[0:01] In what you put in place today, we

[0:09] have to stop my

[0:23] name on hand. He is 630 in the morning.

[0:33] We have

[0:37] Everybody's on the phone.

[0:38] Roger Naysal, we do not have any video or videos not working but we have Sam.

[0:43] So...

[0:46] Sam?

[0:52] Whoa.

[0:53] Whoa.

[0:53] I don't know how to do this.

[1:24] Good evening everyone and thank you for taking stun for some time to be here.

[1:29] Once and so off with the opening prayer please,

[1:35] The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me,

[1:42] besides the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me, be in the path of righteousness for his

[1:49] name is said. Yeh, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,

[1:55] thou art with me. I ride and I staff, they comfort me. Thou prepare us a table before me,

[2:01] the presence of my enemies. Now I know it's my head with oil, my cup on its own. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will grow in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.

[2:15] And a couple of terms for the Pledge of Allegiance, please.

[2:20] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and it's going to be public

[2:26] for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[2:35] Thank you, everyone.

[2:43] Okay, we'll start our agenda and we'll, with that we'll start with Cheryl Barber and Dr.

[2:48] Harrison from Hope's helping hands presentation, please.

[3:09] Good evening. Good evening, Townham Council. Good evening, Manningtown Manager and all the officers and all the residents of Laura.

[3:18] I may have to tell you about a new program at Little Creek. Now, as you know, there have been several others.

[3:24] We know the problems in Laura. We know that our medium income is less than it's about half of that in the rest of Sussex County.

[3:33] We know that a lot of our members are below the poverty line and we know that there's a lot of

[3:40] Section 8 going on in Little Creek. We also know that all of the problems that I just talked to you about are

[3:46] magnified in Little Creek. Of course, they have problems with their managers, some of the problems with the

[3:53] apartments and getting things done, but those are circumstances and circumstances can be overcome.

[4:00] So we are working on overcoming some of those circumstances.

[4:04] Now, there have been several programs that went on in Little Creek.

[4:08] I know that Vital had a very successful program.

[4:12] The art, I don't see Joyce here, but she had another successful program,

[4:16] which will return in the fall.

[4:18] I know that Larry is setting up a program.

[4:21] And you may wonder if Little Creek has enough students to satisfy all those programs.

[4:26] What do they do?

[4:27] If you can stop by there right around four o'clock when your school buses are pulling out.

[4:32] There's about 35, 55 kids getting off those buses.

[4:36] So there's plenty of kids that we can address.

[4:40] And I'd like to model, we would like to model ourselves kind of after the library over there.

[4:46] Because the library is awesome.

[4:49] I don't know if y'all know, but they're safe and voted in number one library to stay.

[4:53] Y'all give them some love.

[4:55] So

[4:59] what they do is they have a number of different programs because they know one issue doesn't fit all sizes.

[5:06] So they have some things for this program for some people, programs for different people.

[5:11] So that's how we're going to be doing it at Little Creek. So I want to tell you about Dr. Harris's program.

[5:17] Dr. Harris spent a whole year doing outreach at Little Creek and getting to know the residents,

[5:25] and developing a rapport with them,

[5:27] developing a relationship with them.

[5:30] And then when she designed her program,

[5:33] after getting to know them

[5:34] and getting to know what they wanted and what they needed,

[5:37] so her program has only been going on for a month,

[5:39] but it is awesome.

[5:41] So I'm not gonna steal her thunder,

[5:43] I'm gonna let her tell you that, her program.

[5:49] Good evening mayor, council members,

[5:54] Ms. Jamie Smith, community partners and guests.

[5:57] My name is Dr. Michelle Christopher Harris and I am the founder and CEO of Hope's Helping

[6:05] Hands LLC.

[6:06] Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share who we are and the work we are privileged

[6:12] to do in our communities.

[6:14] Before I begin, I want to express my sincere appreciation to the town of Laurel, our community

[6:19] partners and everyone who has welcomed us into this community.

[6:23] It is truly an honor to be here and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside

[6:29] so many individuals and organizations who care deeply about the people of Laurel.

[6:35] I would also like to thank Miss Cheryl for being here this evening.

[6:43] Miss Cheryl has a genuine love for the Laurel community and I appreciate her willingness

[6:48] to share her heart and her passion for the people who live here.

[6:51] Holes' helping hands is a licensed mental health organization that has been serving children,

[6:57] adults and family since 2017. For nearly a decade, we have provided professional mental health

[7:05] counseling while reaching beyond the walls of our office through community outreach, education,

[7:11] wellness initiatives and programs that strengthen individuals and families. As you look at these

[7:17] to slit the boards, you'll see our story told through pictures at the very bottom and

[7:24] that red vest is when I had my ribbon cutting and seafood Delaware and the mayor was there.

[7:30] Thank you out to this mayor, establishing new relationships, but he was there and he

[7:37] did our prayer and he spoke on our behalf with our ribbon cutting.

[7:43] They represent children, families, outreach, events, education activities, wellness programs.

[7:49] They reflect our belief that mental health is about more than counseling.

