 So I will call the meeting to order at 7 o'clock First item on the agenda are the minutes from May 21st 2019 is there a motion to approve I'd move to approve the minutes of May 21 2019 with any amendments or changes there, too Is there a second? Page one page I know that Jeff has a In amendment item number seven and leave the large paragraph the very beginning of the large paragraph I believe Everybody was able to see a copy of that I figured it was best to send it than to try to explain it tonight, so Okay, with it great. Go ahead and go ahead and explain just you know It's not really all that complicated. So go ahead. Yes, it just I think when the recorder is trying to you know Record and and Condensed stuff sometimes it's difficult to do and this is a case where good try but maybe missed a little bit and the emphasis is really on Not a concern about the host town agreement per se, but a concern that a change in the name could be the start of Uses at the facility that are not consistent or included in the host town agreement It's not that I might disagree with those uses But one of the first steps that needs to be done is make sure the uses are addressed by the host town agreement and I just want to make sure that My concern was just make sure that that process isn't being thwarted by you know a name change not thwarted But kind of preempted might be a better way to put it. So hopefully my proposed changes Which I tried to minimize to keep as much as the language that was put there by the recorder is is okay Fine we have those because those as well Yes, that I figured it was it was actually easier than me to try to figure out how am I going to explain this tonight? It's just And that's fine. Thank you. Well, thank you everybody for one other thing on page two Okay, another sitting in solid waste district thing is actually under number six Second paragraph first sentence. It says Jeff fairs express concern about charging for recyclables. That's that's fine That's totally true, but I thought it might there it might Benefit if there's just a very brief explanation about why and the why is because It creates a disincentive for recycling or to recycling or to recycle Since it causes a disincentive to recycle you mentioned that at the meeting as well I feel quite strongly about that Yes, I probably over emphasize at the meeting Anything else on page six. I mean page two Page three and page four hearing no further changes then all those in favor of Approving the minutes of May 21 2019 say aye. Hi any opposed and no extensions Move on to public comment. This is the time for anyone in the audience who has any Comment to make on the issue whether it's on the agenda or not. This is your time to to do that See no hands raised. We'll move on to interviews and appointments to town boards And how I'd like to handle this tonight. We have four candidates or two candidates for the conservation Commission Two for the solid waste district and one each for the cemetery Commission in historic and architectural advisory committee So I'd like to if we if we have read all this and Laura Meyer here tonight Can you come to the table and that would be Good And we do have your Applications in front of us, but if you would just briefly identify yourself give us a brief Idea of your of your background for the position and why you'd like to be on the conservation Commission Hi, this I'm Laura Meyer And I'm applying to be on the conservation committee Have been living in Vermont since 1985. I got a master's degree at UVM and zoology fell in love with Vermont went to Colorado to get a doctorate and My husband and I moved back to Vermont because we thought it was the most beautiful place in the world we moved to Williston and I had a job at Connecticut College. I was commuting to As an assistant professor Then I moved a little closer and I was working as a professor at SUNY Plattsburg We started our family stop. I stopped teaching. I actually chaired a preschool board That We were accredited I was responsible for the budget Director and I hired teachers. We were always fully enrolled and Recently I Went through the Vermont master naturalist training in Williston and what that is is Someone I knew from graduate school we should down Daniel started the Vermont master naturalist training to Have to make citizen scientists who in their own town understand the natural resources From the geology glacial geomorphology Human settlement patterns to communities natural communities in the town I invited Jess Robinson the state archaeologist to talk at the library and I recently finished setting up a Celebration of the cat and mouse forest. It's a walk series Starting in July with Ethan Tapper the Chittin County Forester And it goes through November ending with Sam Samantha Ford who's going to talk about the human settlement of the cat cat amount Family Center And I think I tried to do as fast as I could that was it. Thank you My name is Reed Willis I've been a resident of Williston three years. I grew up in Massachusetts Had a career in public health and public welfare mostly in the state of Pennsylvania and Moved here when I retired Because I wanted to come back to New England and I have two sisters who have been here for 30 or 40 years So I'm happy to be back in New England and I wanted a way to give back and get to know the community I live near the Allen Brook and because of that I started getting interested in water quality, so I've been participating in water quality sampling for two years and Then when the town did a survey or about that of neighborhoods that a bud The Allen Brook I started attending conservation committee meetings, so I've been going to their meetings for several months And that's just kind of drawn me into it So work the questions for our candidates. I'm delighted to see you up here Thank you very much I guess my my question is along the lines of And I'll ask it once and then hopefully both of you Will answer is what is Wilson doing right or maybe what aren't we doing right? Have you had a chance to? It sounds like At least one of that chance to interact with the conservation Commission But you know the town plan and how it addresses open space or conservation issues, you know again that same question You know, what are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? What might you? Advocate for if you're on the conservation Commission I Have read the town plan, and I'm actually very impressed by it, and I know that open space is listed as a high priority and The town plan also talks about wildlife corridors and Other you know other natural resources that are important to the town That is something that I think the town is doing right and Even to the point of making sure that you know lights are focused down in the Buildings of the town so that there's no light pollution in the sky, you know just details like that What I don't know what the town is doing wrong. I know I There's development, and I'm not against development. I think there has to be a balance between development Hearing all the voices in the town including Understanding wildlife and plant communities what's rare and what's not rare what green fields should be left what green fields could be Used in different ways Yeah I've been really impressed with sort of the citizen Activism that I see around the catamount community forest and sustainable will is ten That just to me shows a lot of energy of among citizens who are interested in conservation issues and climate climate change issues and Then living as close as I do to tax corners. I'm concerned about sprawl from there So I would that would be my slant on things. I guess you'd say if I in reviewing Activity Other than that that's what kind of what I know Yeah, if you were to think about your focus points of like prioritizing like what you're gonna bring to the commission What you'd like to focus on like what would be your like top three things that you would pick or have a passion about that you Would address first if that was Individually you had that power. What would you bring to that table? I? Actually have been thinking about this one thing. I actually am Organizing is a youth naturalist training in the town. So it didn't happen this year because I Organized it after all the camps came out. So I had some interest but not enough So I'm going to run it next year in Williston and it's going to follow in the same vein as The Williston master naturalist series so from the bedrock to birds type of Idea so one day for each Subject in a different natural area in Williston And the other thing I'm thinking about is educating the public and I was thinking about how to do that and I was thinking of asking Marianne at the observer if she would be interested in it like a nature corner where not only could you say something interesting about? wildlife in the town, but Maybe what the town is doing what's important as far as keeping our waterways clean And the third thing would be Seeing where it is appropriate to have open space and wildlife quarters for me, I guess it would be water quality and open space and Educating residents about what they can do to Improve the quality of their own neighborhoods and areas where they live further questions While it's still fresh in our minds if we choose to appoint someone tonight. This may be the time to have some short debate and emotion We do have two spots correct you have one And that's always the hard part because we have two candidates who I would be happy to Leave the room Which is we pull out a dartboard That's why there's so many holes in the wall So I said my piece I guess I would Ask the candidates if you weren't selected tonight Would there be something else in town that you would be interested in serving on as far as a board or a commission? for myself Really the conservation Commission was the one that you know I looked at that I was kind of excited about and thought I know a lot of the people that are talking there I think there's a meeting tomorrow with Terry Marin who has been doing bird walks in town the Architectural committee possibly Just because I don't know much about architecture, but I certainly appreciate old buildings in the historic farms And that's it This is the one I'm particularly