[0:20] Good morning.

[0:26] So, what we're doing right now is I'm just bringing the assembly to order. So,

[0:30] we're not opening up our town meeting just yet.

[0:35] » Can't hear you. >> But I do want to welcome you to come

[0:38] that you're you're here today and in particular the uh the folks here, our

[0:43] our principal at the High Park Elementary and the house leaders. Let's

[0:47] give him another hand. Thank you. They'll be with us throughout the day

[0:53] with the microphone if we need it.

[0:59] And turn this over now to our the chair of the select board that'll lead us in

[1:04] the uh pledge of allegiance. >> Actually, I'm going to pass it over to

[1:08] Kaylee and she's going to lead us. Okay. Another girl.

[1:20] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:26] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[1:33] justice for all.

[1:40] I wanted the lights to be turned down. Um, I'd also

[1:45] like to take a moment um to acknowledge this wonderful person. You can't hear

[1:51] me. Is this better? Okay. Um, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge this

[1:58] wonderful man on the screen behind me. I was hoping to have the lights turned

[2:02] down a little bit. Can we turn them down, Rose? No, you don't know how.

[2:05] Okay, that's fine. Um, Ken Harvey um did I'm not even going to try to start to

[2:12] explain all that he did for our town, but he did a lot. Um, so I'd like to

[2:18] take a moment of silence um in his honor.

[2:45] Okay, back to you. >> Thank you, Chassity.

[2:54] So, I got a couple of uh housekeeping things that we need to visit with you

[2:58] about here.

[3:02] So, if you're a High Park resident that's not registered to vote yet,

[3:06] please see an election official at the check-in table.

[3:11] If you did, make sure you have a stamp on your hand. If a paper ballots called

[3:16] for, you'll need to show that hand stamp to prove you're checked in.

[3:21] We have local representatives here from the state government. With us today is

[3:26] Dan Noise and Richard Bailey. Thank you for attending gentlemen. We

[3:32] appreciate you being here.

[3:38] This meeting is being recorded. Anyone wishing to speak must come forward to

[3:41] the microphone or microphone will be given to you by one of the house

[3:44] leaders. State your full name before addressing

[3:48] the assembly. If you can't get to the center aisle, portable microphone will

[3:52] be brought. If you don't speak into it, you won't be heard and the town clerk,

[3:58] Kim Molton, won't be able to hear you while she's taking minutes. It's so it's

[4:01] so important to have accurate minutes, which will include those who spoke,

[4:07] those who seconded motions, made motions, and so on. So,

[4:13] the school would like to remind us that if you're a smoker, there's no smoking

[4:18] on the grounds or in the building. Thank you.

[4:21] and our usual nemesis, the cell phone.

[4:28] Silence them, please. And the the third nemesis, the bladder.

[4:36] The the restrooms are down the hall on your right.

[4:45] On behalf of the town of High Park, we want to thank Diane Riley, Dialin

[4:49] Laflam, and the staff here at the elementary school for their assistance

[4:53] in setting up for the High Park annual town meeting.

[4:59] in particular. Again, we're going to make notice for our principal and her

[5:05] staff today, the house leaders, and um we appreciate their attendance and being

[5:10] with us today to help us out.

[5:23] Seated here with me are the select board members who are going to introduce

[5:27] themselves. I'll turn it over to Chassity to start.

[5:32] » Good morning again. Um, for those of you that don't know me, my name is Chassity

[5:37] Fant. Um, I am the select board chair. I have served on the board since 2021.

[5:46] Um, thanks to Ken Harvey actually, um, who convinced me to run.

[5:53] Not sure if I want to thank him for that or not. Um, but I grew up in Hide Park.

[6:00] Um, I was a village kid. I've raised my kids here who are now grown adults

[6:05] living in Hide Park as well. I attended this school. Um, I served on the school

[6:12] board. I was on the rec committee and part a big part of building the

[6:17] wonderful facility in Garfield. Um, and if you haven't visited that, I highly

[6:22] suggest you do so. Um, and

[6:28] I that's about all I'm going to say. I guess I'm going to pass it over to

[6:31] Savannah.

[6:35] » Hi, I'm Savannah Dron. Um, I've lived in Hide Park for 20 years. I've served on

[6:40] the select board for three. Um, I'm originally from Walit and I went to

[6:44] school in Crbury. I'm part of the Hide Park community circle. Um,

[6:50] I enjoy being on the select board and I think it's a lot of work. Um, that's

[6:58] um, my name is Nicole Schaan. Um, born and raised in Hyde Park, raised my son

[7:02] here, went to school here. Um, I'm not running again. Um, I just don't have it

[7:07] in me. Too busy. Um, appreciated the opportunity to do it and respect the

[7:13] time that it takes and the board and the town folks that work at the town and the

[7:20] town itself. So, that's all I have to say.

[7:23] My name is Lance Van Voglepool. I have been in Vermont for almost a decade now

[7:29] and in Hyde Park for this will be our fourth year. I was nominated and voted

[7:35] in last year at the town meeting. Um over that time I've been really

[7:41] appreciative to have worked with the folks that you see before you and have

[7:44] gotten to learn a bunch about what it takes to run the town. Um, and moving

[7:50] forward, I want to become more involved in the community. Uh, as was just said,

[7:55] the community circle and I would like to take part in more of the library

[8:00] activities, uh, and just make life and quality of life better for as many

[8:05] people as we can.