[7:53] It's about building hope, strengthening relationships, creative supportive environments,

[7:59] and helping communities thrive.

[8:01] One example of that commitment is our weekly outreach at the Little Creek community.

[8:06] Each week we provide a safe and welcoming place where individuals can participate in

[8:12] and uplifting and supportive discussions,

[8:15] foundational life-building conversations,

[8:17] initiative activities, fellowship, and refreshments.

[8:20] And the young lady holding this display

[8:23] is actually the one who facilitates

[8:25] most of those discussions along

[8:28] with Ms. Mariah Park, Polk, I'm sorry.

[8:32] And Ms. Chantelle, she represents Holt's Huffing Hands as well.

[8:38] Although our practice has been established

[8:40] Since 2017, we're excited to become part of our Laura community.

[8:45] I do want to say that holds up enhances established in multiple states as well.

[8:49] We also serve provide mental health counseling and all of Florida, Maryland,

[8:56] Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

[8:58] One exciting example that I'm grateful for is that we're working alongside and

[9:03] partnering with currently with organizations without loud.

[9:07] And we hosted an event at the public laurel public library and as you can see there's a picture of us

[9:13] Of your council first not the got her name in this picture. I believe

[9:18] Bajane. Yes, sorry miss bajane and the young lady that spoke from little creek

[9:23] They were part of that event and they were coloring and participating. I was hoping she would be here today

[9:28] I saw her in the citizens bank. I see here. Where are you?

[9:38] It was a wonderful event, wonderful event, I absolutely loved it.

[9:43] Freshness and I still talk about it to this day.

[9:46] Oh great, great.

[9:48] Glad you're still on this side.

[9:51] One exciting example of that collaboration is our back to school bash that we're playing for July 25th.

[9:58] where Hope's helping him will partner with five other community organizations.

[10:02] I believe that the Laurel Public Library is supposed to be part of that giveaway.

[10:07] Maybe not on that day, but Mr. McAllen,

[10:10] where we're going to be giving out supplies to the community of Laurel residents.

[10:15] Events like this remind us that when organizations come together,

[10:19] we can have an even greater impact on our community.

[10:22] I'm just about done.

[10:23] We're also excited about our community walk-up on that we're planning for all the

[10:27] the first, which will bring community together to promote health, wellness, and connection.

[10:33] Although you see all these boards represent one single mission, to improve emotional

[10:38] wellness, strengthen families, support children, and build healthier communities through compassion,

[10:44] collaboration, and hope.

[10:46] Thank you again for allowing me to share, and I do want to say that I appreciate this

[10:57] But anyway,

[11:05] we have actually started building,

[11:12] although we do own one built up with the

[11:20] MIT and other community investors, and we started building, we found, it was the old

[11:27] MIT that we're having. We're refurbishing and renovating the renovation process of hosting

[11:38] middle-health clinics in there. You can see the reconstruction. This is before, and this is

[11:45] where we are today for having an area for my office, back in the forest. We're actually at this

[11:53] building. This area here is an in-pitching, and eventually we want to be able to provide some

[11:59] brief counseling and other type of counseling services for this community, and I'm obsessed with

[12:04] this is our contractor, and I'll be here as far as the first time that I came and where I am today and here's some of our other events as well, the children that we are serving.

[12:14] It's the host of children each week because we have from six to 10 children every week, and we know that we can't change everything.

[12:23] I realize that I won't have to do that, but if we can just give seats one little heart, that will make it different in my heart.

[12:30] So thank you so much for coming here.

[12:32] Thank you

[12:46] so much and wishing you much, much success.

[12:48] Thank you, Senator.

[12:55] Okay, next on the agenda, we have Brandon Cote.

[12:59] We'll speak about the audit, 2024.

[13:03] Welcome, Brandon.

[13:05] Thank you.

[13:06] How are you?

[13:11] Alrighty, so my name is Brandon Tall,

[13:13] and I'm here to present the audited financial statements

[13:16] of the town of Laurel for the 2024 fiscal year.

[13:20] There were some copies of the draft financial statements

[13:23] on the table over there.

[13:24] I will reference the page numbers as we go along, so if you want to open up to that page,

[13:29] I'll kind of point out, you know, what we're discussing. This report covers the period from July

[13:34] 1st, 2023 to June 30th, 2024. The auditors report is going to be on page four, so that's the first

[13:43] important stop. In that second paragraph, we issue an unmodified opinion, which is the highest level

[13:49] assurance we can provide in a financial statement audit. That means we concluded the financial

[13:54] statements as presented in this report are fairly misferrally stated in all material

[14:00] respects. So that's good. It's typically bad when we modify our opinion so the town received an

[14:06] unmodified opinion or a clean opinion. So a good result. We can move on to management's discussion

[14:12] analysis, which begins on page 9. And here we have a table that summarizes the

[14:21] town's statement of net position. This is basically the town's balance sheet. So

[14:25] it's a snapshot in time at June 30th, 2024. What are the town's assets? What are

[14:31] its liabilities? What is its net worth? So for for profit business, we would call

[14:36] that a balance sheet for a town. We call it a statement of net position. A total

[14:41] net position increased by 3.1 million or 18% from fiscal year 2023 to 2024. That growth

[14:49] was driven primarily by significant capital investment across both governmental and business

[14:54] this type of activities, funded largely through grants and forgivable loan proceeds.

