 Good evening, everyone. Brad, we have everyone that was in the waiting room has now joined the meeting. Okay, I'd like to call the May 27th special 2021 special slipboard meeting to order. Additions with changes to the agenda Dana Dana, sorry, then I know I knew but no, there are none. Okay, public comment hearing none. Good Samaritan approval and signature discussion. Rick, you want to leave it off? Yeah, sure. Thank you. Yeah, I didn't I didn't want to jump in too soon. Thanks. Well, we really appreciate your willingness to meet again so soon on on short notice. I have to explain that we learned on Tuesday from the Department of Families and Children that the certification of local government approval that form that we asked you to make a decision on can actually only be acted on when we have obtained all necessary permits that you require. So in fact, you can't act on that yet. We just submitted our DRB permit last week. But certainly we're glad to continue the discussion about services. It's it's it's important to do that and we're ready to do that. I can hear you. I'll just launch it off by saying we could do one of two things. One, I could hit hit some highlights point out some highlights from our letter that we sent to you about this issue, or I could respond to your questions. Just let me know what would be better for you. Well, why don't you take and kind of recap what you did before? One of the troubles is is that we have a bunch of other people here that haven't that weren't here for the original discussion and it's like I like to have it all the background filled in. Okay, great. Yeah. Okay. Well, let me introduce our team first then. I'm Rick DeAngeles and I'm the executive director of the Good Samaritan Haven. And we are working in partnership with Down Street Housing and Community Development. Julie and Nicola, would you introduce yourselves please? Good evening, everyone. Thanks for having us here and having the meeting this evening. I'm Julie Curtin. I'm the Interim CEO and COO at Down Street. And I'm Nicola Anderson. I'm the associate director of real estate development and I've been the project manager for this project. Yeah, and Down Street is our real estate development partner. And what we're hoping to do is to purchase the Twin City Motel on Route 302 and develop what we're calling a service-enriched emergency housing center or hub. And in our plan, there would be 18 rooms that could house up to a total of 35 individuals. And in addition to that, we're intending to use the house that's on that site as the center of our service and administrative operations. So it would be intensively staffed 24-7. So just a few points about that. You know, we have been providing emergency housing and services for 35 years. And unfortunately, this problem of homelessness in our region continues to grow and grow. And it culminated during the pandemic. And now we have, I guess, a concentration of people who are homeless that are living in motels. And, you know, our goal is to get away from the motel voucher system. It doesn't work. You've experienced that at the Hilltop Inn. And that's been the case in other motels as well. It's not just at the Hilltop Inn. And the reason for that is that, and what's going to be different about what we're proposing, is, you know, we're going to be screening everyone that goes into what we're proposing. In other words, we'll make choices about what's the best fit for different individuals. And Twin Cities isn't the only site that we're trying to put into operation this year. We will be operating sites in three other communities, Barrie City, Montpelier, and Barrie Town. So number one, we're going to be making a selection that's the right fit for each site. Secondly, the way that we're going to run Twin City is it's a program. People are there because they've made a choice to participate in our program. They're not there by right. And if they don't agree or abide by our rules, they won't be able to stay. Somebody raised the question to me, well, what happens if you find drug or alcohol in someone's room? Number one, I would say we're asking each person to pledge that they will not use drug or alcohol on the premises. Secondly, we know these folks pretty well. So we have a pretty good idea of who has who may have a special difficulty with drug and alcohol use. Thirdly, we're going to do daily health and wellness checks in which we will check in with each individual and enter into their room. And fourthly, if we know that somebody is breaking the rule and using drug or alcohol in their room, they run the risk of losing their room immediately. And I can imagine a situation where we give somebody a second chance. Let's say their behavior hasn't been out of line, but they did have alcohol in their room. I could see giving somebody another chance on that, but we're going to be pretty strict about that rule. And I guess the other difference with the Hilltop Inn and the other motels is that we can end their residency at the Hilltop Inn immediately. And we will do that. We do that in our other facilities. Our number one goal is the safety of our staff and the people who are at the facility. So I guess the other thing that I would point out about what's going to happen, what we're proposing is that we're working very, very closely with a number of other service providers. At our last meeting, Sue Minter of Capstone and Mary Moulton of Washington County Mental Health Services spoke. And they are partners that are going to be on site with us as needed and help us make sure that this works correctly. Another question that has come up and we addressed it at our last meeting, it's our intent to pay the full taxes, property taxes on the property. It's in our budget. We're requesting funds to do that. We understand that there's going to be some impact on your services. And we intend to pay our fair share of that. Just out of curiosity here, how are the numbers going to line up? If you're taking in, I believe it's 16 people at Twin City? It's 18 rooms. 