 All right, so welcome everybody it's 615 and to another edition of the Rochester select board in town gathering Is there we have? Someone else is coming. Yeah, but we have posted the agenda in three places correct and on the website and emailed interested parties so we can move forward hi Burma Come on right up front Yeah Yeah, that's okay At this time we'd like to take any additions to the agenda that were not already posted and I have one of them already Chris Mattrick is here to speak about the What Mason had requested information about the new rules on public? Comments on floor service projects or federal projects. I guess you could say so at him and I And I believe that Mason you have In the process of thinking about a town generator At least there's an advisory for it. That was printed in the paper I would just hope that we start establishing our town mission for our efforts to deal with climate change and Reference to that because my personal preference would be to see us develop solar with a battery backup instead of continuing to burn more fossil fuel in the event of more more problems and I would like that Suggestion, maybe it could be a joint effort between the park house and the town in the sense of Of that mission because the park house is also now looking to deal with the generator so consequently Our concern is more weather events and potentials for problems. Well, how do we want to address it? Okay? I'm thinking that Jenna you might fold in Underneath Rachel Cunningham, but Jenna is what's your last name? Closkey is here from the Vermont Agency rural development. Yeah council on rural development and In response to our request for her to come and present information and we'll go into that when we get to you But I want to add you to the agenda Yeah, good job and anybody else who's that enough for now? All right So I'd like to start with the minutes from the last meeting which looked complete to me and I'd moved except those as typed up seconded all in favor. Hi, and I did hear from Tom He's not gonna make it. He's on a airport run tonight. So it's just Patty and I So the I Guess I'm gonna try and start with the people that have come from the farthest but before I let you go in Jenna with your Chris you came in to Respond to the request for information about the the new proposed rules about public comment period and stuff Would you want to give a brief summary of here? What's going on with that? Yeah, sure. So It's the US Forest Service has for many years conducted projects and they took advantage They took the time to go back and look at all of the decisions that they've made Using environmental analysis To conduct project analysis and looked at what the outcomes of those projects were from a from a decision point of view So when you produce an environmental analysis the outcome you either find a significant effect To a resource where there's not a significant effect And so if you find no significant effect and that's just use Robinson as our example the Robinson project No significant impact for the Robinson project. So all of those projects could move forward So what that means is there's no Significant effect on the ground. So we have another category of analysis called categorical Which don't require as in-depth of an analysis So the Forest Service has done is they've proposed some rule changes to add more Categorical exclusions to some of those categories of projects where they repeatedly over and over again had findings of no significant impact Projects so it's some of them have to do with road building road decommissioning repair and maintenance of recreation facilities special use of permanent issuances Restoration projects watershed and forest restoration projects So they propose Pat Prince I'm out here and I have a couple more I can add people want to look at them some new categories That we can do categorical exclusions The the change in categorical categorical exclusions don't require the same level of analysis And they don't require the same level of For the same number of public opportunities to comment On those projects. It doesn't mean that there's not an opportunity to comment What it typically the scoping is up to the discretion of the line officers that would be me I'm the ranger So I was looking at a project and I would say, you know We are painting the Rochester ranger station which we did this summer and I didn't outreach to anyone in the community about painting the Rochester ranger station because That's a category Administrative facilities that I didn't feel the need to certainly if I were to consider decommissioning You know five miles of the bingo road where it's on national forces to land I would certainly reach up to the public And have a scoping period where the public could comment on it I Think that some of the messaging that's been out there It's been a little confusing when you look at you know that if you look at the federal register and you're trying to read federal register announcements, they're a bit dense It's sometimes hard to tease out exactly what it means on the ground. So if I were to sum this up and You know short in a short sentence is that locally you will not see any change in the opportunity to comment on for service projects And the public has had in the past Will still be you know, if there's a timber sale if there's road construction road decommissioning projects We will certainly put out a scoping period a 14-day comment period 30-day comment period whatever's whatever's appropriate given the complexity of the project Great Mason is that answer your questions about that? Read about this in the paper Concerns about that that we're spoken about in that article Do what else we have to be happy to yeah Yeah and you know And I mentioned it to the select board of the meeting I was concerned it they had heard from you prior to it being a They had they um all the towns on the Green Mountain National Forest received a Notice through our simple and composed actions of the opportunity to comment and then when that got extended they were notified again Of that opportunity to comment The town I mean the select one yes, and it was in it was in the newspaper as a legal notice I admit I don't read every email in depth that comes across my desk, you know, I try and fish out the ones that seem critically Harlan you had a question About the trash in the campsite About this It just seems like it showed up in the paper like on a Thursday and the last day I mean There was no cloaking dagger, I mean this was a public announcement it went out to through all sorts of media outlets nationally This was to put out national because it's a national thing it's not just specific to the Green Mountain It was out You know in the federal register which is publicly announced in legal notices in their their Paper of record in their media outlets of record and then it was extended for another I think 15 days beyond the original period that it was out there So it was it got a lot of national media attention And again, we put it out locally as well the article that came out in the herald was one of Wasn't the first one that came out in the local news outlets. There was an article I think in the Rutland herald there was an article in the religion free press about it as well So there was plenty of a public notice It is I had a hustle, you know, uh, yeah I understand As I understand it the national forest is supposed to protect Correct people And including people. Yes, you know for the people correct And I think to do with the forest that you're supposed to take care of for us, you know, just seem like You I mean there was the opportunity to comment Like hundreds I think tens of thousands of people have taken the opportunity to comment No, that's that's not necessarily true what they're doing is they're they're changing the discretion of a level of comment For some projects to the local Met me the local line officer the local rangers. So instead of being mandated to require You know two 30 day comment periods because I have to do it What they're saying is is it my discretion on the complexity of the project and the level of public interest in the project How many opportunities to comment will be provided So it's providing more flexibility at the local level and the reason that you saw no comment in the newspaper that There's been all the local media outlets. There's been no comment from the gremant national forest is because Because of the national nature of the rule change They're asking all official media inquiries to be directed at our washington office. So the message that's coming back out is consistent So that's why they didn't they contacted the local our local supervisors office in ruttland I think the ruttland heralded and they were directed to the washington office And this isn't this isn't project specific. That's one thing to be clear on this. We're talking about a rule change We're not talking about any individual project And not having the opportunity to comment. That's at my discretion So, you know, if we did the robinson project today all over again We'd have the same number of opportunities to comment for the robinson Well, yeah, I mean our whole the whole success of our program in glemann is based on robust public engagement and we've been doing that ever since forest plan revision in 2006 And and there's not we don't have any plan to change the approach Because the way that you can interact each force has its own personality and its public has its own personality And the public wants different levels of input and involvement and we know that the public here is very interested And wants to be very involved in the decisions that we make about the management of our national forest Thank you for If there were a project that was That was focused on management of wilderness areas, then yes, it would Wilderness areas being a previous No, like if there was somebody like so Let's say that we hadn't analyzed the philadelphia peak repeater Removal as part of the robinson projects and it were a project onto its own Um, it would provide me the latitude to figure out how how much public Involve that would be needed in that particular project, but not the designation of wilderness mark. It wouldn't affect Yep Thank you chris. Yeah. Yeah, I figured you would have a lot better understanding about that than I did Yeah, I appreciate if you're you know, if you're very interested in this that I do advice picking up one of those I have four handouts printed here Great So the um, christian you're here to