[15:00] Governmental net position, so these first columns, increased by roughly 650,000 or 7%, reflecting capital asset additions, specifically related to the Dumbar Police Station renovation and other town infrastructure projects.

[15:14] Business type net position increased by 2.5 million or 35% by business type we mean water and sewer or the enterprise funds driven by water main replacement projects funded through the drinking water state revolving fund program.

[15:30] Government wide total assets increased by 4% due to the aforementioned capital additions while total liabilities decreased by 7% primarily due to the draw down of

[15:43] unearned grant revenue as eligible expenditures were incurred.

[15:47] In other words, the town received community reinvestment fund and American Rescue Plan

[15:52] Act Awards in prior years, and they expended them during 2024.

[15:57] When the town expends that money, they recognize the revenue to match against the expenditures

[16:01] as required by GAAP.

[16:04] On page 10,

[16:07] this table is going to represent the town's activities during the year.

[16:12] So, if the town were for profit business, this is your statement of income or loss.

[16:17] What did you take in? What was your revenue? What did you pay out? Your expenses.

[16:22] And then basically, you know, your bottom line. Did you make money or lose money? What was your change

[16:27] in net position? Total revenue is increased by 75% from 6.4 million to 11.1 million.

[16:34] Most of that increase came from capital grant funding for the Dunbar Police Station renovation.

[16:39] those water main replacements and other sources of funding for those capital

[16:44] outlay projects so we recognize that revenue as we make those improvements and

[16:48] place them in service. The total cost of all programs and services was

[16:52] essentially flat year over year at about eight million so we see a growth in

[16:59] revenue significant infrastructure improvements and a controlled spend on

[17:03] other routine expenditures during fiscal year 2024. The result is a $3.1 million

[17:09] increase in that position during 2024 compared to a $1.65 million decrease in

[17:15] the prior year. So that's a swing of about $5 million, but it's important to

[17:19] understand that most of that improvement came from one-time grant and loan

[17:23] forgiveness revenue tied specifically to those capital projects. Once they're

[17:28] finished that revenue will go away again until we have more capital outlay projects

[17:33] that are of this size. If we isolate those extraordinary or unusual items from

[17:38] from 2024, the operating side of the budget

[17:41] was relatively stable by itself.

[17:44] Detail of total revenue and expenses is presented

[17:48] on page 13, the most colorful page of the report.

[17:52] It's got two pie charts.

[17:54] On the revenue side, grants and contributions

[17:56] made up the largest share of the town's revenue

[17:59] at 41%, fees, fines, and charges for services

[18:02] came in at 18%, followed by taxes at 17%.

[18:07] On the expense side, the police department represented the largest share of the town's expenses at 32 percent, followed by water and sewer operations at 13 percent, general government at 10 percent, and the street department at 7 percent.

[18:21] The government-wide financial statements begin on page 14. Everything we just went over. That management's discussion and analysis in the front is summarizing all of the technical schedules you're going to see from page 14 pretty much to the notes.

[18:34] So, these are the required statements for a local government.

[18:40] They show you the government-wide view, which takes a look at the whole government.

[18:44] And then it isolates just the general fund that collects taxes and helps pay for services like public safety and parks and brick.

[18:52] And then the enterprise statements that will show you how the water and sewer funds operated by themselves.

[19:04] For 2024, the town was required to undergo a single audit because federal expenditures

[19:10] exceeded the applicable threshold. Two programs were tested, the drinking water state

[19:15] revolving fund and the state and local fiscal recovery funds or ARPA. In our draft, the

[19:20] town received a clean compliance opinion on both programs with no findings and no question

[19:26] cost. You can start to find that after the notes, but we're getting fairly technical here.

[19:31] The schedule of expenditures of federal awards is on page 55. That shows you the major federal

[19:37] sources of funds that the town received and expended during fiscal year 2024 that were a part

[19:43] of our compliance audit. Now, I do want to talk briefly about two areas where we identified issues

[19:49] during the audit. First, we made corrections to how certain grant funds and loan draws have been

[19:55] recorded in prior years. In some cases grant money have been counted as revenue before

[19:59] the town had actually spent it on eligible costs, and loan draws have been recorded as

[20:04] revenue instead of debt, although those loan funds were eventually forgivable if all

[20:09] the terms of those debt agreements were met. These corrections required us to restate the

[20:15] town's beginning net position and are detailed in note 14 on page 43. Second, we did report

[20:22] a material weakness in the town's internal control over financial reporting.

[20:26] This finding can be found at the bottom of page 57.

[20:30] In plain terms, the town's bookkeeping was not kept current during the year, and we

[20:34] required a significant number of adjusting journal entries to assist with the preparation,

[20:39] and ensure the accuracy of the town's audited financial statements.

[20:43] Internal control findings like this one are not uncommon for small towns, especially in

[20:48] a single audit that rely on external auditors helped to prepare their financial statements.

