[0:02] uh 605.

[0:04] But

[0:05] >> have the minutes recognized that

[0:07] Kerianne was duly elected appropriately

[0:10] by the voters at the time and that

[0:12] subsequent acts have created this

[0:15] incompatibility with office and then you

[0:18] can accept her. It's

[0:19] >> taking attendance. We have Brian. No.

[0:22] John, yes. Dane Collins, no. Dlinsky

[0:26] is remote.

[0:29] S is here.

[0:32] No, Stone. Yes. Yes. And Harry

[0:38] Sandel is a yes.

[0:41] One, two, three, four, five.

[0:45] Six.

[0:49] » Who's that?

[0:50] >> This is Jim Swift.

[0:51] >> Yeah. Tell him to uh give us call back

[0:53] and five minutes.

[0:56] >> We'll call him. Hello, Jim.

[0:59] All right. So, we have a call.

[1:01] >> We're just getting we're just getting

[1:02] started with the meeting. We got a few

[1:04] things to take care of and then when

[1:05] it's your when we get to the candidates,

[1:07] I'll give you a call right back.

[1:10] >> Okay. Yeah, sure. Thank you.

[1:12] >> Um,

[1:14] first order of business is to approve

[1:16] the minutes from January 31.

[1:19] I'm going to take you under other

[1:20] business.

[1:23] Okay.

[1:25] >> [laughter]

[1:25] >> Hey, approve minutes. January 31.

[1:30] Got a motion to accept minutes.

[1:34] >> Second.

[1:36] >> Any comments?

[1:40] All those in favor?

[1:41] >> Do a roll call.

[1:42] >> Oh, I got Oh, we got Mr. Duplinsky.

[1:44] Sorry. Remote. So,

[1:46] >> if you agree that um we're going to have

[1:50] uh remote to u

[1:54] allow remote members to vote.

[1:59] » Well, they they can vote anyway. You

[2:01] just have to do a roll call vote,

[2:04] >> right?

[2:04] >> All right. So, then we're going to do

[2:07] we're just going to do a roll call on

[2:09] all of our votes tonight.

[2:10] >> Yes.

[2:10] >> Okay.

[2:12] >> All right. This is on the minutes. Mr.

[2:14] Berseron.

[2:15] >> Yes.

[2:17] >> Mr. Duplinsky.

[2:18] >> Yes.

[2:19] >> Thank you. Sal. Yes. Mr. Reese.

[2:22] >> Yes.

[2:24] >> Mr. Stone.

[2:25] >> Yes.

[2:26] >> Sand Del.

[2:26] >> Yes.

[2:27] >> Thank you. Okay. Next door to

[2:30] businesses. Uh, election of officers. We

[2:33] have three officers. We have a

[2:34] president.

[2:36] We have a vice or we have a chair.

[2:38] Excuse me. We have a vice chair.

[2:42] And we have a secretary.

[2:46] First we'll replace the current version

[2:48] of that which is Persia

[2:51] Reese

[2:53] Persia. Sorry

[2:56] >> and Reese.

[2:58] Okay. Accept any motions for the chair.

[3:02] Anybody want to

[3:03] >> I move the existing slate.

[3:05] >> You move the entire slate.

[3:07] >> Right.

[3:07] >> Do I have a second on that?

[3:09] >> Yes. Okay. Any discussion on that?

[3:14] All those in favor

[3:16] roll call. Excuse me. Okay. John,

[3:19] >> yes.

[3:20] Tom,

[3:22] >> yes.

[3:24] >> Percy, yes. Reese,

[3:26] >> yes.

[3:27] Stone,

[3:28] >> yes.

[3:28] >> Dandel,

[3:29] >> yes.

[3:30] >> Thank you very much. We have a new set

[3:32] of

[3:34] next order of business. Representative

[3:37] to the CIP committee last year was

[3:40] Persia. have any

[3:43] nominations for that? Anybody?

[3:44] >> I nominate Percy.

