 the last couple. Yeah, I guess I, you know, I didn't really know his personal life very well or very much of it, but Blackboard meeting for Tuesday, August 17th, 2021 to order agenda item or agenda additions and changes. Yeah, staff as the proposed memo, Vince Franco announced his resignation from the select board last night, effective immediately. So there's a memo for you to consider adding the business item to discuss and possible action on the process for filling an open seat on the select board. And that would be talking about looking at whether you want to go through an interview process and appoint somebody hold a special election or just discuss tonight and put it on for future agenda before taking any action, but wanted to at least bring it to your attention tonight and that conversation. Okay, thanks, Greg. Any preference in the order of things where it goes? No, none for me. Any preference from the board? We tack it on just at the end at the end. Okay, let me put it between after D before we go into executive session. Okay, any other changes from staff? None from staff. I believe Tracy had one that she wanted to pull one of the minutes out, but I will let her speak for herself. Go ahead, Tracy. Yeah, if we could pull the minutes out of the consent agenda. Okay, so we'll pull that out and put it after the discussion about filling the vacant seat. Great. Thanks. Any other changes? Okay, have a motion to approve the agenda as amended? So moved. Thank you, Pat. Thank you, Don. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. So since we have a participant, do we need to roll or if it's unanimous? Is that not necessary? If unanimous, you do not. Okay, that's I thought. Okay. Only a negative vote requires a voice vote. Okay, great. Thank you. So, agenda's change approved of 4-0. Next part of the agenda is public to be heard. This is the point of the agenda where attendees can address the board on topics that are not on the agenda. If you're interested in speaking, please either raise your hand in the teams or if you're in the room, raise your hand physically. Just clicking to let people into the meeting. Or if you're on the phone, we'll offer an update. So I see one hand up. Is there anybody in the room that wants to speak during public to be heard? See any hands here? Okay, one hand online, Andy Champagne. Go ahead, unmute yourself. Thank you. Hear me? Yes, we can. Okay, I just have some questions to ask if that's okay. If you're a villager, then you have voting rights on both the village trustees and the town select board. Is that correct? Yes, that's correct. If you're a town citizen, you only have voting rights on the select board. Is that correct? That's correct. All town residents, whether they live inside or outside the village can vote on select board members. Okay. If you're a villager, you can be on both the select board and the trustees at the same time. This has recently occurred with Elaine Haney. Is that correct? Yes, that has happened. Nothing prevents that. Okay, theoretically, we could have a select board and a trustees board with the same villagers on both and in effect, merge the town and village in the village's favor. In fact, all the village really needs to do to achieve merger in the village's favor is to have three members on the select board and the village would in effect control both the town and the village. Is that correct? No, that's not true because the those that are elected as select board members are required to represent the entire town. And the village has no jurisdiction over select board decision. But if they were, okay. The village pays the town for services such as police, IT, town manager and other services. Is that correct? The village collects their own taxes, the town collects its own taxes to support the budgets approved by the voters for each of those municipalities. Okay, but you're not so the village doesn't need the services from the police from from the town at all, right? Is that what you're telling me? That's not what I said at all. People who live in the village also live in the town. They pay town taxes to support the services that the town provides. Okay, but they pay the but they they depend on services from the town. Is that correct? Okay, never mind. There are services that the town provides to the entire town. Yes. Okay, so the village depends on services from the town because if the village was to try to stand up these services on their own, it would cost too much. Therefore, it is not practical. I don't have that's a judgment question. I don't I don't have a feel for the how to answer that question. If separation passes, then the villagers will no longer have any representation on the town select board, which provides services that the village depends on. Andy, I'm not sure where you're going with all these questions. Don't worry, we'll get there. If there's a separation, the village will will have it will have a choice of either contracting with the town to provide some services or they can provide those services to themselves. But they will not Yeah, we are going to be talking about separation later, Andy. Is there a point you're trying to get to here? Um, yeah, I'm just trying to make sure I got my facts right. I'm not going to be able to sit around for the whole meeting. So if we could just go through these, there's not too many more to go. Um, you can answer these yes or no, and I'll just move on. So in reality, the town is going to benefit the most from separation because now the village can't control the select word and the town will still be providing the services that the bill depends on. Yes or no, I can't I can't answer that Andy because there's some assertions in there that I don't think are true. Okay, which ones aren't true. The village does not control the town anyway. Okay. And March of 2020, a vote of fair representation H 95, there would be three villagers and three town citizens on the select board passed and is currently at the state. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. Our state reps could reintroduce it and the state would take it up next session. Is that correct? Uh, it does not need to be reintroduced. It's still active. Okay, so all the state needs to do is start time. Oh, okay. So I see this is a little better than any grounds usual cheesy political moves. It's still pretty cheesy. If separation passes, then the state will vote on that and forget about age age 95. Brown doesn't need to relinquish power to the town and make an equal vote from town village. Um, I just have some other general questions. Um, you've been here for a while. What seven years? I've been on the board for seven years. Yes, sir. Okay, how much, how much did you spend on your campaign and how hard was it? The last time I ran, I ran unopposed. Didn't cost me a penny. Okay, about the first time. I don't know. I'd have to go look at my records. It's all it's all public record. You could go look that up just just general, you know, how much time do you think you spent on it? How hard do you think it was? I'm not going to answer that question, Andy. I think it's relevant. Okay, it's since you're the chair, you can direct the board to talk about whatever issues you want. Is that correct? Only if it's on the agenda. Okay, but you make up the agenda. Is that right? The agenda belongs to the town manager, the municipal manager. Okay, do you like talking about murder and separation? I don't understand your question. It's just a simple question. Do you like talking about murder and separation? It's been going on for years. We have plenty of other things I wish we were working on. Okay, so no. It is my understanding that merger issue was Elaine's issue and who was the chair of this board and lost her seat by pissing off exactly too many people to the new to the newcomer Tracy W. Separation issues really Andy Cooper's who went around the village to get the research separation on the village ballot. Andy Cooper was also on the board and she quit after a year, which is basically what Eric Cartman from South Park does. Screw you guys going home. Separation is literally talking talking up the entire literally taking up the entire time on your board and the talk of the town. You never approved the budget and the town never voted to talk about separation. Why do you allow the discussion on your board to be dictated to you by people who quit voted out of office and by people who won't rep who you won't represent if separation passes no comment. Okay, no answer. Okay, I'm done. Thank you, Andy. Thanks for letting me talk and for you then taking your time. Thank you. Thank you. I see Patty Davis with her hand up. Patty, go ahead. Yes, I have a simple question. I just want to know what it will take to get maybe some advice from you, Andy. Should I be talking to Dennis Lutz about putting wayfinding signs on the trails of Saxon Hills so that walkers with their dogs every day and runners like me know during deer season where they are in relation to how far away they are from people hunting because I'm getting a lot of people from Jericho that park at Saxon Hill like me because they don't drive all the way to that other parking lot. They tend to use the road and run on it like me or just run on the trails closest to Saxon and I'm not sure if it's that 98th or park or what because I twist my ankle but like I said before I would really please I'm begging you to put Saxon on the agenda for the safety of the not only town outside the village residents but for the village residents, the Jericho residents, Williston, Burlington, Winooski that get there at 5 30 in the morning and work out religiously before work. I want this done and put on the agenda. I'm begging you to please put it on the select board agenda and I'm willing to pay for a sign that goes on the gate that says please leash your dog on this public road Saxon Hill road and unleash after the gate. Otherwise go park at Thompson Drive. I want something done I'll pay for it but I want it done please before deer season. And to Andy's comments I think the frustration comes from town outside the village residents feeling that the select board does not put these very important public health issues on the agenda. This is the sixth year that I'm asking. Thank you very much. I don't know who to have you talk to. All right go ahead. Nope. We'll take a look and see if a sign is warranted but I could talk to Ali, Saxon Hill, Forest and the trails are under her preview and Dennis when he returns. Okay, Evan can I just address one little quick thing for discussion. Well I'm not discussing but I just want to tell you that what I'm hearing from residents is that they don't know where they are because there's no way finding signs in the woods so they can stay away from where because they look at that map that's on the tree about where the hunting takes place and makes no sense to them. It's not effective. That's just feedback. FYI. