 Good evening, I'd like to call Thursday September 19th Berlin select board regularly scheduled meeting to order to my far left is Justin Lawrence Low Smith tomorrow is Jeremy Hansen who was on Bradtown and this also is Dana Hadley our town administrator and Diane Isabel town treasurer Editions are changes to the agenda. I do have a few things that I'd like to Add to the agenda and some of them are related to what is on the agenda. I'd like to talk to the board a Little bit about the public hearing notice for Black Road for the public the second public hearing that's coming up And I'd like to Have the board approve forgiving balances under five dollars and I'd like to ask the board if they might consider a change and how that's done out when I get there I'll tell you and We have on the agenda the approval of the loan resolution. This is for the the loan for the sewer Painter impact no sewer expansion project There has been an idea brought forward about our arbitrage for sewer loan and so we'd like to talk about that and Everything else is on the agenda Okay Public comment Hearing none On September 30th, there's going to be a board of abatement meeting at six o'clock Do you want to get abatements and I think there might be a board of civil authority Okay, so just to let you know So I'm here for that. I also did get the select board the August budget as reports out of draw balance and put the tax report And today I did get the preliminary education grant list So I know what I have to set aside for money. So Oh So I want to make you aware that this year Washington Unified Yeah, so anyways about amount is six million seven hundred and three thousand four hundred seven fourteen Which is a hundred and eighty five thousand dollars more than it was last year for the schools combined Just to make you aware This is the first preliminary report I will be getting the final one in May Okay, usually the final one tends to be a little bit less or has been in the past So I'm hoping that we the case now, but just make you aware that it is higher. We knew that it was going to be higher Anyway, but just to know exactly how much would everything hand out So I want you to have that and this is when they do their final one Did you say that's in May? Is that when that's when they have all their state aid and federal aid or whatever else they're waiting for? Also based on our for one month report, which the for one one report that the assessors They have to do the final one December and then after that time period That's after all Exceptions and so forth Yeah Does that normally does the amount go down after it has the six years up in here he's gone down that last quarter And sometimes I think last year went down maybe 50 But usually it goes down maybe But it could always go up right I understand Thank you Vote on change of winter maintenance for whose trail So at your last meeting You had discussed co-op trail and that the property owner seemed a Manable to having that, you know, it's after the first house But this is for one year see how for eight years try you just So I brought it back so that you could actually vote on that if you so desire So I move that we cease performing winter maintenance on cost trail after the first house on a trial Trial basis for just this year Any further discussion on this All those in favor Motion carries and if this might be a good time Brad for me to talk about the public notice for black road I'm going to schedule that public hearing for October 17th the second meeting in October The state law we are not required on between the first and second of any time period But I think it gives enough time And I will talk to Tom about that But I was wondering I had originally put reclassification of a portion of the class 4 section And I wanted to check with the board to see if you'd like me to word it in another way well well the problems I see is we Really do need to talk to Rob about whether we can actually do maintenance on a class 4 You know for the winter about the stories I haven't gone with Rob and and I've also talked with B. Tran And there's not a problem with that however you're setting a precedent. I know that's I worry about So You're your best judge, but I guess on the working I would Just have something but I just based on what I researched the last time I would think that if you're going to do any sort of winter maintenance on it And we don't have to do anything to bring the road up to a class 3. I don't know why we wouldn't I mean it's minimal But it's you know 150 dollars we would get in the state aid Yeah Yeah, I don't think this is a financial thing at all. I think no, I know this But if you're going to do with winter maintenance Well, how about why you wouldn't just reclassify it anyway, but to me it's more of a safety thing, but right All right Anyway, we're in my rob again Okay, so what he says then you've been taken do the awarding to your So are you thinking I guess what I'm really asking you is let it you're not thinking of the reclassification Or should I stick with that wording and then Decide to change it Because we can always take in the reworn it with with a different. Okay All right, and I last at the last meeting You had mentioned that it would be good to know about the assessment of the new property that was down here, which I'm pretty sure we don't have yet But if he's done with the apartment, he should have it the assessor should be down there Well, they usually pick up once a year around April 1st. I got you I could ask the assessor they if they haven't done it. They could go look at it. Yeah That's all I have on there. Okay So let's see here Outdoor automobile or automobile parts storage ordered it. Well, this might be a very short segment What my attempt was and I had spoken to you some time ago about this Was to have some teeth of what