[2:19] Brian, if you want to stick around

[2:20] for the executive session

[2:22] regarding our meeting today, that's okay.

[2:25] That's fine. You don't have to.

[2:26] I was just gonna give the council a recap, let 'em know

[2:28] where we're at and Okay.

[2:32] Look pretty Well up to you.

[2:37] Not a big deal, but yeah.

[2:46] Wow, that's nice. Okay,

[2:51] I believe

[2:56] were anything.

[2:58] We are prompt. Okay, counsel,

[3:02] it is 6:00 PM on Tuesday, August 4th, 2026

[3:06] and I will call this regular meeting

[3:08] of the Berry City Council to order Counsel,

[3:11] is there any adjustments

[3:13] that you would like to see to the agenda?

[3:16] No. Yes sir. Okay. Hearing and seeing done a motion.

[3:19] Oh, we have the removal

[3:20] Memo item on new business item E,

[3:24] the storm, the drain basin.

[3:26] Yeah. And should be deferred. The memo isn't ready number

[3:31] So, okay.

[3:32] So that would be item eight E on the agenda.

[3:38] Okay. We will strike that. The record will reflect that.

[3:42] Councilor Spalding

[3:43] and Council Hil Gartner joined the meeting.

[3:45] So thank you very much. Any other adjustments to the agenda?

[3:49] Okay, hearing is seeing none.

[3:51] A motion to approve the agenda would be in order. So moved.

[3:54] Second. Thank you. It's moved and seconded it.

[3:56] Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor?

[4:00] The motion is presented. Please signify by saying aye. Aye.

[4:03] Aye. Aye. And those opposed? Motion carries.

[4:05] Thank you very much. Under item three, visitors, visitors

[4:09] and communications, anyone wishing to address the council

[4:12] regarding an item that is not in the agenda?

[4:14] Yes ma'am. Come right up.

[4:15] State your name for the record and have at it. How are you?

[4:19] Yes please, if you don't mind.

[4:22] Sit stand. Sit down. Be comfortable please.

[4:26] Yeah, and just state your name for the record

[4:27] so the clerk can record it. Sure. Thank

[4:29] You.

[4:30] My name is Sonia Plum. I'm

[4:31] Sorry, Sonya Plum.

[4:35] How can we Help you? So an ia.

[4:38] Well Sue hig me from Studio Place

[4:40] Arts suggested that I come here.

[4:42] So I wanted to alert you to the fact that

[4:47] I'm working on a new project with the Vermont Granite Museum

[4:51] and Studio Place Arts.

[4:53] I am a local choreographer, president

[4:57] of the Vermont Dance Alliance

[4:59] and a teaching artist with the state of Vermont.

[5:03] The project has to do with the,

[5:08] it's called Romance in the Stones.

[5:09] So it is about the granite industry and the rock artists.

[5:13] It's a community engagement project that is going to include

[5:18] families and students and professional dancers

[5:22] and is very invested in the community.

[5:26] So I wanted to alert you to that fact

[5:29] and I hope to see you there as well.

[5:32] Invite you there. It's launching October four

[5:36] through 10 at the Granite Museum

[5:39] and hoping it will be a year long project

[5:41] and we'll include residencies in the schools as well.

[5:47] And yes, there's, on the website I have this,

[5:51] but I have no idea if that's even allowed here. Oh,

[5:54] With it absolutely is, of course.

[5:56] Cool. So is it a,

[5:58] A musical dance play so to speak?

[6:01] Mm. Or no, not it's, it's a professional

[6:07] dance performance.

[6:08] Okay. Yes.

[6:10] Part of it is going to include engagement

[6:15] with the, like families sculpt the dance day so they can,

[6:21] students can not only just see

[6:26] the granite carvings and learn how that industry works,

[6:29] but how that relates to dance and movement

[6:33] and wellness be interested and the arts.

[6:36] And for the record, I have been riding the bus

[6:41] Berry City as a state mon bus monitor

[6:44] for the past year or so.

[6:45] I've really gotten to know the students. Yeah.

[6:49] Fantastic. Yeah. So where should I,

[6:52] Yeah, if you'd like to, if you could leave those

[6:54] with Council Ruth here and he'll pass 'em around.

[6:56] We'll make sure that everyone gets one.

[6:57] Great, thank you so much. And don't be

[6:59] afraid to come back again.

[7:00] May I call you Sonya? Yes, Sonya.

[7:03] Don't be afraid to come back again

[7:04] and shamelessly promote your event.

[7:07] Okay, thank you very much.

[7:11] Is there anyone else under visitor and communications?

[7:15] Okay, hearing and seeing. No one counsel, Mr. May have one.

[7:18] Oh, Amy Alford. Oh Amy, I'm sorry. Snuck right

[7:20] In there.

[7:21] That's okay. I snuck right in. Yes.

[7:24] I just wanted to mention there's been discussion at a couple

[7:26] of the neighborhood flood meetings most recently.

[7:29] The one in the north end about dealing with sand

[7:33] and gravel coming into the city from outside sources.

[7:37] And I happen to notice there's a state program

[7:41] called the Environmental Notice Bulletin.

[7:43] So when things are, when permits are on public notice,

[7:46] which a lot of 'em have a public notice period,

[7:48] they show up on this list.

[7:49] There's currently one for LePage's gravel.

[7:52] So I don't know a lot about the three acre stormwater

[7:54] permitting process, but it seems like if there's a time

[7:57] where the city would have any feedback about

[8:00] the way they're managing stormwater on that site, it's kind

[8:03] of like now would be the time to, to put in some comments.

[8:06] I don't know how that, I don't know anything about

[8:09] that site, but you know, if it's a matter of it needing

[8:12] places where the sand

[8:13] and gravel can settle out, you know, and let the water pass.

[8:15] 'cause obviously the debris wrecks on Gunner's Brook are

[8:18] not designed for sand and gravel.

[8:19] That's just setting up in our, our storm system.

[8:22] So anyway, just thought I would mention that

[8:24] 'cause that's currently on public notice.

[8:26] Thank you. Councilor Guston. Amy,

[8:28] Amy, could you shoot me an email

[8:29] with that information please?

[8:31] Thank you. Yeah, so,

[8:33] and I'll, if you search

[8:35] for like Vermont Environmental No Notice Bulletin

[8:38] or ENB, you'll find the site

[8:40] and you can actually set it up so you can have an alert.

[8:43] I do it for work that I have certain things

[8:45] sending me an alert.

[8:46] You can also do it on a geographic basis.

[8:48] So I also have added like the stuff for Berry City

[8:50] and Berry Town shows up in my email

[8:52] when there's something new there.

[8:53] And then you can follow, there's a way.

[8:55] So that's the subscribing when there's something new.

[8:58] And then there's also a way on a specific

[8:59] project you can kind of follow it.

[9:01] And so every time something gets updated you get a

[9:03] new date about it. I will send you an email.

[9:06] Thank You. Thank you Amy.

[9:09] Anyone else under visitors and communications?

[9:12] Hearing and seeing No one for real this time we'll move on

[9:16] to item four Counsel, this is the consent agenda.

[9:20] We'll be asking you to approve the minutes

[9:22] of the regular meeting of 7 28 26.

[9:25] Do you have any office license?

[9:26] Clerk has no offices office licenses and permits to offer.

[9:31] We'll be ratifying the 7 28 26 council approval

[9:35] of the minutes of the seven 14 special meeting.

[9:38] We'll be ratifying the 7 28 council approval

[9:40] to mail November Justice of the peace ballots

[9:43] to all active voters.

[9:45] And we will be authorizing the manager to execute contracts.

[9:50] There were three contracts in your packet council.

[9:53] And those are the West Street Fire hydrant contract

[9:56] with Allstate's Construction.

[9:57] The VIS construction Apprentice Blanchard contract.

[10:01] This is the clerk of the works

[10:03] for the auditorium projects approved

[10:04] by the council at our 7 28 26 meeting.

[10:07] And three is the Desar emergency Products contract

[10:11] for the purchase of a firetruck that was approved

[10:13] by the council at our 7 14 26 meeting.

[10:17] So if there is no objection, counsel, a motion

[10:20] to approve would be Thank you.

[10:22] It's moved and seconded.

[10:23] Is there any discussion or questions? Hearing none.

[10:27] All those in favor, the motion is presented.

[10:29] Please signify by saying aye. Aye. And those opposed?

[10:33] Thank you very much. Counsel under four A will be asking you

[10:37] to approve the week of under warrants.

[10:40] We'll be asking you to approve the week of 8 5 26.

[10:43] The motion would be in order. So moved. Second.

[10:46] It's moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none.

[10:50] All those in favor? The motion is presented.

[10:52] Please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye.

[10:55] And those opposed any abstentions? Okay. The ayes have it.

[10:59] Motion carries This city clerk. Okay.

[11:02] Just one brief thing. I want

[11:04] to talk a little bit more about the August primary.

[11:06] It is a week from today.

[11:09] Please, if you have an absentee ballot,

[11:11] get it into the office as soon as possible.

[11:15] My advice to you would be put it in a Dropbox

[11:18] or hand deliver it to our office.

[11:20] We have, since the beginning of the availability

[11:24] of the ballots, we have mailed out 451.

[11:27] We have only received 255 back.

[11:32] And again, I I I want to double down on that,

[11:37] that just please hand deliver 'em

[11:38] or put 'em in a Dropbox just to ensure you get them

[11:42] to the office prior to the closing of the ballot

[11:45] or the election. That

[11:49] Is it.

[11:50] That's it. And I know you're very diligent about checking

[11:54] the both the ballot box out back as well

[11:57] as the panel right up until the last second.

[12:00] Yes. But if it's past the last second, folks,

[12:04] we're not gonna cast your ballot.

[12:05] So Well we actually closed the ballot box on Monday Yep.

[12:08] At four 30. So nobody can put them in after that time.

[12:12] Correct. So,

[12:14] So you've got your dates.

[12:15] So they would have to be, you're sticking with 'em. Yep.

