 All right. Good afternoon everybody. Thanks for being here. I'd like to thank everybody for joining us here in Barrie today. My name is Peter Wach. I'm the Managing Director of Efficiency Vermont. We're here today in Barrie joined by state and local leaders, impacted residents and businesses, some longtime Barrie partners and folks coordinating volunteer response. Less than two months ago, Barrie and many of the surrounding communities were devastated and cut off from each other by rising floodwaters. I want to thank Mayor Jay Kamrick and City Manager Nicholas Storillicastro, Representative Peter Anthony, members of the Barrie City Council for joining us today, and some members and partners from the City Capstone Community Action, Barrie Partnership, Downstreet Housing and Community Development, and Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation. Thank you very much for being here with us today as we talk about new flood relief programming helping Vermonters get back on their feet after the flood. We all know that the community response has been inspiring, but for those left picking up the pieces, the feelings of fatigue, financial overwhelm, and simply not knowing where to start are devastating and make it hard to start this process. Today, we're here to launch a package of new flood recovery programs that will invest $36 million in Vermonters and their communities to help them replace heating and hot water equipment and important home and business appliances and equipment. I want to honor the point at which many Vermonters are in this recovery process. Some of you have already made purchases and are back in your homes. Some of you are just beginning this process. These programs are designed to meet you where you are along the way and help you through the process. This work would not have been possible without legislative leadership and the leadership of the Governor who saw fit to reallocate existing funds to support this work. I'm pleased to be joined today by Representative Diane Lanford, a member of the Vermont Emergency Board, who helped make this immediate reallocation of resources possible so that we could get funds on the ground in support of Vermonters and Vermont businesses. I'm grateful to the executive branch partners who made today possible. We've been able to move grant dollars forward in record time. I'm grateful for the partnership with Commissioner June Tierney to make that possible and to expand the reach of that work over time. We've been working on a side agreement with the Agency of Natural Resources. I'm grateful to Deputy Secretary Maggie Gendron for joining us today and we've been deep in partnership with the Agency of Commerce and Community Development on how to mirror and match the BGAP programming that they're running and these funds for businesses so that we can help the most people possible. I'd also like to thank Deputy Secretary of State Lauren Hibbert for being here today. We've been working very closely with the Secretary of State's office to make sure that we can help maximize the available workforce and resources around to be able to help people make the necessary installations and other things within their homes. I also, none of this would be possible today without FEMA and we're grateful for their partnership. I'd like to thank Katie Bracia, FEMA's voluntary voluntary agency liaison deputy group supervisor for coming here to support us today and helping us walk us through this process so that we can understand how these programs can fit within FEMA and make sure that they are additive to the work that is happening and people can get the most resources possible. And finally I'd like to take a moment to thank the Efficiency Vermont team that put this together. Very few of them are here today because they're all at work making sure these programs can be out on the ground today helping those programs as they launch on the on the website today and people begin filing their claims. We want to make sure that we can help as many people as possible and so grateful for that team for dropping everything and getting to work so we could get this money out the door in five weeks. I'm going to dive deeper into the specific programmatic materials in a little bit because there are a lot of details and I won't there'll be a test at the end of this so you better be ready. But I must say FEMA first these programs are designed to be additive. They are designed to add more to the resources going into Vermonters and Vermont Businesses Puckets. The insurance and FEMA processes must be done first so that we can make sure that we are not taking away from resources that you might otherwise be able to get under the FEMA program. We're going to be operating rebates and incentives to eligible customers to replace home heating and cooling systems helping them switch or add a ducted or ductless heat pump system or a high efficiency wood or pellet stove and we'll also be helping them qualify energy star rated boilers and furnaces. We'll also be helping them to replace hot water systems and other key appliances in their homes and as part of these dollars and part of the grant agreement we've swiftly moved forward with the public service department we'll be able to include an additional 25 million dollars that's part of the overall 36 million dollar package in dollars that have been ready to go towards heat pump hot water heaters and electric panel upgrades that Silver Monters can participate in the in the clean energy transition as we move forward and for our and we're all I'm also very excited that we were able to find with again great