18. And how many people are housed at Hilltop? Well, there's 90 rooms at the Hilltop, about 90 rooms. And not all of the people in there have a motel voucher. So let's say there are 75 right now that have a motel voucher. Some of them will be leaving as of July 1st because they're changing the eligibility requirements for the motel voucher program. So maybe about a third of those will have to leave by July 1st. The remaining folks are going to have an additional period of time until October. And so it's going to be a gradual tightening up of the eligibility requirements for that program. So the demand is there, then, is what you're saying? For your services? Oh, the demand is definitely there. But I think altogether, well, I don't think, together with the other three facilities that we're intending to operate this year will have 83 beds available. But if the hotel voucher system's coming to an end, you've got Econolodge and a few others that are going to be basically cutting people loose. Well, we can't address all the need. We do the best we can, but we're a small organization really. But we think it can make a real difference. And I think the other thing to say about it is if you can try to appreciate this, the facility that we're proposing at Twin City and our other facilities, they're going to be treating people with decency and respect, give them a little bit of privacy, give them the support services they need. So it's a different way of doing business. And we think in the long run, it's going to pay off. Okay. Any questions for Rick? Rick? Yeah, my name is Dave Sawyer on the Sleggborden Town. Out of the ones that are up there now using the hotel voucher system, what percentage do you feel they're going to be able to comply and fall within your program? Because there are substance abuse problems and some of them aren't willing to change. I mean, do you have some kind of idea on a percentage of the homeless that will fall within your program and not be back out in tent cities or, you know, being somewhere in the community? Great question, Dave. You know, our experience at the Hilltop, we worked at both of the O'Connor Watch and the Hilltop. And our experiences was that most people who were there under the Motel Voucher system, they appreciate the fact that they have a voucher and they play by the rules. It tends to be a few troublemakers and people that have difficulty with their behavior or they have a substance abuse or mental health problem. So I would just begin by that. The second thing is we are right now, our staff is meeting with people who are getting their notices and we're trying to make a determination about where the best fit is. And it's true that the best fit for some people is unfortunately a tent and we are distributing tents to some people. So there's going to be a weaning process and and we're hoping that we can accommodate the needs in one way or another. And like I say, for some people, that could be outside. Now, the individuals outside, will they be able to come use the, I mean, are there going to be any facilities that they're going to be able to use, showers, warm restrooms, something like that at your facility? For most people, we have allowed that. I mean, there are some people that we have on a do not admit list because they've been dangerous. But at our shelter in Barrie or I suppose at Twin City, we could make available just day facilities like washing machines, showers, stuff like that. So that's not in your program as it is structured at this point? We do allow that in Barrie at the Haven. People do just come in and we, you know, we allow them to use the bathrooms or laundry or showers. Okay. Thank you for being here tonight, Rick. This is Flo Smith and you've answered some of the questions that I had in terms of how you would address if there were issues or if you found there was substance or alcohol abuse after someone committed that they would not use. So that's good. And I was going to ask about the taxes, but you addressed that as well. Those were my only questions at this point. I may have more as we go forward. Thank you. Yeah, Dave. Thank you, Bradley. I'm a Berlin resident. I've also for, oh God, a decade now helped out with one of the community breakfasts in area at the Unitarian Universalist Church every Friday and now every Tuesday morning we provide breakfast to anybody that walks through the door. So a lot of the folks that we saw in Barrie pre-pandemic and probably post-pandemic were folks that had been at the Haven or night before and we're looking for breakfast in the morning. And there's a number of churches in Barrie that are doing similar services. So my two cents in this is we've worked hand in hand with the Good Sam for years. We financially support the Good Sam and you very much encourage the Blackboard to ask lots of questions, but also support this as well because I think this is a good services that we can provide. And if anybody is going to run it right in this world, I put my faith in the folks at the Good Sam. So that's my piece. Thank you, David. Any other questions? Comments? Well, I'm not a Berlin resident, but I'm the chair of the Homelessness Task Force in Montpelier. My name is Ken Russell and I just want to basically affirm what David just said. There are a lot of agitation and concern about the homeless situation, a lot of criticisms and worries, but Rick and Good Sam are folks that really get it done, run a good business, have good relationships with people in the community and with the homeless folks themselves. And it's hard work and we are truly blessed to have such confidence at problem solving in this area, one that causes a lot of problems. So kudos to this. And I think if you choose to go forward with this in Berlin, I think you'll be very pleased with how well managed it is and a sense of really having a cohesive strong community. So let's just put my support behind this. And I just want to say just because you know I am representing Montpelier is, oh sorry, it's just it's a regional problem. So yeah, that's it. Okay, thank you. Brad, I don't know if it's you or my computer is breaking up. Brad, Susan Brito has a question. She has her hand up. Hi, I don't have a question. Go ahead. Can you hear me? Yes. Yep. I don't have a question. I am a Berlin resident and I am in support of the shelter. 