[0:03] Okay, we'll call the meeting to order. Someone make a motion that we act on the agenda, as written.

[0:10] I'll make a motion, the act on the agenda.

[0:12] Okay, on favor, aye. And someone make a motion that we act on the minutes of the August 24th meeting.

[0:23] Can we have to be the two of you?

[0:25] Okay. I'm sorry.

[0:27] Oh, well, then we can't do anything.

[0:29] We can't do anything about the minutes and can we do the meeting? I guess we can do it.

[0:33] We do a little more. Okay. All right. I see, you know, public, new business, petition for

[0:45] discontinuence. So you have received a petition from a group of folks up on, mostly on East Hill,

[0:53] who are neighbors of Dexter Brown.

[0:56] He lives off of Lovejoy Brook Road

[0:58] on a class four road called Thompson Road.

[1:02] So if you go out, he's telling,

[1:03] take a right down Lovejoy Brook Road.

[1:06] Headed toward Lebo on the left is a road called Thompson Road.

[1:10] And he and these folks are have signed a petition

[1:15] asking that you consider discontinuing that road.

[1:19] It is four tenths of a mile long.

[1:21] And the only a budding landowners are Dexter himself and the attia family who have a few hundred acres in the end over that they preserve, I guess I would call it, for bear habitat.

[1:38] So, so typically what would happen is if you have questions what you'll do is schedule a site visit like you have with other road reclassifications, schedule a site visit and then a public hearing.

[1:51] that can be held right after the site visit and invite the Ubudding landowners to come

[1:59] and talk to you about it and you can ask questions of them and then make a decision.

[2:05] So I make a motion to schedule a site visit.

[2:09] And I'll second that and before I'll just do that first.

[2:17] on favor. I before we get to the site visit that day if we're going to have to

[2:24] the afternoon afterwards, just because I was on the Zoning Board Administrator

[2:29] for a year and a half or two years. There's a piece of property that

[2:33] Dexter owns that he's some divided off of his property. That that

[2:38] road was the access to. So before we give up the road, I want to make sure

[2:42] that there is a right away instead of creating the landlocked piece of property.

[2:47] Jesse, still in the other piece?

[2:50] First of all, it's not like, I think it's a big deal, but it should be in the deed that it is the right away.

[2:58] Or else he's creating a landlocked piece of land, yeah, which we don't want to do.

[3:03] I don't think his deed says that because it's part of land that he owns, he has a subdivision permit

[3:11] And certainly, we can take a look at the subdivision permanency if that's addressed that.

[3:16] You know, if you do divide, you just have to make sure there's access.

[3:20] If you sell something off, then the attorneys would need to make sure that.

[3:26] And that might also be a good public hearing point to make is that if you sell any of these.

[3:34] They will have to have a data right away because you can't let them lock something.

[3:40] I remember him bringing this up in the reason they didn't approve it back down was because it was a access issue.

[3:49] I think it's best if we bring this up with the next meeting and so everyone can weigh in on a date that we could make it.

[4:02] Other members? That seemed reasonable.

[4:03] Yeah, I'll meet you there. It's about 400 yards from my house.

[4:08] So we'll schedule this, we'll bring it up at the next meeting to schedule a site visit at that point.

[4:14] Yeah, exactly. That's what I'm thinking.

[4:17] All right.

[4:19] Okay.

[4:21] Good. All right, salt quotes.

[4:26] We have.

[4:29] So as you recall, last year, we had a signed contract with Cargale for salt.

[4:34] at $90.98.75 a ton and they subsequently ran out and we ended up paying more than that

[4:47] plus trucking, additional trucking to bring in salt. They are the only firm quilt that

[4:54] we have so far at $109 per ton. Charlie has reached out to Appalachie, whom we have used

[5:02] years past, we used for several years, and in general, the guys were happy with the quality

[5:09] of their salt.

[5:10] It's a different kind of salt that comes from somewhere else, and we never had a supply

[5:17] issue with them.

[5:18] They are giving us a rough quote at this point of $120 a ton, but they aren't sticking to that

[5:27] right this minute.

[5:27] They want to wait another month and see what fuel prices do.

[5:31] So Charlie just wanted me to have floated out there.

[5:34] He's at least until the next meeting before we get something firm from Appalachie.

[5:42] He said he understands the price difference.