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks Patty. All right any other comments or comments to be heard? Let's scroll down. Anything in the room? If you don't mind. Yeah go ahead. As the audience could probably see we are wearing masks inside our building. All of the village and town buildings were posted as masks required. We appreciate people's adherence to that. We are not planning on closing our buildings but we will if we have to if we cannot keep the inhabitants of and our visitors safe in our buildings. So we appreciate when you come in here please wear a mask. If you come into a meeting please self-distance yourself as best as you can and it's probably not the best for audio but we'll do our best so that we can continue to do these meetings live and virtual. And then I just wanted to we don't just a quick thing I've been asked many times when am I going to take the temporary interim tag off of Uisa Makuko. I have done that and it's been just for everybody's knowledge. It has been in the works for quite some time but I was able to make an announcement tonight because I finally got a chance to talk to her and she's okay with this announcement. So she has had the interim tag removed and she is our community development director. So thank you for the time. Great. Thanks everyone. I see another hand. Yeah yeah I was just going to go there. I see Genevieve Melee. Hi so I just wanted to thank the select board. Can you hear me? Yes we can. I just want to thank you all for the work you have been doing together the village trustees. I think a lot of people come out criticizing and accusing. I think it needs to be recognized as a very difficult situation for both the village and the town at large. I also understand some some people who live in Essex town do not quite understand that legally the village is a part of the town and is allowed to vote for the town and because it is Texas's village Essex junction is also allowed to vote for the village. There is no two things. We pay extra taxes for that. However I really really want to thank you all both on the trustees but also on select board. We don't offer 10 select board meetings because well that's a lot of meetings. But I just want to extend a huge thank you for working together for really trying to cooperate. So both the town and the village can really move forward and hopefully we'll be able to share a few things. We'll see how that develops. But I just want to extend a huge thank you to you all. Okay thank you Genevieve. Thank you for your comments. Okay let's see I don't see any other hands. Is there anyone on the phone? I don't see any phone call. I don't have any attendees. All right so let's move on to the first business item discussion about first two public forums for the Essex community about how to prepare for the village's coming separation vote and subsequent Vermont legislature decision. Anybody want to kick that off? I'll do a really brief kickoff and then I'll turn it over to Don and Tracy who were both at the meetings. Let you weigh in on your reflections on it. But we've had the first two forums on August 4th and 6th. We've probably had more than 80 people show up between the two of them. A lot of good feedback. Gene now our facilitator did a great job keeping people on point on topic. We have the third forum coming up this Saturday, August 9th. It will be in person here at 81 Main Street. It will also be online via Teams like we've done the last two so a hybrid option. It's a chance for the select board tonight to give any feedback if there's anything you want to see or focus on at the third forum. Gene does request some executive decision-making power to keep it flowing and stick to the topic and the agenda that we more or less have put out to the public but she's open to any feedback about anything you may want to see or focus on on Saturday. But with that I will turn that over to Don or Tracy for your thoughts. So Greg just one thing I think you misspoke. You said August 9th, Saturday, August 9th. Oh I'm sorry. I think you mean the 21st at 9 a.m. Correct. Yes I was looking at the 9 at the 9 a.m. 9 a.m. Saturday, August 21st here at 81 Main Street and online with Teams. Okay. Hi Tracy. Tracy. Yeah I just want to I just want to thank everybody who who showed up either in person or virtually. It was great to hear from folks. I think Gen did a great job not only facilitating but capturing those thoughts and in a collective way in our packet. I really don't have much to add just because Gen did do such a thorough job. I did just want to make a note though. There were a lot of comments. There's a lot of anxiety and stress around child care and Greg did did you want to speak about that what we found out since then. Do you want me to mention it. Basically the the child care is provided to EWSD through an arrangement with EJRP. It's not an agreement with the town and as such that agreement with the school district is an agreement with the school district. It's not an agreement with the town so that should not change based on the outcome of separation going down the line. So I just wanted to to make that very clear to folks who alleviate some of that stress and anxiety. I agree. I think it's gone great and Gen has done a wonderful job. I would like to hear from more people that may even have a different perspective from what we've heard but Gen has done a good job of recognizing if someone is a repeat customer to wait and so we hear from all the the new people that are participating and I'm hoping we hear from a lot more on Saturday. It's been great and as I said in the memo the only thing that I was missing from Gen summary was that people had mentioned about the merging of the different departments while we're waiting on separation and it was a concern. That's been great and we owe her a lot for doing. She's done a great job. Alright so any questions on any of the. No actually I really appreciated Gen's right up and I wanted to hear what Tracy and Don had to say as part of their comments. Don you did mention the different departments merging or not merging. And there was some anxiety was that around them. The fire department. Possibly fire department. I was merging the two fire department but that was the comment that were made that I had written down. I'm assuming it was in general against the winner. But they honestly keep things separate. Yeah okay. That was just something I had written down. I think it's a general misunderstanding of what the town has been doing with the village in terms of so currently the village has a budget for their public works department. They set it by themselves. They have a discussion their voters vote on it. That budget is moved under the town budget. The town does not interfere with the village's use of the funds. In any way there's one caveat is the village cannot raise the public works budget more than 6% without select board approval. They have done that once. They've asked the select board to approve it. It was actually something the select board wanted them to do. So it worked out beautifully. The idea of the fire department would have been the same. The village does its own budget. The fire department stays under the village's authority and only their budget moves under the town. In that way everyone in the town which includes the village would be paying one tax rate for both fire departments, the police department, public works. I believe it's the inspectors, the health inspectors that we have, dog, animal control, etc. If that's not what the people want, we don't have to do it. But we were never discussing merging of the fire department. I am aware of that but I just want to make sure the notes were included. The people at home. Thank you. The question still remains here. Is there any topic or area or question that the select board specifically or generally wants her to explore? That has not already been presented here. And for the people at home, I think it's an hour and a half, hour, hour and a half event. We really are trying to hear from the citizens we don't normally hear from. We don't always need to be, you know, rehash things. We want to hear from people we haven't heard from. We have 21,000 people we don't get to hear from a lot of them. So any, any select board comments about whether the questions that were asked to be modified or whether we should just continue with the same format for this third one? I think the format we're currently using works well. Yep. And these signs here have helped everybody to know where we are when what we're discussing. It's been a nice job with those. Okay. Gracie, any thoughts? No, I did just want to note that with the the set of questions that Jen currently has, both meetings did run over. So I think that there is more discussion to be had based on the format that she's currently using. So I would, I would support that. Okay. Thanks, Gracie. We want to talk about any of the specific responses that have come through. I would like to wait till the last one and then we can have them have everything all together. I don't know about Tracy. Okay, I see Tracy nodding. I think it's not pat nodding as well. So yeah, okay. So let's not discount any potentially new comments that we might get by having a premature discussion about it. All right. But it sounds like the consensus is to continue with what we've done for the past months. Gracie and Don, you're planning to attend these as well so that we'll have a consistent set of eyes on the and ears on the