[12:16] People have been forewarned

[12:18] and you're gonna do a great job. So thank

[12:20] You.

[12:21] Just as a side note. Yes.

[12:21] And if I've said this before, I apologize.

[12:23] I usually bring them up to the polls and drop them off.

[12:25] But I just want people to know that they don't,

[12:27] they can still do that as well.

[12:28] They, yes, they can still definitely come

[12:30] to the polls and just drop 'em.

[12:32] We have a special little box for absentee ballots.

[12:34] You can just drop 'em in there.

[12:36] Yeah. And what if I don't trust you

[12:37] and I wanna run it through myself.

[12:39] And you can do that as well. See

[12:41] You can those billions of options,

[12:44] however, if you being late is not one of them.

[12:46] It will be considered voting at the,

[12:49] at the polls if you do walk through the room.

[12:52] Yep. Just New Jersey. It's all good. Okay. Any other? Yes.

[12:57] Are you in need of anyone else to work through polls?

[12:59] Yes. Okay. What can I sign up for after three o'clock?

[13:04] You can sign up for a hand. The, the write-ins doing that.

[13:09] Okay. After closing. Got it. Yep.

[13:12] I'm gonna make note of that. I'm gonna hold you to that.

[13:14] Cool. Cool. Any other questions?

[13:16] The city clerk, thank you very much.

[13:19] I don't believe we have anything under liquor

[13:21] and Cannabis Control Board Council Under Acting City

[13:25] Manager's report, we are cooking tonight under active.

[13:29] It's really nice. Out under Active acting

[13:33] City Manager's report.

[13:34] Counsel, you did receive acting manager veil's report

[13:39] via email today, so you should all have

[13:41] that in your email box.

[13:44] Okay. If there's nothing further under eight a,

[13:47] this is the presentation of the tax year.

[13:50] 2026 grand list. Mr. Martin, how are you sir?

[13:55] Good, how are you? Doing well.

[13:57] It's good. So how'd it go?

[14:00] Went well, I think.

[14:02] Or, so Carly presented,

[14:06] Kick anybody out?

[14:08] Everyone. I, I would say that everyone was cordial.

[14:12] It was that the grievance process went really well.

[14:15] Very few people were angry.

[14:18] Most people came in and we're gorg

[14:23] and we went through the process and went through it.

[14:25] Yeah. Awesome. Whether they're happy with the results

[14:27] of the grievance, I don't know

[14:28] a little bit about that. Well

[14:29] That's different.

[14:30] But I, I kind of expected that.

[14:33] But there were some folks who were a little animated,

[14:37] like on social media and stuff

[14:39] and so I was kind of hoping that, that, that

[14:41] that animation wouldn't translate into their meeting

[14:45] with either you or, or Carly or any of the representatives.

[14:49] So, I'm glad to hear it didn't. Yeah, it didn't.

[14:51] And thank you for your patience. 'cause it's a, at times

[14:54] It's a tough job.

[14:55] Yeah. Carly presented a little slide.

[15:00] You should have the PowerPoint.

[15:02] PowerPoint. Thank you.

[15:04] If I don't run through it, she'll be mad at me.

[15:06] Christopher Thumb Drive. Somebody at least warn you

[15:09] The thumb drive.

[15:12] Thank you counselor. I apologize.

[15:14] I apologize for surprising you.

[15:17] I was in fact eating a hamburger

[15:18] as it turns out when this came through my email.

[15:21] So it is opening right now.

[15:24] And give just a moment to what kind of hamburger cheese.

[15:28] A little bit of ketchup. Oh, nice.

[15:32] So can you buy a, a nice member, traditional nice member

[15:34] of the fire department?

[15:36] Not too crazy. No.

[15:38] I mean, they didn't have too much out there.

[15:41] Alright, give it just one second to, to share it

[15:46] and we will be good to go.

[15:52] That's just the cover page.

[15:53] You could go on to the first slide if you wouldn't mind.

[15:56] Yeah. So I thought I'd give you just a quick timeline.

[15:59] In April of 2022,

[16:01] Berry City contract in New England municipal consultants

[16:04] to do the reappraisal in December of 23,

[16:08] they extended that contract,

[16:10] I think primarily because of the flooding.

[16:12] They wanted more time to, to evaluate that situation.

[16:17] And also in December of 23, 20 23,

[16:21] Martin Appraisal Services was contracted as consultants

[16:25] to do the assessor assessment work.

[16:28] And myself and Carly have been working on it.

[16:31] Carly's been doing the majority of the work.

[16:35] And then I just, when we jumped into this in the spring

[16:38] of 2004, new England municipal consultants really wanted us

[16:43] to get all the permitting checks up to balance.

[16:46] So all the old permits that people pulled for work

[16:50] we're supposed to go out and look at any their clothes

[16:53] or adjust the property accordingly.

[16:55] So that was a lot of work that we did and they helped, Carly

[16:59] and I get started on that.

[17:00] And then we pushed forward to, to get that done

[17:03] for the summer of 2004, they started going around

[17:07] and doing the property inspections around the city.

[17:11] And they had a inspector here for well over a year,

[17:14] pretty much full time just going out, looking at properties,

[17:17] measuring 'em, and trying to gather all the information.

[17:23] That process. In November, 2025,

[17:26] they sent out the information asking for commercial income

[17:30] and expense information.

[17:32] And then in December they fi they fin they wrapped up all

[17:35] the residential properties

[17:37] and then pretty much all spring they've been working on

[17:39] analyzing the information.

[17:41] Going back around April 20th, they got most

[17:45] of the info together and they conducted their final field

[17:48] reviews, you know, trying

[17:50] to make sure everything was accurate.

[17:52] And then on May 22nd, they sent out their informal notices.

[17:58] And New England municipal consultants then held from

[18:01] June 9th to June 30 what they, we,

[18:03] they considered informal meetings where people could come in

[18:07] and meet with them and discuss their

[18:09] assessments and so forth.

[18:11] And they had 380 properties that people came in

[18:14] and asked about then in, on June 24th.

[18:19] So then they finalized the grand le they

[18:21] finalized the abstract.

[18:22] And on June 24th we issued the abstract

[18:28] and sent out notices of their current assessments

[18:32] and the option to grieve.

[18:35] And then they had, these dates are set kind of by the state,

[18:38] so we had to have the abstract signed by June 24th.

[18:42] Well, they then had two weeks to appeal.

[18:47] And then, so on July 9th we started the grievance hearings.

[18:52] We had pretty much nine full days of hearings.

[18:54] We gave 15 minutes per property.

[18:58] And I did most of them meetings while Carly did a lot of,

[19:02] she ran around and looked at properties.

[19:03] A lot of people were complaining about

[19:05] the condition of their property.

[19:07] And so we'd, I'd send Carly out to go look at it

[19:10] and get an update, get the right information.

[19:14] And then on July 29th, we sent out the

[19:19] grievance notices, the results of those grievances.

[19:23] We had 308 grievance notices go out.

[19:26] So 308 people filed for grievances

[19:31] Next.

[19:32] Excellent. Yeah. A free follow up question on that.

[19:33] In your experience, is that a, a high grievance level

[19:38] in terms of the resolution?

[19:39] Where are we on par with other municipalities?

[19:43] I don't know. This is my first

[19:45] time, time I've went through

[19:46] The process.

[19:47] Carol, you wanna take a, wanna take a stab at it?

[19:48] I mean, anecdotally, keep in mind folks, it's been,

[19:51] yeah, it's been quite a while.

[19:52] 20 years since we conducted, I wasn't,

[19:56] I wasn't here for the last time from listening

[19:58] to other communities

[20:00] and who have gone through the process fairly recently,

[20:04] it's pretty much in the ballpark.

[20:05] Yeah. So what Carol was saying

[20:07] for those few listening in is that in her opinion

[20:11] and having spoken with other city clerks

[20:14] and treasurers, it's, it's pretty average.

[20:18] It, it's kind of right

[20:19] to use your words right in the ballpark. Thank you. And

[20:23] I, I did wanna say in meeting with the people,

[20:25] as we mentioned, I mentioned earlier, most

[20:27] of them were very cordial.

[20:29] They had, were well informed too.

[20:32] There wasn't people coming in just screaming about

[20:34] how much their taxes were gonna go up.

[20:36] They, they came in prepared with information

[20:39] that they felt we should look at.

[20:41] And basically I just, with, we only had, we had,

[20:46] we had from July 9th, by July 29th, we had

[20:49] to finish the grievances and have conclusions.

[20:52] So we didn't have a lot of time to look at it.

[20:54] I just basically collected the information, made some notes,

[20:57] and then we went back to the computers.

[21:00] Can I Ask you a question? Do, do you know the mix

[21:02] of residential versus commercial grievances?

[21:06] It's coming. Well

[21:09] Actually I know the mix of, of the properties.

[21:12] I don't know the grievance numbers

[21:13] to tell you the truth. How many grieve

[21:15] Anyone think they were undertaxed?

[21:17] Huh? Did anyone think they were under

[21:19] That?

[21:20] No. No. I don't think anyone complain under,

[21:23] some people came in and when they talked to

[21:25] and were like, oh yeah, I'm fine.

[21:27] Yeah. Which was interesting, but, Hmm.

[21:31] Interesting question. Does anyone ever tell a police

[21:32] officer when they're pulled over?

[21:34] Yeah, I was going 84.

[21:37] I did actually have like, I think it was a year

[21:39] or two ago, someone came in and felt they were under taxed.

[21:42] Under. Really? Yeah.

[21:43] And I had to explain the whole common level of appraisal

[21:46] and all to them and yeah. Anyway.

[21:50] Okay. Can we go to the next slide?

[21:55] Yeah. And just the next step.

[21:56] So the, on August 4th, which is today,

[22:00] we find we signed the grand list.

[22:01] We did have a kind of an issue with the exempt properties.

[22:05] There was a computer glitch that

[22:08] New England appraisal had to work out.

