 Okay, welcome everybody to our Monday night meeting we're a week off because of some issues with Our state legislators setting the tax rate, but here we are on Monday, July 8th. I call the meeting to order First thing to do would be to approve the agenda. Are there any additional ads or? Requests So I'd like to add two quick things one is to Do this special event permit for the show August and then I would like to give a very brief and quick update about Main Street Both under manager items. Yeah, I'll make a motion to approve the agenda with those changes There's a real second Okay, no further discussion Seeing none all those in favor say aye Hi Consent the consent agenda items are to just the minutes of June 17th meeting their emotion to Approve the consent agenda Make a motion to approve the consent I'll second. Okay. Very good All those who wish to approve say aye I high public Other than Steve and Ann there isn't any public So We're going to jump ahead This must be your item Steve huh to authorize a contract for the GBA architecture and planning for the community center feasibility study Maybe a little glitch in that Okay Okay, good, so this is a project that Discussed before the community center feasibility study as you'll recall It's funded with a community development block grant a $35,000 grant. We have Cash match that's about six thousand two hundred fifty dollars. We have some in-kind match It's really just in terms of introduction It's purely a feasibility study at this point the partners in the project are Town of Waterbury our recreation program the senior citizens The children's room up at Petroburg Primary School Those are the main partners and revitalizing Waterbury this grew out of a planning summit back in January of 2018 Number of different tables at that summit Came up with this idea and simultaneously so we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at it and So we put out a request for four proposals back in April We advertised it a couple times in the Times Argus We sent it to a Consult list from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs. We sent it to A few different consultants that had expressed interest in this project when they caught wind of it We got three good solid proposals from three different firms They were GBA architecture and planning that's a gozens-bockman architects. They've Changed their name because they'd expand and they have another partner and a staff so they're GBA architecture and planning in mobiliar Then red low architects Builders out of Middlebury. You may be familiar with their work Town of Middlebury for the college all over the state I'm going on in New York State and then the third firm is a firm out of Boston It's called a bargeman Hendry and Archetype Incorporated. They're an architecture firm. They've done a lot of I Should say a lot of recreation centers in Massachusetts primarily they've done a minimal amount of work in Vermont, but They're a very qualified firm So we have a committee that We got together to evaluate these proposals We had Naomi Alvening who's the executive director of the children's room we sent them to the President I Guess the board chair I should say a vice chair for the senior Center and They were too busy to evaluate it, but we sent them to them for review Karen Karen was revitalizing waterberry and then They do is The prime staff along with me Mark far was involved as well and Bill So we decided to interview the two Vermont firms. They were actually the top two picks when we evaluated the proposals so we held the interviews about Week and a half ago and Both firms were quite well-qualified We felt very well qualified We Bill and I especially liked the GBA architecture and they just I think the We just felt that they were more Engaged that they were coming with an open mind that they were willing to listen to what people had to say whether it was positive or negative They've done a lot of work for the city of Montpelier. They've done They're doing a physical study on their recreation center right now, which needs rehabilitation They've worked on their senior center. They did the transit center that's under construction so We're recommending that we contract with GBA architecture and Planning the group came to a consensus after discussion. Did you want to add anything? Oh, I just wanted to say that In the RFP Steve basically shared the budget. There was no secret. It's not a huge budget It's mainly grant funded All three entities were Basically speaking to the same budget. I think that from the interview and that was where I was most involved Steve said GBA really kind of I I think came to a different level than bread loaf with their Would seem their ability to connect with the community and listen to what's going on They have a very collaborative process in there in their shop Everybody who works in the shop works on all projects There's a project manager, of course, but You know, they they work out it in a very open Collaborative setting they felt that bread loaf was much more structured and much more kind of silo oriented You know bread loafs a great farm. I have some experience with them. They did a lot of work at the state complex Way back in the in the 90s Design the women's prison. I know that they were involved with the state complex and didn't good work there They're a good farm. So there's no going wrong choosing them But I I think we all ended up feeling that Was a little bit better fit for a feasibility study, you know, we're a lot of weight from really designing anything Yeah, they were within budget we we gave them the budget it's public information and so their their budget was right in in that all the 41,000 dollars So budget is really not an issue We really were looking at qualifications. I think They're going to hold a series of public meetings or we're going to hold a series of public meetings with them How we're going to be looking at an array of different sites. We're going to narrow that down to about three sites including any available municipal sites and they'll do A basic site design for those three sites. They'll look at budget and in terms of both site development and building construction budget, they'll look at potential funding sources through federal state funding sources, and then they'll look at a an operating budget Based on figures that will give them that the senior center and children's room will get them. They'll come up with some operating budget so they can look at revenue Expenses that I think the other thing too from my point of view that Spoke well of gba and you might remember the exact projects, but They they were involved in Montpelier's master planning that started 25 years ago probably and I think they understand too that there are projects That are important for communities to talk about think about and get ready for It doesn't necessarily mean that the project is going to be built in two years that there is value in looking down the road and identifying something that might fulfill a need in the community The community might not be ready to step up to the plate yet So I don't think from my perspective there's going to be a lot of push from that that you have to make fast decisions and you've got to Kind of get everything done immediately. That was that was my take that they're actively involved in kind of long-term Municipal