talk about the stormwater The project going down at the town garage further through the white river partnership And I just want to give you guys a quick update on the scope of the project and where we're at So if you haven't heard about it, we're doing a project for trying to capture the flow that runs straight down to the garage here And the biggest aspect of this project is we're putting in a hydrodynamic separator Which it sounds complicated, but really all it does is spin a lot of the sediment and stuff in the stormwater and that'll settle out So when the stormwater goes into the the river, we're hopefully capturing a lot of that sediments It's not going into it as part of the project We're installing a few catch basin the dry well a manhole as some new infrastructure to help collect that water and bring it over to the separator and so we I had a preview meeting for this project today and we had the ECS excavating and Harvey's come out to the meeting And we're kind of on a tight schedule for this. We're trying to get this done By mid-october so Kruger can get all the sand staged over there And so we're hoping to have our our bids our bids are due by next monday at 4 30 I believe in the afternoon questions the preview meeting today went pretty well We had some questions about paving Over there and as we dig up and install some new piping and catch basin What level of paving we're going to do and I think kudder has a good solution on how to best Save money and and still have a good functioning Area over there and we dig it up. We might do some a hard pack solution instead of Repaving the whole area, which would be very costly So, yeah, we're excited the wide requirements. It's really excited for this project We think it's a really critical area to capture the the sediment and prevent that from going into the water source and We're excited to get it going. We're hoping to implement on the first few weeks of october happy to Answer any questions that you guys have any any details on the project You said hoping to implement me So Yeah, so, um, I think this is going to be a pretty quick project. There's nothing Too complex The hydranetic dynamic separator comes in a precast On pretty almost like a catch basin that it comes in so it's really just installing that and the actual technology of it Is already set up So I think this is going to be a few days tops To get it done So we're going to work with With cooter and make sure we find a window that works to try and have as little disruption as possible to Get these improvements in and then have them done. So You know set to get everything ready for winter So quick question. Can you Give us a picture of where that's located in the nation to be facing the town barrage Yeah, so if you're standing in front of the town garage and looking at the bays And then there's the salt shed over the side the separator is going to kind of sit in between that And but we're going to collect water if you're looking at the town garage On the right hand side of it That's where kind of the water is pulling and it's going to come down there and collect into a A catch basin there and then we'll have A set of new piping that comes across the front of the town barrage We're going to put a new catch basin right in the middle of the town barrage in between the bays So in fact they have a movement of Pay the trucks in and out of there Um, the complete left side of the town barrage over kind of where the salt shed is that's where the Third catch basin will be to collect anymore Run off and then that will go directly into the separator Um, which we'll cycle out and all the sediment will settle at the bottom of the separator and then we'll have Piping that leads directly from the separator out to the river What do you do with the sediment that's collected? It's going to have to be vacuumed out There's a maintenance schedule. I think it's about once a year that that sediment gets vacuumed out So these are permanent structures? Yeah, but how do freezing conditions affect it? I don't think there's going to be any hopefully issues for using the There's a plastic pipe to have 15 and 18 inch pipes and The the separator I can look in for details, but I don't know of any issues with it running and in cold weather Is there some obvious question? So this is funded through the block grant system through the state And we have funding through the money came to us of the weather partnerships So we're all in the project with a matching portion portion coming from the town Clean water Yeah, I had two questions what type of volume it is are you looking at? Um, I'm not sure about what the overall volume of storm water that Is is captured an actual number of sediment that is the goal to To catch I can So When it's being discharged into the river does it first go through a kind of a marsh filtering process also No, are you going to be straight pipes from that? No, so this is going to go straight It's like our road runoff from here straight from the road into the catch basins One other aspect of the project is there is a proposed no mo area with some vegetation along the river That's there now and so that's going to be left on this server So hopefully if everything isn't captured and gets into our catch basin system and into the separator That will have a little bit of a buffer for it to run through So that little bit of the buffer is a quasi design capturing system Yeah, um, I would say the separator that was the main thing. We're hoping to capture the bulk of it. It's A little something actually where the potential of a A marsh situation to help capture other potential contaminants Of which hazard is materials of which I think is another subject That's been talked about in the town. I mean this would Is there a reason why you didn't look into That aspect of it? I don't know This is it is tight there in that area and that's certainly I know in the design process there were Discussions about vegetarians whales and options like that In the spot the separator was determined to be the best course of action It's definitely a step in the right direction and one of of three proposals that were given to the town one also for Something to catch down here where we have a lot of runoff going into this creek and the the biggest probably eventually most impactful I think would be a Catching the main runoff off the route 100 that is now dumping out at the bridge At robinson avenue and talking about a bigger underground system In the the new park that we gained after iran. So that's um, this is a step in that that direction This is the smallest of the three systems Well, thank you for the update. I'm glad it's um with all the other things happening in town. It's nice to see that We're not only responding to Disasters, but trying to work towards the future. Yeah Yeah, all right Thanks for coming We I guess we would like to in the interest of People that have traveled far and and also near Rachel you want to start with your presentation from the Envision Rochester and also with our guest jenna who is um She's probably come to far this I guess to to be here tonight. Yeah I'll let Rachel start and then yeah Yeah, there's Vic and I are both presenting tonight on behalf of the Envision Rochester Um, I'm not sure if I've met everyone here, but my name is Rachel kind him and I'm a co-founder of Envision Rochester And we're giving a very brief presentation and a more substantive Proposal to the board. We've printed out for you tonight. Absolutely. Sorry So let me very briefly say um, we've got a couple of those tonight First we'd like to present Envision Rochester as an independent Community based resource to the Rochester select board We're also seeking Rochester's Rochester selects board's official endorsement of Envision Rochester as a community resource And and we're open tonight to discuss any questions about Envision Rochester's potential partnership That we'd like to propose tonight with the Vermont council on rural development and we have a representative of that organization here with us tonight and our final goal tonight is to Respectfully recommend that the Rochester select board invite the Vermont council on rural development to partner with us Envision Rochester to conduct a community visit program Which is quote unquote A structured process that enables a community to identify prioritized goals foster local leadership And it will serve as a catalyst for the development and realization of concrete Achievable action plans and Visitor tonight can speak to some of those processes and and what that means in more detail So very briefly. I just wanted to answer a question that a lot in the community have been asking What the heck is Envision Rochester? Are they? We're an independent group of residents business owners and volunteers dedicated to building a more vibrant and resilient local economy We have a history that we've shared in previous gatherings and i'm happy to go into those Later in question time if anyone has a question But fundamentally it started with sewer bottle and I asking How can we help the right hand to know what the left hand is doing? And we thought of the community calendar as an initiative to kick off a way to unite community resources and volunteers so from that We've had a series of needles And what followed was an outpouring of ideas suggestions and a sense of urgency That something needs to be done to put Rochester back on the map and attract young families And new businesses to sustain our town and preserve our unique role in the white river valley So many of you I I recognize from our series of gathering summer new But I want to be very clear about what our mission is and then I'd like to hand it over to vic So he can go into more details about why we formed and and where the community is sort of urging us to go So our mission very plainly is To organize work and resources to help build a more vibrant and resilient Rochester economy If endorsed by the select board envision Rochester plans to build a normal momentum broaden our network And identify potential partnerships and collaborations with our neighboring towns across the white river valley And there's some specific things that I think they can speak to so I'll hand it over to him now And I'm happy to answer questions later when it's when it's appropriate So as Rachel spoke to we um Other Rochester residents come together to consider what we love about Rochester and what like Place the long-term future of Rochester in jeopardy and regarding the latter We know that