100%. No one should go without a home. And furthermore, I'm here in support of my colleagues at Vermont Center for Independent Living. I know the entire organization and the board members are in support of having this service available. That's all I wanted to say. Thank you. Thank you for allowing me to make my comment. Brad, Mr. Shannet has raised his hand. Hi folks. Yes, Bernie Shannet. I have the advantage of having served with Good Sam for about 20 years as a volunteer and eventually I got on the executive board of directors and became the president of that before I left. And I interacted with Rick DeAngelis towards the end of that stint. I can tell you that I was very impressed with him then and I am certainly impressed with him now to bring this project forward. I urge the board to seriously consider it and I definitely support it. I'm in the Partridge Farm neighborhood which is the closest neighborhood to the Twin City project. I think I've heard a couple of comments or questions from folks in our neighborhood wondering if safety could be of a concern given the commercial nature of the traffic on 302. People wanting to cross the road, for instance, to get to CVS pharmacy, that kind of thing. I don't know if that was addressed in the last board meeting. But other than that, I think although there may be mixed feelings in our neighborhood, this is a well-run organization and I think that bodes well for the success of it. And I would urge the town to support it. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Any other questions, comments? Any other questions or comments? Hi, this is Rob Lamert. I'm a resident of Partridge Farms as well as I'm Bernie's neighbor. And I want to echo what was said about Ruth Frio too. There needs to be some provision for folks to cross the road because that's where the majority of the services are and that's not a place to jaywalk. So I think we need to plan on some type of crossing there. I think it's important. Other than that, I think it's a great idea. I think so. Both my wife and I support it. Okay. Vince, we'll have to take and see what the state says about a signal there because that is a state highway. Yes. Just to let y'all know, we have been working with the trans through this. That is a state highway, so we don't have control over adding a crosswalk. But we are, we have been talking with Green Mountain Transit about adding a bus stop on the site that will help shuttle residents to bury Berlin Town Center and Montpelier into different services as well. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Any more questions, comments, hearing none. We'll take in, I'd like to thank everybody for their contributions and we'll move on to the next item on the agenda, which is V-trans grant agreement application for the Fisher Road Project. Yeah, that is right at this events. Yeah. That's just a requirement that V-trans is asked for. It's a document that basically was in the package that I provided. Saying that we agree to the requirements and obligation of the grant program, including a commitment to match funds. It gives me also the, as a town administrator, to serve as the authorizing official for the GEARS application to put it into GEARS and to overall have administrative responsibility for the grant application and any provisions thereafter. That is the purpose of that. Just a note on that as well. There is a 20% match requirement and we are in conversation with both the mall and the hospital to contribute to that, that percentage of grant. And we don't have confirmation yet, but it looks like they're both at least considering it and haven't said no. I'll go with that at this point. Okay. Anything else on this? That's it from me. Hearing, then we'll move on to round table. Hello. Nothing from me tonight, but thank you. And I was just going to ask Vince, do we have a time period when they may give their decision in terms of what we were just discussing? They have to do it very soon because the reason it's on this agenda tonight is the application is due on the 4th. So you should have their determination soon then. Yes. Again, I hope by Wednesday. Excellent. Thank you, Vince. You're welcome. Dave? No, I don't have anything at this point. Nope. I have a few things to say. Vince, most of this is just information. How are you coming with the Lovers Lane Bridge? Lovers Lane Bridge. Great question, Brad. One of my favorite topics. It's actually, it's both good and bad. Again, we're going to get the funds from the state. It's just a question of when. The latest information now is I have to complete the request for the next fiscal year, which comes out as we all know. Probably the earliest I'll be able to do that when they open that up will be August. Then it'll go through the approval process. So nothing will be able to happen again this year. It'll be. And what about the Fisher Road culvert? How's that coming? Fisher Road culvert is, that's moving forward. We have the easement agreement with the Ligu Inc. So that's progressing forward. Okay, very good. I take it there's no executive session. That's correct. Oh, entertain a motion to adjourn. You're muted, Flo. I make the motion to adjourn the meeting. I'll second it. All in favor. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you, Vince. Thank you all. Thank you. Have a good evening. Joe, thank you.