interested in as I've explained and I've been going to their meetings So would anyone incur to make a motion? I? Would like to move to a point Laura Meyer to the conservation Commission for a four-year term through June 30th of 2023 Is there a second? I will second and talk about that during discussion It is up for discussion may have an ocean I made I was impressed with Reid's preparation You've been at at conservation Commission meetings It sounds like they kind of won you over and that's probably why I'd be happy to To appoint you Because you showed the interest you know sort of the dedication the willingness to maybe pick up where you haven't Don't have maybe as Experience whatever yet not experiences of the right word But you know there's some conservation Commission members who've been on there for like 20 years Which is incredible dedication. They're just a wealth of knowledge. Of course nobody can be close to that But what I'm being swayed with with Laura is your education in your background It's it's very strong and one that I don't know how else to put it So I'll just be blunt. I mean could I can see it really benefiting The conservation Commission But again, it's your about your tier educational background, but I think it's just gonna bring so much to the plate The thing I would hope is that you're not discouraged You let me here for a long time, so there'll be other great Any further discussion If not all those in favor of the motion say aye, aye, aye opposed and no abstentions. Well, congratulations Laura And I'll look forward to seeing you back read So we have now two candidates for the Chittin Sound of the Waste District Mike Moran and Jeremy Halsey if you would take your place at the table again, we have your I have applications in front of us, but if you would for the cameras Identify yourselves and give us a brief Description of your background and like it like to be on the CSWD Okay, thank you Mike Moran I met many of you Serve as a constable last year and appreciate your support and doing that. I enjoyed that Working with police to our roll out the neighborhood watch was probably the primary activity I spent most of my time on and just doing the research that We talked about to try to understand kind of where that position stood, but in general general background I've got degrees in business administration and internet engineering I have worked and by every sector That uses IT services over the many years all in management positions leading Some very small to very very large teams and departments in in the process of supporting organizations and their implementation of technology Veteran from Armour Reserve six years and Armour Reserve I've done a lot of of my own construction works are generated a lot of waste certainly know the challenges of Getting that waste to the right place to be processed Very interested in helping the town out and there's another opportunity to do that Would be willing to serve You in that position? I guess I had some Some thoughts to which we can talk about in a minute. I guess Background Hello, my name is Jeremy and I The majority of my background actually takes place in Wilson. I grew up here off of old Creamery Road on Sunset Hill and I Went to Wilson Central then to CVU and then to UVM where I studied parks recreation and tourism in the College of Environment natural resources, so I have a background in looking at problems from a sustainability lens As well as like will it work kind of ones as well And then after college I started working for Ben and Jerry's which was my College job scooping ice cream, but I was offered a full-time role in the scoop shop as an assistant manager And I have since become the manager of the flagship store downtown on Church Street and one of the projects there that inspired me to apply for this role was Implementing a composting program behind line behind line is like where we scoop the ice cream the employees. That's where we work and It was as simple as it sounded in my mind there were a lot of like process challenges and understanding the cost of composting compared to trash and recycling and it made us look at our whole waste stream system and And also look down like five ten years down the line like where where do we want our Packaging and our products to come from and then to ultimately go to as waste So Yeah, when I saw when I heard from Kaylin who works on the sustainable will Williston team She recommended that I apply for this And yeah Yeah Questions from the board I'll start and I'll throw out the questions first and then let you both both reply I Think first it's important to say I think the solid waste district in terms of their programs does a really good job. We are very fortunate to have the district. I Do have some concerns about the way at least historically that may be changing Williston has been treated as a member town particularly in terms of facilities being cited in Williston You know, those are my concerns not necessarily shared by the select board I guess the point I'm making is And I'll ask you to address is your role as a representative in terms of Ideas that you think are important versus your role as a representative in terms of representing the select board In front of that board and that communication maybe that has to happen between us and you to make sure that While we're looking for your expertise in your input, there's also maybe some messaging that has to come from the select board To their board also So I guess start with that the other one is You know, if you've had a chance to look at their budget what your thoughts are on their budget They're they're proposing or I shouldn't say they're proposing anymore I think it's been probably adopted now a shift in philosophy in terms of how to pay for Disposal versus diversion whether it be through Composting recycling and in addition to reuse. Well, you can't pay for reuse Diversion through composting or recycling and I have just some fundamental Difficulties with the approach they're moving Because I believe as I said in the minutes it creates a disincentive. So I'm just curious if you have any thoughts about about that Yeah, I do and some of it was you know, you touched on some of the questions I had when I talked to Rick and Eric about this and It's an interesting relationship you have with the solid waste district and as members of the board It's very clear you have to balance the business of the solid waste district with the needs of the customers the towns and Just over the last ten years and I think it's going to continue to move probably even quicker as we go into the future handling waste Is a challenging business for example Years ago, we could recycle black plastic Can't do it anymore. That's an example the landscape keeps changing so I think it's important at least my Impression is as a member of the board is try to balance Making sure that the towns town and Wilson in particular and the solid waste district Kind of putting their cards in the table in terms of these Ultimately we want that solid waste district to be financially healthy We want to also address all these solid waste in a way that doesn't cost the Systems of Williston More than it needs to so it's it's a tricky balance In your example of starting the charge for recyclables, I think the key there is to try to understand what what's driving this Is there are you know, what are the options for addressing the underlying causes so that we're not in a room just Pantificating I want this I want that right ultimately. I think you get the better decisions if you understand What is this driving? Why are you thinking we need to now start charge charging? What's the underlying factor there? Are there any other options? What are other districts doing? That's kind of where I think the value for You know, I think this organization of the solid waste district with board members from the towns is a really great process provides visibility And the other question I had was what does the board want? How do I make sure I understand what you're looking for? Because that's really a major role at least I was I'm thinking from what I read here and what I heard is that to understand what you want and To try to be that voice in these discussions when you're not there So that When somebody's appointed we can we can talk about that And then for me personally I Guess the the position that I would take is to say that I don't consider myself an expert with With how the solid waste district operates and and how the budget would be used but Or or created But what I do bring to the table is experience in understanding the Objective the mission the values and then to work with parties that have different Ideas and viewpoints and then to find common ground It's something that I do all the time in the scoop shop balancing what you know the corporate Ben and Jerry's wants us to do and then what makes sense for us in the business and trying to Make it make it all work and make everybody happy from The lens of the types of decisions that I like to make I like to focus around incentives and making sure that the levers that we pull are actually going to incentivize people to go towards the goals that we've set rather than Detract from that and Really with With the changes that have been happening in the solid waste Landscape with the increase in cost of recycling and the difficulty around that As well as awareness around what materials are are recyclable and not recyclable with the changes of how things are packaged in grocery stores And communicating that to residents is it must be like a huge challenge So I think that there are a lot of issues and then there's a lot of communication that needs to happen And then it's just a lot of like understanding of different perspectives and Having the ability to balance it like you said Yeah, thank you Any further questions? Have you had a chance either one of you to review the budget that their budget? No, I haven't I did have a follow-up question and just generally There's a type of thing that I started thinking about it I first started talking to this You know, there's I guess some discussion about the solid waste district possibly outgrowing their current facility and moving out of town I