[8:10] » And we are missing one board member, Matt Morin, who is not here, but he did

[8:15] do a little write up for me. Sorry I'm a unable to make our town

[8:20] meeting as I am enjoying some warmer weather during my kids school break. I

[8:25] was asked to describe myself and my importance to being on the select board.

[8:29] I'm a born and raised Vermoner who grew up on a local dairy farm. I graduated

[8:33] from Loyal Union High School and expanded my education at VTC for civil

[8:38] engineering. When not working, I find myself enjoying

[8:42] sports and recreation. In early 2000, I joined the Hide Park Rec Committee. In

[8:47] 2022, I was influenced, this is amusing, to get involved in the town select Board

[8:53] by the well-known Ken Harvey. I will be honest, I was hesitant at

[8:58] first, yet interested. It took some time to learn, and I'm open to say still

[9:02] learning things of our town operations. While I am not the most educated in the

[9:06] administrative side, I have found myself more valuable in the operations side.

[9:10] I've been on the board the last four years. I pride myself in having an open

[9:14] mind all the while having motivation for a solution to conflicts or problems. We

[9:20] have a very great town community that I'm happy to be raising my two young

[9:23] children in. Um, and then I also want to introduce

[9:29] Miss Kim Molton sitting behind me as all of you know. We have Alex Godddard, our

[9:34] town administrator, wave. And Jen, our finance director,

[9:40] who are here as well. Um, and I also just want to um take a moment to talk

[9:45] about the changes to town meeting. Um, I had was approached by um some town some

[9:52] town people that came to the select board meeting after town meeting last

[9:56] year um in hopes to try to revitalize town meeting again. Um, and I made a

[10:02] promise to them to to help and to try to make things different. Um, hence the

[10:08] school presentation that I hope you all enjoyed. um moving the location back to

[10:12] the school, which is where it always was in years past. Um so I think um we have

[10:20] a pretty good turnout. Um it'll be interesting to see the numbers. Um and

[10:25] Joan, did you want to do you want to speak now? Okay. And I'm going to pass

[10:30] this over to Joan, who was one of the ones that headed up wanting to to bring

[10:36] town meeting back. So I'll pass it over to her.

[10:44] Uh Joan Green, I would like to take this opportunity to state for the record that

[10:50] the town meeting in Vermont started in 1762.

[10:55] It is a show of direct democracy and it is 264

[11:00] years old. It actually started before we were a state. And as Lincoln, President

[11:09] Lincoln said in the Gettysburg address, I called for a new birth of freedom to

[11:16] ensure that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not

[11:24] perish from the earth.

[11:37] And Maggie Stewart, are you here? Oh, there you are. She has

[11:44] a poem that she would like to read. So, if you could bring

[12:13] Don't mind. I'm going to sit

[12:18] as I look out over all of you. Oh, sorry. As I look out

[12:24] over all of you people, I know I'm looking at preschoolers that I used to

[12:29] have that I used to teach. Um, I'm I'm thankful to be able to be

[12:37] here and be able to read this poem. I have to tell you that

[12:43] when I was a senior in high school, English was my favorite studying. It was

[12:50] my favorite class. And my teacher helped me to make it my favorite class. And I

[12:57] wrote a poem back then that the suggestion in my in my book

[13:04] said, "Write a poem about my family. Bless them." But instead, I wrote a poem

[13:11] about my family. Darn them. So, I I don't even know where that poem

[13:17] is today, but for some reason, I've had all of these words in my brain that get

[13:27] onto paper and it's been happening for a few years here. And this so this is

[13:33] called Vermont Town Meeting.

[13:38] Today is town meeting a great place to be. If you like friendly faces, ones you

[13:44] don't often see. It's a place for discussion of our town budget and plans.

[13:51] Where democracy rules while some sit and some stand. We wonder why this neighbor

[13:56] or that neighbor's not here. They've always turned out what's the matter this

[14:02] year. Good coffee and goodies sustain us as we get ready to listen to the process

[14:09] with glee. There are those who bring knitting.

[14:16] Well, maybe not today. >> Oh, yeah. Okay, Jazelle.

[14:23] There are those who bring knitting and others who spoke of their beliefs and

[14:28] opinions or an occasional joke. The town fathers are sitting, no disrespect to

[14:35] the mothers, upfront on display, to answer our questions and reject all

[14:41] hearsay. We get stuck on some article, perhaps

[14:46] 10, five or four. It takes half an hour to settle the score. The amendment to

[14:52] the amended articles are kept track of by the clerk. The moderator keeps peace

[14:58] so we don't all go berserk. As the articles move and are voted yes

[15:04] or no, we move down the page if we're lucky in a couple hours or so.

[15:11] Changes are good, but not too many will plan. Hold on.

[15:20] Changes are good, but not too many will plan. For we all know it's true, things

[15:26] were better back then.

[15:34] When the meeting adjourns, we must then say hello and discuss winter weather,

[15:40] our health, or the town meeting show. There's one thing I wish as I walk out

[15:46] the door that next year they will listen when I have the floor.

[15:54] Moving on out to our cars that await. There is just one more person we haven't

[16:00] talked to of late. When the silence overcomes us on the drive to our home,

[16:06] we hope for some changes in next year's beastly moans. Respectively written

[16:13] Maggie Stewart.

[16:22] Thank you very much. Okay, I'm gonna pass it back over to

[16:26] you, Paul. >> Thank you, Jess.

[16:33] Just to make this more official, there town meeting is now in order.

[16:42] declared open at 10:20 a.m.