[5:45] But again, reminding everybody that when Cargo ran out last year,

[5:49] we paid way more than that because we had to source it from somewhere else.

[5:53] And pay a lot of additional money to get it at the last minute.

[5:57] It was a lot more than 120-ish that Apple actually is quoting us now.

[6:02] But that's not far, I'm sure I think you'll have a lot too.

[6:05] It could.

[6:07] But he just wanted to let you know he's talking to these folks.

[6:12] He was also trying to reach out to Eastern.

[6:17] I think was the name of the company.

[6:19] I don't think American Rocksell doesn't have any for us anymore.

[6:24] doesn't, isn't interested in giving us a quote, but I think he said Eastern, and they were

[6:28] one of the ones, they were about five companies on a spreadsheet we got from the state.

[6:34] Prices that they quoted, but only in certain regions of the state, but it gave us an idea,

[6:39] so I mean the prices ranged anywhere from $98 a ton, upwards of $130 a ton. So I mean these prices

[6:47] are right in that range given what everybody faced last year.

[6:54] There's also some mentioned

[6:55] of a group. Consortium sort of by were different townships would gather together so that the

[7:03] volume would be against high enough interest to other buyers or other sellers. Is that right?

[7:09] Yeah, the regional planning commission was working on that and did not get any traction on

[7:14] other companies would. And if because of where we're located, which is why we can't, why we are

[7:20] getting regional prices from any of these companies.

[7:24] It's really, it's about proximity of where

[7:27] and how far are trucking and all that is.

[7:30] So, it's, you know, there's one big region in the Northeast Kingdom. There's a big region in

[7:35] Addison County. There's a big region in St. Albans, Swanton, Hygate, that area. And then Bennington.

[7:44] Does Charlie ever reach out to, like, West End, or just to see what they're paying and then who they're getting there from?

[7:52] I think he does. I don't know off the top of my head, but certainly we could ask.

[7:57] What they're doing and get some idea for?

[8:07] The agenda item here says discuss and vote is Charlie hoping that we'll make a decision.

[8:16] No, and that's my mistake.

[8:18] I thought he was ready and had firm prices and he corrected my understanding of that today.

[8:24] Okay.

[8:24] And said that no one, he was, he was finally waiting in another month until we get some firm pricing in.

[8:31] We do have quite a bit in the shed right now, so we're starting the season off, not behind.

[8:37] Which is good.

[8:39] Everyone happy we're just discussing it for now.

[8:43] So you know road commissioners report unless Janet has something to convey beyond the salt?

[8:52] Davis Road Colbert is still in that under way.

[8:56] our deadline with Vermont Emergency Management slash FEMA is, again, September 30th, so it's looking like I might be writing a fourth time extension.

[9:09] Palmer has not the company that's making the pieces.

[9:13] I hadn't been able to make it in now, it's a delivery issue.

[9:16] I've got this piece ready, but they can't deliver and Palmer's been stuck because he said he had to, you know, move equipment to other jobs and get other things.

[9:26] done but it's even just getting pieces here right now that's the big hold up right now the

[9:31] best date the guy was giving him was about September 28th and the extension we got was till

[9:37] September 3. I did reach out to Kim Cannery, she and asked her and she said you know let's wait and

[9:43] see if the date gets any better and we can even file an extension on that day which may be by then

[9:52] we might have a better sense of if the project is underway or at least if the pieces are on

[9:56] site because once it's there I think Palmer was pretty confident he could have done a couple

[10:02] of weeks and so fortunate for him that he's gotten held up and had to sort of move his schedule

[10:10] around I think. Is the idea the September 30th is the due date for completion or is okay so

[10:17] Either way, I have to do a extension.

[10:22] Oh, well.

[10:25] Well, however, I mean, I'm not 28.

[10:27] That's what I'm explaining, so.

[10:28] That would be perfect.

[10:30] Yeah, I can just didn't already do the extension until I think probably, until the very last day,

[10:35] so that we could then get a good date on this next extension.

[10:39] Honestly, it has to get done.

[10:43] It's supposed to be done by the end of this calendar year.

[10:45] be no one's going to want to be doing that when it's snowing sideways or falling below freezing

[10:51] that'll compromise everything. So, once the pieces are here, hopefully it'll be a fast thing.

[10:58] And the company's already manufacturing things, so there's already money that's spent really

[11:02] correct. I saw them.