mean, that's certainly a possibility and my question is to the the town is to try to understand How important it is to the town to keep them in town and You know, is is there anything that the town wants to do specifically to try to incentivize them to stay in town those are the types of things that would Help in terms of discussions among the select board and the manager and assistant manager to Make sure that whoever gets this position understands Where you're going and so that in those meetings perhaps could guide some of the discussions Well having this all waste district in town there's a double-edged sword, you know, we get money from from them and also They also would help to deteriorate our roads with delivering stuff and taking it away from The drop-off center so Right what your goals and objectives are right the points I would make is the proposed landfill is In Williston and I highly doubt we'll ever see that change unless they for some reason choose to permanently abandon The landfill approach, which I don't think we'll see that anytime in the near future The compost facility most likely I assume I my crystal ball is as murky as anybody's but shows that that will probably stay they May not be able to increase the capacity of it because of the limitations there, but they have other options for Composting the the Murph they it does Seem that that might go elsewhere. I don't think that's Williston's fault per se It sounds like the Murph just cannot fit on that site And they don't really have much choice now. They I if I remember correctly Wilson is one of the locations They are looking to relocate the Murph to if they choose to keep a Murph We just don't know My some of my frustrations with the district have been not so much that we have Facilities in town whether we sort of incentivize them or not It's the lack of communication That's happened before they moved ahead with their facilities. The district actually has a fair amount of power to site facilities We don't have as much control over citing their citing of facilities than we would let's say a private Development or retail type operation. That's in Vermont statue and in my advantage They've taken it in my standpoint They take an advantage of that to the point where I just don't feel they they at least historically Have treated us as well as they should treat a member town That is the host town of most of their facilities, okay? You asked yeah, no exactly what whoever gets this I think it'd be helpful to have your perspective so that perhaps we can improve communication perhaps we can get in The discussion sooner as board members We depend upon our representatives to keep us informed on a monthly basis if we can As to what's going on what's coming up in the in the future so that we have an opportunity to discuss that as well Probably once you we would ask that you come in so we could just have a sit down and we could just talk about That's where I get to spout about what I think the priorities Everybody else does and I'm you know may or may not be in the majority on that Any further questions from the board well, I just one more Obviously to candidate. There's a The representative I think that's the correct term. Yes, there are also the alternative. We have an alternate over Just the just the one position tonight She does not want to be the representative. She okay because of educational Opportunities at this point. Yeah, okay. So that makes this a little bit tough. Yes If I could add in terms of terms the seat is currently vacant And district is holding its annual organizational meeting next week So that suggested motion you have before you would be to appoint someone To fill out the last week of the current term and to continue At the organizational meeting they'll determine the executive board the town of Wilson has had its Representative sit on that board in the past as a host town So this is a time to since it's fresh in our minds again to deliberate and hopefully have a motion So your thoughts Well, first I'm going to offer an observation is that Michael seems to bring a strong sort of It may not be the best words but kind of more of the business running a business type approach and Jeremy seems to bring more of a philosophy, you know, the I think you use the word Sustainability lens and so part of our decision tonight. I think should hinge on You know, what what what is what is the more? If we want somebody to represent us, what is that sort of Strength that we want to have there does that make sense? And Again, I would similar to the last position. I'd be happy to appoint either one of you It's that's not the question. We just don't have that option to point both of you true I think you both did a nice job presenting, you know, where you're coming from your experience What you value not only personally, but for the town since we are a host town And I respect that This is a tough choice for me for sure because I see a strength on both sides of the table analysis is some mutual Respect between the two of you on work that you've done already. So I appreciate that so that'll be on my mind for a minute Thank you Other thoughts Like a question for either or both of you the this I believe the meetings that are held I believe are during a work time and is that a problem for either one of you to attend I work nights and weekends, so if I need a specific time off as long as it's consistent Yeah Thank you said that like you've been there he does I So I'm looking for a motion for at least one of the candidates I think I have to echo some of your comments and that you both bring a ton to the table And I like the business attitude that you're bringing But I don't want you to be so worried about what we think Because I'm more interested in what really is for the best. It's not about trying to please us Yeah, I didn't mean this I don't mean to criticize you in any way with that It's but that was the point I wanted to get across is we are definitely not the be all and end all kind of things so I wouldn't I wouldn't want that to be your sole focus when you're going is what's going to make the slackboard happy because We will constantly Matter among ourselves up here anyway with with many disagreeing views and oftentimes We'll get swayed in all different directions before we finally make a final decision on things So that was the only comment. I kind of wanted to get out there. I and I very much appreciate your hands-on work that you do With what you're I just I like that in the field. You're doing it. You get it It's a tough call so Chair would you entertain a motion? Yes, and I'll explain my motion when it comes to discussion I Sorry I move to appoint Jeremy as the representative to this Chittin and solid waste district for an unexpired year For a two-year term from July 1st 2019 through June 30th 2021 Discussion on the motion As I started to think this through I guess what I was way what I what I was weighing was which is more important the more the more business kind of aspect of it or or the and the The best way I can explain my choice is Solid waste is evolving and You know recycling and in the concept of trying to move the amount of waste that's diverted from disposal We've been going at it for 30 years 30 years plus We've made some progress the state of Vermont's actually is somewhat Stagnant in terms of progress being made so I guess what I'm saying is if If if if a solid waste district like CSWD is going to make be making progress in that arena It really has to come from the new ideas the you know kind of the philosophy behind how solid waste is managed in and and Exploring those options and what options makes the most sense for this district Which is situated in Vermont that has its own limitations in terms of waste management and what have you and and Michael I apologize, but I just think Jeremy is is the The person who can Advance that if you will sorry, I don't know how else explain it for the discussion on the motion Hearing none all those in favor of the motion say aye I may have posed and no extensions Thank you both indeed So next on my list is to This for the cemetery commission and Cameron Clark if you would come up and Again as you lose yourself and give us a brief description of your background and why you'd like to be on the Cemetery Commission My name is Cameron Clark. I'm an eighth generation Willis Tonian My family's been here since 1835 I have ancestors buried in three of Wilson cemeteries and My neighbor Jack is on the commission. So I had to talk to him about what his duties are and Just saw that there was an opening and thought you know why not Let's try something different And thank you. So you've talked to Jack price and maybe talk to the chair of the cemetery So you have some kind of an idea of what the Commission does Yeah, as far as setting a budget and making sure things are taken care of and some of the members have their regular duties like B takes care of the plot sales and Hazel takes care of the mapping and Things like that and Jack said he's not really sure what his duties are, but he's learned he's figuring them out Questions from the board I Love dear just brief Yeah, that really sums it up. I mean I have no good reason it just that I I find it Fascinating, you know, I can walk through the cemeteries and look at all the old names And I've read a lot of the books about the history of Williston and you know, I all the all the old families And how they were all related How my ancestors were all related? I think it's really cool Further questions This is one of those positions that it's not highly visible, but it's really very important. So Thank you. So is there a motion? I'd move to appoint Cameron Clark's Cemetery Commission for a five-year term through June 30th, 2024 It's your second all second and through discussion on the motion Hearing none and all those in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. I may oppose Jack said short and sweet I do have to leave though, so yes Yes, thank you. Thank you Our last one that tonight is John Markott who is Applying for the Historical and Architectural Advisory Committee John again Same thing if you'd introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background and why you'd like to be