we could do for People that have a lot of junk cars in their property that Are not complying with it. I mean it's against the zoning and it's also against the state law I've had a I had a long conversation with rob about this and This mirrors a lot of our zoning regulations and also the state law and he says What would what is your point because you're still Even though you have you know, you could have the civil ordinance If it's not paid it's still going to be the same process. You're going to be stuck with the I'm afraid when I first came we had that case down on Neil road and we had a lot of money in the legal aspect of it. We were sending the you know, we were paying the sheriff to Sir sir, it was painful trying to do that and then it would go to the court and the court would say Thank you figure it out. I mean it was just we didn't We didn't get Any satisfaction the state has they in their EPA division they have something to do with the junkyards and the selva yards Wouldn't it be beneficial to set them on to the people instead of Well, we have spoken with the state about the individual that I'm thinking of and He and the state has been down and it is the state's Responsibility with the way that the statute got written And I guess a number of years ago there was some outcry or some pressure on the state to do more So I have not talked to the state on this particular one, but I thought I would again and see Yeah, because they're they're response driven. They they don't well look they have to But as I respond as I recall with the the Neil road thing the We called the state and the state came in they said, yep, it's a problem Have a nice day. They they chose not to pursue any enforcement action I think that's true But I just thought I would try and encourage if we could do something I don't know, you know, and again, it's the same issue with I just talked about the courts. They just kind of you know Don't want to deal and I think it's You know, it brings us to another question really is that we have Zoning that we have We need to do a better job of enforcement of zoning And that's always the hardest thing to do And the drv spoke with tom and encouraged and they may come to the board to ask us to write civil ordinances to have civil Fees, which I also spoke to rob about and he says no zoning would actually and the zoning code does have some Fees in there if you you know finds if you don't get complied. It's when they don't Respond to that it has to go to the environmental court And that's how a zoning thing is handled and he says he wouldn't recommend for the board Just so you know or in case it comes to for the board to write an ordinance making it a civil fine So so he actually recommends against the adoption of this he does Okay, he does. So I have been I have been a back down I mean, I was just trying to get some sort of teeth And but I guess we have a sharper teeth as we're going to have Well, I mean I would think that But that's strange for the neighbor, you know, maybe maybe we take and push the state a little bit harder, too I would do that. Yeah, yeah, because they're the ones that are going to take and be able to actually enforce it Right much more a weekend True. So and and that was a rob made that point today and and I thought it was a good thing There goes my ordinance Okay, so Um Any else on that Dana? No, no, thank you. I'll I'll go I'll go forward with working with the state on this issue. Yeah Uh, let's see here approval of loan resolution for sewer line expansion. This is the um The same loan that you've been hearing about for some time now Um, and this is the loan resolution, which you you've approved the loan But you now need to approve the resolution And you need to sign the resolution. So basically This document goes through The different conditions of the loan. I think the most important ones is you have to pay this back Which I don't think it's any surprise Um, the loan is going to end up being two million one hundred ninety six thousand dollars The bond was voted at two point two And there is about four thousand dollars in expenses that are being deducted from the loan proceeds I guess it is exactly that. I move to approve the loan resolution for the amount of two million one hundred ninety six thousand thirty dollars in no sense They they amended that Jeremy after I sent you that so it's uh, two million One ninety six thousand even Okay Okay, I move that we approve the loan resolution As presented in the amount of two million one hundred ninety six thousand dollars My second, good option Any further discussion? All those in favor? I Those opposed motion carries So I will fill out the lines, but I do need four members to sign Paul Giuliano says they've got title. They don't have enough lines. We said just squeeze the man on that side Paul is our bond attorney As well as the bond attorney for most of the state We did have usda did come the last week And we had we signed the paperwork that you had given me authorization to sign As far as we wanted the loan I mean the several different steps, you know They offered the loan do you want the loan? Yes, we want the loan Also, I think that this is a time that I'd like to talk a little bit about the arbitrage idea This is uh, and Diane help me explain it if I don't get it right This is uh for that not for this loan, but for the bridge loan As you remember when we did the water budget we needed money up front and what happens with this loan Is when you spend when you have your expenses You gather that together with the proper documentation Diane would send it into usda and they would send they would wire her the money But that you have to front the money in the meantime So we don't have this kind of money to front. So we need we're going to need to have a bridge loan To to do that when we did the water