planning and I think that's the other thing this grew to me and I'm not familiar with them except I know they've worked in Montpelier fairly extensively but They work mainly for municipal clients. I think they're public clients whereas bread loaf is you know, they're kind of an all-purpose organization that works for lots of different types of entities Questions from the board. I was going to say anything from the board members Not really. I mean the the spend's already been approved. It's just deciding who's going to get the contract. Basically, it's all work really Right. We applied for the grant You know, we there was a decision to move ahead with the project. So that's my take is Basically reporting out on the procurement process and we do need We need you to authorize the Contracting with the GBA architecture. I think We clearly want to keep all of you involved and You know, this is as bill said there's You know, it may may be a long-term project. We don't know how this is going to involve. That's really evolve That's really what the study is for Well, I hate to be a stick in the mud, but I'm I'm going to be Unfortunately, I can't approve this myself We don't have a third a fourth person here tonight unless Jane happens to pop through the door, but Quite honestly At this time my taxes are high enough. I I can't justify We've got enough on our plate That we need to deal with that are going to drive our taxes up even more for me to conscientiously Participate and don't take it personal. Steve. I don't want anybody I need a new $60,000 pickup truck right now But I'm not going to step put on a foot on a lot to buy one because I simply Can't afford to do it The municipality, however For whatever reason, you know groups of people come to come to us and Ask for things like this and we put them in motion and the next thing you know I mean if we approve this and it goes to the next step the next thing, you know Feasibility study and let's be honest feasibility study is not going to come back and say no, you can't do this Uh, you pay these people to figure out How to do it one way or another And it's up to the public I guess to decide whether or not they want to bite the apple I don't even want to entertain that option right now simply because of The other issues that we have in front of us That I feel are stronger more important issues Uh, and just getting a handle on on the cost of living people are you know We all know well the issues of Living in this state and the costs associated with it So again, I'm going to apologize for for not uh participating in this effort But uh, I'm going to stick to my guns unfortunately I I hear you Chris. I think the and that's why I asked that question earlier is that the spend's been approved Um, I think it's an important study because I think part of it is the tie-in with groups like the children's room and I mean you spoke to it a little bit. I'm not trying to bring that into the play but like there is a need for um Childcare services in the area and I think that potentially that could be part of the discussion here I think the what we can learn from this to me The opportunity to deny any movement for the project is to learn From this study and see what the true cost would be see who the players are see What that would play and then make the financial decision on whether or not the needs or it makes sense financially I we've already approved the spend. This is the decision on who gets the contract Um, I mean if we don't authorize this contract tonight I think we're just gonna have to put it back on the agenda the next meeting. So I mean, I I really I I hear you and I and I and I agree that we have an affordability problem um But I also think that their needs is communities looking for especially in the senior and child care and just community engagement and space that we Don't necessarily have and I'd like to see what they come up with I I Don't know. I mean, I understand that you say you don't want to approve the contract, but We've already approved the spend. So we're just have to wait till the next select board mean anything to to move it through Sure. I I mean, I don't Again, you know, everybody has their own choice to do so but You know to say that If this moves forward and they come to us and say, okay, well, you've got this project and here's how you can do it It doesn't need to be Doesn't necessarily mean we we're going to do it right now. But if we wait five years down the road, what's the cost then, you know And for me it's I understand what you're saying mark, but when does any community Stop digging their cells into a hole, you know when when Does a community say we need to Be financially responsible and get a handle on what we got right now Take care of it get a management plan in place moving forward. That's what we ought to be looking for Projecting forward. How are we going to handle these other issues that we know we're going to be go be back at the table at Do we have the funding for that? I mean, I said once before you talked about federal estate monies that could assist in this I mean, it's all our money, but Federal estate money is just it's like looking through binoculars backwards It's it's further out. You know, it's the direct impact Is more spread out And I said before from the get go if you could guarantee that the taxpayers of this town wouldn't be on the hook for this project I'd sign it but Um, can I see? Yeah, sure. So, you know, you've been consistent from day one on this chris and that's certainly That and understand where you're coming from and I guess And I I appreciate the fact that you're in a situation right now where You have to move away from your principal in order to allow something to go forward It's pretty clear that the board from the beginning has supported this project over your objection If you vote no tonight You know, I guess if you're going to vote no tonight I'd I'd rather ask you to just table it and we'll bring it back to a future meeting And I guess you get to go home and feel like you didn't sell out your position Looking at the last thing you said and and I appreciate You know taxes I work hard to try to keep them as low as we can But over the Over my career the town not just the town of water break them but towns in general Are doing More things that they never did before You know recreation is a huge part of our budget now It's also generating Uh revenues that are it's paying more more for itself than it ever did. It's it's not breaking even yet, but We're we're generating revenues and Measuring the the value to the community just by how much does the tax cost I think maybe misses the point a little bit and again what mark kind of stole my thunder you're talking before the meeting started about Families can't find childcare I'm not saying this is going to be a childcare center and the solution for you know 150 families But it can be part of the solution to some of the issues and I think the The feasibility study and what we're trying to do is identify who the potential Users or beneficiaries of this system this facility may be And then figure out how We pay for it Nobody gets a free ride, but just to say if taxes go up You know three cents because of this or 10 cents because of this Yeah, they'll be people in the community that feel they get no benefit from it But if it helps