 Select board meeting for Monday, February 28th, 2022 First order of business is to approve the agenda unless there's any changes Make a motion to approve the agenda as presented All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. I'm going to recuse myself for the consent agenda items Okay, I Consent agenda as presented, is there a motion to approve? I make a motion to approve the consent agenda Thank you, Katie. Second. Thank you. Any discussion? If not all in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Consent agenda approved Move on to public portion of the meeting this opportunity for anyone from the public to speak to anything That's not on the agenda. Is there anyone from the public that would like to speak tonight? I do. Sure I'm going to speak as a member of the public versus as a select board member You just want to I know We probably all feel for the people of the Ukraine I was special kind of my my grandfather Emigrated the early part of the 20th century to Ukraine so I was special on that area Eve is where his birthplace was So just a note that all our thoughts and prayers are with the Ukrainian people and The atrocities that the Russian people are participating That would be from people one of our I think that would be a unanimous yes Thanks, thanks All right, anyone else from the public that wishes to speak Do you have anything for the public portion of the Dandelisa Okay Thank you. All right, we'll move on to select board items interview candidate for assistant planning and zoning administrator This is Neil So, yeah, if you want to start tell us a little bit about yourself your interest in the position sure I currently work as the planner and zea for the town of Woodstock. I've been there for two years Michael Brands Was there prior previously for about 32 years so really impressive and Long story short I've seen this position open for a while previously I worked at the town of Richmond and at that time Claire Rock actually came there from Waterbury and so we got to know each other really well and I reached out to her and asked her about this position because it is a lot closer to home and We recently purchased a well a year ago purchased the house in Northfield and so Having a commute of almost three hours is Probably not sustainable long term. I am looking for a long term position I enjoy this career. I've done it for about 20 years and Waterbury From what I know of it. I'm Impressed with it. I've seen it grow, you know, I saw post Irene and seeing how resilient it is The I guess a break I took after Richmond. I went to the To Vienna Austria to the Vienna University of Economics and Business to get a ecological economics master's degree because that's my Training is in urban planning on town planning and a bachelor's in urban planning from You know an undergrad at Arizona State University and but I've always noticed in this career how The economics and the environment are kind of lives, you know the three circles that you have economics and the environment they overlap with land use and It was something that I felt like I needed to know more. I wanted a professional education on to be able to continue on my career And uh, I'm really glad I got it and I ended up eventually making my way back here afterwards and So that's kind of my more recent background Originally, I grew up in Seattle, so if you look at my resume I started out on the west coast um But for months my home Yeah, so So that sums that Questions from the board What do you see in in in zoning and uh, those kind of issues as the biggest challenge for the mortuary area Well affordable housing at this current moment is A big some affordable housing options in the past and is looking for new creative ways To enable affordable housing Looking at different types of households accessory drawing units for instance Things like that. I think a challenge is to inject creative thinking into zoning What do you see as In zoning, what do you think something that the town can do to promote affordable housing? There is a this a set of like affordable housing type objectives that Could be out there such as the accessory dwelling units Such as what I discovered in woodstock There's a density Allowance usually in most zones um, but for instance in In central woodstock where they really don't have any lots, you know downtown buildings They also have or had a density requirement And it was restricted to the size of the lot. So that was severely restricting the number of apartments that could go upstairs above the retail and Eliminating that density requirement for the central commercial district was one way to increase capacity Okay, thank you outside of the box Which to follow that up. I think in the interim zoning we did eliminate the density calculation in downtown So what a very is recognizing those opportunities as You know, we talked a lot about Especially as a pandemic ramp ramped up of just that the housing crunch and afford and affordability through I think mostly supply demand and It was recognized that if we're going to try to grow it might be better to grow center out and not You know keep sprawl the minimum but allow the rule book to allow more density In areas like the downtown that has access to water and sewer So we did in the interim zoning, which you know, you would um, obviously have this ability to I think be actively managing the use of those zoning rules there have been a lot of attempts and that was just one Zone of our zoning bylaws. Um, but you know, there were I think the height went up by 10 feet Some of that is to reflect that, you know, we have a flood problem as well So we have to consider that but I really do think that supply ultimately