project um, we did um A letter a credit line So when we needed money Diane would contact the bank and say I need a hundred thousand dollars And and they would forward her a hundred thousand dollars so that she could pay the bills I liked that because we weren't paying interest on money. We hadn't borrowed yet So I mean I thought that worked and it worked fairly well for us Um, the idea has been brought to us school districts use arbitrage um And we've talked a little bit with community Bank comma na Um about it and they've explained how it works and basically you would take a loan You would get the entire amount of the loan and you would Put it in some sort of investment vehicle, obviously We're with the bank with the same bank and We are limited as you know, it has to be a Vermont bank or government security or something. We can't buy a pork bell so and and the idea and sometimes it works is Depending on the interest rate. You may Make some money from the interest Um It's legal Which is which is school districts have done it. Tom's had some experience with it I question whether we're you know when when brass packs when it comes down to the fact that When you borrow that money you're you're on the hook for the interest right away And so depending on what the interest rate is on your other side I'm not sure whether it's You know, we won't know that until we get quoted But I wanted to put it before the board and have you Give me your opinion what you think I think I can clarify a little more If you would yeah, okay, so let's say that we get a loan from the bank Let's say that it's 2% they're going to charge 2% and then they have an investment within the bank that is insured And let's say they're going to give us 2.25% so you could have you'd have that quarter percent What how it works for them is that because their loan is to municipality They don't have to pay the full tax on the interest that they that they get So it's a tax benefit to them that they would be passing along to us But what they had told me And this is the bank said that if all of a sudden you draw most of that money at once Then you're not going to make any money at all. So there's just there's just more people work It negates the right Which is to my experience with the water that that's what happened is I put a lot of money up front Then as they were completing the work, it's just less and less and less money that was paying out So the other part of it too is this is going to have a lot more paperwork And my paperwork has to be perfect for the USDA and I mean it's going to be beyond perfect This could money up the waters I don't I've not asked the auditors if they you know If they would think it's a good idea or not But I don't think they probably would not So I said is the as the administrative overhead ever going to pay it back is that does the juice worth the squeeze? I have to wonder about that So so what in the in the best most optimistic case? So there's a the margin is what like a half percent maybe You know if that so half percent on if we're drawing down two million So is that really going to pay off? The end of time and stress that I think it might work for school districts better than it would for us And I also think that Tom had thought the idea would be we would borrow this money immediately and Invest it immediately and they wouldn't start the project until next year and we'd have this time to earn this interest My personal I don't believe in taking a loan until you need it but We also it's a one year alone and And oh, is it in one year? So I mean If it's you could get it renewed But Depending on the bank has did the bank give you any indication what their interest rate was no I have to put I do Would you like us to put it out to bid just so we know I'm just trying to think uh on two two million dollars. Uh, half a point of interest is what? $2,000 I have a point It's 10 grand 10 grand If it's a half point if it's a half point much if it's that it's that really the spread Is that could be a bigger spread? Is it possible? I don't know if it spawns If you go it's gonna be safe. Well safe. Um I don't picture being much more than you could Ask for if we're gonna do an RFP you could ask for both ways Okay, what is it if we're going to do the arbitrage and what is it if we're going to do In the bridge line line That's what we were kind of thinking of but we put it out in both ways Maybe we could have a better comparison of what yeah, and then if we have a reasonably concrete idea of what this might look like But it's still going to be some fraction of the 10,000 that assumes that we're not drawing anything from it for the entire year Which is crazy Right Yeah, how much is dinos time and data is time worth going through the process Okay, yeah, I would say put it up to bid with both and if we can find out that It's actually way better than we'll then why not I would prefer to be here when you talk about that so if you could put it a bit to be the first meeting in November Probably I have a motion on that. Yes. Um, okay, so move Move to have Dana and diane move ahead with putting out the loan to bid With two options one for a line of credit and the other with an arbitrage arrangement Any further discussion all those in favor I Motion carries While diane's here brad could we talk about balances under five dollars sure Um, every quarter we come to you and say can we forgive balances under Five dollars And and she's got you know people that owe 38 cents 69 cents, you know nuisance things And I was thinking I was would like to ask the board if they might make this a permanent procedure for diane to just clear again Without having to ask every time clear the books of these Small you know what I would do is I put I'd give you like with the other reports I would just show you here is what I did And then you