[3:49] » All right. Any discussion about that?

[3:52] >> Great job. Thank you. Keep it up.

[3:54] [clears throat]

[3:54] >> Thank you. Okay. Appreciate that, Billy.

[3:56] I do have um All right. Roll call on

[3:59] that. Mr. Berseron,

[4:00] >> yes.

[4:01] >> Mr. Duplinsky,

[4:02] >> yes.

[4:03] >> Percy abstains. Reese?

[4:05] >> Yes.

[4:07] >> Stone?

[4:08] >> Yes.

[4:08] >> Sandell?

[4:09] >> Yep.

[4:10] Okay.

[4:13] Uh, just generally can meeting our

[4:15] meeting schedules. Can we all do

[4:16] Wednesdays again? That okay? I I Well,

[4:21] >> Shane, it's not a

[4:22] >> I have a conflict on this.

[4:23] >> Well, no, we finished the year on

[4:25] Wednesdays.

[4:25] >> Did you?

[4:26] >> Yes, we did.

[4:28] >> Not in my world. [laughter]

[4:30] >> First Wednesday of the month, I have a

[4:32] conflict.

[4:33] >> Okay. So, let's do the second and the

[4:36] fourth.

[4:38] How's that? That works for you. That

[4:40] works for me.

[4:41] >> Anybody have any problems with the

[4:43] second and fourth Wednesday of the month

[4:45] when we get around to starting them

[4:47] sometime in God knows when? [laughter]

[4:49] >> September, right?

[4:51] >> Way probably, you know, August at least.

[4:53] Maybe September. Aren't you going to be

[4:55] living in town by now?

[4:58] [laughter]

[4:59] >> I already bought all the vacant land

[5:00] around the lake. So,

[5:04] >> he knows that there's an influx of

[5:05] people. All right. So

[5:08] all right that is okay. Is that okay

[5:10] everybody with that everybody? All

[5:11] right.

[5:17] » So same as the board.

[5:20] >> Yeah. Yes.

[5:22] >> Not that it matters but it's okay with

[5:23] me by the way. [laughter]

[5:28] » Come. You're paid.

[5:29] >> No conflict. You be

[5:31] >> you are invaluable.

[5:33] >> I'm a scrier. We are nothing.

[5:35] >> Exactly. [laughter] Before we do that,

[5:36] do we know if Sadi is doing anything

[5:39] whiteboard wise on second important?

[5:41] >> That's Tuesday. I don't know if there's

[5:43] other stuff. The meetings are Tuesdays.

[5:45] >> The people who are absent, they tell us

[5:47] we got a problem. In which case, we got

[5:48] to reconsider.

[5:49] >> Yeah, we can reconsider. Get a answer.

[5:51] But for now, let's just put that down,

[5:54] not hard stone.

[5:55] >> Exactly. Yeah.

[5:57] >> Okay.

[5:58] >> Everything we do, we can do.

[6:01] >> Okay. The uh next order of business is

[6:04] uh try to fill the open

[6:09] position that we have coming up.

[6:13] >> Maybe we should first have an open

[6:14] position. I guess

[6:18] do you have something to say to us?

[6:20] >> I need to resign from the budget

[6:22] committee.

[6:23] >> Oh,

[6:24] okay. And the reason for that would be

[6:27] personal

[6:28] >> personal

[6:33] Well, she's incompatible with ser as a

[6:36] function of statute.

[6:37] >> She's she now has a job as the finance

[6:40] director of the town. So, I get that

[6:41] she's ineligible in that context.

[6:46] All right. So, we will have to

[6:47] gracefully accept your resignation.

[6:50] Sorry to hear that out. Jack.

[6:54] Yes. Next, we have

[6:58] candidates. Any are there any candidates

[7:01] to be uh considered here? We have one uh

[7:04] Mr. Swift.

[7:07] Ellie, are you going to be in the

[7:08] >> Yeah, but I was just wondering, do you

[7:10] need to do your redo your quorum thing

[7:12] first?