topics. Okay. Thank you for that. Anything else on this? Could we open up to any public comment or I guess that the whole purpose of the things is to have comment. So hopefully those who have comments have made the comments and will come on Saturday. All right. Yeah, what you need? Yes. Thank you. Great. Okay. Then let's move on to business item B discussion about sharing municipal services with the independent city of S extinction. There's a memo in the packet from Bill Ellis summarizes what we've talked about. We need to talk through this or is there a introduction or how are we going to do this? It might be worth running through just for the people in the audience or people paying attention at home just to give an update. All right. So the memo is from our Bill Ellis who's our legal counsel. We've talked about the it includes where we are with respect to responding to the trustees list of topics that we talked about in prior meetings. We did have a on the July 19th meeting with the trustees. We did give some initial feedback. We then had executive sessions and after that meeting and then on the August 2nd to further discuss since that time we've had the forums that we just talked about and to be I guess to clarify a couple of the issues that came up during that we talked about already is child care and after school programs. There was some discussion in there also about open and transparent communication which we will certainly work on as we develop more clarity ourselves and where we're what direction we're going. Shared police services is a big topic. In fact there's some folks here in the audience who talked spoke at our last meeting. There was a letter signed by a large number of folks. Is it what's the number now? 95 signatures on that. Thank you. And as we have mentioned previously the select board has not indicated any objection to sharing police services with an independent city of Essex Junction. We're working on what we think the details of that should be from from the town side particularly looking at how to ensure that the entire cost of police services is covered. The town budget doesn't include things like IT, the finance, the all the other support services that go around that are also involved in policing. So we we need to work through all of the details of what needs to be included in that and then there's also the question of there was a the trustees requested that the cost be based on a grand list. We're having discussions about whether that's appropriate or whether some other number is appropriate. We have not closed that. You do have another discussion at the end of the day at the end of this meeting. Go through that some more. Again we are working on responses to the trustees proposals. We can't guarantee that we'll have everything finalized by the 27th which is the request of the trustees and there's also some discussion about whether to sign any formal contract prior to approval by the legislature. We are there's some concerns about locking ourselves in prior to knowing whether or not there needs to be anything locked in and also there may be question as to whether it would be a one-sided agreement at that point because the city of Essex Junction wouldn't yet exist. So there's discussions around the legalities associated with that that we need to to work through as well. I mean just to to sum it up that from the discussions that you have had the town flight board has no objections to serving whatever if it's the village or the city of Essex Junction police service. There's no reason not to. There's plenty of reasons to do it. It is just a matter of getting to an agreed upon cost arrangement and some other oversight concerns that the village would have. Would that be accurate? Yep yep yep exactly. Any board comments? I'll say something. Yeah go ahead Pat. I'll try to keep it relatively brief I think you know as in the as uh someone who lives in the village I know there's a large amount of anxiety around you know moving towards that November date without you know some specific agreements in place you know and I completely understand that. It's difficult you know and I don't want to talk about anything that can't talk about what we discuss in executive session but you know we do talk about all of these issues through completely and a big part of why you know it's not easy for us to necessarily just come out and say you know we say we have no objection you know why don't we say well in that case say that you agree or that you're willing to work it's just that we need to make sure that we have kind of some of these numbers that Andy talked about really well formed you know the concern that I have as a village resident is that if we go to the trustees with numbers that are way far off or you know that just aren't ready or prepared yet you know it puts not us but also them in a really awkward or difficult situation kind of further down the road so I think all of us are you know working on this it's not always incredibly visible but I appreciate the patience that people have shown us and I've certainly gotten emails and I really appreciate the number of signatories that came on to make sure that you know we on the select board know what's really critical like what's most important you know for me at least I was appreciative to get that feedback all right thanks Pat um Tracy or Don any comments Tracy no okay um you know I just the um you know the the the last statement uh in the second to last paragraph select board expects to be able to share a response about the framework of a potential police agreement at the joint meeting with the trustees on august 23rd um so you know just to sort of reiterate we are we have been working uh we will continue to work and you can hopefully uh see in that packet the official response thanks Tracy okay uh there's no more board comments open up to the public any comments from the room thank you all I'm gonna hand this to I'm gonna trip her first oh okay thank you and please state your names for the record sure Gabrielle Smith uh five Woodstock lean Bridget Meyer 28 Pleasant Street want to start sure um first I just want to thank um Evan and Greg and all of the select board members um for really uh I personally feel really heard and it's important as you heard in the in the forums to all of us um as Tracy highlighted it's really that sentence for me that resonated in Mr. Ellis's memo that we can indeed expect this to be covered um in the joint meeting and that you all are going to be prepared with some numbers for our trustees um that's really for me the progress that I just wanted we all wanted to be reassured that that was going to happen and that was an expectation that we could come to that meeting and we all had clarity rather than us coming to the meeting and that wasn't actually what was going to happen and then people feeling really um coming at you at that point rather than well in advance um and appreciate that you all are understanding how challenging it is for people no matter where we live in the town um to have felt um we did not know what you were doing or not doing sure we could assume that that's what you were doing in executive session but the executive session label was shared services and not knowing what that might be with the city of a future city or not future city so um I just want to express my gratitude and thanks and um just really want to call out Evan for his responsiveness to a whole slew of emails on this topic and um just really appreciate um that you all have have listened and want to just call that out that I think that a lot of people are appreciative that this is where we're at and that this clear priority from from people in throughout the town is being followed to one. Yeah I feel exactly the same um thank you all for working on this um you know I'm I'm impatient as a person so I there are ways in which I wish it would work a little faster but hey um and I would ask you also to be as transparent as you possibly can be with the community when the citizenry asks or proposes or whatever we want to call this it really it really is important to answer with transparency and openness and having discussions as in as much of an open session as you can it's uh I think it's really important to the community to hear you um deliberate to talk about even numbers I mean I think that that's really really important for the community and I hope that you do that and and continue to do that and I hope you have a have some numbers ready for the joint meeting I think that would be really really helpful and people will will be paying attention I think it's great thank you thanks so much so so just to I don't want to disappoint you now said this uh because the sentence says that we would come back with a framework yeah um and you both mentioned numbers I don't know that we're gonna have specific numbers I think it was actually in the but I may be wrong I thought it was in the the summary from your attorney this framework of a potential police agreement okay okay just want to make sure that the framework numbers or formula frameworks include numbers it can cut area yeah I think there'll there'll be some give and take as to sorry you know please go ahead please go ahead I want I want to let everybody know the Essex Police Department as currently constituted has been the the entire town police department since 1980 they don't want to be no you don't anything else okay I don't believe the town select board wants them to be anything else and I don't think the village board wants them to be anything else it is just a matter now it used to be under the town umbrella meaning in the town budget in the police department was in the budget there are monies that are in different budgets because we've never contemplated sharing this service with a community that wasn't paying property taxes to the town so something we pay uh insurance workers comp insurance and we pay property and casualty insurance it's not in the police budget it's in the finance budget because they're the ones who managed that program so and imagine it for all the departments so it's just not in the budget then there's a very large question as to how much of the police department work and and workload is the