[0:12] Good evening everyone and

[0:13] welcome to the

[0:14] regular meeting of the

[0:17] Berlin City Council on September 28th.

[0:19] I'm Jared Felch. To

[0:20] my right are

[0:21] Brian D'Amico and Carl

[0:22] Weisel. To

[0:24] my left are Chris Gaywood and

[0:25] Flo Smith. Also with us is

[0:26] our City

[0:27] Administrator Vince

[0:28] Conti. I declare

[0:29] the meeting open. Are

[0:32] there any additions

[0:33] or changes to the

[0:35] agenda?

[0:35] Yes.

[0:36] sir.

[0:40] We are crossing out

[0:41] the protocols.

[0:42] Good.

[0:49] And there will be no

[0:50] decisions regarding the position of

[0:51] CFO today. Just

[0:54] a few updates.

[0:55] Good. Of course. Are there any

[1:01] comments from the

[1:02] public?

[1:07] OK. Discussion of the "

[1:08] Good Samaritan".

[1:11] If you want to come

[1:12] here, please, we

[1:13] would be happy to. It's

[1:18] nice

[1:19] to see you too. It's

[1:20] nice to see you too. We

[1:22] need to find a new

[1:23] chair. It looks like a

[1:24] child's.

[1:25] It's perfect for my height

[1:26] . Sorry.

[1:29] What is your name?

[1:30] Hatch. Hatch.

[1:31] Sorry.

[1:32] Luke Jackson.

[1:33] Welcome back. Yes, welcome back

[1:34] . Thank you

[1:36] for coming.

[1:59] You provided great

[2:00] information last

[2:01] time. Thank you for

[2:02] coming again. I'm

[2:03] sure there will be more

[2:06] Lukes here to

[2:06] talk about

[2:08] tax exemption. You

[2:11] all received a package of

[2:12] documents.

[2:14] Questions arose about whether

[2:15] they paid

[2:16] taxes. This

[2:16] information about what

[2:18] they paid was

[2:19] sent out. What would you

[2:23] like to add? I think

[2:24] we're at that

[2:25] stage, right? This is an issue that is

[2:26] currently on the

[2:27] agenda. Yes,

[2:29] do you have any more

[2:30] questions or

[2:31] information?

[2:31] Yes, the process from

[2:32] last month,

[2:33] I think, yes. Is there

[2:36] an answer?

[2:37] And they, you know, they

[2:40] pay their taxes on time now. The

[2:42] last bill was

[2:43] in mid-August, and

[2:45] based on the decision, we

[2:49] are determining the next

[2:50] steps for everyone at this

[2:52] point.

[2:54] You know, long

[2:56] story short. Yes. Um, if

[2:57] everyone remembers the

[2:58] story, right? Um,

[2:59] before

[3:00] the changes there, they

[3:02] came to talk

[3:03] about a potential

[3:03] pilot program to

[3:05] meet every year

[3:06] to discuss. Um,

[3:07] they didn't know

[3:08] about some of this

[3:09] information at the

[3:10] last meeting either.

[3:13] But again,

[3:14] there are protocols.

[3:15] Yes. If anyone

[3:16] wants to

[3:17] view them, they

[3:18] have been sent as well. Here, in

[3:20] short, is where

[3:21] we are now

[3:22] .

[3:23] Yes.

[3:30] I guess my question is

[3:31] : is this something that

[3:35] would interest

[3:35] the organization—

[3:36] implementing a pilot

[3:37] program instead of a

[3:38] full

[3:39] tax exemption?

[3:42] Make some

[3:43] payments in lieu of

[3:44] taxes.

[3:46] Hmm, I'm not sure

[3:47] exactly how this

[3:49] process works. But, you know

[3:53] , we are of course ready for

[3:54] any discussions

[3:55] and needs. I, you know,

[3:59] our main goal in all of

[4:00] this is to

[4:01] make sure that we

[4:02] can keep the

[4:03] property in good

[4:04] condition and address the

[4:05] maintenance issues

[4:06] that

[4:13] arise, including the

[4:15] facility improvements that the

[4:17] city of Berlin has asked us to make. We

[4:21] met with

[4:22] Mike, I think it

[4:23] was Mike and Joe,

[4:24] a few weeks ago to

[4:25] talk about,

[4:26] for example, our

[4:27] code snippet. This is one

[4:28] example of

[4:30] property improvements, which is important

[4:31] to us, but is nearly

[4:32] impossible when you are

[4:33] running an

[4:35] emergency shelter and doing

[4:36] constant repairs and

[4:38] maintenance.

[4:39] Given

[4:39] the use of the building

[4:41] , it is difficult to undertake

[4:42] such projects

[4:43] while paying

[4:44] full

[4:45] property tax.

[4:46] So, keep going.

[4:48] continue.

[4:49] So, just to

[4:49] answer your

[4:50] first question: what

[4:51] is our pilot

[4:52] project? I brought our

[4:53] pilot agreement,

[4:54] a copy of which I take and

[4:56] review whenever I

[4:57] can. And just

[5:01] a reminder for the council

[5:02] while he's here. In

[5:06] the past, previous

[5:07] boards agreed

[5:08] to meet

[5:09] with them annually and

[5:10] discuss their

[5:11] status and

[5:11] solvency.

[5:15] Yes.

[5:16] So, it was

[5:17] agreed upon then. This is

[5:18] recorded in

[5:19] the protocols. So

[5:20] theoretically it's still

[5:22] relevant for

[5:22] discussion today

[5:24] .

[5:24] Yes.

[5:25] And how many

[5:26] real estate properties are there?

[5:28] We now own

[5:29] shelters.

[5:31] And where exactly, because I'm

[5:32] trying to remember.

[5:34] Montpelier, Berlin,

[5:36] Barre City, and Barre in

[5:37] New England. We

[5:40] own properties in

[5:41] Berlin, Montpelier, and

[5:42] Barre City, and rent in

[5:43] South

[5:44] Burlington

[5:45] .

[5:52] Have

[5:53] other cities offered you programs?

[5:55] Regarding taxes.

[5:57] Any other cities?

[5:58] We have been enjoying the

[5:59] exemption in Barre

[6:01] City for decades. I do

[6:02] n't...I would assume.

[6:03] Last year, our tax exemption

[6:05] was also renewed in Barre City

[6:07] . So, as

[6:09] part of our

[6:10] process of sending these

[6:11] forms to cities, Barre

[6:12] City was on the list, and

[6:14] Montpellier was on the list, too, because it's a

[6:15] recently acquired

[6:16] property.

[6:18] Right.

[6:19] Yes.

[6:19] So, in Barre Town, do you

[6:20] pay taxes?

[6:21] In Barre City—no.

[6:23] In Barre City, so you

[6:24] said Montpellier,

[6:25] Yes.

[6:25] Berlin and only Barre

[6:26] City?

[6:27] They rent a

[6:28] space in

[6:28] South

[6:29] Burlington.

[6:29] And they rent in

[6:30] South

[6:30] Burlington.

[6:31] Of course.

[6:31] Ahem. So theoretically we

[6:36] could do this

[6:37] every year. If we

[6:38] were going to grant an

[6:39] exemption, it could

[6:41] be for 1 year. And

[6:42] then watch it?

[6:43] Or how often do you...

[6:45] We do it in Barre

[6:46] City.

[6:46] Well, it's definitely not every year

[6:48] in Barre City, but I'm not

[6:49] sure how often

[6:50] it happens. Maybe

[6:51] every 3 years.

[6:52] Of course.

[6:53] As I understood from the

[6:54] council meeting, it

[6:55] was presented as if

[6:56] yes, they

[6:57] would come to

[6:57] council every year to

[6:58] discuss what they

[6:59] could or could not

[7:00] afford. Regarding

[7:02] taxes.

[7:02] It would be more

[7:03] like a pilot

[7:04] program.

[7:04] This is

[7:05] instead of exemption

[7:06] from payment.

[7:06] This, this is

[7:07] correct.

[7:08] This makes a pilot

[7:09] program or

[7:10] tax exemption a kind of "

[7:12] middle ground," in

[7:13] my opinion.

[7:14] Yes.

[7:14] Of course? It's neither one nor the

[7:17] other, it's something in between.

[7:19] True.

[7:20] The Council tried to be The

[7:21] Council tried to be

[7:23] flexible and how did I

[7:24] interpret that then?

[7:25] What are the annual taxes

[7:27] ?

[7:27] Sorry, I have this

[7:28] data. I Yes, I do

[7:31] n't have an exact number.

[7:33] Somewhere around 30 thousand.

[7:35] This is 30 something.

[7:37] 30

[7:37] 26 39 28. Does it seem true?

[7:43] Yes.

[7:44] I hope so. $32,639.28. And

[7:55] they can pay

[7:56] quarterly.

[7:59] Yeah, I think, you

[8:00] know, clarifying

[8:01] the process, you know,

[8:03] city policy

[8:04] versus a pilot

[8:05] program for cities

[8:06] that is set up by the

[8:07] state. So, I'm still, you

[8:08] know, figuring out the

[8:10] difference between city

[8:14] policy and the

[8:15] pilot program

[8:16] that we talked about

[8:17] earlier, which was a

[8:18] state program

[8:19] for cities.

[8:22] Oh, you mean the one the

[8:24] state pays?

[8:25] Yes.

[8:26] Oh, with

[8:26] Here's a look at the

[8:27] state pilot

[8:28] program, which

[8:29] differs from

[8:30] our own

[8:30] city

[8:32] property tax policy.

[8:34] This is good. Can I

[8:38] ask a question?

[8:41] I'm a little

[8:42] confused. That 32,000 and

[8:44] something you

[8:45] just mentioned, was that

[8:46] taxes? Are these both

[8:49] city and school

[8:50] taxes? And how is that

[8:53] different from a

[8:54] grant, which has to be

[8:55] voted on at the

[8:56] meeting, and I don't think

[8:57] it can

[8:58] include a

[8:59] school

[9:00] tax exemption at all.

[9:02] Right. So I'll have to

[9:12] look and

[9:13] see. I just

[9:14] got the resume. I

[9:15] don't know if that includes

[9:17] school taxes or

[9:18] not. Um, there is no

[9:22] tax distribution specified here. This is

[9:24] just a quarterly

[9:25] amount. I don't see a

[9:29] breakdown here.

[9:31] Yes, I I you know, or

[9:33] it's

[9:33] I I don't know. I

[9:34] don't have this

[9:35] information. Sorry.

[9:36] So, Fran, I'm sorry. Are

[9:38] you saying that this

[9:39] should or should not

[9:40] include school

[9:41] taxes?

[9:41] Well, I What Vince said

[9:42] , about this being the

[9:44] "middle ground" for

[9:45] Grange, is

[9:47] tax exemption. But, if I

[9:51] recall, they

[9:52] did it

[9:53] wrong the first year, and they

[9:54] were allowed

[9:54] to be exempt from

[9:55] school taxes,

[9:57] but that's not possible, because

[9:58] it's separate. You would

[10:00] have to

[10:00] contact the

[10:01] school board.

[10:02] A.

[10:03] I think it's required to

[10:04] consider any

[10:06] dismissal, if I

[10:07] remember correctly.

[10:08] But if you're talking

[10:09] about a pilot project,

[10:10] then I think that's a completely

[10:12] different story that I do

[10:13] n't quite understand.

[10:16] But the other thing is that

[10:18] for

[10:19] tax exemption there had to be

[10:20] a vote in the hall. And

[10:23] the decision was

[10:24] made, how often? I

[10:26] forgot how it is. 3 years, 5

[10:28] years, it doesn't matter, but for

[10:29] some reason it had to be a

[10:31] vote in the hall. And

[10:33] for a while the fire

[10:34] department

[10:35] That's right.

[10:36] also did this, but

[10:37] now they are part of

[10:39] the municipality.

[10:59] See if they have it.

[11:01] That would be in March,

[11:02] right?

[11:05] It would be a special

[11:06] vote, it would be

[11:09] No, it should have been it

[11:10] should have been in March,

[11:11] it should have been it should have

[11:13] been

[11:14] Yes, but okay. Yes, it's

[11:15] still an appropriation.

[11:36] This is inaccurate.

[11:41] I would probably advise

[11:42] us to get more

[11:43] information about the

[11:44] actual tax

[11:45] bill.

[11:47] What? Is there a breakdown of what

[11:49] it includes?

[11:50] Right. And

[11:52] the Process.

[11:53] as to

[11:54] where we should go

[11:55] if this needs to be

[11:56] put to a

[11:57] vote in the floor. Uh

[12:01] , and as for the

[12:02] education tax,

[12:03] where does it go next? So

[12:09] , and also, I think you

[12:10] might have a

[12:11] conversation with your

[12:12] organization about

[12:14] what we have for the

[12:15] pilot program, uh

[12:16] , and then we'll

[12:17] come back when

[12:18] we have more

[12:19] information. Sorry to

[12:23] continue.

[12:24] No problem. But

[12:26] I think it's good

[12:27] because

[12:27] presenting it

[12:28] gives you time to

[12:29] review it with

[12:30] your people. Was there a

[12:31] third?

[12:33] Sorry. Uh, to

[12:34] see a breakdown of what

[12:36] they're paying

[12:37] now.

[12:37] True.

[12:38] What do I mean?