on the commission Yes, I am John Markott. I've lived in Williston now for almost 40 years my family history goes way back my Grandparents where the ice shums and things so I've been around Williston a long time I'm finally at a point in my life where I feel I have a little time and I'd like to Give back to the town that's meant a lot to me over the many years and I thought this was a good Category for me. I have a lifelong career in the building trades I've worked in commercial property management. I'm currently a condo manager So I have a lot of knowledge about building. I have a lot of knowledge about Materials I keep very up to date on new techniques and material and everything But I also have a tremendous love of history I've worked on some Preservation projects most of them were in the field of railroad preservation, but It's preservation can be very important very fussy It makes a difference if you use a square headed bolt or a hexagonal bolt when you're doing authentic restoration But you also have to have a balance. There has to be common sense. There has to be Economics have to be considered longevity has to be considered So something that was built a hundred years ago with wood You know, maybe we have to at least be open to thoughts on how should that be reconstructed or maintained now? Because wood now is not the same as it was a hundred years ago So there's just so many different aspects to it and to me it sounds very interesting to be able to look at each situation especially here in the historic district and Try to balance a lot of different aspects to it and come up with the best the best outcome The tafts corners areas is different. It's not the historic thing like this and You know, that's I have a lot of knowledge and interest in commercial housing Community things like that. So You know, that's just something I'm looking forward to learning more about the ins and outs This committee sounds like it's an advisory committee And I would like to think that I could offer Some input here and there that would be helpful to making decisions and helping a town move forward So that's the basics of it. Thank you Questions from the board just to comment knowing John personally you are ideally suited for this Thank you for coming forward appreciate it. I'm just going to add that you pretty much took away any questions I had Not brief but well done I Presentation there I do want to add that under when you put life under educational background I sometimes have a slight sense of humor which just Tells me get through things that will serve you well on what can sometimes be a con some controversial Decisions you'll need to be involved in And a number of months ago we Saw some interest in the town planning Commission I think I'm trying to revitalize the historic section of Williston with Restaurants or something or other things that might Get people to come to Williston. So this may be something that you may think about and It probably will come back from the planning Commission to the advisory committee as well So thank you for your interest in doing this and is there a motion to Appoint I've moved to appoint John Markott to the historical and architectural advisory committee for a three-year term through June 30th 2032 Sir second Second there's your discussion on the motion Hearing none no those in favor of the motion say aye Congratulations So let's move on then to the Southwest Chittenden County Conservation Partnership and Eric you're gonna talk a little bit about that Melinda Scott had something come up and My best to give an overview here. There's anything I can't answer up to just continue when she's back So this is coming back to the board tonight Wilson, South Rowington, Shelburne, Hinesburg, St. George and Charlotte have been meet representatives to each of those communities Have been meeting formally since early in the year to explore the idea of our regional conservation partnership Melinda shared back in April to the board with a first draft of this partnership accord feedback from the board that night To the group working on this was asking for funding to expressly address the expressly duress Address and what the partnership with accomplish. So the a core that you have before you tonight includes a Statement that there's no financial obligation for the part for participation in this the partnership goals are addressed in the accord as well you'll see For section down, but no specific action items to work towards the goals have been formulated just Initial efforts by this group have focused on conservation planning and this is expected to continue as the primary focus This partnership accord has been approved by South Burlington and Shelburne Governing bodies so far Approval by the select board tonight would be a symbolic demonstration of support in this endeavor The draft motion before you also asked to appoint Melinda as the town's representative as The accord asked to formally have I know Melinda is willing to serve on this my best answer any questions It looks like the two the two things that we were concerned about At the last meeting I've been answered now. So Are there questions from the board regarding the three quest? I mean I do have When I read through the the partnership agreement, you know the word conserve as in conserved land several times Without having a commitment, I'm very much in favor of this It's just I can also see the opposite side of it without having any financial resources behind you It's difficult to entice others to conserve land but That's not a reason to vote against that. It's just an observation of what might in Some ways limit their ability to move projects forward. It would be great if they For instance, and maybe down the road, they will Looked at fundraising, you know kind of similar to what happened with catamount. Is there a function there to help support? The goals But that's I mean that's meant as it more of a constructive comment and edit all criticism of what I'm seeing before us Further questions or comments Can you remind me again of the towns that have already adopted this Further comments there was a proposed motion I Will move to enter into the Champlain Valley Conservation partnership and a point conservation planner Melinda Scott to serve as Williston's representative Sir a second It's your discussion on the motion Hearing none. I was in favor of the motion say I Thank you, and we'll move on into the ambulance purchase and ambulance equipment surely a good deli lackey is here I believe to lead us through the The request for The motions So welcome So being my first time I may not get this right It's the first time for earnings what first time for early So you have the memo when you read the memo So I'm not gonna reread that to you and I'm supposed to but essentially In the 2018 budget there was approved a capital budget item for the lease for a ambulance To be leased With a transition of people I didn't have a lot of time to go through the RFP process So I really just made phone calls to some of our local lenders that we already work with and Union Bank relatively new in town, but we Because they're new in town they came in with some really good rates We've invested some money in CDs with them and I gave them a call and they Actually were the only ones who were able to do short term well seven year But still short term financing for us at a reasonable right ray I did chat with TD Bank a little bit and they actually just advised they couldn't turn it around in a short period of time So what I was going to say with the transition from Jennifer to myself until she sort of mentioned it This is the timing. I didn't really know there was a Lease out there that I should have been doing more formal RFP and I think Rates the rate the term everything was fair to the town But in those conversations and in the last couple of weeks The original capital budget was to lease the entire ambulance along with what they called a power load Which is the ambulance that I'm sorry is the stretcher and chief did some investigating and found that if The stretcher or the power load was cheaper for the town just to purchase it outright And he got a better deal on the maintenance contract as well. So we Decided to separate the two of them and only do debt for the actual lease and to use Funds that from capital projects that aren't going to use their full funding this year plus the sale of the current ambulance that Will have served its eight years the we have already a letter and ten from this Town of East Montpelier to purchase the ambulance for twenty thousand So we'll use those proceeds to to buy the stretcher Put all the lettering on the ambulance and EMS and the other things that are required to have UHF radios, they'll have those installed so so that is That is our plan And the leases are I mean the ambulance. I forgot to call and ask Ken today. I believe the ambulance is already here And I think you've covered both of the Of the items so let's take the ambulance purchase Motion first if there is a motion to be made I'd move to approve the capital equipment borrowing resolution capital equipment note and tax certificate with Union Bank for the lease purchase of an ambulance Is there a second? Second Questions if you don't this is the time for discussion and questions the One of my first thoughts was is oh should we be bonding for this, but the trouble with that would be is we don't have a vote So that I assume right Would mean we couldn't do that until we had which would be When we first purchased the very very first ambulance we used the lease purchase part of that reasoning behind that The town wanted some flexibility so that the program didn't succeed It was a way of getting out of it. Okay. Yes The other piece was that there's a Point where you don't really want to borrow for an extended time period But you can't pay cash for it and this was kind of fell in between So it kind of made sense to have a shorter term I mean obviously the piece of equipment isn't going to last 20 years like a fire engine would last It's gonna last seven years So you don't want to borrow for an extended time period. That's really what bonding is meant for is longer term bar Okay. Yeah, this is a shorter term borrowing