[0:13] if you're a bethel resident and you're
[0:16] registered to vote you need to check in
[0:17] with the table over there
[0:19] get an orange card to vote with we're
[0:21] working off the yellow
[0:23] or goldenrod warrant town meeting
[0:26] started yesterday when the polls opened
[0:28] at eight
[0:29] and at that time we elected dutch
[0:31] dresser as a moderator so i'll turn the
[0:32] meeting over to dutch
[0:38] thank you kristen
[0:42] we have a couple of items of business
[0:43] before we get into the warrant
[0:47] the election results of yesterday uh
[0:50] selectmen three years patricia mccartney
[0:54] 299
[0:56] glory swain 333 elected
[0:59] lloyd sweets at 4-3-3 elected
[1:02] selectmen two years neil scanlon 559
[1:06] elected assessor for three years
[1:10] michelle varullo 549 elected
[1:14] robert blake 18 elected
[1:17] sad 44 director three years
[1:21] margaret davis 400 collected
[1:25] stephanie herrick 371 elected
[1:29] david jones 218.
[1:38] the annual report this year is dedicated
[1:40] to donny and cheryl bennett
[1:42] who contributed much to this town over
[1:46] the years
[1:47] and they have written a thank you in
[1:48] which i'll read for them in their
[1:50] absence their
[1:51] social distancing to our wonderful town
[1:55] being recognized in our town by having
[1:57] the annual town report dedicated to us
[2:00] for doing the things we loved is
[2:01] priceless we both feel blessed for
[2:04] living in a community
[2:05] where we always felt we belong the
[2:07] things we did were always done out of
[2:09] caring for
[2:10] and because of the people around us this
[2:13] made it easy to try and give back a bit
[2:15] of ourselves as a gesture of
[2:17] appreciation
[2:18] and the belief that we must all
[2:20] participate locally when we can
[2:22] to assure that our town remains what it
[2:24] has always been
[2:25] a great place to live and raise our
[2:27] family from the bottom of our hearts
[2:30] donnie and cheryl
[2:36] let's see if i actually need the
[2:38] microphone can you hear me this way
[2:40] yeah yes all right if you can't if you can't hear me just
[2:47] speak out i'll try and do it that way
[2:50] okay so
[2:51] for those of you who haven't done this
[2:53] much before let's go through how this
[2:54] works
[2:55] i'll read an article from the warrant
[2:58] and some
[2:59] generous soul from the fro among you
[3:02] will we'll move the article
[3:06] as written in the case of article 3 for
[3:08] example
[3:10] somebody else will second it and then we
[3:12] can begin discussion on the article
[3:14] after discussions ended we'll vote on
[3:16] the article and move on to the next one
[3:18] most of the articles in tonight's
[3:20] warrant are money articles
[3:22] and the way the motion is made on those
[3:24] is to move the article
[3:26] in the amount of so you might say i move
[3:30] article 103 in the amount of 7.97
[3:34] we get a second and then we discuss it
[3:37] the amount can be amended during the
[3:39] discussion
[3:40] but the wording of the article cannot
[3:44] if you are not a citizen of bethlehem
[3:46] would like to speak
[3:47] it will take a two-thirds majority of
[3:49] those present voting to allow you to
[3:51] speak and i'd suggest we practice that
[3:53] now
[3:54] by voting to allow our town manager
[3:58] loretta
[3:58] to to uh to speak when she needs to so
[4:02] all those in favor of allowing loretta
[4:04] to speak thank you are those opposed
[4:06] where's your husband yeah he didn't go
[4:12] okay so we begin article three to see if
[4:14] the town will accept the governor's deed
[4:16] from the state of maine
[4:18] for the realignment of a portion of
[4:20] fleming road
[4:21] and maintain said portion of fleming
[4:23] road as a town way
[4:31] thank you very much we have a motion the
[4:33] second on article three is that
[4:35] discussion
[4:39] seeing none those in favor of article
[4:41] three
[4:42] and those opposed thank you article
[4:45] three scared unanimously
[4:46] article four to see if the town will
[4:48] vote to authorize the board of selectmen
[4:50] to spend unexpected fy 2020
[4:54] and any other previous year's capital
[4:56] improvement road funds
[4:57] to fund remaining projects on the road
[5:00] improvement list
[5:06] thank you in a second we had a second
[5:10] thank you is there a discussion on
[5:11] article four
[5:14] seeing none of those in favor of article
[5:16] four thank you and those opposed
[5:19] tackle force carried article five to see
[5:21] if the town will vote to ratify the
[5:23] actions
[5:24] of estimated overdrafts of fiscal year
[5:27] 2020
[5:28] and you can see the departments and
[5:30] overdrafts listed below and before
[5:32] you ask questions i will could we please
[5:36] talk about the thirty thousand dollar
[5:38] overdraft
[5:39] we have since we've had the coven 19
[5:41] we've had a
[5:42] astronaut astronomical amount of people
[5:45] cleaning out
[5:46] so and the prices for to get rid of our
[5:49] solid waste
[5:50] construction debris metals has all
[5:53] increased
[5:54] so this is where titan is hired right
[5:57] now
[5:58] okay do we have a motion on article five
[6:12] do you expect that to go down next year
[6:15] no
[6:16] because i think the prices are all going
[6:17] up for everything but it was because of
[6:20] code
[6:21] well part of it was because of it but
[6:23] yeah
[6:25] a lot of construction going on right now
[6:27] too
[6:30] other questions discussion on article 5.
