 So it's six o'clock here and I'd like to open up this Special meeting a public hearing on the draft Rochester zoning by-laws for this is on November 27 2023 at 6 p.m. Here at the town office and this has been worn properly Posted in free places and on the town website and emailed to interested parties so basically with the help of two rivers out of Quichy Regional Planning Commission and the Rochester zoning Planning Board has been working for how long? Over a year right? Yeah, over a year on tweaking the the zoning by-laws, so they will One conform with evolving State mandates and also Tweaking them to better reflect the intentions of the members of the board in the town and Addressing a variety of issues I could Read over we were set to have Dan McKinley who's the chair of the Planning Board here to walk us through this and I'm dragging my tongue hoping that he will log in on zoom because he is out of out of town But I could Give a little bit of the overview and This is all being done in accordance with the Vermont Municipal and Regional Planning and Development Act Here and to be referred to as the act which is 24 VSA chapter 111 so we're not just doing this just because we're bored and looking for things to change we've been mandated to do some of this The intent of this by-law is to promote the health safety and general welfare of the inhabitants To protect the value of existing property and ensure orderly growth in the town of Rochester By preventing the overcrowding of land by new development promoting adequate sewage disposal water supplies Transportation schools and other necessary town services It's not the intent of this by-law to supplant or replace any state or federal regulations any proposed Development must also satisfy applicable state of Vermont regulations So, you know wastewater and access management, etc. So I know of that I Let Sarah could could give us some of the highlights of the areas that were addressed I mean to Is my sound coming through okay for folks? Martha can you hear Sarah? Okay. I Can hear her, but I'm not sure who she is. Could could you just is she with with Introduce her to just want to make sure you could hear Hi, Martha, I'm Sarah raid. I'm a senior planner with two rivers out of Coochie regional Commission. Okay. Thank you Yes, so as as Dune mentioned the town contract contracted with two rivers out of Coochie regional Commission to assist with revisions to their bylaw the town's bylaw had a lot of areas that needed work in order to bring it into a Agreement with what state law says a bylaw has to do and has to say so if you take a look at the bylaw and you compare it to be the existing bylaw that's on the books Almost every section has been Dramatically revised just because there was a lot of stuff that was out of date on a lot of stuff That was missing that needed to be included per state law and so when you look at this draft bylaw You'll see I guess some like the high-level big changes that you'll see here that we've really Changed the structure of the bylaw to make it easier to navigate and read and understand and we've also clarified Different kinds of uses in the town So we've made it we've created a separate section that clarifies which uses do not need a permit at all They're exempt from permitting requirements in the town And then we've got within each of the districts and by the way the district boundaries are not changing The only thing that changed on the map is the name of the business residential district Which used to be labeled as village on the disc on the map, but we've changed it to business residential to Make sure that it's consistent with what the town plan calls the village area so the the map is not changed in any other way, but the the Descriptions of those districts the uses that are allowed in those various districts Those have been tweaked by the planning commission after extensive work over many months talking about how they wanted to organize regulations within each of those districts And so within each district you'll see a list of permitted uses which means that a permit would be required And it's sort of one one process to get Approval to go ahead with a certain kind of belt development in that district is permitted The other kind of process that you would take to get a permit to actually do your do your project in that District would be under the conditional use review process So a permitted use goes through doing as the zoning administrator and a conditional use goes through review by the planning commission And so they sort of spelled out which which uses are permitted on which uses are prohibited entirely with any given district And then anything that's not named is considered a conditional use So we've made very clear what kinds of activities are Falling under each of those categories So hopefully that makes it a little bit easier for folks who are considering a project and want to make sure well Do I need a permit for this and what exactly is required? Hopefully it's easier to navigate the By-law and figure out what you need to do and what's what's required and then under the standards that you'll look at in the draft we've Done a lot of work to make sure that we are compliant with the latest housing registrations You all know a lot of Changes were made to state law around housing regulations at the local level last year So we've made sure that the new by-law the draft by-law is compliant with those regulations And that has meant including or excuse me increasing Allowed density for residential units in certain areas And then we've also made sure that those uses such as for example group homes and family child care facilities that are protected Under state law and can only be regulated in certain ways. We made sure it's very clear in the by-law that that The boundaries that are set by state statute are respected under local law as well We did not make any changes to the flood hazard overlay district in the by-law and the reasoning for that on the part of the Planning Commission was that There was a concern That you know the the flood has the the flood maps are going to be revised soon by FEMA And so there was a concern that we might put the cart before the horse as it were and we're trying ever just gonna wait for a Little bit see what shakes out of the map revision process and whatever regulatory changes come down from the state in accompanying that map revision process and then The town could at a later date pick up any revisions They might want to make to the flood hazard overlay district But as the standards currently stand they are compliant with all state and federal laws So there's no concern there Sandy, what am I missing? Would you like to chime in? I'm wondering if that's the phone number might be Dan. No, it's not Dan. Okay So I guess I'll take a pause there Turn it back to select board to Well, yes, I guess I will say a couple of things number one the existing By-law was last updated 2009 So we felt that there was time to really to really do the work of it the serious work that Sarah has described and the other piece is that we recently redid the camp plan about three years ago And it's important to keep them to make sure that we are consistent So part of this this whole thing got off the ground because we wanted to make sure that that we were Keeping the zoning in compliance with with our vision with our overall vision for the town Buddy Part of the housing committee and I think I hope I wasn't too late, but we wrote to the Zoning and this like board about creating a neighborhood because the the state incentives for housing development If you're in the designated village, then you can get tax credits and Kevin Geiger had come to a meeting and said And I notice the weights fields have done it if there's a designated neighborhood that's Created that's when a half a mile of the