[11:07] Oh Charlie was pricing out, trying to remember where he's pricing out

[11:14] getting some discarded telephone poles to shore up, was it on North Hill, like on North Hill?

[11:26] And so he's been talking to somebody about that, but that gentleman hasn't emailed yet.

[11:31] He's going to be emailing me a price quote to get the poles to the site, and you truck them and get them unloaded,

[11:39] and all of that. So I'll bring that to your attention when I have those.

[11:42] It's sure of what on earth help do something something along a I don't know if it's a bank

[11:50] They're trying to you know do it like a retainer the holes on thing up

[11:56] But you have to ask him specifically

[11:58] I thought maybe I'm attending tonight, so I didn't take notes when he was telling me about it

[12:04] But he also said the guy wouldn't be emailing to the end of next week, so you know talk about it the next meeting

[12:10] But I just wanted you to know it was on the right thing.

[12:16] Okay.

[12:17] So we do have a more rough day for you.

[12:21] And I believe that is your copy.

[12:24] Well, this is my college.

[12:25] This is a copy I can look at.

[12:27] It's a copy.

[12:27] You can look at it as I read.

[12:29] So we had a meeting today with both the architect

[12:35] and contractor.

[12:37] And so that was showy.

[12:39] and Jason McKelty, and so we're up and I work here, and we got a firm, well we got

[12:46] a printed schedule on the town office for each line item, as you can see with actual

[12:55] plant dates for each one. This, the last thing that would happen would be the window

[13:04] install which we ten eight to ten nine and so the soonest and then there we need clean up and

[13:15] so the soonest that we'd be able to transition from town hall to the office would be sort of the

[13:23] the end of the following week so be like 1415 and 16 potentially of October that we'd be able to

[13:31] begin to get the office relocated on this origin. The same thing for the garage. We have a schedule.

[13:41] We have a progress report

[13:44] and we discussed a few things. One was financial and that we are currently

[13:57] over budget, say $5,000, but we do have contingency left that hasn't been spent, which means

[14:06] that we're actually under budget now.

[14:11] There's also sort of a rebate because we're not going

[14:14] to install the dehumidifier in the fall. So that's money that wasn't spent.

[14:19] It's a non-necessary.

[14:22] Yeah.

[14:23] So we got information that most towns are

[14:27] opting against the dehumidifier in the vault

[14:30] when they're undergoing these.

[14:32] Most towns that are done this sort of energy

[14:37] related thing because of the risk that's involved

[14:41] that there could be a spill or something like that.

[14:44] It would be dangerous to the

[14:47] replaceful items there in the vault. And the idea of drilling the hole in a vault that's

[14:53] supposed to be a vault, scares the heck out of me. That's why every single town that it was

[15:00] We'll look outside the same exact thing.

[15:02] The most rain in there, right?

[15:04] Well, they have to put one and they were going to run it down to the basement.

[15:07] All right.

[15:07] But it's going to be fine.

[15:09] Yeah, it's going to be complicated.

[15:11] So that saves us five.

[15:13] And so, we're a good shape.

[15:15] Other things we're having.

[15:16] Well, if the envelope house, I think if the envelope of the building is more secure

[15:20] at the level of the less susceptible to the humidity in the office.

[15:25] Right.

[15:26] You keep that door open while you're there.

[15:28] Right, so I would tell the juices that he meant that would potentially be trapped.

[15:35] He did talk about the town of office and we haven't got any real timeframes on that

[15:41] only because our biggest hearing, yes, the town hall, I'm sorry, because the other two are

[15:50] more important. Although he did say that he may have his guys come in to do the roof

[15:57] It's quite a couple weeks, so I think that's not a can't think of anything.

[16:04] So most successful meeting go for it.

[16:05] It really has been, yeah.

[16:07] Does this seem like more promises or more progress?

[16:11] Well, I think the thing is that it's actually written down and the architect was there.

[16:19] And so I think it's more count, you know, it can be accountable, it's more easy to keep it accountable

[16:25] because it's written down in a way that looks like a promise to me, just schedule it.

[16:32] Yeah, this can't happen before we didn't have it before, right?

[16:35] It was over there.

[16:37] So it's a good, it's a good,

[16:42] an overdue necessary way to go forward.

[16:46] So I'm pleased that we did it well.