[7:16] » No. No. Okay. All right.

[7:17] >> We open the meeting with the quorum and

[7:19] >> Okay. All right. That's fine. Okay.

[7:22] >> Walked out.

[7:23] >> No. A couple people asked me to put my

[7:24] name in. So, I don't know if you want me

[7:27] or not. But,

[7:28] >> well, I think

[7:30] >> if you if you don't want me to tell you

[7:32] what to do, then you don't want me

[7:36] because I have a knowit all, you know,

[7:38] and I do know the law. So, but nobody

[7:40] else here has any training but me as far

[7:42] as I know except for Jack.

[7:45] >> Yeah.

[7:46] >> So, if you want me to go through, I can

[7:48] tell you my whole life story. My

[7:50] >> You don't need your life story. I think

[7:51] we you you've already given us a really

[7:53] good reason why we would want you on the

[7:55] committee.

[7:56] >> Thank you. Is there anything else you

[7:58] would like to say?

[7:58] >> I'll just say I'm a I'm a nonpracticing

[8:01] CPA. I have a doctorate in finance,

[8:04] economics, and math. I have 21 years of

[8:08] experience on the budget committee of

[8:10] the town budget committee. I have eight

[8:11] years experience on the school budget

[8:13] committee and more than eight years as

[8:15] cemetery trustee.

[8:18] So,

[8:20] >> I've worked as a college professor and a

[8:21] bunch of other things.

[8:24] >> Impressive. Anybody have any questions

[8:26] for Miss Davis?

[8:32] All right. We do have one other

[8:33] candidate. Um, but before we get him,

[8:36] let me uh read his uh [clears throat]

[8:39] who he is.

[8:41] Got a blur for him.

[8:45] name is James Smith. He lives on N

[8:48] Swift. He lives on 94 Peninsula Road.

[8:51] And

[8:53] he's a he's been an attorney with the

[8:56] law firm of Langro Berry Wool

[9:00] of Mberry in Burlington, Vermont for the

[9:02] last 44 years. His practice includes

[9:04] litigation, estate planning, real

[9:06] estate, and business transactions.

[9:09] He served as managing partner of the

[9:10] firm for 20 years. He's served on

[9:13] numerous boards of charitable

[9:14] organizations including Henry S Museum,

[9:18] middlebury Amateur Hockey Association,

[9:21] Mbury Cemetery Association, Addison

[9:24] County United Way, Arrow Streets Arts

[9:26] LLC, Milbury Middlebury Community House,

[9:30] Congregation Church of Mbury, North

[9:33] Chapel Universalist Society, and various

[9:36] others. He's been a permanent resident

[9:38] of can since April of 25 and is retiring

[9:41] from his firm this summer.

[9:45] So that's gentleman.

[9:46] >> What's his name again, please?

[9:48] >> James W. Swift and the firm of Langrock

[9:53] Berry and Middlebury

[9:54] >> and the position

[9:57] that we're talking about here.

[9:59] >> Oh, this is the uh to replace the

[10:01] recently resigned uh position position.

[10:05] >> Pleasure committee member. budget

[10:06] committee memb

[10:15] we have the existing budget committee

[10:17] has is has the authority to appoint

[10:20] somebody and then they serve until the

[10:23] next town meeting they just serve until

[10:25] the balance of the year till the next

[10:27] meeting

[10:28] >> and then they would have to have

[10:30] [clears throat] to be elected

[10:31] >> do any of us know this gentleman

[10:34] >> yes

[10:35] >> I think Tom knows. I I know him a little

[10:37] bit, but Tom knows him the most.

[10:39] >> Yeah. [clears throat]

[10:40] >> Hey, Ellie, I have a question for you.

[10:42] After the uh we interview this

[10:44] gentleman, would you be willing to leave

[10:45] the room so we can discuss it without

[10:47] you in the room?

[10:48] >> No, we have to do it in public.