[16:48] Alex Goddard and Jennifer Tricor are there as um as you were they were

[16:52] introduced earlier as your finance director

[16:57] and um

[17:01] and your town administrator

[17:06] if there's a necessary need for them to speak since they're not High Park

[17:10] residents. I'm going to allow them to do so if there's no objections.

[17:19] Now, I'm going to turn it back over to Chassity

[17:23] who will announce the U give you an overview presentation.

[17:28] You had a handout given to you when you arrived. That'll be helpful.

[17:32] And of course, you may have your town report with you as well.

[18:30] I didn't know.

[19:25] The silence is deafening.

[19:35] Good morning everyone. My name is Alex Godddard and I'm the town administrator.

[19:40] I was appointed last year in March. So this town meeting uh marks my first full

[19:45] year with the town. >> Just hit the back button.

[19:53] » Lance, can you help her? >> Oh, there we go.

[19:58] » Okay. Okay, so we put together a presentation for you guys on the budget.

[20:02] Um, you also have a handout hopefully that was passed around which uh gives us

[20:07] some highlights that we're going to be talking about. Inside the town report on

[20:11] page 18 is a snapshot of the major changes in the budget. Um, so you may

[20:18] want to reference that as we're moving through the presentation.

[20:24] So, we're going to go over the fiscal year 27 budget, highlight the major

[20:29] changes um as it relates to the fiscal year 26 budget. We're going to talk

[20:33] about upcoming projects inside of the town, our growth growth strategies,

[20:40] accomplishments of fiscal year 26, um and call out some other noteworthy

[20:45] topics. So, first of all, the budget. Uh this is

[20:49] the most important number that everyone's looking for today. Uh it's a

[20:53] 5.13% increase as opposed to last year which

[20:58] was a 7.23% increase.

[21:02] A few things attribute to this. A decline in nonpropy tax revenue of

[21:08] approximately $15,000. Standard uh cola increases for town

[21:14] staff of 4%. some town office staffing changes. We

[21:20] had to take a hard look at the budget this year um to avoid a double-digit

[21:25] increase and we looked inside our own town office and said where can we be

[21:28] more efficient? Um so we've combined a few positions, mine being one of them.

[21:33] Um I'm going to be taking over the zoning administration as well as my

[21:36] responsibilities as a town administrator. We've also eliminated a

[21:40] seasonal highway position uh which was responsible for roadside mowing a few

[21:45] months during the summer. Some costs associated with the budget.

[21:52] We've had to uh schedule a server replacement and bolster our information

[21:57] technology. Those are both costly. Um so those are included there. We have a

[22:03] upcoming fiscal year 27 and 28 townwide reappraisal. Um, so we've had to adjust

[22:09] our lines for the listers and assessors uh to increase their capacity there.

[22:15] We have a few decreases in the highway department as it relates to fuel and

[22:20] gravel crushing. So, we looked at 5-year averages um and projected out to next

[22:25] year and realized that we could save a little money there as well. The cemetery

[22:30] associations came to us uh with an increased funding need. We want to take

[22:34] care of those properties as best we can. Um so there is an increase there as

[22:38] well. This shows the increase or decrease in

[22:43] the various departments based on percentage. So town administration which

[22:47] is the town office and our staff uh saw 1.8% increase. The highway department

[22:53] was a 15.31% reduction. public safety, which is the

[22:59] our sheriff's department, um our contracted ambulance service through

[23:03] NEMS and Johnson, as well as our local fire department saw 4.17%

[23:08] increase. Health and welfare was 3.14, our cemeteries 31

[23:15] uh.11%. The library 11.71, recreation 12.64, 64

[23:22] memberships and dues 3.51 and then our capital outlay and reserves 81.79%.

[23:29] That seems like a a very large increase. Um the majority of that is we've shifted

[23:34] our allocation for paving this year into the highway road uh construction

[23:38] reserve. That allows us to do thoughtful investments um and get a return on that

[23:43] money prior to doing any projects in the town.

[23:48] Speaking of projects, we do have some upcoming and ongoing projects. One of

[23:52] them is the municipal energy resilience program, also known as MERP. I see Bob

[23:57] Tina in the crowd. Uh Bob has been working uh with the energy committee to

[24:02] spearhead much of this project. And that was the result of energy and uh ADA

[24:06] assessments that were completed on four of the town buildings including the Gion

[24:11] Valley Hall, the Lampir Memorial Library, the Municipal Town Office, and

[24:16] the Hide Park Fire Department. We're going to be doing some major

[24:21] renovations uh at the Hide Park Fire Department, which is partially funded by

[24:25] MERP, um which is the Municipal Energy Resilience Program. that accounts for

[24:30] about $100,000 worth of that project to upgrade ADA and and energy resilience.

[24:36] Also in that project is a $650,000 bond which you, the voters approved. Those

[24:43] improvements include ADA um improvements, a new bathroom and

[24:47] kitchen, HVAC improvements throughout the building, window upgrades, the

[24:52] installation of mini splits, a new meeting room, a new utility room, and

[24:57] that construction is uh slated to start in the spring of 2026, so next month.

[25:04] Another large project we have is the La Moyal Valley Rail Trail Pavilion at the

[25:09] Depot Street trail head. The planning for this project has been ongoing over

[25:14] the course of the last year. Um, and we are now ready to send that out for a

[25:18] request for proposal. So, we should see that project break ground this summer.

[25:26] So, looking ahead to fiscal year 27, uh the select board remains committed to

[25:31] building on the successes of fiscal year 26. We're going to be advancing approved

[25:37] capital plans and infrastructure improvements, strengthening community

[25:41] engagement and public communication, seeking funding and strategic strategic

[25:47] opportunities to support town service and resilience.