might help with some of this affordability Beyond the groups like we have a group down But you know, you have the affordable housing groups that can build a certain number of units But they're they're really limited I think the scale that we really need to be talking about to address some of these affordability issues having short-term housing and Our relationship to the mountains have also created an increase in demand Which is an economy that is good. It balances all the other economies, but if we don't backfill that with units Renters, especially they're going to be pushed out and we're seeing so I I think to your point that those are things we definitely need to continue to look at and So Yeah, hi, I'm katie. Um, how are your time management practices and how are you with like juggling multiple projects and Having multiple permits per se going at one time and your communication with people like Explaining how some of the bylaws are working to maybe like first time people looking to build Okay, so first on the time management, um, I'm very proud of my Time management skills, especially with deadlines because a lot of This there's a lot of Vermont statutes and you know legal obligations you have to do for scheduling. So I don't think I've ever missed one. I'm unless Something I don't think I have missed one but I'm very Proud of how I can always meet those deadlines time management I do it more of a on the list person. I'll put out a list that kind of Monday Prior to design for prioritized. Sorry And but of course that can change, you know as the week goes along and different things pop up But always having to have a kind of in the back of my mind a priority list of things and those deadlines are they usually rise up to the top of a priority list and You know, I guess the last part with the explaining bylaws So that's why I've been a private sector regional planning and municipal planning. That's why it's used to be in municipal planning because That's the part I find very rewarding is to be able to Help people through the process to be able to help them understand the process and what the bylaws are and just explain it kind of as I obviously put myself in their shoes And then explaining it from there and you know, try to come up through the common understanding if there is a disagreement and Work off of that common understanding But that's kind of the fun of municipal planning. It gets to work with everybody so That's why I decided to stay in municipal planning Awesome, thanks Yeah, I think I'm excited that you have obviously quite a bit of experience in the field. I think it's fun to hear that you've been You know, of course sometimes we might say you've only been in this other position in two years Why are you thinking about moving but I understand the housing location is in community that I've been there and understand the Challenges in the commute. So I understand that I think it's good that you've seen how, you know, we Steve Steve, when did you start here? 1993 888 So we have some, you know, long-term Leadership that are I've already announced that they'll be moving on. So I think I've been someone who has had visibility of maybe some other towns and how their approach to Anything from how you think it started I would love to see, you know What you can bring to, you know, just talk through how other towns maybe approach some of those just challenges And I think that's one thing that would go a long ways You know, as we've been in there's this side group under revitalizing why we're called economic development corporation or whatever Managing that group when she was the economic development director that We talk a lot about how someone approaches the town and decides to do a project how difficult that challenge might feel And I know we do a lot, but I think we can continue to improve On just that that comfort of taking a project from idea all the way through I think it is something that Continues to be a strength that hopefully we can improve on Far gone. So hopefully that's Something that can be a focus, but yeah, I don't have any Just one more question. I know you've been a practitioner in the field, but do you have specific coursework? In, you know, land use especially more I know this you've had some, you know academic studies elsewhere, but specifically for Vermont land use law and anything in terms of uvm classes or You know, through modalities in towns Um, let's see. Well, I guess land use law I learned not through coursework, but with working with litigious applications and working with and would start we work with I guess the same Count legal counsel firm and so land use law is something that I you know, it's not specifically my Professional job, but it's something I really kind of get into No, we're so the Vermont statues and just keeping up with the legislative agenda and Seeing what's coming down the pipeline and how it affects land use law and different policies that could you know, that change What you do on a day-to-day level And then I guess coursework it started doing the CFM certified floodplain manager Um, and then as I understand that would be something that um, I would get certified or you know, Would work towards in this position? Which is That's attractive to me. Yeah, I would definitely like to do that. So Having worked in Richmond, but it was before the CRS so At that time we didn't me and Claire actually worked on a lot of the elevation certificates and the lomas and going through that process with the homeowners and But yeah, that's why I expected mostly OTJ. Yeah. Yeah Okay, thanks I think we can all say we're optimistic and hopeful. I'm sure you've heard it's been a long search And so it feels that feels