mechanism. Okay, and and you feel is at the appropriate one Yeah, and actually Rick and I were we're chatting as well as you know how we have capital savings Maybe we do capital savings for the ambulances in the future to think about that This particular note does come with zero prepayment penalty So that's another thing that Rick and I have chatted about is We have some cash and maybe We pay that off once the audit is closed and we just see where the general fund is and maybe come back to the slide board maybe not But the other thing we talked about a little bit too was Because in the capital budget as a proof said it should be financed and maybe next time when we included in the capital budget We give ourselves a little bit more flexibility as to how or if we finance a capital purchase of that size My other question was is You know the concept of using the or purchasing the uplift up-fitting equipment And I just want to make sure that was consistent with the capital budget that was approved in 2018 that if I I didn't look at it But if I remember how we do these Would system say we believe this will be what the purchase price is and these are the sources that we'll use to pay for in one of them would have been the sale of the existing The ambulance that it's replacing And I just want to make sure that this is consistent with what was in the capital budget when it was adopted Is that you're kind of getting into the next agenda? I am but but with I assume when we thought of it as a capital budget item We envisioned it was a whole ambivalent not that it might come out right an ambulance plus the up-fitting Equipment we're choosing to break it into two because it makes economic sense But because it was considered one in the budget when it was approved. That's maybe why I'm Thinking it's right. I think I'm surely mentioned that in the future We're most likely going to break those out even if we plan to put it all into one package Okay, give us more flexibility. Okay, this capital budget actually didn't break it down. It just said ambulance so and Honestly, the lease the amount that was approved wouldn't have been had enough Because it was 245 and it would have come in above 245 for the ambulance and the power load both from the manufacturer So that was another little bump we ran into So there further discussion on the motion Hearing none all those in favor of the motion to say aye Any opposed Then we move on to the ambulance equipment which has been explained as well and there's the motion Proposed for that as well. I'd move to approve a $28,054.56 Expenditure for ambulance uplifting equipment to be paid for using revenue received from the ambulance trade in any unexpected monies Unexpended I'm sorry monies in the capital fund. Is there a second? There's your discussion on the motion Being traded in or is it being sold? That word be changed in the motion or is that close enough You can say sold just to be just to be sure Someone looks back at this in 20 years. I'm a worst-case scenario type guy where I just envisioned some for some reason This is kind of the purpose up down the road trade in with something different, right, right? They're gonna say wait a second the motion wasn't traded in and you actually sold it. That's you violated some statute or audit rules somewhere and We'd best get a negative audit funding when we thought we were doing the right thing So if the maker of the motion would change the words That would be helpful Okay, I've moved to adopt a $28,056 expenditure for an ambulance upfitting equipment to be paid for Using revenue received from an ambulance sale and the unexpended monies in the capital fund Is the seconder agreement and agreement with that? I will sleep so much more soundly tonight Is there further discussion on the motion If not always in favor of the ocean say aye. Aye. Any opposed? So we're gonna skip over item number 8 the user fee and charges because we expect to have chief Morton come in to talk about part of that and let's go to the Municipal tax rate and Shirley is here for that as well. I think you grab my own copy of the memo So we calculating with with the current Estimated grand list as you know there on Thursday is a Day of grievances with the listers and the assessor So it's not final yet and and if anyone and wants to appeal beyond that it goes to the board of civil authority But our you know current estimate now is 20,000,236 thousand and forty dollars compared to 19,967,900 When the original FY 20 Budget was put together and approved So this will be a slight decrease in the rate From the original budget of point two seven oh one to point two six nine five That so I'm actually looking at the calculation page now So suggesting a rate of two point six eight nine for municipal taxes and then 0.0006 for the tax stabilization piece Which that right now is a an estimate as well from Bill Hinman. So that numbers is might change a little bit because they need to just with the Williston's current use policy They had removed the current use from the grand list calculations and they're in the process of putting it back But Bill went through and did a quick calculation for me and think tax stabilization will be like 13,100 so for a new rate of two six nine five and slightly Very slightly changing the amount that will be raised based on the estimate of five million four thirty eight to five million four hundred and forty thousand seven hundred nine so There are any questions for Shirley. So it's nice to have the rate could down a little bit I was when it goes down That's my own my my question and I'm not at all disagreeing with this, but I still feel it's important We could lower the tax rate Further if we were to use more of the fund balance I'm not arguing for that, but I just want to hear your feelings about whether that Makes sense or not I'll answer your question this way Jeff Having the six thirty eighteen financial statements in hand and not even close to That process or knowing what that general fund looks like at six thirty nineteen I think based on the financial report. We're probably going to grow that fund balance So that that certainly is a possibility to look at using some of the general fund or I think where I was referring to before using the general fund Do we use it to pay down that ambulance Stet and get rid of it and save the town interest so I mean I think there could be some Bring back to the select board some options to bring down that the general fund I would suggest the time we have to do that is it during the budget time That's where we're otherwise you're changing Basically what the talent people approved On the other hand, we don't always know what the fund balance will be when we're approving the budget Just the same way we can never know what the tax rate will be or the grand list will be Well, we when we're doing the budget, we will know what the fund out to be this current fiscal year ending Right. We won't know what it's gonna get next fiscal year. Yeah It's just that question of, you know Balancing the town's financial stability or health or whatever the right word is versus lowering the tax rate versus Part of that financial stability in health is given us options down the road to deal with things like the ambulance cost and do we, you know word kind of in a sense, where do we put our eggs and I I just feel it's important to ask because you know, we're here to represent the taxpayers Because we have to appropriately manage town resources financial and others yet any further questions for Shirley Motion then would be in order. I Move to set the municipal tax rate at point two six nine five for fiscal year 2020. Those are a second I'll second. That's your discussion on the motion. We none. No, it's in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you very much There were then we're moving on to item number 10 State right-of-light acquisition warranty deed and Eric you're gonna talk about that. I hear 10 or 11 First 10 there's two things that will be dealing with as far as the state of acquisitions once by quick claim and one is by Neasement. Oh, okay. Oh the manager report doesn't track with the agenda ice. Oh, okay The manager which which is the one I always look at as we're going through this has number 10 as the annual employee wage adjustment Oh We were made some last changes I want to explain why I wasn't able to We've gotten word from V trans they're preparing to begin the route to industrial Avenue intersection improvement project in 2020 So part of that is the working on right-of-way acquisition This project includes road reconstruction of widening drainage and traffic signal equipment among other things So we've been contacted by the right-of-way division at the trans The town of convey one permanent easement and two temporary rights in a portion of the project area deemed necessary The permanent easement is just over 2,200 square feet right away held by the town in the intersection area And the temporary rights are for constructing the intersection approach from industrial lab and Avenue Bay So the state what what they do is they value These minutes each one with using their calculations their formula came up to $250 So by granting the state these property rights town will get $750 But the large the larger Purpose behind this is the intersection improvement and having the access rights there So the select board has the authority to convey property property related to the construction of highways Staff isn't part of this in support of this conveyance Versus in support of this So there's a mechanism in your packet from the trans. It's a warranty deed to grant these property rights And what we would look for is a motion to to approve this And this is the intersection where we have the problem with the water main The one is within the state's right of way And it will be likely affected by the construction of the reconstruction of that intersection so You know for a long long time we've planned on moving it and we've budgeted money in the water department fund We've also put a little bit of money of General fund revenue in it because we thought there was a general benefit to the town And and the state will be contributing a portion of the cost as well So that