village and we don't want to go penny for penny nobody does generally so I believe there'll be a framework discussion and also in a long-term agreement which would benefit both communities where are the points where you can reopen and discuss when things change both of our populations are growing but they may not grow at the same rates some issues may come up in the future that may be more work intensive or whatever it may be and that's really the framework type of issues that the select board is discussing and so but it behooves big word the community so if you think about it right now the police department is about 33 percent of the entire town budget it is very important that that service and that service level which we've heard from our citizens be maintained and therefore that cost has to be looked at based upon that service and that expectation of the citizen I hope that comes through yeah certainly as as a the current town resident but as a future potential non-town resident I wouldn't expect any agreement to cost your municipality any money more so than it would be right it should be a fair and equitable arrangement framework formula whatever that is and and when people talk about police services we also include dispatch services which includes dispatching to the villages public works department the villages fire department and any other department that they dispatch for now we would continue that service as well and for those who may or may not understand dispatching is a 24 7 365 activity and so it is very important that that we continue those lines of communication for the entirety of our service if i could say you said something about 1980 and I I think it's important to remember what happened in 1980 I mean it was actually 78 to 80 but after a series of votes the both the town outside the village and the village created this department it was it's really an anomaly when you think about it there's no duplication there you you purchased the sx police department purchased the village department purchased their assets all of the village officers moved to sx police department yep you we had the same chief they worked out of Lincoln hall for a while and then came here in 81 I think 81 or 82 81 main and I think that's really really important to remember and and to think about because it was a department created by both communities and without I mean there were there were back and forth several votes but it happened and I think that's really incredible when you think about some of the some of the other other duplicated services that we have and you share the debt on the building that they're currently housed in that's right so 2033 I think so yeah yeah and I would also just add and I said this to the trustees as well I'm encouraging them to spend as little time and energy as possible on other alternatives I understand it's their responsibility to do so until they have something concrete but I just hate to see something turn into something it doesn't need to be I understand that the that you all are working together I believe that the 10 of you wants what's best for the future of all of us who live in the town of sx right now no matter what happens with separation and that's why there is that sense of expediency communicated to you in that letter because we just want to head all of that off and make it unnecessary for the trustees to continue any of that any of those efforts our staff's time is precious enough they don't need to be spending all that extra time trying to figure out the village's option b when option a is what we all can agree is the most reasonable option and I think what we're all just waiting for is all of that body of work that you're doing have been with your staff to help you know kind of deliver that that framework or formula to the trustees so really appreciate all the work that goes into that it's necessary and that's how we'll figure out I hope um that that fair agreement to provide those services so thank you all thank you thank you thank you any other comments in the room I thought I saw a hand up uh Patty Davis yes um I I want to give credit to everything you guys do of course I do um just an observation because my scientific background um my only request is I think it's great that you say I would not like a discussion to happen you know no back and forth I would like that to be please equitable between the town outside the village residents and the town inside the village residents so that we both can feel equally heard and not feel like we're taking your time um I really meant what I said about um you know I'm willing to pay to help I have the money to assist you in any way for any way finding signs or a sign um at Saxon Hill thank you very much thanks Patty any other don't see any other hands up there is one telephone participant any comments from the telephone participant seems there's not um any other board comments on this topic from staff okay Patty if you could could you lower your hand all right let's move on to the next item of business discussion with police chief about incident on Pearl Street hi good evening folks my my mic working okay yes we can hear you all right good um yeah so so I was asked to uh to come in tonight just to talk a little bit about what the police department is doing uh since we had the the incident on Pearl Street back in mid july uh where we uh could have done better with a call where there was a pretty major disturbance uh and there were several subjects involved in a fight when our officers arrived um so I just wanted to give everyone a just an overview of that um since then uh you were probably all aware of the press release that we issued uh right after that incident in which we outlined what we were doing to make that situation right um the incident was reassigned to another sergeant who wasn't present at the time and he spent the next week to 10 days redoing the investigation going over all of the facts once more and detailing those in about in a pretty lengthy affidavit that was sent to our state attorney's office along with all the video evidence that was sent a week ago monday so they've had that and they're considering you know what to do with that case and who to charge and who not to charge and what will be the outcome of it uh we have also gotten the motorcycle back to uh mr. Williams and that was that was the impetus for the whole incident was an argument about the work that it was supposed to be being done on his motorcycle we've gotten that back to him that was done the weekend after we issued the press release and um we uh we facilitated that back to him so we wouldn't have any other issues uh as far as training and uh what we see this as moving forward we see this as an opportunity one of the things that that came to light out of this was that i believe that we were a little bit hasty in issuing a citation to mr. Williams at night that's why we chose to take it back and and go back and look at all of the evidence before deciding who was going to be charged you know last year we did we did training with Tavatha Moore and i've been in consultation with her numerous times over the past three weeks to a month in regards to this incident and among other things um you know one of the things that we realized was that when we did that training you know the training that our officers got was on part of it was on the harm that has been done by law enforcement to the BIPOC community over the years in the country and in vermont and but one thing we didn't really cover was how to interpret that you know that harm that has been done into our daily jobs as that we do as law enforcement so one of the things that i've discussed with Tavatha is going back and creating another training for our officers that will probably be in january her schedule is very very busy where we go back and we try to tie that into what we do in our daily jobs and not just you know it where it comes to the BIPOC community but to all citizens we want to do investigations better we want to do more thorough investigations and be able to consider all of the facts before we just simply go ahead and you know act on probable cause um i look at this very very similarly to what we used to do with domestic violence which you know when i first became a police officer um in the early 90s you know we we didn't have any really great training when it came to domestic violence and we were making arrests based on whether there was probable cause lots of times we would arrest both parties if if both parties had you know assaulted one another or even if one was in defense we would go ahead and and make make dual arrests we don't do those things anymore we have gotten better training over the years and we've changed our procedures where we can now you know we determine a primary aggressor and we also further consider you know prior trauma that has happened to a victim into one party in those types of situations so those are the types of things that we want to bring to all of our investigations and and make our folks more trauma informed and be able to conduct you know better investigations overall so that's one of the things that we are that we're going to be doing with this training for our officers the other thing that that we're going to be doing is we're going to be creating a a citizen kind of like a kind of like a citizen panel series where we're going to have a panel of folks come in and just answer questions about the criminal justice system you know one of the confusing things about this about this case was that we issued a citation and I got asked by the media and and other people you know does is a citation you know actually an arrest and it actually is not it's an invitation to court you know but a lot of folks don't understand rule three which is what law enforcement basically works under here under Vermont law in Vermont and how we work from day to day whether we make an arrest or whether we issue a a piece of paper or not is is covered under that a lot of a lot of normal citizens don't understand that so we would like to have a panel of folks who are knowledgeable on criminal law including a defense attorney come in to talk about how the criminal justice system works who actually