[22:10] And they did that. So we,

[22:11] we now have the grand list lodged in the city clerk office.

[22:16] And the owners who have grieved now have,

[22:19] I think it's two weeks to appeal

[22:22] to the BCA if they're not happy with the changes.

[22:24] And that is the, and the date on that, the drop dead date

[22:27] Madam Clerk is, that would be August 12th.

[22:30] Okay. So it's aug no, August 12th, not

[22:33] two weeks from August 4th.

[22:35] Correct. It's when they were sent the letters,

[22:38] When the letters went out. Right. Yeah.

[22:39] June. So even though we lodge June,

[22:41] if you're reading this, even though we lodged it on

[22:43] August 4th, we go by the date on the letters.

[22:46] So you actually only have until close

[22:49] of business on the 12th to get your appeal in. Yes.

[22:53] I make the correction that I know Carol is making in her

[22:55] head, which is not the BCA, it's the board of assessment.

[22:58] No, it's not. It's the B, c, A.

[23:00] It is civil. Alright then

[23:02] Nevermind.

[23:03] It's, it is the board of Civil, civil Authority. Great.

[23:07] Okay. Ready? All right.

[23:09] And then I think the have

[23:11] to hold a organizational meeting first

[23:13] and then we'll sit down. That

[23:15] Will be the 18th.

[23:17] Okay.

[23:19] All right. Next slide please. And Carly put this up.

[23:23] There's one issue that we have,

[23:25] the state sets all the utility assessments

[23:29] for all the utilities and they have not set spectrum yet.

[23:36] And so we have no idea where that's gonna fall.

[23:40] So Spectrum is currently on the GR list at $1.

[23:44] We had to hold the place for them

[23:46] and we didn't want to put in a number

[23:48] that was gonna be more than what the state was gonna give us

[23:51] and, and have a, an issue.

[23:54] And so our advisor suggested that

[23:57] and Carol worked with Carly on trying to come up with

[24:00] a reasonable plan for that.

[24:02] But there will be an errors

[24:04] and emissions at some point when the state gives

[24:06] us what that number is.

[24:08] Do you know what, Carol, do you know what that number,

[24:10] so currently the placeholders, so

[24:12] to speak on the grand list is $1.

[24:14] Correct. And what was the value? Do you know?

[24:18] It was like 2 million, well

[24:20] Over 2 million.

[24:21] Okay. Last year. But we found, thank you.

[24:26] I don't want people to be able to hear me.

[24:30] The reason that we didn't want

[24:31] to guesstimate based on last year's number is that the,

[24:36] the, the value for the Green Mountain power

[24:41] went down considerably based on the,

[24:44] the state setting things.

[24:47] So because of that, we were afraid to put a number in

[24:50] and then find ourselves in trouble.

[24:53] Yeah. When it came to actually raising the amount of money

[24:57] that we need to, to cover

[24:59] what the voters approved. So. Right.

[25:02] And, and listen, that makes perfect sense

[25:04] because while $2 million sounds like a big number

[25:08] in the scope of our grand list, it,

[25:11] it really doesn't move the needle.

[25:13] No. So, but we don't want be making up 2 million

[25:16] would translate into

[25:18] 25,020.

[25:20] Yeah. So we don't want to be stuck in a position

[25:23] where we're either raising 25,000 less than we needed.

[25:28] So, Nope. Makes perfect sense what you did.

[25:31] This is a, a brand new thing with legislative changes

[25:35] that just went into effect with regards to the state

[25:40] setting the values of communications and, and telecom.

[25:45] And that's where we find ourselves

[25:47] and the state is trying to figure it out at the same time.

[25:50] We all are so great. What's the reasoning behind that?

[25:54] I'm curious. I'm sorry. What's the reasoning behind that?

[25:56] Why, why was that changed? I don't know. I don't know.

[26:01] And it's based on self-reporting from

[26:04] the entities themselves.

[26:06] They self-report the value of their,

[26:08] and then there's some kind of formula used on the, we tried

[26:12] to get, we've tried

[26:13] to get a little more detailed information out

[26:16] of the Department of Taxes, property valuation and review.

[26:19] And it hasn't, they're they're, they're really trying

[26:23] to figure it out themselves too.

[26:25] So, and we're not the only wish we had a better

[26:29] Answer, Curious only community.

[26:32] There had to have been a reason. But we're not the only

[26:34] community going through this nom Sure.

[26:35] Not every community in the state is Yeah,

[26:38] because it's every power line.

[26:40] It's every fiber. It is, it is everything.

[26:44] And they, so, and like Carol said, they self-report.

[26:48] Right. So it's based on my, it's a, it's a combination

[26:52] of customers fiber, like mile of line.

[26:57] It's not an uncomplicated formula.

[27:01] Which makes me wonder how they were able to set the rate

[27:05] for fum, but apparently consolidated.

[27:07] But apparently they were able to, somebody's lying.

[27:11] Did I say that? No.

[27:14] That's why my internet is currently

[27:15] Done.

[27:16] I think Spectrum did not submit their information on time.

[27:20] That's, that's part of the problem is

[27:22] that Spectrum didn't get all their data into

[27:25] Oh, so they to start With.

[27:27] So they're, yeah. So,

[27:29] Okay.

[27:30] Awesome. Thank you.

[27:32] We can go on. This is just like a highlight of the,

[27:39] the di the new assessments versus the old.

[27:43] And this one does not include the utilities

[27:45] because I'll show you the next one does include the

[27:47] utilities, but it gets a little confusing.

[27:49] But it shows the percentage increase after the grievances

[27:54] and the informal grievances.

[27:58] The ratio of increase is 1.674.

[28:04] The residential went up 1.8

[28:07] and some of the other categories,

[28:10] the commercial went up quite a bit less.

[28:14] I know this is based on market is difficult for people

[28:16] to see both in this room and, and even online.

[28:20] We'll, we'll get it posted on the city website. Thank you.

[28:24] I'll get it added to the packet

[28:25] for tonight's meeting. Fantastic.

[28:27] I'm gonna try something that might make it a little bit

[28:28] bigger with and still.

[28:29] Okay. Let me have, let's zoom controls.

[28:33] Oh, now if you have, if you have close

[28:36] to 2020 vision, you can't see it.

[28:38] So

[28:40] I do have a couple of copies.

[28:41] 2015 this if someone wants a hard copy

[28:46] Yeah.

[28:47] Like Carol said. But if we can, Carol,

[28:49] if you could get this, because you know a lot of people,

[28:51] it's important that they understand especially this slide

[28:56] and so that they understand that roughly speaking,

[28:59] what does 1.67 translate to percentage wise?

[29:04] Just a tick under 70%. Correct. Correct. Yeah. Yeah.

[29:07] 'cause you can't, you gotta work the reciprocal.

[29:09] So tick under 70%. I'm going to round up.

[29:13] So if you're assess, essentially what you're saying Larry,

[29:16] is that if your assessment went up 70%,

[29:19] if you were at a hundred thousand

[29:21] and then you went to 170, you are going

[29:24] to see virtually no increase in your taxes other than

[29:28] the inflationary the inflationary increase.

[29:31] Right? Right. Because you know, that's

[29:32] what we heard from folks all the time

[29:34] when people were saying, look, my assessment went up 50%,

[29:37] my taxes are going up 50%.

[29:39] No, your taxes are actually going down. If you only went

[29:42] Up 50%, you went up less

[29:43] Because everyone up on average, everyone else went up 70.

[29:47] So if we could get this kind of front

[29:49] and center, I think that would be important.

[29:53] I I feel like a lot of people who came in

[29:55] for the grievances had this kind of knowledge already.

[30:00] You know, they kind of understood that, you know, they,

[30:02] there weren't many people who came in and thought

[30:05] because their assessment doubled, they were gonna double.

[30:08] So I felt like we did a good job of getting

[30:10] that message out there.

[30:14] Any questions? We can go on to the next slide.

[30:16] This, the next slide just is very similar,

[30:21] but it includes the

[30:23] Utilities and this is where it gets really,

[30:25] the utilities either doesn't include spectrum.

[30:29] So it shows a large decrease, which

[30:33] Hopefully will, will change.

[30:36] So that's why I didn't rely on that slide.

[30:39] Gotcha. And

[30:42] that also shows last year Spectrum was in a

[30:45] $2,149,142 just

[30:49] to give you that place.

[30:52] And then we had just had one more slide, which is the,

[31:00] And you all Larry Whatcha doing to me?

[31:03] Everyone read that

[31:05] You have in front of you,

[31:06] this is the first page of the four 11.

[31:10] You have this in front of you and it is in the packet.

[31:12] If anybody's at home watching the, the packet,

[31:16] there is a slight, there's an $8 difference

[31:19] and we'll go over that when we're

[31:22] talking about setting the rate.

[31:24] So, but

[31:26] Okay.

[31:27] We ever, so Carol

[31:29] and I nerd out on occasion, especially when it's time

[31:31] to set the tax rate, do we ever hand

[31:36] check the calculation in Limerick?

[31:40] You mentioned that to me a week or so ago. Yeah.

[31:42] And then Carly and I did all the, I literally pulled

[31:46] the spreadsheet of all 3000 plus parcels

[31:51] and ran the math to make sure that the totals

[31:56] that show up on the four 11 agree

[31:59] with the raw data. So yeah,

[32:02] So we, so we took the Excel, which is just as good.

[32:04] You take an Excel spreadsheet and total it

[32:07] and then we made sure that there were no transposing

[32:12] of numbers as it got put into

[32:13] Network.

[32:14] Yeah. And that it was, you know, when it was pulling these

[32:17] reports, it was pulling all the data, so, right.

[32:20] Yeah. Yes.

[32:22] So when I was reviewing this in the packet,

[32:24] I had a question about,

[32:27] there's other listed here in miscellaneous.

[32:30] Can you tell me what those are? Yes.

[32:32] Other, there's 77 parcels.

[32:35] They're condos. Condos. And then what's miscellaneous?

[32:39] Oh, I'm sorry. The miscellaneous 77 is condo?