[12:39] Education

[12:40] vs. education

[12:41] tax. What is the process

[12:44] if we need to go

[12:45] to a floor vote

[12:46] for

[12:47] tax exemption. Because it

[12:49] seems to me that if we

[12:51] wanted to make a

[12:51] dismissal, it should be

[12:53] put to a

[12:53] vote in the chamber.

[12:56] But as for the pilot

[12:57] program, we could

[12:58] solve it here. Uh, and

[13:03] also just

[13:04] having more

[13:05] conversations in the future.

[13:10] Uh, because if it

[13:11] comes to dismissal,

[13:13] and we have to

[13:14] hold a

[13:14] floor vote,

[13:15] it should be a

[13:18] town meeting.

[13:19] I understand.

[13:20] Yes.

[13:20] Or special fees.

[13:23] To have

[13:24] We have to set

[13:25] Yes.

[13:27] If you would like to

[13:28] clarify this issue,

[13:29] perhaps you can

[13:30] contact us and

[13:31] we will return this

[13:32] suggestion or

[13:33] recommendation

[13:34] based on this

[13:35] pilot project. I

[13:38] don't see anything here

[13:39] about voting on

[13:41] this. I don't know what it

[13:44] could be. I'm

[13:48] looking at Well

[13:51] , I think we

[13:52] need to study

[13:53] history.

[13:55] You filled out a

[13:56] state application, it

[13:58] says you, and

[13:59] then the evaluators

[14:00] recommended it,

[14:01] you know, they either

[14:02] recommend it or they don't,

[14:03] and then it's

[14:04] reviewed. Are

[14:06] we talking about a

[14:07] layoff or a

[14:07] pilot project?

[14:08] What are you looking at?

[14:09] Release.

[14:15] Okay, we need to

[14:16] clarify.

[14:17] Yes. I think so.

[14:19] Get

[14:20] confirmation of the

[14:21] story. And then we'll

[14:23] come back and

[14:24] continue

[14:24] the discussion. Good.

[14:27] Thank you for your time and

[14:28] patience, and maybe

[14:29] we won't have to

[14:30] ask you to

[14:31] come back.

[14:32] Good.

[14:32] But we'll see.

[14:35] Thank you, Luke.

[14:37] Yes, sir.

[14:38] Good.

[14:39] Thank you for coming.

[14:40] Thank you.

[14:40] Goodbye.

[14:41] We appreciate your work.

[14:43] You too. Good.

[14:54] Discussion and

[14:55] decision on

[14:56] repayment of loan for

[14:57] fire truck. So, this has

[14:58] already been discussed

[14:59] several times.

[15:00] Yes.

[15:01] Let's just

[15:02] look at the

[15:03] solution. Are

[15:05] we making decisions?

[15:07] Um, so the payment for the

[15:15] Quint fire ladder truck. The total amount

[15:19] due, taking into account the

[15:21] repayment period,

[15:23] is 84,833.74. Um, for

[15:28] that one. For

[15:31] the Pierce truck,

[15:34] the payout is

[15:37] 63,728.31. For the same one. So, the

[15:47] loan dates were in, and I'm

[15:49] reading Kelly's notes

[15:50] because she couldn't be

[15:51] here, as I mentioned

[15:52] earlier. The interest rate

[16:00] on loans

[16:01] is 6.21%.

[16:07] Paid as of

[16:08] today, um, for the

[16:09] tower truck,

[16:11] um, interest

[16:12] is approximately

[16:14] 2676. And for the truck—

[16:19] 2016 with pennies. So,

[16:28] again, Joe, do

[16:32] you have anything, boss, you

[16:33] want to say about

[16:34] this? I

[16:37] suppose so.

[16:39] Of course. I mean,

[16:41] paying off

[16:42] loans is really the

[16:43] right thing to do.

[16:45] All I would

[16:46] ask is that the council

[16:48] consider the

[16:48] possibility when

[16:50] formulating the budget

[16:51] for next year, I

[16:52] believe 2027. Um, so

[17:00] we leave this

[17:02] expense line as is and

[17:02] direct it,

[17:04] perhaps, to CIP for

[17:05] the replacement of the next

[17:06] vehicle

[17:07] . You know, I tried to stick to

[17:15] the plan to

[17:16] buy a new

[17:17] rescue vehicle,

[17:18] since it's the

[17:19] workhorse of that department.

[17:24] I began to realize that

[17:25] we probably wouldn't

[17:26] see a new

[17:27] car at that

[17:28] station for a while

[17:29] . I think the board of

[17:35] commissioners, um,

[17:36] all parties should

[17:37] accept the fact that

[17:38] if we buy

[17:39] used

[17:40] vehicles, our maintenance costs

[17:43] will remain

[17:44] high. Because

[17:48] whoever owned them in the first place has

[17:49] already

[17:50] squeezed all the juice out of them

[17:51] . That's all I

[17:56] wanted to say.

[17:58] 2.3 years—that's how long it

[18:00] will take to pay off.

[18:02] Here it is.

[18:16] This is East Rise.

[18:18] OK.

[18:19] Yes.

[18:23] And we have the money for it, don't we

[18:24] ?

[18:25] This is included in the

[18:26] department's budget

[18:27] .

[18:28] This is

[18:30] the money we

[18:31] transferred to the city.

[18:33] Yes.

[18:36] pay it off.

[18:37] Yes.

[18:38] It doesn't seem right, does it

[18:40] ?

[18:41] Yes.

[18:45] high interest rates.

[18:47] These are very high

[18:48] percentages.

[18:49] Yes.

[18:50] You won't see the

[18:51] check there. You won't see the

[18:52] check there. Sorry, I

[18:53] know you're

[18:54] looking for it. You won't

[18:55] see any checks there.

[18:56] It's going to be, um

[18:57] No, I'm just looking

[18:58] at

[18:59] Okay.

[18:59] Good. I didn't know if you were

[19:01] looking for checks.

[19:01] No, no, no. Sorry. No,

[19:03] I was just looking, no,

[19:04] I just wanted

[19:05] to see what the

[19:06] offer said, and

[19:10] Yes, and these are high

[19:11] percentages.

[19:11] Yes, they are tall.

[19:13] OK.

[19:17] This seems like a

[19:18] financially sound

[19:19] decision, given

[19:21] the high interest rates, the

[19:22] fact that Joe

[19:23] explained everything clearly today, and

[19:25] that the funds are available,

[19:26] have been transferred to the city, and are

[19:27] sufficient. In

[19:33] today's economy, it's

[19:34] worth saving on

[19:35] high interest

[19:36] rates when you

[19:37] can. I

[19:41] recommend this.

[19:56] I am making a motion

[19:57] to pay off

[19:58] the debt owed on a

[20:00] 2008 Pierce fire truck

[20:02] in the amount of

[20:04] $63,728.31 to

[20:06] Eastrise Credit Union. And also

[20:08] for a 2001 Pierce fire truck

[20:11] with a 100-foot

[20:12] platform in the

[20:14] amount of $84,833.74 to

[20:18] Eastrise Credit Union.

[20:21] I support. Everyone who is

[20:23] "in favor"?

[20:24] By.

[20:25] Who is "against"? Thank you very much

[20:28] .

[20:28] Thanks, Joe.

[20:36] Let's move on to a review

[20:38] and discussion of

[20:39] the position of

[20:40] CFO.

[20:41] So, we had

[20:42] several candidates. Um

[20:44] , we did two

[20:45] interviews. We

[20:47] reached out to the other

[20:49] two of the

[20:50] top four. One

[20:51] has already accepted another

[20:52] offer. Um, and the

[20:55] other one didn't respond

[20:56] to follow-up

[20:56] emails or

[20:58] phone calls

[20:59] to the number on the resume.

[21:01] Um,

[21:02] no return calls. We

[21:03] recently received

[21:05] another resume, which is

[21:06] currently under review.

[21:09] Um, so my

[21:10] recommendation is

[21:11] probably to postpone

[21:13] it for another week.

[21:14] We'll see if

[21:15] additional resumes come in

[21:16] . It would be a good idea to

[21:17] interview

[21:18] at least three,

[21:19] if not four,

[21:20] people. And then

[21:21] make a better

[21:22] decision about what

[21:23] stage we are at. And what should

[21:26] we do next? So

[21:28] we won't, uh We didn't

[21:31] get the result we expected with all the

[21:32] resumes we

[21:33] received

[21:34] . So, I

[21:35] think we shouldn't

[21:37] rush. A little

[21:38] longer. This is my

[21:40] recommendation.

[21:41] Reasonably. So, some did

[21:44] n't. Sorry, some didn't

[21:45] respond to

[21:46] One responded. I wasn't

[21:48] interested anymore. He

[21:49] found another job.

[21:50] Another didn't

[21:51] answer

[21:52] a call at all, leaving a

[21:53] voicemail, or an

[21:54] email

[21:56] asking if

[21:57] they were still interested. And

[22:00] we sent By the way, to

[22:01] those who were selected for an

[22:03] interview, we also

[22:04] sent a letter of

[22:05] congratulations: they say,

[22:07] congratulations, you passed the

[22:08] first stage. We

[22:10] will contact you

[22:12] to schedule an

[22:13] interview. So, three

[22:15] tries—and, you know, we

[22:17] move on. We

[22:19] will not wait. So,

[22:25] here's the news.

[22:26] Is the vacancy still

[22:27] posted?

[22:27] We're

[22:29] actually going to

[22:31] update it this

[22:32] week. Let's give it a week,

[22:34] see what

[22:35] stage we're at, and then

[22:36] take a break. We'll add

[22:41] this to the agenda

[22:42] again when we have

[22:43] something new for you.

[22:45] Next steps.

[22:46] Thank you.

[22:47] So, So, that's it.

[22:51] Thank you. Do you have any

[22:52] questions?

[22:53] No.

[22:53] Good.

[22:54] Thank you for

[22:55] Would you like to go another

[22:56] way or what?

[22:57] But no, I think it's

[23:01] smart to wait and see what other candidates come up with.

[23:02] OK. Then let

[23:03] the fun begin

[23:04] .

[23:04] Mhm. E

[23:06] Solid waste.

[23:08] Schedule of upcoming

[23:09] board meetings and

[23:10] discussions/decisions.

[23:13] So, your packages

[23:14] have three schedules, for three

[23:16] months: October,

[23:17] November, and December.

[23:22] It lists meetings

[23:23] that have already been scheduled.

[23:26] Meetings that are not yet

[23:27] scheduled

[23:28] need to be added. So

[23:32] , we have a few, right? I would like to

[23:37] schedule interviews with the

[23:38] top three

[23:39] candidates for the

[23:40] board site. This is again

[23:44] if the

[23:45] council so desires. I would

[23:50] advise that we will not be

[23:50] able to

[23:51] coordinate

[23:52] all

[23:53] three one after the other.

[23:55] Of course.

[23:58] I assume it

[23:59] will be three separate

[24:00] meetings, probably 1

[24:01] hour each, so they

[24:02] can go online and

[24:04] present their

[24:05] proposals to the council. I

[24:09] think we have three

[24:10] very interested,

[24:11] good companies. You've

[24:13] all seen

[24:14] the information and stuff

[24:16] , so Yes

[24:16] .

[24:18] We need to choose

[24:19] dates and times, whether some

[24:20] , none, or all of

[24:21] you want to

[24:22] attend this

[24:23] presentation, and I will

[24:24] schedule those

[24:25] meetings immediately. So, this is

[24:28] one series of meetings.

[24:31] We need to

[24:32] set dates for

[24:34] something perhaps more

[24:35] important, namely

[24:36] budget meetings, with a

[24:38] tentative date of

[24:39] January 11. We need to

[24:42] hold a final

[24:44] budget approval meeting

[24:45] no later than January 11th.

[24:48] So the first meeting is

[24:49] already scheduled, and

[24:50] again, if you

[24:51] want to wait and

[24:52] see how it

[24:53] goes, we don't

[24:54] have to

[24:55] set a schedule

[24:56] tonight,

[24:57] of course, but the sooner the

[24:59] better. This will be

[25:01] October. We have little

[25:04] time, and we wanted to

[25:05] get a lot done

[25:07] before the start of the year. So

[25:09] this is the second series of

[25:10] meetings, right? This is

[25:11] the schedule for budget review and

[25:12] approval

[25:13] . Now I think the

[25:14] first meeting has already

[25:15] been scheduled,

[25:16] let's see how it

[25:17] goes. I broke everything down

[25:18] into parts, okay

[25:19] ? We

[25:20] will cover most of it at the first

[25:21] meeting. A lot of

[25:22] this is pretty simple. The

[25:23] main issue of the

[25:24] first meeting will be the

[25:27] road maintenance budget. Everything else is

[25:28] councils, commissions, and

[25:29] city administration

[25:30] . We have already

[25:31] discussed the issue of

[25:32] salaries a little. So, we

[25:33] know what

[25:34] stage we are at.

[25:36] Everything is clear with this question

[25:37] . This

[25:38] shouldn't take

[25:39] long. And then,

[25:41] next will be...we'll

[25:42] probably

[25:43] look at the police

[25:44] and the fire department separately.

[25:47] But after that,

[25:48] there will be the fire

[25:49] service, the police, and

[25:50] then the

[25:51] capital investment program

[25:53] , which will require a

[25:54] long

[25:54] discussion.

[25:57] Yes.