last piece again, the state will help with the cost I don't know exactly how it's Okay, and that's good news and Can you just explain how the I'm sorry we're getting a little bit off subject But how the construction will work the replacement of the water line would work will that be part of the trans Contract the contract they issue when they redo the intersection or we have to do that for instance beforehand Or would you know It might be it might be worth. Yeah, just so that because it's coming up soon As soon as I said that I did The park in mind that One of my first meetings as manager here was with the state about and they came and discussed this project Gonna happen next year or two and we better get ready and it's gonna involve me in the town waterline Okay, well That's how many years later And then the other question I have is there is it at all an option that the state buys the land or It looks like they just want to hold the easement rights to it Yeah, so they're they're making the decision they want the the easement not the land Okay, and so we really don't have much choice there. Okay Further questions or talents We don't have a proposed motion I'll move to execute a warranty deed with the state of Vermont for a permanent easement and temporary rights Described therein for the route to industrial Avenue improvement project second Is there any discussion on the motion? Very none of us in favor of the motion say aye. Hi. I have posed Think we had four eyes on this. Yes. I was just late We went on to number 11. That's the site state right away acquisition quit claim deeds and Eric You're gonna talk a little bit about that as well For our utility easement rights There's no compensation offered by the state for this conveyance Public works has no issues with this and that was somewhat a motion to execute this deed Question is for Eric. I'm not a lawyer or maybe the real estate folks can help explain this. What does this mean? They quit claim versus a warranty. Yeah warranty makes promises a quick claim as you're giving what you have You're not making any affirmations so So what what are we? What are we transferring to the state the? That's right. You're not making any promises about what it is you are conveying to them Interest we may have is what we're giving okay. We're not making any representations or promises. So if they happen to find Something while they're doing their construction. It's their it's their belly work because we're saying well, it's just utility easement rights So we had to gain The ability or the right to put in the one right underneath the state highway, right? So whatever rights we have we're given back Okay, we're not we're not making any affirmations or or representations to what those rights are So there isn't there's no downside Well, what will happen after construction is complete who will own those rights? They'll own so they'll own They owned it before they're high it's their highway. So you want to give it back? Yeah, otherwise you have a responsibility Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out how this works with our main under their road Oh, it's getting moved outside of the right-of-way. Oh, okay. Okay. All right. All right problems that piece. I didn't quite get okay Yeah, no, no, but makes total sense that that's a critical piece right there For your questions Motion again is proposed. I'd moved to execute a quick claim deed with the state of Vermont for the utility easement rights Described there in the route to industrial Avenue improvement project Is there a second? There's your discussion on the motion Thank you for the clarifications All those in favor of the motion say aye, I'm gonna get posed We'll move on to that on number 12 the annual employee wage adjustments and that's Rick How many years now the town has used an index for It's an index that is based on I'm not quite sure it's in that range and the the reason we picked that particular time period So, you know when we prepare the budget what it is That number is Buries there was one year that it was zero and that's what Questions for Rick Yes, not that emotion would be an order I'd move to approve a proof of cost of living adjustment for all non-union employees of 2.1 percent Is there a second? Do we have a second sir discussion on the motion? Hearing none. All those in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Any opposed? We on to the financial management questionnaire that we've received over a year and Rick Could you just give us a few words of explanation on this? prepared by the town treasurer Questions that she's required to answer and she she prepares a survey and and the board doesn't not have to Approve it. You just you're just asking do you accept it Very specific questions. Maybe Shirley could help Any questions that any folks have regarding the The questionnaire it's one that is made out annually by the the treasurer There's been you need a motion to Acknowledge receipt at the financial management questionnaire for fiscal year 2019. It's your second. Oh second As your discussion of the motion All those in favor of the motion say aye Aye Any opposed? Okay, thanks, and I guess we'll do the managers report before we go back to the other one that we have skipped before I forget Two documents for each of the things you agree to Leave before each side okay chase after you So I guess we'll start with the financial report and since Shirley is here I'll call on her to provide the details So we are getting down towards the end of the fiscal year And she's kind of already given you a little bit of a preview of how we might be ending up Actually So I think two of the the Biggest I'll say largest variance. I'll just talk about it the big the big ones, but one being the Sales and use tax and so the local options tax Rick and I were both doing our own projections He's probably a little bit more generous than than mine So that just may be a little conservative, but looking at that being 200,000 over a budget with the Last quarter of our fiscal year Typically being a little quieter than the than the quarter that we just recognized So you know my best estimate is about 200,000 so that'll be a nice variance to budget And then with all the activity in town The planning and zoning revenue their permit fees especially Are approximately two and seventeen thousand favorable That's my projection favorable to budget and of course That goes into the water and sewer budgets as well with their user charges Also, let's see above budget Let me tell you what their water and sewer hook on and sewer allocation are currently 138,000 and 184,000 favorable to budget so the Definitely seeing the impact of all the development in town And I just Rick had asked me the question So I'm just gonna share with you what he asked me because we had been reporting that police and fire look like they were gonna be favorable To budget this year, but and they are still if you if you look at 11 months of the year would be 92% They are currently at 89 and 88% of their budget, but There's been quite a bit of overtime this year first with the department's not being Fully staffed, but if you think about it every time somebody in those departments takes the day off sick as vacation You're calling somebody else in who already has a full time shift So anytime you're filling in it's always at time and a half or over time so so They're probably going to end up being just about at budget really because of a lot of overtime this year And public works just looking at their expenditures and this I Can't say it's inner fun, but their revenue And I should say that their revenue is looking a little a little short because When they do projects for the storm water Utility we have to charge that back and they just haven't done as much work. We were like 300,000 last year this year There are about 30% of the budget So and my last conversation with Bruce is that they just haven't had time and there's been less projects so So revenue to public works expense to the storm water utility And then the last thing expenditure variance public works is still estimated to be less than budget But I looked back at 2017 so most of the retreat meant the repaying We essentially get bills from the contractor or contractor typically in September So I looked at September 17 versus September 18, which are the numbers. I'm giving you here September 17 We paid 2,000 September 18 we paid to 240,000 So that's really going to be a savings because As I said as I look through the activity that that is the one month where most of that cost comes in So I don't expect that we're going to see a big expense there in June this year So that will be a big favorable variance to budget So those are the big east unless you have other questions So as I said earlier all in all, I think we are going to be favorable to budget in that general fund balance is going to increase I'm thinking that We may end up spending more of the retreat method you think I think that he put off some work in the fall That we may see come in Anyway, that's that's not gonna have huge impact overall, but it will in that particular So how does that work projects that were identified? Let's say in the 2019 budget Want to make sure I get my fiscal year's right, but you know the project were identified. They may not have occurred Do we when when they actually do move to getting you know retreated? Which budget do we pay? Does that make sense? You know if it's from the previous year, but you're in the current year I pay for when the work is done and billed. Okay, so it's it's the fiscal year in which the work is actually done Right, so if a project was put off because for whatever reason and we set money aside In a previous budget it doesn't matter if as long as General fund budget doesn't care. I know that the paving season got cut short this past fall, right And Because we had snow early and and so I think we got behind but we can easily make it up this spring Okay, but I yeah, okay. Yeah Interesting Okay Any further questions? Thank you very much so Moving along in my report. There is Legal issues and the only remarkable thing on that It's unusual that all three cases listed on those cases that were actions taken by the town not That's kind