 Okay. So, first of all, everybody, I appreciate your understanding with our and forgiveness with our technical difficulties here. We will get this all sorted out. This is Peter Hugg. I am the chairman of the Select Board and I'm calling the meeting order at 8 minutes after five. We have the entire Select Board. We have put our guess all identify themselves just for Steve who just came on. Please. Nils Bain from Agis Renewable Energy. Thanks, Mel. Eric Spana from Agis Renewable Energy. Okay. Brad Hash from Agis. Okay. Cindy Hill I'm the attorney for Jim Gallagher who's an adjoining neighbor to the project. And we have Vic Dwyer. You're still on? Yes, I am. Sandy Levine. Sandy Levine, resident of Middlesex. Yes. Yes. So welcome, everyone. Do we have any heaven forbid amendments to the agenda, Sarah? We do not. Excuse me? No. Okay. Thank you. So item number one on the agenda, the normal stun time we caught up, is considering Agis request for a letter of support from the Select Board for the Vermont Public Service Utilities Commission, designating the location of solar electric generating facility array at 58 Center Road of Budding Kingsbury Construction, saying that it is a preferred site. The Planning Commission will consider the request that it's April 15th meeting. I have just right off the bat, I have a little bit of a concern about this, and I'm willing to listen to everybody, especially you, Sandy. But my preference on this, my strong preference would have been for the Planning Commission to take this up or review it and make a recommendation to the Select Board. Now we're sort of doing it backwards and putting the card before the horse, I think. Why do you think we're doing that here? I mean, we could pass it over and have them consider it and then bring it back. Well, we could do that. But what we're being asked to do, Mary, is we're being asked to approve this letter tonight, and then the Planning Commission is going to take it up at its meeting on April 15th. Yeah, so if we decide we want to wait and get their recommendation, what's the problem with that? There's no problem with it, but that isn't what we're being asked to do. But we could say no. Mary, just listen to me for a minute. That's exactly what I'm bringing up before we even get into this, is do we want to consider this tonight, or do we want to wait and hear what the Planning Commission has to say? Or do we want to listen? We've got the ages folks on the line. This is our chance to, we're one chance to talk to them. Do we want to talk to them, have the Planning Commission consider it, and then us consider it at our next meeting? How would you like to proceed? Select Board. This is Steve here. As far as I'm concerned, seeing as how they're on the line, I just didn't listen to what they have to say. Liz agree. I think we should send it to that, to the Planning Commission first, and then we should see what they have to say and then have it come here. Okay, Phil? Yeah, I agree with Mary. I would prefer to see it go to the Planning Commission first, and then come back to us with their recommendation. Liz? I said that we should listen to them because they're all here on the phone. Okay, so I know it's a little unusual, and I don't think it's the greatest thing in the world, but I agree. Since they're all here, and I believe we have the time, let's listen to them, but let's not move forward. Let's wait for the Planning Commission meeting, and then we will take this up again at our next meeting. So with that, ages people, we're ready to hear from you. Thank you, Steve, and thank you to the Select Board. We are perfectly fine with the reports of action that you just... Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, this is Nils from Agents Renewable Energy. Yeah, sorry about that. Yeah, so we're perfectly fine with the course of action. You just laid out, but I appreciate the opportunity to present what we have today to you, and then it can go to the Planning Commission, and then back to the Select Board. We're perfectly fine with that. So the project is at 58 Central Road in Middlesex. It would be a 150 kilowatt solar project located on a cleared lot just behind Kingsbury's main offices, between their main office and the 802 self-storage-owned property, which is also vacant right now. So the lot is owned by Stephen Van Neeson, and TJ Kingsbury would be leasing the property from Stephen and put the solar ray on that property. Before I go on, any questions so far? No? Okay. So the project itself is roughly a one-acre-sized project. This is a 150 kilowatt project, so roughly 550 solar panels or so. And just to give you a sense of the scale of the project, this would be about the amount of power that it will produce to offset about 30 homes. So certainly not a utility-scale project by any means, but a nice-sized project that has some economy of scale to make it so the economics on the project work well for the owner, as well as for the net metering off-taker participant. So the project is in a very hidden spot. It won't be seen from Center Road or any abutting residences, and is fairly close to TJ's property line for Kingsbury construction, but he's perfectly fine signing a waiver of setback if that's necessary. But we can talk to you folks about that next time around. It's certainly not a big deal. So we have sent out the 45-day notice, and so that clock has started to tick. We can't submit the Certificate of Public Good until the 45 days is up, or the petition for the Certificate of Public Good to the Public Utility Commission. What we're asking for today or over the next month or so is for the town to provide the project with what's called a municipal letter of support, and just to give some context to that, roughly two years ago the Public Utility Commission made rule changes that significantly restrict where solar projects can go. Part of it was in the interest of making sure that projects aligned well with town plans and town rules. So what they did was they created a number of preferred site designations for preferred locations and scenarios. For example, rooftop projects are considered preferred sites as are landfill projects or gravel pits and so on. Another one of these categories for preferred site status is a site where the project receives a letter of support from the two municipal bodies being the Select Board and the Planning Commission, as well as the Regional Planning Commission. So that's what we're reaching out to you today about is requesting a letter of support from the town. We wouldn't be asking for a letter of support if we felt this project was at all controversial, but the fact that this project is so well hidden and will have in our view zero impact on the abutting neighbors. Because of that we felt that this would be a great candidate to reach out to the municipality. We've received municipal letters of support from other towns for identically sized projects and it is generally a very appropriate and well thought out approach to make sure that the municipality has eyes wide open in terms of the projects that are being located within the municipality and also the opportunity to weigh in on the project. Eric, do you have anything to add to what I've said so far? I don't. I think you've covered it pretty well. And in terms of the process, I don't know. I can understand the Select Board just thinking the Planning Commission is more about, I guess, a planning body that might want to look at it first. But there's nothing in the statute or anything like that that requires the Planning Commission to look at it first. But it's certainly fine to take it the way you folks are approaching