[25:51] We'll also be conducting a network level analysis of our road system. One of the

[25:56] biggest things that we have to plan for and budget for is uh road construction,

[26:01] making sure that our roads are paved well, uh that they last a long time, and

[26:05] that we're doing that thoughtfully. We don't just want to ask the town voters

[26:08] for $500,000 for paving and then just blindly pick a few roads to pave. We

[26:13] want to conduct an actual assessment, highlight the areas where we know we

[26:17] need to improve the roads, whether that be the installation of culverts, um

[26:21] extra grading. So, we're going to be doing that in the coming year and

[26:26] hopefully we'll be able to project out five years and 10 years. So, we know the

[26:30] exact figure that we need to ask the voters for. We don't want to waste your

[26:33] money. Um but we do want to make thoughtful investments.

[26:38] Some challenges and ongoing initiatives. Um so we're going to be reviewing

[26:42] rehabilitation and improvement needs of the municipal building uh municipal

[26:46] buildings at large. Part of this is already done through the MERP program.

[26:50] Uh we've uh contracted with engineering firms to conduct uh what we call

[26:56] existing conditions. So they've been mapping the buildings, highlighting

[26:59] areas in the infrastructure that we need to steadily improve on.

[27:05] One of the things the select board cares a lot about is engaging with the

[27:08] community on prioritizing projects such as class 4 roads, speed limit signage

[27:12] updates and the welcome and gateway signs uh that we installed in North Hyde

[27:16] Park. So, the select board encourages every member of the town to attend

[27:20] meetings. Uh speak up if there's a project that you'd really like to see

[27:24] happen in the town or an ongoing project that you have thoughts on, please bring

[27:28] those to us.

[27:35] So this slide highlights our growth strategies um and allows us to move

[27:39] forward with confidence. And the first is capital planning. Uh the select board

[27:43] remains committed to strong financial management through capital planning for

[27:47] asset replacements, projects and budget forecasting.

[27:52] One of the big investments uh that the town and the board has made in the last

[27:56] few years are strategic investments. Most of this comes out of the finance

[28:01] director's office. Um, so we take a look at the money we have on hand and where

[28:06] can we apply that so that we're getting a good return on our investment. And in

[28:11] the budget in the town report that you have before you, you can see the fruits

[28:15] of that labor. We are getting tens of thousands of dollars on interest uh by

[28:19] holding on to that money a little extra longer.

[28:22] And then sustained growth. The first two allow us to execute this uh this last

[28:27] bullet here. We're positioned well for scalable expansion in the coming years

[28:32] based on the work that the select board and the administration has done over the

[28:36] last few years.

[28:40] Some accomplishments in fiscal year 26. Uh so we recently completed the North

[28:44] Hyde Park scoping study which was a year-long study conducted by Dub Boys

[28:49] and King. And the goal of that study is to uh project a project for village

[28:56] walkways um which will be completed through grant funding uh by the Vermont

[29:01] Agency of Transportation. If you haven't uh had a chance to review

[29:06] that, we do have some copies at the town office linked to the website. It's a

[29:09] wonderful project to connect a very small community uh in North Hyde Park.

[29:16] We also purchased a new firet truck this fiscal year uh which recently entered

[29:20] service and we purchased a new uh 2024 Dodge Ram

[29:26] 5500 to replace a 2017 uh version over at the highway

[29:31] department. These are both the results of uh really thoughtful capital planning

[29:36] making sure that we have the funds available. We have depreciation

[29:40] schedules and we're forecasting out uh 10 years to know what our needs are

[29:44] going to be.

[29:47] I'm gonna hand the microphone back to Chassity.

[29:57] I love our little library we have in town. Um but I also love even more our

[30:04] library director, Amy Olsen. Um, yep. Um, and she was awarded this

[30:12] wonderful award um, this year, the Sarah C. Hagar award, I believe. Um, I won't

[30:20] read the whole thing about it. Um, but I wanted to make sure to acknowledge her

[30:25] today. Um, she lives in LOL, so I'm sure she's attending their town meeting. Um,

[30:30] but she is a true Hide Park gal. I grew up with her. Um, so she I just wanted to

[30:36] make sure to acknowledge her today. So, thank you.

[30:43] » And with that, we're going to open up um the floor to questions for the board.

[31:04] Thank you, Alex.

[31:13] Hi, I'm Virginia Jenkins and I want to thank you very much for making the

[31:17] change to the elementary school and for the muffins and coffee.

[31:32] Did Diane make the muffins? She did, right? So, we can thank Diane for the

[31:37] muffins. She made those hers for us.

[31:44] » So, thank you for that good presentation. We're going to move

[31:47] forward with our meeting. Um, you can read the U town report on page

[31:53] six and seven to get the copy of the warning that's been pledged to us.

[32:00] If there's no objection, I'm going to wave the reading of that entire of those

[32:04] entire articles.

[32:08] The um article one is being done at the uh town

[32:16] clerk's office downstairs for the polling place.

[32:22] The lower at the lower level at High Park Municipal Building at 344 Vermont

[32:28] 15 West. The ballot box was declared open at 8:30 this morning and shall

[32:34] remain open until 7 o'clock tonight. As a reminder, to vote on articles, you

[32:40] must be a registered High Park voter. If you've not done so already, see an

[32:44] election official at the front of the check-in, as most of you have done

[32:48] already if you needed to do so. Um, if paper ballot votes are requested,

[32:54] you'll be given instructions on the procedure we'll use at that moment.

