 Thank you. Later. Yeah. Okay. I got it. So let's move to our special joint meeting with the call select board to discuss. He's popular fire department FY 2023 budget requests and fire engine purchase options. So what is the callous select board think of the budget. Let's just start with that. We have agreed to put into our warning the budget amounts requested by the department. Okay. Yeah. So Denise are you, you're going to vote vote at town meeting on the budget. Correct. And we learned today that s 172 past. It's on the government. And he's expected to sign it like tomorrow or something so that all of our articles will be by Australian ballot as they were last year. Yeah, or because of the pandemic stuff. Everything will be by Australian ballot. We will hold an informational meeting. And I'm going to ask the board to talk about when that meeting is going to be tonight. It will probably be the Saturday prior to town meeting, which is February 26. When do you hold your. We try to hold it when we have our select board meetings. We'll, we'll have, I'm not sure we haven't discussed how many we're going to have, but we'll have as many as possible. We generally have those on the Monday before town meeting. And we may have it, you know, other Mondays before that. You have more, you hold them more than one information meeting. Yes, we like to because especially no open town meeting we want to get out as much information as we can. If we do the mail in ballots, which we may do that we haven't decided yet. We like people to have an opportunity to discuss the issues as much as possible. Yeah, we should. We can tell us like we can talk about it we did an informational meeting last year and it went really well. Yeah, but you only did one. Right. Yeah. That's what we're used to doing things on the floor so this was almost. Yeah. Yeah, we'll probably have more than one we did last year. So, okay. So, did you have equal level turnout at both a few at two last year. I think we had more than two. And but good turnout at all. Diversified turnout. I wouldn't say we had a great turnout every single one. As I remember we did not, but we had some turnout. Probably most at the Monday before. Is that correct Bruce? Yeah, we had the three of them in. Two in February than the night before. Yes. And evidently the most was the night before. Yes. And you did that. What's that. You do it on zoom. Yes. Yes. I wasn't clear. If you had three meetings, were there different participants at each of the meetings so that I mean, if it's all the same people, then it's maybe not worthwhile. I'm just wondering what the spread is. No, it's different. People. Okay. It's good information. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. So, um, I guess we'll have to go. To. What's that? I just say what, what do you want to do first? I want to ask what they think of the budget. Cause I'd like to get that done. Um, I think Judas concerned with a budget last time. Uh, that. Vaccines for the health workers were going to cost more money. I think that's what I got out of it. Is that correct? Sorry. That was, um, I was concerned that the. Not having a vaccine or testing policy would result in. More, um, E M F D employees being susceptible to COVID resulting in absences, which would impact the ability to provide service, but would also impact staffing and the need to hire. Additional staffing, which might be more expensive, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but we've, I've seen, um, their new policy and I appreciate the efforts that they've made. So I, um, I no longer have that concern. Thank you. That was not seeing the policy. Well, the chief is here and he can go over the policy with you. We're not, we're not going to eat up all night on it, but I've talked to chief tide twice about the policies. He's given me a huge amount of information. He's got a lot to share with you. Is that what you want to do? Ty, right now. I also want to move on to the beyond the budget. Um, we have Judith, myself, John, Amy here. Um, what do you think, what do you think about the fire department, uh, we're not looking at the budget of fire department, ambulance service budget. Uh, the rest of the East from uniquely slight work. I'm fine with that. I approve it. I would approve it. Yep. And Amy. Yeah. So why don't we get that out of the way. Make a motion. To approve that budget. I'd like to see that happen so we can keep moving the conversation on. I'll second it. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. The ayes have it. They appear to have it. They do have it. So the budgets. Past. Now. I'd like to move to truck. Is that something you want to move to Denise? Sure. Okay. So the proposal that the fire department has made to us. I'm just going off the top of my mind here, but. They were going to pay for a little over half the truck, which is 400 some odd thousand. And as the towns for about 200,000 130 was going to come from me, small player and 65 and counts. Is that correct? Everyone. Yes. Yes. That's one of the proposals they've made. I personally think it's a very fair proposal. I don't know what the rest of the site would think of it. I don't know what Cal is. So. Here we go. I think from Cal's perspective, the fact that they're paying a huge part of. They're paying a huge part of it. I think. If you've come to the truck is really. Really a good thing. So you're saying. Cal is willing to pay the 65 and. We're putting