[20:54] Also we understand the conditions of this finding were driven mostly by the loss of the

[20:58] town's former finance manager which did occur during fiscal year 2024 and then the subsequent

[21:05] employee turnover which created disruptions in the town's day-to-day financial processes.

[21:10] We have provided specific recommendations to management to resolve this finding in future

[21:15] periods.

[21:16] As a quick update, we are actively working on the 2025 audit where hopeful we can produce

[21:23] that engagement and if practical, the 2026 audit by the end of this calendar year, we get

[21:29] both 25 and 26 done, you'll be caught up. We only get 25 done, then we'll have two engagements

[21:35] next year just like we will have this year and then we'll still be on track with a real

[21:40] and attainable goal to get everything caught up. I would like to say we appreciate the patience

[21:45] and cooperation of the town council and the town staff

[21:48] throughout this process, these are complex engagements

[21:51] and getting them right does take time.

[21:54] Our goal is to give you a set of audited financial statements

[21:56] you can hand to any planner, any lender, any citizen,

[21:59] and say with confidence, this is where we stand.

[22:02] That's what this report does

[22:03] and we're glad to be a part of helping the town get there.

[22:07] Thank you for choosing like Johnson and Tall CPAs

[22:09] as the town of Laurel's independent audit firm.

[22:12] If you have any questions, please don't hesitate

[22:14] take to let me know.

[22:17] Thank

[22:23] you.

[22:32] Okay.

[22:40] So you want to amend the charter?

[22:53] There's a variety

[22:54] of factors that kind of flayed into that. The predecessor auditor firm does not prepare local

[23:00] government on its any more, the transition there was fairly difficult. Also the finance manager,

[23:06] the previous finance manager, the software was configured in a way that made sense for her and

[23:12] the way that she worked, but she did a lot of things manually outside of the system. So we were kind of,

[23:19] we got through the first year or the first two, I don't recall exactly. And we kind of had it figured

[23:25] out and then there was the transition of course. So then we have this period of you know kind of

[23:32] handing off and trying to get these processes back functioning again. So that was a major obstacle

[23:38] in being able to prepare 2024. The town's part of accounts is over a thousand accounts. There are

[23:45] multiple funds. The software itself is probably very complex for a town of the size. So all of these

[23:52] factors played into, you know, the amount of time that it's taken us to be able to prepare

[23:57] this one.

[23:59] So, again,

[24:07] it's speed up the costs.

[24:10] Hopefully it does.

[24:11] You know, I'm hopeful that it does and that we've kind of worked through that, that trouble.

[24:15] And like I said, it, it's always best to kind of hit while the iron is still hot.

[24:20] You know, if we can get everything in to do 2025 right now, I would hope to be here before

[24:25] you again by the end of this calendar year because it's all fresh.

[24:29] We've just thought about it. We've just put it together now as the easiest time for us to not you lose that synergy and just move right into the next fiscal year that we need to prepare.

[24:42] We everything that I'm sorry I'm going to cut you off.

[24:45] Yeah, every every time they send a request we can upload it. Well, let's be able to upload it into their portal. So as soon as they send it, we are getting them the information as quickly as we can.

[25:01] Yeah, you said that there are some, you know,

[25:13] there, there's actually well, basically the way that as auditors as independent auditors, we follow up is to do the next year's report and the next year, you'll see a, um, basically an update of the prior years findings.

[25:29] If you look at the actual finding text itself, which is on page 57, it starts at the very bottom and then just immediately gets cut cut off.

[25:37] It follows a prescribed format of criteria, condition, cause, effect, and then recommendations

[25:45] and then management's response.

[25:47] So I think a lot of your question is probably answered right in that recommendations

[25:51] and management's plan to response section.

[25:53] The one thing I will say as long as we're this far behind and we still have to do 25 and 26

[25:59] after we've done 24, their ability to influence and clear and correct this finding is going

[26:05] be limited until we're on a regular calendar year basis with this. So we'll probably see

[26:10] this recur a couple of times.

[26:12] I'll take this to

[26:17] the reviews.

[26:19] No.

[26:30] In what respect?

[26:31] Um, my

[26:36] issues agenda,

[26:40] how we are, obviously, we've shown

[26:45] in the past.

[26:50] I would say it's fairly comparable. Um, the, the theme with local governments in Delaware

[26:56] is understaffed and under resourced. I would say that that Laurel is probably more

[27:02] medium-sized in comparison to a lot of our other clients, so there's a better opportunity

[27:07] for segregation of duties and things like that.

[27:10] This is a very common finding as far as local governments go, and it had a lot to do with

[27:15] stepping up to a single law this year, which requires reporting to the federal government.

[27:21] So hopefully that helps answer your question.

[27:25] You can also go on any municipality's website, pull up their audit and financial statements,

[27:30] they're all structured about the same.

[27:32] So, you certainly could pull up C-furter, pull up Delmar and do some side-by-side comparisons

[27:36] and say, okay, how does that first table in the MDNA look for Delmar versus Laurel, etc.

[27:45] Yes.