[25:57] OK. There are things that,

[25:59] depending on the course

[26:00] chosen by the council,

[26:01] will likely have to be

[26:03] cut, trimmed,

[26:04] or postponed. I think we

[26:06] will have to make

[26:08] several, I won't say "

[26:09] tough", but

[26:09] difficult decisions to

[26:11] balance the budget

[26:12] and make it as

[26:13] stable as possible.

[26:14] Yes.

[26:15] And be sensible about

[26:16] it. You know, there are

[26:17] some other things we

[26:18] want to start

[26:19] planning a conversation about,

[26:20] right? Regarding the office

[26:23] space and that

[26:24] property. So,

[26:26] Yes.

[26:27] All of this matters. Er

[26:30] ...So, from a

[26:34] planning perspective, I'll give the

[26:38] floor to you. I don't know

[26:40] how much the council wants to

[26:40] discuss this

[26:41] tonight and

[26:42] decide, and how much

[26:43] we want to postpone

[26:44] until later.

[26:44] I have to go.

[26:45] Of course. Of course,

[26:47] you all have your own lives

[26:47] outside of this

[26:48] place. You'll probably

[26:49] want to look at

[26:50] some of your personal

[26:51] charts. And so on.

[26:52] So,

[26:53] I

[26:53] want to focus. I

[26:55] want one or two

[26:58] about Thursday.

[27:00] Yes.

[27:02] week 4 degrees

[27:05] report today

[27:07] about Wednesday. I can

[27:08] send it out tomorrow.

[27:09] The meeting has been rescheduled and

[27:10] we are still within the

[27:12] 24-hour deadline.

[27:13] If it's possible, we

[27:14] could. I would be very

[27:16] grateful. I have things coming up for

[27:17] Thursday evening

[27:18] that

[27:19] I can't cancel.

[27:20] I have no problems,

[27:21] any option suits me

[27:22] . Wednesday

[27:24] or Friday.

[27:27] Wednesday suits me

[27:28] better than Friday.

[27:30] So it's Wednesday.

[27:31] So we can

[27:32] gather here on

[27:33] Wednesday. What, what

[27:35] time period will that

[27:36] be?

[27:36] You tell me. What

[27:38] suits you?

[27:39] I can on Wednesday at 6:00.

[27:41] This is the postponement of the

[27:42] first budget

[27:43] meeting from Thursday

[27:44] back to Wednesday.

[27:45] is tomorrow.

[27:46] This should be the third

[27:47] Wednesday, as

[27:48] originally announced.

[27:49] after sunset 6:30

[27:56] Yes. 7:00, is that better?

[27:59] Can we just Oh.

[28:01] But that's the only thing

[28:02] we're talking about. It's not like

[28:04] I know, but I

[28:05] hate starting

[28:07] meetings at 7:00.

[28:07] Yes.

[28:09] Why can't you, why are you

[28:10] here tonight?

[28:14] Ahem.

[28:17] 7:00 is fine for me.

[28:19] too, because it gives us

[28:20] time for dinner and we

[28:21] can still

[28:22] stay. So

[28:26] No, we will not

[28:27] delay.

[28:28] Who knows. But Wednesday is

[28:29] definitely a good time for me,

[28:31] and I'll be flexible with whatever

[28:32] time

[28:33] most people choose.

[28:33] it. I just

[28:34] need time. 7:00? 7:00?

[28:37] Wednesday 7:00?

[28:39] This is what I hear from

[28:40] most people.

[28:41] I, I am.

[28:42] 7:00?

[28:43] Karl?

[28:44] I might be here.

[28:47] Physically, are we

[28:48] in agreement?

[28:52] Good.

[28:53] Um, it's a tough time of year

[28:54] for me, that's all. This is

[28:56] , oh my god.

[28:57] Time to act.

[28:59] The phone is breaking

[29:00] , and

[29:01] I know that, and my family

[29:02] can't

[29:02] agree on what we're

[29:03] doing, so I haven't

[29:04] contacted you, and

[29:05] I'm sure it's too

[29:06] late, so I won't

[29:07] bother you.

[29:08] Uh, I, you know, have

[29:09] evenings and weekends.

[29:10] Well, I would.

[29:11] You can work

[29:12] in the evenings, right?

[29:13] We're going to

[29:14] meet on Saturday,

[29:15] so we can

[29:15] It's not uncommon

[29:16] to work in the evenings.

[29:17] I understand that when it

[29:18] comes to

[29:19] family, it's not worth even

[29:21] thinking about.

[29:21] Got it.

[29:22] Stop thinking.

[29:23] OK.

[29:24] Wednesday evening.

[29:27] Um, do we want to

[29:28] schedule any

[29:29] other meetings?

[29:30] I would like to if we

[29:31] can. Um, I'd like to

[29:33] talk about

[29:35] Monday the 12th. Because

[29:37] now we have a

[29:39] second

[29:39] public hearing scheduled for this day.

[29:42] Should we

[29:42] cancel these

[29:43] public hearings?

[29:46] Should we

[29:47] schedule them as the

[29:48] first public

[29:49] hearings? But if we

[29:51] do, we

[29:52] need to have a

[29:53] meeting between

[29:54] today and

[29:55] this date. What

[29:56] decision will the

[29:57] council make?

[29:57] I suggest we postpone

[29:59] this.

[30:01] That is, if

[30:02] the wording is incorrect

[30:03] , what's the point?

[30:04] Right.

[30:05] Yes, it will be the same.

[30:06] We need to do

[30:07] it once and do it

[30:09] right, whether it's

[30:09] now, in six

[30:10] months, or in a year.

[30:11] We need to decide

[30:12] what exactly we are proposing

[30:13] before we

[30:14] hold the next

[30:15] hearing.

[30:15] Right.

[30:16] I agree.

[30:17] I don't want

[30:18] to waste time on

[30:19] fruitless

[30:20] discussions again. We

[30:21] need to prepare everything well

[30:22] .

[30:23] Put a rehearsal on the agenda

[30:25] . Come on,

[30:27] let's put it all together. So, let's

[30:28] lay it out.

[30:29] So let's put it off until the

[30:31] 12th.

[30:31] Public hearings,

[30:32] you have to hold a

[30:33] regular meeting.

[30:34] Right. I'm just

[30:35] saying postpone the

[30:36] public hearing.

[30:38] My suggestion is to

[30:43] hold a regular

[30:44] meeting in

[30:45] Riverton.

[30:47] Yes.

[30:48] This is a planned place.

[30:49] Yes.

[30:50] This is to

[30:51] update information

[30:52] for them.

[30:53] Yes.

[30:53] Maybe we

[30:54] could meet

[30:56] next week.

[30:57] At 6:00 p.m.

[30:59] and

[31:00] what it should look like

[31:01] Yes.

[31:02] At least we

[31:02] have to discuss it. Yes.

[31:04] and then I can

[31:04] gather all the details.

[31:05] Yes.

[31:06] if it suits you

[31:07] .

[31:07] Yes.

[31:09] Can you just

[31:10] say that October 12th

[31:11] will be in Riverton?

[31:13] Yes.

[31:13] Right.

[31:14] Yes.

[31:14] This is to

[31:15] provide residents with

[31:16] the information we

[31:18] promised them in June.

[31:20] Um, we have some

[31:21] updates, and others we do

[31:22] n't yet. But we are doing our

[31:25] best, we

[31:26] promised to provide them with

[31:27] an update, so we

[31:28] feel it is necessary to

[31:29] do so. And I don't

[31:32] know if you saw

[31:33] the meeting, uh, the meeting

[31:34] last time, but we'll

[31:35] also be

[31:36] looking at

[31:37] holding meetings

[31:38] in different locations around the city

[31:40] . So not just Riverton

[31:42] , but other locations, we will

[31:44] be contacting the UVM branch

[31:45] to see if

[31:46] we can hold a

[31:47] meeting on Barre-

[31:48] Montpelier Road as well.

[31:49] Good.

[31:50] In your office? I

[31:51] don't know if I can.

[31:53] We still have a meeting that week on the

[31:54] 15th, right

[31:55] ? Right.

[31:56] Thank you.

[31:57] I am grateful for that.

[31:58] At that meeting, we

[31:59] still have a

[32:00] meeting on the 15th as well

[32:01] . On the

[32:02] 15th?

[32:03] Yes, this is a pre-election

[32:04] meeting.

[32:05] Oh, this is the Civil

[32:06] Affairs Council.

[32:07] This is the Civil

[32:08] Affairs Council.

[32:08] Yes.

[32:09] True.

[32:10] It's not...Well, it's...Well, it's

[32:11] all together, yeah.

[32:12] But not for

[32:13] Well, well, I...That's good to

[32:14] know. I'll put that on the

[32:15] calendar when I put it together

[32:16] so you're

[32:17] right.

[32:18] also had this as a

[32:18] reference.

[32:19] Mhm. This is great.

[32:20] I'll just write "

[32:21] Civil Affairs Council."

[32:22] October 15?

[32:24] And that too starts

[32:25] at 6:00.

[32:25] p.m. OK.

[32:27] Agreed.

[32:28] So, I

[32:29] thank you, Brian.

[32:30] Please. I have

[32:31] a suggestion:

[32:32] schedule a

[32:33] budget meeting every

[32:34] two weeks. If you don't

[32:35] need it, you don't

[32:36] need it. Maybe on

[32:38] Wednesday, a week

[32:39] when there are no meetings of

[32:40] our elected council,

[32:42] or on Thursday, or

[32:43] We did one

[32:44] first.

[32:45] Maybe we'll start on the 21st

[32:46] or 22nd, and then

[32:47] hold them every

[32:49] two weeks on a

[32:50] schedule. Or we

[32:51] keep it free

[32:52] in case

[32:53] these

[32:54] meetings are needed.

[32:54] All of the above.

[32:56] Until January.

[32:57] Yes, I'll plan it. I'll

[32:59] plan it.

[33:01] Well, I mean

[33:02] they can be on

[33:02] our calendar

[33:03] when we are free. We won't

[33:04] announce

[33:05] them in advance,

[33:07] well, until a week before the

[33:07] meeting. So we

[33:08] can always

[33:09] cancel them if they are not

[33:10] needed.

[33:12] But you're holding...We'll

[33:14] probably leave

[33:15] at 7:00 too, right?

[33:16] No, because it will get dark

[33:17] earlier.

[33:18] That doesn't mean I'm not

[33:20] interested.

[33:20] That's right. He works

[33:22] in the light.

[33:23] So working in the dark

[33:24] is the next budget.

[33:25] Well,

[33:26] so the next

[33:27] budget meeting is on

[33:29] Thursday, October 22nd. Uh

[33:32] , yes, or yes. If

[33:34] you... If we want to

[33:35] choose... I'm just saying

[33:36] we choose evening

[33:37] . I don't know which evening is

[33:38] best for everyone.

[33:39] It doesn't matter.

[33:40] And then, perhaps,

[33:41] alternate them.

[33:42] I never work on

[33:43] Sunday evenings.

[33:44] Okay, I, well, I'm free

[33:46] .

[33:46] My idea is to have

[33:47] them every week, starting

[33:49] on the 21st, so we can

[33:50] split them up: on the first one

[33:51] we'll look at roads,

[33:52] and you mentioned

[33:53] fire service,

[33:54] police, and

[33:55] capital expenditures. I

[33:56] think if we

[33:58] Roads to...roads to

[33:59] Wednesday. On the

[34:00] 30th, I know. I know.

[34:02] So, it will be this

[34:03] week, well, Wednesday.

[34:05] Yes.

[34:06] But if we start on

[34:08] the 21st and look at

[34:09] firefighters on the 21st,

[34:11] police on the 28th, and capital expenditures on November 4th,

[34:14] then we can't

[34:16] hold a meeting on the 4th.

[34:18] November 4th?

[34:19] It's election night,

[34:20] I think. Uh

[34:21] , yes.

[34:22] November? Yes, I think so

[34:24] . Uh

[34:24] , third? Third. That would be

[34:27] Tuesday the 3rd.

[34:28] Sorry.

[34:29] Right.

[34:30] Sorry.

[34:30] No,

[34:31] on your calendar.

[34:32] This is an election. It's up to you.

[34:38] Regarding our

[34:39] Wednesday nights, do we

[34:39] propose

[34:40] meeting weekly

[34:41] instead of every

[34:42] other week?

[34:42] I suggested every week.

[34:44] Uh, we could have

[34:45] meetings on the 21st

[34:46] and the 28th. Consider

[34:47] firefighters on the 21st,

[34:48] police on the 28th, and then

[34:49] skip 2 weeks

[34:50] due to election night and the

[34:52] busy first

[34:53] week of November, and

[34:54] move on to the 11th for

[34:55] capital expenditures

[34:56] . But at least, you

[34:58] know, it would allow us

[35:03] to start the

[35:04] discussion sooner rather

[35:05] than later, and it would be less

[35:06] likely that

[35:08] things would drag on, and it would be

[35:09] better to make

[35:10] our deadline of

[35:11] January 11th than to

[35:12] meet in a

[35:13] week.

[35:17] I agree to that. I

[35:18] mean, December could

[35:19] be...It would be great

[35:20] if we could make it in

[35:21] November. We do

[35:22] n't have it. That's

[35:22] right.

[35:26] So, my thought is, do

[35:28] we want to meet on the

[35:30] 21st, 28th, 4th, and 18th,

[35:31] just to

[35:32] reserve it

[35:33] in case we need a

[35:35] full review of the entire

[35:37] budget?