[32:58] Those in attendance that are not High Park residents, please raise your hand.

[33:07] remind those people they weren't allowed to vote during the meeting. That's the

[33:11] purpose of having you raise your hand, Jen. Um, we will allow you to speak.

[33:15] However, we will now move to conduct the

[33:19] traditional open session of the annual town meeting.

[33:23] Before we do this, there's housekeeping in order that the state recommends that

[33:27] we share with you that we're going to be using again as

[33:32] usual. Robert's rules of order. The basic rules for this meeting except

[33:35] where Vermont law takes precedence.

[33:44] So, an article must be moved and seconded by the body and then restated

[33:48] by myself before it is under consideration and debate on the article

[33:52] may begin.

[33:58] We restate the motion. The person who made it has the right to speak first in

[34:02] any debate that would take place.

[34:08] Amendments. If we have any amendments,

[34:13] there's only one amendment at a time.

[34:18] Likewise, we'll only have one amendment to the amendment.

[34:23] You vote on each one separately.

[34:27] After you've spoken once on a particular article, you'll not be recognized a

[34:32] second time during the discussion on that article or any amendments until any

[34:38] other voters who wish to speak have have spoken for their first time.

[34:45] Then you'll be given an opportunity to have a second talk on it if you so need

[34:49] it. Robert's rules only allows

[34:54] the speaker to speak twice on any given motion and limits the duration of time

[34:59] to 10 minutes. If there's a division of the House be

[35:04] requested by a voter before or after a voice vote, Vermont state law does

[35:09] provide for paper balloting to vote on the request by only seven voters,

[35:18] unless we've made some other arrangement, which we haven't. So again,

[35:23] after a voice vote or after a division of the House, if you want to request a

[35:27] paper ballot, we're going to require at least seven minimally to do so. All

[35:32] motions and remarks and discussions including moving the previous question

[35:36] must be addressed to the moderator. Anyone wishing to speak may ask for a

[35:42] microphone before you start speaking. Introduce yourself. Your full name.

[35:46] Speak into the microphone closely like I'm doing now

[35:51] so that comments can be heard by the entire assembly here.

[35:59] Your speeches must be confined to the merits of the question. You'll not be

[36:04] allowed to engage in any personal attacks on a member of the body or their

[36:08] motives. Vermont law prohibits consideration of

[36:13] articles that have not been warned. So this means you can't take up any binding

[36:17] action during other business, for example, and you can't amend warned

[36:21] articles such they would be dealing with a business that hasn't been warned.

[36:32] Reconsideration of an article is allowed but it must be done before we start

[36:39] working on the next article. So really today at our

[36:45] before us are only two articles that we're going to be voting on and then the

[36:50] fourth one to transact other business. So, but there are two major articles

[36:55] that we're going to be dealing with. Should we work on the first one and then

[36:59] you wish to reconsider what you just did, you won't be able to do so once we

[37:04] start working on the second motion.

[37:10] It's my role as moderators to help you accomplish the business at hand.

[37:16] If you have have any questions, don't don't be fearful of asking about them.

[37:21] If you don't understand what's happening or you can't hear what's what's going

[37:25] on, speak up as you have already today. If you think something's wrong or uh

[37:32] some decision that I've made that you you don't think is correct, please tell

[37:37] me. I've always appreciated you when you've done that for me. Keep things

[37:42] straight and the record straight. It's always nice to have some help.

[38:01] If we require a counting uh of non paper ballot items,

[38:09] um I ask that people uh we may ask you to

[38:15] have hands normally is the easiest way to do

[38:20] That's the the fourth issue that we face here is just getting up out of our

[38:24] chairs. So you may So we'll do the hand count first uh if we need to do so.

[38:37] So, we've come to that point in our meeting where it's time to start looking

[38:42] at the articles in question that we need to

[38:46] to to work on and uh and approve or disapprove. We'll start with the first

[38:53] article and I would ask that the uh someone from um the slug board make the

[38:59] motion uh to instigate and start the the articles moving in a positive manner so

[39:06] that we can actively commit to them one way or the other. So what's u I'll read

[39:13] this particular motion. Shall the voters approve article two.

[39:19] Shallow voters approve a total general fund expenditures amount for the period

[39:22] July 126 to June 3027 in the amount of 3,700

[39:29] and $45.81 81 of which 3,183,348.36

[39:39] shall be raised by property taxes and $517,5745

[39:47] by nonpropy tax revenue and your pleasure.

[39:53] Chastity feon has sole moved.

[39:58] Do I hear a second? >> Second. Jack Anderson's got a second for

[40:02] us. Any discussion?

[40:10] We need a microphone over here, folks.

[40:22] Hi, my name is Jazelle Miner and I am wondering where the $517,5745

[40:31] is going to be coming from. >> Thank you.

[40:41] » Jennifer Trio will answer that question for you. Did you repeat the question?

[40:46] » Yeah. The question was where the $517,57

[40:52] to be u given us by nonpropy tax revenue. She wanted to know where that

[40:57] was coming from. So, it's a combination on page 11

[41:03] of license and permits, fines and interest,

[41:10] grant revenue, recreation, other revenue,

[41:15] highway department revenue, and the li uh lamp memorial library

[41:21] revenue. So you can see the uh at the bottom in

[41:27] proposed FY27 there's the 3,700

[41:33] $46 and it's subtracting out the property

[41:39] taxes and MUN tax adjustment figures

[41:44] that's going to be raised from the property taxes.

[41:50] Does that answer your question?