[6:36] seeing none those in favor of article 5.
[6:39] thank you and those opposed article 5 is
[6:42] carried
[6:42] article 6 to see if the time will vote
[6:44] to fix dates what property taxes will be
[6:46] doing payable and to see if the time
[6:48] will fix a rate of interest on property
[6:50] taxes
[6:51] unpaid after said dates the selectmen
[6:54] recommended taxes will be due and
[6:55] payable in two equal installments
[6:57] october 1 2020 and april 1 2021
[7:01] and interest will be charged on unpaid
[7:02] amounts at a rate of 9
[7:04] annual as of november 2 2020
[7:08] and may 3 2021.
[7:12] i'd like to remove article 6
[7:16] with the exception of instead of nine
[7:17] percent i would like to have it be eight
[7:19] percent
[7:20] okay i'm not sure yeah
[7:24] change i think we need to move it get it
[7:25] on the table and then we're gonna amend
[7:27] it
[7:27] so i move it in the uh as read
[7:30] with the nine cents thank you and a
[7:33] second
[7:35] thank you no discussion we'd like to
[7:38] offer an amendment to change
[7:39] nine percent to eight percent yes my
[7:41] understanding is
[7:44] thank you is there a second to the
[7:45] amendment what was the previous
[7:48] interest rate nine it was at nine
[7:51] it's supposed to be eight and it it
[7:53] didn't get changed in the warrant in
[7:54] time
[7:56] okay so we're now discussing the
[7:58] amendment to change the nine percent to
[8:00] eight percent
[8:01] is there other discussion on the
[8:03] amendment
[8:04] so just to be clear the selectmen are
[8:07] recommending
[8:07] eight percent is that correct it's a
[8:10] state recommendation the state
[8:12] tells us how much we can charge and it
[8:15] was nine
[8:16] last year and it got it here as nine and
[8:18] it should have been eight
[8:20] it didn't get changed in time the state
[8:22] tells us
[8:23] what the maximum rate is we can charge
[8:25] okay
[8:27] still the selectmen are recommending
[8:29] eight percent okay
[8:32] when it comes other discussion on the
[8:35] amendment
[8:36] all those in favor of the amendment to
[8:37] alter to eight percent thank you and
[8:39] those opposed
[8:41] now an article on the main motion as as
[8:43] amended
[8:44] for any further discussion all those in
[8:47] favor of the atticalism ended
[8:49] thank you and those opposed the articles
[8:52] carried as amended
[8:55] article 7 to see if the town will vote
[8:57] to accept estimated
[8:59] federal state and local non-property tax
[9:01] revenues and designated
[9:03] donations to reduce the fy 21 property
[9:06] tax commitment
[9:07] as described as described below you can
[9:10] read those
[9:11] as well as i
[9:15] do we have a motion on article
[9:21] in the amount seven 164
[9:26] thank you very much discussion on
[9:28] article 7 questions or discussion
[9:32] yes um questioning the veterans
[9:35] homestead and tree
[9:36] for 90 000 i'm sorry
[9:39] i didn't i didn't know the veterans
[9:41] homestead in tree growth for nine thousand tree
[9:45] growth tree growth
[9:46] tree what tree growth it goes on to the
[9:48] next oh
[9:49] okay oh i didn't see the growth okay
[9:54] you okay yes any other questions
[9:57] discussion yeah
[9:58] what what's the loan proceeds
[10:03] [Music]
[10:05] wastewater treatment plant oh
[10:08] i think i could find it the town loan to
[10:11] the wastewater treatment plant that's
[10:12] our payback
[10:13] okay
[10:16] what's the growth recognition growth it
[10:19] goes with veterans homestead and tree
[10:21] growth
[10:23] that's one it wrapped around
[10:31] what's that any other discussion on
[10:34] article seven
[10:36] all those in favor of article seven
[10:39] thank you and those opposed
[10:41] article seven is scared
[10:42] [Applause]
[10:44] article 8 to see what sum of money the
[10:46] town will vote to raise and appropriate
[10:48] for administration in fy 21
[10:52] the amount the selectmen and budget
[10:54] committee recommend 225
[10:57] 523 dollars
[11:03] [Applause]
[11:08] thank you discussion about article 8.