designated village Then they would be eligible for tax credit as well. And so is it too late to? My understanding is those are totally separate processes. They are yeah, so it gets a little confusing because we're talking about District areas and from the zoning and then the state's talking about district areas too, but they are really That's the the areas that the state's talking about belong solely to the Solely to the designation process So for example the village designation process of the state The state will draw a boundary around what it considers to be the village that boundary may not line up What your your zoning district battery is for your village and that's okay because the state has very specific goals They have to follow for a economic development program zoning is so much more than economic development, right? So when it comes time if the town wants to pursue a neighborhood designation There's nothing in this by-law that would prohibit you from doing that And that's a completely separate process and you would work with this figure out We're exactly the appropriate boundaries for that would fall. So Kevin said it went through the select board and But you're saying just the select board so it's actually on the line Kevin Do you know the details for a neighborhood? misunderstood Neighborhood designation Not terribly related to your zoning Right, and I think the question is Kevin the process for that neighborhood designation Does it go both through the planning commission and select board? Is it or is it just the select board that's leaving that process? Just to select where I believe you just need to have the foundational stuff in your town plan Thanks Kevin so do we have that foundational stuff in our town plan to know I Have not looked at the town plan The next step, yeah, yeah I'm in the town plan to match the yeah what you want to do and that's what we'd have to do that process So the um I was on the two reverse website courses tons of maps there and what they had was it was called The designated and I could be wrong. So please straighten me out the designated village is done by the state and then they had a Designated town, I think if that's what it was called map that basically was that half half a mile radius that Included all the buildings that were within walkable distance to the village wonderful Right, and I was not involved in creating that map But maybe Kevin can speak to that But my understanding is that that would just be a planning tool for the town when you're actually going to the state and you're Begetting those conversations about where that boundary would fall for the neighborhood designation and that would aid you in that process But it doesn't actually line up with any of your zoning district boundaries, and that's okay Yeah, thank you. This is Robert Franks. Good evening. I Know you had a happy Thanksgiving. I did my question is Where does two rivers out of Quichy get their money? Is it taxpayers money? Is it private money? What does it work? Okay Doesn't have much to do with the hearing, but I glad the answer is that's okay with y'all We get our money for a variety of stuff We get our money from the feds and from the state and from towns So it's it's kind of all over the place about half of our budget is federal contracts of one shape of an Well, are they are those categories broken into categories? So it was one can find out how much the feds are giving the states giving or personal, you know private private people are giving Yeah, we don't really get private donations So we could I guess we have a final one see three arm, but we don't really typically get private donations But my question is how do I find what percentages of the monies that took two years out of Quichy received? Where do I find that? I Probably look at our annual audit. I would imagine Good looking backwards I'm sorry in the what in the odd we have a we have a full single audit each year. Oh So I have so with regards to our conversation this evening. I Have to get offline and go to the audit Go through numbers and find out how much this how much money's being spent with regards to Sarah You know this dissertation about housing I'm not following the logic there Robert No, I heard some laughter and that that was from somebody But my point is where do I find specific information? For how the employees of two or out of Quichy's are paid and how you guys Deliver monies to grants and so forth in the town of Vermont So if I could step in here Robert, I think this this question and these topics are Are a little bit off of what our hearing is about tonight, but that I think that There's it's a 501 c3 and and I would believe those records are available Through that you could request that information from two rivers and dig into that But that's um, I don't think I requested information about two rivers out of Quichy two years ago And you said the same exact thing Well, did you follow up and do your research Robert? But I'm I'm I'm trying to direct this back down to the topic at hand here This this is a hearing Well, no actually where it comes from Robert If you could if you could refrain from trying to steer this in in the direction that you want to talk about I'd like to Avoid having to meet you. So if you could respect the fact that we're not I am not I'm not on this line to steer a meeting. I'm asking a very simple question like a fifth grader would ask What where does the money come from? You've that's been asked and answered. It's it's a variety of sources Which Sarah just told you so if you can we'd like to move forward and see if anyone else has any specific questions about the updates to the The draft of the Rochester zoning Anyone else on zoom everybody on zoom looks to be all set Well, I would just like to thank I have a question. Oh, okay. Yes, Burma All right, um, it's just an updated Hamlet or Something that we can put our hands on to see all the zoning areas and is there a printed stock Argument that is available for the taxpayers of the town of Rochester to have in hand with these changes Designated there there is you could you could get one in the in the town office Okay, great. It's it's also on the website to under documents. Yeah Okay, is it color coded or is it, you know, is it? Color coded in terms of the changes arm Yeah, the map, you know Yeah Okay, great, but yeah We have a someone calling in at 802 770 4177. Oh, it's Dan. You missed all the fun Um, Sarah Sarah, I couldn't get into the zoom. Yeah, I'm reading. Yeah. Well, Sarah did a summary of The reason and the bulk of the changes and I don't know if you had anything Specific that you would like to contribute not knowing what Sarah There I don't know. I don't want to recap what Sarah. Well, have you got any questions then? I Do not have any questions. All right you stand behind and approve of This draft of the zoning bylaws then I presume Yeah, yeah, the Planning Commission works Illigently with Sarah and we want to thank Sarah for her efforts on this. We couldn't have done it without her for now It's effectively and we think we have a really good new zoning bylaw that syncs very nicely with our town plan, which is the goal we set off with and We also made a lot of updates and so that we're With the state statutes and the single state statutes and so yeah, we're pleased with it We hope the community will be as well May I make a comment? If it's some germane to the the topic, but please go ahead Robert Thank you, dude Dan is on the line. Yeah, obviously he wasn't on the line when Sarah was speaking So how and how does he make a decision to? To approve what is being put forward? He was very involved with every step of the the creation and the work on this so he's he's very Aware of what we're talking about here Well, I think Dan should have been a little bit more aware of Sarah Taking time to come to