 You said okay I'll call them each order. It is seven o'clock We have the minutes of May 7th Approved is there a motion I'd move to approve the minutes of May 7th 2019 with any amendments there too. Is there a second? I'll second Page one Page two I bet you Ted was thinking I beat the clock Pretty close, yeah, I Would have one just a small correction on page two Item number 10 the manager report the next to last bulletin that talks about Staff will investigate ownership. There'll be a small lot on route to before industrial Avenue I think it should say east of industrial Avenue. So we have a better location And they also on page two It's free Here we know other corrections all those in the favor of approving the minutes of May 21 Of May 7th 2019 say hi. Hi. I opposed So we've done the minutes This is a time for public comment if anyone in the audience has any issue that they wish to Discuss tonight either on the agenda or not on the agenda I'm to do it See no hands raised that we move on to Interviews and appointments to the community justice board So I know we have at least two people that we have three Catherine. It's here as well Okay, good. Well, if you would all please join us at the table here with the microphone All three at the same time that would be helpful And since you're all interviewing for the same position we are positions We like to do the interviews at the same time We'll ask you the same questions and we know that you've been recommended by the criminal justice Board the executive director and by the police department. So you come to us well recommended and if you would If you would start to the left and go sort next to Each other Introduce yourselves give us a little bit of about your background why and why you wish to be on the The board so Catherine Catherine Lee I am I live in Burlington Vermont and the director of student services at two roads Academy in Williston And I'm also getting my doctorate in education at UVM and I Got interested in restorative justice through working with Crystal Lee and I work with her on a daily basis almost in our school and I kind of fell in love with the process and Excuse me, my name is Grace material I live in Williston and I I'm originally from Kenya. Just so you know and I have lived in Williston since 2000 and before that I lived for a few a year in Burlington Before that I was in Pennsylvania But my interest in being on the board was being a resident in in town I have a friend who is on the board and she encouraged me to see if I could Join the board because she thought I could make some Contribution I hope I can I do teach part-time at UVM An economist agricultural economists by training and I teach in the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics And I also do some volunteer work with the master gardeners and that UVM medical center CVU I got interested in the youth justice board through my mom. She's actually on the community justice board Mia Murnovich and She brought home cool stories, and I really was inspired by the second chances that the board gives and I apply This was a very important board in the town, and we've had lots and lots of good volunteers in the past and Hopefully you I'm sure you've been informed about the time commitments and things like this and how it works So other questions from the board More of a comment Camilla. Thank you for Wanting to stand up and do this and just for the spirit that you're gonna bring Dr. Matero, thank you as well Fabulous background for doing this so very qualified candidates coming up There's a question My only question is for Camilla also. Sorry I'm kind of curious You're going to be probably working with maybe Adults or kids or I call them kids. You may not who are older than you You know and I'm just curious how you're I'm not worried, but I'm curious how you're looking at that experience and how you'll deal with that Does that make sense? Yeah, I'm looking forward to it actually I think it will be really interesting to actually have a perspective that is younger than them. I Want to look at it as an open-minded Person not because of my age Specifically because I also know that I also know Beckett who's on the youth board as well And I look up to him as a role model especially in our school and what he and Mia they're this class predestines and I really I think that will be an interesting perspective to bring the board And Ricky mentioned in the managers report that staff had reviewed this. Is it the police chief who? Seconds or not seconds, but also ways in yes Yes, okay You further questions If not then motion there are two motions that are being proposed tonight I'd move to appoint Catherine Lee and grace material to the Community Justice Board for Unexpired three-year terms from July 1 2019 through June 30th, 2020 Thank you Those in favor of the motion say aye Through June 30, it's 2020 is there a second As your discussion the motion The subject of actually having two cameras on her at the same time I Imagining that's why you're not getting grief for having your camera You might want to be interested know the these Meetings were actually live streamed on the internet as well. So through the So any further discussion of the motion If not, those in favor of the motion say aye May oppose so congratulations to all of you Thank you So let's move on to the appointments to town boards and Rick you have given us the information. Yes, I Think the date of the report was May 14th. I have two corrections. I would like to make to this list First we have one of our planning Commission members who it initially said he would want to continue is now saying he does not want to continue And that is a long time serving Kevin bad After probably more than 15 years of service and I in one person that is listed as a Outgoing member is Greta D'Agostino. She is not outgoing. She would like to continue So she should be added to the list of appointments for the community justice board and for the community justice board These are all three-year terms starting July 1st of this year So you're seeing list and If there's no comments or questions regarding it then a motion also was to order I'd move to reappoint the individuals currently serving on town and regional boards and commissions to another term is indicated on the report With Rick's amendments there to dated May 14th 2019 Sorry discussion on the motion Hearing none those in favor of the motion say aye Any opposed We move on well, we can't move on to that About the item number 10 the Essex alias church Sure I Shared with the board. I believe that the board's last meeting a draft of this agreement This is a draft that had been prepared by the town's legal counsel Subsequent to that meeting the draft had been reviewed has been reviewed by the church officials And they indicated to me by email that the current draft was acceptable to them as presented And so I at this point I would recommend board approval of this agreement Questions comments Just one comment, and I'm sorry. I didn't bring this up the first time we looked at it Rick I was reading through the where-as is and They're all about the church and I wondered if there should be a where-as that talks about somehow or at least broaches the idea of why the town should participate in the cost of of You know the construction that happened on the church property And I assume that where-as is would be along the lines of the public benefit to Willis and residents and others and use of the path and section three Section the first the first whereas the first I'm sorry the third whereas at the top of the page Well it there it talks about Just that the they'll put in the the the recreation path You know as part of their DRB approval this would be Lots of people have built Development have developed property with requirements. They put a bike path on they've built the entire length And we have not participated in that cost And I thought maybe in this case we should just add a where-as about why this is a case where we feel it is appropriate to participate in the cost and With that said I don't know exactly what should be in the where-as other than maybe the costs were What would be the word like exorbitant that may not be the best word that don't you know don't Along those lines higher than normal or had additional construction requirements that most don't have You know the apartment in the railing so as I read this the second time that's what I came up with Questions comments or do we wish to send this back to staff to? Add additional where-as That's concerned, I don't think that's really the right right. It's more I just was struck by all the where-as is about what the church You know how it got its you know permit had it got this condition