partnership with the state to find a million dollars to be able to also help impacted businesses we know who are not eligible for FEMA funds to be able to provide support for appliances and other key equipment that they're looking to replace as they get back on their feet and reopen for business we know that the huge cost burden associated with responding recovering from a flood is overwhelming I can't imagine what that has been like the emotional toll that it has taken on people and we're happy to be here to be part of the solution and to be part of the solution with all of you and making this possible we are making wise and practical investments in people's homes to help them heat and provide hot water and to have other basic appliances more efficiently to help them reduce their carbon footprint and as we think about climate justice and the impacts of future floods making sure that we can help people get into systems that will be there through the long haul and help them heat and cool into the future without further ado I would like to invite Jake Hemmerk to come to the table Jake knows that housing is one of various biggest concerns going forward and making sure that we have functional housing moving forward more than 300 structures in the city were damaged by the floods containing more than 500 housing units in the month ahead we know we'll have lots of long-term difficult decisions as communities and really appreciate the fact that Mayor Hemmerk is here today to give us a few words thank you Peter thank you Peter so and thanks to everybody who had a part in making this this program come together and who showed up today the Secretary of State's Office Commissioner Tierney representative Lampier all the way from Addison County so make sure that Secretary Curley Deputy Secretary Gendron I'm joined here with the city manager Nicholas Sterley Castro as well as two of Barry's former mayors Mayor Tom Loson and State Representative Peter Anthony and and we're here in the most impacted community in the state and we had a high energy cost burden before this flood we know that because of the amazing work done by the efficiency Vermont team with the energy cost burden report where where the documents have Vermont or spend about 11 percent of their income on energy costs and that that's on average about seven thousand dollars per year clean energy we know is effective at lowering costs and families on a tight budget especially feel that's those savings add up and replacing appliances getting in those heat pump hot water heaters putting in the heat pumps stacking it up with weatherization that can really make a huge difference in households here in Barry and across the state of Vermont and if you're like me you definitely value savings and saving money and supporting green jobs here in the state of Vermont so I think this is such a critical investment for the people who have lost their homes and are pulling it together trying to find ways to get get their get their units back online get their home livable so we can make it through a winter and have a warm place to sleep at night so thank you so much. Our next speaker is City Manager Nicholas Dorellicastro who has been everywhere throughout this process when we asked him whether or not we could host something here in Barry knowing how impacted the community was to make the difference here he not only said yes but he said thank you he said thank you for remembering the people of Barry we're happy to be here today thank you City Manager Dorellicastro. Good afternoon everyone and thanks to efficiency Vermont and all those present here today for for announcing this program in Barry you know it's a beautiful day here on the heels of a fantastic weekend the best weekend of the summer finally arrived but you know downtown's bustling traffic's moving our stores are open our restaurants are open just a mile down the street though there's a lot of people who are still struggling to recover and that's why I think it's very important that efficiency Vermont is not only announcing this program but announcing it here in the city of Barry as the heating season approaches we know we're racing against the clock to make sure that that those who are still on the front lines of this recovery because there is still a front line in this recovery that they can get back into their homes we had a housing crisis before this happened this flood made it worse and that's why programs like this are just crucial to make sure it's another important part of our recovery I also want to say that listening to Peter talk about all the agencies groups partners that had to come together to do this I think is just an example of government and and cross sector response at it's very best when everybody puts down what they're doing we break down silos which is the hardest thing to do in this kind of work that we're involved in and do it for the people who need it the most so I think I'm very thankful that all those involved made that happen because we know how difficult it is to to work across sectors and to to break down silos so I also I want to finish by urging the Barry residents to apply and as Peter said before you do make sure you go to FEMA I want to thank the Scott administration which worked very hard to extend the application to apply for individual assistance it's now October 12th that's not an invitation to delay do it do it today FEMA is here in Barry as well we fought very hard for them to be here and they have been here and have and will stay here through the end of that next deadline so get to FEMA by October 12th and then come talk to Efficiency