Rochester to discuss this information This is also the second public meeting that where this information has been presented So initially the planning board present as a public hearing to present the information And then they hand it to the select board and after the proper Time frame and warning then we present it again Just to make sure that that people are aware and have the opportunity to to have their input Just to be clear This is a formal presentation from Dan did that by email about a month ago So so Dan's Dan's endorsement of this project is in writing to the select board about a month ago Yeah All right. Thank you So that was Dan if there is anyone else have any Any questions comments if not I'm going to move to close this hearing Have a second second all in favor Alright, thank you again Sarah for for all your work and everyone on the planning planning board now I'd like to move to open this Regular select board meeting of November 627 that's 622 not that much later than we usually do which has been Warned in three public places and on the website and emailed to interested parties and Going to start with the prior meeting minutes of November 13th And they looked short and sweet short and sweet to me Yeah, it was a quick I've moved to approve second all in favor Okay And moving on to our guest Kevin Geiger is here to talk about the Brands related to flood resilient and equitable transportation infrastructure for New Hampshire and Vermont Thank you for being here Kevin Thank you So just very briefly on that. I think I forwarded a Draft letter of support, but we are going in for a grant with And under our partner agency in New Hampshire the upper valley Lake Sonopee Regional Planning Commission to the US Department of Transportation to get Basically of money that would fund about a half a person of capacity over three years to do transportation related things that relate to climate resilience and and it's kind of a Hodgepodge of things that they can do in there the the biggest thing The shorthand way I say about this is like think about having another half of Rita In our office and the things that she does that helps towns Get and manage Transportation monies this these monies are a little bit broader than the federal highway monies We get that support Rita and that they are they could potentially be used to help us look at zoning And how it relates to transportation they could some energy stuff and how it relates to transportation Walkable communities things that we do now, but some things that are also on the edge of what our transportation projects do right now and there is no match from the towns on these and If we get the money you would be for about three years of funding But that we are asking for certain town support and the reason we are asking those certain towns is they show up on USDOT spreadsheets as having some type of Either climate and security transportation Shortage or as a disadvantaged town Rochester shows up at a couple of those things that way So that's that's my spiel on that So basically you're looking from the town for a letter of support in your grant application Yes Go ahead Robert Yes, what what Kevin what percentage Would you like the town of Rochester? Inclusive of the federal government what what's the number? I'm not what percentage of our budget is the town of You said that you're looking out to towns to Support the the mission. Yes, what what percentage are you looking for from the town? zero Yeah, just just a piece of paper All right, thank you so much Kevin Still there. Thank you. And and just for the curious out there Our if you go to our website and you go under the about you can find our Audits for the last several years and our budget and that will give you the you know where money comes and goes Okay, thank you. Yeah, thank you. You're welcome to stay if you don't have anything more exciting to do tonight But speaking of money we also have here our monthly budget report from the treasure verb and I would move to approve that All in favor and Do you want to talk more about the neighborhood designation? Yeah The housing committee was at the Harvest Fair and we had a home creators for sure that outlined various state incentive programs that are available for people that might want to either do an ADU or Do something with their properties so to create a housing or apartments and so one of the the incentives is tax credits and So there were a few people that live They considered that they lived in the village and the tax credits Through the state. It's very clear that it's Excuse me the designated village and the designated village, which is created by the state is really tiny Yeah, and doesn't even extend down South Main Street very far or North Main Street And so there were some people that were questioning. Well, you know, I I walked to town Every day, how can I not be in the designated village? And so then that whole will have how do you change the designated village and When I looked it up the state is looking to look at designated villages for Rochester in 2026 they only do it and maybe you can help me out every so many years Three years and it has to do with business and economic things and a whole formula And there is some talk in the legislature of maybe changing that process at some point, but it's not going to happen quickly so then when we had the meeting in October where we had a panel of people that had Were home creators one had was bought Delabidated houses basically Rehab them and then they became entry level housing for families Another one had rehabbed an old building And turned it into an apartment building and then The whole idea in the meantime, I had read about weights fields Zoning planning it was under their planning and zoning report in the paper that they had created a bunch of Neighborhoods and so that kind of intrigued me. So I looked up online and then at that meeting in October Kevin and said that if you have a designated neighborhood Then they're eligible for the tax credits as well So the whole point is to allow people to get as many incentives as possible if They're going to do something with their property and they happen to live in the village I mean, you can't create them from what I understand more than a half a mile away from the designated village You know, you couldn't be thrown them up all over the place But it made perfect sense to me that and so when I was looking online To rivers had on their site, it's called the The town village and what this map shows is Basically, it goes I don't know if you guys we tried to get a one that would print but what it does is It goes up to Brook Street to like Diane and Dick White's house up Bethel Mountain to where those three houses are together a rug Yeah Does wheatfield drive and Kennedy Drive and it goes basically down to the cemetery and then back up and it will also include Riverbrook and down to the yellow house just north of town But it's already there and the designated villages is within there Designated downtown. Yeah. Yeah, and then any house Within that boundary would be eligible for a tax grant Which I think is helpful That's one of the incentives What it sounds like an obvious project to take on and it's an application. It's a one-page application and It has spaces for How many names so what I didn't know is could you take this map and say okay? This is one neighborhood Would you have to break it out separate from the designated village and say okay? This is a neighborhood That's a neighborhood Or could you just say it's all one big neighborhood? My understanding is that If it's a contiguous area that would just be the one neighborhood it would be the neighborhood Designation area that the state would outline so you only have one village center So presumably you just have one neighborhood designation area that would go around the village