[10:50] >> Well, I don't have to. Um I believe that

[10:53] uh

[10:55] I believe you can help me out with this

[10:57] because you know all the rules.

[10:58] >> Yeah. There's something called 91-8.3

[11:02] non-public sessions and it applies to

[11:05] all public bodies.

[11:07] Um says you shall not meet except for

[11:10] one of the purposes in p in non-public

[11:12] session except for one of the purposes

[11:14] set out in paragraph two. One of those items is item C. matters

[11:20] which if discussed in public would

[11:21] likely affect adversely the reputation

[11:24] of any person other than member of the

[11:26] public body itself unless such person

[11:29] requests an open meeting.

[11:31] >> I'm requesting an open meeting.

[11:33] >> Okay, that's fine. We can do that.

[11:35] >> But I'm already an elected official. So

[11:38] >> I'm sorry.

[11:38] >> I said I'm already an elected official.

[11:40] So I think whatever I do should be

[11:42] public.

[11:42] >> That's fine. That's why I'm asking. We

[11:45] can't do it. We have the authority.

[11:46] >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[11:48] >> Okay. I guess I've never had it done

[11:50] that way.

[11:51] >> I know, but I did my homework.

[11:54] >> Okay.

[11:55] All right. So, let's get uh Mr.

[11:58] Swift on the phone and see what he's got

[12:00] to say.

[12:10] » Here is do the best. I got it out as

[12:13] loud as I can. Okay. I'll put on

[12:15] speaker. Yeah. Good idea.

[12:18] Hi, this is Jim.

[12:19] >> Hi, Jim. It's Michael Reese here.

[12:21] >> Hey, Michael.

[12:22] >> Okay, so um I guess we're gonna have You

[12:24] can't get on team, so we're gonna we'll

[12:26] do it this way as best we can. Uh S, our

[12:28] chairperson, just read uh your bio for

[12:31] everybody.

[12:32] >> Yep.

[12:33] >> And we have uh five members. We have a

[12:36] few absentes absences to today, but we

[12:39] have five members of the board here and

[12:41] one other candidate also in the room who

[12:43] has been on the budget committee before,

[12:45] Kelly Davis. She's in the room also

[12:47] along with the town the town

[12:48] administrator and the finance man.

[12:50] >> Y

[12:51] >> I don't know. Can everybody hear?

[12:54] >> Oh, you're right. And of course our

[12:55] minist

[12:58] I'm just going to put the phone down and

[13:00] I guess we'll invite him to

[13:01] >> Yeah. Just if you just like to address

[13:04] the group and and you know tell us a

[13:06] little about a little bit more about

[13:07] yourself and why you're interested in

[13:09] the position. All right. Thank you.

[13:11] >> Sure. Sure. Well, uh, Chip Swift. Um,

[13:15] I'm a lawyer. Uh, been practicing in

[13:18] Vermont for 42 years and, uh, retiring

[13:22] at, uh, the end of June. Uh, but, uh,

[13:26] Diane and I, uh, my wife moved to, uh,

[13:31] Kanan about a year ago in April. And um

[13:36] uh you know I'm interested in doing my

[13:38] civic duty of of uh trying to

[13:41] participate in local government and uh

[13:44] bring whatever knowledge I have from all

[13:47] the various things that I've done um to to help the town. um you know

[13:54] [snorts] the things that I've done is

[13:55] basically uh managing a 24 attorney

[14:01] uh 60 employee um law firm for 20 years

[14:06] and u you know fortunately have handed

[14:09] off the torch on that been involved in

[14:12] lots of uh various boards

[14:15] um Madison County United Way etc etc so

[14:19] I I'm thinking that uh this be a good

[14:22] fit for me as I eased my retirement. So

[14:26] that's basically my thoughts.

[14:29] >> Okay. Anybody have any questions for Mr.

[14:32] Swift?

[14:38] » So you went you went through the list of

[14:40] his experience items. Yeah.