[35:41] That's right. Stop, stop. What

[35:43] So, the 21st, the 28th and the 4th.

[35:45] So, let's say:

[35:46] police, firefighters,

[35:47] capital expenditures.

[35:48] I'll just say it: a

[35:49] budget meeting.

[35:50] Right. And then on the 18th,

[35:52] do a full

[35:53] inspection. The

[35:54] 21st, the 28th, and the 4th?

[35:56] Do we want the 4th or the 11th,

[35:58] since we'll all

[35:59] be here on Tuesday

[36:01] night?

[36:02] Election night—3rd. I do

[36:04] n't mind. I'm

[36:05] fine with that.

[36:08] I...I mean, it's

[36:09] not like I have a

[36:10] personal life.

[36:11] Although I think I might

[36:13] be away. I

[36:14] may be away

[36:15] next week, but

[36:16] that's okay. Uh,

[36:17] let's do the 4th.

[36:18] Yes, I just realized

[36:19] that this looks like my

[36:20] Good. Let it be the 4th.

[36:22] But the 11th one is missing.

[36:23] Budget meeting on the 4th.

[36:25] What is our...What is

[36:25] Tuesday's

[36:26] Yes. What...What is our

[36:27] start time?

[36:28] 6:00 PM when we get

[36:29] to that time. The

[36:30] 4th starts at 6:00 p.m.

[36:32] Yes. And before that, it was

[36:34] 7:00 PM in October.

[36:36] I'll put up the 21st at 7pm

[36:38] and then the 28th on the website.

[36:42] Thank you.

[36:43] It's called

[36:44] compromise, I guess.

[36:45] Okay, so

[36:46] I'll do everything I can

[36:48] . I will do everything I

[36:49] can.

[36:49] Will this meeting be

[36:50] recorded?

[36:51] They will be

[36:51] public.

[36:52] Yes, these will be

[36:52] public meetings.

[36:54] Yes, they will be

[36:55] public.

[36:55] I understand that these are

[36:56] public meetings. I'm

[36:57] just curious, is this

[36:58] ...is this more than

[36:59] usual, right? So, is the

[37:00] 4th hour free?

[37:02] Yes.

[37:02] And they will be invited. They

[37:04] will be invited.

[37:05] Thank you.

[37:06] And then

[37:07] What is the 4th number when

[37:08] we work another

[37:10] day? The

[37:10] 18th is a full

[37:12] budget review.

[37:13] Are we okay? I

[37:14] was going to Okay, yeah,

[37:15] that's good. We

[37:16] may have to

[37:17] hold another one, but

[37:18] that's because the next one is... Are

[37:19] you sure we'll

[37:19] be ready by

[37:21] then?

[37:21] Well, even if not, we

[37:22] can skip to

[37:23] December, but

[37:24] AND it's

[37:25] right before

[37:26] Thanksgiving.

[37:26] And unless we

[37:27] use the 18th

[37:28] to consider something

[37:29] else, like

[37:30] capital investments

[37:31] or something like that, then we

[37:33] can only do something new in December.

[37:34] Let's set it

[37:36] for the 17th at 7:00, if everyone

[37:37] agrees, simply because

[37:38] it will be the final

[37:39] assembly and will probably

[37:41] take longer. Do

[37:42] you mean the 18th

[37:43] ?

[37:44] What? The 18th. Did I say a different

[37:46] date? I meant Sorry

[37:47] . I meant the

[37:48] 18th. Thank you. Do

[37:49] we start at 6:00 or

[37:51] 7:00 on the 18th? At 7:00.

[37:52] Why don't we start at

[37:53] 7:00 on the 18th?

[37:54] 6:00 6:00

[37:56] just because I

[37:56] think this is going to take

[37:57] longer and we need a

[37:58] break. Well, but we

[37:59] still have We are not limited in

[38:01] time. We still have I

[38:02] mean, we still have

[38:03] December, so it doesn't

[38:04] have to

[38:04] end that

[38:05] night.

[38:06] No, I just wanted to

[38:07] outline it for

[38:08] now.

[38:09] No, no.

[38:10] We call it a full

[38:11] budget review, but

[38:12] we may

[38:13] need an

[38:14] extra day for

[38:15] CIP. I mean, there's a

[38:16] lot of Yes, in

[38:18] this CIP we need to

[38:19] go through.

[38:20] Just as a

[38:20] reminder.

[38:22] We have a personnel

[38:23] policy. Let's

[38:26] review the

[38:27] addition we

[38:28] made.

[38:29] Uh,

[38:30] which we haven't read yet

[38:31] because I haven't received

[38:32] any feedback on

[38:33] it. Uh, and then it's

[38:35] ready for signing. We have a

[38:38] traffic ordinance coming up, for which

[38:39] we also have to

[38:40] hold two

[38:40] public hearings.

[38:42] Uh, finish this.

[38:43] is the 26th. You have the first one.

[38:46] Yes. But this is during a

[38:47] regular

[38:48] board meeting.

[38:49] Right. So,

[38:50] again, my

[38:51] question is: you know, I

[38:52] know you don't want

[38:54] more meetings, but

[38:55] do we want to

[38:56] split them up? Uh,

[38:58] make meetings

[39:00] shorter? Maybe, I

[39:02] don't know.

[39:02] I think you should

[39:03] add public

[39:04] hearings to the

[39:04] regular

[39:05] council meeting.

[39:06] Good. Good. I

[39:07] will continue this. I'll

[39:08] continue with this then. This is in

[39:13] I will be on I will be Yes,

[39:14] let's arrange a

[39:16] night shift. I will

[39:18] slow down. I

[39:19] will slow down with

[39:20] updating the resolutions,

[39:22] maybe until winter.

[39:24] Yes.

[39:24] Right. And then we

[39:25] will talk about

[39:26] additional meetings

[39:27] regarding

[39:28] those resolutions. Let's

[39:29] finish with

[39:30] budgets.

[39:33] This is where we are now, and

[39:35] after that—so,

[39:36] okay. Hmm, what did I

[39:40] miss?

[39:41] So,

[39:42] you said something else.

[39:43] Sorry. You said

[39:45] ...there was another

[39:45] meeting that you

[39:46] mentioned.

[39:47] Well, there is...What did I say? Oh,

[39:49] three meetings for

[39:51] website interviews.

[39:52] Yes. Do

[39:53] we want

[39:54] to schedule them

[39:55] tonight?

[39:58] I would like that. I would like to

[39:59] participate

[40:00] , and have you thought about day

[40:02] or evening?

[40:03] At the discretion of the council. I

[40:04] warned all three

[40:06] that it would likely be an

[40:07] evening meeting,

[40:07] as I expected

[40:09] most of the

[40:10] board members would want

[40:10] to join. There is

[40:12] great interest in this. Um,

[40:14] but yeah, I...I work

[40:15] at the will of the council, so.

[40:25] They

[40:26] will probably last about an

[40:27] hour for this

[40:28] meeting.

[40:29] I estimate it's

[40:30] probably an hour. I'll

[40:31] probably schedule an

[40:32] hour and a half in Teams,

[40:34] but will

[40:34] you put it before

[40:35] our regular

[40:36] board meeting like

[40:37] we did today?

[40:39] This is more on your

[40:40] part.

[40:41] I don't want to

[40:42] do that because this isn't

[40:43] exactly a public

[40:44] meeting. The other two

[40:46] companies could

[40:47] join.

[40:48] Okay, yes.

[40:49] I would like to see

[40:50] more, you know, for the

[40:51] presentation.

[40:52] Special meeting.

[40:54] Can this be done

[40:54] in a closed

[40:55] session?

[40:55] We could hold a

[40:56] closed session.

[40:56] No, no, no, but I don't

[40:57] know how it

[40:58] happens.

[40:58] Well, we can't have a

[41:00] full meeting unless it's

[41:00] announced. It

[41:01] will be announced.

[41:02] Well, yes, but you can't

[41:03] not invite people

[41:05] if it's a public

[41:05] meeting. You don't...you don't

[41:07] We...we'll have to...

[41:08] we'll have to...we'll have to

[41:08] go

[41:09] into closed

[41:10] session, like you

[41:10] said.

[41:11] Yes.

[41:11] For this, so I think

[41:13] we could.

[41:13] So, we could

[41:14] hold a closed

[41:15] session during the

[41:16] regular session if you

[41:17] want.

[41:17] Start with a closed

[41:18] session and move on

[41:19] to a regular

[41:19] meeting? That's what

[41:21] I'm just wondering if

[41:22] we could do

[41:23] interviews with them.

[41:23] Conduct interviews with them

[41:24] .

[41:25] Yes.

[41:25] Recommendation—before

[41:27] each of these

[41:27] budget meetings. An

[41:31] hour before.

[41:34] Stand still.

[41:36] I wouldn't recommend

[41:37] it. But I was looking at a

[41:40] week in October,

[41:41] actually the following

[41:42] week, you know.

[41:43] That's what we're going for.

[41:45] week. Yes. I was thinking of

[41:47] just doing them,

[41:48] even if it meant

[41:50] doing more than

[41:51] one presentation

[41:52] per evening or all three in

[41:53] one evening with

[41:54] intervals. Um, or one every

[41:57] night.

[41:58] But I think this would be a

[41:59] good week to have

[42:01] them and get the

[42:01] process started.

[42:03] I don't...I'll try to

[42:04] schedule all

[42:05] three on the same day. It won't be

[42:06] easy, but

[42:07] we'll see how

[42:08] badly they want to

[42:09] get this job.

[42:10] What is the approximate time of

[42:12] each presentation?

[42:13] You...

[42:13] I'll say they'll

[42:14] probably take

[42:15] at least an hour.

[42:16] I was thinking about an hour.

[42:18] Well, you know what? I'll tell

[42:19] them they have an hour.

[42:21] And not a minute more.

[42:23] Yes, that's all.

[42:24] So, if we do

[42:26] this on Wednesday the 7th,

[42:27] starting at 5:00 p.m.

[42:34] I'll bring the pizza.

[42:35] Starting at 5:00 PM on

[42:37] our website.

[42:38] Don't forget about it.

[42:39] I'll bring the pizza.

[42:42] Presentations.

[42:43] It's like a

[42:44] steak dinner.

[42:45] Do you think it will take an

[42:46] hour?

[42:47] I think it will take

[42:48] three. I think a couple of them

[42:50] will take...

[42:53] So you're saying 6:00 PM?

[42:55] That's what you said.

[42:57] We agreed to start

[42:58] at 5:00 PM.

[42:58] Oh, at 5:00 PM?

[42:59] From 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

[43:00] Giving them 45 minutes is

[43:01] enough, but...

[43:02] I'm counting on you. Do

[43:03] you want me to give

[43:04] them 45 minutes, Tony? I...I

[43:05] can tell them about 45

[43:06] minutes. I'll tell them about

[43:07] 30 minutes.

[43:08] Well, the only thing is...I just

[43:09] ...we really want to

[43:10] ask all

[43:10] the questions at the end,

[43:11] so it might delay the

[43:12] process.

[43:13] Their presentations. What do

[43:14] you say, Karl?

[43:16] I was going to say...I

[43:17] was going to

[43:18] suggest starting

[43:19] at 6:00 PM, because our

[43:20] meetings usually

[43:21] start at 6:00 PM

[43:22] if companies can

[43:24] do that, and I

[43:25] like 45 minutes

[43:26] and 15 minutes for

[43:27] discussion, but that's

[43:28] just my suggestion. It

[43:30] just seems to me that

[43:31] it's 7:00 PM, 7:00–8:00 PM, and 8:

[43:33] 00–9:00 PM. That's why I

[43:34] said we should

[43:36] start at 5:00 PM.

[43:36] If we're going to

[43:37] do all three in

[43:38] one evening, I thought

[43:39] we'd break it up.

[43:40] You were going to

[43:41] try to do

[43:42] all three in one evening.

[43:43] The best approach for the

[43:45] council, in my opinion, from what

[43:46] I hear.

[43:48] Good.

[43:48] Yes, we can

[43:49] do that.

[43:50] 7th at 5:00 p.m.

[43:51] Yes, at 17:00 on the 7th.

[43:54] So this is a face-to-face meeting

[43:55] ?

[43:56] No.

[43:56] Okay, so it's all through

[43:57] Teams, so you don't even

[43:59] have to come.

[44:00] Oho.

[44:01] No need, John, don't

[44:02] give them ideas.

[44:05] Why? You don't

[44:06] need my background

[44:07] noise, do you? Just

[44:10] turn off the microphone. Oh,

[44:14] great.

[44:17] I don't

[44:18] like it. I don't

[44:19] like attending

[44:21] meetings like at DRB. It's

[44:23] very difficult to be on

[44:24] the screen and not in the room

[44:25] .

[44:26] They are all about the schedule

[44:27] on the website.

[44:28] So, oh, you

[44:29] mean the speakers?

[44:30] Yes.

[44:33] 7th at 5:00 for all

[44:35] three websites.

[44:36] This is the 7th.

[44:37] Time in October.

[44:38] It will be at 5:00 p.m.

[44:40] Yes. And I'll bring the pizza.

[44:43] I have a small

[44:44] burger. That is, I can

[44:46] bring a burger to

[44:47] Again, this is an

[44:48] alternative. I have to

[44:49] work with them

[44:51] to get things sorted out.

[44:54] So, okay. I

[44:58] will check everything, try to

[44:59] confirm it, and

[45:00] then send

[45:01] you these three completed

[45:03] documents again for your review.