[11:14] seeing none those in favor of article 8
[11:17] thank you and those opposed article 8 is
[11:20] carried in the amount recommended
[11:22] article 9 to see what sum of money the
[11:24] time will vote to raise and appropriate
[11:26] for the operation of town clerk
[11:27] department in fy 21
[11:29] budget committee and selectmen recommend
[11:31] 102 504.99
[11:41] thank you article 9 discussion on
[11:43] article 1
[11:46] i i just have a comment i wish we could
[11:49] see a
[11:50] percentage growth rate or change
[11:54] here that would help to analyze
[11:58] in this case the difference between 93.7
[12:01] and
[12:01] it's like about eight percent yeah it is
[12:04] but uh
[12:04] it went up because of mostly from
[12:06] elections we have to rent the legion
[12:08] hall for our elections
[12:09] before we used to use the school for
[12:11] nothing um
[12:12] we've had have to rent another voting
[12:15] machine
[12:16] so those are all more costs
[12:21] that's a helpful comment thank you
[12:26] another discussion on article 9.
[12:29] those in favor of article 9 in the
[12:31] amount of 102 500
[12:33] thank you and those opposed
[12:37] radicals carry those article 10 to see
[12:40] what sum of money the time will vote to
[12:41] raise and appropriate
[12:43] for the operation of the assessors
[12:44] department fy 21
[12:47] selectmen and budget committee recommend
[12:49] 50 500.
[12:53] [Music]
[12:56] thank you discussion about article 10
[13:01] seeing none of those in favor of article
[13:02] 10. thank you those opposed
[13:05] article 10 is carried in the amount of
[13:06] fifty thousand five hundred dollars
[13:08] article 11 to see what sum of money the
[13:10] town will vote to raise and appropriate
[13:12] for operation of the finance department
[13:14] in fy 21
[13:15] the selectmen the budget committee
[13:17] recommend 98 547
[13:26] thank you discussion on article 7 11.
[13:31] seeing none those in favor of article
[13:32] 11.
[13:34] thank you those opposed article 11
[13:37] is carried in the recommended amount
[13:40] article 12 to see what sum of money the
[13:42] town will vote to raise and appropriate
[13:44] for operation of the planning and
[13:45] development department in fiscal year
[13:47] 21.
[13:48] the selectmen of budget committee
[13:50] recommends 78 076 dollars
[13:58] second thank you discussion on article
[14:01] 12.
[14:02] what what is that change about what
[14:05] legal services
[14:07] you added a line to them for legal
[14:09] services
[14:15] of the other questions
[14:21] seeing none those in favor of article 12
[14:24] in the recommended amount
[14:25] thank you and those opposed article 12
[14:29] is carried in the recommended amount
[14:30] article 13 to see what sum of money the
[14:32] time will vote to raise and appropriate
[14:34] for operation of police services in
[14:36] fiscal year 21.
[14:38] selectmen and budget committee recommend
[14:39] 379 232 dollars
[14:57] do we have a reason why it's gone up aco
[15:00] went up
[15:01] 500 um police stayed the same
[15:05] they did not up their budget this year
[15:06] at all has there been any discussion of
[15:09] defunding the police
[15:14] in fact i think last year we increased
[15:16] the funding of the police
[15:17] to get more coverage towers so
[15:21] interesting question i'm talking in
[15:23] reference to the
[15:24] current political finance yeah okay
[15:27] right i seem to remember
[15:28] over the last few years that the police
[15:31] the cost to the town
[15:33] for police coverage has been going up
[15:35] pretty
[15:36] i would say dramatically i think i
[15:39] remember that and so
[15:40] this this is a very small increase
[15:44] and it seems laudable to me it seems
[15:46] fabulous that we can keep it fast
[15:49] that's not even inflation so that's good
[15:53] we do contribute about a quarter of the
[15:56] entire oxford county sheriff's
[15:57] department
[15:58] coverage i think i believe
[16:02] i don't have that written down with me
[16:04] but just for
[16:05] information purposes
[16:10] other discussion about article 13.
[16:14] seeing none those in favor of article 13
[16:16] in the recommended amount
[16:18] thank you and those opposed article 13
[16:22] is carried in the recommended amount
[16:23] article 14 to see what sum of money the
[16:26] time will vote
[16:26] for raising appropriate for the fire
[16:28] department in fiscal year 21
[16:30] the selectmen and budget committee
[16:31] recommend 247
[16:33] 550 dollars
[16:45] thank you discussion about article 14.