[14:43] >> And there were several municipal things

[14:45] there. Could you repeat the municipal

[14:48] items or maybe maybe Jim can

[14:54] » government? But I have been um involved

[14:57] in municipal light things including the

[15:00] uh Addison County United Way which uh

[15:04] you know for 15 years I was on their

[15:06] board uh dealing with uh you know how the money is raised and then

[15:12] dispersed and uh evaluating uh proposals

[15:17] for dispersement and uh so so I think

[15:21] that's valuable for the budget

[15:22] committee. Um, I also have been

[15:27] I god forbid but but uh sort of the

[15:31] chief financial officer for the Mbury

[15:33] Cemetery Association where we have a um

[15:38] you know endemic of over $750,000

[15:42] dealing with the u expenses and and uh

[15:46] proposals [snorts] for that. Um so

[15:49] things like that is is what I've I've

[15:52] been involved in as well as um of course

[15:56] uh being managing partner of a firm of

[16:00] you know multi-million dollar budget

[16:03] know having to deal with contractors and

[16:07] it and all that stuff. [snorts] Um, so

[16:10] you know, I've been involved in

[16:12] budgeting over over uh many of the

[16:16] facets of of my career.

[16:19] >> Um, I do have another question for you,

[16:21] Jim. Um, we uh we will be meeting on

[16:23] Wednesdays, the second and fourth

[16:25] Wednesdays of the month at 6:00 PM here

[16:29] in town. Um,

[16:32] >> starting

[16:34] end of June is my official retirement

[16:37] date.

[16:37] >> Yeah. Um but uh we we will start meeting

[16:41] somewhere around the middle of September

[16:43] official, you know, meetings and that

[16:46] will run um all the way through the end

[16:49] of January.

[16:51] Um so will you be available at those

[16:55] times and dates that we're going to be

[16:56] meeting efficiently enough to be able to

[16:59] participate effectively?

[17:01] >> Yeah.

[17:02] >> Yes. Like I said, um I'll be retiring

[17:04] and you know, right now I'm in Mbury. I

[17:07] work three days a week in Middbury and

[17:10] uh Mondays and Fridays remotely from Kanan. Uh but at the end of June, I

[17:16] will be uh stepping down from the firm

[17:19] and uh full-time in Kanan. So yeah,

[17:22] that's good.

[17:23] >> Okay. All right.

[17:26] Any other

[17:28] question? Sure. For us, I guess are are

[17:30] we able to increase the number from 10

[17:34] to something else? Not without you know

[17:36] some other kind of

[17:39] >> why would birth would you want to do

[17:40] that

[17:41] >> just if we wanted 11 or 12 on the budget

[17:44] that's

[17:45] >> you have nine now

[17:47] >> nice to have an odd number but I think

[17:49] nine's quite

[17:50] >> well the town statute calls for 10 is

[17:52] that correct Ellie

[17:53] >> really

[17:53] >> no it well nine it calls for nine at

[17:56] large number selected numbers and then

[17:58] the selectment choose a representative

[18:01] >> it's just the

[18:04] >> state doesn't count

[18:04] >> just like all the other public bodies to

[18:06] pick a person that they can't serve then

[18:10] they can pick somebody else to take

[18:11] their place.

[18:12] >> Was that a warrant article?

[18:14] >> No, that's in the law.

[18:16] >> Stat

[18:19] reads 32 again, John.

[18:21] >> Okay. [laughter]

[18:23] >> Because some towns have less, but it's

[18:25] usually a multiple of three. So like

[18:27] some towns have three, some towns have

[18:29] six. Some towns have only an advisory

[18:32] committee. In that case, I think you can

[18:33] do whatever you want.

[18:35] >> But

[18:41] all right. Anything else?

[18:44] Uh, okay. So, Jim, you're welcome to

[18:47] stay on the line if you like. We're

[18:48] going to be discussing voting on this in

[18:50] a few seconds here.

[18:53] >> Okay.