the population is slowly aging and shrinking that the high school closed last year That normal cost increases to operate town services outpacing growth of the municipal tax breaks So we feel that these kinds of events suggest the town They be turning towards economic fragility and possible decline which threatens the vitality of local businesses our remaining school in our quality of life So we we think that town has a choice either to do nothing and just let this risky scenario play out Or work for change and we chose to work for change and started this initiative that we call the vision Rochester Um There have been a number of community discussions as Rachel alluded to and a lot of brainstorming came out of that And just to give you a sample of some of the things that were identified Building affordable housing creating tax incentives for local businesses creating a multi-town river walk Trail new businesses and jobs And restoring the amount of hunting and fishing to plentiful levels that used to be in the past So our vision is for Rochester to be placed on an economically sound footing with successful businesses including new places High quality of life in a place that is highly desirable for permanent residents second home residents in tourist life We seek to encourage and enable the community as a whole to determine the exact nature of that vision What it really means in terms of concrete changes from today And this would be accomplished we suggest by a community-wide visioning and a goal-setting process Uh, which uh, Cheney Kolaski will speak to So based on the vision, we have some short-term goals We hope to accomplish One is and I'll just take off six So then the next six to 12 months what we would like to see happen is To organize and lead a community-wide consensus building process results in a shared vision Of what Rochester should be in the future We would retain an expert private consultant to help guide facilitate this process Following that visioning work to organize a community-wide consensus building process The results in shared goals and priorities to achieve this And here's where Vermont council role development would begin to play a role in this work as a guide and a facilitator and coach Following that goal and priority setting work Create implementation teams composed of local volunteers partnering with staff from the relevant regional and state agencies And they would create and execute work plans Fourthly work with and monitors and support implementation teams report progress periodically to the Rochester community Fifthly establish a private not-for-profit entity that can seek grants and private donations to foster implementation of economic development goals And then sixth explore with neighboring towns where there might be areas of mutual interest and benefit And then median term looking out one to three years great once we have a base of Decisions made about what the the future ought to look like and priority goals create and execute a branding marketing strategy to help propel economic growth And continue to implement work Long term what we hope to see happen Looking out even beyond the three-year horizon that the downward slide in population is reversed population growth takes place To a level that maintains our cherished Small-town scale. This is not complete for unlimited growth by any stretch That there is there's a there's a maximum. I don't know what it is, but that's to be determined by the community If you'd like to see annual property tax increases that are sufficient to meet our needs Don't exceed rate of inflation. You think that's important to work for We'd like to see new appropriate businesses open here creating new jobs We'd like to see barriers to attracting young families like the lack of affordable housing and daycare overcome We'd like to see our school academically excellent and maintaining high enrollment And that tourism would continue to flourish here and even grow So in pursuit of this agenda, we need the help and expertise that Vermont council role development can offer We therefore respectfully request the select board to invite them here to work with us And we also ask that the select board recognize vision Rochester is a new organization to work with Vermont council to plan and implement their program Thanks. Thank you. Any questions or I'm going to move on to jenna next and there may be questions after all Yeah, that's a good idea. Yes Um So I'm jenna costi. I am the community policy manager with the council on rural development and I did bring um I brought a List of our board members just to give a little bit more sense of who we are and also a little bit more about the community visit program so, um Share that with the select board and then if anyone else wants a copy there should be one either Um, so I work with Vermont council on rural development. We are a neutral facilitator of public process in Vermont. Um, we are actually Authorized by the federal farm bill as a convener public process But it doesn't come along with any sort of authority or funding of any sort We are an independent nonprofit organization And we get our funding just like a lot of other nonprofits do from various different sources But what the federal farm bill does let us do is have a really unique board structure That really provides the backbone of the work that we do So our board is made up of several members of the governor's cabinet. It doesn't matter if they're what party they're from We are a nonpartisan organization We have representatives from federal agencies always usc rural development The vermont community foundation several nonprofits community leaders businesses and then we have representatives from all three congressional offices so That structure gives us kind of a unique connection and perspective on rural vermont We work with communities all around the state. We have been for the last 20 years We've worked with about 70 different towns through this community visit process We also work at the state level So when we work with towns we kind of add up the things that we're seeing trends and what's important and what issues are affecting rural vermont and then we have statewide policy conversations about that as well. So we've held statewide conversations on the future of the working landscape in vermont. So supporting food and farm enterprises on the digital economy in vermont So we have those conversations too But the the core of our work is really at the community level where we facilitate community conversations I want to say up front That we have met with envision rawchester It seems like they have kind of a great vision for the work they want to do In the community we when we work with the community We don't work for any group in particular We work for the community as a whole and that's why it was important to meet with the selective work The only work we're invited by the select board to work in a community It's important to us to know that the the process has the support of the community as a whole And that's important for the success of a process too. So I guess really quick. I'll just walk through What a community visit is all about Essentially a community visit is a Four month series of public meetings It's all about connecting the whole community together to identify kind of common goals and initiatives To choose priorities. What's most important to the community today and then to build action plans To implement those priorities We know that towns have town plans that are critical to the future of the town That towns kind of go through visioning and planning processes. Our process is really about action It's important us not to just kind of build a plan that sits on the shelf It's really about saying what's important to us today What are the three things that we as community members want to work on now for the future of our town And not to say what should the select board be doing or what should the planning commission should be doing or what should people You know from Montpelier or washington be doing to come to rochester and do for us It's about what can we do as a community together? What do we want to work on today as as community members? Um The process works in kind of a three step way So the first step in the process is something that we call the community visit day It's really it's kind of a celebration of a community, but it's also a lot of business and it's work to be done It's a series of forums throughout the afternoon or the evening and a big community dinner And we invite everyone in town to come out and participate in a series of brainstorming discussions. So In many towns, we see upwards of 150 200 300 people to send it depending on the size of the town We do a pretty deep engagement and invitation process to invite people from all different parts of the community It's really critical in these processes that they're not seen as for one part of the community or another Everyone to engage in and participate in And we collect ideas and throughout the series of forums At that day on community visit day. We also invite a team of top state visionaries and leaders to come to to the town for the day and to listen and on discussions and so If the community decides they want to discuss Transportation, we'd invite the secretary of transportation. We'd invite the congressional offices. We'd invite us to a rural development We'd invite people who could help support a community in the work. They have to do or to bring funding to a community But we're very clear with them that it's not a day for them to come and give speeches There and they're not used to that to coming to a community But I think but they like it they get to sit and they get to listen and learn about the communities that they're serving in the state So they're here for the day They listen in they share some reflections at the end of the forums But it's really all about hearing ideas from community members and all ideas are welcome. Nothing is thrown out that day We take notes of everything After that meeting we do kind of a cluster analysis of all the ideas that came up So you can imagine if you hold a forum on transportation and you hold a forum on economic development You might see some common ideas come up in those forums So we add those things up to you know, what are the big ideas that we're hearing become back a month later You go to you know the school gym or something like that You put the ideas up on the wall and walk through a pretty disciplined voting process So this is the point in the