it tonight. Okay, I appreciate that. It's just our normal practice on something like this is to go with the Planning Commission first. Thank you for your... I do have a couple of questions. Is this a good time for questions? Show ahead. Sure. Can you just identify yourself? Because I don't know who's talking. Yeah, I'm Jim Gallagher, the budding landowner. Oh, Jim's here. Okay. Yeah, it took me quite a while to get there. I didn't have the right password. It was on the website instead of We were all struggling, Jim. Yeah, I am. Okay. My concerns are the last wildlife habitat, stormwater runoff down over the bank, ending in the brook before running under industry 89 in the culvert. And I'd like to know, is this land actually owned by Steve Van Nissen or is it owned by 802 Self Storage, which is Kingsbury, which I have issues with on some overshadowing of some sewage right now. East had a lot of erosion down over the bank when Phil was pushed over into the wetland. I'm a resident and a taxpayer of middle sex. All these new buildings are adding more runoff and erosion running underneath that interstate. And I think a year ago, we had some heavy rain in the silt and the dirt washed right into that culvert under 89. Yeah, the property is owned by Steven Van Nissen. Can you just identify yourself when you're speaking of your name? I'm Jim Gallagher. Yeah, Nils Bain. No, I'm asking the responder. Yeah, Nils Bain from Aegis Renewable Energy. Yeah, the property is owned by Stephen Van Nissen. Okay, I know the project before this, it was owned by 802 Storage. Yeah, I believe it's been subdivided. Sorry to interrupt. Yeah, this is Jim Gallagher. Yep. Okay, we hear you, Jim. Okay. My understanding is, from reading through the material, that this is a pre-existing, clear field. You're basically going to be driving steel, I don't know what you call them, brackets, being into the ground, you're not using concrete. Is there going to be separation between the solar panels or is it going to be like a gigantic roof where the water will just all heat up into one area? Yeah, good question. This is Nils from Aegis. Yeah, so the project will be in rows. So there'll be two panels in portrait on top of each other, and then a full row of several panels all the way along. So you might have a row that would have, let's say, 60 panels or more along that row, but it's two panels high. And then there's a roughly 15 to 20 foot gap between each row. And then, of course, we'll be very careful to have silt fence and take appropriate measures to minimize any runoff from the site. Thank you. Peter, I just, where did you read that? I didn't see anything in the Merrick Geryls. I looked at it. I'm sorry, Mary. Where did you read that? It was in some of the attachments. Yeah, I know. Yeah, I have them all, but I don't see where you have the information about what it looks like. That's what I was asking about. Well, it was in there. I read it last night, Mary. It was definitely in there. I'm not making it up. No, no, I know you're not. I just, I didn't have that. Okay. This is something else from ages. That would be attachment to be in the submittal, the 45-day notice or advance notice that we provided. Oh, this is a document, the site plan that was prepared by my, I'm asking patient energy LLC. No, no, that's what this is going to be called. That's the company that will own the project, but we, Agents Renewable Energy, provided that conceptual site plan. So if I could just, if I could just continue quickly here, I have a couple of other questions. One is, maybe this is a question for you, Cindy, and I don't know if you had a chance to review this at all. I'm sorry. This is Sandy Levine. I have looked at it a little bit. The Planning Commission will be taking this up next week. I'm just curious to listen to this meeting. So you haven't, you haven't looked at whether this conforms with our plan and our zoning? Not specifically, no. Okay, but you will be. Peter, this is Cindy Hill. May I make a comment at this time? I'd like to hear Cindy answer first, if that's okay. Okay, good. So Cindy, you will be looking at those issues, correct? We have the same request before us that you have before you. I understand. But as part of your, my question is, as part of your process, you would be looking at whether it conforms to the town plan and zoning, correct? Yeah, we would look at it in light of the town plan and the town zoning. Yeah, that's my, that's my question. Thank you. Which of course, I have not done. The energy projects aren't covered by zoning. They're exempt from zoning. They go to the Public Utility Commission. Oh, correct. Right. And as far as the town plan, there's a little bit in the town plan on energy issues. We're in the process of evaluating an enhanced energy plan and that has, where that has not been completed. So there are currently no preferred sites and no enhanced energy plan that would identify preferred sites in the town. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Someone else had a question or comment. Yeah, this is Cindy Hill. So I'm the attorney for Jim Gallagher and I sent a letter to all of you just moments ago to the Planning Commission and the Select Board. And actually, I commented fairly extensively on your town plan and zoning. And it is true that zoning does not explicitly apply. However, you are being asked to do something discretionary that your town has no obligation whatsoever to do. And the question is, you know, what do you look to? And one of the things you look to is both your town plan and your zoning. Is this consistent with development patterns? Is it something, you know, a preferred site is something that you're saying this is highly desirable. And so you should be able to point to something in your, you know, town plan or town zoning that shows that this is the kind of development that's right for this site. And then that is not the case. As I outlined in our letter, there are a number of concerns. Mr. Gallagher expressed some of those concerns about water and wildlife. Your town plan talks about not deeming solar projects preferred when they're in habitat blocks as this one is when they're within 75 feet of a stream bank. And it's not, it looks like it's pretty much right on that. It's a little hard to tell from that site plan when there's, you know, issues like erosion. So you do not, you know, you do, this is something discretionary that you're being asked to do, which the town should look at, you know, is this under our town plan and zoning ideal? Is this the kind of thing we really want in a place that we really want to see it? And our letter that we submitted outlines why it is not so would urge you to not deem it a preferred site or at the very least, and I'm glad to hear that you were going to defer it to the planning commission. But the other suggestion that we would have a request that we would have is that you do not need to do that letter before it gets submitted to the PUC. When it gets submitted to the PUC, there will be substantially more detailed information evidence and testimony regarding things like the wetlands or the stream location, more detailed, you know, site plan testimony on these issues. And there is no, there is no harm to the town. There is no benefit gained to the town in issuing a preferred site designation now as opposed to waiting to actually see the detailed information and do your due diligence, look at other projects by this, you know, developer and determine if this is something that the town, you know, really wants to put its stamp of approval on. Okay, thank you. Other questions? Blackboard members? I have a question, Mary