exciting to have someone who wants to be dedicated and wants to be in water barrier and has such a great experience. So I'd like to express my optimism Yeah So I think because You're familiar with kind of the process and the fact that we don't have a charter that you then have to approve So someone would like to make the motion unless there's any additional questions You need to appoint him to the position and it's assistant Lighting and zoning administrator I'll be glad to make the motion to I make a motion to approve a point a point Neil what last name again whitener whitener, okay, whitener to the position of zoning administrator for the town of water barrier It's been moved in second any further discussion All those in favor, please say I I Strong great. Thank you so much And uh, yeah, hopefully we can make it work. Make it happen A little more and and just so to remind everyone I've told you this This is the fourth time He's made it through the appointment process Last week we've talked about You know the benefit package pay and everything else. We're all on the same page We do have a requirement that he has to Authorize a background investigation which will get going as soon as practicable It will probably take a week or so before we get that back And then at that point he's free to tell Woodstock at any point that he's moving on but From our perspective, I can't He can't start until that's The background investigation is completed and we talked the other day and he's hoping for two to four week timeframe before he can start here, so We've encouraged him to you know do it as quickly as possible, but Steve and I certainly understand professional obligations and not wanting to leave Woodstock in the lurch. There's a few things that he has to make sure Get taken care of there. So we appreciate that. So anyway with that Who seconded this motion? Thank you Yeah, I will uh We allow I'll email I'll email to you the background investigation stuff I'll sign it and send it back fill it out as soon as I get it back. We'll get it going. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you Thanks, good night All right, uh joining the planning commission. I think we have to wait for seven more Yeah, those meetings first seven We Sure I Have Okay, great. Thank you. And now bill you're welcome to chime in as well So bill and I have been working with Karen nevin executive director for revitalizing waterberry on a downtown transportation fund Grant, uh, this is the grant program that funded A lot of the streetscape improvements for the main street project. We we actually got two Grants that were combined into one that uh paid for everything from benches to Part of the street lights and everything. So, um, there's a significant amount of funding in the program this year and what we're Going to propose is the Reconstruction of the sidewalks on randall streets is a project that's been in the planning for Many years actually, uh, they're very substandard Four foot wide concrete sidewalks. Of course, they went through tropical storm. I read in a rough shape So, um, the proposal is to replace those sidewalks with five foot wide concrete sidewalks and then to also Uh replace the sidewalk on park row between randall street and the intersection with south main street Randall street is not in our designated downtown However, this program You can apply for funding for areas that are adjacent to downtown as long as they have a relationship to your designated downtown The other component of the of the project is to replace the four existing pole lights that are in the rescue park or park They're antiquated. I'm quite sure They were here when I started 29 years ago. They were antiquated then These are the globe lights So what we're proposing is to replace those with four period lights to match the main street lights And they'll they're going to be shorter. They're going to be 12 feet versus 16 or 18 whatever the main street project main street lights are So those are really the two components. It's about 240 thousand dollar project and We would have two years to construct it. It's a two-year program The proposal is at this stage is to have our highway crew do the sidewalk reconstruction and bill was really At a man that we make sure to have plenty of time in case They get tied up this year with you know, some emergency project don't have time to do it this year We will have two years to complete the work So the application is due march 7th. We're supposed to get a quick turnaround We're supposed to hear in april the downtown board of the state is the one who Makes the decisions on the downtown transportation fund grants It's the staff of the department housing community development that fields the applications and answers questions, so at any rate the Did you have anything you wanted to add before we talk about the resolution bill? Yeah, I just wanted to make sure everybody understood we kind of got the cart before the horse a little bit The the The Randall street sidewalks was clearly something in our capital improvement plan that we're moving forward with And I had already put fund 71 together and and had You know underneath thousand dollars. I think for those two Sidewalks on Randall street and we were talking internally about well if we got pinched We'd do one side this year and then do the other side next year like we did on musky street. We did the same thing Here over the past couple of years And then this grant opportunity came up And we shifted gears a little bit now the reason we're all here tonight is that The state's regulations require this to go through the planning commission Recommendation to the select board and then the select board voting on it