Vermont and let's get some of these homes back online thank you thank you for being here I have known our next speaker for a very long time we've had the pleasure of working together and now now she regulates me it's a slightly different relationship I try to be on my best behavior but it's not my best trait but I you know it was heartwarming to see what we could do and what we could turn around quickly in a very short period of time anybody who's been through a government granting process knows that it's not it's not a quick quick endeavor and this was exactly the opposite it was how do we get these things resolved how do we figure these things out in the midst of building a program at the same time it started with how do we get heat and hot water back in people's homes because we know winter is coming and so without further ado I'd like to invite Public Service Department Commissioner June Tierney up to the stage to say a few words good afternoon a piece of personal history June Tierney Commissioner of the Department of Public Service it when Tropical Storm Irene hit over a decade ago it was a very personal experience for me in the end I lost my home to the storm and I remember those weeks and months of grueling uncertainty fear anger frustration and above all solitude and if you had told me at that time that a decade later I would be standing here in the position to help I would have thought you were nuts I couldn't see my future it was a slog day after day to fight to get through what I took away with me from that experience is that FEMA rocks and FEMA's been rocking it again this time and with all the you know frustration and criticism you might feel or might hear from other quarters about how FEMA works I get that I've been there but they rock I'm telling you what we were able to do this time around is learn from Tropical Storm Irene and to recognize that we needed to hit the ground running in getting this recovery going yay we had a little more time this year than we did with Tropical Storm Irene because the storm hit in July not the end of August but as everybody here knows today winter's coming quickly and people are hurting and people are in need and so we had FEMA who's been through this a few times we had me for better or for worse has been through at least once what I didn't know is how many other partners they would be in quick order who would come to the fray and say let's get this done you know without Peter's leadership this doesn't happen without the mayor of Barrie and the mayor of Montpelier and the mayors and town officials of all those other little pockets that aren't here today but that are hurting every bit as badly none of this gets done without the capable town manager who about whom I read all the time it doesn't get help get done in Barrie either but what most of all I think is a moving force and where Vermont is so fortunate is that we have a legislature that also gets it a legislature that is not in session but the nonetheless functions at times as if it still were and so representative Lanfers here today representing the people who helped get this done he has other colleagues and as a executive branch official I am just beyond stunned and grateful for the partnership that we've been able to have with them in figuring out how to take dollars that were already directed toward these ends in furtherance of climate policy and make them count in real time while we have our friends FEMA on the ground working with us there's no doubt in my mind that mistakes will be made but what I've learned over the past seven years of working in the Scott administration is you can't focus on the mistakes you got to focus on the momentum going forward and you have to trust that good things are going to get done this program today is a perfect example of that it's real-time help for people who need to understand that the choices they're making today won't just help them recover from this flood it will also help them their communities and their states deal with climate change which is priority number one from my own part I am more a member of team resiliency than I am team emissions reductions I'm going to tell you that frankly because I think as we work on policy to reduce emissions we've got to be able to deal with what is confronting us here today and having dealt with this a decade ago and seeing it 10 years later and knowing that it's coming in greater frequency I'm beyond grateful that we've been able to direct our state government our town officials our county officials everybody who has the ability to help in one direction with this program what you need to take away from today is this if you are a flood impacted person this program can help you if you know somebody who's flood impacted tell them about this program if you are in a leadership position and you don't quite understand it ask the questions because you need to get out there with your full reach and get a hold of the people who can be helped by this program last but not least in addition to the many things that Peter mentioned that we've been able to do by way of funding whether it's the the 10 million dollars that representative Lanford and her colleagues helped us direct toward this relief program or the 20 million that was already budgeted for it and the other five million that was budgeted not for it but for the ends that this program serves or even the one million dollars that peter was able to find with efficiency for mom we were able to get the pc to direct toward businesses another key player here has been capstone without capstone we don't find the people who need this