[45:06] And we are holding December

[45:07] .

[45:07] And we are holding December

[45:09] .

[45:09] Like, okay. OK.

[45:13] We want to target

[45:14] No, we

[45:15] will not do anything with the

[45:16] charter change right now.

[45:18] Right, while we're

[45:20] talking about changing

[45:21] my note. I'm not

[45:22] going to

[45:23] put up with this.

[45:24] We'll do it later, we'll

[45:25] set a date.

[45:26] You could leave

[45:27] We could consider the

[45:29] 26th if we're ready.

[45:30] next time

[45:31] No, let's just

[45:32] leave it at that. So,

[45:34] we'll have a

[45:34] transportation

[45:35] ordinance there, and then we

[45:36] could do

[45:36] Oh, this is a public

[45:37] hearing on the

[45:38] transportation

[45:38] ordinance. Never

[45:39] mind. I thought it was a

[45:40] public hearing.

[45:42] Give me directions

[45:43] for tomorrow. Next

[45:44] step. That's all I have

[45:47] at the moment regarding the

[45:48] schedule. What is it?

[45:53] Well, nothing else

[45:54] uses that

[45:55] room on those evenings. I

[45:56] didn't look at the

[45:57] calendar.

[45:57] Um, yes, there probably is something

[45:59] , but I'll have to

[46:00] move them to another

[46:02] room. Let me

[46:04] see.

[46:05] We can always

[46:06] go to New

[46:07] Orleans.

[46:11] All of them, the ball and the alley. There are

[46:16] plenty of places there.

[46:21] We just need to

[46:21] warn you

[46:22] in advance, right?

[46:23] Yes.

[46:24] OK. Board review and

[46:27] approval of

[46:28] award upon request

[46:29] for proposals regarding

[46:30] staff compensation.

[46:32] Okay, some of you

[46:33] have responded to the

[46:34] posted

[46:35] suggestions. Again

[46:37] , this is something we

[46:38] wanted to try to

[46:40] complete by the 1st of the

[46:41] year if we

[46:42] could. My

[46:44] recommendation to the board at

[46:46] this time is

[46:47] to award this request

[46:48] for proposals to

[46:49] MGT. And

[46:52] accept their

[46:53] offer,

[46:54] invite them here and

[46:55] start working. And

[46:57] we should get

[46:58] theirs based on that,

[46:59] we should get

[47:01] their presentation and

[47:04] proposal either by

[47:05] the end of the year or

[47:06] right after the New

[47:07] Year. Because we delayed

[47:09] it on our end,

[47:10] probably for almost 2

[47:11] weeks. So, but right

[47:13] now most of

[47:14] their schedule

[47:15] shows that they

[47:16] can provide it to us

[47:17] by the end of the year,

[47:18] maybe after

[47:19] talking to them. Also.

[47:21] Good.

[47:22] This is my recommendation.

[47:23] What would the council like to

[47:29] do?

[47:30] I mean, I was the one I

[47:31] thought about

[47:32] when we were watching

[47:33] Tak.

[47:33] which is not what

[47:35] you were looking at.

[47:36] Again, they're not the

[47:38] cheapest, but their

[47:39] package as a whole, their

[47:40] presentation, and the

[47:41] resources they're

[47:42] going to

[47:43] give us, I think it's the

[47:44] best option

[47:46] for us. This is my opinion.

[47:50] I agree with that. Are there

[47:55] any other discussions?

[47:56] No, I'm just looking

[47:57] at the second option.

[47:58] Good.

[47:59] Second

[48:00] Keep going, Karl.

[48:01] company and look at the

[48:02] weaknesses. That's

[48:03] all. Ahem. I know I've

[48:08] read them before, but I'm just

[48:09] trying to remember.

[48:11] OK. Good. Yes. I am

[48:15] ready.

[48:16] MGT.

[48:20] I hate this

[48:21] computer. I just can't get

[48:23] the image to display.

[48:24] I'm sure it's the

[48:25] user's fault.

[48:26] Um...Well, anyway

[48:27] .

[48:31] I propose to approve.

[48:32] Yes, therefore, the proposal is

[48:33] to approve the involvement of MGT

[48:35] .

[48:35] Award them a

[48:36] contract.

[48:37] Give me a contract.

[48:38] I propose to award.

[48:39] based on

[48:40] the results of a request for

[48:40] proposals (RFP).

[48:41] Yes.

[48:43] I support this

[48:44] proposal.

[48:45] Who is for it?

[48:45] Ya.

[48:47] Who's against? Thank you,

[48:50] Vince.

[48:50] OK. Thank you.

[48:52] Here it is.

[48:55] Okay, approval of

[48:56] all licenses,

[48:57] permits, vouchers, and

[48:58] applications. Did

[49:00] you want to open this

[49:02] ?

[49:02] No, you can

[49:03] handle it yourself.

[49:04] I just need

[49:05] new glasses.

[49:10] I propose to

[49:12] approve

[49:14] payroll 2707 for the

[49:16] period from September 6,

[49:18] 2026 to September 19,

[49:20] 2026, due on

[49:22] September 23, 2026, in the

[49:24] amount of $78,093.88

[49:26] . Expense

[49:30] warrant 27G06, checks number

[49:34] 26574-26616 and electronic

[49:37] checks number 28-29 in the amount of

[49:41] $315,928.35 cents.

[49:46] Expense order 27G07

[49:48] with electronic

[49:50] checks number 33 and 34 in

[49:53] the amount of $148,562.05

[49:55] cents. Expense

[50:00] warrant 27S04 with checks

[50:03] number 4778-4786 in the amount of

[50:06] $22,501.42 cents. I

[50:09] support. Are

[50:13] there any questions?

[50:14] Can I ask

[50:15] a question? Um, I've

[50:21] noticed that we're

[50:21] getting more of

[50:23] these direct

[50:23] payments along with

[50:24] checks, but aren't they

[50:26] listed? So are

[50:32] they separate? I

[50:33] tried to listen

[50:34] when you spoke, but do

[50:36] you understand what I mean

[50:37] ?

[50:37] Mhm.

[50:38] So I'm just

[50:38] trying to understand

[50:40] where exactly we are

[50:40] approving them. I

[50:41] mean, they're all

[50:43] electronic, right?

[50:44] But this...so I don't know,

[50:45] but they're not listed in the

[50:46] general list.

[50:48] I need to

[50:49] check to

[50:49] make sure I'm

[50:50] right. Again,

[50:52] she was supposed to be here tonight for

[50:53] this. But

[50:54] yes, I told you why it's

[50:55] not there.

[50:56] Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[50:58] Ahem. that direct payments

[51:00] are included in the

[51:02] total. That's why I started

[51:04] explaining to him why

[51:05] you don't see

[51:06] some checks there, but

[51:07] they are accounted for. Yes? In

[51:09] general terms, but

[51:10] I need to

[51:11] confirm this. Ahem.

[51:12] It looks like she might

[51:14] need to add another

[51:15] chapter. You would I

[51:16] guess that's my

[51:18] question. If you

[51:19] want to see them

[51:20] separately

[51:21] Well

[51:21] as a direct payment, yes,

[51:23] not checks. Good. Yes.

[51:25] We need to know what

[51:26] they are in total

[51:27] , and know where we are

[51:28] approving them,

[51:29] right?

[51:30] Yes, I agree.

[51:31] Perfectly.

[51:33] Direct payment, indicated

[51:34] separately. Without a warrant.

[51:36] Chris, do you have anything?

[51:37] Yes, that would be

[51:38] ideal.

[51:39] And that's clear.

[51:40] Sorry. I didn't catch the

[51:41] last part.

[51:42] Say it again.

[51:43] I said.

[51:44] That made it harder

[51:45] to swallow, didn't

[51:46] it? This is a single payment,

[51:48] right? This is not an

[51:49] additional bill.

[51:51] That $168,000?

[51:53] Yes.

[51:54] I believe this is the

[51:55] last and

[51:56] final one for now

[51:57] .

[51:58] Yes.

[51:59] Behind that fence?

[52:01] For that sidewalk.

[52:02] Yes.

[52:02] We'll talk

[52:03] about this a little bit at the roundtable

[52:04] .

[52:05] Good.

[52:05] Also.

[52:06] Good.

[52:07] I support. Who is for it?

[52:09] By.

[52:10] Against?

[52:12] We will discuss this at the

[52:13] round table.

[52:14] Good.

[52:20] We may

[52:21] have to

[52:22] go back. Maybe

[52:25] I should

[52:26] say this.

[52:28] Just as long as you

[52:29] sign and write,

[52:30] just a note.

[52:33] You should look

[52:34] at the details for them, because

[52:35] this is the same company

[52:36] that is still working on

[52:37] replacing the

[52:38] culvert

[52:39] on Painter Pike North.

[52:40] Got it.

[52:41] They do both

[52:42] objects.

[52:43] Good.

[52:43] So, we don't want to

[52:44] confuse them.

[52:45] Yes.

[52:46] And this should be

[52:47] described in detail there.

[52:48] This is actually very This is

[52:49] very Pike North.

[52:50] And Fisher Road.

[52:51] Yes.

[52:52] It was very

[52:53] It was clear.

[52:54] Yes.

[52:57] Eh, a round table? There is

[53:00] nothing for me today.

[53:02] Chris?

[53:04] Um, yeah, so in terms of

[53:10] future spending by

[53:11] cities with some of these

[53:13] companies, I'll just

[53:14] use PT Can as an

[53:15] example, because that's one of the

[53:16] most recent cases

[53:18] .

[53:20] Mhm.

[53:20] Ahem. We

[53:24] spent, I think,

[53:25] thousands of dollars in that process, right?

[53:28] For

[53:28] attorneys' fees and so on

[53:30] .

[53:30] It was a considerable amount.

[53:32] So maybe it's worth

[53:33] considering

[53:34] further discussion

[53:35] . Maybe not

[53:36] necessarily

[53:37] tonight, but think

[53:42] about it for the future

[53:43] when these things

[53:44] come up again.

[53:47] Maybe these people

[53:48] should cover

[53:50] our

[53:51] attorney fees and all that.

[53:54] Just part of

[53:55] the business. Part of the

[53:56] deal, I mean

[53:58] . That's right. So it makes

[54:00] sense.

[54:01] This was, this was one

[54:02] of my roundtables

[54:03] , uh

[54:04] Okay, continuing with this

[54:05] .

[54:06] Mhm.

[54:08] Remind me, did they

[54:09] need us to

[54:10] act before they

[54:11] bought the building, or were

[54:12] we just doing it out of

[54:14] politeness? Because

[54:16] maybe we should

[54:17] just say we

[54:18] won't consider

[54:19] it until

[54:21] MGM. I actually

[54:22] agree with that. Yes.

[54:23] Yeah, I mean, I do

[54:24] n't think it was about

[54:26] wanting to pay a

[54:26] lawyer to

[54:27] look at it.

[54:28] True.

[54:29] Yes, I don't know for sure.

[54:31] Ahem.

[54:31] Yes, I'm not asking you

[54:33] specifically. I'm

[54:34] just curious.

[54:35] They were considering

[54:36] purchasing the

[54:37] building and studying it.

[54:38] Both they and they didn't, both

[54:39] they and they didn't buy the

[54:40] building.

[54:41] True. So, I

[54:42] We sold it

[54:43] So, but my

[54:44] question is: why did we

[54:45] immediately move on to having the

[54:46] lawyer

[54:47] do all this work

[54:48] ? If we did it

[54:49] just for them because

[54:50] they were studying the issue,

[54:51] maybe

[54:51] So we need, to

[54:53] put a process in place. I

[54:54] think that's the point.

[54:55] Mhm.

[54:56] Good.

[54:57] And this, this should not

[54:58] be at the expense of the city of

[54:59] Verno.

[55:00] you know.

[55:00] True.

[55:01] If there are costs

[55:02] that

[55:03] I, I will look at what is available

[55:04] for the process or what

[55:05] best

[55:06] practices exist.

[55:07] I mean, I

[55:08] understand they

[55:08] want to know

[55:09] in advance, but

[55:10] okay. This will cost

[55:11] us money.

[55:12] Simple answer:

[55:13] assume you

[55:14] will pay

[55:15] taxes.

[55:15] Until then, yes. Or, you, if you want to

[55:17] pay to have

[55:18] our lawyer

[55:19] look at it.

[55:20] True.

[55:21] Yes, something and, and

[55:22] Looking at it from the

[55:23] perspective of the best

[55:24] interests of the city.

[55:25] Perfectly.

[55:26] Yes, I agree. I'll

[55:27] show you, I'll take a look to

[55:28] make some

[55:29] Thanks.

[55:29] something written on the

[55:30] spot. So some

[55:32] rules. That's great, and

[55:35] then regarding the candidate

[55:36] for the position of

[55:37] CFO,

[55:38] maybe something can be

[55:40] added there. Do they have

[55:43] strengths in

[55:44] investing our

[55:45] money in places where

[55:46] it can grow?

[55:48] Yes.

[55:49] there are time windows

[55:50] when money could be

[55:52] invested.

[55:53] Certainly.

[55:53] We, we're just

[55:55] looking into this right now. And you'll

[55:56] see when we

[55:57] talk about

[55:58] budgets, we've already

[55:59] made some changes.

[56:01] As an example, 2 years

[56:02] ago we received

[56:03] interest and

[56:04] budgeted about

[56:05] $5,000 for interest.