center That's that's kind of what I was thinking is that in the application form it has You have to give a map Say that you're creating a neighborhood. Yeah, it looks like you have the map right there. That was yeah. Yeah What are the tax credits are they? Property tax credits income tax credits was so tax credit is something where You could either apply it to Offset your your income taxes or you can sell that You can sell it to a bank at a don't take a percentage These crap tax credits are offered to individuals Familiar with it with a business. Yeah, the same concept. Yeah, that's part of the new incentive programs I believe so, but I don't know, you know, I don't I don't know that the fine details of the whole I know with with if you so when we had the night and in October there was a lady that had rehabbed a house and She said that they decided not to take some of the incentives because of course there's some requirements and so with the ADU requirement is you have to agree for five years To rent it an affordable low income and not have it be an Airbnb, right? Yeah Yeah, so my guess is the tax credits would have strings too, but I don't know what they are So what that would be someone's choice whether or not they want to apply for that but by the town applying for this neighborhood Then then that at least gives the people the options options apply for that like any downsides to that not like So the town is reimbursed by the state for those credits No, no, it's the people all of the town is applying for is to create the neighborhood designation That's the people doing the project or the ones that would apply for those tax Yeah, so it's really I couldn't see any reason not to there's not a downside I'd Recommend every we go ahead and make that application happen. Yeah Like a plan and I think that village map that basically outlines the Yeah, any input on that seems as we have an official planner here in the room So this is sort of a new process, right? So if they're still figuring things out and it's It is a little more onerous. I think than just a one-page application. There's quite a few things You've got to make sure you're checking off on the checklist But two rivers is available to assist the town with that application. So you have technical assistance available to you That's just part of what we do part of our general operations. It's not a separate contract or anything So we can walk with you through that process And then the tax credits themselves I'm not familiar with What exactly that's going to look like in the NDAs in the village centers Tax credits are really focused around businesses And people who have any sort of commercial activity including apartments, right? For rehabbing existing structures, it's really a historic preservation tax credit But I do understand that it's it's sort of been expanded under the new program And as you mentioned things are going to be changing in the years to come. We just don't know when So the guidance we've been given from the state is if you have a town That's considering applying for a new designation just move forward now Don't wait because we have no idea what the state's timeline is going to be on revisions to the program So get going now. Are you the person to see on that or is there a designated person? We in the past have been the designated person, but with workloads Honestly, there's there's so much going on Kevin Sydney or I could help Really, it's just when you knock on our door whoever's available will get rolling with you So there's nothing to officially move and approve, but I would I would Indicate that yes, we're behind that and we'll start that ball rolling. Thank you for your work on that Next on the agenda Tom and Nancy are here to make a request about some our perfums pointed at the cemetery Cemetery's yes So we made a presentation probably a movie so go out of select men's meeting with real general in simple Projects that we feel with cemeteries are falling behind on on deferred maintenance and without we needed to Start to address some of those and with the town receiving some ARPA funds without maybe we throw our our name our committee and into the Mixed to to request some money to maybe make some progress on some of those things And we've discussed it. Were you here at last select men's meeting? No, we didn't discuss it. I was away your initial List of needs for the cemetery was pretty pretty broad and pretty good. Well, I think we had the yeah Covered a lot and it was a pretty good chunk of money. It is right. We talked about it at budget and finance It's a chunk of money. I mean we probably have some priorities, but we we since have Gotten some estimates and quotes from various Contractors or vendors and for some of these this stuff. So we have a little bit better idea of what would we would be requesting Is now the time just to tell you what we are requesting our house formally requesting from their request and it'd be a Good time to submit that list and I'm not sure if we would make a decision right at this table right now to do it But it was having a more specific Prices and you know and your priority list would be helpful so you could you know give us some I think we did submit it to you at least the budget committee and These are only estimates and Certainly we can prioritize things, but there are serious Areas that need Dealing with No What what's your comment Robert? Oh No, what's what's your comment? My comment is I wish that Marvin Harvey was here to make the decisions and understand the budget But unfortunately, he's in Florida and he cannot attend Thank you. Yeah So, um, do you have a? I'm gonna print out We have a hand written print out Larry Strauss so that we can compare notes and find out where we all stand on the ARPA funds And then I can fill him in as to what may be earmarked Right and and then take a look at the actual accounting Yeah, it's been kind of easy to just say oh, we'll do some We would just like to at least know that we could get some money as we're falling behind faster than we're going ahead and Every place this Probably the biggest well definitely the biggest expense would be to improve and repair some of the road issues up there The pavement the old pavement is cracking up and it's And where there's no pavement is a lot of potholes In the extension of Woodlawn extension people are cutting corners. We think we need to designate that road a little bit better They're cutting old corners onto people's burial locks We would love to put a hardened Two-car parking lot at bingo entrance. It's a terrible place to depart for folks We'd also like to Mount some signs with some of our rules and regulations at the entrance of some of our cemeteries I think that would be helpful for folks We've already got Cody McCullough Coming to remove some trees you've got to go ahead to do that and it's much less than this although that's That's just a one-time thing for for Cody to remove the most dangerous dead trees around the perimeter of the cemeteries It's his quotes like 24 25. Yeah, $2,500. That's like really you're looking for right now. Yeah, I Don't see any problem with that well, we I Think you told us that the other day. Yeah, but this is showing now beyond going on Cody And there's always a need to repair stones, especially some of our older cemeteries where their families aren't involved or around anymore that it's In theory the stone repair is up to the family homes a lot, but that's not gonna happen in older cemeteries Generations and generations ago We feel We feel we should make an effort to respect folks and Start to do some repair work. That's pretty expensive. We've gotten some estimates from Green Valley memorials on some of them Depending on the severity of the damage to the stone It's only $150 per stone to 350 or more but This figure we put in there After walking around