[16:53] All right.

[16:54] So financial orders.

[17:10] I'm going to sign up on the bottom.

[17:12] That's true, but you know what I mean?

[17:18] That's a little stamp about.

[17:20] I don't know.

[17:21] That's what I'm explaining.

[17:22] You have to sign just on the bottom.

[17:24] I don't know.

[17:25] It's a stamp.

[17:26] I know.

[17:26] But this is how big it is.

[17:28] I didn't want to waste the whole piece of paper.

[17:30] I know.

[17:31] It's good.

[17:32] I know it's very useful.

[17:50] I think that was because they were doing work and rather than drive it back here, and then drive it up in the morning, they were starting in the same point, so they just kept moving.

[18:01] I've said you're glad, but I don't see it in a move, so.

[18:10] I think it was, I didn't see a trucker, I didn't see a trucker or a bill.

[18:20] Quickly, when do we start our budget for the next year?

[18:24] No, remember.

[18:25] I'm just kidding.

[18:27] I'm usually asked how you can do ask for appropriation with pluses from all those organizations.

[18:34] I don't remember the first that way.

[18:37] They are in hand-prepared meeting, because those are some of the soft budgeting items I call them.

[18:43] that we start with.

[18:52] Not, she's

[18:54] got more vacation.

[18:57] For the first one.

[19:01] Let's be hot in season, right?

[19:04] It's pretty heavy.

[19:07] Do you go there every year?

[19:08] For the last one, there should be what you could even have gone.

[19:12] I don't hop there any better than I hop here.

[19:15] I hop there, I don't want to hear anything here.

[19:17] I don't want to hear anything here.

[19:17] I don't want to hear anything here, I don't want to hear anything here.

[19:19] I guess some big ones up there.

[19:22] It's your own.

[19:24] But I thought you would.

[19:26] I thought you would.

[19:26] But what about you?

[19:30] That.

[19:30] Don't know what that is.

[19:30] That wasn't me.

[19:32] I think I'm not a good guy.

[19:38] Supercourse Finance.

[19:39] We have a level engagement for counter services.

[19:43] That was, certainly.

[19:45] Email to me at least.

[19:47] I hope we all saw it.

[19:49] We didn't see it.

[19:50] Before the end of the day.

[19:52] Which is the same last year, right?

[19:54] It is, so I'm still utilizing Shannon Sterns.

[19:57] And so basically what she's saying is she talks about

[20:02] you all are agreeing to engage her for and it details the work that she does

[20:06] and that she's not the auditor.

[20:10] She is helping me go through and make sure that things are signed, expenses are correct

[20:16] that assets and liabilities, liabilities and bank accounts match

[20:20] so that what that means instead of me just writing a check out of this bank account you can see it

[20:25] come out of the bank account if I don't pick the correct liability those things don't match so we

[20:30] go through and make sure all that matches make sure that everything that's supposed to zero out

[20:36] at the end of the fiscal year does clean up anything like that so the engagement letter explains all

[20:44] that and she just asks, and this is again for our files as well as hers, that you either

[20:51] accept or reject it and if you accept it, that I get signed and sent back down. So she has it.

[20:56] And we work remotely once a week, on Wednesdays usually for three hours, give or take.

[21:05] And that process started, beginning of August. And usually we can be done by mid,

[21:15] October. We've made pretty good progress so far. I like to be done. I'd like to be done as

[21:21] early as possible in October to then get our elected auditors here to start working on their

[21:26] piece of it because when it starts spilling into Christmas and holiday vacations and things,

[21:32] it gets harder and harder to get them here to finish that in time to get down report done.

[21:36] So,

[21:40] what are engagement basically the same as the one that was used last year?

[21:47] Yes.

[21:49] So, nothing's changed.

[21:50] Correct.

[21:52] Her rates have increased slightly, but I don't know that she details those on the first page.

[21:58] Make a motion.

[22:00] We agreed to un-sign the letter.

[22:03] I think engagement for counting services.

[22:05] I'll check in.

[22:06] All favorites?

[22:07] All right.

[22:10] Okay.

[22:11] I think we can enjoy it.

[22:14] You make a motion you turn me in.

[22:17] It's okay.

[22:18] Lou, Melissa not being here.

[22:20] All right.

[22:22] How do we do?

Andover Selectboard 9/14

Transcript