it on our warning. Okay. Yep. Okay. Good. All right. Fair enough. Judith, John, Amy, what do you all think? Yes, John. I think it's a, I think it's a really good deal. I don't want to get cheap rolling too much credit, but I really appreciate the fact that he picked up. We're going to pick up that large or larger share of what I expected of the truck. Yeah. So I, I appreciate it. Yeah. I'm on the same page with John. And Judith. Yeah. No, I think it makes sense. I would approve. I think one of the things I'll talk to tie with. Is if we put it on the warning, which I'd like to do. We do need to say the percentages that the fire department's paying what the town's paying. And make that quite clear. How much the fire department is stepping up. To pay for this. And I think that we can word the article in the warning in such a way that it clears that up and makes that clear. Which I think is in everyone's best interests. The townspeople know what's going on. And that's a good thing. Yeah, I think the clear, we can make it better. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, we know it's a huge expenditure. The fire department's going to pay a lot of it. I think that needs to be made clear. When we asked the townspeople to approve this. So we can do this on a consensus. Just, we don't need a vote or anything. A promotion or anything. No, we don't. Yeah, I can say, I think the consensus is fine. Yeah. I think that's a good thing. Because we're just talking about putting an article in the warning. Then, and then when the warning is done, the two separate boards vote on. Approval of the warning. Yeah, but. We're doing that tonight. No. Yeah, we're going to, we're not ready to. We'll be doing that next week. Yeah, we're not ready to. Get out of articles. We're not ready to go. Okay. Okay, so. As a consensus. Does the select board think it's a good idea to put this on the one? Yes. Yes. Okay. Great. All right. So we're. Callous are we done with the fire? Okay. Yep. I just had a quick question. If there's thoughts on how it would get paid for in terms of like loans would call us take a loan for the 66,000. Is not fair would take a loan for its portion. Just so we have a sense of that of what it would come out to be. Now, once the votes go through. In terms of actually purchasing the truck. Tell us we'd have to take that alone. Okay. I am not, I am not for taking out alone. We have money in our capital reserve. I think we could. Do it. Without. Eastmont Fair would support its funds through the capital monies. Calus would take out a loan for the 66,000 or 65,000 for its portion and then Eastmont Fair Fire Department would take out a loan for the balance of that and carry the note through paying off of the capital over the next few years. So basically each entity would pay its own portion on its own indebtedness. Yeah. That's my take on. Now I might be off. Is that correct, Bruce? Well, we're throwing numbers around. I thought we agreed on the numbers. Hopefully we'll get those straight out. But as far as the Eastmont Fair being able to take it out of its capital reserve, that's how the warning gets phrased right now. Yes. And that's my perception. Yep. And is just so unclear, is the Fire Department taking money out of their capital reserve or not? We would. So we would take a note out with the bank for the balance of above and beyond the 200,000 and we would carry that note paying the payments out of the capital reserve account on our side with the anticipation then on the front side of it, Calis would have put in its portion and Eastmont Fair would have put it in its portion. Yeah. My question is, is do we have to authorize the expenditure of the EMFD money out of the capital budget? Yeah. Well, I think that would be an action of a one-time action that would cover the lifespan of the truck just as we have with the other apparatus that we're currently paying for with loans for the ambulance and rescue too. Okay. So our warning would be structured so that it authorizes in addition to our taking a loan out for our share, we would authorize that expenditure for the EMFD from their capital fund. Is that how you're going to do it, Seth? Yeah, that sounds fine. No, Seth. That's not how we would do it. Oh, you would do it two-fold then? No, we would not put before the voters the use of the Fire Department's capital reserve. All right. Of course not. Right. Yeah, we're not going to put that in front of the voters because that's something that we always do ourselves. Yeah, it's like Ford decides that. Yes. But we're kind of approving it right now, even though we're not formally approving it. Right. We'd have to before you buy the truck, we'd have to do that, but it's implicit in this meeting that we do approve that. We're not going to ask the voters to come up to approve us taking the money out of the capital reserve and not approve you guys taking the money out of your capital reserve to pay for the truck. We can't approve. Well, there's no point in approving that until we find out if the voters approve the expenditure. Right. Yeah. So all one for us. Yeah. Yeah, we yeah, but it isn't really because the way we've we've structured in the past is that we approve them taking the money out of the capital reserve to pay for those payments. So that would but it's an implicit that we're approving it, even though we haven't formally gone through the process by putting out a warning. Right. Right. That would be the effect. Right. The effect is that if the call is voters pass the taking out a loan for the portion of the truck, then we in turn would approve the part of taking money out of the capital reserve. Yeah, we have to do that in a formal meeting. Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So is that your is that good? You good on that? Yeah, I think that sounds like it covers it. Then you guys will have a warning that's written jointly between the town. So it will show the same wording in Calis as well as in East Muppair. Yeah, we should coordinate on the word warning. Yes. Yeah, I think that would be important. I think that's important. Yeah. And I think the other thing to note just even once the approval, you know, if it gets approved that town meeting, and once the truck is ordered, this truck would not arrive until sometime at the very best in the early parts of 2023, maybe mid 2023, the way things are going. I mean, just go your calendar years, Ty. Cal, calendar year 2023 on that. So it would, it would not arrive for it minimum 12 months, maybe the 15 months after ordering timeline. So, you know, if it was ordered sometime in the May, it would be sometime in May of 2023 to June, July of 2023, probably before its arrival. Okay, make sense. Okay, so we've done the budget and the truck. Is everyone satisfied with those two items being approved as they are? And we can move on. Is the other reason- I have a question. Okay. Based on the timeline that you just put before us, Ty, I guess this is a question. Do you, Bruce, is there any issue with voters approving something in March of 2022 that would not be an expenditure until possibly after July 1st 2023? But actually just the opposite, you're, because of the way- It's just authorizing the select board to do it, when it's possible to do it. Yeah, but when it's proper to do it. Right. Okay. Thank you. But we're approving our budget for 2023 years. So that falls, that's moved as well. That's, we're budgeting for 2023. Provided, well provided. That is town meeting. So if the truck is purchased, you know, if it came in 2024, it still wouldn't matter, I don't believe, as long as the expenditure is made before then. But yeah, I don't think this could authorize an expenditure where the money flows out of the towns in 2024. Right. This is fiscal 2023 and it sounds like the truck would come in fiscal 2023. And it's expenditure would be 23. So it's not an issue. But where it would be an issue is if it then somehow there's a major payment that has to be made when the truck arrives, when it's picked up. And that doesn't happen until the second half of calendar 22. No, 23. 23. If it happens in fiscal 24, it would happen in fiscal 24, have to go back to the book. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if the truck doesn't come in, in year 23, then we would have to re-worn it for fiscal year 21. Well, unless it had been totally paid for. In other words, it doesn't matter when it arrives. What matters is when the money comes out. Well, yeah, but we take out a prize. So we need to pay for it before June 30 2023 is what we're saying. Yeah. Ty. Yeah. So there would be no issues with that. There's no penalties for prepay or anything. There's some benefit. You know, we save a few percent, but it's very little on the prepay. But there would be no issue if towns approved the monies to go ahead, that we could go ahead and take those monies, expend them within the fiscal year when you needed to paying the payments to the manufacturer of the truck and take care of that issue altogether. So it would be a non-issue. Yeah, it's a non-issue, I think. Okay. So do we have anything more to ask of Ty while he's here? Yeah. I guess I want to know what we didn't receive a copy of the policy. So what is the policy? That's twice here. Yeah. So there's more of a question directed from Eastmount Bayer. It's several select board members in Eastmount Bayer to the Eastmount Bayer fire department of if we were all vaccinated and things. And the answer is no, we are not all vaccinated. We have several members. We have several staff people that are not vaccinated. We can forward you that all the information. Basically, we have extensive safety policies and COVID guidance policies that have been in place since the very beginning of this. They're ever changing for us, working with the health department, working with the hospitals, as well as internal. And in any world, it's difficult to mandate somebody to say, hey, you have to be vaccinated, not vaccinated. But the option we adapted, the only thing that changed that we've done to what we already had in place was adding the option to have somebody test weekly if they choose not to be vaccinated. And that will be implemented and started as of February 1st, 2022. So that would be a requirement, the testing type? The testing will be a requirement for that. And again, that will follow CDC guidelines for as long as those pieces look like they're in place and things. Eventually, this is going to be the new normal. And a lot of these things will change in the justice, as everybody's seeing. So that's the current policy as to what you see. We'll get it in front of you guys when you can see it. So PCR test is the accurate one, as we know. It would seem to me to make sense that you acquired a weekly PCR. And then when someone arrives on duty, they do the 15-minute test in addition, because there's a three-day lag on the PCR. And