could just you know, so you want to do this quarterly I do quarterly right after the taxes She could even do it. I suppose if you approve that even more often, maybe I'm just thinking if we can just kind of have those in one one package If they do get resolved in the meantime, they can just do them all at once. I don't know what makes what makes your life easier We'll do it quarterly because if I don't do it right away, then it keeps occurring interest. Okay So you're saying that if you do it quarterly it works. Yeah, it gets it's cleaned out But if I don't but every month is interest, right? Yeah Yeah So if you got one of four dollars and 99 cents Put you over the top Well, it's not that so much as if there's three dollars and it keeps adding, you know, 10 cents or 20 cents or 30 cents or whatever it is So I'm gonna We want to actually have this as an agenda item Probably should you want to put it on the agenda? Okay. Yeah, and I think and maybe we'll just have you know We'll authorize the treasurer to no more than quarterly Forgive balances of five dollars or less per hour Was that on the charter or we pass it as a policy when it isn't sure Yeah, yeah for the charter that we'll do something like that. Well, I'll put that off for your next meeting Let me second that motion You know a little in favor So now we have a pedalers license application we do um Thank you. This is actually an application for someone who is doing work for mvp health insurance, they are going to be over the mall on On saturdays sundays monday and wednesdays between november 30th and december 4th They do this Annually in different areas of the state and berlin is their target this year We question whether it really needed a peddler's permit. However The man that sells christmas trees has to have a peddler's permit and I think it's probably Appropriate because they both are some of the business presence in the mall that you know They're going to have a I think it's a band that they drive there and So that will be in the in the mall. They're going to be out into the park. I think she told me a band, but um That's what I think she told me Well now that you mentioned I mean it seems a bit be easier if they were inside but Um At any rate This is what their plans are Move to for the application for a peddler's license for sarah and john Any further discussion Hearing none those in favor Motion carries Have we got all your additions done Dana? Yes Okay, thank you. Okay. Let her receive regarding the recreation committee I think last time when phil was here phil gen philly who was spearheading trying to get some interest people interested in serving as On a on our recreation committee that that committee has been Um needing life support ever since I've been here and I have um A lady who has shown interest her name is hannah connor. She lives at 181 highland avenue I did reach out to her and ask if she would be able to come in and talk to the board um And maybe she couldn't tonight if I didn't hear back. Um, so I just thought I would See if I could schedule her to come in sometime to talk to you about being and phil did give me a couple other names. However, they have not reached out Yeah, but I guess I will either have phil or myself So the idea is maybe we do an appointment in the next meeting or something like that to appoint these folks to the You know, I mean, I usually don't ask you to appoint people. You don't know. I mean, maybe you're comfortable doing that That's I think she was at town meeting You know, oh, I'm sure she's fine. I'm a good person, but you know, I don't know her personally and she probably was And certainly people that are volunteering to observe in one of your committees. You don't want to discourage Okay, you can get a hold of them. I don't see what I can do about that Uh appointments to an economic development council Yes, um As you know, we have an application pending for tax stabilization and it needs for You to get a recommendation from the economic development council I think at one time it was called committee, but on our instructions for tax stabilizations referred to as council So I'm going to call that council Jeremy was on that And um, and I guess and we would love for him to be on it again And so I have Talked with a few people. Um, so I'm suggesting that Shane miss spell Shane is a gentleman at rancher of select board member and he also works with the union bank Tor Nelson who you may have heard of Used to be the chairman here Um Jamie stewart stewart steward test unity and I put it with a d didn't I okay Jamie stewart is the I'm not sure what his title is the executive director of the central remand economic development corporation He's also not not a Berlin resident. I should point out I don't think this has to be I don't think at hawk. I don't think any of the communities actually have to be You're right. I think you're right. Uh, Jeremy, you know and the other person is um, Roberta has him And I thought these were these were good people that Understood a lot about economic development and committed to and committed to do it. Um Roberta did say she is after november. She's Won't be as available. So maybe you know, but I think it is not going to be a long I'd like to see the council continue, but this particular subject I move that we point shame miss bill tour nelson and jamey stewart jeremy hanson and Roberta hasken to the economic development council Any other discussion hearing none those in favor Hi I'm gonna have you sign four out of those five I guess and I'll redo janey's For some reason I did twice Is there any executive session to yes, please there is I don't wish I was doing the licenses with those. Yep That's for personnel I move to enter executive session to discuss a personal matter pursuant to one vsa section 313 82 Further discussion off now those in favor