in the permit. They went and did the construction But there was no where-as that talked about You know why we we the town might want to participate in the cost of this path And it just seemed kind of lopsided the where-as is if you will That's what picked me up that picked me up and again. I wonder I think and I'm sorry I just wonder if because this is abnormal we typically do not participate in the construction of bike pass on private property Particularly when there are a requirement of the DRB process the We might want to Just discuss that here a little bit Nothing to do with it that the the proposal itself I'm tired of that. It's just explaining it Particular path versus others. I guess yes. Yeah, that's the you know sort of the question that might come up is why is the town participating in this path? And and no others no others on private property The other thoughts should we So it'd be something like whereas the town full is determined that the public benefit would be served by said path Is yes along those lines Does such language open the door for future agreements and and that's the part where I Actually to a small degree thought about that and I would certainly want Somebody with a legal Or future agreements, I like what you wrote, but I think it Yeah, and that's not what I'm interested in doing is is is opening a door for Everybody coming in and saying you required it now. I want you to pay for a piece of it because of the public benefit other thoughts What I hear from the other four reluctance What you're going to do by putting that word? Yeah, and I don't disagree with what you're saying I or you shouldn't say I understand what you're saying. I don't know that there's the need for that But the liability outweighs the my my one voice and for I don't know if anybody else agrees with me And that's fine. I just Whereas a dispute has arisen between the parties and the town of Williston has just determined that a compromise resolution Serves the public benefit Compromise resolution and I'll throw something in there about the path being a good thing, too. I guess Well, you know the whole public benefit I'm just being the devil's advocate. Does that leave the room for the next person to put? That's the only thing No, I know that The fact of the matter there is a dispute. Yeah, there is But I'm like hearing you joy like if another Other instance comes up where someone would approach that path In another part of town and and say well, we want the town to pay for this I mean I see both sides. Yeah, so I'm waiting because here's our little mastermind over here He's doing doing legal writing on the fly And we may be able to get something that Satisfies you and doesn't and Rick that whole negotiation process went rather smoothly or yes, but you were that was brilliant If I do say so, Mr. Towne, I Metrate where we thought Well, whatever whatever we do, it's going to be passed by again legal counsel and the church I would presume if it's if it's going to be if the board is inclined to add another whereas and I Guess I would ask for some leeway with legal counsel so that it does not have to necessarily come back You know, it's just changing one word here or there if it's changing deleting it or Substantially, I would agree with that. I don't think the church is gonna have any objection to this language Right Whereas a dispute has arisen between the parties comma and the town of Williston has determined that a compromise resolution Serves the public benefit while providing the public with said path It makes it clear that this was the reason this exists is because there was a Dispute the dispute has been compromised and at the same time. It's a public path I'm good. I'm not too worried about people coming in in the future saying well, you did it for the church if they do Depend on it's very fact-dependent on what they're saying and why they're saying it in the future But I don't think this really adds much of a precedent because I think this is extremely unique situation And if it if people try to wedge their way in saying well, you did it before it's like well, that was Well darn it that was just weird You know and you know who who who created the weirdness is something that won't be mentioned or why are you know assigned but you know, that was So Rather than try to approve this tonight, then we probably better remand this back to Tell manager for or we could pass a resolution giving him discretion to add Language of Simba think that's what he was after right? Yeah Would you like that motion sure that would work I moved to authorize the town manager to enter into a settlement agreement with the Essex Alliance church church board of directors in the amount of 14,000 to be used towards the cost of completed recreation path on the church property with the addition of an additional whereas Setting out that there was a dispute and that the path was for the public good Leading the town manager with discretion to modify that language I Have a motion made in seconded is your discussion on the motion. Thank you Very no discussion. All those in favor of the motion say aye. Hi me opposed. All right So we'll go to the Chitton solid waste district budget for fiscal year 2020 You welcome Sarah reuse executive director of the solid waste district Who CSWD is but for folks at home who may be watching Sarah reeds on the executive director for the Chitton and solid waste district and we are a municipality Created in 1987 through act 78 to implement solid waste management mandates Legislated by the state we function much like a regional planning commission or a waste a water district or a school district and that we are charged with designing regional solutions to solid waste challenges By our member towns and we do have 18 members in our district. It is happens to encompass all of Chitton County Now we serve approximately 156,000 people and over 6,000 businesses. We either own or operate several different types of facilities drop-off centers the environmental depot which is our household hazardous waste facility the rover which is our mobile hazardous waste collection facility a materials recovery facility for blue bin materials and in organics diversion facility of Green Mountain So it's you go over come that the high-level numbers and changes that we're seeing for For next year this next fiscal year, and then I would love to open it up to any questions that this like board may have So for fiscal 20 we are anticipating revenues in the amount of 12 million 628,865 dollars We are anticipating expenses in the amount of 11 million $450,520 our capital and allocations total to 665 468 and our that leaves us with a net of 331,719 in that net will be transferred to our solid waste management fee rate stabilization so last year both in the second half of the fiscal year and in the first half of Actually all of this fiscal year. We focused on several of our infrastructure key infrastructure projects So we focused on Green Mountain compost focused on the Murph the materials recovery facility and on our drop-off centers We also Overhauled completely overhauled our financial system as well So internally that was a very big infrastructure change for us Hopefully not too visible to them to the public in as far as glitches So the goal was to be able to make sure that our financial reports were Easily readable to anybody who happened to be you know looking for them looking at them online and we think we've accomplished that goal so for the the Facilities that we looked at we really focused hard first on Green Mountain compost And that's because Act 148 is reaching its final stages of completion And next July 1 not this one, but July 1 2020 the final piece of the puzzle will be in place And that will be all landfill The all bootstraps generated by anyone in the state will be banned from landfill disposal So we knew that we needed to do some work to make sure that GMC or organic facility was able to accept what we fear will be coming our way the facility has grown over the years And we want to make sure that we were adequately prepared One of the things that we realized that we were doing That we were wrestling with for a long time that we needed to change and we finally kind of came to that realization was That we were as a municipality trying to operate with our compost operation in a retail arena and We finally realized we needed to back away from that and so what that means is for General public is right now. You can find about 10 or 12 different products that we make in bags and bulk and As of July 1 the bags will no longer be available We are reducing our product offerings from 12 down to 3 So we will be producing compost topsoil and a garden mix or a raised bed mix We're