so if you required the weekly PCR test, and then when they come on shift, they do the 15-minute test just to cover the gaps. And then you're good. Yeah, I think if you read the guidelines, we've got to say, I think they're most likely with that it would be if we receive a positive test from we're probably going to do antigen tests internally on there to start. And if we receive a positive test, then the employee will have to go have a PCR test to clear where they need to be. But the employees can have a negative test, you know, a quick test and be contagious. I just talked to somebody who came out negative on this, and then it turns out they had it, and they were sick as God. I really don't see how it's even conceivable that we would let someone be in an ambulance with sensitive people if they haven't been tested on the more accurate test. The antigen test is 50% efficacy. So, you know, you guys are EMTs. I would think you'd be most schooled in that. And I, like Mark, have a family member who their daughter tested positive with the antigen and was positive. The mother tested negative and with the PCR was positive. So, just FYI, you're going to be potentially the EMTs anyway, not the fire people, but the EMTs are going to be going to houses increasingly of old people, like my neighbor who's on her last legs, and they could be potentially the reason that the person doesn't make it if they expose them. And just so you know, my understanding is with the vaccines, that those like me who are boosted actually mask the symptoms very well. And so I can actually be highly contagious, and if I were an EMT infected, say an elderly person who's immunocompromised and killed them unwittingly. So, even for people who are vaccinated, it's really important that they get, I think, at the minimum, the antigen test to vaccinate people. I think everyone should get a PCR through our EMT weekly and in the antigen test to fill the gaps. You've got Travis here that's had his hand up for a while. Can you let him speak? Travis Shores. Travis Shores from Calis. Very quickly, I am a prior EMT and my friend are both in Mass and in Vermont. And my wife actually works at CVMC right now in labor and delivery, which is also urgent care for a lot of people who come in both with COVID positive symptoms and otherwise. And one of the things that they are seeing quite frequently at the hospital is a rapid test at home proving negative and the PCR coming back positive. It's a new phenomenon that's taking place right now. So it's not really that effectual to say that we're going to put all our trust in a daily rapid test and think that we're all going to be in any way prophylactic to the actual COVID vaccine or virus that's out there right now. What I will say though is that as an EMT that also worked a lot with law enforcement and hospitals, the rates have been well over four times the amount of COVID spread among first responders that are out there. So there are people right now, I mean even a coworker of my wife, you know, in her family law enforcement as well, tested negative at home, positive at the hospital after she had already been in contact with sensitive populations of people who had no ability to get the vaccine. So policy wise, I think, and this is my own opinion right now, the most responsible thing to do would be to mandate that people do get vaccines. And when we say we don't hear about anybody ever mandating vaccines, well that was actually the policy for all our school children up until the COVID happened. I mean I got a call the other day about my daughter not getting a HEP A vaccine booster in time and I said you're calling me about HEP A during a pandemic that you're not mandating a vaccine for that. Don't we find that a little strange? And so I always found that if I was going to be in the best care scenario like I trust my own body, I trust my own health, I did get vaccinated, but you know I'm a pretty healthy guy, I don't want to be walking death sentence to somebody unwittingly. And that's kind of where my policy would be right there. Do the most diligence I can, if I can have a body that can receive a vaccine to not be able to be in a place where I'm going to affect my co-workers and we're going to lose time and then have to hire people and stress the very thin amount of workers that we have currently right now anyway. So that's my two cents. I'll be quiet for now. Thank you. Thank you Travis. Thank you Travis. So I have something else to add. I know it doesn't surprise you John, do it. No, it doesn't surprise me at all. I'm still awake though. So we had a callus and I think maybe East Montpelier, we were sued, or the fire department were sued under the legal premise that the East Montpelier fire department was our designate for emergency response and all that stuff. And our insurance did not cover us because East Montpelier fire department, passive would not cover us because East Montpelier fire department was a private nonprofit and they weren't a municipal entity. So because of that, I don't feel one that we can compel East Montpelier fire department to do anything because they're a private nonprofit. But at the same time, it sets us up for massive liability if the EMTs, if we're funding a program such as the EMTs and the trucks and all the training and everything else that leads up to someone knocking on someone's door with a stretcher at hand, we could be sued. And I think there's very good