of unusual that we have The situation Airport no airport noise maps I think I'll turn to talk about that because I believe he's included a memo on that as well. Yes There's a memo packet. I'll sit a couple highlights here Everyone's releases new noise exposures maps. It'll sit to rile the f-35s later this year There's a large part of a large document that's available online I think I've simply cut a couple weeks go to the to the board you'll see the image I put in Kind of the key takeaway is this outer contour right here is the 65 decibel So this is going to expand into a section of town where the F-16s when they were based here more wasn't affected out this far So it gets in the area as a lamp light neighborhood South Brown L Through there. So the process the airport's following they've released these maps and they're taking Public comment on them till later this month and these these go with the FAA once the FAA approves them Then they work on a noise compatibility program recommendation This goes through review by the FAA if this is approved Which I went to we were told me that with airport officials could be some time around a year from now a little bit sooner Then that unlocks federal funding to use for noise mitigation In affected homes within these contours they've identified So their estimate with their study is around 105 Wilson homes to be affected in that 65 to 70 contour in 2023 and one in the 70 to 75 decibel contour So as this kind of unrolls and the funding gets set up the airport's going to look at Using those grants for the homes that are that are closer in other communities This is cut off here, but when you see he's affected as well South Burlington. So kind of practically speaking it could be in a few years Lots we discussed still on structure airport officials are Happy to come to a future board meeting to take more specific questions. They can they can answer on this The reason why the contour Expanding is not necessarily because the aircraft is louder, but because the aircraft is taken off with a flattery Incline So they're going to be staying close to the ground longer than the f-16s were So that that's one of the big differences here Interesting And it isn't just a facetious comment. I would have thought they were a better chat And the f-16s were outfitted with Those they needed that because they kept loading it down with equipment they got heavier and heavier and then the old engines were just They needed the boosts so to speak and so the afterburners I'll also allow them to take off at a steeper incline and Really affected less property and lowest and then these new Plains will affect This this will be in a you know an ongoing discussion. So certainly no answers needed tonight, but Will this affect the town plan and and you know sort of how we might? Designate the areas impacted whether it be for industrial versus residential type uses and and Part of that also is is like yeah I get homes is something you want to focus on but aren't businesses negatively impacted also there in these higher noise zones They are So but yet I just hear about homes and not business I'm kind of more curious What is the what could be the impact on Williston in terms of how it's going to cause Williston to change because It's less of a desire desirable area in Williston to be I'm in the Blaricure new house building the jets fly over all the time You have a slight pause in a conversation because the noise is there and it's done Yeah, you just kind of used to it and you keep on going I don't it would not cause me to move my offices or do anything else Okay, I just remember we lived over there And there'd be times where we would have to when you had like they would always have three jet or not always They sometimes would have three jets taking off one after the other And there were times where you literally had to hang up the phone because you couldn't hear them. They couldn't hear you so The best thing to do was just to hang up And I'm not arguing against it. I think I'm just trying to understand how how this kind of works if you will Yeah, yeah, I mean you bought a home you bought it under I'm just thinking out loud a little bit right now You know, this is the current situation that situation changes In that I'm sorry, but I mean it is going to change if you're in a flight path in a flight zone You're there what comes I mean that's not going to change at all So the likelihood that you're going to have different craft coming through is quite high. I mean I I'm definitely on the other side of this review It's like I just think this has been so much to do about nothing We need to have the industry here and there's a reason for while they're here I just don't think it's going to have as deleterious effect as as people are making it out to be I'm not arguing with you, but the devil's advocate It's a second time argue, but I don't mean to argue with you is Commercial he tends to go get quieter military act aircraft tends to get louder. It's what I take away from this So it may be that we wish to have the airport authorities in that some appropriate time to talk about once the Perhaps once the zone is finalized Definitely be keeping an eye on that one. Okay. Good. Thank you So the next time I wanted to touch on is our health insurance plan We Americans had been following legislation that threatened to allow us to use the association plans for health insurance and The legislature I guess listen to us and in fact Terry reported on our last select board meeting that they in fact changed that to allow for associations Apparently There's something at the federal level that Says that these licenses for these particular associations Can't continue or aren't valid. I don't know understand it We are having a meeting with the an agent that helped us to the last time we went through this process a little over a year ago and Hopefully we'll learn a little bit more about what our options are From that meeting we're meeting Friday Because this has the potential for causing a huge problem in a lot of different ways. First of all the cost could go up dramatically You may recall When we approved the current plan we're in our costs actually went down a little bit and The plans stayed the same For pretty much for the employees. There was very very minor differences the plans that Blue Cross offers that are similar to ours There's big differences. They're not as similar The deductible is quite a bit higher from one and the costs are quite a bit higher Even without the increase that's expected come January 1st So we would be getting hit with it like a double increase or triple increase really with the increase deductible So we are going to be exploring what our options are Whether there's other groups out there or we I know of the last year of the Chamber of Commerce had a group Health insurance carriers MVP offers a plan It's obviously gonna create a major disruption for our employees one way the other because there's gonna be a change in the plan And we're gonna have to start that process soon It's not an easy process So it's very disappointing to be in this position so stay tuned on that one and I guess More bad news in the sense. We're losing two good employees James Gerard has resigned Effective in this month Take the new position with the City of Burlington It's a position that offers a greater responsibility in a larger organization And so he's excited about the the opportunity, but he's also appreciated the work that he did here and We also appreciated him. So He's put our program in a really good position Moving forward and we're definitely sorry to see him go. We're also losing a part-time employee Cindy Thurston who is Decided to retire essentially from the she was working with in the town clerk's office This thing her as well, but she will be continuing on as the town's health officer position she currently holds and That's Okay, oh the route to paving Bruce had heard from the trans that they're I'm hopeful to put the top coat of pavement Surfaces Suffer too much I think I just saw red cars pull in which is a good sign but we can go back to Item number eight the user fee and charge schedule and perhaps Rick you would start us off on the Increases it for the water sewer and Go hook on charges and things like that So the Charges for But first I'll pick on stormwater because that's the easiest one. There is no change proposed. Yes Number that we're using is consistent with what was included in the budget Numbers for sewer and water There are some changes, but those were planned for and included as part of the budget for So before we do that just to make sure we don't have any questions regarding the Increased rates these are the ones that we Really don't have too much choice to do we budgeted for all the stuff back in our the budget that was approved by the voters To be clear not all of them changed the application charge. We're not proposing. Yes You know the worst we've been seeing some increases particularly in water department, but over the past several years we've run Either very close to budget or below we've actually We're over budget in the sense We continue to experience that so and then with the lamp light situation Facing us at some point in the future. We could see continued pressure on the water rates our systems getting older and And it's showing its age, unfortunately That's what happens So let's move on into the Fair chief the chief Morton and your proposals for Increases in fees Come on up Just came from another meeting so we're together what the heck we'll stay here together So Each year We look at all of the neighboring district ambulance services and we try to stay somewhere close to the median and that's what we did this year and The median left us with the proposed rates that you see before you. I Really could go on for a while about it, but that's pretty much what boils down to so if you have questions feel free to ask and And now we'll be happy to answer them So you've given us a comparison from the other communities as well along with the lines of the Increases you're requesting Perhaps you might just want to Just give us a little bit of an overview of that compared comparing the communities other communities with with us Would