our cemeteries and getting in that element of how many Stones we would like to try to repair over the next several years This certainly would be helpful. So these all add up to that 44 9 Tree removal You can deduct some There's always going to be some Tree removal and brush brushing back every year. So This is just a Snapshot in time for this ten thousand dollars As you know that The amount of money that gets budgeted is basically just to mow the seven cemeteries We will just have to review the ARPA funds and see what we can come up with that's all That's all we can do You probably won't get it all but you'll get some Well, I'd like to think that we would know what we could start planning to do we don't know We sit down and figure out most of this work could not be done at this point You know, we'll have to we'll have to figure out where we stand We've got one major project left that We need to do and that's that wall out there. That's been on the burner for I don't know how many years And after that, I'm not sure where the money is to go. We do need to fix the very encouraging Frank I'm not trying to sound encouraging. I'm trying to try to tell you the truth We don't know what the money is going to be left after that. So and And who's going to need it next so we do have some Promise for skate space. I'm not sure that's gone out yet So that's been designated. I think the fire department or Is it the fire department that wants some Everybody wants some so we just have to figure out And we don't know right now Just don't know so Yeah, go for it Robert the people that are buried in the cemeteries. I'm offering free services new power wash every tombstone, but they're broken or rotten or quick or falling Well, um, I'd offer my services free of charge. I just need water and That that's not something that We have we will know it is something we have to respect Not those that are trying to move it down Well, I'm offering my service and free of charge for anyone that wants their family's Cemetery lot power wash All right, and clean it up I'll do it. Thank you. Thank you. It's good to know How are we doing with the digitalizing the records? I mean, it's something that we started the process for two years ago Maybe three I'm not last year last year. We started it. Okay Is there any movement towards that It's there is there a time where we're saying another two years. It's kind of winter work Okay, and we're preparing to start working on it and we just we've been talking to The ladies here they said that there is a computer that we would be able to Use if we came in and scheduled some time and you get to work on it Okay, we originally had a computer on this list so that we would be able to We've acquired the program. So let's fill out the data Yeah, we bought the program Yeah, and Now we just need to have the time to do it It's not that we haven't Started it Well, there's a lot of complications in it. Oh, I'm sure there are. That's a puzzle One one record leads to several complications Well, thank you for this and we'll um, so we'll just wait to hear from you. Yes. Yep. Yes. Thank you Thanks for your patience and persistence So under cemetery quickies. Yep We have we we just had a meeting and we we have another one scheduled for what next week next week. Um And we have we have a list of topics that we need to address and it makes some updates to and including the rules and regulations And a cemetery lot prices um I'm not sure if we have to get town selectments approval for Either those approving our rules and regulations or Setting new prices probably the fees you would we'd have to We'd have to raise those as a board. I think But as far as your rules and regulations, I think we'd also have to approve those too But you guys could write them easy enough. I mean and we would just approve them I think that was our plan was that we would do the work and then presented to you at a meeting Right, and then we just approve them Because I do request and then But the cemetery board is also a little different than other boards, right the cemetery. It's a commission, correct cemetery commission Yep, right. So it has a lot more latitude But we would we before we did anything we would be Bringing it for approval Right We just have to check what the laws are to make sure that what we're doing is right And that's if we have to be involved we'll be involved, but if we don't well, we would like you involved Well, but if we don't have to and you guys can say no prices, that's And not have to go through the board. That's funny too Whatever The rules are fine that have pretty easy. Yeah Okay All right That'll cover it for now Thank you. Thank you. Yeah All right, we have um Announcing that the town office will be closed Wednesday, December 6th to attend the numeric training Just so people know and um, I believe Angus McCusker was going to show up for a letter of support and um I don't see him yet. So why don't we go on to the appointment for the planning and zoning committee so Sandy you have a likely suspect for that And uh, Mary Fratini Said that she was interested and I believe you have again, you have a letter from Uh, Dan McKinley We we would out that she'd be appointed to report to fill the vacancy that we have right now Mary Fratini Well or be lucky to have her Yeah So I would move to appoint, uh, Mary Fratini to um the empty seat on the Planning Commission Long favor Do you send her a letter or something? Um, we could At least an email. Um, uh I have her email so if you Okay. Yeah, I don't see it on this letter, but yeah, okay You got a note for that. I make a comment, please Sure. What yeah Martha Slater as Grace said she is Been waving her hand during the last two conversations and no one has Has addressed her Trying to get her facts in And I'm very concerned about it Those things are being passed and Martha's waving her hand and uh, she's not getting response All right. Well, let's let's ask her Martha. Any got a question out there Actually, I did have a question, but you said it out loud again I couldn't hear the name of the person that you were planning to point when it was said from the floor But then when you said Mary Frattini, I figured that out. Obviously could hear that. I couldn't I didn't you know I couldn't hear her name at first and I hadn't had a question before About the the item above it. What what is vorec stands for but you haven't just you're not addressing that right now because you're waiting for Right if he comes tonight and he did just walk in the door. So that answer will be questioned directly Okay, so he'll explain to me what that what that is for the only thing And who what and who is that that just came in? I'm sorry. That's um angus mccusker Angus. Okay. Thank you very much. I'll meet myself again. Okay. Um, good timing angus. You're on So, yeah, um, as you guys know the velma trail, um, the town did a planning grant Funded by cdbg funds a couple year 2017 time flies Um, and very thankful for that grant opportunity those $60,000 grant. Um, they're planning for velma trail connectivity Um between piss field and our neighborhood communities in randolph So today we have about 90 completed between The range up there about stress amount all the way to piss field Right there the hut the hostel here in the town community And we're working towards a another velma grant application for trail construction funding from The top of the range headed down to randolph And so this idea is that Randolph applied for the grant last year only got personal funding for funding for master planning Trail signage and weight binding to the master planning for the entire state. So the planning grant that we got was more regional So there's a lot of interest excitement People want to see this happen across the state Connectivity so we're working towards that right now And so this grant