not quite sure which one yet and we'll be selling these products only through wholesalers in bulk So people will still be able to find green mountain compost just not at our drop-off centers and not actually at our compost center unless you have a Have a commercial contract with us but that means you can find it at garden supply as it's Agway any of our Nurseries and garden centers that we currently work with they will be supplying that so The big reason for that was in making the bags We were never able to recover the cost of making the bag And we were already charging a premium price because we made a premium product and people liked it And they paid that premium price but in order to try to keep reaching and realizing our sales We were selling to Cape Cod. We were selling in the North Shore of Boston. We were looking at selling in New York City and The board just kept saying when is when is enough enough and we said enough is is enough so we brought it back home literally back home and we're focusing on Chittin County and Vermont and That does a lot of things. It helps us increase our efficiency in our effectiveness And in doing things in an economical manner and that's in our mission. You know, that's what we're charged with doing So we're getting back to our roots and our roots are Truly to manage the waste and managing organics and that's gonna be a primary focus of this facility Compost was so coming back home literally coming back home and continue to make a soil product You know a soil amendment because that our board said that was very important to them But to be able to do it in a much more efficient manner so that also does get at well, what are the plans for GMC and I guess I leave it up to The group if you want me to kind of get into those plans as part of the budget discussion or save them for The next part of the agenda kind of we just Constricted on the watch that I think at this point and we can take care of that and then have about more of an update Okay, okay, should we ask questions as you're going along or would you prefer perfectly fine? Yeah, I think that's that works for me You you met and I'm just I read through these things and I don't know is necessarily understand everything and One thing that you mentioned is that the bagging operation lost you money. Oh, yeah, and but I'm looking at Page two. I guess more of the overview Where it talks about there's going to be this loss of revenue of like 284 thousand dollars So is that lost revenue because you're not selling the bag? products So what you're saying is you're losing that revenue But you spent more to produce those bags products then exactly then that's exactly what it was We were never able to we were selling the bags for eight dollars and say fifty cents and it cost us ten $11 to make the bag. So even though we made some great sales on those products Just, you know peen well, we had to buy to make them. So it wasn't just food scraps and leaf and yard. You had to buy You know wood chips horse manure Peat moss and silt all of those other things added to those costs that went into that bag product So by not making those kind of specialty blends that right off the bat saves us quite a lot of money and In addition saves labor We're not going to have to hire seasonal help So there's a huge amount of savings right off the bat. It reduces wear and tear in our equipment, which is also helpful But we did sell a lot of bags So the goal is again to be able to focus more on the inbound or so it's coming in the door and Charging appropriately for the material is coming in the door, which is one of the increasing our user fee or tip fee disposal fee agreement compost as well Because that's really the municipal model Municipalities who who have these operations and not many actually do make compost out of food scraps But municipal operations that have make compost They Relive primarily on their tip fee or the disposal fee for the source of revenue and if they can sell any of the compost It's a bonus. We had the model Backwards the other way so we're returning more to the traditional Municipal management model of focus on managing material coming in the door pricing that appropriately Subsidizing where we need to and then again trying to maximize the product that we make on the other end We're still going to make a very saleable product and that's wonderful But the bags were just not ever going to pay for themselves. We would have had to have priced them at 12 You know $12 per 20 pound bag and when you can buy a 40-pound bag for seven, you know, we just we're pricing ourselves out of the market Does this mean there's your be selling your bagging equipment quite possibly? Yeah, no quite possibly and you know, so there's There are a bunch of you know several different options. It could be that one of our wholesale customers wants to do a Their own branded Material they may want us to bag that for us under their label and we could sell that Equipment for sure because we won't be needing it. So yeah, but it's we're looking to get out of that end of the business But yeah Thank you. I did mention that we'll be increasing our our user fee or our tip fee to $60 a ton On July 1 and to put that a little bit in perspective Generally If you are to if you're bringing MSW municipal solid waste trash up to Kassela's landfill and Coventry or or here to one of their Transfer stations or or minus transfer station. You can expect to pay anyway between 125 and maybe a hundred fifty dollars a ton So at $60 a ton, it's still a good deal to to segregate out your food scraps Again, the municipal model tends to be and we worked with consultants on this Or municipal composting operations the way they price is anywhere between 20 to 25 percent below the going Landfiller disposal rate. So we are still significantly below that. It's something we'll need to continue to evaluate So we're going to take this next year or two Take a look at how those expenses are shaking out and if we don't need to raise that fee We will not raise that fee if we do we'll look at that and try to equalize it to minimize the amount that we're subsidizing We are still heavily subsidizing the operation again. The board is committed to this So we're not looking to completely eliminate that if we did we'd have to probably charge a hundred dollars a ton And we don't think that that's sustainable or supportable in Jitton County at this point so the next Function we looked at was our materials recovery facility or our Murph And similarly Think you may remember those of you who are on the board last year came in talking about the global marketplace in China and the effects and dismal and dire I Would love to tell you that things are rosy and turned right around and they have not So I think last year I told you that we could expect 18 to 24 months of pretty dire markets And I need to stretch that out 18 to 24 months So it has not improved enough to be able to say where I got that lighted The light at the end of the tunnel for the industry Actually, it's some good news for the Northeast is that there is additional investment in mills here, so there will be a mill opening at the end of Post-end open at the end of the year in Maine And then another one online next year Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio are also investing and that's good news for us Our paper products which was affected by China. That was what we were sending there All our other materials stayed domestic either the US or Canada and that those markets have still stayed with us Those are taking a little bit of a dip as well So we're monitoring all of that and seeing if there's anything we can do Our quality is still very good. So we're very very fortunate in that respect But we do need to because of the of the markets Need to again adjust our Disposed for your user for your tip fee at the mirf approaching more market rate So we'll be raising that tip fee from it's currently $55 a ton to $65 a ton on July 1 The facility in Rutland, there are only two single-stream facilities in the state The facility in Rutland is currently charging $90 a ton. So again, we need to You know watch where we are within not only the regional market, but also make sure that we're not Charging too little or too much and again still at about 50% of the disposal rate at the landfill The mills are for paper. Yes, exactly paper products mixed paper junk mail Cardboard any of those fiber products. Yes Yeah, so the percentage of the fiber products that go through our facility are over 80% Which is why the hit who was pretty devastating And that is because we are a bottle-bill state. So the bottles and cans that other Murphs are the states used to kind of shore up that loss in paper. We