[41:55] Any other questions?

[41:59] We've got one in the back

[42:07] over here.

[42:14] » Uh Kevin Hudnell. This may be more of a question about the town report, but

[42:18] close enough. >> There you go.

[42:21] Uh, this may be more of a question about the town report than the budget, but it

[42:24] has a budget impact. The even closer. Okay. How am I doing? Okay.

[42:31] Um, there's a drought position from highway department uh the seasonal

[42:37] mowing and I'm curious if there's a reason for that position specific

[42:42] position being dropped or what the rationale for that was and also who's

[42:45] doing the mowing without that position.

[42:58] So that uh position specifically accounts for a small time period during

[43:03] the summer. Um and it was one of the positions that we could cut save $15,000

[43:10] uh without having a major impact to services. The workload will be shifted

[43:14] to our existing five employees. Uh but when we we made these thoughtful

[43:18] changes, we wanted it to be the least amount of impact to operations as

[43:22] possible.

[43:26] Thank you. Any other questions you may have?

[43:33] You're seeing none. I'm going to call the question then.

[43:42] All those in favor of article two in its entirety signify by saying I.

[43:50] » Those opposed. You've adopted

[43:55] a new budget. Thank you.

[44:04] In particular, I want to not only thank you for voting on it, but I want to

[44:07] thank the the board and Alex and Jennifer for setting this all up so it's

[44:13] easy to understand that picture pies and the whole thing. It's very nice. You did

[44:17] a good job. Thank you.

[44:24] Article three, shall of voters approve the payment of

[44:29] property taxes to the town treasur in four equal installments via

[44:35] Vermont statute annotated 32 32 Vermont statute annotated chapter

[44:43] 4792 as listed below with delinquent taxes

[44:47] and assessments have been charged against them at 8% commission after the

[44:52] fourth installment via 32 VSA 1674 and interest charges of 1% per month or

[45:01] fraction thereof for the first three months and thereafter 1 and a half% per

[45:06] month or fraction thereof the due date of such tax. Such interest shall be

[45:11] imposed on a fraction of the months as if it were an entire month via 32 VSA

[45:17] chapter 5136. Payments are due for delivery and must

[45:22] be received in the hands of the treasurer by 4 pm on the below due

[45:27] dates. Postmarks will not be accepted as on time via 32VSA chapter 4773.

[45:37] The first installment will be paid on or before Monday the 31st August in the

[45:41] year 26. The second installment to be paid on or before Monday the 16th of

[45:46] November and 26. Third installment to be paid honor before Tuesday, February 16th

[45:52] in the next century 20 next year rather 2027. And the fourth installment to be

[45:59] paid honor before Monday the 17th of May in the year 2027.

[46:08] Motion's made that we do so and it's seconded.

[46:16] Jack Anderson. Yep. Any

[46:22] discussion?

[46:27] Not seeing any hearing any. I'll call the question. All those in favor signify

[46:32] by saying I. >> And those opposed.

[46:37] You've adopted article three as stated. Thank you.

[46:43] Article four, to transact any other business that may legally come before

[46:48] the meeting.

[46:55] We got hands all over. Let's Let's start right over here.

[47:11] I'm Elizabeth Fen. Um, I have a question about electing the moderator. So, in

[47:17] past years, that's been the first order of business at town meeting and we we

[47:22] elect the moderator for that year. So, how does it work now that it's

[47:26] Australian ballot?

[47:41] Kim Molton will give you an essay on it. >> Not an essay. Um, so all uh officers are

[47:50] now voted by Australian ballot as uh passed by uh the voters last year at

[47:56] town meeting. So when the moderator was voted um last year from the floor,

[48:05] that meant that person was moderator through this town meeting. So whoever

[48:11] gets elected moderator this year will be the moderator through next town meeting.

[48:19] So all officers are voted by Australian ballot. Does that make sense?

[48:40] Yeah, thank you.

[48:57] You may notice on the ballot, Australian ballot for officers, that there is no

[49:04] one listed as moderator to vote on for next year. So, we're going to have to

[49:11] write in the name of someone, if we so choose, to serve as moderator. And I

[49:18] just wanted to let the audience know, the voters know that Adam Lori, who

[49:25] lives in Hyde Park, obviously has said that he would be willing to serve as

[49:31] moderator. So, we know at least we have one person who's willing to do the job.

[49:39] And I'm not endorsing him. I'm just providing this as a piece of

[49:43] information.

[49:53] Will we be having town meeting next year or will the municipal budget be voted on

[49:59] by Australian ballot?

[50:14] We will be having town meeting because you as the voters have to tell us not to

[50:19] have town meeting and we have not voted on that.

[50:29] Jack,

[50:36] I would like the uh voters of Height Park to consider

[50:41] writing in Paul Nesky's um name as the moderator for next year.

[50:53] » Thank you, Jack, for the offer. Um, since you brought it up that Adam here

[50:59] openly was going to be a write-in candidate um at your ballot, u uh Adam

[51:05] and I have uh gotten together long before this this meeting uh and we've

[51:12] agreed that uh as as he agreed with me, I was I was retiring my position and I'm

[51:18] looking for somebody to take my place and Adam's the perfect candidate and I'm

[51:22] not supposed to tell you all these things, but since it's already brought

[51:25] up. I'm not I'm not pressing for him to vote. You know, I'm not just saying, but

[51:30] I'm just telling you that I'm not on the ballot. That's why I'm not there. Thank

[51:34] you,

[51:43] Joan Green. I would like to um know if the people who are running for a select

[51:49] board are here could say a little bit about themselves so we would know who

[51:53] they are. >> They've done that already.