application so i'm here tonight to ask the town select board for letter of support for this grant application that velma trail collective will be applying for And town of randolph supporting this as well select board brain trees select board And rochester. So we're asking for board rec funds for trail construction About 9.8 miles total About half of that is new trail and the other half is existing trail improvements. Um, mostly existing trail is over in randolph area and So yeah, so that's the idea we're asking for funds for that as well as Some signage kiosk So people know where the trail is signage copper for that Yeah, and that more or less the summary of what i'm here for is just to get a letter of support And and this is a letter of support for uh, it's an application from the randolph Um Yeah, we're gonna actually i have a modified version of it We're gonna have a velma trail collective be the applicant in the past for our grants were only for Town municipalities to apply for but um as of this year vorac is allowing non-profits to apply so given You know brain tree rochester Randolph all the towns that have trail segment in them We just figured, you know, we'll have all my trail collective apply With support from all the town partnering towns Yeah Sure This is directed to angus robert frank angus. How are you? Will it's a question? Yes, how we are asking you how what how are you mic mic? How are we? My question is you are good. Yeah, you're applying for the grant Kristen, I would suggest that you don't laugh I'm asking Angus What application of grant is going to support this? Uh situation in randolph what is it two rivers out of quiqi? Yes, I'm not sure I can hear I heard you mentioned two rivers Um, I do want to add. I'm glad you mentioned them because um, We are likely going to use them as a grant administrator um, but we have to Make sure the procurement policy allows for that. Um, so We'll see How about if uh two rivers out of quiqi denies your grant? Where do you go next? Um taxpayers, I don't think the grant is he's not applying to two rivers For for the funding The funding is where's the funding come? That's the is the state boric vermont outdoor Economic collaborative. Yeah, it's about the vermont outdoor recreation collaborates. It's a state Department that has the funding for this that they're applying to not not two rivers two rivers He's saying they would um look to them for help administering the grant writing the grant That the the state department or the person who puts forth the money from the taxpayers Yeah, I think I believe vermont FPR for park recreation is the one that's um coordinating the grant their staff Yeah, I think you could you hear that robert saying the vermont department of forest and recreation Forest and parks forest and parks Thank you because I didn't hear that and Martha may have not either. Yeah, but that's a very important fact That's taxpayers money Yep, um, we can we we we is the town we we is a uh A two towns Bethlehem Rochester Can't support our roads that are in disgrace And we're building bike trails On the hilltops in the ridges Though priorities have to be put forth Yeah, this this money is not um coming from the towns actually Yeah, it's a state that's a million they're for recreation outdoor recreation. Yeah, um, it's an opportunity We could not apply but it's an opportunity, you know, um Utilize that money for our community connectivity. Um, I will say that the trail that we are constructing Um, it's a pretty modern sustainable trail Um during the last floods that we had this summer. Um, we only had One significant spot on the trail rock hardening through a little brook. Um, we were able to fix that But you know compared that with other trails Significant damage, so we were very fortunate and I have to give credit to the trail builders and the sustainable Standards that we're following for that trail Um, and the opportunity that we created for the youth We have after school bike programs, um, you know the high school middle school clothing closing down There's now an opportunity for after school folks bike programs You don't have to have a number of kids for a team. You can just have two three kids up to 20 kids Um, and then we also have a local club originally an outdoor collective that um does Like a mountain bike race team And they have been utilizing these trails regularly. So it's been really great to see kids out there using them Also, the trail is for adaptive So, um folks who can't Get around, um, you know, we have special bikes adaptive bikes and we've been doing adaptive assessments and For large portion of all the trails have been suitable for adaptive riders, which has been pretty cool Yeah I would like to make a comment All right Would you mind if I do so? Yeah, can you just um Give to to the point here? Yeah The point is the conflict of interest And it's something that all town taxpayers To pay attention to There's a conflict of interest here in a big way and It doesn't no matter how you connotate the uh The admission of ridgeline It's I didn't do anything. He didn't do anything his computer is still on mute and his phone I think his phone maybe must have died or whatever. He just left as a participant. So Yeah, he can hear us still on his computer. I'm sure but he's muted there Okay. Well, if it's if you can still hear us, Robert if you're Concern of a conflict of interest is the fact that I own a bike shop I will not vote in this decision. I'll lead this to Pat and Frank nor have you ever. Yeah You've always walked away. Yeah So I guess um, I'll hand this off to to you I'm to continue ahead with that And we'll see if we have any issues And Robert if you want to call back in I'll let you back in When I see you in the waiting room. This one Is just copies. This one's still good. Yeah, this one has a change. It's the same as last time 2021 I believe. Yep. There was a letter to court for our last application. Um, did we just change instead of coming Randall? This is so Want to approve it first go ahead that that's the other one I don't know. But would it be a conflict of interest if I Um, approve spending money on the roads because people could use those roads to get to my store What do I know I'll probably should vote on this and say we're gonna prove The letter of support I second Hi, hi, there we go. Taking that over you guys. Yeah, thank you No, we do too. We appreciate all your work. Very interesting. Yeah The positive Yeah You went out there and worked to get that money though. I didn't even laugh it was a smile No So, um Next on the agenda, we have uh approval for application for time extension and funding addition To the dcdp cds planning grant Vic take it away. Thank you. I'm here representing the uh high school repurposing committee to recommend the town apply for a time extension and additional funding to the planning grant that was originally Granted in 2021 um and The work has progressed. We have Some more work to do in terms of finishing up work that's underway Plus we have the opportunity to apply for up to $10,000 of additional funds We may recall we were approved for $50,000 and so Uh, there is Some tasks that could be done with those additional funds coming from the same source This is not town funding or a match funding or anything like that And what we would propose is that the same architect that consulted with us And the feasibility study be retained to document the high school interior But they sent a letter with the proposed and I could just Read it, uh, it's brief To describe the work that would be done uh first of all, um if the project proceeds to Be funded that is the high school renovation project proceeds to be funded and undertaken There would need to be a full architectural design work done and then renovation and all that comes after So under so that's why the the consulting