process where people can Community members can stand up Can kind of describe here's what I think is most important It's not a day for debating back and forth, you know, we should do this and not this and get to get in fights back and forth It's really to say here's what I think is most actionable most important. Here's what we should work on together That evening we go through a voting process and then we actually ask people to sign up for task forces to work on On those initiatives that are voted on And so that evening we walk out of the room with a list of maybe three priorities that a town's going to take on a list of people who've signed up that want to work on it And we head into the next meeting the following month To do some action planning So the final meeting we call it the resource day, but really it's an action planning day It essentially searches the first meeting of the task forces that have formed We facilitate conversations to identify what are the things we need to do now to implement this initiative And what are the resources that are out there to get it done? So we really want to go from the big idea to the action steps And we bring another team with us. So at that point We don't kind of look as much to the big like to big visionary leaders We look at who could work with this community to help them implement this project. They're going to be taking on so Right now we're working with the town of greensboro. They are working on they voted They prioritized building water and sewer infrastructure in their village center It was interesting I think a lot of people came into that meeting ready to vote on improving housing or attracting young residents So these kind of initiatives that were critical, but they realized well, you know At first we need to get this infrastructure bill so that we have the platform to to build on And so we're assembling a team now of USD role development the department environmental conservation Folks that have dollars and technical assistance they can bring to that community To help them work step by step through a process to bring water and sewer to the to the town Um And so after that meeting we end up with action plans. We have task forces We bring a final report back to the community that captures everything Nothing is lost in the process all the notes from that initial brainstorming day all the ideas that are on the wall So nothing's thrown out But then at the end of the report the action plans for the priorities that were chosen And importantly the contact information for all those visiting team members all the resource team members that were there Listening in getting to know their community and understanding what's important to the to the town to take on um, so it's a process that's about action and it's about kind of Work getting done from the ground up in a community. I think our Fundamental values and principles in the work that we do is that when community is really identify What's most important in lineup from the ground up to get things done that really? Incredible things can be accomplished So that's the community visit process I have had some conversations with the vision in vision Rochester about the potential for that process in Rochester um, I will say We offer this process free of charge to communities except for a couple things that we ask them to help out with Which is the dinner and a mailing inviting folks to the to the first meeting So you can imagine there's a lot of interest in demand for the for the process in vermont And we do have kind of a waiting list of communities that are looking to bring this process to their town And we're committed out Fairly far in terms of the communities that our board has decided to offer the process to So we've had just to kind of lay out a few different Options We've had the conversation about potentially inviting a full process in which case We have an advisory committee that kind of Decide where we offer the process to next but it could be well into 2021 Until we could commit to another community beyond the list that we already have But we do also sometimes work with communities in a shorter term way Especially where communities have already decided in a couple areas where they really want to work We can work in maybe a two month process that helps to Identify priorities and then build action plans or connect to resources And there's kind of a more limited way that we can work together which can be helpful in some communities where Maybe they don't need as big of a vision and conversation but have some issue areas They want to work on and we can kind of do a targeted Like precision process to get to to action with those things And I will just mention that our Advisory committee we have a representative from usd a role development from vermont community foundation We have a deep partnership with Adencio commerce and community development folks that know world preservation trust folks that know communities well in vermont They're very interested in regional conversations as well. We recently did a first ever four town process with south warlton Or sorry with warlton tunbridge sharon and strafford which was a fascinating exercise in collective visioning and And there's some interest in in more processes like that in the future too So there was some murmuring in the advisory committee about you know Is there a regional conversation to be had in this area? And I don't know and I think that's the fundamental thing. I'll leave it with us We don't know what's best for for this town or for any town We're not social engineers or anything like that. We work in service of vermont communities in in any way that we can be useful So i'm happy to answer questions about the process And I'd also love to hear reflections from the select board But certainly if you wanted to open it up and hear reflections on whether something like this would be useful It doesn't hurt our feelings when we're another if it is or isn't But I I'd be curious to know it helps to get a sense of a community to know Whether we can be helpful Well, I have a question if we did the abbreviated shorter Take on things could that be considered like a preparatory step to the bigger process Down the line getting in line for that or is it like a whole separate you would consider that's that's all you need to do I think it potentially could be um, I think It may be challenging. Did you want to Yeah, I might be able to find it. We're also in a discussion with Consultant Who's worked with other towns including Bethel who's currently working at Woodstock where perhaps we could Undertake the vision in the front end of it first with a private consultant and then bring in Remind counsel and second stage and then a limited basis then would ordinarily be Yeah case so we think there may be a way and we're exploring how to do this both with a consultant and with Jenna's agency how we can put something together then because we have to wait so long Yeah, so good product Yeah, and I think and the our committee knows So rebecca is the consultant that he's referring to and we know her well We think she's wonderful and she really would be very skilled in helping to identify that kind of bigger picture vision You know our organization admittedly is a little bit less about visioning and more about kind of action planning Although some of our processes some of our towns do decide to do a little bit of a visioning exercise upfront But it's very kind of um It's kind of just a list of vision points that help to guide the process Rebecca could do a deeper visioning probably And at which point, you know if through that process you were to identify a couple of kind of concrete initiatives that The town wanted to work on we could potentially Then help to Guide and facilitate some of the action planning and maybe bring in some resources. You know an example we worked with Chelsea recently where they knew that they wanted to work on The development of a community like a Not necessarily a co-op but a cooperative community grocery store market in town And they just need a little bit of help to facilitate some community conversations to really identify how to take it forward And what people wanted and we were able to help facilitate that and then to bring in Some resources to meet with them and think with them about next steps and connect to them So so that's something we could think about doing in the shorter term but in terms of like Working together in that way and then thinking in a more regional way. I would done that We have not And I I don't think it would be Prohibitive of working in a bigger way although it would be difficult to just think about how that works You bring the time together to work on some concrete initiatives and then to open it back up to again To kind of all the different things you can work on it. It might just be tricky Um for people to follow in that that process. So I take it that the envision Um committee's interest is more in this um shorter Um shorter program So what kind of schedule are you on for these um fast track programs? Yeah, we kind of fit them in when we can and so I think what I would do if um if the select board were to decide to um Kind of authorize the envision Rochester to kind of continue the conversation with rebecca and with us I think we would just have to um Bring it back to our board and get Approval and then think about where we could you know, what would work with the town's timeline and and ours I know that we have a couple commitments to shorter term processes in communities But sometimes we can kind of fit them in between Can you explain who rebecca is and I'm I'm assuming she is the expert private consultant And where does her funding come from at this point in time? I would have to turn that to It's a great question. She is offering on October 2nd a free uh very Um Detailed workshop with our steering committee to help us prepare for if we get approval from the select board to help us prepare to hit the ground running That's for free and that's a that's a considerable amount of time that she's going to give us that evening um on top of that Vic Just uh If there is required work beyond that initial being was probably would be we would see private donations to help On the other grants where okay, what what is uh rebecca's title? What's her credentials? She's a partner of community workshop and I can get those contact details for you She's a partner of community workshop the her her firm is called community workshop llc Okay, and we first learned about her in