you like to know a by community by rate or or just the overall categories Well if you'd go over the categories that we're you're looking to increase so it'd be okay So I guess we'll look at the Second of the three-page attachment that you have We're not looking at any changes to the BLS non-emergency rate 575 we're looking to bring the 625 up to 700 and if you compare that to the Rates the average With the neighboring services as of today and that doesn't include what they may change to tomorrow Let let alone the next three hundred sixty four days The average right now is 701 so we came in is to tick below the average for the services around us I suspect it'll be at the low end by the time we get here next year certainly won't be in the meeting anymore The next one down the line is ALS one non-emergency That remained unchanged and our ALS one emergency rate went up $50 to 900 and Currently that rate is eight seventy eight so we're a tick higher than the average But again, that's the average today. Not what the average will be a year from now the ALS to The 1295 remain the same also known as the paramedic rate and that's consistent with what we have around is for the average mileage went up from 17 to 18 dollars a mile and that is smack on the average a Empty intercept I'll lump that with paramedic intercept It costs us the same to send one of our paramedics for an intercept whether they run as an AEMT or a paramedic Therefore we brought the rates up to be the same and the $250 is the rate to charge by every service in the district by agreement. So we'll charge exactly the same I think it's woefully low If we take our paramedic out of town that would have caught an ambulance call At $1,295 we take that same paramedic send them to far away for an intercept and all we can charge is 250 I brought that up. We've talked about it at the district paramedic level. I think that'll change over time But right now everyone's holding that 250 rates. So we did the same Thank you, no questions from the board for the chief I'll start Hopefully I'm not the only one The the first question I have is and I know you've explained this in the past Just think it's it's important to go over it each year is when a We have the various rates the BLS the ALS and Well, basically the I'm sorry the BLS ALS one ALS two When is it just how is it how I guess maybe it's how the best question how is it decided who gets charged? What rate is it by? Injury that the care the person needs or is it by who's in the ambulance when they respond? It's the service we provide service you provide so The person who has a relatively maybe painful, you know, they need transport But minor in non-life threatening broken leg that type of thing would get the basic The person who is having a heart attack Would get the charge the the more Yep, okay And the other question I had it's it's kind of the philosophy of how you establish your rates question You've gone through how our rates compared to others in Chittenden County Are there other ways to look at what our rates should be and for instance? It might be that we I know I shouldn't say I know I strongly suspect That whatever rates we charge we're probably not going to get all our revenue coming in through the rates It's not going to equal the cost of the ambulance service, and I don't disagree with that But is there a goal if you will there, you know, should it be 50 percent 75 percent 80 percent of that? Did you see what I'm getting at? Yes, absolutely. Yep When we first started our ambulance service, which by the way was nine years ago next week hard to believe Remember the the person who was the director of the MS program for the state said you should charge whatever rate it takes To be solvent Okay, and and as you can see by the chart which is ambulance billing rate comparison There are some pretty significant spreads between the high and the low and when we started the EMS Transport business if you will when we bought the ambulances we were already providing EMS services So I already had dual trained firefighter EMTs most of those firefighting EMTs were trained to the advanced EMT level the ALS one level and We already were absorbing costs for EMS Karen Williston. It's just that a different ambulance did the transport and charge the revenue So when we first added the ambulance service in we said well What could that bridge rate be to bring us from what we're providing today to what it's going to take to pay for if You will the two ambulances and the three new personnel Back nine years ago. So that was kind of how we started out of the box And we had to factor in not just what we charged but the fact that you only receive a portion of what you charge back Private insurance tends to pay more Medicaid Medicare at caps Medicaid the cap is it Medicare the cap might be supplemented by secondary insurance So when we try to stay in the median is just to pretty much not be way off the mark we'll never represent we'll cover all of our EMS costs because We already had costs way back went and we have increased costs now, but We couldn't pay for all of it without charging, you know a couple grand per call if you will So we try to strike a balance Okay Hope it answered the question. Yes, it just it's more as I'm As you know, I always struggle with this and just because Ambulance is an expense it's expensive to have the program It's expensive when you're having to use the program what when you need the program so that always when I'm trying to think of You know the rate payer in mind, so it's but over the years I have come to the realization of the value of the ambulance service and how critical it is to Estonians I do I do on the standby rates Out of all the rates, those are the ones that struck me as as as the more What would be the right word? The ink the rate increase is the largest and I'm just wondering what the thought behind that is Which rate increases? the standby Events standby rates the ones where we would provide a service for let's say a I Assume like a race at catamount. Yes And just wanted to hear your thoughts on that Purely driven by what will now pay out when we had previous to Now We would offer up so catamount has someone there holding a bike race and they have to have a standby Ambulances standby EMTs we used to float it out to our call staff and and we'd offer who's interested and They might get paid 12 15 16 dollars an hour So the 25 at the time seem to make sense With the new contract that the town entered into with the local last year We now need to pay our we need to offer to our career staff First chance to fill any of these these Stambies at a rate of $40 per hour or whatever their overtime rate is some of whom's overtime rate exceeds 40 per hour So if you look at salary plus benefits 50 pretty much minimally covers what it will now cost us To standby events so where before call staff filled it and we had more of a buffer at 50 it probably Probably covers our costs Okay, so the way And and I agree with the philosophy that on the standby we should recoup our cost And it sounds like that's what you're you're doing hit me. I guess my question So the way it works is Professional staff get first choice of doing standby events Did I get that right that's correct that is correct and that's by what what what agreement the contract that The town Rick the town negotiated with the union Okay, so in contract Whether I agree or disagree with that doesn't matter. It's in the contract and so between that being in the contract and The philosophy that at standby events we should recoup pretty close to a hundred percent of our cost That's where this comes from. Okay, it purely is a cash trade Some wants or ambulance to stand by or two personnel for the day What is trying to not pay if you will to have people stand by at an event Yeah, okay nor make a profit just we group our costs This has nothing to do with the rates But so one ambulance might be parked at an event and again, let's use catamount as the example What happens if it's needed? That's that's why it's an offered Event coverage So we don't take the ambulance that's staffed in Williston for the community out of service to go up and stand by It brings people back to staff the second ambulance and then be at the event So it's not as if we're taking our primary ambulance out of service and these happen Two three times a year. Oh, that's it. Oh interesting. It's minimal Okay, and and frankly in going from 25 to 50 and from 90 to 130 with the ambulance Williston isn't the only option. I mean if there's if there's a race they can call up other ambulance services And they may have it so they could shop around if they wanted to and if we give away the three coverages a year It's just a trade anyway. Let's wear and turn the ambulance. I'm happy. Yeah, okay. All right. Good enough. Thank you Any further questions for the chief If not, then there's a motion that would cover all of the All of these fees and rate schedules I've moved to adopt the municipal fee and rate schedule for fiscal year 2020 as proposed This is your second I'll second There discussion of the motion Very none all those in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Thank you Thank you very much Thank you So move on to the last item of on the agenda. That's other business. I believe we have two catering permits First one is for an event scheduled for June 29th Late afternoon and evening Questions for Rick on that is there a motion so moved is there a second Discussion on the motion If not, all those in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right The next one is for an event to be held on July 5th And this one is going to be at the red barn on Wilson Road And that's also similar hours late afternoon evening The caterer is 802 cocktails LLC You have to drink 802 So any questions for Rick regarding this Not then is there a motion so moved is there a second second discussion on the motion If not, all those in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any other business piece? I have just one piece of news and that is the charter Passed the legislation was signed by the governor maybe about a month ago And so it's been it's in effect as of the signature So we have all of our proposals were approved