[16:50] that on the other hand looks a little
[16:52] you know an increase it looks like about
[16:54] four or five percent
[16:56] and um do we have a reason for that they
[16:58] uh call volume
[17:00] mutual aid and
[17:03] um wages for the firemen where the
[17:06] minimum wage went up
[17:09] we have them a little also
[17:10] [Music]
[17:14] another discussion article 14.
[17:18] seeing none of those in favor of article
[17:19] 14 in the recommended amount
[17:21] thank you and those opposed article 14
[17:24] is carried in the recommended amount
[17:26] article 15 to see what sum of money the
[17:28] town will vote to raise and appropriate
[17:30] for operation of the annual serve of the
[17:32] ambulance service in fiscal year 21
[17:35] the select rental budget committee
[17:36] recommend 300 2
[17:38] 883 on motion to move
[17:42] article 15 and the amount hundred and
[17:45] three thousand eight hundred
[17:46] eighty three dollars second thank you
[17:50] discussion about on article 15.
[17:54] it's the same question again it was
[17:56] wages from
[17:57] minimum wage went up had to keep the
[17:59] drivers
[18:00] ambulance attendants getting more than
[18:03] minimum wage
[18:06] for all the training and everything else
[18:08] that they have to do
[18:11] another discussion on article 15.
[18:15] seeing none of those in favor of article
[18:16] 15 in the recommended amount
[18:18] thank you and those opposed article 15
[18:22] is carried in the recommended amount
[18:24] article 16 to see what sum of money the
[18:26] town will vote to raise and appropriate
[18:28] for operation for the solid waste
[18:30] management program in fiscal year
[18:32] 21 select money budget committee
[18:35] recommend
[18:36] 495 411 dollars
[18:43] [Music]
[18:46] thank you discussion about article 16
[18:49] solid waste
[18:54] is there any ability
[19:07] but also there's a we've formed a
[19:10] committee
[19:11] we're trying to form a committee we're
[19:12] forming we formed a committee to look at
[19:14] solid waste
[19:14] throughout the three communities that
[19:17] participate in our solid way to try to
[19:19] get a handle on this
[19:22] [Music]
[19:23] and the other um that we increased was
[19:24] the food waste last year we only
[19:26] budgeted 9500 and this year we increased
[19:28] it to in 2000.
[19:30] dean richmond has been
[19:33] collecting food waste from multiple
[19:35] businesses and that saves us money yeah um on the
[19:41] solid waste
[19:42] right well because it removes the food
[19:44] waste from the more expensive trash
[19:46] do you have any sense of what the
[19:48] proportion is between residential
[19:51] construction demolition
[19:54] i don't have those figures in front of
[19:56] me but we can't get those from
[19:58] is bethel the only town in maine that
[20:00] lets contractors
[20:02] dispose of their demolition waste for
[20:04] free
[20:05] pretty much okay
[20:09] every tile handles things differently is
[20:11] that going to be reconsidered as the yes yeah is this mainly the volume going
[20:17] through there or is it
[20:18] the prices are going up to dispose of it
[20:20] also oh
[20:21] everything both yeah right down to the
[20:24] hauling and tipping fees
[20:30] other discussions
[20:33] all those in favor of article 16 in the
[20:36] recommended amount
[20:38] thank you and those opposed article 16
[20:40] carries in the recommended amounts
[20:43] article 17 to see what sum of money the
[20:45] time will vote for raising appropriate
[20:47] for operation of the public works
[20:49] department fiscal year 21.
[20:50] selectmen and budget committee
[20:52] recommends 603 731 dollars
[21:00] 731. thank you discussion on article 17
[21:06] public works
[21:10] seeing none those in favor of articles
[21:13] 17
[21:14] in the recommended amount thank you and
[21:16] those opposed
[21:16] [Applause]
[21:17] article 17 is carried in the recommended
[21:19] amount article 18
[21:21] to see what sum of money the town will
[21:22] vote to raise and appropriate for
[21:24] operation of the coal block in fiscal
[21:25] year 21
[21:27] the selectmen and budget committee
[21:28] recommend eight thousand one hundred and
[21:30] forty dollars
[21:36] seconded thank you discussion on article
[21:39] 18 cole block
[21:42] obviously this has nothing to do with
[21:44] reconstructing the
[21:46] front steps or anything correct that's a
[21:48] capital that's a capital expenditure
[21:50] this is just
[21:50] day to day
[21:54] how come it went down we put so much
[21:57] insulation and new windows over the last
[21:58] couple years doesn't cost as much to eat
[22:01] yeah utilities another discussion
[22:06] those in favor of are they called 18 in
[22:10] the recommended amount
[22:12] thank you and those opposed article 18
[22:14] carries in the recommended amount of
[22:15] article 19
[22:16] to see what summer money in the town
[22:18] will vote to raise and appropriate for
[22:19] the operation of the fire station in
[22:21] fiscal year 21
[22:22] selectmen and budget committee recommend
[22:24] 25 five dollars
[22:32] discussion on article 19 fire station
[22:38] sitting on those in favor of article 19
[22:40] as as
[22:42] proposed thank you and those opposed
[22:46] 19 carries in the recommended amount
[22:48] article 21 to see what sum of money the
[22:50] time will vote to raise and appropriate
[22:52] for the operation of the town garage in
[22:54] fiscal year 21
[22:55] the selectmen the budget committee
[22:56] recommend 22 600 dollars
[23:06] discussion on article 20 town garage
[23:11] seeing on those in favor of article 20.