[52:00] » Oh, the new one.

[52:12] » Hi, I'm Russell Jones. I'm running for the two-year select board. Uh lived in

[52:16] Vermont since 88 when my dad retired from the Navy. He was born and raised

[52:21] here. I graduated from Le Moy in ' 89. I've worked for Ben and Jerry's for 36

[52:27] years. I'm a material planner for him and supply planner.

[52:32] Uh other than that, I'm looking forward for your vote.

[52:37] I'll pass it on to Megan >> Russell Jones.

[52:43] » Hi, I'm Megan Ethridge. Um, my family is from here. I grew up in Eden. I moved to

[52:51] Hyde Park when I was in the ninth grade. I graduated from Loyal. Um, I'm a Lynen

[52:56] State College graduate. Not the university, it's Lynon State College.

[53:01] Um, I graduated from Loyal. I think I said that already. Um, I moved away for

[53:06] a little bit after college and came back home to raise my kids here in Hyde Park.

[53:10] Um, my kids also go to this school and now that they're old enough, I'm able to

[53:15] get out and be more involved with my community just like my family did all

[53:20] those years ago. Um, so I guess that's that's about it.

[53:28] » Thank you.

[53:39] Okay. I was just asking if they finished. Is Beth Carrier here? Okay.

[53:44] I'll be Beth. Are you going to announce the thing? Spring. Okay. I'm waiting for

[53:49] you.

[53:59] I was a cheerleader in high school. So,

[54:04] um I'm the one that gets to say thank you so much from the Hyde Park Community

[54:09] Circle for all of you attending our events the and um supporting us. And the

[54:16] purpose of the Hide Park Community Circle is to support community and build

[54:21] community. We all feel that we are very lucky to

[54:25] live here and so um and anyone is welcome to come join. We meet once a

[54:32] month for one hour and right now it's at the library at 5:30 on Wednesdays. Um we

[54:39] have four events every year. The first one is coming up really soon March 21st

[54:46] right in this building um in this room. We have puppets and plants. Um the

[54:52] Allstrings marionets are doing the stinky cheese man. I mean who doesn't

[54:57] want to see that? And um it will be great fun. And there's um the kids get

[55:03] to plant seeds and there's crafts and there's snacks. Um but you don't have to

[55:08] have a child or borrow one to come. Everyone is welcome. It's fun for people

[55:13] of every age. Our next event will be in July is um the ice cream social which we

[55:20] hold on the uh opera on the courthouse lawn um with music and free ice cream

[55:26] and and community. It's really all about community. And then we have Hide Park

[55:31] Home Day, which um we we uh showcase what Hide Park has to offer to all of

[55:37] Loyal County. And then we have the wreath lighting ceremony to honor and

[55:42] people in December. So I would like everyone who's on the Hide Park

[55:48] Committee Community Circle to please raise their hands so everyone will know

[55:52] who we are.

[56:00] All right, one more. So, also I'm sorry, two things. But, um, since I have the

[56:05] mic, I also am part of the Moy County Players. And again, I would like to

[56:11] thank all of you for being in our shows and supporting our shows and supporting

[56:15] us. So, this upcoming season, you'll get a flyer soon if you're on the mailing

[56:20] list. We have five shows instead of four. So, we're really going great guns

[56:27] and um but that would mean that the shows are at different times than they

[56:31] normally are. So, once so pay attention because if you it's a very exciting

[56:36] season. I can go through the whole thing if anyone wants, but I don't have I

[56:40] don't think you all need to hear that. But we have a great variety of shows, a

[56:44] great we have a lot of new directors, a lot of enthusiasm,

[56:48] and um we're also doing on July 11th a hot dog barbecue. Oh yeah, because

[56:55] George Woodard has always wanted one. That's why. And it's true. And then

[57:00] there will be a concert with Denny Grandstaff and also George Woodard, Jim

[57:05] Pitman, and Carrie Cook. So, it's going to be quite a good good concert and keep

[57:10] that in mind. And again, thank you very much.

[57:27] Where are we going? Thanks. Hello. My name is Annaloo

[57:32] Hathaway and I just really wanted to quickly say that I appreciate people who

[57:36] are running for positions to stand up a town meeting and introduce themselves

[57:40] and if that's something that we can continue to do at town meetings. It's

[57:44] really nice to get eyes on a person's face, know their name, know their face,

[57:47] and hear a little bit about them. So, I really appreciate all of that and I

[57:51] encourage that in the future at town meetings. I really liked it. So, that's

[57:54] it.

[58:08] Um, I'm on the Hyde Park Energy and Conservation Commission. We have two

[58:13] vacancies. Uh we'd love for more people to be on our committee. We do energy

[58:19] conservation work and as well as natural conservation. So if you're interested in

[58:26] that type of thing, we would love to have more people. Thank you.

[58:43] My name is Denise Green. I'm on the energy and conservation committee as

[58:46] well, but I'm also on the garden committee and we could use some more

[58:50] members for that. So, please put the word out to anyone you know, some young

[58:55] people who love to garden. We would enjoy having help. We do the buckets on

[59:00] Main Street and around town, and we can we really could use help with that. And

[59:06] there's other projects that we would like to do, but we don't have enough

[59:09] people. So, I hope you'll join us.