these young families be able to live here and stay here That 10 cents may be worth so If You know it's it's up to you and and I certainly respect your Philosophy and if you think you can't vote for this I would just maybe ask the the board to table it for tonight as opposed to vote against it and then Have somebody in the public say well, you can't take that up again unless you have some Parliamentary procedure to you know reconsideration or anything else So if you're not going to vote for it, I just ask you to ask the board just to push it off to another meeting Uh, can I uh, is there any Example of feasibility study that water raised on that they didn't actually follow through on a project and yeah Yeah, we we didn't do a Feasibility of study per se and if I could go into my uh files in my office. I still think I have it We've paid Phelps engineering a considerable sum of money to Look at the swimming pool and its needs and to figure out a way to improve that fiberglass lining the pump system And uh, you know, they did the they did the work probably back in I want to say mid 90s 95 96 and it was a $800,000 project at that time And the select board said For something that's open eight weeks a year. We just can't Justifying the money. We know what we need to do and we've used that feasibility study to kind of patch things and replace pumps and replace part of the The circulation system, but we've never addressed the big issue that we were asked to address So that's one thing that I know that we didn't and I'm sure other communities are doing it as well I mean for to get into the weeds on how this is all connected in the bigger picture Uh, it's too difficult Um incurring more debt or incurring more maintenance or incurring more So-called assets You know, I think the word assets is overused. It's more of a liability. My son said something about The other night here. I don't own anything I said, trust me son owning anything is a liability The way things are going I mean I I want I asked Dan sweet the other night or the other day there What it would cost me to build a hay barn just to store my hay We talked about the size of that tear He said well, I'll be a couple hundred bucks a year Okay, yeah fine a couple hundred bucks to the town for this year Probably once the state education portion got added to that it'd be closer to 600 bucks And then climb uphill from there So consequently I put all my hay in my shop where my all my equipment is and I'm just a spark away from losing it all It's issues like that that really get under my skin and all I'm trying to do is store some stinking hay I understand but You might have a completely different take on it, but If you consider the building that you're sitting in right now Yeah, we have debt we have expenses but this facility provides an asset for this community that's Widely needed Broadly used and I think worth every cent that That we paid for it with our federal our state and our local taxes and It is an asset and it's something the community gets a lot of value and use for So, you know because it costs money everything costs money to maintain and and did our taxes go up a little because of it Yeah, but I think we have a much More functioning facility in town than we have before so absolutely and I don't I don't disagree with that a bit Again, you know the bigger picture. It's not just you know this municipality over the seven years I've been here. I've come to the realization that Is Run probably as effectively as A person could ask and yeah, there's some things that could be tweaked a little bit that might Help out nothing in improving exactly, but I'm saying on a scale of one to ten were probably an eight It's just a minuscule part of The burden that taxpayers Are faced with You know up here at the state house is a much bigger burden Along with the other issues That people have to endure living in the state the cost of living here and You know one more raindrop In the bucket I I don't yeah again. I get a different view on on how I see things I guess I understand And I I I've seen that it's forcing people out. I've seen that it's making it difficult Trust me Within my own household My family my mom Every book everybody from you know So to just take on one more and I know it's just one more, but that's it. It's just one more So I'm not going to belabor this issue if you're interested in tabling it will do so and uh We can move it forward on the next on the next board meeting, but I'm going to stick to my guns and I I'm sorry No No, I I certainly understand Chris Would somebody just make a motion to move this to you? I'll make a motion to table the authorization of the contract They're second I'll second time All those in favor or say aye. I Thanks, thank you, steve Select board items Set the tax rate for 2019 Minds well, can I deny this too? All right, man, I'm telling you. Oh, I'm sorry to know there's two there Okay, um, you've got a two-sided page there, I think So on the front is my My math and on the second page is the 411 report, which is a summary of the grand list the municipal grand list Starting a couple of rows down 7,568,916 dollars this year compared to last year 7.462 So it's a 106,686 higher Which is a 1.43 percent increase We budgeted for a half a percent increase So we thought at town meeting If you look at the table in the town report that the grand list was going to be 7.507 And uh, we're we're Higher than that by about 2,000 dollars So of course, this is one percent. So 700 1,568,916 is the property value in water brain We pretty much came right on target with our Estimate however the total town taxes in 2019 to be raised through 1,865,380 That's 12.888 percent higher than what we had to raise last year for $141,000 Uh dividing what we need into our grand list or by our grand list Uh brings the necessary tax rate to just above 51 cents. So I would recommend that we set it at 51 cents Last year, um Required 45.38 cents. We rounded down last year to 45 cents uh So the increase from the 45 cents to the 51 cents is 13.33 percent So, um By rounding down to 51 cents, there's about 5,300 dollars that Everything came out exactly right in the budgeting process would Would be in the whole by 5,300 dollars at the end of the day So that's the municipal tax rate going back to the top the homestead tax rate the non homestead tax rate Which used to be called the non residential tax rate, but they I guess this somebody at the tax department or the state legislature realized that They were homesteads that were not getting the Homestead rate because they are second homes or vacation homes Or otherwise not qualified for homestead. So they They call it homestead tax rate and non homestead rate now as opposed to non residential So the homestead rate $1.68 to The non homestead rate a dollar 64 8 4 Um 3.96 percent and 2.9 for 1 percent above Last year's rate Um, those are set by the state tax department using information From the school district about poor pupil spending and how that correlates to the So-called state block grant And then uh, it's also divided by our common level of appraisal Our our CLA our common level of appraisal is about 96 percent right now. So What that means is we're 4 percent under being 100 percent they might value We don't have to worry about a a reappraisal until we get Below 90 percent, which should be a