makes charging decisions for instance that's not that's not the police the police don't make charging decisions that is the state's attorney saw a job we only refer cases to to her in this case and she makes decisions on who's going to be charged and who's not so that's that's where we are at with that we would like to do that type of public training sooner rather than later and I'm trying to put that together I've had some initial discussions with with Aaron McGuire in order to put that together with the possibility of partnering maybe with view in order to be able to put that on so but that's just an initial discussion that we've had but that is something that we would like to do and you know and make sure that folks know how to advocate for themselves when it comes to being involved in the criminal justice system so that's where we are at right now with with what we are doing with with this incident it's it's it's set a ripple through our department as as you can imagine no one likes to be the focus of media attentions such as that and you know we are we are going to move past it and we're going to move forward we're doing the right things that need to be done to handle the case correctly and we are moving forward with it thanks chief any any questions from the board comments chief thanks for the explanation you know I know we've talked sure you know before then but I have to add you know as unfortunate as the incident was um you know I am I'm pleased that we're in a community where you know we knew last year after George Floyd's murder that changes it needed to be made and we needed to you know be more responsive to make sure our citizens you know the people who live here in Essex and our BIPOC you know have feel like they can come to the police as well um you know in this instance you know quickly I think that the police department was able to move on it when you know it came to light that there was more to the story than just as it was is something that I don't think would have happened if you know a year ago Evan hadn't brought in uh you know his the equity panel um you know at the town level and the work that we've been doing as part of the uh racial justice task force um but you know it it it gives a really good feel I think for how how much you guys work when you use terms like you know trauma informed decisions you know we it makes me feel good about being in a town where the police department has that in their minds and in their heads when they're approaching cases so you know obviously we all in Essex want to get better with incidents like this but you know knowing that we went as quickly as we did in trying to correct it made me feel at least you know it's certainly reassured after seeing those kind of initial posts so thank you chief well I really appreciate that Patrick um you know I've received a lot of different messages of support both both in person and in emails and calls and that type of thing of support for the police department because of this you know it's it's very difficult for an organization especially a law enforcement organization to admit when it did something or it could have done something better right we all want to be perfect we all want to do our best at everything and and certainly law enforcement is a proud group um and and we want to do our jobs one of our core values is courage and that is courage to also admit when you could have done something better and that's why we did what we did as quickly as we did thanks thanks Patrick thanks chief any other comments do you see any comments are you good okay uh let's see let's so open this up to the public um I see Mary post stand up go ahead Mary hi thank you I just want to um add on to what Patrick said uh where I feel I don't want anybody to forget that there was a lot of citizen involvement in this too a demonstration and I want to say that after going to coffee with the cops and having a chance to talk to the chief I know that he's told me then and I hope it's still true chief um that he really welcomes a lot of citizen involvement and I think that that's going to be key all the way around is for citizens to feel like they are being heard that they do have a say or at least being listened to and I like the idea of having a meeting where citizens can learn what the actual um mechanics are of how things are done because a lot of us don't know and so I look forward to learning that but thank you so much sure you you're welcome Mary I really appreciate that thanks yep thanks Mary any any other comments comments in the room online I don't see any hands up any further comments from the board thank you for all your hard work thank you Don any other comments all right thanks chief um that's uh thanks for for uh being willing to come in and have this discussion and for and for all your work it's uh you bet and while I'm here I just wanted to say thanks to the whole board and and all of the other staff outside the police department that's that's working on this separation issue and and buying the scenes they're doing a lot you all are thanks Ron and it sounds like you're you're you're planning on not staying till the end of the meeting because the reading file includes the summary of the national night out I want to congratulate you for that huge success there yes that's uh that's awesome and I and yeah I'm looking forward to uh continuing you bet we're planning on doing it every year so everyone is invited next year and Evan said has already volunteered again for next year so we will be there he didn't know that till just now but he did thanks for doing it on camera you bet all right thanks chief thanks okay uh let's move on to business item 5d discussion about planning for fiscal year 2023 budget Sarah I was always maybe go unnoticed it's it's so weird to be talking budget in August when the current fiscal year went into effect July 1 but right but when you're here so can you guys hear me okay I'm on my my phone tonight uh yeah a little faint I'm a little faint can you hear well now I'm too close to the camera how about that is that better okay making sure I'm on speaker as well okay so I know we're doing this a little bit earlier than we normally do as Evan alluded to um back in January of this year when we were transitioning to Australian ballot we were trying to have um an extra public hearing I really felt like the timeline was incredibly crunched between when we finalized the budget and when we got information out to voters to prepare for um town meeting and I I would like to get away from that a little bit and so what I've done this year is I've actually pulled the whole schedule back um quite a ways about two full months with the goal to have um a budget in basically final state before the December holidays so that we have time to compile more than just the numbers and communicate it out with the public um well in advance of voting we'll see how it goes um it might be too early but my goal is really to get more information out sooner um and not just rely on the one or two public hearings now that we are on Australian ballot for voting so that's why we're doing this now um I've already met with the majority of department heads to give them a refresher on the new budget system that we implemented last year and to get started with um the outline of their budgets and tonight I'm here to listen to the select board weigh in on what their goals are for the FY 23 fiscal year and next week we'll talk jointly about joint goals and the trustees will have an opportunity to talk about village goals next Tuesday so the floor I'm going to pass the floor back to the select board and I will take notes all right Sarah any uh comments from the select board members you want to see in the budget go ahead Pat yeah um I mean I suspect that this is already in here but I you know I continued funding for our racial justice and equity initiatives um you know the police department needs you know funding for bringing in professionals or you know whatever they might need uh you know obviously also at the town staffing level um you know something maybe a little bit more intensive um but I think you guys are doing a great job but you already I suspect have that folded in but if not I'd like to continue saying it um and another thing that I would really like to see a priority this year I although I've tagged a few really small items on it um I really think that we have an opportunity and a necessity to be addressing anything that we can do to impact climate change as well um you know if that is machinery um if that's building weatherization um you know anything that we as a municipality can do uh to make sure that we're you know trying to get to carbon footprint zero uh you know I would really appreciate seeing some of that uh tagged in the budget or having some funding set aside for that all right thanks Pat done any any comments you want to make about budgeting I just think we need to be tightening tightening our um spending in lieu of the fact separation makes when separation occurs we need to be prepared we need to build that into the budget right yeah I guess if anything that uh we could anticipate that might uh soften the uh potential step function increase of tax rate with a loss of tax base yeah uh Tracey do you have any comments yeah just a few notes that I had had written down minimizing the financial impact of possible separation uh whether there are costs that can be deferred to lessen the impact on taxpayers at least in the short term um I also feel like Patrick that um any any mitigation to impact the climate change be that uh solar whether there's grant opportunities um hybrid vehicles things of that sort um and also I I I'm not sure that this is really a budget item but really looking at mental health supports and seeing whether the the contract that the police has truly serves our community well uh or whether there are uh sort of wraparound services that that can be added um to ensure uh mental health response um when folks are are in crisis and need that immediate response I think Tracey um I guess from from my thoughts I agree with a lot of what's been said here the the one thing about um social equity is wondering if it's makes a stronger