Skinner. Okay, Mary. Is, is this project, well, is this a Washington Electric Co-op project or a growing power project? What is it attached to? This is, this is Nils from AGIS. It is a Washington Electric Co-op project. And is this the project, I'm sorry, go ahead. No, no, go ahead. I want to answer your, your full question first. Is this a project that's coordinated with providing energy to Harwood Union High School? It will actually probably be providing energy to the greenhouse that's on the other side of the Kingsbury property. Oh, the so-called marijuana farm that people are talking about? Right, exactly. Well, and that gets, that's to be determined, but we believe that's the approach that's going to be taken. And actually, there is a preferred site status called 50 percent, it's essentially if 50 percent of the power is taken by an adjoining landowner, then that would be automatically considered a preferred site. The complication here is that TJ Kingsbury's property is actually between the project site and the medical marijuana facility. So unfortunately, even though it's only a couple hundred feet over to that facility, we can't work through that preferred site category. So that's part of the why we're reaching out to them. So when are you, I'm sorry Nils, I interrupted you. So when are you going to confirm or have a contract for the power that you're going to produce? That would be probably in the next month or two maybe. Part of it is that typically no one wants to take the time to enter into a contract for a project that is conceptual. They would prefer to have a project that is, you know, a foreshore thing or at least fully close to through the process. Thank you. Are you still, are you allowed to proceed with requesting a certificate of public good, even if you do not have the letters of support from the town and the Regional Planning Commission? They will not issue a certificate of public good without that. Actually, this is Eric. Nils, that isn't, that isn't true. You can get it. So, and this goes back to a point that Cindy made. So Cindy is basically saying, hey, look town, this is a privilege you bestow on somebody. You don't have to do it. Make sure it's in your best interest. And oh, by the way, you can wait till much later when the full application goes forward and at which time there will be some more detail that you can look at. While that is true in theory, in principle, projects only move forward if they're economically viable. And getting preferred site status grants a different rate from the utility, which makes the project viable. So it's a little bit of a chicken or egg situation. While you can get a permit for a project that isn't a preferred site, the revenue you get from the project is much less and you wouldn't go forward with all the expense of permitting if you couldn't bank on the idea that you were going in as a preferred site. So that's sort of like the behind the scenes of what's going on there. So, Eric, what is kind of the general range of preferred site reimbursement versus non-preferred site reimbursement? The difference in mills, correct me if I'm wrong, on a 150, if you are a preferred site, you get an extra two cents per kilowatt hour. And so how far does that come out in dollars? It's a four-cent difference between the two, right? So for those of us who can't do the math, what does that mean in terms of the 150? I think the way to look at it is in terms of percentage. So currently, if you were to get a permit today on a project like this with a preferred site, a four-cent difference would be that you'd be at a 17.417 cents per kilowatt hour at a preferred site. And mills, you're saying at the four-cent delta. I don't have that in front of me. Yeah, so it would be 13 points. Yeah, so just do, you know, four as a percent of 17 points. I'll do it for you. Just give me a second. Eric, what is your position? I'm sorry, I didn't know that when you mentioned it. Oh, my position is director of business development. So the preferred site status is, and we will supplement this if we're speaking correctly on the phone because I want to double check it. I don't have the grid in front of me, but it's about a 22.9 percent difference in your revenue. So we're talking about $100,000? A little bit less? No. The array will produce mills. Do you have on top of your tongue what the array will produce? It'll produce somewhere in the 220th. I think it might actually be in the advanced notice. I can tell you that. But Mary, just to give you a little bit of perspective, a typical rate of return on a project like this is in the 9 percent range on the higher end. So when you have a 22 percent reduction in your revenue, you are deeply under water. I'm just asking that if you don't have the preferred status, you're still a net metering customer. I mean, you're still entitled to a rate under the net metering 5.1 rule. Is that correct? That is correct. Eric did correct me on that. Effectively, what I was really saying, Mrs. Nils, I was really saying that the project for any owner of a project, it would be dead for them because the economics simply will not work without the preferred site incentive. Okay, Mary, we're going to have further time to discuss this and we're already 10 or 15 minutes fine on our agenda. I want to give other board members a chance to ask questions. Anyone else have anything? Well, if it comes back again, we'll have another chance to ask some additional questions if we have them. I would presume we would, Mary, yes. Okay, thanks. Yeah, this is Steve, not at this time. Thank you. Okay, Phil. No, I'm good for now. Okay, Liz. I just had a quick question and it may be in the paper and I didn't see it, but in terms of the site, I know it's not something that we would see, but the size of it, do you have a comparison of like a local solar array that I could visualize one that I might be familiar with in the area that it would compare to because I don't know what 500 panels. Sure, sure. So other projects that we've built in the neighborhood, there's a solar array behind the Big Picture Theater in Wayfield. That's a community solar project owned by the members of the, the member owners of the project, which there are about 30 people who own that project collectively. So that one's a good, good comparison. It's the same size project. The project we did for the town, for the town of Warren and Warren School, they, they collectively owned that project together up at the Warren Recreation Field. That's another 150 kilowatt project. And then a slightly smaller project that we built for the town of Wayfield is at the town garage on Trombley Road in Wayfield. That's an 80 kilowatt solar array. So those are three projects that I can give you kind of a sense of the scale. It's roughly one acre. Did you say it's a town garage in Wayfield? That's correct. But it's half the size. The one at the town garage is a little bit larger than half the size. The, the, the other two, the one behind the Big Picture Theater and the one at the Warren School, those are all 150 kilowatt projects. So the exact same size. Great. Whoops. So guys, I, we're going to, we're going to move ahead with our agenda tonight. I thank you very much for your, for your information tonight. And we look, we look forward to hearing back from you after you deal with the planning commission. Great. Thank, thank you very much, everyone. Appreciate it. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So next on our agenda is approving the local emergency management plan. I looked at it over, it looked fine to me, except you've got my phone number incorrect. The primary, primary number, my primary number is correct, which is the 80237-18042. But then you've got, then for some reason, you've got the fax machine at my old Noelle Johnson insurance office on there as the second member. So that isn't going to work. Wait a minute. Oh, well, on the sign-in sheet, I don't. On the sign-in sheet, I have 2235915. Right. That's the fax machine at Noelle Johnson. No, no, no, no, no. The fax, the alternate phone is 2235915. That's the town offices. Yeah. All right. That's the town office. Okay. All right. So that's the backup phone number for me. Yeah. So I'm trying to make life a little easier for you, Peter. I don't want to make that talk. Would you like that the primary, would you like me to say? I'm just teasing. I should have, I should have recognized that number. I apologize. So we're good. Did anybody, anybody else see anything that needs to be corrected or changed? No. Can I just ask, can I just ask a question? Is it, are Cindy, Eric, Nils, and is that, who it was, are they still here or who you guys, are you hanging out or are you, have you left the meeting? Jim, are you here? Okay. Thank you. I'm sorry. I just wanted to get them out of here. Okay. But we've got to get our procedures cleaned up here. But anyway, so, so with that, I would accept the motion to approve our 2020 local emergency management plan. I'll make that motion. This is Steve. Thank you, Steve. Is there a second? Mayor. Okay. All those in favor of approving the local emergency management plan, uh, please say aye and we should call the roll. You only have to call the roll if somebody disagrees. If it's unanimous, you can just, you can just all say aye. All right. Well, if it's unanimous, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? So it's unanimous. There we go. Okay. That saves a little time. Thank you. So that's still, so that now goes through the regional planning commission and everything else to finally get approved right there. Correct. Except, um, maybe this is a good time to talk about signatures because we're going to need a lot of signatures. No, let's do that. Did we do that? Did we do that at the end? Sure. Yeah. I mean, I understand. I'll, I'll come and sign, but let's, let's march our way down through the agenda. So next is approving the FY 21 annual financial plan for town highway back one. So you skipped over something. You skipped over the request from the central mont regional planning commission to where they were like formal permission to share the updated LEMP, which you just approved with other members within the washington county municipal officials upon request. I don't know why they need this. Sorry about that. You just, can you just move that? I'll move it. Is there a second? Oh, I'll second. Okay. Thanks, Phil. Um, all in favor of allowing the, uh, regional planning commission to share our emergency management plan with, uh, uh, who are they sharing with? Municipal officials in washington county. Yeah. Uh, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Sorry about that. I'm looking for my iPad here. And of course it keeps, keeps blanking out. Anyway, I'm being technically challenged tonight. Okay. Now we are on to approving the FY 21 annual financial plan for town highways action. Likely any questions are concerned about that document, which was attached to the, uh, agenda email. Is there a motion to approve? Or is there a motion we should say? I'll make a motion to approve this, Steve. Thank you, Steve. Is there a second? Yeah, just Phil. I'll second. Thank you, Phil. All in favor of approving the FY 21 annual financial plan for town highways, please say aye. Aye. Thanks. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. We've approved it. Um, the fund just goes on and on. Approving the certificate of compliance for road and bridge standards. There's a good one. I'm sorry. I said, may I just say something? Certainly. Something funky in the software, the fillable PDF from AOT that it said, uh, if you get to paragraph second, it says we further certify our adopted standards do. So you click that and they do. And as the next paragraph is we further certify that we do or do not have a, an up-to-date highway network. When I click that do, it also clicks do not. So in the copy you have, well just ignore the fact that it says do and do not because when in our records it says that we do have an up-to-date network inventory. So if you're looking and you're confused by that, that's the deal there. Okay. Thank you. I missed that. Shame on me. I didn't see that either. Well, good. It's not a particularly exciting document. No. We're waiting for Steve. So is there, is there a motion to approve the certificate of compliance for road and bridge standards? Steve, where do you want to? I just did. Be quick to it. And if there's a second. Thank you, Liz. So it's been moved in second at all those in favor of approving the certificate of compliance for road and bridge standards. Please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. We've approved our certificate of compliance. And guess what? We're back ahead of schedule. These meetings do tend to go a little faster. Okay. Treasurer's report, COVID-19 financial issues action possible. Dorinda. Okay. Before we get into that, this is kind of goes along with a follow-up I was going to ask. Anyways, I have from Noel Johnson, directors and officers viability policy renewal for Welch Park. What is the status on Welch Park? I thought it was all done. And at the last meeting, it was going to be checked on. All right. I put a couple of phone calls out to our fearless leader with no response. I will badger him, but we need to follow through and hire an accountant as the next step in our process. But I still haven't heard from him that everything is completed with regard to our updated documents and all that. So we haven't heard from John Riley? Well, we did hear from John Riley, but it's a question of whether everything has been signed. I mean, I can ask John too, but the issue of the accountant is not a John Riley issue. So anyway, he said he was preparing. He's actually done. Yes, I believe so. And we were waiting for one, this was like a month or six weeks ago, we were waiting for one Henderson signature. And I never, I don't think any of us received confirmation that that that was ever received. Probably it was, but we just don't know that. Yeah, well, I haven't received anything since that meeting we had when John Riley was hired. So I'm really on the dark. Right. Well, we need to I will, I will, I will badger him. I did notice that Hartigan has completely moved out of that building at Welch Park, which was a surprise to me. I didn't know that was going to happen. But anyway, that doesn't have anything to do with anything. Was he was he selling it? I'm not aware that he's selling it. I'm aware that he was trying to trying to rent it. I knew he had part of it for rent, but then all the porta potties and everything else left and the hardigan sign disappeared. So anyway, that that really doesn't have anything to do with anything. I just thought it was interesting that that occurred. And I wasn't aware it was going to happen. Maybe he stopped down in Florida. No, I think he is the most in Florida. Yeah, well, I will, I will, I will get after him. I couldn't agree more during that we need to bring that to a conclusion. And if if he is unwilling or unable, we should go ahead and and hire somebody and and get the get all that stuff transferred over. So you're out of the out of the loop. Well, I'm really going to put my foot down by the end of this fiscal year. I mean, I just think it needs to get off the