number of years. Yeah, Dan's been doing a good job Kind of keeping up with the james and so to speak with regard to Adjusting the grand list So anyway I'm recommending that you adopt the 51 cent tax rate for the municipal Side of the ledger sheet and then approve the Education tax rates and at the very bottom We voted the number of years ago to Exempt up to $50,000 of property for disabled veterans the state Gives you a break on the homestead rate for up to $10,000 they allow you to go up to $50,000 but You have to pay the difference between the 10,000 and the 50,000 To the ed fund. So in 2019 There's 827,800 dollars worth of Homes Exemptions from taxes for disabled vets in town That's up slightly from last year in 2018. It was 793,000 So again doing the math we've got a We've got to raise 13,924 dollars this year to give to the ed fund So we divide that 13 924 by the grand list so that Exempt tax line the fourth tax rate if you will is 0.0018 So Ask any questions if you have any the very bottom you can see if you Prove everything that I've just kind of rehearsed here The all-inclusive homestead rate would be $2 and 19.38 And the all-inclusive non homestead rate Would be $2.00 16.02 You said disabled veterans, right? Yeah Disabled vets or their widows or widowers Any questions board? I think we know through our budget process that Our growing grand list is kind of helping to some degree keep pace with the uh Growing costs Well, you know our budget Fire outpaced the grand list this year Right we need 13 percent more money this year than we needed last year on the tax basis and 12.88 More than we have but you know we've We've used up The surpluses that we've gained over time We've added things, you know, we've got the full year of the state police contract. We've got $40,000 worth of ambulance Service in our budget this year. So, you know, that's that's really the the big change if it If you could remove You know if the village was still here and still had a police department and we weren't Coming up with $365,000, you know, your tax rate would be 47 cents instead of 51 cents, but it's a service that the community Was educated about and chose to spend so Well, that's kind of to my point and I just I'll talk about a couple things if you don't mind Through a meeting you just Kind of turned the light bulb on there about the whole ambulance thing that's As the clock ticks here that that issue of having to deal with them in a more broader sense Getting closer every day. I'm sure You know, then we got the fire trucks and Just all the things that all the things that are In our lap that we're going to have to continue to deal with It's part of the reason for this last issue Me not being on board with it. Um I wanted to bring up a point there because it just talking about the grand list talking about Economic development talking about how that's Perceived as being our solution to everything, you know to the governor's point of coaxing people into the state To try to help the economics here Be quite honest with you. I've thought about that quite a little bit In order to really make a difference like some of these southern states who have huge populations you'd have to Double the population in this state in order to get any Revenue impact that would be substantial to help the economics in this state and that would quite frankly my opinion Ruin the state Weak or so go ask carla how the how the Zoning permits were coming thinking about You know, what additional tax revenue might we Be looking at here Because everybody because there is no Help out there. Everybody's stretched to the limit. Everybody's working ridiculous hours must mean that And from what I know all the projects that are going on um I was thinking that our grand list would be growing fairly Larger this year than it has in the past But carla didn't seem to think that we were anywhere beyond what we normally were only in terms of Number of permits that have been submitted not in terms of type of project The grand list increased this year. I didn't bring last year's sheet, but Last year we were well below one percent. So the 1.4 percent is not, you know The really good years in the time that I've been here, you know Maybe one or two years we ever had three percent Really good years would have been like 2.25 to 2.5 Of late, you know anything over Over one has been good. I mean after we You know we dipped down after Irene and then we you know goes up like a rocket because everybody was building things back new but You know, it's like anything the the bigger the base gets it's harder to get a bigger percentage increase You know Yeah, that compounded. Yeah, yeah, yeah But I mean sit back to the governor's idea Anytime you import or have people come into the state, there's a cost that's associated with providing services to those people That comes right off the top, you know any any revenue that's generated. There's a pretty good portion of that that goes Towards just basic servicing of those people and then the the net Gain I guess Is insufficient enough to really You know, I keep hoping that maybe we're going to see a grand list here And I understand the fact that we've Spent more money in the last couple of years on paving that we've ever spent in the previous years We got this new building. So I In the police and I do see those things Happening, you know That doesn't lessen the impact on You know business folks like me like him, I mean We just and him we're just we're not able to raise our rates Every stinking year To try to keep pace with the the cost the additional cost that And it's basically coming out of our butts Well not not to get too far in the weeds about you know comparing us to the southern states and the like it's not just population and part of it is just The governance structure that we choose and that we choose to continue with and it it's a bear to change it And I'm not suggesting that we change it But if you go to georgia and we like kid live All these recreation programs that are going on in every town that appears to be a town for us Is being paid for by the county. So they're taxing all the property in the whole county and they have A number of different areas, but they've got all their administration for this, you know, it'd be Montpelier, Barry Berlin water rate. Maybe one administration. They'd be 15 or 18 different sites for recreation going on, but they'd have Far fewer administration people like me involved in running it because they're running it on a county basis Same with fire and police for the most part most municipal services outside of new england are run by counties And you give up local control that way because you don't get to design your own program as easily as we do You have to you know, you're sharing the the governance structure with with other folks. So There's a lot of reasons why but anyway for this year, I mean That in the past two years the big difference between our 43 and 44 And 45 cent tax rates that we had is the Police and absolutely the public safety center only, you know Okay So unless the other board members have anything other further to say we can make have a motion to Approve the tax rates as provided For the 2019 session I'll make the motion a second time Okay, you've been it's been seconded. Yeah, all right any further discussion Okay Okay All those who wish to approve say