[23:14] thank you and those opposed
[23:15] article 20 is carried in the recommended
[23:17] amount article 21
[23:18] you see what sum of money in the town
[23:20] will vote to raise inappropriate for
[23:21] operation of green leaf station fiscal
[23:23] year 21
[23:24] select when the budget committee
[23:25] recommends 17 380 dollars
[23:36] thank you discussion on article 21
[23:38] greenleaf station
[23:39] in the back the ambulance garage
[23:52] any discussion all those in favor of
[23:54] article 21 in the recommended amount
[23:57] thank you and those opposed article 21
[23:59] is carried in the recommended amount
[24:01] article 22 to see what summer money the
[24:03] time will vote to raise and appropriate
[24:05] for operation of the general assistance
[24:07] program in fiscal year 21.
[24:11] selectmen and budget committee recommend
[24:15] [Music]
[24:16] amount of 2500 record discussion
[24:20] what is what does that go to this in the
[24:23] back
[24:24] how much of it got used last year
[24:27] the question was how much was used last
[24:30] year
[24:32] did use quite a bit last year and i
[24:34] didn't have that right
[24:35] now dave it's if someone has a
[24:38] if someone you apply for it if you have
[24:41] an interesting financial need
[24:44] and it's like it's basically a pass
[24:46] through the state gives us twenty five
[24:47] hundred dollars
[24:48] that we can give out
[24:51] do we anticipate higher needs this year
[24:54] due to the pandemic
[24:56] should be more this number's been there
[24:59] for decades yeah amy's got the amount
[25:01] that was spent well it's an unusual year
[25:02] that's what yeah yeah
[25:03] last year we used 1 700 2.95
[25:07] of that thank you
[25:10] other discussion
[25:14] all those in favor of article 22 in the
[25:16] recommended amount
[25:17] thank you and those opposed motion
[25:20] article 22 carries in the recommended
[25:22] amount article 23
[25:24] to see what sum of money the town will
[25:25] vote to raise and appropriate for
[25:26] operation
[25:27] of the recreation board in fiscal year
[25:29] 21 the selectmen and budget committee
[25:31] recommends
[25:32] 51 800.
[25:35] [Music]
[25:40] discussion of article 23 rec board
[25:43] [Music]
[25:45] seeing none those in favor of article 23
[25:47] in the recommended amount
[25:48] and those opposed thank you article 23
[25:51] carries in the recommended amount
[25:53] article 24 to see what sum of money the
[25:55] town will vote to raise
[25:57] and appropriate for operation of
[25:58] angevine park in fiscal year 21
[26:01] selectmen and budget committee recommend
[26:03] 13 440.130.