october thanks to the herald There's a terrific feature piece on her which I will I will get you I just didn't have time to attach to the presentation You have to forgive me Pat. Okay. I just want I just want that to be out there sure rebecca sandborn stone No, e on the sandborn And she's a better resident yell educated And she has I've been briefing her for more than a year now She's so busy like your organization But we've taken coffees and I've updated her on some of our initiatives and what and that's why she's still interested in working with us She sees that we're making progress So, okay Is there any other public input I have a question What do you want from the select board in terms of approval? What does that mean to you? Basically, it sounds like they're they're looking for our endorsement to to say we approve of this effort to to You know get these resources to help, you know investigate the the problems that we're facing So does that mean you're working more closely aligned with What their goals or how are you we're accountability for them? I don't I don't think I think it's basically we're we're We're asking for their their Um You know we're giving approval to their their desire to to work on behalf of the town They know and with the town When you say them it's us Invision Rochester is us our community. I just wonder if you've um It seems as though there's so much already happening in Rochester. There's so many organizations and clubs and groups I wonder if you've attended all their meetings and In a prize of all the projects they're currently working on or would like to work on in the future If you've gone to all their meetings I'm only one person and we have a steering committee of 10 Most of whom all of us are business owners ourselves and volunteer already There's only so much we can do so we rely on the community to participate and and fill us in and Invite us and yeah, and and plus I'm also new to the community So a lot of I'm doing my best to network Sure, I understand, but I think your question is really really important about accountability Um We we are independent and we're volunteer based. It's us. It's our community. So We're forming so that we could then help Gather up resources Expertise reach out to further networks and resources to help our town But the thing the important thing to remember is that we need to turn We need to turn on what the what the priorities are We the community We the community from You know from our public works employees who show up at community meetings. So, you know all of us So part of that determining those those priorities comes through Uh the facilitation process through the community visit program. Oh, no, I lived in this community a long time I've participated in a lot of different aspects of it and I find it's a very vibrant community right now. Yeah. Yes, it is right now My only question would be about getting younger people To Show up and what do they want? That's the big question What do the young people want? What's your experience working with young people? Um, yeah, I think I can answer a couple of your questions from our perspective You know, I can't speak to the role that envision Rochester would play that would kind of be up to the Like you say up to the community to decide but in terms of the community visit process and how it works To answer about the select board's role, you know, we look for an invitation from the select board But then we work on the whole community. So anything that's decided is coming from the kind of people at large, right? And they're not official town decisions. So, you know in Greensboro when they voted to work on Improving walkability and bike ability in the village center. That doesn't mean it's happening tomorrow It still needs to go through all the steps and processes that any initiative would have to Um, but it's something that's kind of now supported by the people as a whole and it's up to To folks in Greensboro to work on In terms of ideas that I think every community I won't say every most communities have a lot of things that are already going on in town, right? I'm sure there's initiatives. There's projects. There's groups. There's organizations and we know that and in fact We think that that's the reason that Vermont communities are thriving, right? It's because people are already doing all this great work in towns Um, we're very careful in our process that when priorities emerge So number one Oftentimes there's a lot of wisdom in the room when it comes to voting on what the priorities are, right? So someone can stand up and say I don't think that working on water quality right now is a key issue Because we already have an organization in town that's doing that, but no one's working on The bike lane in the village center, right? So the group can kind of decide collectively what's important to work on today And we also if things rise to the top Of prioritization, we're very careful as a facilitator to identify Is this redundant or is this getting in the way of something that's already going on or in fact The thing that's already going on need more energy and new volunteers to help boost it so we're we try and and work in that way that supports and doesn't hinder or get in the way and and What you say is critical about I think the when I A process is successful to me when there's new people involved when the leader of a task force is Has never done anything else in town before it's not the select board member who's on the school board and the planning commission And whatever else it's a it's a new business owner in town who's interested in watering sewer for their business Yeah, I'm just out of suggestion. And I don't know I don't know if you Anybody like carry Mcdonald from the pq down the school and stuff like that involve Yes, we're developing those relationships. And uh, it's very important to us. It's cool I mean you want to input from young people and Yeah, leave them on hand down to school Who have kids in the school? Yeah, what brought them here? I've met a number of young couples who've moved here and in the last three four years and um, you know Why did they come or what would they can say, you know, that's a good discussion Right Christine There is Yeah, I was just thinking that was a good resource Absolutely, we're developing those. Okay. In fact, thanks to uh, jenna's suggestion at a steering committee Um, she encouraged us to go and attend the leadership summit and that those were key issues that you talked about at those One of the three workshops that I attended Yeah, we're working. Okay, great Yeah, um, mason, could you step out in front of the camera so everybody else gets on the camera? You might as well also. Yeah Yeah Vermont council of rural development development is the key in the state is looking for poster child projects or to to help other rural communities our town has 200 hookups to its septic system, which is a leech field on the white river site four Which we already have rumors that if that fails We are in the process of looking at a facility a Treatment plant and let's talk about those numbers There are other ways to deal with the septic dehydration these are These are things that young people are working on in the white river area big time projects We can be the poster child community as the headwaters of the white river as we dump into the other community This is the type of inspirational stuff that could help people move to our community These are working people's issues Not tourism issues. I'm interested in working people's issues. So that that would be I hear more about tourism than I see the working Sounds like he's joining in vision of rochester Any other questions or comment about a Just interested to see what the board had to say about their request Well, we have two out of three of us here, but I for one Interested in any any efforts that are going to to bring more resources and more help to The town for improving our situation here. I don't know. What do you think? I think it's worthy of following I hope it gains some legs under it and continues on Like I have said before there's some of these organizations have popped up along the way and they lose steam. So I would encourage Keep the steam risen and and keep going with it. So I would endorse it at this point Yeah So I would make a motion to to officially endorse and envision rochester and their Attempts to to Keep things vitalized and and and more so and and also to work with the community development I second it. Yeah long favor. Hi. All right. I don't think tom would be Disagreeing with us on this but but he's not here. But yeah, so Yeah, go please Go forth and prosper Keep us informed But official still nonetheless Great well, thank you for traveling here to give us this information Um All right, so let's move on to Jeffrey and you you're back here to talk more about your issues with the Noise in the village Yeah, you've said an email asking susan to come down to me Susan bennett's and she's not able to but she sent me with a letter. Okay, but she'd like me to read All right Re-referencing the covertly approved outdoor liquor permit and related covertly approved Okay, you're just reading the letter. I'm like, okay, dear select board and attendees We were unable to attend tonight's meeting urna and I are here in spirit Urna and I were both surprised in june when but hunting in house lawn sprouted in arch large A number of large tables with various colored umbrellas String lighting around the perimeter and a fire pit our biggest surprise was yet to come when in july We had numerous nights of very loud profanity laced drunk patrons Disrupting the quiet enjoyment of urn is home on some occasions literally making impossible to sleep Upon researching how this was allowed to happen our neighbors and I discovered one The lawn outdoor liquor permit was issued covertly as only the yearly renewal of the hunting in house This license which is first approved by the town and then sent on to the state to their state license As the march meeting at the march meeting when I was approved select board members failed to speak about the lawn outdoor permit With constitutions which constitutes a change of use that should have been identified and put before the townspeople for their consideration Furthermore the town failed to notify the business owners of the town and state noise ordinance guidelines Which are not in sync with the 12 a.m permit When we spoke to the business owners directly as a courtesy they did not understand our noise complaint