aye then aye Thank you, bill. Yep, and in keeping with the tax thing just to We've got a set that The late penalty if we're not filing homesteads We would recommend that you do what you did last year The motion to approve the same same standards as last year same formula Yeah Motion made last year Make a motion to set the penalties at three percent and five percent That's had been decided a year ago I'll second Okay Any wish to further comment? And let's see All those in favor say aye. All right. Thank you All right. Thanks. Thank you Oh 100 on 100 relay for saturday august 17th That's six months away Actually it's right around the corner I can't even believe we're getting close to august already so 15th annual 100 Relay is scheduled for saturday august 17th. It basically runs from Somewhere in stowe, I think so like malakimo all along root 100. Yeah They will be running through waterberry. Uh, they will not require any roads to be closed. They have kept lieutenant david white and barbed fire in the loop And they will go on the Community path to the extent that they can stay off of root 100 Did the board see the uh Memo that carla sent a tattoo for this relay Okay Yep, okay, I would I would put in a request if they're going to use the community path that In the event that When they're doing that it's a very wet and muddy day That there'd be some stipulation that they go in and fix it. They said the thing Of course crew will ensure that each child is inspected after the end of the race any recent generally be disposed of properly Because I know we've been running the gravel grinder for years and uh, there was one very very wet year And we went back and fixed the community path to the best of our abilities It gets pretty beat down when it's really really wet. So We had no rain in a long time so it should be good Like a week A couple pretty good storms there saturday Friday saturday Okay, but other than that I would make a motion to approve that No, we're all set. All right, bill some manager's items. Okay Um I'm not going to take any time to review this. Um This is the 2017 my place 2017 audit from Sullivan powers, uh, Sullivan powers is the auditing firm 17 was the first year that they audited all the years prior to that bill yakimoni has done It's a very thorough audit. Uh, there's a couple of, uh management letters or Letters you can hear that You probably should read Um There are a couple of findings. Uh, this is the first time in You know a lot of time that there's been any findings and I frankly attributed to the fact that we're just getting Used to what they're looking for They did make some comments about internal controls and if you read that letter you'll find that You know management and the auditors didn't have any Disagreements, so Um, they're their issue of internal controls. I asked them about it I said, why are we getting a Downgrade not a downgrade, but why are we getting this kind of citation that you're Concerned with our internal controls explained again how we have a pretty Thorough and extensive division duties Carlos signs checks, but she she can print the checks Reconciling checkbooks We we have different people in the organization do different things It boils down to the fact that I guess they would like it More clearly written out than we have it We have a big notebook that leand helped us put together that basically Explains the whole financial process That could only helped us put that together They would like it to be A little bit more wordy than it is. I guess I'll let them speak for themselves. They're not going to solve in powers My hope to save time and frankly I don't want to say Save time and just I'll we did that save time have them come in and and have a discussion about the 2017 and 18 When they finish it rather than have them come in now and talk about this one and then have them come in later. So The financial statements are in good shape. You know, there's things that they want us to report ourselves More than we did in the past and I can't I can't criticize them for it the gasby standards, you know, the Government accounting standards Bureau, I guess it means You know, we're supposed to keep a record of our fixed assets Billy Acoboni did that for us. He took our financial statements and when we made capital purchases of trucks Construction process project or built a building You know, he worked with me He took that information from the budgets and then he created the he created the the fixed asset Schedule that we have and he worked on the depreciation these folks Said well the standards say you as the municipality should be keeping those records and doing that And we've just not done it in the past so we have Worked long and hard this year. We have a schedule to fix the assets now that we've built into our accounting system that the the Component the ability to do it has been there. We've just never used that component of our accounting software So we are doing that now I guess it gives a better picture of the You know the bottom line of what the assets and liability of the municipality are but Knowing that the roundabout is a six million dollar asset Really doesn't change to business at all And that it gets depreciated, you know 130 of the 30th of it every year gets depreciated So anyway, there's a few things of note in here Look it over We'll have some solid and powers in after they finish the 18 audit and you can ask your questions then And the frustration with me is and I I'm not saying this complaining at all, but This transition unfortunately just There's no good time to have the transition from one hour to to the next But that it came I want to bookkeeper gut And you know, we just don't have As I mentioned many times before we don't have the financial departments with the staffing that many of our local Neighborhood houses, you know if you go to stone They've got finance directors. They've got head bookkeepers. They you know, they've got a They probably got a five or six person finance staff same with one failure. We have Michelle and me and Carla to a lesser degree and that's not a complaint. It's just a reality. So This stuff has been just taking an inordinate amount of my time But there's nothing that can be done about it. Just gotta Gotta get it done in the movement that direction. So anyway When you're done with it if you decide that you Are finished and you know, you want to start a fire with it or something give it back to us instead We'll keep it on five So, I mean if billiac of only had to follow the same standards Obviously hiring a new firm. They've got to prove their worthiness Uh, I don't think it's a matter of proving their worthiness. I just think that that um, you know from the Yakavoni produced an audit that met the standards and he he helped Get our books years ago when I first came here We had an income and expense report and that was it And he created our financial statements and over the time that I've been here Um At one point I sat down with him one of these new gas being It's called the caspy 34 standards were coming in. He said, you know, this is kind of The standards are ramping up to the next level and I worked with the people at Membrick Ernie Saunders and his staff and uh back around, I don't know it was 2006 So it's in the 2007 Time frame or so. So I've been here a number of years already Sat down