statement to have explicit budget items that are that are addressed to that rather than have you know funds that we use for that purpose you know in another budget hidden within within that you know a separate line item I'm thinking that that it's a stronger statement to have it explicitly listed as its own item so that it's you know clearly stated that you know where we're putting our support um the uh to to the comments about the potential impact of separation maybe this is a joint um objective that we need to discuss next week with the trustees is whether uh we want to continue with any consolidation efforts um I think there's there's two two things that that does for us or potentially does for us one is it it uh um it increases the town tax rate then you know if separation occurs then you've got less distance to go to get to that final tax rate you know the separated tax rate you know it it starts putting a ramp in the in the increase the other is if separation fails then we're without much tax equity um there's still still you know I think there's there's there's other there's things that we can do there but again it might this might be a joint discussion we have next week um the other one that uh I actually brought up uh last year and I think it's made some progress is that our entire southern border is waterfront but we don't have any access to the river um and I know there is some work going on to potentially put in a canoe or kayak access off of the river road I like to see that continue and I I would support that um with all the everybody's uh getting outdoors during COVID there's a lot you know a lot of there might need would be a lot of interest in having access to the river mental health is the other one that was mentioned by others um again uh having an explicit line item to support that I think is could could go away to the ways to showing our our intent and dedication to support those needs um oh yeah Sarah sorry my other question is related to fund balance we typically don't know what our fund balances are until around the December timeframe so if we're talking about you know we're starting our budget talks at the beginning of November we won't necessarily know where we're sitting uh in that regard so what are your thoughts on how to deal with that well so I'm not um I think we might have a little bit of a timing crunch we already have as far as using fund balance toward offsetting the tax rate we do already have fund balance assigned for that purpose as well as some other purposes we we have an idea of where we're gonna land um before the auditors come in October and we usually just wait until December until we're finished with the audit to give a you know a dollar amount to the penny um but I have every confidence that we'll have a good idea of where we are um in that November timeline and then we can lock it down before we finalize a budget okay okay so the thought is that we'll we can have the initial discussions with some approximately no they could be tweaked a bit and then before we finalize the budget we'll have what those final numbers are definitely and I also think that fund balance is going to play a large role in what I'm hearing as like how do we minimize the financial impact of a potential separation while still pursuing our other goals that cost money um and I think that relying on some of the fund balance that we do have to sort of step into um a tax increase upon losing a big chunk of the grand list is a reasonable um plan and so I do anticipate as we see those phone numbers the fund balance numbers come in whatever that change from preliminary to final is going to be I don't see us really earmarking that for anything specific other than general easing of the tax change I mean I don't make that decision but in my minds um that's what I think that we that's what I would recommend we do um and so I I think that we'll be set up just fine to to move the process back a little bit give ourselves a little bit of breathing room and more time to communicate with the public so hopefully we can meet all of our goals uh time will tell yep okay thanks Sarah the other the other thing is nobody's there's been no there hadn't been any comments about revenue um are there any revenue revenue sources you know local local option tax um might be something reasonable to discuss um I don't know if there are or any other revenues we could consider um you know these take a long time to add up whether they be impact fees or permit fees or it is it is wise to occasionally look at your fee structures uh over time to see when the last time they've changed how much you are expending in terms of service to get those fees versus what you're actually charging so we could take a look internally we just uh did some work on the permit fees this year in comm dev last year in thurks office a lot of our fees are also set by the state so um there's not a lot that that's in our discretion but certainly should look at that yeah I think that's a really good point Andy I do think that local option tax is really the only one that has the like to the ability to move the needle at all so we're about 90 to 92 percent funded by property taxes so our revenue sources really are not very diversified and even those fees for services make up a very small portion of the revenue inflows um so I I know that we have batted around the idea of local option tax um here and there over the last couple years that I've been here and it's always sort of been set aside while we work on governance projects but I have made a note of it as well the the other thing is it's um are we uh will we be seeing the capital plan in the same timeframe or is that still going to be on the old holder schedule um I am going to withhold comments I put all of the capital projects into questika budget this year and I've asked all of the department heads that I've spoken with so far to be working on those as well so if everything goes according to plan um it'll go hands in hands but I do want to reserve you know maybe it might not so let's um let's see what happens right because we we do a fair amount of transfers from the operating budget to capital and there's you know there's a the question of whether it's time to ask for an increase to that who sent capital tax um the other thing with that plan is is um question of where it's spent um do we have you know appropriate focus on uh the right priorities uh I guess to be completely transparent inside versus outside village um kind of discussions um and you know maybe with the budget timeline pulled back some that gives us some a little bit more time to focus on some of those questions and instead of the it just feels like we've been rushed in my opinion so I think that we it might allow us a little bit more time to really talk about those things yeah and the other the other sorry I keep I keep adding and another and other right uh the capital plan uh is titled a five-year capital plan but it doesn't often go out five years it would be helpful to see if we're falling behind or staying even or you know where we are you know in a longer time frame than I think we've typically seen so if there's any way to uh extend the capital forecasting beyond you know and I know with with the potential of separation it becomes complicated everything does so right there's no no no saying when the time yeah time schedule would be right all right um any anything anything but any would anything that was said trigger anything else for any other numbers anything new Tracy based on what was other comments from anybody Tracy look like you're frozen is that better she's still with us okay okay all right uh any other staff comments no thank you for the input Sarah are you happy uh and if anyone thinks of other things feel free to just email me directly and I'll add them to the list and and try to make them all fit in the budget all right um just so you know as Sarah can you explain questica no that's not on the agenda um I I don't know if it it needs much explanation that's the budgeting software that we put in the budget a couple years ago and we did a soft rollout last year and we're we're up and running more thoroughly this year and we're really diving hard into the custom reporting features um and we're really we're pretty we're pleased with it um we're very excited about some you know a lot of the benefit is internal um and not so much board facing but uh it is definitely made for a smoother start to budget season thank you you're welcome and Evan I've seen it use all right so should we open up the public comment sure hey I see patty davis go ahead patty a quick a quick statement andy we are so lucky to have you you are just really good with money and I'm really proud that you are our chair thank you all right thanks patty um video it's Mary post yeah I just wanted to say for my little uh two cents worth that I also am very very concerned that we have um support for mental health issues in town I was totally and I know that this is not about a school budget I know that ahead of time but I was totally shocked to hear that there are a lot of kids that need mental health services and yet there's a three year waiting list for kids that need mental health services so I know that you know that the adults have problems too but I just think that I'd like it if our town would focus on mental health thank you thanks Mary hey anybody else I don't see any hands online any comments in the room Irene talk to the microphone please yep thank you Irene Renner I have comparisons to the public works shared but when it was mentioned that there are other combinations that have been proposed um when I was on the select board we were in the process of consolidating the public works departments that's where the budgets were merged is there some interference we can cut out from yeah I'm just trying to see who's this isn't the first time I've run into it that's why I'm conscious of it that three-year plan to merge public works departments is now I believe on the 10-year track but there is a plan and last I knew it was still in force to combine them and that was approved by the select board I don't appreciate following tomb votes not to merge that this would even be a consideration