[27:46] So, to be clear, the adjustment you

[27:50] might have to say that.

[27:52] Right.

[27:52] That was, too, the beginning fund balance, yes.

[27:59] Yeah, the question's for Brandon.

[28:05] Thank you very much.

[28:06] Thank you, sir.

[28:13] May I?

[28:14] Yes.

[28:14] At this point, I'd like to make a motion to have a workshop before we adopt the 24-24

[28:21] ordered to give the council myself and our citizens a chance to review the order so

[28:26] that we can have a better understanding of its content and ask more in-depth

[28:31] questions as we go through it.

[28:34] I don't feel that I can vote to accept the order at this time.

[28:38] I mean, I was given this paper here, like everybody else, when we came here into

[28:43] this room. And there's a lot here to comprehend and to understand. I'm sure, as I go through this,

[28:51] I probably would come up with some more questions than the time would allow us to do right here.

[28:57] I mean, a workshop would get the order more time to explain the report as we go through and

[29:01] understand it. Council members have more time to ask detailed questions. And the residents,

[29:06] the opportunity to better understand the town's financial before the Council votes on this audit.

[29:13] So, I'd like to make a motion that we have a workshop before we move this to adoption.

[29:20] Do you have a second on that motion?

[29:24] For this one right here?

[29:25] Yeah, for the audit itself.

[29:28] To have a workshop to go over this audit so to better understand.

[29:34] Like I said, I was giving this paper and there's a lot here.

[29:37] I know we were explaining some aspects of it, but there's a lot in here for me to go over

[29:44] in the next five minutes to sit here and vote and say, I accept this audit as it's written.

[29:50] You know, there are questions that I know I would probably have once I read through it.

[29:55] And I just think that we need more time to understand it before we accept it.

[30:01] No, it's just one, you just said the ordinance. So do I hear a second then.

[30:10] Regiment? So I'm here. No, no, no second.

[30:23] Yeah, absolutely. I only have a question for you. Well, maybe I'm kind of, I mean,

[30:31] kind of kind of see where we're out about the question as far as the numbers.

[30:44] are there going to change?

[30:47] No, the numbers aren't going to change.

[30:50] There might be some questions on how we came up with those numbers.

[30:53] I mean, there's a paper here.

[30:55] We as a council, we have financial oversight is the council's responsible.

[31:01] This is on us.

[31:02] Council members, the financial oversight of the town is on us.

[31:06] And I, for one, just want to make sure that I exercise that

[31:11] because if I neglect my role to do a oversight of our financials, I don't know who are my residents

[31:22] and it kind of just this. I just feel that given the council a book like this year,

[31:29] a couple of minutes before bringing it up to a vote, is not a very thing to do.

[31:34] I don't know if the residents have a better, you know, if the day looks through,

[31:38] Maybe they might have some questions on how we, I mean there were a couple of questions out there already, you know, but, but my thing is, is okay.

[31:48] The auditor, audited, he said he came up with no discrepancies of how the budget was made for the year.

[32:01] We have a budget committee that did this, because I wasn't on it, but I believe when

[32:11] this mark, who you replaced, what she passed, and stuff was diligent in what she did

[32:19] and when they brought it to us, the budget to us, that was when we went over it.

[32:25] I mean, I understand you wasn't on the council, but that's what I'm saying is that we went

[32:33] over, just like we're going to go over 2027, 2026, you know, so I can't see what I'm

[32:45] going to see any different than being back in 2024.

[32:49] Jamie, correct me if I'm wrong.

[32:51] I mean, we have a budget and a budget really isn't this isn't the budget.

[32:56] It's not the budget.

[32:58] It's an audit of the finances of the town in the previous year of 2024.

[33:03] So this isn't the budget and it's not saying that the budget is something wrong in the budget

[33:10] probably the way the budget was.

[33:13] This is just going over the finances of the town.

[33:16] And what I'm saying is, I would like a little bit more time to look at it before I wrote on it.

[33:23] That's what I'm saying.

[33:25] And I think the residents should be able to look at it also to ask some questions.

[33:33] But my thing is behind it, it's not going to change nothing.

[33:36] No, it's not going to change the thing.

[33:37] Not going to change it.

[33:38] Okay.

[33:39] But give me a better understanding of it, that's all.

[33:44] So do I have a second?

[33:45] That's where we're at at at this point.

[33:49] I mean, I just can't see the relevance of it.

[33:55] I mean, I understand I see what you say for your satisfaction, but like I said, in

[34:05] 24, when it was presented, we went through it and stuff, but if we had, if we do this,

[34:12] That means when I'm all for anyone else's off,

[34:16] if someone else wants to go back two years,

[34:21] and it was circumstances,

[34:22] but then we would have to keep going back

[34:26] and instead of keep going back and keep going back.

[34:29] Instead of trying to get president,

[34:31] I don't want nothing swept under the rug.

[34:36] The movies I know when I was here

[34:38] and I looked at the budget

[34:40] And like I said, I wasn't on the budget committee, but it was presented to us just like the last one was presented to us again when we could go over it and look at it and stuff and ask questions.