argument we would lose for actually getting ourselves bound up in contracts and funding programs that are maybe in eyes of the law, not protective of the populations we serve. So I just want to put that out there, folks. Good point, John. Thank you. While we may not be able to compel them directly, we have a contractual relationship with them, we can whatever we want in the contract. Well, I guess we could, but we're not reopening the contract, are we? You've made a very interesting point. Right. There's always the opportunity that no passage would cover us. Nope. Well, then we have a real issue here. So I think that we've conveyed our feelings appropriately and Ty can put out the information he has to me. And I think there's some other people, Ty, probably Denise has said something about not getting your protocols or whatever it is. If we had had the document that you all had, we might have been more prepared to discuss this tonight. I don't have the document. I just talked about it with Ty. I don't have any documents. So Seth, a couple of things. One, Calis, if you want to download the documents from the East Montpelier website, you're welcome to do that. They're posted there right on the front page. And to Ty, I want to thank you and the rest of the fire department for being responsive to our concerns in developing this new policy. Yeah, I do too, actually. Yeah, I think it's a tough issue. I think for clarity, these policies have been in place. The only thing we changed was adding the testing portion of it. And I hear what Travis is saying in the concerns and everything, however, the reality is you can be fully vaccinated and be a carrier and not know it and spread it to whoever. I think the key element here that is the key difference in what we do is the PPE that our staff wears on every call going in. We do not blindly going into somebody's house knowingly exposing even long before COVID. We don't blindly go in and expose people, right? We're wearing safety gloves. We're wearing gowns where we need to wear and tie back suits, goggles, mask, eye shields, all kinds of protection methods that are not in place for the typical general public. And that is our standard protocol when we go into the hospital. The same when we're exposed to a patient in the back of the ambulance. We have safety procedures that are in place that we uphold and that we do. We do different procedures now differently than we did before because of the COVID. And again, we're under the constant guidance of the emergency room and our bed control as to what the standards are. There was a reminder notice that came out from our bed control today. Just reminding people to be wearing their N95 mask, their eye protection and gloves on all calls and things. And again, it's not because there's a rampant disregard for it. Sometimes there's some squads around and our squad has been very efficient and effective in wearing the PPE as needed. And I think that is the key difference in what we're looking at here in terms of vaccinated, unvaccinated exposure risk to the general population. So the CDH, I'm assuming that's the hospital you're talking about. Your policy for protecting against the spread of COVID with and without vaccines, vaccinated personnel are consistent with CDH's policies for you guys. They're good with what you're doing. Essentially, yes. I mean, ours are not necessarily parallel to or guided by the specific hospital to its employee guidance. However, we have guidance that comes out in effective reminders from our, you know, from our bed control and everything. Again, so this is from this was today. No, this was sorry from the 7th dated 1722 from Dr. Ellen Stein, who is our immediate med control for District 6 ambulance board. Okay. She says, annoying reminder, please wear your N95 and eye protection on all calls and whatever possible, even at the station. These are the next few several weeks are going to be rough and something we just need to get through. Again, that's just a reminder from them as we do it, you know, and upholding standards and things. When we go into the hospital, all patients that we carry it, transport in have masks that are put on them prior to arrival to the hospital. So again, we work hand in hand with them and the standards that are there. We have no inhibitors to anybody who's not vaccinated that they cannot enter the buildings through the emergency department. They go in wearing the proper PPE as needed through to patient delivery. Sounds good. Any more questions for Ty? Any further comments? Tell us what work. I appreciate you taking the time, Ty, to answer everyone's questions and do things as well as you do. I know it's a lot of work. Tremendous. Yeah, thank you. We appreciate the support and we understand the questions, but we do appear and uphold a high level of safety for our individuals and staff, but also more so for the population that we serve and we fully understand the risks that are out there with us. Yep. Okay, so thank you, everybody. I think, Calis, are you done with us? Are we done with you? Yeah, I think so. Send that form along Bruce, would you? The form? The form, I'm sorry, the policy that Ty was referencing? I guess it's on the... Sent it to Denise. It's on the website. On whose website? The Fire Department's or East Montpeliers? East Montpeliers. East Montpeliers, right. Okay. We shall look for it. Thank you all. Good to see everybody. Yeah. Happy New Year. Thank you.