as the town had rented an outdoor permit until midnight We weren't being disappointed as our letter to the town about the noise issued Date in august 10th did not even yield of the courtesy of a reply The town select board literally took no action to solve the problem they had created We were left no choice but to pursue this matter with an attorney to assure that the problem has resolved the problem because it's susan and urna Janice and I and susan and urna have um sent a letter to the board Yeah, I have that. Yeah, so I don't know if you want that It's pretty long. I don't know if you want to read. I mean, it's basically I'm aware of it. Yeah So the noise was as bad as it's ever been on saturday night Well into the night after dark to the point where the police were called the state police who were um Because they've become the town constable doesn't exist the town sheriff is off Ludlow police referenced us to the uh state police. They called the Ludlow police. That's where the phone ranked Okay Um, they referenced the state police in rilton and the state police couldn't come out for a noise complaint Right if they called the hunting in house and after that phone call they immediately pulled everybody inside the other noise abated to an extent So I understand that that phone call was made between nine and nine thirty, right, right, which is Relatively early. I there there is reference here that the select board took no action, which is actually Not true. I mean we have been in communication with the the huntington house Who is the the noise makers at hand here and they have agreed to To limit things outside to ten o'clock and to try and dampen down the enthusiasm of their patrons and that's um And there is currently no noise ordinance in town. So that was their their you know agreement that it was, you know Reasonable to to I think they are trying to to work on this, you know in terms of sound It's not um, I mean to be making phone calls before ten o'clock and nine o'clock the I also called the department of liquor control and they are aware of this and they were um Um, they were called also. I think at nine ten that night, which is on a saturday night in the summer. It's um that was um you know Not not the middle of the night, but anyway the the um The statement that the the application was issued covertly is a little bit misleading I mean this is a public meeting and the public is invited and this is a those permits happen Yearly it's it's on the agenda. It was warned on the agenda that that was you know, so it's not It's not like we're trying to sneak things around. You know, I understand that it's been um In an issue and it's been communication about that but in terms of a change of use I brought this to the planning board And presented it to them and they all agreed that that was actually it's not a change of use That's what the use of that property has been for for decades. So in terms of it being a In a not properly worn change of use. That's that's not a That's you know Not there that's not a viable complaint on there, you know So so where do we go from here? You know Right Right, right The use of the property was never an issue before because clearly both the clientele and owners were very different in quality This has only been a problem since the Clause was put on their liquor license and that wasn't discussed that was changed on their liquor license So There's a clause in the upper left hand corner that was not on their liquor license Previously that was on their liquor license this year that was put in a different font that was never discussed My Comparative comment would be people used to not wear hard hats on construction sites But since putting them on they've had substantial amounts of decrease of head injuries It's always been done that way, but that doesn't make it right It was never an issue before noise was never a problem on that street the lights going on all night The chains the signs falling all over the place and in the public right of way were never an issue until the summer This has changed substantially Both the liquor license has been changed legally with the comment in their best statement as well as the application of it by these people Fair enough that's I um, I I guess moving forward the What I would assume the best way or I feel the best way to deal with this is When this comes around and it's time to renew their liquor license again in the spring that All this history going out there will be stated what is on the liquor license. What now has been agreed verbally with them in terms of Toning down the time, you know, I heard it was said at one of the meetings that they could do whatever they wanted to midnight Well, that's not really the case. I mean, we all know that's not not not real But the information is there And that's what they're Verbally pointing to on the page. Yeah, when I say you guys are being really noisy We can do whatever we want the poor this whole as we can do this. Yeah Well, they're they're running a little a little far with that. So that's like and You know, I'll just say it one more time People who have been using the lawn previously to these people had never presented a noise problem This was a noise problem with these owners with their client help There's a difference all right, well Rachel Okay, yeah Well, you do care because you're here. Yeah Yep, I can see that That one actually says open till you're done drinking Mm-hmm. Yeah In my view, I think it's about having a really respectful conversation And I have to say that the owners have been particularly supportive of different community events and showing other peers all community center and really supporting some fundraising efforts that we've been doing Yeah, there's there's Yeah You're telling your restaurant Right Marvin formula 70 70 decibels at the property line is allowable and I thought consider the noise Anything over that is a nuisance 70 decibels I have spent the weekend and today Right up until about 5 30 this evening polling surveying speaking with other neighbors in the area even closer And for the most part I just wanted to know if those people were not coming forward with an opinion for or against So that we knew how that was being supported by other neighbors and generally The other neighbors are in support of keeping the business going the Huntington house and They don't seem to express a large amount of noise coming Their way. Um, they find it to be something they can tolerate For what it's worth, but I I disagree. It doesn't mean to diminish what you're saying No, it doesn't diminish what you're saying and I disagree that the the time for respectful conversation is Is done because there's no sense in giving up on that. You know, this is not something that's going to just Just all of a sudden this is different now. This is going to require you know Work from both sides, you know, and it's um I you know, I I did I called the liquor agency this morning and he's came and Inspected the premises in response to I presume your complaints or earners. I guess it was Susan that called them And I mean he found no violations and he and he reiterated that he's going to continue to inspect the premises and and this talking with They could not be here tonight. Regina is out of town and her husband called me He said he apologized for not being able to be at this meeting, but they're open tonight And he's the one man show there tonight and they're As the previous presentation was all about we're Working really hard to keep Rochester energized viable business. And now does that mean that anything goes? No you know, and I would um I would Expect that they will will be able to Reign the enthusiasm in a little bit and and and you know find a compromise that would work But I know you don't seem to feel like that's that's worth trying anymore, but that's You know, that's that's what we can do You know, we contacted them at 20 minutes of 10 by other facebook We were told that they had two weddings Going on Well, that's a big improvement from them saying they could do everything they wanted till midnight So so that's that's evidence of them trying to reign things in a little bit I would say Yeah Annie did you have a comment? Yeah, I would just like to the first year that they're going to stay in business Which I'm sure they do because they have an awful lot on the line They'll be very open to a discussion at a time when they're not in the full swing of their business with a huge amount of You know a huge amount at stake for them, you know completing what they're supposed to be doing that night So I think there's a time and a place to have you know a conversation that can be heard and And with all the right people that can do that, you know, including a mediator somebody that We're going to try that but apparently the restaurant blew that off Well, like they said, it's like they're in the middle of their season And if you know anything excuse me, you know a lot about business Well, no, if you know anything about rural areas particularly places like this where the season is summer And the winter like come, you know, once it starts snowing or raining in october or november, that's the end of your season If that's what you're doing here if you're catering to If you're catering to seasonal activity So you're giving them the excuse that they're too busy to realize that they're affecting other people's lives No, I'm saying that they're in the middle of their business So there is the middle of actually trying to complete what they said they were going to do whether it was a wedding ceremony Or a wedding reception. It was a bunch of drugs hanging on the wine with a bunch of little kids Listen, you know, I'm not qualified. I'm not qualifying for people to go there And I don't think we can do that But what I think you can do if you really want to have a peaceful outcome Is give them the time and the space to do what they're doing this very first year and then come back to them and say So that's okay then for us to be working up at night Can I just finish this is not working for the community in this regard and it works in that regard But I'm not the community. I'm the guy living across the street That's guests are getting woken up in the middle of the night. Well, you are part of the community now But I'm also an individual who's being affected by them adversely Every moment when I'm being affected adversely And you're saying that this is justified because they're busy I'm saying that everybody deserves that better with the downtown