[59:16] Hi. As long as we're solicit soliciting for members, um my name is Mary Waltz

[59:22] and I'm part of the um not in hide park committee and um we are always looking

[59:28] for more people who want to join in the cause of stopping the spread of Japanese

[59:32] knotweed and other invasive plants. It's a great way to get involved in the

[59:36] community, meet new people, do something good for the land, do something good for

[59:40] the community, do something good for your soul. Um, and we'll be having an

[59:46] event, a gathering of some sort on April 22nd. Um, probably uh it's a Wednesday,

[59:52] six o'clock in the evening. It's Earth Day. Um, just to talk more about

[59:56] invasive plants and why that work is important and and we'll put it on the

[1:00:00] calendar and front porch forum. And so um you'll you'll see that's happening

[1:00:04] and I hope some of you will join us. Get in in touch with us at notinhide park

[1:00:10] atgmail.com. Okay. Thanks.

[1:00:21] » Thank you everyone for uh participating. >> I have a

[1:00:27] you got something you want to say. Go ahead.

[1:00:30] I just wanted to say I know the the moderator conversation was was popular

[1:00:35] and if that position isn't filled the select board will appoint someone so we

[1:00:40] have a moderator for next town meeting. So we do have the authority to do so.

[1:00:49] » So before I ask for a German I have a a message for you I'd like to share. Um

[1:00:54] it's been a pleasure serving you and I um the story I'd like to tell you

[1:01:00] however is uh at our alumni gathering a few years back um since I was a graduate

[1:01:06] of the the High Park uh LCA school in 19 the previous century uh in 1961

[1:01:19] the um my first day of school here um was in uh

[1:01:27] September of that year and we had moved into town the night before on a Sunday

[1:01:32] evening

[1:01:35] into the old High Park restaurant. It wasn't back in those days. It was also

[1:01:40] an inn.

[1:01:44] My mother got up early in the morning and started the business of running a

[1:01:49] restaurant with one of her aunts and one of her sisters.

[1:01:55] I was left uh dressed and sent off to go to school at 9:00 about quarter of nine.

[1:02:00] She put me out the door, pointed at the intersection and said, "You go down the

[1:02:04] street, take a left and and you'll see the school building. Just go there."

[1:02:10] So I did.

[1:02:14] I had previously been in schools for several years in the prokill school

[1:02:18] system and we had uniforms and we went to school at 8 o'clock.

[1:02:23] However, we went to church first and then the school started at 9:00. So,

[1:02:29] mother had had it had her time mixed up a bit. So, I was obviously late for

[1:02:33] school. There was not a there wasn't any dust in the air around the yard and the

[1:02:37] kids were all in school and and there I was standing at the intersection there

[1:02:41] on the pavement sidewalk looking at the new gymnasium here and the brick behind

[1:02:48] it that obviously was the classrooms and yet this huge building in front of me

[1:02:54] this yellow building that was the high school and I didn't know where to go.

[1:03:01] Now, at our alumni gathering, I'm going to back up. And at our alumni

[1:03:07] gathering, the microphone was going around much like today, except uh it was

[1:03:11] being passed right down the row of the chairs as we were sitting right here in

[1:03:15] this room. And as we were all saying, each one of us had an opportunity to

[1:03:20] visit about our school years and and what where our memories were, if we

[1:03:24] wanted to say. And so, as it was coming down through, people were very quick

[1:03:27] sometimes at what their memory of school was and their happy moments and so

[1:03:30] forth. So it got to me and I went into this same story

[1:03:38] about my moment in time the first day here in the community of of High Park

[1:03:44] and at the school. And there I stood and I looked up in the big building there

[1:03:50] and I saw the big window on the first landing as you go up and there were some

[1:03:56] girls there and they were teeing and haha and I could tell and they were

[1:03:59] pointing towards now they came down the stairs. They truddled apparently out the

[1:04:03] door and with their skirts on their Bobby socks and they bounced out to the

[1:04:07] intersection where I stood at the making a decision where I was going to go and

[1:04:11] there was I recall Ruth Benson and Audrey Jones and Ruth Hail Woodside

[1:04:17] right lovely lasses

[1:04:22] and Ruth bent down and and and gave me a hug

[1:04:28] and I like to say that was my fondest memory of my school years.

[1:04:40] Um, at the time,

[1:04:44] that day, at that moment, never ever again where I'd wear the clothes that I

[1:04:48] was wearing ever. My mother had gotten several phone calls to say that don't

[1:04:54] dress your son in such a manner again. She dressed me in my uniform.

[1:04:59] So there I stood when those girls tumbled down. Huh? They saw me. I was

[1:05:05] there with black patent leather shoes, white knee socks, blue shorts, a white

[1:05:10] shirt, a bow tie, suspenders. Huh? And I had a part in my hair and I

[1:05:15] was squeaky clean.

[1:05:19] I didn't match up with the other guys in the school.

[1:05:24] The girls thought it was great though, the old one. Huh?

[1:05:27] Yeah. Anyway, it's been a pleasure to serve

[1:05:30] you. Um, and to be a part of what I grew up in and and what I experienced back in

[1:05:36] the days. This will be a favored memory for me now. This being here with you

[1:05:41] today, back at this school in the environment and the activity and the

[1:05:46] energy that's been expressed here by our principal and the students. It's a

[1:05:50] wonderful place and u thank you again for for the opportunity you gave me to

[1:05:55] do so. Thank you.

[1:06:05] There being no further business to come before the annual meeting of the town of

[1:06:09] High Park, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

[1:06:12] » So moves. >> Thank you. Thank you, Jack.

[1:06:18] Appreciate your time. God bless.

Hyde Park Town Meeting 2026

Transcript