don't have that so It is what it is It's just a factor and we just need to continue to adjust You know look for different markets work with our partners far as Finding new places that are closer to home to save on the transportation because that's really what kills us right now So we're working on that I guess So we're still looking at a new facility even with that You know doom and gloom and part of the reason is is because we do expect that the regional paper mill capacity when it's online We'll be in about two to three years. So Because our current facility as we've talked about there's no room to expand out in any direction We're at the end of the road there and there's really no place to go and going up is not efficient We're probably feasible in that building We are still looking at other sites and we can go into more detail on that in the next part of the conversation and then the third big infrastructure piece that we looked at was our drop-off centers and we Decommissioned the Hinesburg drop-off center last year so that they could build their hybrid garage and that is completed So we are now in the design phase for the Hinesburg drop-off center Our board has not yet approved that because we haven't brought them the cost estimates to them So those are coming to them Next month in June. So at that point, we will know if it's coming in at a million dollars It's a no-go for one day a week drop-off center, but if it comes in where we anticipate that it will I'm pretty hopeful and positive that they'll support that so then we would go into construction sometime and towards the end of the summer and hope to be open in Probably late fall would be be back in Hinesburg so we are also implementing some Several modest scheduled fee increases at our drop-off centers every three years or so we look at raising the prices if necessary 25 cents on a small bag 50 cents on a medium bag 25 cents on the largest bag And one of the fees that we are looking to implement it won't be July 1 We need an ordinance change so probably closer to August 1st or September 1st And it's not a new fee, but it's an old fee that we're bringing back and it's a fee on recycling only So we have some customers who that's all they bring us is just recyclables They've made other arrangements for their trash, but they have either extra cycling Maybe they have overflow didn't fit in there their cart or they just have another they forgot to bring a bunch And they bring it in so right now they don't pay a fee But as we know there are costs involved with with managing those recyclables So currently if you're a drop-off center customer and you bring in your trash in your recycling or trash in your food scraps We're all three you pay one fee. You'll pay your $2.75 or your $5 and All of the costs of those other items are built into the bag cost So our trash customers are currently subsidizing the recycling only customers So the $2 is per visit per trip So it's not per bucket so you can bring in one bucket five buckets They can bring in a whole stack of cardboard and it's still going to be two dollars. So And again, that's to be a bit more transparent about the actual costs of the recycling system They're generating the the waste so it is a fairness issue as well But it is not being charged on the trash customers because those fees are again are built into that bag cost We used to charge for recycling Years ago in that probably about 10 or 12 years ago. I think was the last time we charged for recycling and you know again, it's one of those things where Things change and you know, we are again feeling the pinch and need to really focus in on that And when we looked at well, how many people are this is this going to affect right? We wanted to have a sense of that so of the about 700,000 trips that we see to our drop-off centers across the year Less than 50,000 are recycling only so about 7% Are will be affected by this We don't anticipate all 49,000 of those trips will continue to do that and pay this fee So they probably will alter their behavior and either you know Bring a little bit of trash with them or they will just come once a month if it you know Makes sense to come once a month and again, it is still very affordable $2 is was seen as kind of a Middle of the ground not not too much not too less so that will be implemented when the ordinance does change And lastly the solid waste management fee or the the tax trash is not being raised this year And we will stay at $27 per ton and that is the amount that is charged when Haulers bring their their material for to be disposed either to the coverage level or They bring it out of state somewhere out of state and then when they get there they weigh in The scale operators is where you from he says Chittenden County. This is okay 27 times 15 200 and then that comes back to us and that helps to pay for administrative support for the district So this I'm struggling with this piece of it And it very well may cause me to vote against the budget and it's this change in philosophy What I consider a change in philosophy and what I mean by that is in the past there was this philosophy that you wanted to incentivize the good recycling waste diversion and municipalities or Solid districts quite often did that by making recyclable at least a peer-free, you know type of thing and Charge more for the things you want to discourage which is creating waste that needs to be thrown in like a landfill or Incinerator whatever we seem to be moving away from that model keeping the solid waste franchise tax You know level the same but increasing the fees to you know divert it through composting I understand the logic, but I wonder if what I worry about is that the repercussions You know aren't going to be it's going to have a negative impact on people's either desire or Ability to divert waste and maybe cause them to Dispose of trash more So I'm just I just stand and we have had this conversation last time you were here Oh, yeah last year probably just about this time. It could be and we And I understand that and I heard have heard that and you're not the only person to have expressed that and my visits to the other town so and I appreciate that viewpoint and I could I can see that I think what we're seeing though is also something a bit of a disconnect between You know what the solid waste management fee is and I just I'm talking about more as a tax than a fee Because it's not really a user fee, right? It's and it's on the material that is already been destined for disposal. So it that's already been done What we're talking about is you know, how can we encourage people to do more of what we want them to do, right? Which in the first place is reducing If you don't generate the trash, you're not going to pay anything So we're focusing tremendously this year even more than we have on waste reduction partly in in Response to or in anticipation of act 148, you know We want people to understand and know how they can save money on food scrap Disposal if they don't want to kind of holler etc, but it transfers into the other areas as well and You know when we talked about it internally as a staff and we brought it to our board We talked about it at our board level as well and some of our board members also asked the question In fact, Kailin asked the question you represented And we said, you know part of it is that this is a fairness issue for one Because for a long time, you know people knew that well we could always just bring a whole big bunch of recycling from quote free and The folks who were were doing the other stuff with the trash was Bearing that cost because it wasn't free, right? So it never was free. So it was a fairness issue there the challenge to is We could go back to subsidizing the materials recovery facility And that is a choice. We could certainly raise that tax. The tax effects are hollers More and then they will just trickle that down to their customers But not as twenty seven dollars, right? You never get that twenty seven dollar fee And it doesn't relate to how much waste you've actually produced. So as a as a waste generator We all are We have to look at well, what are the levers that will be truly meaningful and also we had to look at to If we increase the trash too much There's a balance, right? We I See us as Making sure that we're providing a basic base level of service we don't want to do too much or too little so that folks do have a choice and We hear a lot from people I heard it from some of the city council members and select board members I've talked to that they really like using our drop-off centers because for them they have been priced out of the hauling market And it's it's important for them and their constituents to have an affordable