[26:13] discussion on article 24 and divine park
[26:19] seeing none those in favor of article 24
[26:21] in the recommended amount
[26:23] thank you and those opposed article 24
[26:26] is carried in the recommended amount
[26:27] article 25 to see what sum of money in
[26:29] the town will vote to raise and
[26:30] appropriate
[26:31] for operation of fountain park and
[26:33] cemetery in fiscal year 21
[26:36] select when the budget committee
[26:37] recommend thirteen thousand seven
[26:38] hundred sixty dollars
[26:43] forward to fifteen thousand seven
[26:44] hundred fifty dollars
[26:47] discussion on article 25 park and
[26:50] cemetery
[26:56] last year we had 10 000 for the pathway
[26:58] in there
[26:59] and then we had 3 000 for the skate park
[27:04] other question where's the cemetery
[27:10] is that the one on the river we have a lot of subjects oh that's
[27:16] awesome okay okay
[27:19] other questions all those in favor of
[27:21] article 25 and the recommended amount
[27:24] thank you and those opposed article 25
[27:26] carries in the recommended amount
[27:29] article 26 to see what sum of money in
[27:31] the town will vote to raise
[27:32] inappropriate for contributions local
[27:35] in fiscal year 21 and you can read the
[27:39] itemized list of 83 450
[27:44] as recommended by the selectmen and
[27:45] budget committee
[27:49] do we have a motion motion to move the
[27:52] article
[27:53] as spoken for 83
[27:56] 450 seconds
[28:00] discussion yes
[28:04] right here um what's the deal with the
[28:06] snowmobile trails
[28:08] instead of curiosity i see this year was
[28:11] 1178 and this year's zero
[28:17] we send out letters for them to send
[28:19] back saying that they want the request
[28:20] and they never
[28:21] send it back okay
[28:25] good question another question
[28:29] seeing none all those in favor of
[28:31] article 26 in the amount of 83
[28:33] 450 thank you and those opposed
[28:36] article 26 carries in the recommended
[28:39] amount
[28:40] article 27 to see what sum of money that
[28:42] i'm about to raise and appropriate
[28:44] the contributions agencies in fiscal
[28:46] year 21
[28:48] and you can see the itemized list the
[28:50] selectmen and budget committee
[28:51] recommend eleven thousand seven hundred
[28:53] twelve dollars
[29:03] discussion on article 27 contributions
[29:06] agencies
[29:10] seeing none those in favor of article 27
[29:13] thank you very much those opposed
[29:16] article 27 is carried in the recommended
[29:18] amount
[29:19] article 28 to see what sum of money the
[29:21] time will vote to raise and appropriate
[29:23] for employee benefits in fiscal year 21.
[29:26] the selectmen and budget committee
[29:27] recommend 473
[29:29] 669 dollars
[29:34] 473
[29:38] second discussion
[29:41] so do we just have more employees are we
[29:45] giving them more benefits what what's
[29:48] the
[29:48] we have the same benefits insurances
[29:50] went up some
[29:52] and we got a few more family
[29:56] families i should say not an individual
[29:58] so
[30:00] family insurance coverage yes thank you
[30:03] workmen's comp insurance and
[30:05] unemployment insurance also increased
[30:07] greatly
[30:08] that's not an employee benefit is it uh
[30:11] it's where it's under i do
[30:12] yes it is okay what's been the trend
[30:16] over the last say
[30:17] five years
[30:23] i mean it's and it's driven more than
[30:25] anything by health insurance
[30:32] further discussion i'm done you're done
[30:36] stick your fork in other discussion
[30:41] all those in favor of article 28 and
[30:44] recommended amount
[30:45] thank you and those of us article 28
[30:48] carries in the recommended amount
[30:50] article 29 to see what sum of money
[30:52] the time will vote to raise and
[30:53] appropriate for municipal insurance
[30:55] in fiscal year 21 the selectmen and
[30:58] budget committee recommend 51
[31:00] 463 dollars
[31:04] [Applause]
[31:07] [Music]
[31:08] [Applause]
[31:09] thank you very much discussion of
[31:11] article 29
[31:13] is this liability insurance
[31:17] yes thank you
[31:19] [Applause]
[31:21] other discussion all those in favor of
[31:25] article 29 in the recommended amount
[31:28] thank you and those opposed
[31:31] article 29 carries in the recommended
[31:33] amount radical 30 to see what sum of
[31:34] money in the town will vote to raise and
[31:36] appropriate
[31:37] for debt service in fiscal year 21
[31:39] second budget committee recommend 98
[31:41] 637 dollars and 13 cents
[31:57] thank you discussion on article 30 debt
[31:59] service
[32:01] probably not much wiggle room there it's
[32:04] gone down a little bit it went down we
[32:06] paid off debt all those in favor of
[32:09] article 30 and the recommended amount
[32:12] and those opposed thank you article
[32:14] theory carries the recommended amount
[32:16] article 31 to see what sum of money the
[32:18] time will vote to raise and appropriate
[32:20] from undesignated book time out see what
[32:23] sum of money the town will vote to
[32:24] appropriate
[32:25] from its undesignated fund balance to
[32:27] reduce fy
[32:28] 20 commitment the selectmen and the
[32:31] budget committee recommend one hundred