kind of help and they were so very impressive in coming to me and saying hey among other things can you help us with getting a moratorium on disconnections so that people aren't going to lose their power as they try to come back from the slide capstone has been an amazing partner and an amazing advocate and i'm just deeply grateful to them for their engagement and look forward to working with them on making this program reach as far as it possibly can thank you so much thank you commissioner junie um our next speaker represents a part of the state that has the unique privilege of not being a fema eligible county uh i'm not sure that's a privilege but what i will say is that we as we were going through the process we heard the need loud and clear and understood that it needed to it be for any flood impacted resident or business not simply those who had reached the threshold to become fema eligible so we're very excited that all of these programs will be able to cover anybody impacted by flooding in the state um and so without further ado uh representative diane landford chair of the house appropriations committee thank you for joining good afternoon all right thank you very much for the invitation for for me to participate in this announcement today i'm only one voice of well i guess of the few of us that are on the emergency board or the joint fiscal committee and as chair of the appropriations committee i have the privilege of working with pretty much all of all of state government as as we work uh uh to um bring the needs of vermoners forward within within the budget which is a document or plan that's just for a moment of time and then real life happens and things change and uh i am so grateful for the example of this program that we've been able to put together as an example of where vermoners really work together the administration fema our our uh efficiency vermont partners but i have to say that we matched uh opportunity was with a very good idea and people went to work on that and i can honestly say that the first phone call that i got because we were having an upcoming emergency board meeting that uh we could see that there was an opportunity for if there was other work that needed to get done what would it look like and the first phone call i got or contact was from our secretary of state sarah copeland hanses who said representative landford have you talked to peter walk have you talked to peter there's an idea about there's a foot that that that could help vermoners to transition when they replace equipment to something that is much more efficient and will will will act more efficiently for them and economically for them so this was an example of how that started and i have to thank that the that although they can't be here and i live in addison county but barry is the hometown of my husband and and vermont is small and we all have families somewhere in the state and anything that happens anywhere in the state we know that we feel it deeply no matter where we are so i'm grateful that this particular program is available to anyone beyond those that were designated as uh disaster counties and i also want to make sure that i mentioned the fact of the hard work of representative emily cornhizer and senator jane kitchell on that weekend before putting this together to get the language get the administrations by and getting all of our input and we put it together really really fast which is not typically the way we operate but it is so good and it feels so good when we can so um i just want to stand here with the rest of my colleagues can't be here and the administration to say thank you for the great ideas and the ability to work together an example that i believe is going to help vermonters to get to the next step so i will add my voice to the fact that i think people need to please take advantage of this opportunity uh it's here it's for you and if you have questions as with as the commissioner had said reach out talk to efficiency vermont as as they go forward with um what's possible so i thank you for letting me be here today with this and uh and there'll be more i'm sure thank you give one chance for the dump truck to go by so we all know that vermont faces workforce shortages in key areas some of those key areas are electricians plumbers and h-vac installers weatherization technique technicians the like the exact people we need to do this work we wouldn't be here today we wouldn't be able to launch this program we wouldn't feel comfortable moving forward without the partnership of secretary of state sarah colbin hanses and the entire office i'm grateful to have deputy secretary of state lauren hibbert here today to talk a little bit about the efforts to try to expand the workforce in the short term and in the long term so we can recover as quickly as possible and get people back into warm comfortable homes before winter good afternoon thank you so much for the invitation to be here peter i am here representing secretary of state sarah colbin hanses she's out of the country otherwise she would be here behind this podium because the program that's launching today is something that's so near and dear to her heart she has deep excitement about the energy efficiency and about all of the work that went into creating this program so thank you so much i'm here to really talk about workforce we did pass registration for home contractors in 2022 we are for tuitously have already launched the registration it went live in april um and if you check out our website for the office of professional regulation you can find an inter um am i blanking on the word it