we have separate fire departments for a reason they have separate budgets please don't do backdoor mergers under a budget which is not very transparent to the people voting on a bottom line when I was on the select board the first time the village asked for the town to pick up its rolling stock one of us on the select board said we'd be glad to do that you just need to change the labels on the trucks and the trustees backed right down if you go forward with putting the fire department budget for s-extruction in the town budget I would request that you also control the fire department from town hall that it's a true merger of the departments and that way it will be clear to everyone when they see the trucks roll that the town of s-ext is paying for it thank you thanks Irene I see a hand up uh Jay Percy can you state your name please yeah hi Andy it's Joe Percy can you guys hear can everybody hear me yes we can and I don't it's not so much a comment it's just an observation in that I know that um or I understand that um we share the managers salary with the village and it's actually 50 percent of it is in the village budget and then 50 percent obviously is in the town budget but with regard to benefits there's not that split like benefits stay with the town and it just seems like it's a contradiction in that we've already agreed that the salaries get split 50 50 but I you know I I'm curious why benefits don't and that was it okay thanks Joe I think I think the answer is that it's difficult to have benefits from two different entities um because we have different no it's really just the splitting the costs are already in the town yeah right the car yeah um it's just moving it's just moving the benefits like we do salaries but if you want it really gets to whether you believe in the word equity so if if you take it on a tax perspective the village pays taxes into the town they also pay for their own taxes so the way to more equalize it to 50 50 is if the village was paying 50 percent of someone's salary and the town is paying 50 percent but the town picks up the benefits the village is also paying for those benefits through their property taxes and it gets closer to equalizing who's paying say 50 50 yeah no I understand that Evan but that we're we're only getting back 42 percent of the benefits and Mr. Percy I didn't make the I didn't make the arrangement so that's just what it's been done for I believe the last five or six years so maybe we could look at a better way of doing that I don't disagree yeah I just wondered if it's curious if there were other situations like that too oh yeah there there are so the the better way we looked at it a while ago if I believe it comes out to 78 22 if the town paid 78 percent and the village paid 22 percent of salary and benefits it would come out to about 50 50 if the position were split 50 50 it's complicated so um it's hard to explain in a budget process too so but uh that's how we got there thank you for your question all right thank you yep thanks job just make sure I scroll down in case Harlan's hand is down up down below I don't see him all right um any other uh board member comments just to thank Sarah for her hard work yep thank you yes thank you Sarah you have any mm-hmm thank you I do thank you all so much for your input all right okay great now let's move on to the next agenda item which was one that we added discussion about filling that empty seat go ahead Greg yeah so um uh Vince Franco resigned um his seat on the select board um so you now have an opening on your five-member board you have four members the town charter lays out the process that can happen when there is an opening on the select board I have a memo up on the screen so hopefully people at home can see it as well but basically in the event of a resignation of a select one select board member the remaining members of the board may appoint a person eligible to fill that position if that's the way it plays out at the next annual meeting the vacancy should be filled by serving the remaining balance of the term if the board is unable to agree upon an interim replacement until the next annual town meeting a special meeting should be held to fill that position so those are basically the two options the select board can consider if you want to make a decision tonight we can start the process of whichever that is staff whether it's advertising the opening and trying to recruit uh uh not recruit but advertise and and get um candidates in front of the board to to interview and appoint we can start that in September or October if you wanted to consider a special special election that's another option looking at when to do it um haven't had a chance to track down cost yet but I I want to say it's at least $14,000 for an election Don's nodding ahead yes um it might be more than that if if you choose to mail out ballots that you've done um the past year or so with COVID um so yes I just wanted to bring it to the board's attention and see if you had any thoughts tonight uh if you want to move in one direction or another tonight great I recognize it happening fast though so the next board meeting is September 13th if you wanted to dwell on it and mull it over and talk about it more in a few weeks when does Vince's term actually expire 2023 it's on the same he was elected the same time I was so it would be it's a similar scenario that that right you experienced would be appoint somebody so they would whoever would somebody somebody would run again in March somebody would run in March and then have to run again the following March because it's uh but to keep things on cycle right yep um the um one thing that I guess we should consider is this wasn't on the agenda that was published and so it's not was not the this topic was not well warned um so we may want to take that into consideration if we when we if we decide to do anything at this point um I personally you know I don't know maybe I shouldn't talk first personally I I think given that we have our budget cycle starting in early November I think sooner is better than later with regard to getting the ball rolling I assume we would want to you know advertise for something on the order of 30 days which is actually at this point beyond our next meeting um you know I think we you know we've we've fairly recently been through this process and I'm hoping that somebody saved all the questions that we have prepared that we used in that so we can potentially re reuse them uh if we need to um so I I let's shoot for October 4th is that what you're saying so I'm thinking that if we want 30 days of uh advertising the position that October 4th would be or we would need to have a special meeting in the in the latter half of September I know I'm I'm thinking back when we did this the last time we had eight or nine candidates and it it did take quite a while to do all the uh the interviewing and then we had uh I guess that's part of the discussion to have is whether to do them all at once I don't remember did we do them all at once or did we break no we I think we did we did them all at once didn't we um it was the it was the housing commission there's housing commission that we split up and did over different different weeks yeah um and so um yeah Pat go ahead um do we know uh how long we did the open advertisement for the last one I'm just wondering it's it's almost exactly four weeks to the September 13th meeting um not quite but pretty close um I mean I think I would be okay with four weeks of advertisement not quite 30 days but you know if we want to be I just I guess I don't know consistency like how long did we have it open last time or do we know from advertising I do not recall it generally as a rule for other boards and committees we try to have them posted for at least 30 days um this is a little bit different situation I'm more than willing to have a special meeting at the end of September that just has that on the agenda as well if we want to give it 30 days and then just have a night where we're coming in and doing interviews and nothing else seems like that might fit well we're supposed to meet one of the trustees their deadlines are twice there's we have joint meetings on the 20th and the 27th in September right yeah so there's only one select board meeting on the 13th and then the following two Mondays are both currently scheduled I have no joint meetings we do have the ability you know the second one is the adder that we could choose not to do if it doesn't have any relevance but I want to cancel it just because of it you know I have no problem with Patrick's suggestion if you want to wait you know whatever works we can have a special meeting I mean because it will be a long one if you get as many as well 11 or 12 actually last time yeah and I know it was very long yeah so I would rather see it as a specially called meeting truthfully starting maybe a little earlier depending on how many applicants you get Tracy any thoughts I'm good with late September early October even I would prefer to cast a wide net and and get a you know a large pool of candidates and I think it makes sense to just have one meeting where we you know sit down heads down and just do it and also sort of adjacent to this conversation I'd like to point out that our charter refers to all board members as select men it would be nice if we could update that based on that it's the year 2021 yeah I've been I've been trying to get that fixed for many years I actually just last week wrote to Alyssa Black saying please please please put something into in our eight page document we have 63 occurrences of select men or select men yes so thank you yeah thank you for that comment so yeah they actually I think I want to say Linda Myers but I'm not sure she presented it to get changed throughout all of our state charters to person and then covid struck yeah so and I was during that session so I it's certainly in the works at the state house already but I think it kind of because of the two-year cycle it needs to be reintroduced now yeah but I do like the idea of taking care of this now as they're waiting for a special election one because we're supposed to be saving money and it is expensive yeah and the way