[32:32] thousand dollars
[32:34] [Music]
[32:34] [Applause]
[32:39] is there a what discussion it last year
[32:44] what was it what was the undesignated
[32:46] fund balance reduction last year
[32:48] i think it was 100 amy's chicken but i
[32:51] think it was 100 000 i don't think it
[32:52] was 200 though
[33:08] what does that believe in the
[33:10] undesignated fund
[33:11] say it again what does it leave in the
[33:13] undesignated fund
[33:16] what's the balance of the uh undesirable
[33:18] balance right now is two million four
[33:19] hundred and eighty four thousand four
[33:21] hundred forty four dollars and two
[33:22] seconds
[33:27] [Music]
[33:29] is that a reasonable place to be i mean
[33:33] somewhere this is being debated
[33:36] and a hundred thousand seems like a
[33:38] reasonable amount to to a sign like this personally this
[33:42] year i wouldn't go any higher than a
[33:43] hundred thousand
[33:46] because we don't know what's going to be
[33:47] happening more than normal would recover
[33:50] and but then again our revenues we've
[33:53] been doing very well on our revenues
[33:55] so what was our fun balance last year
[33:58] right right around the same it wasn't i
[34:00] thought it was a million eight something
[34:02] i think you might be right what was the
[34:04] balance last year
[34:06] yeah i don't remember two million but um
[34:10] amy is that something you can garner no
[34:13] i i don't have it with me
[34:14] i'm sorry thank you wait what what was
[34:16] the year over here in christina
[34:21] say the question again the
[34:22] year-over-year increase in revenue
[34:34] the only thing that comes to my mind
[34:35] right now is is excise tax
[34:38] we thought with the covenant we'd be
[34:39] hurt in an excise tax and we're actually
[34:42] above what we projected for last year we predicted 500 000 and we've
[34:46] already got six
[34:48] people have nothing else to do but pay
[34:49] their exit is that sure
[34:51] well the thing is they're buying new
[34:52] cars with zero percent interest in 90
[34:54] days don't pay me
[34:57] that being said there are also many
[34:59] revenues that are less than what we
[35:01] expect i think
[35:02] like from the state um their low
[35:04] resistance program we did not receive as
[35:06] much as expected
[35:07] our revenues are pretty much spot on to
[35:09] what we thought they were going to be
[35:11] this last year i guess i had the
[35:13] experience subjectively you see
[35:15] huge homes being built in town and you
[35:17] would expect that the property tax
[35:18] revenue is
[35:19] increasing but i don't actually know if
[35:21] that's true or not
[35:24] that doesn't necessarily increase the
[35:27] revenue to the town per se it just
[35:31] so that you take the entire property
[35:34] value and you divide it
[35:36] by what we decide we need so it doesn't
[35:39] and if we if we calculate that correctly
[35:41] then we take in
[35:43] just the money that we need it might
[35:45] mean that your property taxes
[35:47] could theoretically go down if we
[35:48] re-evaluate if we revalue all the
[35:50] properties
[35:52] but it doesn't necessarily mean that
[35:54] because the assessors are still going to
[35:56] go through
[35:56] and adjust the mill rate yes for
[35:59] everybody
[36:00] but if someone takes a hundred thousand
[36:01] dollar lot and builds a million dollar
[36:03] home on it
[36:04] there's addition there's added value
[36:06] which is then
[36:07] taxed correct right but in in the
[36:10] meantime that the assessors would then
[36:12] probably say that we everyone needs to
[36:15] pay a smaller percentage of tax because
[36:17] to meet the goal
[36:18] [Music]
[36:21] but i i won't promise that will happen
[36:23] that's just theoretically what should
[36:25] if if if the property value
[36:29] grows then the tax mill rate should
[36:32] increase
[36:34] but it doesn't as long as the budget
[36:36] doesn't fill up
[36:39] so we're growing in proportion to our
[36:42] expenses
[36:42] right right because the contractors were
[36:45] building those million dollar homes are
[36:46] dumping all the construction waste from
[36:48] the uh
[36:50] transportation if we pass the budget
[36:54] as presented here is it up or down from
[36:58] last year
[37:00] the budget itself is down
[37:04] so the question on the floor is the
[37:06] amount of the undesignated fund balance
[37:08] to be attributed to
[37:09] pay down taxes this year the recommended
[37:12] amount is a hundred thousand dollars is
[37:13] that further discussion
[37:17] [Music]
[37:19] okay all those in favor of articles
[37:22] 31 in the amount of a hundred thousand
[37:24] dollars thank you and those opposed
[37:26] article 31 is carried in the amount of
[37:29] 31 000
[37:31] of 100 sorry
[37:34] article 32 to see what some of the money
[37:37] in the town will vote to raise an
[37:38] appropriate
[37:39] capital improvements in fiscal year 21.
[37:42] the selectmen and budget committee
[37:44] recommend 800 6374
[37:48] i know vertical 32 for 806 374.
[37:52] second thank you you can see the
[37:55] uh recommended capital expenditures
[37:58] as compared to last year discussion on
[38:01] capital expenditures article 32.