it's a map that's interactive that's the word that i was looking for an interactive map of contractors in your area you can also look up contractors um and find information about home contractors we are in the process of creating voluntary certifications for home contractors particularly around energy efficiency and green building um those will become functional um in the next couple of months we did um play a big part in flood response working with the scott administration creating emergency licenses for people who are licensed in other states so that they could come into our state to help with our flood response we have information about that on our website and then just um another um note of thanks to the scott administration and the department of public safety we worked doing outreach to plumbers and electricians people who would be available to do work on people's homes that information is on the office of professional regulations website but also on the department of public safety's website you can search by county for plumbers and electricians who have volunteered to be on the list who are volunteering to do work through contracts through money but they have availability and are open to being contracted to do the work so we are really here doing our best to provide all the tools we have available trying to think outside of the box um and provide new solutions uh the secretary of state's office really wants to extend its support to bury to all Vermonters in rebuilding better and more efficiency with more efficiency and in um keeping our changing climate in mind thank you so much right now we're going to get into some of the details this is where your quiz will come in so be ready for the materials these there's a lot here all right we're going to go back to the theme of first what what that's going to be the actually the only question on the test what do you need to do first FEMA process first because if you apply through efficiency from on for one of these programs before you apply for FEMA you might not be eligible for that FEMA aid as it comes out of bite we want to make sure that everybody can access as many resources as possible because we know no matter how much we do it's not going to be enough uh so as as we launch these programs today I I'm really glad that uh the city manager mentioned that the deadline to apply to FEMA has been extended thank you to the Scott administration for pushing for that great to see the October 12th we have a little bit more time but as you said don't wait get started now make sure you've completed your insurance process and the FEMA process to get that money out that get money rolling as quickly as possible uh I'm going to break down so just quick math uh 36 million dollars 10 million dollars in direct flood uh program uh for low and moderate income residential programs which I'll detail now uh one million dollars in uh business flood impact impact recovery programs 20 million dollars in uh electric panel upgrade money that is available across Vermont to low and moderate income promoters as well as five million dollars for heat pump hot water heater transitions again available to all low and moderate income promoters so we're going to break that down a little bit but I just there's a lot of detail one of the things that I would ask you to is as we've been navigating the FEMA process and understanding how best to support promoters along the way we're considering this a launch and learn opportunity we are getting money out the door we're getting started and we're going to learn and evolve as we go uh so please uh you know give us feedback help us understand where we can improve programs where we can improve the customer experience along the way all right some of the details for the 10 million dollars uh damage to appliances like fridges washers and dryers freezers can get up to a thousand dollars in rebate uh new small appliances for health and safety such as dehumidifiers air purifiers uh window air conditioning units can get up to four hundred dollars per appliance uh limited to appliances per type uh home heating and cooling systems uses a key piece including energy efficient boilers and furnaces are eligible for up to ten thousand dollars uh central pellet boilers or furnaces are also available for up to ten thousand or up to ten thousand dollars wood and pellet stoves uh replacing a broken system or adding a new supplemental heating system to your home eligible for up to ten thousand dollars and uh ductless inducted heat pumps whether uh replacing or adding a supplemental heating source again up to ten thousand dollars uh water heaters including on demand are eligible for up to three thousand dollars uh we will be rolling out within the next week the additional five million dollars for heat pump hot water heaters for eligible uh customers um which can provide another amazing resource um for folks along the way uh these rebates are eligible for items purchased on or after july 10th so if you have already made equipment purchases you will still be eligible for these rebates that is critical people have needed to make decisions quickly we know people are in different stages along the way and so we want to make sure that everybody gets to benefit uh if you buy an eligible appliance uh so these uh these the but working with the administration and the legislature we have these dollars were prioritized to be for low and moderate income Vermonters uh those that eligibility is defined based on where you live in Vermont your income and the size of your household uh we have a very simple table on our website that can help