[32:42] No, no, there's an other 77 in miscellaneous

[32:45] 2 27. I was just curious what those

[32:49] Were.

[32:50] Oh, vacant land What? Vacant land parcels. Oh,

[32:52] Okay.

[32:53] Thank you.

[32:54] Is this irrelevant or is v play a part in any

[32:57] of this with spectrum or No

[33:00] Video's already in here.

[33:02] I think they're under the telecom portion. Okay.

[33:04] Yeah. You're, you're, I didn't know that.

[33:07] Yeah. Video was column, it's gone out.

[33:09] Yeah. Awesome.

[33:13] Yeah, right there. Thank you.

[33:14] Well, Larry, that's Anything else?

[33:17] Quite a job. I mean, four years worth. Yep. So thank you.

[33:21] And you came on board as the city assessor. Just in time.

[33:26] Just in time. So, so no, well thank you for that as well

[33:30] because I mean, you

[33:33] and I had a few conversations prior to you coming to work

[33:36] for the city, but we were, we were lucky to snag you and,

[33:40] and equally lucky to discover.

[33:43] Yeah, you should be big, very,

[33:45] very proud of her as a daughter.

[33:47] She's, she works very hard

[33:49] and she knows about math much better than her dad ever.

[33:54] She knows the computer much better. I'll

[33:56] Give her that.

[33:57] But thank you. You, you, it, it wasn't an easy job for,

[34:02] for anyone, so thank you for doing it. Yep.

[34:05] Well, and you'll be probably seeing us at the

[34:09] We Awesome authority.

[34:10] Okay, so counsel, this does not

[34:13] require approval on your part.

[34:15] However, we'll move to item eight B on the agenda.

[34:19] And this is where it all comes together

[34:20] and gets calculated into our municipal

[34:23] and local agreement tax rate. Madam Treasurer,

[34:26] Howdy.

[34:27] I put at your places a calculation sheet

[34:31] that says revised in the upper right

[34:33] hand corner as of today.

[34:35] I mentioned before that there's an $8 difference between

[34:39] the grand list number that was in the packet that got sent

[34:43] to you over the weekend,

[34:45] which was

[34:47] $8,517,446

[34:51] and 11 cents.

[34:52] And it went down by $8

[34:55] to 8 5 1 7 4 3 8 0.11.

[35:00] The reason is that there was a

[35:02] final grievance hearing held this morning

[35:06] and they, it resulted in an $800

[35:11] reduction in the value of that particular property.

[35:14] The way the grand list works with regards

[35:17] to calculating taxes is that it's divided by a hundred.

[35:21] So that $800 difference turned into an $8 difference

[35:25] in the grand list.

[35:27] I was very happy when I plugged it into my calculations

[35:30] that it didn't change the bottom line at all.

[35:32] It didn't change the, the proposed tax rates,

[35:37] either the grand list, the municipal tax rate

[35:40] or the, the local agreement rate.

[35:44] The local agreement rate.

[35:46] The, the municipal rate, as I put in my memo is

[35:51] it is property taxes is a math equation.

[35:54] It's really hot and dried. It is.

[35:58] You take the amount of money that the voters have approved

[36:01] to be raised by taxes for the municipal budget

[36:05] for any additional capital items or whatever.

[36:08] We had the additional 800,000 approved for streets

[36:11] and paving and capital.

[36:13] And then it's also the social services, those agencies,

[36:18] 131,200.

[36:20] You add all those things together, you divide it

[36:22] by the grand list value

[36:24] that gives you your municipal tax rate.

[36:27] It is simple math.

[36:29] So, and that's, it literally isn't under the control

[36:34] of this body at all.

[36:35] It's under the control of the voters.

[36:37] So, so the, the

[36:40] calculated municipal rate is 1.4361.

[36:45] It's virtually impossible to compare that to previous years

[36:50] because of the adjustment association associated

[36:55] with the, the reappraisal.

[36:57] So you have on your sheet down at the bottom,

[37:01] the last four years worth of tax rates.

[37:04] But again, it's, it's very difficult to, to compare.

[37:10] I think what will be important

[37:11] to people is think about the fact that the budget

[37:15] that was approved by the voters represented a 5% increase.

[37:20] So think about

[37:21] that when you are calculating your municipal taxes that,

[37:25] you know, we're, we're looking at a 5% increase in the

[37:29] dollar amount and then

[37:32] whatever adjustments you are associated with that 70% number

[37:36] that the, the mayor was talking about as far as the average

[37:40] increase across the city.

[37:42] So as far as the local agreement tax rate is concerned,

[37:47] that has to do with education taxes.

[37:51] When the city has granted

[37:55] exemptions for various things, we have

[37:59] to make the education fund whole,

[38:01] the state education fund whole.

[38:03] And the three things that the city has

[38:08] that are affecting that are tax stabilization agreements.

[38:13] And we have two of those at the moment.

[38:15] One for 1 0 2 South Main Street, Reynolds House, one

[38:18] for 51 Church Street, which is

[38:20] where people's health and wellness is.

[38:23] And so they have a,

[38:26] a reduction over a sun setting period of time.

[38:29] And that reduction is calculated.

[38:32] They pay reduced municipal taxes,

[38:34] they pay reduced education taxes,

[38:36] but all of the residents

[38:39] of the city make up those education taxes to the state.

[38:44] Another one would be,

[38:45] if we had any voter approved exemptions.

[38:48] We used to have a voter approved exemption for

[38:52] the Good Samaritan Haven, but we don't anymore.

[38:54] They're now exempt by statute.

[38:56] So we don't have to worry about that.

[38:58] The, the other one that we do is veterans exemptions.

[39:01] The state has a $10,000 exemption for veterans

[39:06] and then the voters of the city of Barry

[39:10] 15 years ago granted an additional

[39:13] $30,000 on top of that.

[39:15] So for a total of $40,000 exemption off the value

[39:20] of a property for veterans, that additional 30,000,

[39:24] the city has to make up the difference

[39:26] with regards to education.

[39:28] So that's what's reflected on here in the blue box,

[39:32] in the middle of the page on the tax rate calculation.

[39:36] And if you look at the, the second page of the four 11

[39:40] that I gave you, you'll see I highlighted where the,

[39:44] the number for the tax stabilization agreements

[39:46] and then the numbers for the veterans exemptions.

[39:49] You can just, I wanna just show you

[39:51] where these numbers all pulled from.

[39:55] So the only other numbers that that

[40:00] reference what you have for data.

[40:02] Well, first of all there's the results from the election.

[40:04] So you can see where the amount to be raised by taxes,

[40:08] the 800,000, the 1 31, 200, where they come from.

[40:12] And then the two numbers on the top of the,

[40:16] of the calculation spreadsheet that are education, one

[40:21] of them is an interim number.

[40:24] The homestead number is an interim number

[40:27] until we have a school budget

[40:30] for the Berry Unified Union School District.

[40:32] So we're working with that interim number

[40:35] of 0.7033.

[40:38] And then the other one, the non homestead number,

[40:42] the 1.1555 is a final

[40:46] and firm number from the state.

[40:48] And I showed you the where that information comes from.

[40:52] So, so these will be interim tax bills.

[40:56] The municipal numbers are locked based on

[41:00] what the council approves tonight.

[41:02] But once we have a a school budget,

[41:06] we will get a final homestead tax rate from the state.

[41:10] And final revised

[41:14] tax bills will go out likely the end

[41:16] of November, beginning of December.

[41:21] Thank you. Questions, Smoke and mirrors?

[41:25] No, it's all hard based calculations.

[41:28] We just use a lot of big words sometimes.

[41:32] But if you're interested, this is actually posted in the

[41:37] city council packet as well if you're interested to see how

[41:40] that calculation is made.

[41:41] So council, the,

[41:44] the appropriate motion would be to fix the

[41:50] municipal tax rate

[41:52] for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2027

[41:57] at in re, along with Carol at 1.4361.

[42:02] And the local agreement tax rate

[42:05] for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2027 at

[42:09] 0.0017.

[42:13] Motion be an order. Thank you.

[42:14] Second, it's moved and seconded. Any discussion?

[42:17] We got it right 'cause Carol isn't fainting.

[42:21] Just to give people a a what's happening timeline.

[42:26] Thursday morning we are creating the tax bill file

[42:29] and sending it to the printers.

[42:31] The tax bills will be in the mail by the end of next week.

[42:35] And what we're going to do next is we're going to set the

[42:39] tax due dates for the year. So

[42:42] Thank you.

[42:44] Any other questions or comments? Hearing none.

[42:47] All those in favor? The motion is presented.

[42:49] Please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

[42:52] And those opposed. Next counsel will be asking you

[42:55] to approve the property tax due dates

[42:58] for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2027.

[43:01] The recommended adjusted due dates are

[43:05] September 15th, 2026 for the first quarter.

[43:09] November 16th, 2026.

[43:12] November 15th is a Sunday for the second quarter.

[43:15] February 16th. February, 2027.

[43:19] February 15th is precedent stay for the third quarter

[43:23] and for the final quarter.

[43:24] May 17th, 2027 as May 15th is a Saturday.

[43:28] A motion would be in order. So moved,

[43:30] Second, Moved and seconded.

[43:32] Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor?

[43:35] The motion is presented. Please signify by saying aye. Aye.

[43:38] Aye. And those opposed? Thank you very much

[43:41] and thank you Carol.

[43:42] Sure. And thank you for

[43:45] checking the map. Always

[43:48] Makes me, I don't know that anyone was here the

[43:49] year that was horrifying.

[43:51] We came, you were off.

[43:53] We had a motion made

[43:55] and we were, we had pooched it in a big way

[43:59] and we actually had a motion on the floor and Carol

[44:03] and I kept looking at each other

[44:04] saying, something doesn't seem right.

[44:06] Something doesn't seem right. And I'm time out.

[44:09] Carol checked the math and she checked the math.

[44:11] It would've been horrendous.