I gave them the better with the downtown number of times until saturday night when I had to call the police At 9 50. Yeah, that's too I can't hear my TV because kids are screaming. It's too late. It's too late Okay, well, here's the thing it will have to be resolved And it will have to come in the best way to do it is Because our opinion of the only reason that this is happening is because the select board can give them permission to do it The select board needs to take that paragraph off of the liquor license immediately. So I'm no longer affected by this That was a change if it's a change to their liquor license Then it needs to you know what they still had they were still serving outside It's not as big of a change as you think they had that patio outside It's you know, it was not a change of what they were doing. It's an expansion. Yes You know, they decided to utilize their yard scott and bobby used to use the yard not to the same extent But they did it's not it's not really a change of it I'm not dissing the fact that you're having this experience But I I got home from where I was saturday night. I got I saw the phone messages. I saw the emails I wrote down there at 10 30 10 40 I did not see a soul. I did not hear a thing It was yeah Yeah, so it's um, you know police will be called again the next time it happens after dark I'd just like to mention that along all these themes of community growth That growth and change is going to happen If it's not what you like then you're working the uh Work in the community Conversation into where it needs to be But to take things to the level of legal action and additional costs to the town is pretty extreme So we have a short summer season here people want to enjoy it and uh I'm sorry that your neighborhood has changed a little but uh, I think those things happen We live on the quiet street that has an airbnb next to us and we have to deal with loud people unconscious people people A slammy car doors tweeting their door locks going back and forth talking really loudly and It can be very disconcerting very upsetting it wakes the dog up. She starts barking. We're woken up and What we have Done is we've worked with Our neighbor who owns the business. We're working with the neighbor. We're collaborating and trying to Get people who are unwittingly doing things that are no disturbing Well, all you can do is keep putting the effort into it because I don't want cars towed and then have to deal with that whole complication so I think it's very upsetting and it seems Very unconscious that people would behave in such a way I get it but This is a community and it is changing. It's not going to change It is changing I'm one of the old and shrinking I know about this So I all I can say is, you know, this is what life is presenting And it's the only thing is to make the best out of it. The best that you can I didn't want to sell the house. I don't want to move out because of these people across the street We don't want you to So then take the paragraph off of the liquor license that you've changed to allow them to shove this piece of paper at And say we can make as much noise as we want Because if they can make as much noise as we want that means everybody can make as much noise as they want But everybody won't make as much noise as they do No, and that was an extreme reactionary statement. I presume on their part, you know, I think that is is, you know I am feel like i'm a babysitter here, you know, and it's um It's uh, it's not going to happen like okay here. I just wrote that and now it's done. This is going to be in evolution and I'm willing to Work with you and work with them on that, but um I don't have a magic wand. I'm not in changing changing. We can't just, you know Retract their liquor license. There's been no, um Violations from the liquor license per se what we signed select board just signed an approval for the liquor license The liquor board then approves that it's the you know, you're asking the planning board if that's a change of use They say it's not a change of use. That's what the property has been used for Now it's a matter of just finesse and working getting through the upset and Working with them to say okay. You're you're closed for the night. Why don't you unplug the lights? They don't need to be on all night, you know now it's Backed off from midnight. It's like they realized 10 o'clock is a good time to shut it down Now you're saying that's too late and when you want them to shut down at you know That dark well dark is 9 30 in the middle of the summer, but it's at 7 30 now So it's had to be you know, I know you feel I hear that you're feeling taken advantage of and ignored And then that's not that's not the case That's you know, it's That's not the case, but that's not acceptable either and we're not trying to make anybody the bad guy here but I think that I urge you to Be patient and try and work this out, you know, it's um, but you did move across the street from a tavern, you know That's that's and that's part of the village and we're a struggling village And we're we're blessed that we have two places where you can go out to eat dinner And we have two places where you can go out to have breakfast or lunch and a lot of villages don't You know don't have anything like that and it's it's and we struggle to To keep those those and that's what the whole presentation earlier was about how do we You know increase the vibrancy here In a in a measured way that doesn't make life bad for some people It's this about you know It's this the job and a select board here is not about trying to To take care of one person's problem It's about everybody as a whole and trying to protect the village as a whole the town as a whole Even the people out in the sticks right harlan Yeah Yeah Yeah, so um I guess all I can do is ask you to to you know Be patient and working towards the goal and Nancy have something to say. I think we should be grateful that there are people who came and purchased that in Yeah, it could be a rundown place like it um several of the buildings in town have become Or were before these people came here Energetically came here and They aren't accustomed to living in small communities And I think we should be grateful that they keep the place as nice as they do And that they're trying to stay here We could have another vacant business It's 20 I maybe you could work on noise abatement in your house on either music or a little bit of An insulation situation That might help We have our with us open to we only live a little ways above you and we never hear a sound Well, I mean so you're talking about the windows right on the on the street there Yeah, so if you experimented with maybe closing those and open the other ones I mean, I don't know your house and how I even understand it. You are The most, you know the sound is a big brick building. I'm sure it's going to echo I mean before they started partying on the lawn. I'm sure that when there was a bunch of people on the porch It was just as loud Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not I'm not disagreeing that you're hearing this. Yeah. Yeah, but So we'll continue to try and moderate this, you know in terms of You know telling them that they can't have their business there, I don't know if we can take that step for you No, no Does anyone else have anything else they want to say on that? Just go on to something Frank, what have you got for us tonight? Well, actually I'm pleased to note that the Infrastructure of lower maple hill has become Considerably more resilient, right? Yeah, I wanted to give Coupter an opportunity to talk about all the work he and the road crew have been doing Calllets and ditches That would come with the highway report Right that's going to come with this highway report Are you there yet? We're never totally there yet I guess this is the way of saying right we want to hear from you right now. Thank you for being responsive to some of my concerns You know, I mean There's a There's a large culvert, right? That's That's that's that's empty and that wasn't there before and he and And the road crew they did a very good job of creating the beginning of you know what? Well creating really a swale, right? I mean, I didn't get everything that I wanted. I really wanted the culvert to be Parallel to make the hill road, but I understand that the town is a right to maintain existing drain engines But I thought I just wanted to respond to a really You know what I thought was a really good effort by the by the road crew and the road to a really improved a condition that Detected a lot of people Thank you. There were culverts all the way down the road that were replaced Because there's one you know up above You know great big ones your time had come frank. Yeah all in due time. Yeah You're It's a thank you For once and for once We say that all the time That's all state work. Yeah Marta you have Does that mean that they might possibly actually pay that section No As much as we're on the list well, thank you frank Do they I mean does the state or the transcoordinate with the town about what direction? Not not no not really When they want right when they need something from the town I emergencies pop up and the list just stays there and so as if if mother nature would leave us be for a few years We could catch up on the list. Well, it's considerably less bumpy than it was No, thank you frank. Yeah, so I guess the Road topic would segue into Joan giving us updates that you've got on the progress on Bethel mountain road Yeah So, okay site one Bethel mountain road the lower part work is going well Some areas are ahead of schedule Others are just on schedule, but looks pretty good so far for completing the main part the part they're working on now By october 11th The slope work which includes 20 culverts being added Along with concrete head walls that are poured in place footings And the outfall which is where the water comes out as opposed to where it comes in And Will be finished by next week all those will be done by next week Which is a huge amount of work and if any of you have a chance to walk Bethel mountain road after After six o'clock after six o'clock those aren't there. It's pretty darn impressive It's it's quite a piece of work and it's still going on Next week is when they'll start doing the road surface work itself Which is actually you know the roadway as opposed to all the drainage on either side And ditching as well those two things like they're going to be starting next week Actually