answer that question as well as flyers here today uh for those who would like to check it out um these again these we will work uh we are taking in FEMA data thanks to a sharing agreement with FEMA and the public service department to be able to make sure that we are tailoring the incentive to the need in in people's homes and to make sure that uh you can get as much as as you can along the way um some of these other products are also available for our our existing incentives now um it's a it's a complicated landscape I would suggest uh both going to our website and calling our customer service line uh to help access as much as you can along the way I did want to note that the for those 10 million dollars which is really about the appliance dollars uh there is and not not the heat pump hot water heaters but just the sort of direct appliance incentives uh there is a $10,000 per uh per unit cap on those dollars um so you wouldn't be eligible for $10,000 for each one of those things it would be up to a total combined cap of $10,000 uh we also have programs for renters and rental property owners uh we can work with you and understand who owns which piece of equipment and work through those pieces and we will do it how we do uh uh similar programs based on the rent amount uh to help define those low and moderate income categories uh with up to $10,000 per unit uh for hot water appliances and Douglas heat pumps and then a $10,000 allotment for building central heating systems uh we're also there will be uh rental rate protection requirements as there are in many of these programs to ensure that these units remain affordable over the long run um and we know that as folks are rebuilding you've walked by stores and and houses torn down to the studs all of it starts with good weatherization insulation air sealing um so we are working to make improvements to our existing weatherization incentives to be able to roll those out as well and then working with the community action agencies and other weatherization partners to help folks access as many resources as possible uh to and offering incentives uh in the for the low and moderate income community of up to 75 of the project costs up to $9,500 so really expanding the access to those programs overall and to make sure that they're more accessible uh because it's difficult to do a blower door test in when you don't have a door anymore or it doesn't close because it's swollen from floodwaters so we're working to improve that process to be able to get those dollars out the door as quickly as possible we also know uh that the upfront costs are going to be more than for some folks can bear so we've been working with our financing partners the both the weatherization repayment assistance program that is a partnership uh between vgs and the vermont housing finance agency uh to get those dollars out the door as quickly as possible as well as uh the home energy loan program which we work with local lending institutions to be able to offer low to zero percent uh interest financing on home energy projects to make sure that folks can access these funds now and then uh and then pay them off with the incentives that come later because we understand that some folks may not be able to handle the upfront cost of these appliances um i want to pivot quickly to the uh to the business programs we were able to identify a million dollars in unspent uh energy efficiency charge dollars that uh had the about the fastest puc action i've ever seen taken uh within 18 hours we uh filed the petition the public service department within an hour endorsed that petition and within 18 hours the puc had approved uh repurposing a million dollars towards business incentives we found uh that with the funding that came through the emergency board there were only so many opportunities that could come out and we had to focus those dollars on residential customers as we want to make sure that we helped businesses as well and so businesses will be eligible for up to a thousand dollars uh for new qualified kitchen h-fac and refrigeration and other heating equipment up can be applied to up to four appliances in the in businesses uh so that's an up to a four thousand dollar incentive uh we do ask that you give us a call so that we can work through that process understand what you're doing where you're going so we can have figure out how best to help you uh this also works in conjunction with the agency of community kind of the agency of commerce and community development and their bgap program uh and we're working with the regional development corporation statewide to help get the word out and get people the help that they need so that our our downtowns can be the thriving places we know and love again as you're as you're seeing berry and my hometown of my pillar re-emerge uh from the devastations of the flood uh we're also working uh with the agency of natural resources uh to support contractors who who join on to this work to help support it so that they can make themselves available for these customers we know that uh that these can be complicated uh projects and so we want to make sure that the workforce is there and incentivize to be there to help along the way all right i'm going to pivot quickly now to quickly talk about the the remaining 25 million dollars these were funds that were appropriated last year uh to uh from the american rescue plan act uh money's estate received that the governor and the and the legislature prioritized towards climate work recognizing two key needs first was that if we're going to be able to electrify our heating systems our