[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.