way to manage their their material so we have to be very sensitive to You know modest increases again to reflect that Costs are going up, but where we're are Where's the opportunity to help again reflect that the reality of the cost and we thought this sector because it is a small sector of our customers is A place where it most likely will not affect those who rely on that very affordable Bag price so But we will see right. We'll see what kind of Reaction we get when we're talking to folks about it saying this is coming just letting you know We're not hearing a lot of pushback, but we will have a Public hearing public meeting on the ordinance change and this will be in there So we'll be making sure people know about that as far as a change in philosophy. I mean Yeah, I would probably want to ask my board chair to be here to maybe address that He's been the board chair for about 12 or 13 years and he could better address that But I see it more as as being practical and being transparent Believe me, we're still subsidizing the drop-off centers. We're still subsidizing special ways the bulky ways, you know the The CFL program is a better program. We're still subsidizing all of that If we were to have to charge the full cost of everything That would be a shift in philosophy believe me, but where we can make small gains towards being transparent about the costs We wanted to try to do that this year So if I could you view this you and you believe your board views this as more of a ship than it is a change in Philosophy where I might where you might disagree with how I characterized it. Okay, fair enough Sorry, is that was kind of the end of the the numbers budget piece? So happy to answer questions about any or if you want to go on mr. Chairman. That's question regarding the Staff salaries you mentioned there's a little over 5% increase But that includes New employees as well. So what's the actual cola that employees are getting? Oh? Yep We use the the regional Metropolitan average And I'm not seeing it pop up here. I will email that to Rick, but it's the average So you say it's based on an average cost of living regionals Correct, correct. Actually, that's what we do to the Northeast whatever the Northeast average is. That's what we When you do send the information well, I assume the board still wants it If you tell us what period it covers because it actually makes a big difference Our period Is like a little over 2% for cost of living but again, that's the covers Other Other questions regarding the the budget that we've heard so far No, I think my other questions will cover more in the next discussion Need to have a motion Sure The town representative to the board What's your what's your position on the budget? Yeah, I was in agreement with it and I Did a detailed budget overview? on Friday and really got into the nitty-gritty of it and I think the accounting Methods changes made it really clear and I appreciate that and so So we did just at least just let me know that it was about 1.7 percent 1.7 1.7 so we had to find out the period that it covered for you. So I will do that So other questions regarding the budget present Would the chair entertain the motion indeed I'd move to approve the fiscal year 2020 Chittin and solid waste district budget as presented for a second Is your discussion on the motion? You heard you know, and I appreciate You know what you provided of a shift versus a change, but I still feel so much strongly. So I Think I need to voice that So if there's no further discussion all those in favor of the motion say aye. I may oppose say nay One day and no abstentions. So let's go on into the update So regarding the update so we Continue on while we come talked about a couple months ago. So we are bringing to our board as I mentioned A few updates in June. So we're bringing to them A a site selection update for the MRF. We are going to present to them three Potential sites that we want to look at for a civil Civil survey. So that'll be coming to them bringing the cost estimates as I mentioned for the Hinesburg drop-off center And Over the next few months probably in September or October. We'll be bringing to them A bit more fleshed out version of what we hope to do with the organics diversion facility in which direction want to go in so Not sure when I was here last if we knew whether or not we had received a grant from the ANR We have still been pending, but we did receive a construction grant The ANR had almost a million dollars available for it as a competitive grant and we were awarded five hundred thousand Which was the maximum and that is for construction Projects regarding to organics diversion. So we are in our grant. We said that we were going to look at two potential avenues and again part of the reason for for looking at these two potential avenues is That shift that I talked about from getting away from being focused on compost production being focused on managing organics Given the site constraints that we have over there that you are probably very well aware of We were looking at How can we possibly manage? 10,000 tons of food scraps on that site realized we can't right so we said at least not well and not the way that we want to and be a responsible Neighbor to to everyone and so said okay So what what do we want to do and what I asked Dan and Brian to look at was well What are the knowns? What are the constants the constant for us over there? Is how much leaf and yard to be is coming in that does not change has not really changed For the past five six seven eight years That's all pretty much as close to a known quantity as possible Okay, so to make good compost you've got to match your carbon source your browns with Your nitrogen source your greens and what does that look like in order to maximize and use up that leaf and yard source? That's coming into us on a regular basis that we don't have to buy remember We had to buy we knew where we had to buy wood chips What does that number look like and that's the number that we're going to make compost from? That's also the number that we feel comfortable being able to sell Because that was the other problem if we were going to take in 10,000 tons of food scraps We were going to be producing close to 25,000 cubic yards of compost and holy cow That's why we're looking at New York City and looking at Connecticut and it wasn't going to work So by scaling that down Matching those inputs then we can do what we need to do on our footprint at our site without having to spend five million dollars to expand into the sand pit and Make a good quality product There will be extra food scraps So the question then becomes what do we do with that? And so the two avenues that we've looked we're promoting or presenting in the grant are one is has a transfer option So we would take in the amount of food scraps that we need to make good compost and then transfer the rest to another facility It if it's a facility that's available in Vermont great, but right now the only facility that we know of is available in Maine So our board is kind of iffy on that question only because well, we're trying to save You know preserve our carbon footprint by not selling compost bags into Cape Cod And yet we're looking at moving some material to Maine. Well, yeah So that may be one that is certainly less the lesser expensive of the two options the other option Would be to continue to match good scraps and leave in yard to make good compost But also to add a de-packaging facility or a de-packaging unit and what that is is a not a very large piece of equipment and So what would that would accept would be so a supermarket or food processor manufacturer That may have food items that it's already in their packaging their cans are in their plastic bags or whatever that For some reason is not saleable And also is not Donatable to for human consumption and is not available or suitable for animal feed Could come to this facility go through this machine the machine that separates the food from the The packaging the food goes into one area and is kind of Ground up and add some water and some made it to a slurry and then the packaging goes over here for disposal So that slurry is a A commodity We could either compost with it or we could set it to or sell it to digestors anaerobic digestors So that has some appeal to us for a wide variety of reasons There is a need for a Facility like that in Vermont right now that material from say Hanna-Fords and Shaw's is going to Maine for de-packaging there are Digestors that are on the the drawing boards and there's one down in Salisbury that is ready to break down and break ground You know if they haven't already they are very soon to they've got all their permits St. Albans