with those folks and said, you know, we really need to learn how to use this accounting software I was not an accountant. I'm still not an accountant but we We moved to the next level and we started Not only having a good income and expense statement. We changed our whole chart of accounts You can go back in time and probably within two thousands you'll see how We we had two budgets. This was last year's budget and then we reported it with Through the end of the year and then our whole chart of accounts and the way we presented our budget changed completely and we started to use Balance sheets that we created as opposed to Yacoboni just making sure that they lined up right So we moved to the next level and we've been doing I think, you know, probably 90 of what we're supposed to do But there's certain things, you know, if you read in here Uh, we have a pension liability now Yacoboni if you look at his last audits You're going to see there's a pension liability there. There's nothing we can do about it We belong to the state the Vermont municipal employees retirement system, which is set up by the state legislature is run out of the state treasurer's office and the state The state treasurer with the beamers board sets the retirement percentages that have to be contributed towards You know, municipal employees retirement. We have no say we can't we can't increase it. We can't decrease it We can't take any action to change it But now these gas standards say You're supposed to know what your Unfunded liability for pensions is and you can find that in here Yacoboni used to do it and find it and he'd write it put it in the report. You could look at it know what it is Nobody ever asks about it doesn't really mean anything But some of the powers wants us to do it so we're going to have to be the ones that You know call this state treasurer's office look at these different forms It's not hard. It's just that it wasn't anything we had to do before because he did it Now we're going to have to get there and do it and we'll do it. It's just One more thing that we got to do so it's it's those little things So they're absolutely right in terms of what they're asking for Just was a little easier before just bill is a damn good guy right And he charged us about a third of what they do again Do I have to repeat myself? Of course, he pulled the plug on everybody there this spring and that was uh pretty disheartening after all those years Oh, well, yeah, everybody's time comes Yeah, everybody Okay You bet you All right, so moving on to the next item which is related So now I would like you to authorize me to sign the engagement letter for the 2018 audit We have started Gathering information and you know Doing calculations that they want us to do It's a it's a long letter Um, it goes on for Six or eight ages maybe eight nine vages Basically outlines their scope of service and what they expect us to do And then what they're going to do and then it Has the price which is the price they quoted A year ago and they've been on the project 22 000 dollars to 18 which was the same price as it was for 17 and then I think Next year will go up by a thousand dollars for the next three years So anyway, um You can read the letter if you want I can send it to you or my chronic is interested. It's really pretty good Whatever I ask you to authorize me to sign the engagement letter been solving the policy in 2018 We're still moved. Oh, sorry. Okay. Nope Second Quick and easy, uh, is there any further questions all those in favor say aye. Hi. Hi Hi Thanks Review of remote state police report The jewel report is uh Inside of the report the amount of jewel And then um We have finished The first year so this next one is 12 months july 1st 18 through june 19 Looking at the june 2019 report First Pretty straightforward Uh, very similar to what? The last few months have looked like And you'll notice when you look at the report for the 12 month period Most of the percentages are Similar Traffic incidents are up. They did fewer traffic stops in june than they did over the four year period, but Um That's really the the main difference The disputes amongst persons Really isn't that much higher. It's just uh The percentage is higher given the traffic stops went down in june and in june they had people that were Unavailable to to work uh because folks were on the The year report the july through june 19 report Shows that they had there were 1100 calls handled by middle sex in that 12 month period. So Just under 100 calls per month on average And 54 percent of the calls of those 1100 calls were taken by the two Resident troopers that were paying for 46 percent by the middle six barracks You can see on the graph on page three that Most of the time Looking at the 300 plus to 300 to 350 hours per month You know 80 hours a week times four weeks with the what 32? I mean 320 hours Is really 4.33 weeks per month As we moved later into the contract year if you remember one of the troopers that was Assigned to us originally Retired at the end of december And about that time you see that The number of hours that they worked on a monthly basis kind of trailed off a little bit They had to get the new trooper in they had National guard duty to do So There was a spike down there between april and may and now in June it has come back up to almost 300 hours a month and I think now that The military obligation for this year is over for one of the troopers that they'll get up into that 300 to 350 hours per week range again I don't know What feedback the board gets From my perspective this has been working well I don't the trooper that That was forced to retire at the end of december He was the most outgoing of all of them in terms of making it a point to come in here to talk to me Not that these guys aren't but I would see him A little bit more frequently than the current folks But that was before we had the monthly meeting set up. So I think that they're kind of Using that as their touch point with the community And um, I think you went to the last meeting didn't you? Do you remember when the next one is scheduled? I don't Yeah Anyway, this every other week, right? It's twice a month right now On a thursday night, no, no they moved it to wednesdays Because of the concerts on thursday I've had a couple of people tell me we never see them out there You know, I don't think that we're getting that money's worth because I just don't see them but you know, I Some weeks I don't see him at all, but other weeks I see him fairly regularly and some Somebody stopped on a couple of road near the day. So I know they're out there Yeah, because the last meeting there I offered up a couple of us offered up our You know Facilities driveways whatever For them to park and they haven't uh, haven't taken us up on it. Um, I haven't seen them hardly at all Lately, but of course I've had my face buried in the dirt. So I don't get out much But if you're saying you saw him on gupto road, that's that's a good thing. Um, I do know that Up by the town shed is still Can be a hot spot. Um, I was coming down through the other day and The canadian vehicle was coming through there and a pretty good clip And I said, where's the police when you need them? But Other than that, I mean On a very quick site now, what happened with those flash? I remember we approved the uh The speed