[34:53] You know, that was when the time when we asked questions and things, that we hashed it out or whatever.

[35:01] So even the next ones will be some, I think that would be one that will raise taxes 30%.

[35:09] So you know, so then we'll have to go over.

[35:12] The only question I would have is why wasn't just given it to us sooner so that we could

[35:17] look at it.

[35:17] You know, I mean, why couldn't this be given to us last week so that we could look at it?

[35:21] Why wasn't it made available last week so we could look at it?

[35:24] Why is it something that's just put in front of us and we're told, here's a 60 page report

[35:31] you have to vote on it today that's all that's all I'm concerned about is why this

[35:36] could have been given to us last week for us to look at and I would not be making

[35:39] this statement right now that that's that's my concern it's not whether it was

[35:44] wrong right or there's things in here that aren't right is why weren't we given

[35:47] the opportunity to look at it before that that that's a my that's my concern

[35:58] I received it last week and then got copies and handed them out tonight and you guys can

[36:04] blame me whatever.

[36:05] I'm just following the same process that we followed for previous year or so.

[36:13] And I have no issue what you guys do.

[36:15] I mean, you know, we're at a point, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

[36:26] no, no, no, no, no,

[36:28] no, no, no,

[36:32] no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

[36:33] Yes, so, so how I'm just want to know how long would we postpone this or whatever

[36:43] But I'm just going to we have a tell me how long would it next next next council meeting we be able to vote on it

[36:51] Well, we won't I'm sorry James. Yeah, we I have to see what suited brand and schedule to see if he can get back for a workshop, so you could potentially

[37:07] All this third would be our workshop. I don't know if that suits him. If not, then we would have to, you know, push it back. I'd have to get some dates from Brandon to

[37:17] check his schedule.

[37:20] So then once again, we have a second.

[37:24] Anyway,

[37:31] hold on there.

[37:32] I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to second it. I'm going to second it and all the super.

[37:38] I have to, I can't commit to that. I have to work with him.

[37:42] So if all is the third, it's not going to be a meeting, we can't get him back.

[37:53] Just a quick question, maybe because is there an issue that this needs to be adopted tonight

[37:59] or can it be adopted next month?

[38:01] Really, you're not adopting it.

[38:03] You're just accepting it as an issue.

[38:04] Is there an issue that is doing it next month or the month after?

[38:09] I don't see.

[38:10] I need to just give us time to look at it.

[38:12] No, there's nothing in the charter that says it has to be accepted within us.

[38:16] That's what I want, but we're not going against our charter, you know.

[38:24] So, and that'll give you time to look at it.

[38:32] Okay.

[38:33] So is that a second, John?

[38:34] Yeah, I'm a second.

[38:35] Oh, those in favor say aye.

[38:37] Aye.

[38:39] Oh, those opposed to any?

[38:40] No.

[38:40] Okay.

[38:41] It's not going to change.

[38:44] Roger, no.

[38:45] What was your name?

[38:46] I'm sorry.

[38:47] Rodgers said no.

[38:48] Right.

[38:49] So it's time.

[38:52] In case of a time.

[38:54] Christmas.

[38:55] Okay.

[38:56] Thank you.

[39:03] One other question.

[39:07] Would council of dollars or dollars still have the key to be able to ask a brand.

[39:14] Question.

[39:15] Yeah.

[39:16] Branded.

[39:16] We were told last time I could call him, I could call him and ask him questions, I can't, I know that in the past, but I don't know is, are other people going to be allowed to call him and ask questions.

[39:36] You know, it's not just me. I don't know which is me. I mean, I'm just speaking for myself. I don't know if there's other director questions to Jamie.

[39:47] Okay. There you go.

[39:50] That'll work.

[39:53] Okay, so then we'll move on.

[39:55] All right. The minutes of the June 15th. Do I have a motion to accept them?

[40:02] So big do I have a second all those in favor say aye all those opposed say

[40:10] Now we'll go on to the department heads report James good evening

[41:11] Okay, thank you James Dan

[41:13] Go inspector

[41:35] Thank you Dan. I've been pretty busy. Thank you

[41:38] Anyone has any questions for Dan?

[41:43] Now go to Adam and Court and welcome back Judge Ruffin.

[41:46] Hope your recovery is going well.

[42:02] Any questions for Adam and Court?

[42:03] Judge Ruffin?

[42:04] Yes I do.

[42:06] I don't believe it's a matter of change in record.

[42:09] Just a better understanding of it, Judge.

[42:13] One of my questions is which line items in the report are included in $138,944 total to the town?

[42:24] I'm looking at the council receivable report in

[42:34] June in June, it says on the lower part total to the town 138,900 for hours.

[42:42] That I was asking where that where that figure comes from which which one it is.

[42:51] Now that's the one above it the one all the way on the bottom the 138904.

[43:16] Okay.

[43:19] Of course, I'm just not understanding because I know what it says, do the court's security

[43:24] fees come back to the town?

[43:26] Yes.

[43:27] Okay.

[43:28] I'm also noticing in the reports, under the collection and the distribution reports, and one

[43:33] report is called the fee, and the other one is called a fund.