[56:08] Last year,

[56:09] MGM.

[56:09] 77,000.

[56:11] Yes.

[56:12] it's pooling

[56:13] money and moving to a

[56:14] higher interest rate, um,

[56:15] just a higher savings

[56:17] rate.

[56:17] Yes.

[56:18] in order for this money to

[56:19] be stored there.

[56:20] Yes.

[56:20] We earned

[56:21] 77,72

[56:22] thousand more than

[56:24] we earned before.

[56:25] This is a huge amount. I mean

[56:26] , with

[56:28] Absolutely.

[56:28] with growth and requirements,

[56:30] so

[56:30] Yes. We mentioned it to you

[56:32] , so it's your

[56:33] fault. We

[56:34] looked into this after

[56:35] you

[56:36] mentioned it and found

[56:37] some easy

[56:38] ways to do it

[56:39] right now.

[56:40] Yes, that's good. I am

[56:42] wonderful.

[56:42] And I'm sure there are more

[56:43] complex banking

[56:45] things we can

[56:46] look into,

[56:46] Yes.

[56:47] but it was simple.

[56:48] Yes.

[56:49] We were able to do this immediately by

[56:50] simply

[56:51] moving to higher

[56:52] interest rates with a

[56:53] larger pool of

[56:54] funds.

[56:55] Yes. And this is huge

[56:57] money. 77 thousand. I

[56:59] mean, this is one of

[57:00] our trucks.

[57:01] Yes, that's right. I

[57:03] mean, yeah, and we

[57:04] should. You'll see

[57:05] it. It will come up when we

[57:06] talk about it.

[57:07] Yes. Good.

[57:08] started doing a little bit of

[57:09] that. But is there anything

[57:10] else? I am sure we

[57:11] can do

[57:12] more.

[57:12] Yes, I'm sure there is,

[57:14] and Yes. Good.

[57:15] E I think it was

[57:19] Yes. Thank you.

[57:21] OK.

[57:23] Well, I think this is a

[57:24] clarification on

[57:26] who is

[57:26] responsible for the

[57:27] interceptive

[57:28] parking here. I

[57:31] think I sent

[57:32] you a message about the

[57:34] residents in our

[57:35] parking lot, which I

[57:36] believe is state-owned,

[57:37] but I don't know if there's

[57:38] anyone we can

[57:40] or should contact

[57:41] about this

[57:42] because it could be a

[57:43] problem for the city.

[57:46] Okay, I'll give you a name.

[57:48] I'm sure there's a name.

[57:50] We discussed this,

[57:51] seeking the permission

[57:52] we were expecting.

[57:54] Yes.

[57:55] What are the conditions there?

[57:56] Fourth item on the

[57:57] agenda,

[57:58] Brede.

[57:59] What?

[58:01] Contact regarding

[58:01] public parking.

[58:03] Yes. I will find out for

[58:05] you.

[58:05] Thank you.

[58:06] Can I go

[58:08] back? I had another

[58:09] one. And this

[58:11] Can I ask you to

[58:12] do more?

[58:13] Sorry. So, I

[58:16] chatted with him a little bit

[58:17] about the "

[58:18] Welcome to Rowley" signs, and

[58:19] his schedule has been a little

[58:21] crazy the last

[58:22] couple of weeks. And mine is

[58:25] going crazy. We

[58:28] will try

[58:29] to do something, but we

[58:30] cannot guarantee anything. I will

[58:33] do my best,

[58:34] and this is a challenge. It will be e

[58:39] We will just

[58:39] have to cut

[58:40] your salary.

[58:41] I can go for it. Yes,

[58:43] you can

[58:44] fire me.

[58:46] Fewer meetings for

[58:47] you.

[58:48] Anything you can

[58:49] do, we appreciate.

[58:50] Maybe I'll skip

[58:51] a few meetings and

[58:52] order catering. No

[58:54] , thank you, Chris.

[58:56] I appreciate you and know

[58:57] you will do your

[58:58] best within

[58:59] your time.

[59:01] Yes. That's all.

[59:04] Thank you.

[59:04] Sorry. Why does everyone

[59:07] frown when it's

[59:08] my turn?

[59:09] Carlo, no, it's fine,

[59:11] Carlo.

[59:15] So I don't know if this is

[59:17] on your list, but

[59:18] today or this

[59:19] week I suddenly

[59:20] thought about the

[59:21] Turnpike payment and what's

[59:22] going on, because I

[59:23] thought the money

[59:25] had to be spent

[59:26] before...I thought there was a

[59:27] deadline for using

[59:28] the funding.

[59:29] This is next year.

[59:31] What about the

[59:32] culvert?

[59:32] Yes.

[59:32] No, everything is fine. Are

[59:33] you sure?

[59:34] Yes, a

[59:35] culvert, yes. Yes,

[59:36] sorry. I thought you meant another one

[59:37] .

[59:37] What about, um, is that

[59:38] Richard Sanborn?

[59:39] Is this correct?

[59:40] Richard Sanborn, we're in

[59:41] trouble.

[59:41] Yes, we will have

[59:42] problems. We have time

[59:44] until, um, we're still

[59:45] working, still

[59:46] working with the state.

[59:47] She was very

[59:48] good. But from an

[59:50] engineering perspective and due to

[59:52] delays, we're

[59:53] likely to have

[59:54] problems with that. If there is

[59:56] no breakthrough by

[1:00:00] the end of November,

[1:00:02] significant

[1:00:03] progress will be made. We won't

[1:00:04] be able to get another

[1:00:05] sequel.

[1:00:07] We already had three of them.

[1:00:08] The fourth is usually an

[1:00:09] unheard of thing.

[1:00:10] Now if I push the

[1:00:11] Well and

[1:00:12] Berlin sides and work with the

[1:00:13] city department

[1:00:14] Yes.

[1:00:15] maybe we can

[1:00:16] do it.

[1:00:17] Yes. Yes, but I will have

[1:00:20] better information

[1:00:21] after talking to her. I

[1:00:24] think we have another

[1:00:26] meeting the second

[1:00:30] week of October.

[1:00:32] So, what's the delay

[1:00:33] on the engineering side? Does

[1:00:34] n't this go on for

[1:00:35] years?

[1:00:36] Yes.

[1:00:37] It's not that

[1:00:37] difficult.

[1:00:38] It, it, it

[1:00:39] moves forward. It's

[1:00:42] not, um, there were just

[1:00:44] a lot of things in between that

[1:00:45] happened and things didn't

[1:00:46] go so well.

[1:00:49] Mhm. We can

[1:00:51] discuss this in more

[1:00:52] detail later.

[1:00:54] Good.

[1:01:00] This is a risky object

[1:01:01] .

[1:01:01] Mhm.

[1:01:05] Oh, never mind. I'm

[1:01:07] done. I am everything.

[1:01:11] Good.

[1:01:12] Yes.

[1:01:16] So, I have one

[1:01:17] question, and it's one of

[1:01:19] our favorites—the

[1:01:20] sidewalk. Um,

[1:01:24] actually, Mr. Schultz, a

[1:01:26] representative from

[1:01:27] Mr. Sanders' office, is

[1:01:28] also in touch with us right now

[1:01:30] , because he's

[1:01:30] obviously very

[1:01:31] interested in this

[1:01:33] project and the

[1:01:33] funding. And one

[1:01:38] of the things that came out

[1:01:39] of our meeting with

[1:01:40] the state is that no matter

[1:01:42] what we decide

[1:01:43] at this late

[1:01:44] stage, any

[1:01:45] action will require an

[1:01:46] extension of time

[1:01:47] . So we are announcing this right

[1:01:49] now. Um,

[1:01:53] but there is interest,

[1:01:55] the question is whether there are

[1:01:56] other projects in which we would be

[1:01:58] interested in

[1:01:59] investing this money, this

[1:02:00] 1.6 million, that are

[1:02:01] related to

[1:02:02] pedestrian or

[1:02:03] bicycle

[1:02:04] infrastructure or

[1:02:06] multi-purpose

[1:02:07] paths. He

[1:02:14] raised this question and

[1:02:15] asked me

[1:02:16] to ask the council if

[1:02:17] they had any

[1:02:18] ideas.

[1:02:21] Yes, the initial

[1:02:22] project.

[1:02:22] Well, that's what we were

[1:02:23] talking about. Besides,

[1:02:25] I'll have to

[1:02:26] go back and

[1:02:26] see what

[1:02:28] stage

[1:02:28] the mall is at,

[1:02:30] right? But it

[1:02:31] was mentioned as one

[1:02:33] of the projects.

[1:02:35] Original.

[1:02:37] Right.

[1:02:37] Return to

[1:02:38] the original.

[1:02:39] That would be ideal.

[1:02:42] Another option

[1:02:44] discussed was a

[1:02:45] 3.8-acre trail.

[1:02:47] From Burlington to

[1:02:48] school.

[1:02:49] Yes. Is

[1:02:49] n't that right? Which

[1:02:50] will require

[1:02:51] significant funds due to the

[1:02:52] bridge that needs to be

[1:02:53] built over

[1:02:53] wetlands.

[1:02:54] Right. But this is

[1:02:56] another potential

[1:02:57] option.

[1:02:59] I was thinking about this

[1:03:01] because I have repeatedly

[1:03:02] received calls

[1:03:03] from residents regarding

[1:03:05] people walking

[1:03:06] along Route 62.

[1:03:09] Yes.

[1:03:10] And about the children

[1:03:15] walking on the side of the

[1:03:16] road. I understand that

[1:03:19] this applies to people

[1:03:21] walking, and

[1:03:23] Yes.

[1:03:23] Where do they go?

[1:03:24] Yes.

[1:03:26] But I've had residents call me

[1:03:27] asking what we're

[1:03:29] going to

[1:03:30] do about it because they don't

[1:03:31] want to see

[1:03:32] little kids

[1:03:33] getting into...

[1:03:34] They don't go to

[1:03:35] school, right? Are they

[1:03:37] just leaving? I

[1:03:38] mean, I don't.

[1:03:41] So, I was told that there

[1:03:42] are those who go there with their

[1:03:43] parents to school,

[1:03:44] but there are also those who go

[1:03:46] and then cross the

[1:03:47] street to get to

[1:03:53] Applebee's or something

[1:03:54] else there. Ahem.

[1:03:57] Yes, no, just curious

[1:03:58] , because

[1:03:59] Yes.

[1:03:59] So, of course,

[1:04:03] I think it opens up

[1:04:04] possibilities if we

[1:04:05] make a path there,

[1:04:10] what is the school's position

[1:04:16] on this in terms of

[1:04:17] safety?

[1:04:19] From what I understand

[1:04:20] from previous

[1:04:21] staff

[1:04:22] who

[1:04:24] worked on this,

[1:04:25] conversations were ongoing with the school

[1:04:26] and they were

[1:04:27] very interested in

[1:04:28] it. One of the

[1:04:29] main reasons was that

[1:04:30] it would provide

[1:04:31] them with an escape route

[1:04:32] in case of an

[1:04:34] emergency. As far as I

[1:04:35] understand, they don't have it right now

[1:04:36] . They

[1:04:40] also tried

[1:04:41] to look into the future

[1:04:43] so that if

[1:04:44] young families moved into a

[1:04:46] nearby housing estate, they would have a

[1:04:47] safe walking

[1:04:48] route to school.

[1:04:51] Or on a bike, or

[1:04:52] whatever.

[1:04:53] No, because the residents

[1:04:54] were worried that if

[1:04:56] we put a

[1:04:56] path there, people would start

[1:04:58] walking.

[1:04:58] Yes.

[1:05:00] from that area to

[1:05:01] school, and then they will

[1:05:02] walk along the school

[1:05:04] paths, etc. Are there any

[1:05:07] security issues there? So, I hear

[1:05:08] it from both sides.

[1:05:11] I...there was a lot of...

[1:05:12] I understand there

[1:05:13] was also a lot of

[1:05:15] discussion about the

[1:05:15] general safety of the

[1:05:17] path that goes

[1:05:18] through that wetland

[1:05:19] area, right?

[1:05:21] Yes.

[1:05:23] This is definitely a

[1:05:25] factor to

[1:05:26] consider for people and

[1:05:27] children.

[1:05:29] Yes. I remember that, but I

[1:05:31] also remember that there

[1:05:33] was...it was an

[1:05:33] extremely high

[1:05:35] cost.

[1:05:37] Ugh. I

[1:05:37] don't know if we had an

[1:05:39] official

[1:05:42] I think, if memory

[1:05:43] serves, from

[1:05:44] one of those

[1:05:45] meetings, the project was

[1:05:46] completely rejected

[1:05:47] because of

[1:05:48] wetland procedures.

[1:05:50] Well, I think it's partly

[1:05:51] because of the cost of

[1:05:52] going through this

[1:05:53] process.

[1:05:54] Yes, this very

[1:05:55] process. Yes.

[1:05:56] Ugh.

[1:05:56] Yes. But...but you're

[1:05:58] right. I think that's a

[1:05:59] big part of the

[1:06:00] problem.

[1:06:02] Let me propose an

[1:06:03] unconventional idea,

[1:06:04] okay? On Route 62, there

[1:06:07] 's actually an

[1:06:08] overly wide

[1:06:09] emergency

[1:06:11] stop lane there, right? Is it

[1:06:16] possible or advisable

[1:06:18] to install, say,

[1:06:19] a fence that

[1:06:20] would provide sufficient

[1:06:21] width for walking and

[1:06:22] preserve an

[1:06:23] emergency stop lane?