[44:12] It, it would've been a like half a million dollar error in

[44:16] terms of raising taxes.

[44:17] It was awful. So I still have nightmares about that.

[44:22] So it's, so that's the inside joke that Carol sends it

[44:26] to me the weekend before and I literally hand check

[44:28] everything and she hand checks everything

[44:30] and we get it right.

[44:32] So thank you very much. Thank you all. Thank you counsel.

[44:34] We'll move on to item eight D on the agenda.

[44:38] Music to my ears will be approving some additional paving.

[44:42] Mr. Baker, how are you? Good. Have at it.

[44:47] We, I think it's all including your packet. Yep.

[44:50] We are proposing

[44:51] to do a shim coat on South Main Street from

[44:57] prospect to city line

[45:00] and without doing that section by Cumberland Farms

[45:03] that we did three years ago and then doing a shim coat on

[45:06] Washington Street from Elm Street to Hill Street.

[45:10] Yeah. And the, so when we say the section

[45:13] by Cumberland Farms,

[45:14] let's be a little bit more specific. We

[45:16] Started at the bridge just after Air Street

[45:19] and we went up around the corner to Circle Street.

[45:22] Right. So that's still in, if you drive that way,

[45:25] that is still in pretty good shape.

[45:27] There's one weird

[45:29] Yeah, there's one hole

[45:30] Weird pothole that we'll we will pick up

[45:33] as we go by. Yes.

[45:34] One the question is that now technically that's state

[45:39] Yes.

[45:40] So we're shimming it out of our good nature

[45:43] or what's, what are we getting back for this?

[45:45] This is a bandaid to put on it so

[45:49] that we don't have the nightmare of potholes this winter

[45:53] that we did last winter.

[45:55] So when you ask what are we getting out of it?

[45:56] Nothing. We're,

[45:58] But we're getting it, we're With

[46:00] It.

[46:01] I mean, everyone knows how bad South Main

[46:03] Street was last year.

[46:05] I predict that Washington Street will be that bad this year.

[46:08] I just wish we could inform people

[46:10] because I hear it all the time.

[46:11] And, and and they don't realize that 14 and 3 0 2 are state

[46:15] Not local.

[46:16] Right. The state is, we are starting the process

[46:18] of getting those paid planned for 2028.

[46:23] So that's what this, this is that band to get us to

[46:27] that project and they will come in and mill everything

[46:30] and repave it in 28.

[46:33] And what we did get access

[46:34] to council was their pricing structure

[46:37] because ours would've been more Oh,

[46:39] Correct.

[46:40] This is actually with our

[46:42] Contract.

[46:43] This is our, this is our pricing structure, not

[46:44] Theirs.

[46:45] The, the pricing structure that was given originally

[46:47] through Joe Flynn was for them to do a,

[46:53] what they call a skid box.

[46:55] That's basically what we did out here on South Main. Right.

[46:58] And everyone knows that's

[47:00] it was better than the potholes, but not, yeah,

[47:03] That's the little, that's a little bandaid.

[47:05] You know the little one that comes in

[47:06] the package, not the size. That's,

[47:08] And it's done with a, like a box blade on a machine.

[47:11] It's not done with a paver printer.

[47:14] This is with a paving machine.

[47:18] We're estimating an inch and a half shim.

[47:21] It could be more, it could be less depending on the exact

[47:24] wheel ruts that are there.

[47:25] But this will be put down with a paving machine.

[47:28] So it should be at least a smooth surface to start. Did you

[47:32] Have a question, counselor Sping?

[47:33] I do. I got an email from a neighbor today about

[47:38] Woodland Drive in Clifton.

[47:40] And I remember Woodland was originally on a schedule maybe

[47:45] last year, sort of like which

[47:48] Street?

[47:49] Woodland Drive. Woodland. Yeah.

[47:50] But I don't, I think it's been pulled off. It

[47:53] Has been pulled off and that one has been pulled off

[47:55] because of the utility upgrades that have

[47:58] to be done to Woodland.

[48:00] That I think Woodland alone is probably more than a

[48:03] project for us to do.

[48:04] Okay. We looked at the hydrants alone, I think

[48:07] to get it up to code.

[48:09] They would be like, I think eight additional hydrants

[48:12] had to put on woodland.

[48:13] Okay. And the sewer manholes and the drainage

[48:17] and street, it all needs to be repaid.

[48:20] So that's, it's, it's on the,

[48:22] we really would like to get it done.

[48:24] Yeah. But it was just,

[48:26] It's too big. Too

[48:28] Big.

[48:29] So it'll end up having to be probably a year's project for

[48:31] Us.

[48:32] Yeah. My other question is Clifton,

[48:37] it's the cross street between Woodland

[48:39] and we did camp part of that.

[48:41] You did part of it, the water,

[48:42] the part you didn't do is Yes.

[48:44] Deteriorating very rapidly. Yep.

[48:47] People are driving on the wrong side of the road.

[48:49] Yes. Again, that's kind of our, our next phase

[48:53] that we want to get into is doing those

[48:55] neighborhood type streets.

[48:56] Okay. Where we would go into the neighborhood

[48:58] and do every street around the neighborhood.

[49:01] Okay. And then the next year

[49:03] we'll move to another neighborhood.

[49:04] Okay. But right now we're concentrating on trying those big

[49:07] to get those, those bigger streets

[49:08] and get the most bang for our buck. Right. Okay.

[49:11] Thank So back to, Thank you. Back

[49:12] To 14 to 3 0 2 are, is that in-house we're doing it or

[49:16] Is it This is, this is hired

[49:18] through our paving contractor this year's SD

[49:21] Ireland got our paving bid.

[49:23] Okay. So in your package for them to do it. Okay.

[49:29] Yes. One last question.

[49:31] The, I call it the roller coaster at the light by Mr.

[49:37] Z's and Dante Park.

[49:39] Have you ever sat at that light

[49:41] and watch people going, don't?

[49:42] Oh yeah. Have you ever watched people go through there?

[49:44] Quite

[49:47] My car, because that'll have to be fixed with

[49:49] The, when the state comes through because

[49:51] They'll mill that whole road in.

[49:53] Okay. Just, okay. Thank you.

[49:57] This is paid paving adjacent,

[49:59] but I had email from a constituent today

[50:02] who asked whether you could please put the

[50:06] stop sign back at the corner of Hill and camp

[50:09] because there've been several close calls there

[50:13] among the people who don't normally go that way,

[50:16] who don't recognize that they have to stop

[50:18] There.

[50:19] Yeah. We, we can, I talked to the guys about it

[50:22] and they were, I think TJ had a, a,

[50:27] a excuse or a reason why it wasn't installed yet.

[50:30] I think they were waiting to get complete

[50:31] there. But I'll, I'll,

[50:33] I mean, even if, even if you put it in a, a bucket

[50:36] of cement or something, you know, put the thing in a bucket

[50:39] of sand or something and stood it up,

[50:41] that would be a huge help

[50:42] because it's not, you know, there are a lot

[50:47] of people, I mean, I've been spending a lot of time out in

[50:49] that corner too, and whoa, you know,

[50:53] I don't wanna get killed and no one else

[50:54] wants to get killed either.

[50:56] Council deer. And they did say that.

[50:59] The sidewalk looks beautiful. Thank you. So

[51:01] I've heard a lot about, as well,

[51:03] paving from our residence is all we all have.

[51:06] And I'm curious what the ramifications would be

[51:10] to restore the reduction of the 76,000

[51:13] for the Washington Street area.

[51:17] Well, We'll pick that up during the shim, correct.

[51:20] I mean, so we're, we're,

[51:21] we're proposing a reduction on the Washington Street area,

[51:26] but I'm wondering

[51:27] What Right.

[51:28] Because if you look at, look at back at the, the,

[51:31] the quote we originally got from Ireland was 400

[51:34] and something thousand four three.

[51:36] And that was to do the full shim on both streets from Elm

[51:40] to the city line in order just to, to, to reduce it.

[51:45] Which if you want to approve we can, we can go that high,

[51:48] but so basically cut it in half with the right, yeah, we,

[51:51] we pulled out the section that we've already done on

[51:54] Main Street and then we decided we, we could live

[51:58] with it just up to, to

[52:01] do the worst section on, on Washington.

[52:04] So it's, it's really what you want to approve.

[52:06] We can, we can pave as much as you want. When

[52:10] Are they coming in?

[52:12] They will, I think they're starting week after next. Okay.

[52:16] So we can, you know, we can, I'm sorry,

[52:19] Judy comping, do you have a question?

[52:21] Yeah, I just wondered, when you fix South Main Street,

[52:25] are you gonna put the crosswalk sign back up?

[52:29] The One that's

[52:30] Wrapped around the tree? The pole?

[52:31] Yeah. Yes. Yes.

[52:33] We'll paint the crosswalks and and fix the signs.

[52:37] And what about the signs that have been taken out down

[52:40] by RK miles in Berlin Street

[52:45] Signs that on The median,

[52:46] The there's a Median.

[52:47] All all the ones. Yeah, that's,

[52:48] they were working on it this week.

[52:50] Yeah, it's, it's on the list.

[52:52] Okay. Thank you. Yes,

[52:54] Thank you Judy.

[52:56] So, so just to be clear, counsel, I mean we're, yes,

[52:59] this is technically, you know, it's a partnership

[53:02] and we have a good working relationship

[53:04] with Brans and with Joe Flynn.

[53:07] If you want to feel really good about where we're at

[53:09] with potholes and paving, go talk to Joe Flynn

[53:13] because his problem is 60 times the size that ours is.

[53:18] So, you know, absolutely. We try to listen to constituents.

[53:21] We all see it on social media,

[53:24] we all hear it in the grocery stores.

[53:27] So, you know, we're spending this money,

[53:29] we are specifically spending this money

[53:31] and keep in mind that today we,

[53:35] we approved in the last round budget round $800,000

[53:40] in paving.

[53:41] That is double where we were just two years ago.

[53:45] And I said to the council, next year we need

[53:48] to be at a million, eventually we need to be at 1.6.