[43:39] Is there a difference?

[43:40] It's just the name, Jamie, the Pope, basically, the same things.

[43:44] Okay. One last question, please. The total number on the top line town fines. On this

[43:54] one, as soon as June, and we had $97,182 in town fines, where does that number come from?

[44:04] Is that fiscal year 2026? Is that a year-to-date figure? What is that number to compass?

[44:10] Absolutely. That's monthly. That's monthly. That's monthly.

[44:12] We made, we took in $97,182 in June.

[44:17] And these are receivables. This is what we're,

[44:21] this is money that is owed to the tank.

[44:25] Okay. All right. So these aren't receivables for a month.

[44:28] These are like totally monies that are owed to the town. Yes.

[44:31] Okay. All right. Because I'm just, I'm reading it different.

[44:35] I'm just trying to understand it. I appreciate your, let me know how it is.

[44:40] All right now we're going to finance Melissa I did make some

[45:00] For the lemon area, we still do get bills in July of the year this year.

[45:08] I don't have anything else to add.

[45:12] Anyone has any questions for finance?

[45:16] Thank you, minister. Now we'll go to the chief. Yes, Mary. Yeah, good evening. I want to highlight a couple things even though they're in your report. But Laura, please pardon, handle the two notes. We're on 42 complaints for calls for service in June of 2026, which is pretty extraordinarily high.

[45:34] And with that game, the following charge is a 25 and Mr.

[45:40] Miner charge of 49 for a total arrest of 64, which is,

[45:45] which is again very, very high this summer.

[45:49] It's at summertime, for sure.

[45:52] Going back to June 1st, we had a meeting with the Health Initiative in

[45:56] Charles Kisserer, which I know you know Mr. Mayor.

[45:59] He donated a small drone for us for our drone program,

[46:02] So our thanks go out to him.

[46:06] On the fifth, Laurel PD hosted the National Gun Violence Awareness

[46:11] Meeting.

[46:12] That was attended by, well, the governor

[46:14] was supposed to be there to cancel it the last minute.

[46:16] But there were several high profile people

[46:18] at a lot of media coverage that came all with that.

[46:22] We took part in the ball and forgot basketball tournament.

[46:28] at the courts.

[46:32] We attended the sleep meeting, which is the state law enforcement adjudicated

[46:39] funds, which is a grant award, and we were lucky enough to receive $8,000, which we're

[46:44] going to utilize to purchase three new patrol entries. At a meeting on June 16th, with the

[46:55] the AG's office about legislation for pop-up parties,

[46:59] which is an event that's not only affects us here in Laurel

[47:03] and it affects the state of Delaware

[47:05] but it's a national trend for these pop-up social media

[47:09] parties that occur, if you're not familiar

[47:11] then we've had several of those either in Little Creek

[47:13] or in Hollywood.

[47:16] So I'm asking Dan to consider legislation

[47:18] that would outlaw the promotion of those kind of things

[47:20] through social media and have it a tiered event

[47:23] where you would be fine or sentenced to a higher level crime, depending on how many people show up, basically.

[47:30] So we're seeing if we can get support to that up to a percent of the dues and short, and they seem to be on board.

[47:39] And so now it's just, you know, if you can go ahead and send them letters that would go a long way, probably, it wouldn't support that type of legislation.

[47:48] We then, we kind of coincidentally, on the 18th, we had a big black party out at Little

[47:54] Creek.

[47:56] You know, I always have to thank my brothers and sisters with the state police because

[48:00] they made that a success for us.

[48:02] But so did the rain.

[48:03] The rain really helped us.

[48:04] That particular rain as well.

[48:07] And then on the 26th, if you know it or not, but Amy Handy has a group of children who come

[48:12] to the PD on Fridays and we participated in being a part of that for them to give tours

[48:18] and I have an interaction with them as well.

[48:22] I think it's a very successful program.

[48:24] I think Amy and her group for the work they do with Al just seeing their smiles on

[48:30] his kids when they leave us.

[48:32] So that's all I have for you, sir.

[48:36] Thank you, Chief, for everything.

[48:37] I know it's been a tough summer, but it's much appreciated.

[48:39] Anybody has any questions for the Chief?

[48:41] Yeah, because Jamie, can we get a draft letter that the chief was asking about for the citizens to send in the legislators? Is there any way we could get some kind of draft letter?

[48:52] Yeah, I can certainly work on that. I've sent it out to Mary Council. Well, we can send one from the town. But then if any citizens want to use, I can come up with some wording that would.

[49:01] Yeah, just give some points and then they can draft or I think it's a great idea. Thank you. All right. Okay. We'll move on to old business.

[49:13] I'm going to Smith. My report.

[49:16] I always do.

[49:17] And then we get your report please.

[49:19] I have my report in front of you on economic development.

[49:25] I am currently working on with some officials at the state level or local legislators

[49:35] and hoping to be able to pull together a meeting with some state officials about the commercial

[49:41] development that's proposed between the bargain bills and nanocook immediate care.

[49:47] So there's we need to work through some things with some state agencies and we're going to be pulling together that meeting hopefully can get that project maybe forward.