[38:08] [Music]
[38:12] the question was did we pace chapman
[38:13] street last year we did but it has to
[38:15] set a year and then you paid
[38:17] do the top coat
[38:20] i have a question about the water
[38:22] district building
[38:25] the 10 000 just like what you're
[38:27] expecting someone to bid
[38:29] to do that i mean yeah that
[38:33] demolition demolition oh yeah that's
[38:36] demolition that was the estimate i got
[38:37] from some contractors to go dump it in
[38:40] our dump for free
[38:43] i wonder if they have to take it yet
[38:46] yeah
[38:46] we pay them too it seems like we'll take
[38:48] care of us though uh he said that was
[38:50] he said it wouldn't be any more than
[38:52] that that's good but that was yeah
[38:57] there's a question in the back yeah
[39:00] could you tell me what the cardiac
[39:02] monster is please i'm sorry i can't hear
[39:04] you can you tell me what the cardiac
[39:06] monitor is cardiac motor
[39:09] so the cardiac monitor is actually for
[39:12] a reserve and it really is to try to
[39:15] gain money
[39:16] for future cardiac monitors and
[39:18] ambulances
[39:19] instead of it all coming out in one year
[39:21] we thought it'd be better to try to
[39:23] spread and
[39:24] you know basically accumulate some funds
[39:25] for that
[39:34] kind of a question to you lord and maybe
[39:37] also to the to the project me and i'm
[39:39] assuming that this has been
[39:41] debated but i can't tell from this
[39:43] whether we're going
[39:44] up or whether we're flat or whether
[39:46] we're going down in terms of way
[39:48] of the way we are maintaining our
[39:50] infrastructure around town
[39:52] particularly paving bridges those kind
[39:55] of
[39:56] can you give me some kind of read on
[39:58] that
[39:59] i can't because i haven't been doing
[40:01] this long enough to give you too much
[40:02] information but yeah scott can you
[40:04] answer the part of that on the favorite
[40:07] part
[40:08] we typically try to plan somewhere in
[40:09] the neighborhood of four hundred
[40:10] thousand dollars with the road mark each
[40:12] year
[40:13] we've been consistently kind of close to
[40:15] that
[40:18] yeah my question my question is really a
[40:19] sort of subjective look at
[40:21] are we doing okay with this are we not
[40:24] doing okay at maintaining the place
[40:27] what's the sense i see from what i've
[40:30] seen
[40:30] i think they're doing a good job at
[40:32] maintaining
[40:34] so then we're allocating enough money on
[40:36] an annual basis
[40:38] and we're keeping it okay question does
[40:40] that reflect your view
[40:42] yes
[40:44] [Music]
[40:50] i think we're making a difference that's
[40:53] my opinion
[40:55] thank you what are the
[40:58] numbers behind the paving
[41:02] items numbers
[41:17] other questions on capital expenditures
[41:19] yes
[41:20] where does the choice of roads that are
[41:23] being paved come from
[41:27] we have a road program that we develop
[41:31] some sort of a plan
[41:33] um we're nearing the end of that plan
[41:35] it's
[41:36] spelled out a five-year capital plan
[41:38] right now
[41:39] um we've tried to
[41:43] gain another committee like a road
[41:45] committee to re-survey the roads and
[41:48] the state state provided us with a
[41:49] program you may put the information and
[41:51] spits out
[41:52] this is where you should start first so
[41:54] we can let you know
[41:55] so we've been trying to work through
[41:57] that program so okay because
[41:59] the west end of grover hill has been
[42:01] unpaid
[42:02] for many many many years ah yeah it's
[42:05] probably three four years now we've got
[42:07] one more section we need to dig up
[42:09] um you do the traffic study mobile hill
[42:11] road doesn't seem
[42:13] that many cars compared to in a railroad
[42:16] it isn't a total justification but
[42:19] um road priority road traffic move
[42:23] all all things have factors and what
[42:25] you've done first
[42:26] we had to do javascript
[42:30] things we got to move things around i
[42:31] guess we've gotten pushed off the last
[42:34] yeah i think it was supposed to be in
[42:35] the plan this year we pushed it off for
[42:37] another year with
[42:38] the chapman street classroom and trying
[42:40] to catch up to that
[42:42] but i think it's been closer to five
[42:44] years that it's been
[42:45] taken up yeah and there's there's going
[42:48] to be a couple more sections that will
[42:49] be
[42:50] need to reclaim before we can pay that
[42:52] cut
[42:55] other questions on the capital program
[42:59] seeing none those in favor of article 32
[43:01] and the recommended amount
[43:03] thank you and those opposed article 32
[43:06] is buried in the recommended amount
[43:09] [Applause]
[43:10] any
[43:14] [Applause]
[43:21] it carries thank you very much
[43:26] [Music]