[53:51] That's where we need to be.

[53:52] So folks, we are still playing catch up.

[53:55] We, we are absolutely doing the best we can with

[53:58] what we have and with this paving, we're trying

[54:01] to concentrate on, you know, pretty much South Main

[54:04] and 3 0 2 touch everybody Right.

[54:06] You know, route 14 or coming

[54:08] A tourist Season.

[54:09] So let's, and and I get it that, you know, some folks

[54:11] who live on Woodland Drive say this road stinks.

[54:15] I don't drive woodland that often,

[54:17] but when I do, I think to myself, this road sinks.

[54:20] Yeah, I, you know, I agree with them,

[54:22] but we're trying to, we're trying

[54:24] to touch the most constituents that we can.

[54:26] And so that's why we're taking this approach.

[54:29] And I saw the thank you note from a constituent, speaking

[54:31] of which for going up in fixing Bassett Street.

[54:35] So, you know, as we see areas that are really bad

[54:39] and downright dangerous, you know, we do try to hit 'em,

[54:41] but we are still down how many?

[54:43] 3, 6, 6 in public works.

[54:47] So if you know anyone who needs a job,

[54:50] we're budgeted for it.

[54:52] So if you know anyone you know

[54:53] who would like a job in public works,

[54:56] that would be music two errors as well.

[54:59] So any, yes,

[55:00] One more thing.

[55:01] And I'm sorry it's not, it's just sort of a,

[55:03] I wanna make sure we're clear about something.

[55:05] I keep hearing, I, last year you did a lot

[55:07] of work on Prospect Street and

[55:10] Berlin and Allen

[55:13] And so I think all of it was like sort

[55:14] of focused over there and then neighborhoods over

[55:16] there were probably screaming.

[55:17] And this time it's on the other side of the hill

[55:20] and the other thing is the railroad crossing

[55:24] and that work on Hill Street,

[55:26] which is completely out of our control.

[55:28] Yeah. Right. So I think it's, what happens is you're sort

[55:31] of like, you're concentrating it

[55:32] and people are feeling like, I don't have any way to get

[55:35] to work or any way to get to

[55:36] where the grocery store or wherever they're going.

[55:38] But part of that is

[55:39] because it's all concentrated in one area

[55:42] to make it easier and more efficient. Yeah.

[55:44] More efficient for the contractor.

[55:45] They'll, you know, every time he moves the,

[55:47] they're gonna charge us, you know, mobilization fees.

[55:50] So if we can concentrate the, the

[55:54] into an area they have less mobilization Yeah.

[55:57] We can get more, more paving out of our budget.

[55:59] Right. So I just wanna make sure that

[56:01] everybody understands that we're not trying

[56:03] to just make everybody go crazy in one area.

[56:07] One more thing. So this is gonna be a

[56:09] nighttime project, correct?

[56:11] Yes. And when does it start?

[56:14] I'm not sure the dates on that,

[56:17] but it'll be, you know, probably in the next two months

[56:23] because they'll, they'll come in

[56:25] and I'm not sure how they will schedule their work,

[56:27] but we, I think our guys will be done. So during

[56:29] Tourist season it's gonna be done.

[56:32] How long is the project last?

[56:33] They, they think they've got it,

[56:34] they do it in four days. Oh my

[56:36] God.

[56:37] Okay. That's, they'll okay.

[56:38] It just matters their exact schedule.

[56:42] We have to pay kind of a premium

[56:43] because doing it at night, they're hauling out

[56:46] of their plant in Burlington.

[56:48] So they're, they're haul doing that.

[56:49] We are going to, to do the traffic control ourselves,

[56:54] which will probably end up just, you know,

[56:56] setting up detours and with light trees

[56:58] and all that to get people around.

[57:00] But they, they think that they can, you know, they have

[57:04] to pay overtime at night,

[57:05] but they're thinking it's probably saving them half the

[57:09] time Exactly.

[57:10] To do it at night versus doing it in a day

[57:13] Just looks so good.

[57:14] People come in town and like that's done.

[57:16] Yep. So they're predicting to, they can do it in four days

[57:19] or four nights, but

[57:22] whenever that is, I'm not sure on their exact schedule,

[57:25] but thank you.

[57:28] So counsel, I would entertain a motion

[57:30] to approve the additional paving as presented.

[57:34] So moved. Second. Second. It's moved in. Seconded.

[57:37] Is there any discussion hearing none? All those in favor?

[57:40] The motion is presented. Please signify by saying aye. Aye.

[57:44] And those opposed? Thank you very much counsel.

[57:47] We'll move to eight E on the agenda. Thank you. Thank you.

[57:49] This is to, oh, I'm sorry.

[57:51] We scratched eight E on the agenda, so we'll be moving on

[57:53] to eight F on the agenda,

[57:55] which is the Flood Resiliency update.

[57:57] Council Augustine, thank

[57:58] You.

[57:59] Yes, I do not have a PowerPoint for this.

[58:01] This is just a, in the nature of a quick verbal update,

[58:06] One of, one of our, the pieces of our plan was

[58:10] to create a north end master plan about a month ago.

[58:14] We were all at the mutual in the north end to talk about,

[58:19] about that work and to, to hear more from folks

[58:22] or to continue to hear affirmed from

[58:25] folks what they were looking for.

[58:27] And at that meeting we announced the creation

[58:30] of a North end steering committee.

[58:33] I have not, we do not have many updates on that yet.

[58:35] So I would encourage folks to consider applying,

[58:40] think of people that you know, who would be good,

[58:45] who care deeply about the future of the north end

[58:47] who are interested in having these good,

[58:49] thoughtful conversations

[58:51] and to please apply through the regular

[58:55] committee member application process on the city website.

[58:59] And that is if you hover over counseling committees right up

[59:01] the top of that, of that list

[59:04] is the way you can get to that application.

[59:07] I'm looking at at least two names in the Zoom right now

[59:09] who would be phenomenal on that committee.

[59:14] But I would encourage anyone else who is listening

[59:16] or thinking of someone they know, you don't necessarily have

[59:19] to live in the north end,

[59:20] but you should sort of care about the north end

[59:24] and care about planning a future for it.

[59:27] I dunno if anyone else wants to jump in or add to that.

[59:31] No, just really a, a kind of reason for the delay

[59:34] because we talked about, I talked about this number

[59:38] of weeks ago and what occurred to me is that

[59:42] we had a looming deadline,

[59:44] which is the C-D-B-G-D-R applications.

[59:48] And as I thought about the DR applications

[59:50] and standing up a committee, I thought to myself,

[59:52] they won't really have any place to start.

[59:55] The, the, the simple truth is that

[59:58] once this third round is done, I'm not aware of any,

[1:00:02] there's brick, there's brick funding,

[1:00:05] but I'm not aware of any significant state

[1:00:07] or federal funds that are going to be available for,

[1:00:10] you know, flood mitigation or, or flood resiliency.

[1:00:15] So I thought to myself, you know,

[1:00:17] it would probably be better to give,

[1:00:19] to wait on standing up a committee

[1:00:21] until we have something with them.

[1:00:24] We're submitting a pretty exciting, it combines both housing

[1:00:28] and flood mitigation.

[1:00:30] So I, I like got together with the team this week.

[1:00:32] I like the application that we're submitting, thankfully,

[1:00:35] and Carol, you can speak to this, the

[1:00:38] A CCD seems to like it too.

[1:00:41] So they think it is a very competitive application.

[1:00:43] So for that reason, I sort of walked it back

[1:00:46] and said, I wanna wait

[1:00:47] until we get this application submitted

[1:00:49] and then stand up a committee so

[1:00:52] hopefully they'll have something to work with.

[1:00:55] So that was the reason.

[1:00:57] But I hope people remain excited

[1:00:59] because, you know, I was over at the park this evening

[1:01:03] and speaking to someone

[1:01:04] and they talked about, you know, what is the timeframe

[1:01:07] for re for for real recovery,

[1:01:09] meaningful recovery in the north end decades.

[1:01:12] That's the honest answer.

[1:01:14] But you know, folks, how do you eat an elephant?

[1:01:17] One bite at a time. Right.

[1:01:18] And what I won't accept,

[1:01:20] and I don't think anyone sitting at this table will,

[1:01:24] is letting a year go by and doing nothing.

[1:01:26] Right. Even if it's a simple $50,000 park.

[1:01:30] You know, something to, to make sure that, that like we do

[1:01:35] with the flood, with our flood mitigation plans,

[1:01:40] that we're always thinking about it.

[1:01:41] That we're always reminding ourselves that we,

[1:01:44] we have this obligation

[1:01:45] to keep moving forward even though we may not have the

[1:01:48] resources that we like.

[1:01:50] So questions? Yes.

[1:01:52] Is there a deadline for applying

[1:01:55] For the, the dr.

[1:01:56] The steering committee? For the steering committee?

[1:01:58] Oh no, I mean if, I mean, I, I really,

[1:02:02] we will get our DR applications in at the end of August, so

[1:02:07] probably, I mean I'm thinking I'd like

[1:02:09] to have a committee stood up by the end of August.

[1:02:12] So they have, will they come to be approved

[1:02:15] by council? Okay. Yeah.

[1:02:17] They'll go through their regular

[1:02:18] committee approval process.

[1:02:19] So I would recommend folks fill out

[1:02:21] that application on the website.

[1:02:22] Yeah. In the next couple weeks.

[1:02:24] Yeah, in the next couple of weeks.

[1:02:25] Carol and I have talked about a process for making sure

[1:02:28] that committee members who apply come before council

[1:02:30] and are contacted and, and that sort of thing.

[1:02:32] So we are keeping an eye on that. Yeah.

[1:02:35] And I owe Stanek an email.

[1:02:36] I've been shamefully seriously shamefully,

[1:02:39] I think I'm two weeks late on it.

[1:02:40] That's awful. I normally don't do that

[1:02:42] and suspend a tough two weeks.

[1:02:44] So, so we'll do that and move on.