[18:55] >> So, anybody have any thoughts?

[19:00] We kind of have a Sophie's choice here

[19:02] because we [laughter] we have I would

[19:04] say very capable candidate on the phone

[19:07] and we have a very capable candidate

[19:09] that has served in the past in

[19:11] >> and that's why I was asking about 11

[19:13] because it would be nice to have them

[19:15] both

[19:16] >> because I don't think there's a bad

[19:18] choice here at all. Yeah.

[19:21] [clears throat]

[19:24] » Nope.

[19:25] >> Um,

[19:27] I liked Jim's resume and I liked what he

[19:30] had to say and I think

[19:34] fresh face would be advantageous. Fresh

[19:37] first participant

[19:39] sort of expanding the the universe of of

[19:43] uh activist

[19:45] uh residents in town.

[19:48] Tom, you got something you want to say?

[19:49] Anything?

[19:50] >> Yeah. Uh, so I I basically support uh

[19:54] Jim. I've known him actually for more

[19:58] over three years and interacting with

[20:01] him with our community over on Goosebond

[20:05] and I, you know, uh, have we've

[20:08] interacted and I know his credentials.

[20:11] So I I'm supporting I would support Jim.

[20:16] Yeah. Can I say one other thing is I

[20:18] think

[20:21] this is too male dominated. You have no

[20:24] elected female members.

[20:29] » Okay. We had one she had one. She

[20:32] resigned.

[20:34] Doesn't want to hang out with us. You

[20:35] don't know why you do, but that's

[20:37] [laughter]

[20:40] » But John, you had something

[20:42] >> want to say something?

[20:42] >> Yeah. Uh just reading the laws RSA 3215.

[20:46] Yep.

[20:47] >> Budget committee committee cons shall

[20:49] consist of three to 12 members at large

[20:52] who may be elected or appointed by the

[20:55] moderator.

[20:56] >> Oh,

[20:56] >> as a town or district uh adopting the

[20:58] provision of this subdivision shall by

[21:01] vote determined. So it says it can be

[21:05] greater than what we have now, but the

[21:07] town meeting has to do it.

[21:09] >> Oh, the town meeting. So it said it says

[21:11] the uh

[21:15] as the town or district adopting the the

[21:18] provision of this subdivision shall vote

[21:20] to

[21:22] shall vote determined.

[21:27] » Can you have an alternate?

[21:29] >> You have an alternate John? You know

[21:32] >> I'm reading.

[21:36] » We did that. We've done that on the

[21:38] cemetery trust building.

[21:40] I' I've never seen that. Means we should

[21:42] have had a warrant article to pick the

[21:44] number.

[21:45] >> Yeah.

[21:45] >> And I've never seen that.

[21:47] >> You mean the budget committee had to

[21:48] have a warrant article to pick the

[21:50] number?

[21:50] >> Yeah.

[21:51] >> Well, that would have been a 1948.

[21:53] >> Yeah.

[21:53] >> Were you around in 1948?

[21:55] >> No.

[21:57] You probably didn't see it

[21:58] >> before I started the minutes.

[22:01] >> We've always had that many. All right.

[22:05] >> You can't fix that now.

[22:06] >> We can't fix that now. Right.

[22:08] [clears throat]

[22:10] So,

[22:10] >> I don't see any mention of all things.

[22:12] >> Okay.

[22:15] All right. Any other comments, thoughts,

[22:17] quips, or quotes?

[22:22] » Well, I hope whatever happens that the

[22:24] other candidate would attend continue to

[22:27] attend budget committee meetings and you

[22:29] know, I mean, in this particular case,

[22:31] Ellie comes to the meetings and she's

[22:33] been a big help.

[22:36] >> In a way, it's almost a a way to expand

[22:39] the body without expanding the body.

[22:42] >> Well, I haven't been. I only went to one

[22:44] this year or two.

[22:47] I went to the public hearing.

[22:50] >> Move the question.