[1:06:27] strip. I

[1:06:29] don't know if it's a state law. I

[1:06:31] think it's a

[1:06:32] state law that

[1:06:33] prohibits

[1:06:34] pedestrian access to

[1:06:35] these highways. You have to

[1:06:36] get permission from the

[1:06:37] state.

[1:06:37] They can

[1:06:38] ban as much as they

[1:06:39] want. It still

[1:06:40] happens. And they

[1:06:41] don't enforce it

[1:06:41] and

[1:06:42] don't do anything about it.

[1:06:43] Yeah, but I

[1:06:44] mean we won't

[1:06:45] get the permits

[1:06:46] until they...they would have to

[1:06:46] ...We have to

[1:06:47] ...They would have to

[1:06:48] do...I don't even

[1:06:49] know if they can.

[1:06:50] So, what can I

[1:06:51] ask? I'm not saying

[1:06:53] we can't ask

[1:06:54] .

[1:06:54] Yes, I was just about to

[1:06:55] say that. I can

[1:06:56] ask. By the way,

[1:06:57] Eric is here today.

[1:06:58] I guess we'll have a

[1:06:59] meeting with the

[1:07:00] state representatives next

[1:07:01] , and that's something I can

[1:07:02] ask them about. Maybe

[1:07:04] with a little

[1:07:04] help from Eric,

[1:07:06] they'll consider this as a

[1:07:07] viable option

[1:07:08] . Here are three options

[1:07:10] . Which we talked about tonight

[1:07:12] .

[1:07:14] Is there an option to involve

[1:07:16] all three participants

[1:07:17] together?

[1:07:18] Of course.

[1:07:18] You know.

[1:07:19] Of course.

[1:07:20] Having Eric, having

[1:07:22] Let me

[1:07:23] clarify, Eric...

[1:07:24] Vince, you're

[1:07:25] off the mic now,

[1:07:26] but is there anything you'd

[1:07:27] like to add or

[1:07:28] say now? Your

[1:07:29] thoughts?

[1:07:31] Yes. Em. I

[1:07:32] don't want to single you out,

[1:07:33] but I will still single you out

[1:07:34] .

[1:07:34] No, don't worry. I, I

[1:07:36] apologize, I'm sorry.

[1:07:37] I'm sitting here at the

[1:07:38] dinner table. Thank you

[1:07:39] for letting me

[1:07:40] join at the

[1:07:41] last minute. No, I'm

[1:07:43] grateful you let me in

[1:07:44] . My name is

[1:07:46] Eric Schultz. I

[1:07:47] handle

[1:07:48] transportation issues for the

[1:07:49] senator. I know that

[1:07:52] this project has a long

[1:07:54] history, and a lot of it

[1:07:55] happened before me.

[1:08:00] So I just ask you

[1:08:01] to continue the work

[1:08:02] and be open to

[1:08:04] discussing

[1:08:04] options for

[1:08:05] using this

[1:08:06] funding. Our

[1:08:11] position is clear:

[1:08:13] the senator put

[1:08:14] himself at risk to

[1:08:15] secure this

[1:08:16] $1.6 million in

[1:08:18] funding. If

[1:08:22] the term

[1:08:22] expires—which is at

[1:08:24] the end of

[1:08:24] next September—

[1:08:26] that $1.6 million

[1:08:27] will return to

[1:08:28] the Treasury, and we

[1:08:29] won't be able to

[1:08:31] redistribute it

[1:08:32] within the state. So your

[1:08:36] city, like the entire state,

[1:08:38] will lose that

[1:08:39] $1.6 million

[1:08:40] earmarked for

[1:08:41] improving our

[1:08:42] infrastructure. I

[1:08:46] like what I

[1:08:48] hear. Vince, can

[1:08:52] you talk about that

[1:08:53] third idea, which is

[1:08:54] downtown? You can

[1:08:57] just...

[1:08:58] Yes.

[1:08:58] Just give me...

[1:09:00] Yes. So, it's in the

[1:09:02] city center. It runs

[1:09:06] along Highway 62, a

[1:09:07] small section of

[1:09:08] state highway, the

[1:09:09] intersection

[1:09:11] we always talk about

[1:09:12] near the school that leads to

[1:09:14] Highway 62.

[1:09:16] Yes.

[1:09:17] That's what we're

[1:09:18] talking about, along it

[1:09:19] , and it also

[1:09:20] connects to the road

[1:09:21] to the mall.

[1:09:23] So it runs

[1:09:25] from the road to

[1:09:26] the mall to the

[1:09:27] intersection of Painter and

[1:09:28] Bike North, right next to

[1:09:30] Highway 62. As you just

[1:09:34] heard from the council,

[1:09:35] the biggest challenge

[1:09:36] is getting

[1:09:37] permission from the

[1:09:38] state itself for something like this

[1:09:39] .

[1:09:41] This is considered a

[1:09:43] limited access highway.

[1:09:44] Got it. Got it.

[1:09:46] There are very clear

[1:09:48] rules about what is

[1:09:49] allowed and what is not.

[1:09:51] Yes. Yes. And if we

[1:09:58] go back to the

[1:09:59] original plan,

[1:10:00] so to speak, to the

[1:10:01] original scope of

[1:10:02] this

[1:10:03] mall project,

[1:10:04] Vince, where do you think

[1:10:07] this discussion is at now? Have

[1:10:13] you talked to anyone

[1:10:15] from the mall

[1:10:16] lately? And, I

[1:10:17] mean, what do you

[1:10:19] think about that?

[1:10:20] So, since our

[1:10:21] last conversation,

[1:10:22] I haven't been able

[1:10:23] to talk to anyone

[1:10:24] at the mall yet.

[1:10:25] Yes.

[1:10:27] After our

[1:10:28] last

[1:10:28] discussion or

[1:10:29] meeting with the state, I will

[1:10:31] be contacting them

[1:10:32] this week to

[1:10:33] find a time to

[1:10:33] discuss their

[1:10:34] thoughts on that

[1:10:35] initial

[1:10:36] conceptual

[1:10:37] plan that was

[1:10:38] proposed earlier

[1:10:39] .

[1:10:41] Of course.

[1:10:42] And what stage are they at

[1:10:43] now?

[1:10:45] I just want to

[1:10:46] point this out, because as I

[1:10:48] understood it, we went

[1:10:52] to the

[1:10:53] sidewalk option because

[1:10:54] we needed to

[1:10:55] spend these funds,

[1:10:56] they were supposed to be

[1:10:57] used this year.

[1:10:59] This fall. And we wouldn't have had

[1:11:01] time, because the

[1:11:02] shopping center chose a

[1:11:04] different option due to the

[1:11:05] large number of

[1:11:06] other projects. They

[1:11:07] said that now is not the

[1:11:08] best time to

[1:11:09] implement a

[1:11:10] multi-use

[1:11:11] trail. But this was the

[1:11:12] initial option.

[1:11:13] This is the best-case

[1:11:14] scenario if we

[1:11:15] can get back

[1:11:16] to that

[1:11:16] multi-use

[1:11:18] path. It was about

[1:11:19] her that we conducted

[1:11:20] a survey. I

[1:11:21] mean, at least in

[1:11:23] my opinion. I speak

[1:11:24] only for myself. This is something that has

[1:11:28] already been considered

[1:11:29] and we have already done this

[1:11:30] research or

[1:11:31] preliminary plan. But

[1:11:36] we thought it was a

[1:11:36] matter of

[1:11:37] funding deadlines. So it's

[1:11:39] nice to hear that we

[1:11:40] might be able to.

[1:11:42] Well, Eric, as we were

[1:11:44] saying, I think it's

[1:11:45] still a problem, right?

[1:11:46] In a meeting with the state,

[1:11:47] we discussed that

[1:11:49] any

[1:11:49] future direction we take

[1:11:51] will likely require an

[1:11:52] extension of time

[1:11:53] , if possible.

[1:11:54] We are already at the finish

[1:11:55] line, but we still need to

[1:11:57] conduct an environmental

[1:11:58] assessment and

[1:11:59] design work. I

[1:12:01] know you've already invested

[1:12:03] time and money into your

[1:12:04] design and concept,

[1:12:05] but yes, it

[1:12:06] looks that way, and besides,

[1:12:08] nothing is

[1:12:08] guaranteed. You

[1:12:12] know,

[1:12:14] extensions are not

[1:12:14] guaranteed, but we will

[1:12:16] certainly, if

[1:12:17] we can get a

[1:12:18] viable project that

[1:12:20] your council agrees to, do

[1:12:21] everything we can to

[1:12:23] help you. And, as I

[1:12:27] said, we really want to

[1:12:28] keep these funds in the

[1:12:29] state and put

[1:12:31] them to good use, and I'm

[1:12:32] sure you do too.

[1:12:35] Is the shopping

[1:12:37] mall project...I don't

[1:12:38] want to

[1:12:39] embarrass anyone,

[1:12:40] but do you feel

[1:12:41] as a group that you would have a

[1:12:42] consensus on the

[1:12:44] initial scope of

[1:12:45] work if everyone

[1:12:46] agreed to it?

[1:12:49] I'm not even sure if the

[1:12:51] new members saw it.

[1:12:52] Yeah, I saw the original

[1:12:53] when it was

[1:12:54] OK.

[1:12:55] proposed.

[1:12:56] Has the engineering

[1:12:56] design

[1:12:57] been completed yet?

[1:12:58] planning

[1:12:59] No, no, it was just a

[1:13:00] concept.

[1:13:01] We would get

[1:13:02] more.

[1:13:04] Well, actually, that's what I

[1:13:06] was going to say: if

[1:13:07] we move on, you

[1:13:09] know, we just

[1:13:10] spent 168,000 on something that we've

[1:13:11] now

[1:13:13] decided to give up

[1:13:14] . If we do all of

[1:13:20] this and don't get an

[1:13:21] extension on

[1:13:22] these funds, we

[1:13:23] could be facing

[1:13:24] another significant

[1:13:25] amount of

[1:13:26] design work, and to be

[1:13:27] honest, that's a

[1:13:28] little disconcerting to me.

[1:13:31] Yes, that's a valid

[1:13:32] point, and I know,

[1:13:33] Eric, we talked

[1:13:34] about that, right? To

[1:13:36] find out if these

[1:13:38] funds can be used for

[1:13:39] planning and/or

[1:13:40] design.

[1:13:45] Well, you know, we have to take it

[1:13:46] step by step.

[1:13:48] We need to assemble a

[1:13:50] team, we need to

[1:13:51] reach an agreement on the

[1:13:52] project. Um, and all

[1:13:53] I can say is

[1:13:55] , you know, we, as I

[1:13:56] said, our office

[1:13:57] wants the city to

[1:13:59] use this money,

[1:14:00] wants it to

[1:14:01] stay in the state, and

[1:14:02] we'll do everything we can

[1:14:04] to

[1:14:05] help. So if

[1:14:07] you want to get together and

[1:14:08] get everyone

[1:14:09] involved, I

[1:14:10] worked with

[1:14:11] Vince quite a bit and he was very

[1:14:12] helpful in getting

[1:14:14] people in from the state and

[1:14:15] calling different

[1:14:16] meetings. But if you

[1:14:17] want to call,

[1:14:18] you know, get everyone together

[1:14:20] for a meeting, I'd be

[1:14:21] happy to organize one

[1:14:22] for you.

[1:14:23] This is a great idea.

[1:14:26] Yeah, and, um, just to

[1:14:27] keep, I do, and to keep

[1:14:29] everything, you know,

[1:14:30] open, and if there are

[1:14:31] any concerns,

[1:14:33] let's discuss

[1:14:34] them and make sure

[1:14:35] everyone is, you know,

[1:14:37] hopefully on the same

[1:14:38] page about the project, I'd be

[1:14:39] very happy to do that

[1:14:41] . Um, what I would

[1:14:44] suggest or

[1:14:45] what I would hope for is,

[1:14:46] you know, to take, um, I don't

[1:14:48] know if you want to

[1:14:49] bring this up as an

[1:14:50] agenda item for

[1:14:51] one of your

[1:14:52] next meetings.

[1:14:54] It looks like you have

[1:14:56] a lot of work ahead of you. I, um,

[1:14:57] listened to your meeting

[1:14:58] here over dinner.

[1:15:00] But, um, yeah,

[1:15:01] discuss it

[1:15:01] internally, like I said,

[1:15:03] and all I'm asking

[1:15:04] is to keep an

[1:15:05] open mind and

[1:15:05] let's try to

[1:15:07] find a way to

[1:15:07] keep that money in the

[1:15:08] state, and, um, you know,

[1:15:10] hopefully you

[1:15:10] get, uh,

[1:15:12] yeah.

[1:15:12] something that will

[1:15:13] benefit your city.

[1:15:15] Therefore.

[1:15:18] But, Eric, just to

[1:15:20] follow up on that point,

[1:15:21] I think it would be helpful for the council

[1:15:22] to know that

[1:15:24] some of that money,

[1:15:25] if they wanted to,

[1:15:26] we could put toward

[1:15:28] design or

[1:15:29] planning—if we were to

[1:15:30] negotiate a

[1:15:31] project with the

[1:15:32] mall or with the state

[1:15:34] , whether it's Lot 62 or the

[1:15:35] mall, and we could reach an agreement.