I read the charter it says that we should only do a special election if we fail to reach consensus exactly so if you know if we end up winning two two tie over something or a one to one to one tie then yeah it I think that's but I think we have I would think that we'd have to try to find a suitable candidate prior to doing that direction haven't I saw your hand up just a quick thing procedurally so thinking application you know something like a cover letter do you want anything else from them work history something that helps you with their application maybe there's something like work history or experience why they're applying what they want to accomplish something that that that helps the questions and the and the flow not just right and that would also make the interview go faster instead of like with mine I had to sit there and give everybody my history and what I had done so if we had that before us that would actually save on the interview process yeah that's true so that's okay that's what we'll in the adverse event we'll put out there what we're looking for we'll have a filing deadline that we can get it into a into a confidential packet or whatever packet it's going to be and then we'll try to remember what we did and there was a vacancy for Donna a year two years ago so not something we do very often but we'll put it together so so given that we have the select board has a meeting on the 13th from the 20th from the 27th they're both joint meetings and the following week the fourth is another select board meeting is there a recommendation or suggestion with regard to how to we're going to have to take a look at sorry to interrupt we have to take a look at your meetings village meetings joint meetings and anything that comes up between now and those meetings and get your schedules so we'll probably end up with a couple of we are very used to putting out doodle polls of dates and so we'll probably have to look at some open dates that we would ask you to reserve in advance and then also let the the applicants know what potential dates they would be interviewed on I don't have a crystal ball to it I don't have a crystal ball six weeks out or seven weeks out so our board member is okay with asking staff to initiate the advertising for the position I know we need to we may need to resolve the date of the interviews before that we want to we need to do resolve the date before that I think we I think we'll just start advertising we'll simultaneously start doing the doodle poll and looking at available dates and we can either update the ad and or when people submit we'll ask them if they're available on such date I think it's preferable to keep everything on the same date so hopefully people will be available or make themselves available yeah are both our joint meetings on a Monday with the board with the I believe so yes I have the 20th and the 27th so maybe one was a Tuesday and one was a Monday and we could have used yeah I'm not sure if it uh I have to go back and look to see if it interlaces with how it fits with trustee meetings now let's see I've got it open right here uh so right we we meet on the 13th the the trustees meet on the 14th and there's joint meetings on the 20th and the 27th there's no on the schedule that's at least posted here there's no a trustee meeting on either of those Tuesdays but who knows I think they may want to add more meetings I don't know so we both we both only have one regular meeting in September and then there's the two joint meetings okay well whatever staff to make work for yes yeah okay so um back to the meeting here so I guess uh we all okay with going forward with advertising and we'll in parallel try to work out a date for the interviews one thing that we should also try to do is I don't know who I have to go back and look into we had a we had a series of questions and in fact the way we had done it before is the we asked the same questions every candidate so that we got a you know a more consistency on how to compare people trace tracy get a hand up ahead yeah um those questions were in I think the prior meetings agenda that were agreed to by the select board so I can find a date I'm sure staff can find the date I just go back one meeting um and the only other thing I had was I I just wanted to thank Vince for his service yeah yes yes Vince thank you so much not an easy job and that's uh wish you all the best okay uh do you need anything else from us no but for the public if you uh want to spread the word that would be great we really do want to reach the broader public so embellish the truth that the meetings are easier that they don't last very long and they're out by 9 p.m everything and there's no reading whatsoever specific still possible all right thank you yep thank you um no adding another meeting it's not going to be uh it's going to be a challenge yeah we keep trying to cut them and they keep coming back like a horror movie thanks ladies all right so moving on to the next uh business item which was the uh minutes for august 2nd um there were some changes that were requested there we moved it out of consent okay Tracy did you have was it yeah online 201 the very last word those last two sentences of that paragraph um and i i sent this in an email uh so the exact wording is there um but we actually we didn't decide to determine um the the wording could be due to issues of child care concern over covid and unfilment familiarity with the technology available at memorial hall the select board members felt a hybrid meeting was preferable for the august 4th forum and decided to relocate the session to 81 main street they agreed they will quickly and thoroughly update this change online and would sign okay thank you that's not the one i thought she was going to make under um line two under agenda um additions and changes it was Tracy that requested at the minute be pulled not me i did you got that Kathy on the line 20 no i'm sorry it is yeah line 20 i do and thank you very much for your corrections i appreciate it all right and you also have uh Tracy's wording i do thank you okay all right yeah any other changes okay uh i have a motion to approve i make no shall we accept the minutes that's corrected second all right thanks don thanks uh pat um you said accept do we need to say approve does it matter does it matter i'm just sorry all right any any further discussion all those in favor please say aye aye opposed okay uh minutes are approved next business item is a um executive session uh with legal discussion on the village of Essex Junction proposed separation from the town of Essex we'll uh um defer that to the end of the meeting as usual so moving on a consent agenda is there a motion to approve consent i make the motion that we accept the consent agenda as presented and with thanks to Grace Vincent for her service second all right thanks Don thanks um Tracy any further discussion okay all those in favor please say aye aye consent agenda is approved uh reading file um any comments on reading file you want it's not on the reading file the senior center is going to be opening uh Friday September 3rd is their opening grand grand reopening party i forgot to mention that before thanks to the staff at the Essex park and rec for all their hard service during COVID and keeping in contact with the seniors and the senior van running we are still experiencing staffing issues uh for the van but we are keeping it running as best we can and so the senior center opens Friday September 3rd great thanks Evan please thank them any other board member comments i see there's a resignation from uh conservation and trails like the thanks grace for her service there um there's also a very nice letter um from Betsy Terry uh regarding the senior swim meet that was held uh at sandhill pool um thanks Ali for for great support there and others um against the swim team uh also supported that effort uh good thing else and then i already mentioned the uh national night out while uh l chief Hogue was up on the call earlier um and again once again thank you for including the thank you notes for the human service funding that we provide i appreciate seeing those they are well received we talk about you know the community's commitment to mental health and other things i don't think people quite understand how much money and effort uh the select board in the town of Essex as a whole puts into health and human services and uh the issues of the broader community and so it's a very interesting grant program uh that is put together and all the staff that put a lot of time and thought into that application and evaluation process and the support that it receives from the select board so it is nice to see the thank yous as well and hopefully uh in the coming weeks or months we will get reports from them as well a little updates as to how the funds were used right any other board member comments all right then i guess uh executive session i moved to select board make the specific finding that general public knowledge of confidential attorney client communication made for the purpose of providing professional legal services to the body would place the town has a substantial disadvantage second thank you don thank you pat any further discussion all those in favor please say aye aye opposed any motion passes get the other one i moved it to select board enter into executive session to discuss confidential attorney client communications made for the purpose of providing professional legal service to the body pursuant of one vsa 33 i'm sorry 313 a1 and f to include the unified manager and deputy man and i should have said town attorney and town attorney i was i actually had that in great give me a minute you're ahead of me done thanks uh tracy uh uh from a point of discussion we'll be coming back just to the open session after i don't think we're expecting any uh any motions need to be made afterwards i believe so so okay so we will we will let me exit we'll move up to our executive session when we exit the executive session we will adjourn from from that point and not come back to this room so we'll yeah once we go into executive sessions we will be uh the only the only further action we'll be doing yeah okay all right