[22:52] >> Okay, let's move the question. Jack

[22:53] wants to go home. Go ahead. You have

[22:54] something else you want to say?

[22:56] >> Just let's go.

[23:00] » Let's go. Says Mr. Stone. He's not

[23:02] dealing well. All right. Let's take a

[23:04] vote on this. Uh Mr. Berseron,

[23:06] >> vote for Ellie. Ellie,

[23:10] Mr. Duplinsky,

[23:12] >> Jim Swift,

[23:16] » Mr. Reese, I'm gonna say Jim Swift, but

[23:20] I don't want Ellie to be mad at me, but

[23:24] » Jim Swift.

[23:27] >> I can't state how important you are to

[23:29] the group. I'm gonna vote for Ellie, but

[23:31] that's a three to two for Mr. Swift.

[23:35] Well, when I talked to Gold Sale, Mr.

[23:38] Swift,

[23:38] >> you're now a member of uh I'm sorry.

[23:40] Just give me one second. Mr. You've been

[23:42] appointed to the budget committee

[23:43] training, Mr. Swift.

[23:46] >> Okay, that's great.

[23:47] >> All right. And uh what I need you to do

[23:49] is I need you to send me your email.

[23:53] >> I can I will

[23:54] >> um And my email is S Perc

[24:00] go

[24:03] » spelled like it sounds.

[24:04] >> Yeah. s p

[24:07] i aat.net.

[24:12] » But Mike Reese will send it to you.

[24:14] >> Mike,

[24:17] [laughter]

[24:17] >> he's on my email.

[24:18] >> Ellie, thank you so much.

[24:21] >> I forgot what I was going to say now.

[24:22] Oh, I because I for both you and Mike.

[24:25] It's nobody else, so I couldn't probably

[24:28] wouldn't have bogged it, but um that's

[24:30] it. That's all I wanted to say. Thank

[24:32] you.

[24:34] Okay. [clears throat] Um, okay. Any

[24:38] other business?

[24:40] We have any other business?

[24:42] >> I I just wanted to ask um we did last

[24:44] year start on September 18th was so

[24:48] probably that same uh you're thinking

[24:50] we'll be

[24:50] >> Well, I need to sit with Jack. Uh we we

[24:53] don't know whether we will have a

[24:54] permanent town man town administrator in

[24:57] place by then. We don't know what's

[24:58] going to go on.

[24:59] >> Okay. uh act, you know, uh but I will be

[25:02] sitting down with Jack and uh we'll

[25:04] start to work out a schedule of when

[25:06] people can show up and carry in as well

[25:08] and figure out what she'll be ready to,

[25:10] you know, do other little parts and

[25:12] pieces,

[25:14] >> but you know, because

[25:16] >> I I might suggest you you you um we can

[25:19] talk about it.

[25:21] >> [clears throat]

[25:22] >> It might be good to start earlier in the year and and give enough time for

[25:27] the department heads to come in and and

[25:30] expend my my recollection from a few

[25:33] years ago got pretty crowded

[25:35] schedulewise wise.

[25:39] >> Well, we did pretty well last year. We

[25:41] got through it pretty well. I think the

[25:43] CIP committee wants to get going

[25:45] earlier.

[25:46] >> Okay, that's fine, too.

[25:47] >> Right. And that'll bring the department

[25:48] heads in for their capital requirements.

[25:51] Right.

[25:51] >> Right.

[25:52] >> And then, you know, whenever you guys

[25:54] are ready, we can

[25:55] >> I mean, we're ready to start. It's

[25:57] really a question of when the department

[25:59] heads have all their

[26:01] >> focus on perhaps getting information out

[26:03] to you sooner.

[26:06] >> I like the

[26:07] >> I'm happy to make it less crowded. Yeah.

[26:09] >> So, we can do shorter meetings,

[26:11] >> right?

[26:11] >> You know, I'm happy to do that, Ellie.