transportation systems going forward we need to have the electric infrastructure inside people's homes to be able to handle it so there's now going to be 20 million dollars that we will work uh with partners on from the distribution utilities and other folks to get out the door to make sure uh that folks can upgrade their panels and their electric systems to be able to handle the increased load uh from a from a heat pump hot water heater or a heat pump uh heating system or an electric vehicle along the way uh also and that will uh for eligible households that will cover um a up to the full installation cost of that system which is an incredible benefit and really opens up the possibilities for those remanters who have been least able to participate in the transition so far and as i mentioned beginning next week we will begin phase one of the heat pump hot water heater program where again you will be able to access uh up to full installation costs of a new heat pump hot water heater system which are incredibly efficient and can help people save significant dollars over the long term um and well again that's going to be a launch and learn process so we can get the money to folks who need it along the way uh and again these programs are separate from the ten thousand dollar cap so you can in theory get ten thousand dollars to replace key appliances and equipment get another uh get a heat pump hot water heater installed without any upfront costs and also have your panel upgraded all the way and get dollars for weatherization so it can be a pretty significant benefit uh when all stack together all right is everybody ready for your quiz all right what do you have to do first thank you all right uh i'll now open the floor for questions and i'm gonna liberally call upon our invited speakers and others in the room to uh to be able to answer questions that folks may have alone on peoleard blood low others do you have any sense of how many households or how many homes this might be able to to help sure uh i'll use one stat that we've heard several times roughly in the sort of 500 plus range uh of fema claims where there was a repair or replace of a heating system uh is an is a number that we've seen and so that gives you a sort of an order of magnitude of those folks who have that level of equipment need but there's significant other need across the board uh for and there's another 300 i believe katie of folks who had uh had a service call to go out and check on the equipment to find out so that number could be higher and we know that there are other appliances and other needs across the board so uh but that gives us a sense of scale um and we know that you know for many folks they're gonna need all everything so um so yeah yeah you already applied for fema let's say you got your individual assistance you're now turning to this program you apply today when when will the money be able to get out the door sure um so we are gonna work to get the money out the door as quickly as possible one of the things we're working with fema on is to make sure that we understand the allocation that fema has given and whether or not it was a specific allocation for a heating system for instance so that we can make sure the incentive matches uh the need that's out there um so we can be good stewards of the state's dollars um but so we're working to get the going as quickly as possible again building the plane as we fly it uh so we would ask for a little bit of patience for folks but we will work with them and help them understand what those timelines are when they give us a call um could you explain again um the the piece around the doing our best to work through all those details um we have been working with our finance partners to get the the uh the zero percent loan piece increased as quickly as much as we possibly can we know that upfront costs are a problem um and so we're going to do our best to help folks access dollars as quickly as possible uh but it is going to be uh traditionally in the form of a of a rebate any concessions made for people who may not have good credit in order to get approved for the loan uh can you uh Liz uh we asked to have a question folks in the back we're wondering if you could repeat the question uh or i guess i could repeat the question that'd be better since i have the microphone um so forgive me it's hot up here um the the question that Liz asked was whether or not uh folks were going to be required to uh to front the capital in order to be able to make the purchase one of the things that we're discovered along the way with the FEMA process is that you know where we might want to do a voucher program or something similar as we've done in the past it doesn't work we have to do verification on what they've gotten from FEMA and so we can't just issue that on a same way basis so we're trying to figure out how to get either financing or what how whatever you to get in that's again where the weatherization repayment assistance program could also come into play um and other things along the way so there there are lots of tools we're going to need to make things happen or for people to come in potentially from out of state and from oh thank you from out of state and elsewhere do we have any sense of how many people have taken up Vermont on on that offer and where that could go over the next few months sure um so we have a couple months under the um executive order from the scott administration i think that we um don't quote me on the numbers because i didn't check them before i came i should have done that um but i think we're at about um 30 to 40 across our all