[1:15:39] I think that would make a

[1:15:40] significant impression on this

[1:15:42] council. Are

[1:15:44] you now... We're not

[1:15:45] talking about the money

[1:15:46] you've already spent

[1:15:47] ?

[1:15:48] No, no. We are talking

[1:15:50] about 1.6 million.

[1:15:52] Yes.

[1:15:54] Can some of this

[1:15:55] money, as we

[1:15:56] discussed with

[1:15:56] the state, also

[1:15:57] be used for planning purposes?

[1:16:00] Planning and design would

[1:16:01] make a significant difference

[1:16:02] .

[1:16:03] OK.

[1:16:04] Of course.

[1:16:04] Yes. And this...

[1:16:07] And I just want to

[1:16:08] say that I think

[1:16:09] the school is a very important

[1:16:10] potential project

[1:16:12] , but we're not yet far enough along to make

[1:16:14] it a reality.

[1:16:17] Especially considering

[1:16:18] environmental permits.

[1:16:22] And the thing is, I don't

[1:16:23] know, given the

[1:16:24] last vote,

[1:16:26] how this will affect the

[1:16:26] matter, whether this should

[1:16:28] now be considered by the

[1:16:29] entire supervisory

[1:16:30] union.

[1:16:32] I'm sure it is.

[1:16:34] Of course, it will

[1:16:34] have to, because now,

[1:16:36] after that

[1:16:36] vote, it must

[1:16:38] be approved by

[1:16:38] a vote of all

[1:16:39] five cities.

[1:16:40] At the moment.

[1:16:41] Yes.

[1:16:42] So, maybe that

[1:16:43] project has

[1:16:44] been shelved for now, but the 62nd

[1:16:45] is still

[1:16:46] viable.

[1:16:47] That's right.

[1:16:48] And the original

[1:16:48] concept is certainly still

[1:16:51] relevant.

[1:16:51] Yes.

[1:16:52] And if I

[1:16:52] remember correctly, there weren't that

[1:16:53] many

[1:16:54] environmental

[1:16:54] implications, at least

[1:16:55] for one of the

[1:16:56] design options. The

[1:16:57] impact on

[1:16:58] wetlands in

[1:16:58] the initial design of the

[1:16:59] multi-use

[1:17:01] trail was

[1:17:01] minimal. So

[1:17:02] hopefully it won't

[1:17:03] happen... That

[1:17:04] 's right. ... a

[1:17:04] serious obstacle

[1:17:05] to obtaining

[1:17:06] permits.

[1:17:07] Good.

[1:17:07] But I think that's the whole point of a

[1:17:09] city center—

[1:17:10] to make it

[1:17:11] pedestrian-friendly.

[1:17:11] Well, that was one of the

[1:17:13] discussion topics

[1:17:14] I wanted to

[1:17:14] suggest, but

[1:17:15] since it came up

[1:17:17] tonight, I'd

[1:17:18] really like to have a

[1:17:19] meeting with the

[1:17:20] mall. And find out

[1:17:23] what their plans are. We, as a

[1:17:26] city, have invested a lot

[1:17:26] in

[1:17:28] making that entire

[1:17:29] area our

[1:17:30] city center.

[1:17:33] You know, we were

[1:17:33] hoping they

[1:17:35] would be built, and we

[1:17:36] would like to understand

[1:17:37] their position.

[1:17:38] Yes.

[1:17:39] And I would also like to

[1:17:40] go to the

[1:17:41] hospital, you know.

[1:17:42] Yes.

[1:17:43] Because we had already

[1:17:44] discussed before

[1:17:45] that they would help with a

[1:17:47] certain construction,

[1:17:48] and I would like to know what's going on

[1:17:49] with that plot.

[1:17:52] I think now is the right

[1:17:54] time for us as a

[1:17:55] council to reach out

[1:17:56] to these two

[1:17:57] major

[1:17:58] property owners in our

[1:17:59] city. I think

[1:18:02] we put a lot of effort into

[1:18:04] getting this

[1:18:05] appointment and

[1:18:05] moving forward. And

[1:18:09] then we had to

[1:18:10] urgently move

[1:18:12] this project to another

[1:18:13] location because they weren't

[1:18:14] ready to continue.

[1:18:19] Therefore, I want to understand

[1:18:20] their plans for

[1:18:21] further development

[1:18:23] and investment, because,

[1:18:24] in my opinion, the city

[1:18:25] has spent a lot of

[1:18:26] time, effort, and money

[1:18:27] on this.

[1:18:30] Tell me, where would you

[1:18:31] like to invite them?

[1:18:32] Can I make

[1:18:33] a suggestion? I'm not

[1:18:34] sure they will

[1:18:35] publicly come to the

[1:18:36] meeting to talk

[1:18:37] about their plans. I would

[1:18:39] advise the city, if

[1:18:40] you want to meet

[1:18:41] with them, in person or

[1:18:42] otherwise,

[1:18:45] no, I'm not saying, and I'm not

[1:18:46] saying we should

[1:18:47] have

[1:18:48] Yes, no, I just

[1:18:51] think there are conversations that are

[1:18:53] worth having,

[1:18:54] especially if we're

[1:18:55] going to

[1:18:56] invest 1.6

[1:18:57] million plus

[1:18:58] city spending in this

[1:18:59] mall area

[1:19:00] . Because, look,

[1:19:05] let's be

[1:19:06] honest, this is their

[1:19:07] property. After all,

[1:19:08] this is their territory where

[1:19:09] we are laying this

[1:19:10] multi-use

[1:19:11] path. What is the

[1:19:13] future of their

[1:19:14] site? If we

[1:19:15] went for it.

[1:19:16] the city as a whole.

[1:19:18] No, and I understand that.

[1:19:19] Yes, we are

[1:19:20] taxed too.

[1:19:21] no, and I'm not saying no,

[1:19:23] but we

[1:19:25] When you have a

[1:19:26] minute this week,

[1:19:27] write to me, what

[1:19:28] suits you, and we

[1:19:29] will schedule a meeting

[1:19:30] for you and me with the

[1:19:31] management of the

[1:19:32] shopping center, and

[1:19:33] another with the management of

[1:19:35] the hospital.

[1:19:36] Two separate meetings.

[1:19:39] Yes, I agree.

[1:19:40] Yes, yes.

[1:19:41] We will go there.

[1:19:42] Yes.

[1:19:42] And, uh,

[1:19:43] Yes. to

[1:19:43] get out of the cage.

[1:19:44] Yes.

[1:19:45] I just think we

[1:19:46] all need to have a

[1:19:47] common understanding.

[1:19:48] Yes.

[1:19:49] We

[1:19:50] Of course.

[1:19:51] No, I don't object.

[1:19:53] evolve. We have

[1:19:55] two fairly large

[1:19:56] parts of the city that

[1:19:57] belong to these two

[1:19:58] entities. I think we

[1:20:00] all need to act in a

[1:20:01] coordinated manner,

[1:20:02] wondering where we are

[1:20:03] headed. So.

[1:20:05] Yes.

[1:20:06] What's going on with

[1:20:07] the hospital there?

[1:20:08] Yes, I heard something.

[1:20:10] They are not

[1:20:11] MGM.

[1:20:15] it's about it's

[1:20:16] about

[1:20:16] Yes, it's a complicated

[1:20:17] question. Yes, but

[1:20:18] something worth

[1:20:19] talking about

[1:20:20] So it

[1:20:20] won't hurt.

[1:20:21] I think it would

[1:20:22] n't hurt to have

[1:20:23] something to talk about.

[1:20:24] Yes.

[1:20:24] No, no, no, I'm not saying

[1:20:25] you can't talk to them

[1:20:26] . Ask

[1:20:27] if they want

[1:20:27] to connect because they

[1:20:28] once wanted to

[1:20:28] connect their path,

[1:20:29] or we talked about

[1:20:30] connecting their

[1:20:30] paths with other

[1:20:31] paths further down the

[1:20:31] road. So that's a different

[1:20:33] topic.

[1:20:33] Of course.

[1:20:34] Um, I'm grateful you

[1:20:35] came. It's really nice

[1:20:37] to hear this

[1:20:37] directly from

[1:20:38] you.

[1:20:38] Yes, thank you very much.

[1:20:40] Yes, I'm glad. I'm

[1:20:41] more than happy

[1:20:42] to join in, um, when

[1:20:44] needed. And as I

[1:20:49] said, if there's

[1:20:50] anything I can

[1:20:51] help with, like

[1:20:52] bringing other

[1:20:53] partners to the

[1:20:54] meeting or if I

[1:20:55] can reach out to

[1:20:57] my colleagues in

[1:20:57] Washington on

[1:20:58] any federal

[1:21:00] issues that would be

[1:21:01] helpful, please don't

[1:21:01] hesitate to reach out

[1:21:03] . And, um, yes, I would

[1:21:07] encourage such

[1:21:08] meetings. And the last thing

[1:21:10] I'll say is: there's not

[1:21:12] much leeway here in how

[1:21:13] it's written,

[1:21:14] but it's written in the

[1:21:15] law. So the funds

[1:21:20] should be

[1:21:20] used

[1:21:22] downtown, in downtown

[1:21:23] Burlington, for

[1:21:24] bike or

[1:21:24] pedestrian

[1:21:25] infrastructure, but

[1:21:26] with that in mind, I would

[1:21:27] advise you

[1:21:28] to keep

[1:21:29] an open mind and

[1:21:30] maybe be creative

[1:21:31] about how to

[1:21:32] spend that money and

[1:21:33] improve your city.

[1:21:37] Perfectly. Thank you.

[1:21:39] very much.

[1:21:40] Thank you. I appreciate it.

[1:21:41] Please.

[1:21:42] We'll

[1:21:43] talk again soon.

[1:21:43] Good evening.

[1:21:44] Okay, good evening

[1:21:46] . Thank you.

[1:21:47] Sara. Take care of

[1:21:48] yourself. That's

[1:21:50] all I have for the

[1:21:51] roundtable. Are there

[1:21:54] any other questions for the

[1:21:55] roundtable?

[1:21:57] I wanted to ask about the

[1:21:58] Perry Hotel. What is

[1:22:00] the status?

[1:22:01] Sold Out.

[1:22:02] I know, but I wanted to

[1:22:03] make sure because I didn't

[1:22:04] hear anything from our

[1:22:05] last conversation.

[1:22:06] I don't know when they'll

[1:22:07] start

[1:22:08] construction or

[1:22:09] anything.

[1:22:09] No, I didn't expect

[1:22:10] you to know, but everything has been going according to

[1:22:11] plan since

[1:22:12] our

[1:22:13] last conversation.

[1:22:14] No problems after

[1:22:16] that.

[1:22:16] OK. Thank you. Oh, that

[1:22:21] was good news,

[1:22:22] right?

[1:22:22] good news.

[1:22:23] Very good.

[1:22:24] news.

[1:22:25] Yeah, I'm just me. No

[1:22:27] , I mean, oh,

[1:22:28] never mind.

[1:22:29] So, by the way, right?

[1:22:31] If you notice a

[1:22:33] skating rink here,

[1:22:33] yes.

[1:22:35] It's all raised up.

[1:22:37] I didn't have any.

[1:22:38] We hopefully saved a little

[1:22:40] by moving the soil from

[1:22:42] another place here.

[1:22:44] To raise the level.

[1:22:45] Again, not that

[1:22:47] we want to

[1:22:47] talk about the

[1:22:49] skating rink project, but during

[1:22:50] that discussion,

[1:22:51] it seems that the

[1:22:52] amount discussed was between 30 and 50 thousand

[1:22:54] to do everything

[1:22:55] right; but we did

[1:22:56] it for free and

[1:22:57] hopefully

[1:22:58] saved on the

[1:22:59] earthworks

[1:23:00] near the city garage.

[1:23:01] Great, I didn't know.

[1:23:03] Yes, take a look when you go

[1:23:04] out. It's

[1:23:05] almost level with

[1:23:06] the parking lot, and they're

[1:23:07] not finished yet. That's it.

[1:23:08] Class, sounds good.

[1:23:10] Oh, and those old

[1:23:11] dangerous sides are

[1:23:12] gone.

[1:23:13] Good.

[1:23:14] So. We live on.

[1:23:16] Good news. OK.

[1:23:21] Finished?

[1:23:22] Ahem.

[1:23:23] Yes. Yes, sir.

[1:23:25] I'm done.

[1:23:26] Good. Do

[1:23:27] you have a question?

[1:23:28] No.

[1:23:29] Chris?

[1:23:31] I'll probably

[1:23:32] hold off for now. I don't want

[1:23:35] my words to be

[1:23:36] taken out of context again.

[1:23:37] Got it.

[1:23:38] Good.

[1:23:39] I think I'll put it off until

[1:23:40] later.

[1:23:41] Yes, well, I'm

[1:23:42] Yes, I'm fine.

[1:23:43] OK.

[1:23:44] Okay, okay.

[1:23:45] No closed

[1:23:46] meetings, right?

[1:23:47] No, no.

[1:23:48] Yes, it's yours.

[1:23:50] This is an option.

[1:23:51] John. I

[1:23:52] support.

[1:23:54] Who is for it?

[1:23:55] I.

[1:23:56] Against? The meeting

[1:23:57] is closed.

Berlin Selectboard - September 28, 2026 [BNS]

Transcript