architect Prefist his recommendation with this comment understanding that the proposed rochester Project will require going through a formal rfp for full scope services We propose the following scope of work to get the project ready for a full service Scope so what they're recommending is something that would need to be done by anybody any architect firm And it would have value as a standalone Project so it's reviewed the existing high school design documents and field verify Existing building conditions Drop as built documents in electronic format utilizing revet, which is a program for the format Since the documents will be in revet The drawings will include floor plans elevations in a 3d model These documents can then be shared and utilized by the final selective design team for work going forward with the project Proposed doing the above scope of work for a lump sum fee of ten thousand dollars The work from us will start in late december and we intend to complete it in one month This is a great potential project for the community. I hope the proposed scope of work will help set the final design team to move forward in the efficient manner Signed by Greg Dawson, who is the architect from gda associates in him up earlier who's been consulting on this project so As i've mentioned when we've received the initial planning grant There was discussion of a possibility of additional ten thousand dollars at a time in more recent conversations With uh, nathan cleveland from the committee development agency and other staff They're very supportive of the notion that We apply for and would likely look favorably upon an application Of this type for continued planning for this project Um and also playing out, uh, sarah right another hat that sarah wears as she's the plant She's the administrator for this grant. So she may have comments to enter this as well In terms of so that's the the additional funds We're recommending the talent apply for and then we're also recommending a time extension The deadline for completing all the work and reporting out for the existing grant is the end of this calendar year Which is coming up fast There's still some final reporting work that needs to be done With respect to the environmental work that's been done And then if we add this architectural work, we'll need some additional time too Then there'll have to be a public hearing as we get towards the very end that'll need to be warned So we're asking for up to additional six months Beyond december 31 So those are the two key elements of the recommended application ten thousand dollars For the architectural as-built study and up to six months additional time frame And um, I don't have paperwork in hand, but we'll we'll get that to you as needed Is there anything about it? One quick thing too, so at the moment you have I think Four four grand remaining from your existing um project and we also talked about how if the um If you do in fact get approved for an extension a cost end of time extension That's going to mean extra admin work for two years So we're requesting eight hundred dollars to cover the additional six hundred months or excuse me Stop it my brain this time of the um six months of work for administering And then all the close-up procedures that you just described Vic And then the committee had also asked for two years assistance with NEPA environmental review All the paperwork that comes with that and so um, we would request Um two thousand five hundred and forty five dollars for NEPA technical assistance We have a formal proposal that we're we would submit along to select board and then also with the application to the state um, but I just wanted to add that in there and if If the extension was granted Um, we would request select board's approval to amend the current contract that we have with the town to provide administrative services and then to add this new task, which would be to Provide NEPA environmental review services And all that work would be covered within the fifty thousand dollar initial grant plus the ten thousand dollar extension if we get it So we're not asking for any money from the town for this town is already well-exceeded the match required for this For this project that volunteer team has been amazing. So who's going to write the application? Is it something that I need to do to it um to request that the cdbg grant to be extended? Um, no my understanding I've talked with Nate Cleveland a little bit and that he would sort of I have access to the gear's Application and so he would walk me through all the steps to actually submit the request Okay, I think what we're looking for this evening is just formal approval from select board to make that request So that we can have that in the meeting minutes and then attach that's the application of the town doesn't need to be writing As long as it's in the meeting And can you uh Okay, just um Keep track of where we were just about to finish but go ahead Robert There's a great sign and this is in total respect for sarah was It's wonderful And I there was a sign that said information a dollar Information you need a hundred dollars Sarah has fulfilled her obligation the cure Person that pays a dollar or a hundred dollars for the information you need So if the sign was information A dollar information you need $100 And sarah is she's absolutely wonderful and Lastly, I want to put kudos out to cooter and Dana For doing a wonderful job plowing the roads today with an unexpected snow storm and all Yep, and don't forget tennie Yeah, thank you. He's a great guy. Yeah All right. Thank you Robert and doing you have you have a great crew We did I I wait to them stop by their side every day Thank you. So we're good. Um, I'm gonna I'm gonna turn the conversation back around to where we were um with the Approval for this application And I would move that Well, Robert, I want I want we were we were right in the middle of a task and Afterwards we'll have some open public eating. Yes, and we'll have public comment. We're almost at public calling here Yeah, we're we're we're get to that point, but we're um, we want to finish this so I would move to approve the application for the extension I second that Extension of time and additional funds All in favor Okay, thank you. All right. Thank you for explaining all that And if I can be of any help, let me know Absolutely. Um, I wonder if we might also get a motion to um to revise the Contract with two rivers Should the extension be approved by the state? I would move that should these extensions be approved We can The contract with two rivers. Yeah, I second on favor Just to keep us Crossing our teas and dotting our eyes. Thank you. Okay All right, um Don't have anyone here from the library. Oh sandy. Have you got a public comment? I just want to make sure that we don't take you out of germ before you go back to the plan Yeah, we have it approved. Oh, okay. Yeah, we'll put that on that good good point. Yeah, we jumped right on him to all these other exciting stuff um So speaking of the plans that we were just talking about The draft zoning bylaws Do we um I just want to add one thing in reference to the neighborhood Area, so um, I'm not as familiar with that program. It's new I don't think we've done I think we've done one in our region and that was for Randolph and we were sort of peripherally involved I was taking a look at the requirements for bylaws for the nda They are very specific. I don't know if you've taken a look at them Um, but there's certainly something that planning commission would want to take a look at Um, I don't know that the zoning bylaw would meet all of those requirements There's nothing in it that has like a prohibition that would You know disallow you from getting an nda. However, there are a number of requirements in the a nda such as Ensure that garage doors are not the