some ditching they have started today They're starting from the bottom and picking their way And reclaiming is going to start which is part of the road resurfacing It's going to start on september the week of september 26th. That's the first part of the That's where that's where we we're making a comeback That's reclaiming asphalt. So taking up what's there now because there are many places layers upon layers upon layers archaeological site And then get to the the base And that's when they'll start Having on top of that if i'm not explaining very well i'm not an expert so if anybody wants to add Any improvement on my explanation? No Okay onto site 1b, which is the the added site from the Doherty property up to the intersection with Middle Hall road Du Bois and King our engineers are still working on plans and costs Tatro did give us give us his estimate for that work of about 280 thousand dollars Which is quite a bit He expects it's going to take about three weeks And not clear at all at this point whether he's going to be able to complete that section by october 11 Very possible that he will Not be able to do that Still a bit of engineering work to be done and Things need to go through need trance and then maybe For the most part the road will be open And they'll be working on that with flaggers Um We discussed would it be quicker if we closed it, but I I believe the road will be open They'll be working during the day with traffic control So then moving on to Bethel mount roadside 2 which is the part from the intersection and going out the upper part to the town line Through those of you who are at your the last step forward meeting We'll know that this is going through a v-trans id iq process And there will be a pre-bid meeting held on wednesday for interested contractors This is a limited bid process And it must comply it still has to comply with the town's procurement policy So I took a look at that To make sure and our policy is actually silent on this kind of situation where v-trans is You know doing the bid process and they're sending it out. They sent it out to somewhere between 50 and 20 Pre-approved contractors. So that it wasn't advertised publicly so The question was, you know, does it still comply with our procurement policy and I said I believe that did If only because there's nothing Covered by that in the policy. It's a pretty simple one So what I propose to do just to sort of have belted suspenders on that issue Is I'll write up a resolution Which lays out his points for why you believe that it does comply with your procurement policy And the reasons for undertaking this with v-trans the way we're doing it And then you can sign it and that'll just be something in the file Which you know says you you thought about it. You looked at it. You believe that it's Approvable the way it is So I didn't get a chance to that state. I'll get it to you the next few days Okay, you can look at it add to it whatever Uh, that's all ahead Thank you for continuing your work on that. That's good. Um Terry's not here So we do have um, is that that's the resolution that we're talking that was on the agenda that but you don't have that yet Okay And Any news from the library back there Yeah a long process Thank you Marvin you had something you wanted to talk about. Yes, just a little bit Uh, I appreciate hearing about the visions, but my vision is getting duller and so forth. But uh, Anyway, because of Mason bringing out the slack board Last meeting and I wasn't here That he brought out out of the slack board field about the forest service lack of uh, community or or Neighbors import and I've got to go back to the point that I'm glad that the I love trees But I'm not a tree hunter And so for they are a crop as an old crop or a hay crop. They are a crop They need to be harvested and so forth and hopefully put too good And so that will help prevent fires and give one of life more more access. However I am a The uh, I asked you only put it down renewable natural resource and absolutely that's where I'm coming from I I believe I heard Mason say tonight that our our sewer Our sewer treatment is going into the white river. Well, it is not our sewer treatment is completely underground It does not go into the river. I didn't do the storm water is still going into the river. I did not say that I said in the future. I don't hear what potential problem What's that? Did I say it was going into Okay, well, anyway, the river has now been Reclassified declassified if you would as of after we took our Sanitary sewer out of the river it was declassified probably in about 1980 to where no sewage treatment plan Can ever dump into the white river north of the two of the confluence of the tweed river at the point That is that is the complication will forbade that and that is a good is a good thing But the other thing we have for an issue is is the fact of Our wildlife and that is the river the river as the woods is wildlife And I certainly like it all of the wildlife and that's why I'm saying I I can't look too far into the future But I could go a long way back to where the forest service will do in no logging and until 1948 if you would in this part they didn't have didn't have an office here until 1960 And that office office within the hardware of where the paint department and the garden supplies are now They had about two people here. It's not the secretary But anyway, my father and rally buster is the one that got him here as a friend of of knowing gerry willer the The the forest supervisor in rutherland. We did not have a satellite office until they came to rochester and they had already got acquainted with rochester because The result of their fire of our church in new york's eve was 1944 We needed to rebuild it the forest service gave the timber Uh from the rutherland office gave the timber in 1948 to become by john eaton and davin Allotted through and milled by the eaton lover lover company to rebuild the church And that was the forest service did back then they didn't have to have any Any community input back then it's a matter of fact that's quite new It's only been about 30 years that they've had to have an impact study And so and it opens up everything it has cost the forest service more to have a timber sale Uh with the impact studies that they got for the timber now They were harvesting it and they were selling it. However, they were not making any money And so but and but it needs to be harvested and and and control like our wildlife needs to be harvested And so for I don't The deer need to have a place to roam and they've got these places and more and more new landowners Are posting the land against hunting. Well, that is a is a handicap for uh fishing game officials the way I feel there's that we don't know enough Us lay people out here No enough to to uh have the tell the forest service No, you can't cut that tree and so we're going to rely on their expertise and I think that we need to do that That is my vision But by the same time I can't look a long way ahead. Thank you. It's definitely thank you Thank you, Marvin. Yeah We have a couple bids here for the north hollow north view drive Um, it's the yard drive um, it's ditching right and I am not sure since tom is not here that we can Make a decision on here because we've got um two bids one from ecs and one from I'll see I can get it. It's a very good envelope You said sealed It's the intersection of north hollow and north view drive area And then Sayara Is Just the two copies of the same thing. Is that what we got? Site one and site two and this one is I'm not saying site that is I assume it's site one and site two. We've got a bid from excavate and it's the same amount of No, not quite the same amount got 2700 Let's see which one is site one and site two here No, about same distance Same distance. No, here we go north view near seara drive. So for the north hollow north view. It's 2760 And for the seara drive it's 2700 and that's from excavate and from ecs excavating For north hollow road we've got 3606 And for the seara drive 3786 And I'm thinking that since You are involved with excavate that you have to recuse yourself from this and since that leaves me as the only one here We have to put this on hold until I can join with tom and we have enough people to vote on this so Yes, we have the bids in the in the record and then we'll go from there And I guess we'll have to warn another meeting and discuss that so I think that's enough right Wait You have a question back there. I can tell I think so No, wait, no, Walt. Oh, yeah, Walt. I'm sorry. Walt. You had to say something about the harvest fair. I see you in there. Yeah Yeah, I just wanted to comment that For those who don't know the parkhouse board is not trying to put a generator over there A group of citizens that got together to try to do this project And so that group of citizens wants to thank the harvest fair attendees and vendors who generously gave the other day Let them know we'll be around for some other functions But thank you. All right Anybody else before we close this off tonight? Thank you all for coming. It was Wait a minute. What? Oh, what's the missing book I guess since I have nothing else to say about that I just figured that's getting a little redundant down there Yeah So it's like 20 30 years of my select board reading minutes to the top There is one of the dates Just get bigger I didn't think it was that big So that yeah, I have nothing more to report on that Yeah, all right anything else that any further looking for downstairs Um No, I don't believe there has it been um busy trying to fix the tax bills after the Supervisory union through a big wrench in those works. Yeah Yes appears to be fixed all right mason when something else you want me, uh, I wasn't sure I mean the Windsor sheriff might call. I mean real or perceived Lost minutes, maybe it's time just to report them just so that the town's people feel like there's some reliability That at least we know there's a process Is a process or not I mean that volt over there it's pretty serious to us and When does it become time that if it's real or perceived that there's missing minutes? Why don't we report it? I think it's reported every meeting that comes up Comes up potentially have stolen records real or perceived Where are they? So just report it Let somebody else handle it These are Michael Thanks for the suggestion. Well, it's a great All right Last call for comments and we're gonna move on thank everybody And let's uh go forth and nurture our little town