of the professions that are affected by the executive order um and that does include plumbers electricians home contractors architects engineers land surveyors checking my list pollution abatement waste water property inspectors and security guards pharmacies and well drillers follow up on that and wondering if the list of those contractors is available for folks to review yes they it would be available on our licensee lookup page at the office of professional regulation so i could i could find a link and send it to you if you're interested go ahead cow land for you know we've we've we're about a month and a half maybe coming up on two months since the flooding how have you in your committee how have you wrapped your arms around the totality of the cost of this you know this is 36 million this is the biggest pot of money we've had so far how will you be approaching that conversation come january well thank you for the question i think we start approaching it immediately thinking about not only you know we think immediately what is the relief for vermaners that needs that needs to happen what is the scale of the the situation and um i've had the well i don't know if it's the privilege but the opportunity and the unfortunateness to have been through iran in the past and uh when we switch to covid our our state employees and the administration are familiar and have quickly turned and a lot of a lot of things that they have learned uh uh over dealing with things of this nature in the past so that's number one that i do believe that there is a ability to quicker response thinking about getting the data working with fema but you were right there is an unknown number of what it's going to be as far as the expense goes i hope you can hear me what so we have outstanding a few things as we start to think about getting ready for the next session we have housing housing and housing that that needs addressing across the state there's housing as uh needs as a result of the flooding but we needed a lot more prior to this as well we also have um state buildings that are heavily impacted and the process for gathering what uh what needs to be done how much is that going to cost how long is it going to take to get i think you're very familiar with the fact that the pavilion in in mom piliar is is highly impacted and the elevator system from what i'm told will take five months just to get the parts here let alone fix it and the tax department so we have in the berry area here it was heavily impacted on the housing side of it and in mom piliar heavily impacted on the business side of it but other communities have been hit it hit very hard as well lamoille johnson there's uh across the state so to truly answer your question is we won't know what the exact number is going to be we just know that we're going to be needing to have to respond and um adjusting that budget and the next budget accordingly does that help okay as we wrap this up uh thank you for coming out and uh and and joining us today and what is probably the hottest day at least for a while uh i've definitely lost a couple of pounds up here so thank you for joining us uh this work is incredibly personal to me uh as i mentioned i live in mom piliar as soon as the flood water started to receive uh received many of us figured out tried to figure out the ways in which we could help i spent a week in downtown mom piliar trying to do whatever we could to organize volunteers to help people get into homes and businesses and help people shovel out muck and remove debris i can't i can't tell you that i never knew what the like you know i was in the navy i should probably know this but i've never seen anybody actually shell shocked that's the look was on people's faces as they were trying to figure out how what their lives were going to look like as they moved forward i remember sitting with one uh business owner trying to help them navigate what was going to be the fema process for them they're a small business owner they own a an Indian restaurant in in mom piliar they have a house in berry both their business and their home were flooded they had no idea where to start and they speak incredibly good english and yet a fema form was is daunting for for any somebody who's a native speaker let alone somebody who's learned the language and come to our country um it it was heartbreaking and it was really hard to watch but i saw people rally and i saw leadership emerge in different spaces that what showed us what this state is possible of this action today is the is is another milestone in another example of that leadership folks coming together in ways that other states cannot and said we have a problem people need help how do we do this and how do we do this quickly and we how do we get the money out the door as quickly as possible so thank you for coming today i want to thank you all the partners and guests being here today um i you know we have responded to to commissioner charities called the action folks have been out around the state i want to give a huge shout out to the distribution utilities and the other uh energy efficiency utilities vermont gas is here with us today uh and gmp and the vermont public power supply authority and bc and many others who are out on the ground trying to figure out what people needed in their homes uh it's been an all hands on deck effort to try to help figure this out so thank you all for being here today and joining us on this wonderful lovely day in a in a rejuvenated uh berry uh but don't forget that the front lines are just hundreds of feet away so thank you very much for being here today