dominant element of a front facade For example, you would prohibit a garage door from facing the street Or requiring it to be set back from the front wall of the building The zoning does not go into that level of detail, right? um And there might be some revisions that you would want to make to your Excuse to your subdivision regulations, which could meet some of these requirements Or you might need to open up your zoning bylaw again and to talk through these very specific requirements that are only relevant to the neighborhood designation area I wanted to put that out there because You should be aware of that I don't know if it's worth holding up the whole process of adopting a bylaw just for those things But I wanted to make you aware of that and sandy I don't know if you if planning commission has taken a look at those very specific requirements I think it's something that planning commission would have to discuss in great detail. Yeah Sounds a little restrictive if you're going to do that You know like say you can't have a garage door facing the street or something sounds a little weird Cars are on the street, aren't they? Yeah, I know Is there let me put it this way is there any pressing need to pass this um This zoning bylaws immediately. Is there anything hinging upon them being passed? Can we Yes, so We lose our state money Two rivers does yet. Well, there's a significant financial impact to two rivers also Amen that we have to have hearings again. So we don't get the time Yes, I should also note to that And Kevin educated on me. This is a very strange provision of straight state law that Have a lot raises more questions than it gives answers But technically once you warn a select board hearing for a draft zoning bylaw that bylaw will take effect 150 days from the date of the select board hearings warning Um, which is bizarre because then you basically got two bylaws operating at the same time, right? State law is very strange that way and we've argued with them and it's it's very confusing um But I just want to make you aware of that too that For clarity's sake it would help to adopt a new bylaw so that you're not working with two sets of regulations that are Then if we indeed find that we need to then come back and we can amend it Exactly you can amend it do that process Okay, no fear You know all all of this Neighborhood designation stuff. There's a whole New page that I found on the state website And and whether it's going to be really difficult or not, you know, it's From my understanding everything is subject to The permissions and the going through the applications So, I mean it's worth a shot to attempt it at least right um so that The people feel that heard they were heard and were listening to them and You know the the Any kind of development that's going to go on in this in the town In this area is not going to be in the designated village You know most likely it's going to be further out so and Right so that application process In order to apply you'll have to demonstrate that your bylaws have met all of these very strict requirements So it sounds like even before you apply you can have you can start the conversation with the state and say Where do you think we're at in terms of compliance with these many regulations? um And then then it would be a conversation with planning commission and the town as a whole to figure out like well Is this something we really want to commit to given that this is what the state is asking us to do in order to get that designation Okay, okay, so that said I would move to approve the um Rochester zoning bylaws has presented the draft second that All in favor Okay There you have it. Thank you for that reminder sandy We would have gone home You were probably about ready to say to say Very grateful to say Library Nobody's here from the library Highway department we thank you robert for thanking the crew. Yes, we do think we are down a truck right now We don't know how bad the damage is or what? Transmission issue And so we'll have to figure that out going forward But they're doing what they have to do The 550 Transmission again, so I don't know what how serious yet Probably no tomorrow And then we'll have to make some sort of decision Talk it over with john and see what we What direction we need to look at Go from there Don't have any um terries out here to talk about utilities as jeff caret part online. Yes. He is hey jeff Good evening. Good evening not much to report. Um, we're still waiting to hear on the uh merp grant application and I'll have some some additional interpretation About a potential collaboration Um In our in your next meeting and we'll be getting you some information Before that meeting as well Um, I'd also just point out that the valley energy and climate action committee participated with randolph and benfold And what's called a window dressers community build window dressers is an out on profit and and Maine that has been helping new england states develop a Utilize their system to build Interior storm inserts Have a very low cost And I think it was 249 window units that we built over the 10 days of the activity in bettle Um for 39 individual families a third of them are low income and And and and didn't have to pay For their inserts at all But I'll have more information both both on that and an upcoming proposal from surrounding communities To uh, collaborate further great Thanks again for um your persistence and and um Keeping your thumb on In the dike of the energy leakage Yeah Um, I didn't I didn't I had kind of fuzzy connection tonight and I didn't quite hear Um two things that jeff said You said you were talking about a murk grant. Is that like capital m capital erp? Yes, it's an acronym. Um, and now let's say municipal energy Resilience program I believe resilience Program, okay, and you said the valley action something committee Participated in the window build. What was the name of the committee? I didn't get the whole thing. I'm sorry valley energy and climate action committee Then the valley energy and climate action committee. Thank you very much More to come okay. Thank you Thank you Kristen anything exciting in the world of grants. Um, not exciting, but um all of my FEMA stuff that I added to the portal Was corrupted for some reason when they renamed all of my files. Um, so I've been resubmitting all of our Storm our last storm stuff. Um directly to Carlos right now. I'm not using their portal anymore Um, and also, um, I've been working a lot lately on submitting for the west hill bridge reimbursement Um, that's definitely quite a process. So yeah I'm getting bounced around quite a bit and having to go to one person and do another and then back again And but we're doing it so figuring it out Great cool Now we have room for public comment Anybody one zoom we're in the room Zoom looks to be happy going once Nope, it's wonderful about ARPA just a reminder that funds need to be obligated by um, December 31st 2024 And I know we've had some discussions about like strategies you can take to convert it from federal to local character. Are you all good? Yeah, okay. Awesome. If you have any questions any concerns about meeting the deadline Please don't hesitate to give me a call and we'll walk through stuff. Thank you. We'll go check with our masters I don't think we're going to have to worry about it. This is going to be spent Thanks for your help. Yeah. Yeah, I appreciate Then um, that's it. I had to move to adjourn second all in favor Thank you all for coming out tonight. Martha. Did you have something? I saw a quick way You're muted You're muted At the bottom of your agenda says you're going into executive session now to do an important Way salary discussion. Is that true? Yes I just you would include that at the end of my article. That's all I just want to make sure. Thank you very much My goodness