[1:02:46] Counsel for a manager search committee

[1:02:49] update Councillor Guston.

[1:02:50] Absolutely. I'm gonna share one quick slide

[1:02:53] and you have all seen this before,

[1:02:54] but I'm gonna share it again because it still applies.

[1:02:58] And that is just to let folks know

[1:03:00] that we have opportunities for feedback

[1:03:06] relative to the phase two of public outreach this week.

[1:03:11] In particular, we are hosting a forum,

[1:03:13] a public forum at the Aldridge Library on Thursday from six

[1:03:16] 30 to seven 30 to seek feedback.

[1:03:19] Phase one, as I've said

[1:03:20] before, phase one was where you see the city going

[1:03:23] and what the city needs.

[1:03:25] Phase two is about leadership qualities, excuse me,

[1:03:28] and first year priorities for the work of the candidate

[1:03:31] and we'll help the committee as we review applications.

[1:03:37] We are still on target for the schedule that I shared

[1:03:42] previously, which means that we expect slash plan

[1:03:46] to bring finalists

[1:03:47] to city council in the first week of September.

[1:03:50] Targeting that September one council date.

[1:03:54] I had a, a conversation, we,

[1:03:55] we've had conversations about this in committee

[1:03:57] and I've had conversations with Dominic Cloud

[1:04:00] and we are all in line for that.

[1:04:04] I will, I'll not disclose the number

[1:04:05] because my last update is now five days out of date,

[1:04:07] but we are getting solid numbers of applications

[1:04:11] and Dom is feeling good about the response rate.

[1:04:14] So we are on track.

[1:04:17] How many responses to date? I'm sorry.

[1:04:20] I don't know. I don't know to date.

[1:04:22] When I spoke to Dom a week ago, it was 14. Okay.

[1:04:25] So I think we are while past 14 now

[1:04:30] and we continue, we've got, it's, we,

[1:04:33] our closing date is August 14th,

[1:04:35] so we've got another two weeks

[1:04:37] or so, 10 days to continue to get the applications.

[1:04:39] He thought that the rate at which he was seeing them come

[1:04:42] in was something he was happy with.

[1:04:44] Good. I will add,

[1:04:45] 'cause I'm on that committee, is that

[1:04:47] we really have some pretty good discussions

[1:04:51] 'cause there's so many, the people on the committee,

[1:04:53] there's a lot of comparisons but a lot of differences.

[1:04:57] So I think it's worked well man.

[1:05:00] They've done well. Thank you.

[1:05:02] It's been, it's good. It's a good committee.

[1:05:04] It's built to, to do good work

[1:05:06] and we're gonna start to end

[1:05:08] through the intensive period starting next week.

[1:05:11] Fantastic. Any other questions for Council? Guston

[1:05:16] Said please scan that survey.

[1:05:18] Please come to the forum. Same topic at both.

[1:05:21] I don't feel like you need to do both,

[1:05:22] but we are seeking as much feedback as folks can give us. I

[1:05:26] I do have a question.

[1:05:27] Is this QR code available on the website? Is it on the city?

[1:05:31] The survey is linked. On the city matters. Okay, perfect.

[1:05:33] Great. Yep. So that's there. People can Great.

[1:05:36] Go to the city webpage.

[1:05:37] There is just a incredible amount of information there.

[1:05:42] There is, there is.

[1:05:44] So council under item nine, under upcoming businesses

[1:05:48] or anything that the council, well,

[1:05:50] or you can email me if there's anything you would like

[1:05:52] to see on a future agenda.

[1:05:55] I mean, honestly for the last, I, I was working very closely

[1:06:01] with, with Janet and, and Josh

[1:06:05] and Jim on the DR applications and,

[1:06:09] and making sure that we got those right.

[1:06:12] Did have a, a great meeting with Secretary of Designee

[1:06:17] Brooks that is Secretary Curley's replacement.

[1:06:21] And so we've gotten a lot of good feedback from a CCD,

[1:06:25] but that's pretty much honestly

[1:06:26] where my time has really been spent

[1:06:28] for the last two weeks is making sure

[1:06:30] that we get these right

[1:06:31] and we've, we've done a bit of an about face

[1:06:34] on those applications.

[1:06:36] One thing that I did want to share with you is that

[1:06:41] contrary to what the manager had told you, we are,

[1:06:44] we will not be submitting the epi the elevation application.

[1:06:48] And the reason being is that we were, we,

[1:06:52] we have tweaked the other applications pretty seriously.

[1:06:56] But the reason for that is

[1:06:58] that we were told in no uncertain terms that

[1:07:01] that was not a competitive application.

[1:07:03] That they were looking for net new units in housing.

[1:07:07] Not Now, I may not agree with that.

[1:07:09] I may think to myself,

[1:07:10] well why don't you help the people who got hurt?

[1:07:13] But that's not my call.

[1:07:15] I I'm not the secretary of A CCD yet.

[1:07:18] So, so, so,

[1:07:24] so you know, in hearing that,

[1:07:26] what we thought when we, when Janet and Josh and Jim

[1:07:31] and Pat Molt and I discussed it,

[1:07:34] is we thought if we submitted

[1:07:35] that application when we were outright told

[1:07:38] that it would not be competitive

[1:07:39] and it would not be approved, we thought

[1:07:42] that it would seem a bit arrogant and,

[1:07:44] and perhaps look the, you know, the folks

[1:07:47] who score these applications are tainted.

[1:07:49] And we thought to ourselves, geez,

[1:07:52] if we not only submitted an application

[1:07:54] that has been turned down twice,

[1:07:57] but also submit an application,

[1:07:59] when we were told in the pre-ground

[1:08:01] that this would not be funded, would that be viewed

[1:08:04] as arrogant and would that somehow taint the scoring

[1:08:08] on our other applications?

[1:08:10] Like, you know, holy cow we try to help these folks and

[1:08:13] and they don't take our good advice.

[1:08:14] So for that reason, my thought initially,

[1:08:17] after we really talked it over, I said, no, we're not gonna,

[1:08:21] we're not gonna submit this.

[1:08:22] My initial thought was we're not quitters.

[1:08:24] I'm, I'm not gonna quit on these folks. They need help.

[1:08:27] But for the reasons I just described, we really thought it,

[1:08:30] it literally had no chance at approval.

[1:08:33] We, we were flat out, I mean I was told

[1:08:35] that at the highest level, it, it, we are not going

[1:08:38] to approve this application.

[1:08:39] So that's what we did.

[1:08:43] But we submitted some very good

[1:08:45] and competitive, we're working on the

[1:08:46] final applications now.

[1:08:47] Those will be submitted by the end of August

[1:08:50] and those are, those are pretty, pretty exciting.

[1:08:54] So with that council councilor Ruthie

[1:08:57] or anything under Round table

[1:09:00] Pass?

[1:09:01] I, I mean I keep saying I keep complimenting you.

[1:09:04] I love all the construction.

[1:09:05] I know it's a pain, but the infrastructure, it's well needed

[1:09:09] and it's, we're doing stuff that's great.

[1:09:11] It's nice to see except Hill Street.

[1:09:13] I gotta tell you, hill Street's getting old.

[1:09:18] I did hear that they might forego their

[1:09:20] last weekend closure.

[1:09:22] Really? I'm not, we haven't got confirmation.

[1:09:25] But they, they said they might not need that.

[1:09:28] Last week they were scheduled for three on the planning

[1:09:33] and they said they might not need that last weekend closure.

[1:09:37] Yeah, the weekend closure is pretty good.

[1:09:42] What? And you know what, folks do the best they can,

[1:09:45] you know, I mean I make plenty of mistakes on a daily basis,

[1:09:49] but when they don't put the road close sign,

[1:09:52] you know it's closed, you forget it's the weekend

[1:09:55] and they don't put it out by Washington

[1:09:57] and then you, you get going down there

[1:10:00] and especially if it's closed to two way traffic

[1:10:04] during the week and they don't put the sign out there,

[1:10:06] you get all the way to like French Street or further down

[1:10:09] and then getting onto 3 0 2 is a kiss to death

[1:10:13] and everybody's in a bad mood at that point.

[1:10:15] 'cause Hill Street is closing, they're not letting you in.

[1:10:18] So Camp Street's done.

[1:10:19] That's gonna be unreal for people

[1:10:21] because that's such a corridor

[1:10:24] and all the work's being done.

[1:10:26] All that's gonna be nice. Yeah, we're

[1:10:28] We're getting it done. Council Boron.

[1:10:29] Well and along those lines, camp Street,

[1:10:32] I read somewhere somebody posted on online about

[1:10:35] how stupid it was to put sidewalk on Camp

[1:10:38] Street, blah, blah blah.

[1:10:39] Oh my. But I think, and I've, I've said this for years,

[1:10:43] our our street department guys are the best sidewalk

[1:10:46] builders in the state of Vermont.

[1:10:49] And you've doubled

[1:10:50] or tripled the amount of area

[1:10:52] that those residents at Lincoln House can now get around by.

[1:10:55] So, good job there. Yeah. And

[1:10:57] And we've done the, the calculations and

[1:11:00] because we do our own sidewalks, we can do three times the,

[1:11:04] the length of sidewalks that we do to to contract them out.

[1:11:07] Yeah, yeah. So, you

[1:11:09] Know, we're trying to stretch the budgets that we

[1:11:10] Have.

[1:11:11] Well, thank the guys Brian. Yeah.

[1:11:15] Yes. I went to the VLCT meetup for select board

[1:11:20] and City Councils last week.

[1:11:23] And it was very interesting because a lot of the other towns

[1:11:27] and communities are very small

[1:11:28] and some of them don't even have city managers.

[1:11:30] But the most interesting thing that I wanted to share

[1:11:32] with the council was towards the end

[1:11:35] of the conversation we were talking about

[1:11:37] how we could maybe work more together regionally

[1:11:40] and sort of countywide.

[1:11:42] And so how the Regional Planning

[1:11:44] commission could maybe help with that.

