[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]