[26:13] Well, I just look at the calendar

[26:15] because of you switching to second and

[26:17] fourth. You're actually like a week

[26:18] ahead of

[26:19] >> Yeah.

[26:19] >> So, it's the 10th and the TW. You have

[26:21] two meetings.

[26:23] >> The 10th and the 24th is enough.

[26:26] >> Yeah. We'll we'll we'll work it out.

[26:28] >> Okay. Well, I have to come in because

[26:30] I'm on the cemetery trustee. So, we'll

[26:32] have to come in, too. So, I kind of I'm

[26:35] sorry. It would be the 9th and the 23rd.

[26:37] Sorry.

[26:37] >> That's all right. Thank you. All right.

[26:40] So, yeah, we'll do that. Any other

[26:42] business? I do have one thing that I do

[26:45] want to talk about quickly and then and

[26:46] just so you can think start thinking

[26:48] about it. Um last year at the um public

[26:52] session of the budget committee, we had

[26:55] one person show up. We had two um

[27:00] warrants fail

[27:04] requirement for the funding of police

[27:06] cruisers and stuff [snorts] and uh the

[27:09] town government buildings.

[27:11] And I think part of that um was a lack

[27:15] of information and education to you know

[27:18] the town basically about what it's

[27:20] about. So, I would like us to start to

[27:22] think about whether or not I mean I'll

[27:24] do it myself if I have to, but um I

[27:27] would like to go out and go out and

[27:29] after we've completed the uh budget have a proposed budget and

[27:34] Lawrence, I would like to some of the

[27:37] groups in town and the Lions Club and

[27:41] any other ones that have, you know,

[27:43] sufficient enough people that we can

[27:44] visit with and talk to them about budget

[27:46] because if we wait for them to come to

[27:48] us, they're not going to come to us.

[27:50] So, I would like to, you know, see if we

[27:52] can start to go out and talk to people

[27:55] about what the budget is and why it is

[27:58] what it is and why we're recommending

[28:00] what we're recommending. So, just put

[28:02] that in the back of your heads.

[28:04] I'll see if we can get somebody on. Um,

[28:07] any other

[28:09] >> the other thing is to consider moving

[28:12] things from warrant articles into the

[28:14] main budget if it's a critical item that

[28:16] you really want.

[28:17] >> Yeah. stick it in the main budget

[28:19] because they may have a higher

[28:20] probability of passing and this the

[28:23] trouble with building account is you're

[28:25] not really telling them what they what

[28:27] you're going to use it for.

[28:28] >> That's what I'm getting at.

[28:29] >> Yeah. Great.

[28:30] >> That's that is the the big give us a

[28:32] slush fund. No, you can't have

[28:33] >> we don't want a slush fund. We already

[28:35] have a slush fund called the the

[28:36] community center capital reserve which

[28:39] by the way it's got about 270 grand in

[28:41] it. Can't even get at it because it's

[28:44] specific purpose thing. Well, it was

[28:46] also set up improperly.

[28:47] >> Yeah, of course.

[28:48] >> The money the money didn't go where

[28:50] supposed to.

[28:52] >> All right. Well, that's good. So,

[28:53] everybody wants to go home. Uh, I'll

[28:55] entertain a motion to adjourn.

[28:57] >> So, move.

[28:58] >> Second.

[28:59] >> All those in favor?

[29:00] >> I thank you very much.

[29:02] >> Roll call.

[29:03] >> Oh, jeez. Sorry, Mr. Beron.

[29:06] >> Yes.

[29:06] >> Mr. Dlinsky,

[29:08] >> yes.

[29:09] >> Percy, yes. Reese,

[29:11] >> yes. Stone,

[29:12] >> yes.

[29:12] >> Uh, that's it. Swift and Mr. Swift

[29:16] >> actually need to say yes.

[29:18] >> He has to get sworn in too.

[29:20] >> Yeah, we'll get beauty.

[29:24] >> [clears throat]

Budget Committee Meeting 4/29/2026

Agenda

Transcript