[1:11:45] So I just share it with you all so

[1:11:47] that maybe we could start moving towards that

[1:11:50] and thinking about things, sharing resources, sharing,

[1:11:53] especially for these smaller communities.

[1:11:54] Like they don't have, they need a, a part-time treasurer

[1:11:58] or part-time finance director or part-time this or that.

[1:12:01] And so even sharing equipment,

[1:12:03] thinking, thinking about things like that.

[1:12:05] So I just bring that up

[1:12:06] because it was neat to meet other people

[1:12:09] who are doing the same thing we're doing,

[1:12:10] but in different places. So

[1:12:12] Thank you.

[1:12:14] I was fully expecting Cons Councilor Spalding

[1:12:16] to talk about the Vermont Green Oh yeah.

[1:12:19] And our back to back National Undefeated Champions. Yes.

[1:12:23] About really enjoyed watching the game at the social club.

[1:12:28] It was my, it was my weekend activity

[1:12:30] and it was just a stunningly beautiful day

[1:12:32] for the National Night Out barbecue over at Coer Park.

[1:12:35] So it was really nice to see people enjoying the,

[1:12:38] the brief bout of beautiful weather that we got today.

[1:12:41] Awesome counselor.

[1:12:44] I attended the open house that upend this had

[1:12:48] and looked at their, their unit that was finished.

[1:12:54] And I just have to say I was tremendously impressed.

[1:12:57] And if they do another event like that

[1:12:59] and you haven't been to, to look at what they're doing,

[1:13:02] it's really cool.

[1:13:05] It's more Legos than, you know, stick build

[1:13:07] and it's, it, it, it's just really a neat idea

[1:13:11] and very attractive space that they come up

[1:13:16] with and very energy efficient.

[1:13:19] So I was impressed and I was grateful

[1:13:20] that they had made the effort to have a, an event

[1:13:24] where they invited the public to come.

[1:13:29] Just kind of want to echo some of the construction praises

[1:13:33] that really, I think until I sat in this seat,

[1:13:36] did I not really appreciate construction as much

[1:13:40] as I do currently.

[1:13:42] 'cause it means that we're doing stuff,

[1:13:43] we're not just sitting on our hands,

[1:13:44] but we're actually spending money trying to be proactive

[1:13:47] and maintaining our community's infrastructure.

[1:13:51] So just really just wanted to express that view

[1:13:55] because as a resident I don't always see that I see the,

[1:13:59] my Detour or this or that,

[1:14:02] but when you really look at it, alright, so I've gotta deal

[1:14:05] with this for a short amount of time,

[1:14:07] but the community's working on it.

[1:14:09] We're trying to get better. So just lots of, lots

[1:14:13] of really great projects going on here in Barry

[1:14:16] between Stevens branch apartments, prospect Heights,

[1:14:19] working on stuff in the North end.

[1:14:21] You know, just a lot of different amazing projects

[1:14:24] that we've been working on for many years.

[1:14:27] And to see some of these projects finally coming

[1:14:30] to fruition, it's just great.

[1:14:33] So I just really just

[1:14:36] Great stuff.

[1:14:38] Awesome. Thank you.

[1:14:39] And remind me again, Brian, we're how many,

[1:14:41] how many folks down in Public Works?

[1:14:43] Six.

[1:14:45] We, I think we have five opening, we have one first out on

[1:14:48] Workers' comp.

[1:14:49] So we have five openings

[1:14:50] and we have a staff of 20, we have a staff of 20.

[1:14:53] Yeah. And we have five openings. So think about that folks.

[1:14:57] So, you know, if you wanna do something on social media

[1:15:00] rather than *****, why don't you send someone down so

[1:15:04] that Brian can interview them, because I guarantee you that

[1:15:07] and and unfortunately we suffer from the same affliction

[1:15:10] that many Vermont businesses do.

[1:15:12] We, we, we just don't have enough people

[1:15:14] to fill the positions.

[1:15:15] But it's not that we're not trying, it's not

[1:15:17] that the council hasn't funded them.

[1:15:19] It's not like our, our voters haven't funded them.

[1:15:22] We have, right. We just don't have the people

[1:15:24] applying for the positions.

[1:15:25] We would love to hire them.

[1:15:27] And so that means that currently I'm a math guy,

[1:15:30] we're doing this work with 15 people.

[1:15:32] So imagine if we had 20,

[1:15:34] we could do in theory 33% more work.

[1:15:37] So those potholes that you and I complain about

[1:15:40] because they're not getting filled, we are down five people.

[1:15:45] So we have to keep up with the work that we're doing.

[1:15:47] And, and you know, that's the, that's the simple reason

[1:15:51] Vermont Green, holy cow.

[1:15:53] Who would've thought, I mean,

[1:15:55] to come outta nowhere in an inaugural year,

[1:15:57] win a national championship

[1:15:58] and then do it again the following year.

[1:16:01] That was incredibly exciting.

[1:16:04] I couldn't watch it at the social club

[1:16:07] 'cause I was going to pieces 'cause I knew they were gonna

[1:16:09] win and I had to try to maintain some sense of decorum.

[1:16:13] I know that might be hard for you to believe candidates.

[1:16:16] I'm all over the place tonight.

[1:16:17] Candidates, first of all,

[1:16:20] congratulations on making it to the primary.

[1:16:22] Anyone who's listening, it takes courage

[1:16:25] to put yourself out there.

[1:16:27] I don't care how big your ego is, I don't care

[1:16:29] how big your wallet is.

[1:16:30] I don't care how big you think you are.

[1:16:32] When you, when you put yourself out there, there's always

[1:16:36] a certain amount of intimidation,

[1:16:38] a certain amount of apprehension.

[1:16:40] And so to the candidates

[1:16:41] who put themselves out there in the primaries knowing

[1:16:44] that someone's, you know, someone's going home

[1:16:47] and someone's moving on.

[1:16:48] Thank you for doing that

[1:16:50] because not, I, I've really been proud of

[1:16:52] how I've watched all of the candidates debate the issues.

[1:16:56] It hasn't really, even though you get towards the end,

[1:16:58] this week is gonna be interesting

[1:16:59] 'cause you get towards the end

[1:17:00] and even the nicest people can get a little wonky.

[1:17:04] So, but let's not, let's not, let's,

[1:17:06] let's keep it the way it's been

[1:17:07] because I've been been proud of the campaign

[1:17:10] that candidates have run except

[1:17:14] when they put their signs on the city Right of way

[1:17:16] or on the city property.

[1:17:17] Yes, sir. So let me explain a little bit about that

[1:17:19] to you and how that works.

[1:17:21] We've seen a fair amount about that on social media.

[1:17:24] Again, five people down in public works.

[1:17:27] We are not going to be the signed police.

[1:17:31] We would rather be fixing potholes.

[1:17:33] However, the, the stand the city has always taken is

[1:17:37] candidates, please don't put your signs on city property.

[1:17:41] There was one on Elmwood Cemetery today.

[1:17:43] Won't name the candidate.

[1:17:44] Not what I'm all about, but Holy cow. Elmwood Cemetery.

[1:17:48] No, not the cemeteries.

[1:17:51] What we do allow is the day of the election.

[1:17:53] We really tend to look the other way.

[1:17:56] All the way I've done it myself,

[1:17:58] all the way up Auditorium Hill on city property.

[1:18:00] There, there are signs and that's okay.

[1:18:03] So we sort of say to the candidates on election day

[1:18:06] or on primary day, have at it.

[1:18:09] But please, when the polls close, if you could get them out

[1:18:11] of there by nine o'clock or so,

[1:18:14] or early the next morning, that would be,

[1:18:17] that would be really appreciated.

[1:18:19] And speaking of appreciated, national Night Out,

[1:18:22] it was wonderful to go there

[1:18:23] and see so many younger officers who were there,

[1:18:28] firemen and police officers,

[1:18:30] and just to be able to shake their hands and say thank you

[1:18:33] because I, I, I don't say it enough.

[1:18:36] And it was nice to see them all in one spot

[1:18:38] and just be able to shake their hand

[1:18:40] and say thanks for everything that you do here in our city.

[1:18:43] So with that counsel, speaking

[1:18:45] of everything we do here in the city,

[1:18:46] we do need an executive session.

[1:18:48] We're going to be discussing legal Ms. Doz and Mr. Baker.

[1:18:53] If you wouldn't mind attending, that would be great.

[1:18:55] If you're inclined, you don't have to,

[1:18:56] but if you don't mind, that would be great.

[1:18:58] So motion for findings would be in order. So moved.

[1:19:02] Thank you. And moved and seconded. Any discussion?

[1:19:05] Hearing none. All those in favor? The motion is presented.

[1:19:08] Please signify by saying aye a Aye. And those opposed?

[1:19:11] Thank you. And a motion to enter executive session.

[1:19:13] Thank you. Moved and seconded. All those in favor?

[1:19:16] The motion is presented. Please signify by saying Aye. Aye.

[1:19:19] And those opposed? Thank you very much.

[1:19:23] Where do the signs go? Do you keep them? Do the, the what?

[1:19:26] The signs that you take down.

[1:19:27] If Public Works gets 'em, they're down at the garage.

[1:19:29] Like if you go way in back where the saw horses are.

[1:33:40] David, I apologize.

[1:33:41] I should have let you know

[1:33:42] that I did not anticipate any action.

[1:33:44] There will be none. Motion to adjourn.

[1:33:47] Motion to exit executive session would be in order.

[1:33:51] And a second. Thank you. And all those in favor?

[1:33:54] The motion is presented, but please signify by saying Aye.

[1:33:57] Aye. Aye. And those opposed Counsel is in open session.

[1:34:00] And a motion to adjourn would be in order. So moved. Second.

[1:34:04] It's moved and seconded. All those in favor?

[1:34:06] The motion is presented. Please signify by saying Aye. Aye.

[1:34:09] And those opposed? Thank you very much. And we're done. Woo.

[1:34:15] Yay.

Barre City Council August 4 2026

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