books. It's one thing we just don't need to track or be the bank for. So this is $1,168. I went ahead and signed it as a treasurer. But after I did that, I realized I'm probably not the one because it's Welch Park. Or does that make a difference? Well, it does. The answer is it does make a difference. And it's probably is it do like in the next couple of weeks? May 4. Well, if you if you have a date before we send out that check, let me let me follow up and get back to you during that. I mean, we need to, you know, first of all, we shouldn't be advancing the money. So as a fallback position, we but I would wrap there. Having trouble hearing. I mean, my problem is I'm on my phone is out. My Internet is out and I'm on my cell phone hugging the hugging the window in my office to get the best possible cell signal. Home office or office stuff? Yes. Okay, so I'll hold on to that. Yes. So hold on to it. And I will I'm writing myself a note right now. So I so I get back to you. But I can also that I also have the power potentially to defer payment of that possibly is it is it a direct bill or is it a bill from Noelle Johnson? It's a bill from Noel Johnson that has to go back. Well, the paperwork we have to send back has New England access exchange on the letter. So it's an agency bill. It's what's called an agency bill policy, meaning we pay Noelle and then Noelle pays New England access and then knowing when it sounds like a laundry scheme, New England access pays the insurance company. The way the bill itself is on New England head, header paper, but it's signed by Noel Johnson. Yeah, okay. Okay. I don't think we put it into no, it's not in the order for tonight. So all right, I'll put it aside. Okay. Well, definitely, definitely hold it. Okay. So I'm to I've been looking at the numbers and trying to follow on. You guys have the latest and greatest financial. It looks like we may have to short term borrow. I'm not sure. I'm concerned about whether we will receive our fourth quarter taxes on time. From a lot of people. I know that's a little over a month out, but it's something to start thinking about now. Is that May 22nd or do? May 20th. 20th. May 20. Yeah. So we have we also still have not paid the school their final portion, which is somewhere between $760 and $800,000. Yeah. We still have not paid the library. They are $30,000. So I just wanted to give you guys a heads up that we may have to take one year and know if the taxes don't come in. But the interest rates must be really, really low. What I was told I don't have that in front of me, but I still think it was like two, two-something, three, some wearing. Oh, wow. Then three. My concern is, my concern is, and I'm glad you brought up tonight, Karen, because I've been thinking about this too and wondering about it, is having been spending a fair amount of time over the last week trying to deal with banks and sort my way through some of these stimulus issues. The banks are completely overwhelmed. I mean, they, when you call the, for instance, when you call the local People's United Bank in Montpelier, you've got a call center, which isn't even in this country. So, you know, it is not it is not easy or simple potentially to deal with these banks. So I would, I would reach out sooner than late later and say, you know, what do we need to do to be ready to do this? And I think we were trying to respond to that. It's already done. I've already reached out to our person and that's what they came back with. Right. May I say, so they're, so they're, they're ready to do it. So we don't need to, we don't need to do this, try and do this a month ahead of time or anything like that or do. Well, what we have to do is give them a number and what they let you do on a short-term note is like you normally borrow in, in anticipation of taxes. Right. You know, so that is, we just need to kind of come up with a number and then they'll come back and I'll look through my emails because I talked to her like two weeks ago. So I don't have the numbers on top of my head. Okay. Well, my other concern is, is God only knows when we're going to be able to set our tax rate and send out tax bills for next year. I mean, we may be, you know, we may be looking at half a year of two quarters of taxes, which are deferred. So we should be, and I mean, I don't know that that's the case, but I'm, I'm just, I'm just guessing what it might be. I think they're already thinking we won't have the numbers in time. Right. Right. And who knows what. Go ahead, Sarah. Email today from Ashley Hill, who works for, I don't know if you, did you see that during the buying chance? It came about, you can apply municipalities are eligible to apply for a public assistance form. And she suggests also taking a grant portal training. And this is just for COVID-19. And it's from FEMA. Seems to me a couple of things that one is for that, that might be worth exploring. If anybody, you know, I can try, I can try my best to try to understand it. Maybe Dorenda, you can help me too, just so that we can, if both of us do it, we might be able to find out. And I think it's to, to deal with this kind of stuff. Okay. Is that, could you tell, is that, is that free money or is it just a loan? Well, forward this to all of you. It is, there's a link for, from the state for Vermont, like from FEMA. And then I guess it's going to come from FEMA. But it all it says is if you wish to apply for public assistance, COVID-19 funding and are eligible as a town, state agency or blah, blah, blah, you can apply filling out here. And it also, it also reminds me of the fact that we're supposed to be doing this buyout for Jennifer Evans down on, on Rich Road. I honestly don't see how we can move forward with this at that time. You know, the town has to front a lot of money and we have to, you know, all appraisals have come to a dead stop as a result, as a result. So I just wanted to just forget that in the record too. Yeah, I'm just presuming, I'm just presuming that that's going to be, that that's going to be pushed off. We did a bigger, yeah, but again, good thing to keep track of. I mean, I just, I just want to be sure to the extent we can that if there's, if there is truly free money out there, fine, we should go for that. But we know just from our past experience, the dealing with FEMA is never, never easy. And if there's some kind of expedited process, that's one thing. But if it's the usual FEMA, all I can think of is that hospital ship sitting in New York Harbor, which has only three rides up yesterday, only at 30 patients in it because of all of bureaucratic crap about letting, letting patients on a, on a Navy ship. You know, come on guys. I just want to say something that I so far, and I realize it's only the beginning of April, but I have not received that many. I have received one call about whether or not taxes would be delayed. Most banks have been escrowing. If you, I don't know what percentage of our taxpayers are, have their taxes escrowed through their mortgages, but you know, a lot of that money has already been set aside. So we should feel good about that. And a lot of people in town are frugal enough, I guess, or to have already planned for this. I don't think it's going to be as big as a hit as you think, but any hit is a hit. Well, and again, I'm concerned that, you know, it could be, it could be mid fall by the time we can get our first installment on next year. So anyway. I mean, usually September anyway, isn't it? Or do we do it the first one in August? First bill is through August 20th. Yeah, but, you know, we can't, you know, we've got to set the tax rate. We've got to get the information