is still a possibility Vermont tech is still doing their thing And by creating this feedstock, we think that that could encourage additional digestion to occur So we're going to be looking at those two options and getting the numbers on those two options over the course of the summer Bringing that back to our board in either september october and having them Recommend a direction for us to continue to pursue So by this time next year the hope would be that we would be well into whatever that next piece is so Obviously talking to the town as well about well, what impact does that have on all of it, right? and bringing those designs to the town so that's the current direction for us with compost and We think both of both either either one has some possibilities for for great success and just allowing us to fulfill the mandate So I would welcome any questions on on that piece first before I go any further Well a couple I'll first start with I don't think on the select board. It's our role to Interject what's best in terms of the compost facility moving away from the retail aspect to more of a wholesale type model But as a resident I'm actually disappointed to see that because It worked for me to have green mountain compost drop off three cubic yards of of compost and that's Now gone and I don't know what the garden center type Folks are going to be able to do to provide that service And so I'm I'm disappointed to see it go but again, it's I think on the select board. It's not our You know our role to get involved in in that In terms of the one of the things I picked up on in the budget was and I'm trying to find it Oh, it's on page executive summary page one And it's the concept of renaming The compost facility to the organics diversion facilities Which just raises concerns with me Because I think we're used to it and we our host town agreement contemplates a compost facility An organics diversion facility could be something very very different than a compost facility So my concern is is you know What is being proposed or planned or could happen there and um In the past, you know, I think we've talked about this a little bit. Um, I've been disappointed frustrated at The lack of our ability to um partake in that at all It always seemed like the district was telling us what they were going to do after they started doing it Versus coming to us and saying this is what we would like to do. What are your thoughts type of thing? To me that just being a member town that's just never felt Right or good So I just I just would like to you explain the two options. It's and I want to make sure I heard this correctly It sounded like You're going to keep the compost operation Yes there in its current basic Shape, if you will It sounds like there might be some equipment new equipment this d packaging unit slurry, but You're not looking at the slurry as Putting it in an aerobic digester on site, correct You're not looking at to make compost out of it except for the amount that you need for The leaf and yard waste coming in and it The compost facility will be I guess the word might be primarily a leaf and yard waste Compost facility versus a food waste No, yeah, no. Yeah, no, no. So um, thank you for for asking to clarify that the When we were talking about the future of of the compost facility a year and a half ago The board was very clear that it was important to them to continue to make compost They felt that was part of what we needed to do To manage this locally and to make a good quality soil amendment and as much as possible keep that in vermont So that is still a critical component. It just won't be the main focus But we will be absolutely making compost that is part of both plans is to to make compost so Ideally we would be able to when Food scraps are coming in under Really either scenario. I mean we have customers right now that we know are Very low contamination can go right to you know the the bays and we don't have to do much work with them We would continue to divert those folks right to those bays so that we can use that food scraps and and get that process going And not either transfer those and I want to transfer that we want to keep that But also maybe not direct that into the de-packager. It doesn't need to be de-packaged So we would be working to identify those customers and it may be that You know offering a tiered tipping fee structure that if you're bringing in really great quality food scraps You get a lower price and you can go Go right to bay a or whatever it may be so The goal would absolutely continue to be making compost with food scraps and not just be a leaf and yard Facility if we were just a leaf in your facility and that is the normal kind of stand Standard municipal model not many use food scraps We would need twice the size For our our curing area storage area We would need to absolutely get a windrow turner. We may still want to do that But we would it would take twice as long to cure and become a product It's much faster Friendly to add in those those greens So again, just again because of the limited space it just makes sense to continue to do a portion of that at least The way we're doing that So if I could just to see if I got it correct The additional if you're looking at additional feedstocks coming in it'd be the packaged Food that will go to the de-packager and then leave Most of it would leave as a slurry although some sounds like it's going to stay on site Because you'll want that for your Compost operation whether for moisture or whatever if needed It may not be needed and Is any of this going to start to bump you up against the Host town agreement amounts that are in there All right, so the the the design will always be to make sure that we do not Get close at all to that we Have been very clear with the state that we do not want to be intend to be have any desire to be The composter in vermont So they had and this was part of the reason that they You know dedicated almost a million dollars to infrastructure grants construction grants to get more Capacity out in the state We are the largest right now But in some respects that makes a little bit of sense because we are the largest population center in the state as well But we have been very clear that we do not intend to be the only processors So so no any design would would absolutely take that into account It would be a primary factor and we would take pains to not bump up against that Are there other facility organics divergent facilities you're looking at I mean looking at the district owning or operating Or is the compost facility at least in the near I may realize your crystal ball can only go so far in the future, but in the near term No, this we don't intend to expand this business at all. Okay Okay Okay Anything else The question about the the murph you mentioned the sites What can you tell us about About the sites and in particular are you looking at the site? We'll need to expand Footprint-wise. Yeah, it's I think most of you have probably been there for folks doing at home You know, we are at the almost at the end of the road between and you being having you see down off on industrial avenue and So we're at the end. There's a little bit of a doggie that goes down, but where we are Directly behind us is a bit of a ledge. So it drops off fairly precipitously to if you're looking at that that area On the right, it's a road. So we can't assume that and so you assume that road to the left is bigger commodities. So there's Maybe Baker. There's another company behind us is the also the transfer station So our literal footprint is extremely hemmed in The most efficient murphs are long. They're not tall So you want material to go in one end Go through it's sorting and sortation and then spit out into separate piles at the other end So the more you have to travel something up and then travel something down It it lends itself to gravity working against you number one It's hard to get in and maintain that equipment when it's you know, kind of Like a mousetrap kind of a thing It makes it very difficult to see problems access the equipment for just regular maintenance It makes it hard to actually staff because You too you you don't have any space to work. That's what we're faced with right now It's not the best working conditions. We have no storage at all on site Which is a problem particularly in the wintertime if the trucks can't get to us and move our material out. We are um having trouble We have a very very small Um Capacity of our our floor where the material actually goes and when the haulers bring the material and they literally tip the material out That area is Much too small So the facility was built to manage about 27 25 or 27 000 tons of of material. We're