We've already included all of this in this year's budget. So the select board has kind of already heard something about this but what we were able to do is There's a 240 thousand dollar line item in our downtown projects line for the infrastructure cip And there's a 200 thousand dollar state grant line in there now as well So we've already kind of planned for this. It's a 20 percent match So if you're going to get 200 thousand dollars of grant money, you have to put up a 40 thousand dollar Match and it's not then 160 and 40 to 200 It's got to be the 40 thousand dollar match on the 200 So the project's 240 and I think with these two things will likely spend most of that To steve's point, we do also have a hundred and forty thousand dollars in the same budget or main street projects With a hundred and forty thousand dollar grant and that's just to finish the work that the That steve was talking about that was done in the main street project I think the way finding signs were part of that. They work. That's correct. Yeah trash receptacles Most of that has been completed and we We're just in the process of putting together the investments, but there's a little bit of Work left. So anyway, I just wanted to let you know it's already been budgeted. This does not foil or offend anything that we've talked about but It's got to go through the process so that you can talk about the resolution But it's got to be the planning commission and the recommendation right this likewise That's correct. Yeah, so What the resolution I'll just read it if that'd be okay. Just so you hear everything and then You know questions. Absolutely. So this is a municipal resolution for downtown transportation fund Uh, whereas the town of watergate is applying for funding as provided for in the state of vermont fy 2022 budget act and may receive an award of funds under said revisions and Whereas the department of housing community development may offer a grant agreement to this municipality for said funding And whereas the municipality has agreed to provide local funds for a downtown transportation grant Now therefore be a resolve One that the legislative body of this municipality enters into and agrees to the requirements and obligations of this grant program Including a commitment to match funds of 20 percent of total project cost To that the municipal planning commission recommends applying for set of grants And there's a place for the chair of the planning commission to sign and um, Alyssa's got the original here so So that's the resolution So what we would need is a motion by the planning commission to recommend applying for the downtown transportation fund grant and then motion from the slack board to Would they approve the resolution still? Yeah, they would have to approve the resolution I can't remember if you said i'm sorry um Do you know the timeline of when they announced and then when the funds are dispersed? Yeah, we're hoping to hear Yeah, it'll have to go to the downtown board. So, um, that's what they said They they should have any They rank all the projects and then if they're if it's oversubscribed they have a cut offline And they fund everything They they they have quite a bit of money this year For the first time ever there's hope that maybe all of these complications can be funded You know if and if we we apply for this and we do the work It's we'll get a grant Based on the amount of money that we spend so these are all reversible grants We actually have to do the project first And once we do it so we've got two hundred forty thousand dollars in the budget If it turns out that it costs a hundred ninety thousand we'll get a grant of eight percent And stevell, can you clarify this is because we're a designated downtown is that correct? That's correct that This program is for designated downtowns and designated village centers that have Gone through the uh, a certain planning process ours our watery center Village is not but the downtown is definitely eligible and they really encourage all of the where they're listed 19 Designate downtown 20 18 or 20, I think they really encouraged everybody to apply for these fundings for the funds this kind of level Just to say from the planning commission since we're here that's it's worth being designated downtown to suddenly How access this funding and it's why we then have the downtown design review overlay that Is yet another layer as we go through the rate. Um, would anyone like to make this the stated motion on the planning commission? Yeah, I'll make the motion to uh prove the Resolution for the downtown transportation fund. Thank you. Is there a second? I will second that Motion by martha second by arc any additional discussion from the planning commission or questions All those in favor, please say I I any opposed any abstentions. All right And I think it'll be to recommend that will be the motion We're using a purple pen To recommend that you yeah that you approve the resolution So All those in favor, please say I Great, well, thank you. Thank you He has it right there Are we gonna like move to the other room or these I think we're gonna say yeah, I think Oh these guys are done. Yeah Also on the agenda Well, even though we did say it last week this is officially the last meeting with mark and katie so it's important to acknowledge and really express gratitude and Sadness but understanding and um, yeah, I as as a first year Number of the select board a I'm just so glad that both of you were here to um Help me learn so really really much appreciated for your service Thank you. Thank you both. Thank you both I looked it up in seven years, so I appreciate it And uh, I appreciate everyone Motion to adjourn For your poll