flashing Yeah, then the we've Filed all that paperwork with the state and now I'm just kind of waiting for them to Come up and and do that work And uh, whether it will be this year or next is still not completely known But we we did put all that stuff in and gave the approval So it looks like in june, you know, they had 106 calls 15% were traffic incidents So that's only Stops in the bottom So either people are being religious or they're not happen to be where The traffic incidents are But I mean as far as a nighttime issue, I mean you're more of a night owl than the rest of us because you're businesses, but How is that? I mean, has it been working fine for you so far? Yeah I am seems like no complaints, huh? I see him around. Um But yeah, no complaints so far and frankly, I'm shocked that there hasn't been more More uh, people stopped for speeding considering all the side roads people are taking To get around main street I know the sheriff has been out on river road quite a bit um, and I've I've seen two or three people pulled over Out there because river road has turned into a race track and people are People are taking all every side street they can and coming around the horseshoe and Um But no, I overall I think they've been doing a great job I think some of it too The word gets around that they're setting up speed traps because For a while that they run. I've seen months tow street quite a bit actually in the guptel as well by uh, the post office You know a couple tickets get thrown out in town and a couple more people get pulled over for speeding And I think the word spreads that I didn't So I think all the deterrent right and notice this when I was looking, you know the june graph Shows, um 16 calls And it says traffic incidents 15 percent. So what's that? It's a little more than 15 right but on the That's on the back of the 12 month one the blue line Shows traffic stops and you know May and june it's got traffic stops ranging from you know, like 35 to 60 so I'm not sure what traffic incidents mean. I can I can check with the lieutenant. I didn't happen to notice this discrepancy until right now But looking at that You know, they're showing that traffic stops are It looks like the high month was you know about 118 last august and the low month was about 35 Then you can see The blue line is the stops The orange line is motor vehicle complaint. So I assume that's people calling about a complaint The gray line is tickets issued and the yellow line is warnings issued. So I'll talk to lieutenant white to try to get a little bit more clarity, but We'll let you know we'll try to remind ourselves what that next meeting is and might know Was there any general public there chris? I know the night that I was Last one there was The Wednesday There was I think 10 of us there a couple a couple different people than from before but Hey, and the last one I'll let carlin talk about it, but the legislature Every so often They call it the fee bill and the fees that Most of the fees that are set in the town clerk's office That are collected in the town clerk's office even the fees that we get to keep Are set by state statute. So it's beautiful across the state so carlin can give you some information on that So it'd have been like uh over decades since town clerk fees have been increased So this most latest session, uh There was pretty significant increase in recording fees and fees for all time So we should see an increase in town clerk revenues The second thing that happened in legislature was that Towns are now able to issue birth and death certificates for anyone in the state Previously I could only issue a birth certificate if the parents had lived in water Very when the baby was born and I could only issue a death certificate if The person died in water very Now I can do anyone in the entire state through our new Database that this day created So that means like chris player one can come in and Get death certificates, which he does quite often for any of the communities that he's serving instead of having knowing to Go to each of those communities So because it all it all just gets added to the Standard data sheet for the entire state That way there's a new it's called vital records information management system. We had Death records access to death records on that system. Now we have access to birth records We just have to type in the person's name data death data birth About opposite certificate and you can make a certified copy So what Recording fees were 10 now they're 15 the recording fee for a property transfer tax return was 15 You know that was 10 and now it's 15 recording fee for a mylar was 15 and now it's 25 All time was $2 an hour for researchers. Now it's four And we get to in the town gets to keep all of that We have to put a certain amount of it assigned for restoration Yeah, part of the legislation was at least four dollars of any recording fee has to be put in a restoration digitization digitization fund We were previously putting in three like a maintenance fund Yeah Good Any question all right that You got the antique car show and the main street update as well Yeah, so the antique car show is going to be held friday august night through sunday august 11th The main event is going to be at farce field Route two as it was last year um, they will have a Party street dance whatever you want to call it from four to nine o'clock on saturday the 10th At the train station using both rotarian place and resty park park And then they will have saturday afternoon from three thirty to five thirty The the parade I'm not sure The route's in here somewhere. I don't Do you want the time that I can? They have filed all the information that they need to do this The only thing that I can see that they don't have yet is the public events permit from the department of public safety if you're going to have more than 2 000 people You need a state permit they have applied for it all that paperwork is in So, uh, they have sent a check for 25 dollars for us, which is our events fee And I would ask that you approve the issuance of The special event permit for the From an antique classic car beat sponsored by the Ramon automobile enthusiast incorporated With the condition that The public safety permit from the state For us Are they doing a parade again? Yes, and is it the same route? I remember there was a lot of conversation because of the roundabout I can't remember how it actually went last year. They came through the roundabout up union street Over railroad street and over park row and they're back down main street. So I'm not sure what the route is Is that the same weekend as the arts fest? No This weekend Was the was the 4th of july festival the one that we were talking about maybe changing the location To actually on park row or what was remember we were talking about the whole issue of the one ways and Yeah, they uh They ended up using they ended up using Rotarian way and they put a They just put a barricade up And kept one one lane open after they had the flag The parade route Up route to to the roundabout Down main street Then park row Rotarian place park street And then main street back to the roundabout. So they're They're Carving off the union street Part of the route. They're just going to come up main street Go around the park and go back down. That's good because then, you