processing 47 000 tons And so if the volume if the if the tons and alone weren't enough the volume has dramatically increased So if you think of a water bottle now, right you open up the water bottle squeezes The material squeezes you didn't used to have that problem five ten years ago. They were pretty sturdy Well, it's good news because the water bottles are using less plastic But that means that takes many more of them to create one ton and we ship by the ton So at the end of the process it goes through a big machine called a baler Creates a square and then that ton today Needs 19 000 bottles That ton 12 years ago needed 12 000 bottles So we're not only looking at increased tonnage through that facility. We were not designed to manage We are also faced with an increasing volume and so we need more space Or we're we're still stuck in hand sorting The material and because we're hand sorting And there's no way to add no space to add technology. We have to run material through twice That gets to the efficiency, right? So we the facility is not efficient It cannot be economical if it is not efficient And we need to improve that so in order to do that Unfortunately, we can't build out. That's why we're looking at land Our board did ask us to look at brownfield opportunities and The we were working with the state. There weren't many that we felt would Could work for us according to the setting criteria, but But we did look at some So what we got down to again, we could be presented to the board our setting criteria and fit And we So, okay, here's where we're starting with our criteria kind of a tier one tier two and If we put everything that's available in chintin county on that that List there's about 40 different properties and our board didn't want us to look again all throughout chintin county Then as we went through the the setting criteria whittled down whittled down whittled down And we got it to about five to eight properties and now we're down to about three So we're looking in certainly obviously in wilson in South berlington, and I believe the other properties in melton. So Those are the three that we're we're hoping to have our board say yes go forward and and do a little bit more study And I want to mention two of that of the existing murph if if the board even if they look at that and they say, you know What we know we don't want to do anything new we would still need to revamp that facility we We would do something to make it work if they do say yes, it makes sense Let's go forward with a new facility. We would Look at the current murph and say, okay What can we do with this? And it may be more valuable to sell but it may be more valuable to the district to repurpose for something else So we wouldn't necessarily abandon that building that site We may want to use it for some other function of the purpose to either expand services or consolidate services We're not sure but we want to keep our options open for that site as well Any other questions We appreciate the it looks like you're Outline here it talks about 12 to 18 months to make a determination on the murph I think that's about right and you know, we don't have the money in the piggy bank to pay cash for the murph so we would be looking at a bond so my my Goal is to be coming back to all of our communities much more regularly over the course of You know the 12 to 18 months after our board decides on a direction and to say, okay Here's here's where we are now just keep you again regularly updated not just will extend It's just quickly important as the host community But all of our community so that they feel like they are knowledgeable and and what it's going to mean for them And to be able to place a potential bond In your own You know plans so that you know if you have things coming up that you know where it fits within your own plans But again, because we think most of the paper mill capacity will be coming online within That 30 to 36 month timeline that's about where we want to try to run is pretty close to that capacity availability Thank you very much. We appreciate you coming in to our town alternate representative. Thank you very much Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Thanks So moving on to service on town boards policy. Eric has different meetings tonight So it looks like Probably not enough lot to say about this, but I'm pinch hitting yes So the last time the board looked at this was Last meeting. Yes, and a concern had been raised about Process the board might have to follow if you had a board member who was Not behaving him or herself and so we looked at that and found that We kind of have an ordinance that deals with a piece of that already that's the Conflict of interest ordinance and we provided you a copy of that. So our thinking was Rather than Try to address this in a policy Would be to look at amending the ordinance down the line, which by the way, we were kind of I had been tasking Eric to Do an update on this because it's been Quite a few years since this was adopted In 2006 so it's it hasn't been changed in 13 years. So I figured it was due for an update And so So we did make some minor changes based on your comments, but that was our thinking About dealing with the conduct issue There was just they had had mentioned the a word change on page top of page 4 It's almost right We putting an e and the scratching the a out the extra end should be scratched out as well. There should be tenets Anybody if you were happy with this then a motion would be in order to adopt it I'd move to adopt the town volunteer policy is presented There's zero second Is there a discussion on the motion? I'm good with the change All those in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Yeah, we'll go on then to the catamount town forest Charge looked at this Last week or two weeks ago and again, uh, there was some Some minor change. Well some changes on the page two of this document adding a term right there's a term The language about the appointment procedure Any questions for rick regarding the The changes that we requested Should we get in this in order? Move to establish a catamount forest committee and adopt its charge as presented Motion made in the second it is your discussion on the motion Hearing none. All those in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Good they want to move on then to managers report Okay, I have a number of items for you tonight in addition to my written report So Try to go through these first off. We have a the latest Report on our local option tax receipts. Yeah, they continue to be on the high side over what we have budgeted This is uh, I from what I gather a statewide phenomenon not just Really do all of them. Yes But it will mean that we will be significantly over our estimate of On the receipts and I'm guessing it'll be an excess of three and a thousand dollars. Wow. Wow I say this every time I talk about this word. It's a very volatile report and our tax Source and when times are good you you get in sometimes a whole lot more money than You budget for when times are bad it goes the other way and we've been fortunate in recent years that it's been much better But We go in cycles on this so it will change And in the meantime it it's going to impact our grant Fund balance and we'll have to have some serious discussions about how to address that At budget time I would think The um Lamp light neighborhood water service issue This was a storm water project The contractor um accidentally hit a water pipe Which is not that unusual Fortunately as we began to look at the situation um the The what the uh condition of the water pipes Or at least the ones we looked at In um this neighborhood was extremely poor and we had not anticipated that And while we this wasn't part of the project to begin with, you know, it was only uncovered because of this accident The contractor has fixed The situation, but I think we can view that as a band-aid We're going to have to take a closer look at this probably hire an engineering firm to look at it And it may end up being a major expense Just to give you an example there was one pipe There were multiple services that fed into this one pipe, which is it was kind of unusual And it was a some sort of steel pipe. I had all kinds of holes in it Now contaminants can't get in because it's pressurized pipe, but we're losing water because water is getting out And that's just one pipe So we're suspecting that there may be Multiple pipes if not lots of them in the neighborhood like that The service lines are copper. Those are fine, but the steel pipe And it's I don't know when that system was put in there, but it was it was before our last public work structures time That was 30 probably 30 years