jones, you have that number in front of you, the exact number from the Education Reserve Fund. One million, zero nine four, zero five five. Okay, thank you. So in the special town meeting for what we think will be article number five to amend the budgets to move the amount that Al Tosti just mentioned from the Finance Committee Reserve Fund into the Override Stabilization Fund. Can I have a motion to that effect? I moved. Moved, seconded? Second. What's the from fund again? I'm sorry, Tara. What fund is it coming from one more time? From the, I'm gonna say from the Finance Committee Reserve Fund. Okay. And Al Tosti, can you mention that number one more time, please? Zero nine four, zero five five. Thank you. Okay. So it's been moved and seconded. This is the money that we need to get into the Override Stabilization Fund before the end of the fiscal year so that it's available to be counted as revenue in fiscal 23. If we don't, if this isn't loaded, then this money will go into free cash and it won't be available for another year. So any questions or discussions on this motion? None. Okay, we'll take a vote. Shane Bundell. Yes. Makaya Healy. Yes. Jonathan Walsh. Yes. Darrell Harmer. Yes. Annie LaCourt. Yes. Alan Jones. Yes. George Koser. Yes. Al Tosti. Yes. Wanda Nascimento. Yes. Christine Deschler. Yes. Dean Karman. Yes. And David McKenna. Yes. Thank you. So that is passed unanimously. The second article, which we think will be worn article number six in the special town meeting is the private way repairs revolving fund. And the idea there is to take that $100,000 that we formerly were going to put in the overhead stabilization fund and transfer that from the overlay surplus into the private way repairs revolving fund in amount of $100,000. And this will provide the revolving fund with the money they need in fiscal 23 for financing the private way repairs. Any questions? We've discussed this before a couple of times once with the deputy town manager. Al Jones, do you have your hand up? No. No, never mind that was. Okay. If there's no further questions, we'll take a vote. Shane Blundell. Yes. And Makaya Healy. Yes. Jonathan Wallach. Yes. Darrell Harmer. Yes. Annie LaCorte. Yes. Alan Jones. Yes. George Koster. Yes. Al Tosti. Yes. Wanda Nacimento. Yes. Christine Deschler. Yeah. Ian Carmen. Yes. And David McKenna. Yes. Okay. Thank you very much. You know, I just wrote $100,000 for the revolving fund. So probably if we, if we have a meeting before the May 9th, May 9th, we'll review the, the special town meeting report in person, but it's going to be pretty simple. It's just going to be those two items because those are the only two financial items on the special town meeting. So actually that completes the business for this evening. We don't need to do a final budget check because there's nothing changed in the houseways and means local and together into one document. And then we'll review that PDF one more time for consistency by tomorrow morning and then get it off to the printers. And anybody who wants to do that, feel free. If you have all this extra time tonight because we're going to adjourn the meeting earlier, you can spend your time looking at the PDF version of the finance committee report, which is on our SharePoint site. Charlie. Yes, Tara. I can have probably that PDF ready in like 20 minutes or so and I can send an email out to everyone. But do you want to put a like a time tomorrow when kind of we're going to be sending it out that people will know to stop kind of looking at it that that's kind of the cutoff? That's probably a good idea. Let's assume let's say 9.30. Is that good? If we have some suggested changes, who should we send them to? Tara. Okay. I'm sure we can get a few extra hours from Swifty printers if we have to, but. Yeah. But the best thing to do is get them all to Tara. Tara will chase after me or anybody else so she has to check with and we can implement them. Okay. Anything else this evening? Any new business? Any old business? I should say that I had it in the last couple of days I've had some extended discussions with our new town moderator, Greg Christiana. And I think he's very diligent, very thorough. He's working hard to get up to speed on all the ins and outs of the process, processes and meeting. Oh, I think I'm expecting that he's going to be doing a good job. The other thing I should mention is I assume that everybody knows that town meeting is going to be virtual. The Board of Selectments decided that on Monday night. So we don't have to have our, so our 730 meetings will be virtual just as we're having right now. Is there a chance, oh, sorry. Go ahead. Is there a chance that town meeting members like would just, because don't they have to vote yes that to continue it virtually? I don't think there's any chance it'll. Okay. Yeah. I can't imagine we would stomp on the needs of the people who need to be protected in that way. Right. Okay. Well, good. Thank you very much, everyone. I think a motion to adjourn is in order. You get your whole evening back. It must be good. I don't know if there's television shows on Wednesday night. You know, I haven't seen it in so long. Nobody does television anymore, Charlie. I know, I don't either. So it doesn't matter. But I was just trying to use the figure of speech. All right. All right. So moved. Second. I was moved in second to adjourn. Hearing no objections, we are adjourned. Thank you very much, everybody. Have a good evening. Bye. See you in a couple of weeks. Okay. Take care.