know, it's ready to go left on union Right. Yeah They're hoping for 20 to 25,000 attendees Wow, so they're Hoping to have 300 cars in the parade They didn't come close to that many people last year. I don't think so then it was a Fairly good success then last year. They were happy with it. I know they came in You know a week or so afterwards and they did it kind of a critique and what they do differently or anything else But they they seemed happy and We're glad to have good So somebody would make a motion to approve the special events. Oh, yeah subject to the receipt of the Public safety from the state right So moved a second Any further discussion? I uh, I don't know if I told you there I just recently sold both the Corvettes I had I sold them to scott carpenter there up here at man's field motors, but Yeah, they decided that those years I saw those going online. I think maybe what's our race. Yeah, stand raise. Yeah, yeah Did they actually say hi? No. No, not yet. Uh, I actually did at one point of discussion. Have they ever asked about closing down? um Stowe street like arts vistas I wonder I wonder why I know that they used to close down in stowe. I mean, I know That there's a lot of events that happened down there But it might be fun to see that happen downtown too and I mean separately I'll reach out just ask if they because maybe they might not know that they can't do it Okay, well, you can certainly Pass that information a lot But Okay, um, I guess, uh, we need to Fill it up and say hi here. Um, all those in favor. Hi. Hi Okay, main street update. Yeah, thanks. Um, I don't remember if I brought this up at the last meeting or not But more for the public um 51 south main street the former municipal building which the E5 commissioners are Trying to get You know leveled off and put into a parking lot soon We ran into a little bit of an unforeseen snag there We had a an asbestos And hazardous materials evaluation before the building started to be torn down and they found it in the glass and in the glazing and in the a little bit of The little Portiles they had found asbestos and lead When deconstruct Vermont was starting to take down the roof that was over the town clerk's office and The porch on the back that stretched out over the Zoning and planning Office not the planning and the assessor's office Um, they actually they found some suspicious material. So They got a hold of bill Woodruff and they had to call the state the state came in and determined that there was asbestos in there So we had they had to stop carrying the rest of the building down until that was removed unfortunately that was found in the middle of june And when we reached out to the asbestos bailing the contractors They do a lot of work in schools in the summer. So they weren't readily available. So They were here today. I believe the asbestos was removed completely today And if that's the case, I won't expect that deconstruct Vermont By the end of next week, we'll have the building down we'll get the The biggest challenge, I think will be to knock that old fault down, you know, I don't know what's In there. We know it's concrete don't know how much we were or whatever is in there, but it's pretty sick So, um, we're hoping by the end of next week that that lot will be The building will be completely gone. The law will be level that it will be available for parking to replace spots being lost on Main Street There's a meeting here tomorrow morning at nine o'clock Where the town and jay mcdonald's and v-trans will be meeting with business folks who have been invited The critical path for mcdonald is the sewer the sewer line they've got to get that done And you know the deepest area is from right in front of the prohibition pig That's everything from the south end flows to that point then out elm street down into the behind the cemetery and then it gets flows over to the pump station and then gets pumped down there and then from Mark's building his building right now The sewage flows to elm street, but when the project is done from his building this way That will flow down north main street. I come down Right now. Yeah, I go down my parking lot. I'm the only line On it all the way into a sewer right in front of propane Right. You've come out on main street. What I'm saying is that when the new project is done Your sewage will not flow down to propane you know down the street. Your sewage is going to flow this way down main street Turned to be taking a left not a right right So anyway, uh pitch At a shorter distance we we have We have been working with the public and businesses in particular to talk about You know where this project is going to be and when and If you remember mcdonald When they bid on the project the state had the project starting at the roundabout and basically parading down main street four times in two years And mcdonald said we don't want to do that state They wanted to start at segments three and four at the south end do all that work And then they were planning to be up into the propig area sometime mid august is what We had thought A couple of weeks ago at a weekly construction meeting They talked about the schedule and Well, they wanted they're going to be starting work on the sewers of the store grids on elm street here at the end of this month middle to end of july And then they wanted to come up starting in main street In the end of july we said geez, you know Two problems with that one We've heard from the businesses, especially the restaurants that You know july and august are their big months And two if you do that, we're going to kind of lose credibility because we've been telling everybody it's going to be August before I get there So they went back to the drive board and we'll have a meeting tomorrow. I don't know if you're coming And you'll get more information about this, but They've sought a compromise and and we're going to honor it So when they finish the storm drink work, which is on randall and elm And then they have to start work on the sewers In segment two, which is right there in front of segment two goes from I think stows three to um Rusty Parker park is segment two Rather than come all the way back to elm street and start they're going to start at foundry street in front of the municipal building in orc south So they they will eventually have to get back into main street in front of the propane, but it will be It will be later in the summer or early fall. They'll start at 51 south main And that's one of the reasons why I wouldn't try to you know get this asbestos thing out of the way you get that building And be able to use that for parking So you'll hear more details tomorrow, but that's kind of that game So with that being said, how's that? Effect the car shows parade are they going to be They the contractor knows about the car the car show just as they knew about The not quite independent stay and they will make provisions. They don't work on weekends They've been told, you know And the car show folks have been told You might be driving on gravel, you know, we can't guarantee everything is going to be paved and If you've got a car that you don't want to drive on gravel that don't go in the parade Just go to the fire's field and leave it there But anyway, so that's it Okay, any questions comments Motion to adjourn. I'll make a motion to adjourn All in favor