ago or more by the late 50s It's an old system older and So we're gonna have to investigate that the extent of the problem or how much it would cost to repair at this point Until we have an engineer look at it and We'll have to do some further investigation We did not want to do that as part of this project because it was a stormwater project and and We were faced with well When it the incident initially occurred the water service had to be turned off for pretty much the whole neighborhood until we could narrow it down to figure out where What homes were affected by it and there were different homes and what you would normally expect and But we narrowed it down to three homes and we set them up with some temporary water and then when they Put those homes back or the two there were two homes that were totally off the system But connected through hose or something When we put them back on the system We had to do a well order notice because those lines were not pressurized So contaminants could possibly get into the system. So under state regulations We did a stop of well notice and tested the water and Pretty quickly the tests came back. They were fine. So we issued a Notice that the people didn't have to boil the water any longer pretty I think it was by friday And the well knows went out thursday. So it was a pretty quick turnaround But it's it's this is just the beginning of the story. I think I fear on this When that development was when that development went in lamp light it was it built at one time Built in stages stages. Okay, so there was some hope then yes when I moved in the 66 about a third of it had been built Okay, you've been there since 66. Oh my goodness. Yeah, cool So there is potentially some hope that it's tied to just one stage But who knows yeah, I know that um, oh A couple years ago. We had a hydrant that needed to be replaced and normally that's just a couple hour job Not in this name of it. Okay. It took all day It was there was all kinds of complications because it's it was old and things were The way you expect them to be and it's just It was in my mirror that one little okay If that's any indication that there may be lots of problems there. Yeah, anyway, that's a quick overview of that One other thing I want to note is the uh our The system public works director recently wrote an article that was published in the american public works association magazine about the program She's been working With the schools to Kind of provide some information to the students about the services that our public works department provides And so it's an educational opportunity In this year, they're combining it with a an effort to raise Some donations for the food shelf program as well So they're having a full truck event so that's that's exciting and the week of well let's see may 19th who May 25th is National public works week. So it's kind of like all this is done in conjunction with that So rick just one small thing on this. Um, you said an excerpt would was in the package My package didn't come with one. So could you I'd just like to be an art. Yeah the magazine article Okay, I'll Yeah, I I'm I'm old school One of those paper generators that drops them off at the moment click on email and then print it I'm usually actually pretty good about that, but I I do rely on my select board packets For everything. Yeah, all right. Um, I have um some possibly good news here I was looking at the schedule and list of issues we have ready And I'm thinking that with little juggling we might be able to skip our june 4th meeting So otherwise we're going to be strongly. I thought you said you had good news Well, the other thing is I I'm um This wasn't on my plan list, but I'm uh, going to be taking next week off as a vacation week so I won't be around next week to help generate things for the meeting either but Just looking at things. We just didn't have things ready for the june 4th meeting All right, I'm hoping that we can schedule so that the second meeting in june is not too long I don't think it will be. I think we're okay So Good I will confirm that By by friday, I think this week that's okay with the board All right, I have more All right, so we have the um monthly financial statements. They weren't referenced in my manager but they were in your packets and Where let's see I think 84 through the year Um on revenues we are over budget And expenditures we are under budget Generally, that's a good thing. Yes. Yeah better than the reverse but uh, it will um Add to our fund balance for sure and we We are fully staffed. I think in our public works might have Trying to think we have one opening water sewer we might but police we continue to remain short staffed and We had one candidate we thought would be good and as we got into the process of Vetting that individual turned out that person wasn't any good. So We will continue to work at it. It's amazing too. I mean it's it's part of the problem, but the unemployment rate in vermont is I can't I don't know how it can be that well But it is That's good for the um people. It's looking as an employer. It's not so great Uh speaking of employees Oh, I'm sorry. I should have I jumped over the financial statements um I don't necessarily have anything more to add beyond what I just said But I do want to pause to see if there are any questions We had several of our public works employees participate in a contest That was sponsored by the vermont legacies in towns. One's a plowing contest. Yeah. Yeah, there is a backhoe contest And keep in mind that our crew is relatively inexperienced Um, but they did fairly well. There were 24 teams involved overall across the state and For the plowing team we came in seventh out of 24 And we had um one guy participate in the backhoe He it was kind of inadvertently you got placed in in the competition because His friend who used to work for us It was now worked for another community signed him up without knowing what that is But he did well He again, it's not uh, doesn't have a tremendous amount of experience, but he placed eighth out of 24 So, uh, we're proud of that And while we're the contractors that lamp lighted a lesson or two Um The contractors are digging their uh, they know that there's a pipe there Their inclination is to get as close to the pipe as possible And they always take one extra scoop at it when they probably shouldn't But anyway, um while we're on the the uh topic of pride Our fire department has um a couple things here to be proud about first of all they sponsored a needle exchange This past weekend. Um, it was um only available for people to drop things off for I think two hours They took in 65 pounds amazing We also have one of our fire employees that recently was um given an award as the vermont ems provider of the year And that is tony samanskas So we uh, we just got notice of this today. So we're very proud of that And our department is also recognized by the american health association or i'm sorry the mark and heart association Um for its service. Um, so we have a nice little I guess I assume we'll get a nice plaque, but this is a paper notification of the service I can maybe pass that around Yeah, I think that's all I have for this evening Thank you rick. Uh, you mentioned in your in your report, uh, right yard health insurance, and I just wanted to say that The house passed an amendment to a senate bill no to a house bill on friday Delt what dealt with health insurance senate will allow If the federal government allows to uh, the for the associate association plans to continue Uh, for at least another year and they will not allow new groups to enter it But at least the groups that are in it will be able to do that the senate if they met today were due to Look at that bill to see if they had approved the uh, just that one amendment. So See what goes on on that So other business we do have a catering permit This is for an event scheduled for june 8th from In the late afternoon to early evening. It is for I believe it's a wedding to be held at the isham barn and the Caterer is 802 cocktails llc The staff has no objections. We've never received any complaints For sure from any events down there Great questions for rick. We are in that Motion will be in order for that So moved Any discussion on the motion All those in favor of the motion say aye Aye and the opposed The um, the charter has been approved by the senate without any changes Uh, it's on its way to the governor. Well, so hopefully within another week or so. We'll see That signed and will be done with the the charter Uh, improvements that that the town voted for Is there any other business to talk about tonight? If I may mention one thing I I'm glad the house of the um, this legislature is