from the state. I mean, there are a lot of hoops that have to be jumped through. And I just have no confidence that that's all going to happen in a timely manner. So anyway, during the year concern is a really good concern. And I'm glad you've already contacted the bank. And, you know, my inclination is with all the uncertainty, if it comes down to doing a bank loan that we, you know, go for an extra $300,000 or whatever, and if we don't have to draw it down, we don't have to draw it down. But let's not go through this process twice. We don't have to. Okay. And I don't know how willing, you know, I don't know how willing in this day and age the banks are going to be willing to do that. I presume they will. But, you know, we can't tell what the head on our cash flow is going to be. It's impossible to predict. So. Right. Well, I think the good thing we've got going for us is we have a pretty good relationship with that one bank. We've never defaulted on anything. And I think they're pretty comfortable with us. Well, thank you for that, Brenda. They've got the full, the full faith and credit of all the taxpayers and middle sex are on the line. Right. I think they're pretty safe. But anyway, anyway, and ultimately we will ultimately we'll collect. I mean, you know, we may have more, more delinquent taxes than we usually have, but it's not like we're going to not get any taxes. Okay. Also, while they're talking about delinquent taxes, I'm no longer the delinquent tax collector, but I think we collectively made the decision not to send out late notices. But that is something that will have to be addressed if certainly after the May payment comes due because there will be interest for two months. And if it doesn't come in on May 20th, there's the 8% penalty. So that's something else we need to look at. Well, there is, I mean, who knows what's going to happen, but there's certainly a lot of talk in the legislature about, about making it, whether, whether they just declare the taxes are deferred or whether they make it possible for us to defer taxes. That is not clear to me, but there's a lot of talk going on about that. You know, the, the first, the first response I saw, which was over a month ago was, you know, that we don't have the ability to change the date, the due dates and do that. Now, where that is and what's going to happen, but it's, it's coming up bad. So they've got to, they've got to figure out what they're going to do. Okay. I just, I throw it all out there while we're talking about it. Yeah. Um, I think that. Anything else, Brenda? No, I think that's all I've got. Okay. So, well, that's really Sarah's question. We're not going to make a decision about whether or not we're going to delay collection of the taxes and or try to do something with the interest and penalties. Well, it's something you need to think about. I mean, right now we, we pretty much have just put it on hold. Um, and we haven't done anything. So, yes, definitely something we have to, we have to think about and deal with. I think, and again, you know, the, the last payment, people who pay that late, it's just interested isn't the 8%. The next one is when the 8% kicks in. So, no, no, that has a real, real consequences, major consequences. All right. Peter, um, may I just to go back to what Dorinda said. It seems like Dorinda is asking for a number. And I feel like we should probably get that number in the minutes if she's going to continue to talk to the bank. You guys, are you ready to talk a number that you should ask for the bank? I don't think I'm ready yet, Sarah. Okay. All right. No, I'm not. I'm not ready. We've got, we've got a really ready either. I don't have the money. I could use it. I wanted to look at a lot of big bills and see where we're at and be prepared because I don't even think if I borrow, I'm concerned even following from our fund account whether we would be able to cover it, especially with the $800,000 due to the school. All right. Well, the question is, wouldn't you, wouldn't you think, wouldn't you think since the schools are closed, that there would be some savings, there? Well, they're still paying the teachers. I haven't heard anybody talk about any savings. They're still paying the teachers. So, you know, that's where the biggest part of it is. Oh, no, I understand. But, you know, maybe the, maybe the payment of the school portion will be deferred. That would, that would help us big time. Yeah. You know, it's all going to, I mean, the problem is it's all going to come due. So, you know, but it's, again, I think the, I think the short-term issue of between now and the end of the fiscal year isn't so bad. I think as we roll, as we roll along after July 1st, not knowing when we can send out tax bills and when we can get our first installment, that's, that's when the chicken is really going to come home to Roost, as they say, or the pigeon or whatever it is comes from the Roost. Hi, Ari. You have one last question, which may be irrelevant. The emergency management people are looking to buy a printer. And it's like $400 plus. There is money in the emergency management fund. But I think it's the last meeting you said you only thought they were buying pens and paper. So, we could buy it and put it in there, like if that's okay, put it under their budget, I guess, would be my suggestion. And then what happens to this after this is all said and done? Does it go in a closet somewhere or? Well, that's what I would be concerned about. Let's make sure they buy a printer, which is going to be useful to the town, and so this is all over. Well, I think that, I don't think that this is necessary anymore. Paul needed to print out something last night, Paul Potenti. And so, I worked until, you know, eight or whatever, eight thirty, and then he came in after that and printed out some stuff. And I think that's the way we're working it out. So, he has access to this office, and if he needs to print something, he can just print it from the printer when I'm not here. Normally, I won't be working until eight something. So, I don't think he needs the printer anymore. Okay, because he didn't get back to me on it. Right, and that's why. Well, that's exactly what I want to be careful of. But it's something we really need to do, and we have to do it. Obviously, we're going to do it. But what I don't want to buy is a $400 thing, which we're going to use for a month or six weeks, and then it's going to be sitting dead in the closet somewhere. That doesn't sound like a good use of that money. Right, right. Okay. But I'm really done now. Question everything. I do. I know you do. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Jolanda. I'm all set. Thank you. Okay. Okay, renewing central Vermont Humane Society trade holding agreement. I looked that over. I did not. I, of course, do not know what the current rates are. Do we know, are those rates the same as the current rates? Tara, are they different? They're the same as the current rate. At the same time, we also got an invoice for their 2019 bills, which, you know, but anyway. So last year, 2019, which their fiscal year ends in December, we spent something like 250 bucks to hold one dog, a couple of dogs, and knowing one of the parties involved in this will never recover it from them, but we can try to recover it from the other person. They've since moved out of that party that really racked up the lion's share of that bill has since moved out of town is actually in prison. So, um, but otherwise the. Hey, at least he's getting, at least he's getting three square meals a day. It's actually a sheet. It's a sheet. Oh, a sheet. Um, otherwise, yes. It's $50 that rate is the exact same rate as we had last year. So with that, I don't see any reason to, uh, to quibble about that. And we've never, over the years, it's never been more than a few hundred dollars that I can recall in my history. So is there a motion to approve that contract and authorize, uh, Sarah to sign it on our behalf? This is Steve. I'll make that motion. And is there a second? I guess I'll second. Second. Okay. Thanks, Liz. Uh, all in favor of the motion to renew the central mod humane society stray holding agreement contract, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Aye. It's unanimous. We've approved it. And Sarah, you can sign it. Woo-hoo! Tower! Ah. Move approval of the March 17th minute. Is there a second? I'll second that. I have Steve. Okay. All those in favor of approving the March 17th minutes, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Um, orders, uh, I can't review the orders because the internet is down, but I will review them before I, uh, before I sign them. And we're going to talk before the end of the meeting about how we're going to get all this stuff, all this stuff signed. So that should meet the requirements, right, uh, Sarah? I'll just put it in the minute that their orders were reviewed electronically. And if you guys could just sign either send to, uh, Middlesex TREJ or to me, something confirming that, um, they have reviewed and approved, that would be very helpful because then I will attach that to the, uh, warrant. Okay. So once, what we're, so what we're going to do is, uh, similar to what we did last time, we're going to, we're going to sign and scan to you. Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. You don't have to scan to me. You just have to, you should review. You should have, Derinda sent you the orders, whatever. She sent you all that stuff today. If you could just email back and say, I approve, I approve. That'd be great. Oh, okay. All right. Yeah. See you beneath here. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Perfect. Um, correspondence. The letter from the state regarding the, um, moving the individuals into the, uh, temporary secure facility, the kids. Yeah. And the one that will, uh, as of this morning is still on the loose. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So theoretically they, they moved, they moved the four in there yesterday. After all, so Sarah and I participated in a conference call about this with, uh, Sarah, what's her, what's her last name? Squirrel. Yes. Squirrel. I do think I could remember squirrel. She doesn't look like a squirrel, but anyway, she's a squirrel. Well, it could have been two months too. I mean, it could be any animal. The irony of all this is, you know, they made this big deal about, you know, do we want to notify a residence? What do we want to do? Blah, blah, blah. Well, it was on the channel three news. It was in the newspaper. So. Right. The word, the word is out. So I guess, I guess, uh, I mean, my initial thing was that maybe we should notify the town which Sarah and I talked about it. I said, why we both agreed. Why, why stir all that up? And maybe we should notify the neighbors at this point in time. I don't even know whether it makes sense to notify the neighbors. What do you guys think? What do you mean the neighbors? The people who live near it? The butters. Yes. I mean, it is. Well, we're off to the last to know. It is a, uh, it is a change of use. I don't know. I, I, I mean, my inclination with everything going on, it's just, just to, just to let it go. People don't, people don't need to start up about anything yet. Certainly been made, been made very, uh, very public. Right. Yeah, I'd say let it go. Yeah. So Peter, did you get the phone call from them after you saw it on the news before same time? Before, before. So they did read, they did reach out to us. And we all had the, I mean, you guys, you guys didn't, didn't see it. But I mean, we all had the chance to participate in that conference call. But there was really no, I mean, the news was just they were doing this. And, you know, they were telling us, but it's not like, uh, not like we have the ability to stop them or prevent it. And, you know, I don't know whether, I don't know whether those kids are more dangerous than the people who are there. I have no way of evaluating that. It is supposed to be only for the period of time that this COVID-19 thing is going on. Now, what happens then? Do they move the mental health patients back from, uh, the center of Vermont? I have no idea. And I don't think they have any idea. Are they up at center of Vermont? I kind of thought they were, from what I thought, I thought they were down in a special William Waterbury. Not so. No, they're at the, they're at the psychiatric hospital across the, or down the street from CVH. But I didn't clarify, Sarah Squirrel did say that the, the kids here were less of a, after, after years of saying that they can't talk about the nature of the patients there, that at the temporary security facility, they said they have these kids are less of a concern. So who knows? Well, she can say whatever we, every she wants. These were the kids who were on Woodside. So these are the worst, most dangerous, high school age kids that we have in Vermont. And I can also tell you, from my past experience, with Elm Hill School and group homes where we had a lot of those kids in the old days when we were running group homes, they were involved in sexual assault, abuse, I mean, everything you can imagine. So I have no idea who those kids are who are there, but they are, they are the worst, the worst, essentially, whatever that means. Some of them. That said, it's a lockdown, it's a lockdown facility. They're only going to have, or at least she said, they would only have a maximum of five there. And they have five full-time staff on duty there all the time. So, and at least two people awake at all times. So, you know, initially we had concerns about the mental health patients. We really have had no, no issues. I don't know. I guess I think it's fine. And it's well in public. And if it's, if it starts to be a problem, then we'll respond, but hopefully it won't be a problem. We haven't had any concerns voiced by the people. Isn't it O'Connor owns it now? Connor Construction, and they rent it to tenants? Well, they have, they have the land on one side, but there's a, yeah, anyway. But I mean, they have a contact with Sarah. Cross the street. I have had no, I have had no contact. No one has called, just complaining or anything. Yeah. So, what I would say, Sarah, is if you hear from anybody, yep, we now have that letter that they sent out, which describes what they're doing. I would just give them that. Okay. You know, let's not, let's not us make up anything. Let's, let's hand out exactly what they gave us. You mean this press release? Yes. Doesn't that make sense? Makes a lot of sense. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Let's use, let's use their words, not our words. It's right. They're more. Put them on the hook. I mean, it was not, I mean, they did, they did promise that they would keep us in the loop, and they did keep us in the loop. But boy, it was, you know, they're, they're, they were moving fast on this, because once the real, those, those kids went from being in a, in a setting. Woodside is, basically a jail. They called it the JV jail in the old days. So these kids went from that to a house in St. Alvin. Well, who would have thought they would all just sit there in this, in this house? They, two of the, two of them took off right off the back. So anyway. Maybe they were the two from St. Alvin. I knew their way around. Who knows? Do we have any other business? I wanted to thank both of them. The business that we do have, the business that we do have is, you're going to need some signatures. Sarah, is it only me? Or is there something that everybody has to sign? The annual financial plan and the certificate of the highway thing, that needs everybody's signatures. Other ones, just you. Can we, so which ones are there? The highway annual financial plan. And the, okay. Certificate of, of. 40 and the 545 items. Yeah. That's correct. Those are the two. Otherwise, all I need is Peter's signature. Can't. So can we sign and hand those back to you? In other words, you really need large signatures. What they call, what the SBA calls, wet signatures. They're serving the day of fountain pen for Christ's sake. Can't we do the, can't we do the email that will say we approve the orders and then use the specific language of the 540 and 545 items? Well, I think what we have, what we have is, we have the minutes. So what I'll do is I'll just, I'll call AOT and just sign and say, is it okay if I just, you know, approved by the select board, you know, and attach the minutes? That'll be, that'll probably suffice. I'm sure since every single town in Vermont is going through this and these things all pop up this time of year, I'm sure we're all dealing with it. The only other thing you have to do is if you give me authorization, well, we have the LEMP, that needs, that needs Peter's signature. And if Peter, I don't mind coming down and you can, you know, put stuff in the hallway and I can sign and I can also sign these other things. So at least they'll have one signature on them. I think Peter, what I'll do is I will email to you, I will actually put in a snail mail to you this these documents with a return envelope, you sign them and then just put them in the mail, mail back to me. And then that's fine. Okay, that's fine. That'll work for me. Um, the other thing that I have is and I'm, I'm talking mostly to Liz and Sarah, but I am very anxious to get this Zoom thing set up so it really works. And I'm not sure whether the problem yesterday was on, was on my end or what it was, but I definitely could not get into the true, uh, when I clicked on that link, it just sent me off to Never Never Land somehow. There's also Google Hangouts which is easy. I mean, there's multiple ways you can do this. No, I understand that, but I think, I'm just speaking for myself. All the people I, I'm, I'm dealing with seem to be using Zoom, so to keep things simple, I would prefer to have it Zoom from my point of view, but if it's better, I don't know why everyone had problems, why everyone called in and no one used the computer. Well, let's, let's do this. Why don't we, uh, Liz, Sarah and Peter, why don't we form a commission of commission, committee of three to get this work out and see if we can get it to work consistently, and assuming we can, then, we'll, we'll try and do the Zoom. I mean, I've, I've, I've been able to, to zoom in from home, every time, but I for some reason, I couldn't make it work. Yeah, I've had no problem with Zoom. I downloaded the app and I just would click in and it says join a meeting and then you just put in a number. Right. I know. Um, I would, I think that probably just keep everything kosher. The talented form of Zoom account and it'll should be on a middle sex credit card. We should have something so that we can go over 40 minutes and maybe we can even get a business designation or something that maybe it will improve our connectivity if we can show that we're a business. I don't know. That's a good idea. Anyway, if we, it just is, I feel, I don't think it's right, frankly, to stick this on Liz's credit card bill or whoever feels it is. I agree 100, I agree 100 percent that we have a credit card. Well, it's having, we did have one and it got compromised. So we're waiting for the new one to come. Well, Sarah can just charge it and get reimbursed or something. Yeah, I mean, we can use my credit card. I can get the new card to be here. They told me it should be here in five to seven working days. So I'm thinking it's due in this week. I would think it would probably be this week. Because the problem is having done a bunch of these things, once you get your credit card in there, then you got to go in and change the credit card and it's a hassle and all that. So if we wait and get it set up right the first time, I think that's the way, that's the way to do it. I can just say for my experience with Zoom, it's when it's working, it's just slick. I mean, the audio quality is really good and there's also, and maybe you know this list, but there's a way to have all the documents we're talking about in Zoom so you can just click over and look at the documents, which is really slick. Yeah, I haven't used that part. You can do it with all those things. You guys, I did record this somewhere like on the cloud. I'm not sure what that means. I'm going to see after I'm done, like where it shows up. And also, you should know that ORCA has been, has plugged into this meeting as well. So it's all being recorded on ORCA as well. So baby, I don't need to worry about it, but I am curious to see what happens to this, where this recording goes in terms of if it says it's recording to the cloud. Probably, probably on Donald Trump's desk right now. You better look for a tweet. All right, are we ready to adjourn? I believe we are. I think I heard the cocktail whistle blow. Wait, can I say one thing? Very well, let's just say one thing. I want to thank Liz. I want to thank Liz for all the work she's doing to feed the homeless. And I want to thank Sarah for doing the tremendous job and making a mess for all the people at the hospital and wherever they need them. I'm excited they're working overtime. Oh, that's her name. You marry? No. I'm trying to raise $15,000 if anyone has it and wants to give it to me, I need to pay the vendors who have been feeding the homeless by next. So if you know of anyone who wants to give $15,000, we're getting the state to pay for it for the rest of it. But it's, believe me, getting the state to do anything, it's going to be hard. But anyway. Easier than dealing with Trump. Well, yeah, the state's been good, I think, overall. I think they've had a good response to this whole outbreak. I think they've done a good job. I think Scott's done a good job. But anyway, thank you, thank you, thank you. You're welcome. You're both doing a great job. I agree. I think we can be, I think we can be proud of the state of Vermont. I think we can be proud of our little town also. Me too. I did hear, I did hear that these guys up at UVM are are creating this ventilator design in their garages or wherever it is. They're going to call it the Vermontilator. I love it. I think that's pretty good. The Vermontilator. Let me know up in the meeting. And I just, I just want to say in closing again, thanks everybody. This is, this is not easy. Getting used to this is a, is a challenge. And you know, I do, I feel good what we, what we did with that, with that project. I don't know whether it's the right thing to do, but I'll be glad to hear what the, what the planning commission has to say. So everybody, everybody stay safe. And maybe in a month or so, this little things will start to look a little better. Let's hope so. Okay. We may see each other. Okay, everybody. Does everyone know how to hang up? Because we're going to end the meeting. Yeah. We're adjourning the meeting. Okay. I'm ending the meeting. Good night, everyone. Be well and be tight. Was, was this ever here?