[49:56] I did announce at the last meeting that the Wawa did receive their final approval so they should be starting site work.

[50:03] They're hoping some time in September or October and he did say at the last meeting that by I think late spring early summer hopefully they'll be opened up and

[50:15] and be ready for business as long as everything moves forward.

[50:20] We have a housing development that's proposed on the other side of Route 13.

[50:24] They have received all their approvals other than soil conservation so they're working

[50:29] in the soil conservation to get that.

[50:31] And then one thing I would like to point out on June 10th and I know Brian's here so I don't

[50:36] want to steal a stunder wherever he got to various back there.

[50:40] I was able to attend the ribbon cutting for the Boys and Girls Club, their outdoor basketball

[50:47] port that was they received through grant funding. It's really, really cool port. The kids

[50:52] really, the really benefit from it. It's a great program. So if you haven't had a chance

[50:57] to see it, get out with Brian and stop by and check it out. That is all I have, sir.

[51:04] Thank you, game. Okay, so old business?

[51:07] Oh, business, yes.

[51:09] So, Mary and council, at the last council meeting,

[51:12] Miss Sharon Artisano requested that the May 15th,

[51:19] I believe, meeting minutes be amended.

[51:22] Some of her, some of what was tight versus

[51:27] what she verbally stated was different

[51:29] so she had typed up a transcript of that

[51:30] and also requested that an email communication chain

[51:35] also be attached to those minutes. So I know Mary and council didn't take any action and she

[51:41] reached out to me about a week and a half ago to see the the process to get that her request

[51:50] considered for approval. So I told her I would put it on the agenda and I believe that information

[51:56] should be in your in your packets or she can't and I know she handed it out at the last meeting as well.

[52:02] We're

[52:10] simply voting on the changes to adopt. Yeah, it would amend those minutes. And then we would add the information that she requested to the to the minute packet.

[52:19] Okay, so do I have a motion to I'd like to make a motion that we amend the minutes to say what was said at the meeting.

[52:31] Thank you, thank

[52:41] you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you

[52:47] for the information that I have,

[52:57] changes to the public, no, no, no, that's what I got, yeah, no, that's that's something that's something different.

[53:05] That that was what he had added separately. Yeah, that was that was directed. Yes, okay.

[53:15] Yeah, what was that at?

[53:26] Her all her comments are tight in the last meeting minutes that she requested for consideration to be changed.

[53:33] Okay.

[53:34] I'm sorry.

[53:36] Yes.

[53:37] Yes.

[53:38] Yes.

[53:41] And then we do have the email chain as well.

[53:44] That we have on.

[53:45] Yeah.

[53:53] All right.

[53:54] Your second debt.

[53:57] Are those in favor say aye.

[53:59] Aye.

[54:00] Aye.

[54:01] Opposed say aye.

[54:06] All right.

[54:07] New business.

[54:08] Consumular.

[54:09] Communication.

[54:10] There was one other thing on the old business sir.

[54:12] Well, yeah.

[54:13] Jamie, I just want to ask on May, on May.

[54:17] At the May 18th meeting, there was an issue brought up pertaining to the property at

[54:24] 235 Market Street.

[54:29] I made a motion to look into the property there and at 235 Market Street prior to

[54:34] a rezone in President of Council Cali, a second the motion, and it passed five to one that

[54:42] We would look into an amendment to the zoning for that.

[54:50] Is that something that should be under open?

[54:53] I'm working with the attorney on that.

[54:55] I've sent all that to him after the council meeting.

[54:58] He and I talked about it a couple of times because he's looking at we may be able to do just a resolution instead of an ordinance amendment.

[55:04] So, basically my question is should it be covered, you know, because should be covered

[55:10] under all business until it gets rectified?

[55:14] I mean, there's nothing to bring up until we get the attorneys' recommendation on how

[55:19] to move over with it.

[55:20] So, we don't normally keep that under.

[55:21] Yeah, no, like I said, and I've always said, my main concern of things not being brought

[55:25] up over the whole business that they get lost.

[55:28] Yeah, no, it's at the attorney.

[55:29] I have a...

[55:30] Okay.

[55:30] Thank you. Thank you. That was my only question. Thank you, Gamy. Great. Could you just put it in a line? Sure. Thank you. Great. Thank you, Chris. All right. Communication committee information pamphlet. Consumnet. I doubt. Thank you.

[55:48] All right.

[55:53] The committee came up with a pamphlet for and it's it's called welcome to the town of Laurel

[56:02] I've sent this to mayor counsel so that they could review it.

[56:07] Last month we brought it up to try and get it passed and we're told that you know the best thing to do is give it to the attorney to let the attorney look it over.

[56:17] the only thing that he actually changed was to put a disclaimer on there and to put a criteria

[56:24] to be included in the brochure which we've done. So everything as far as we could tell it has

[56:30] been taken care of changes that were required were done. And there was one thing that Chris

[56:38] said that Cheryl did fix and that was bringing Senator Richardson's name to the top of

[56:45] to listen to local representatives, so that was taken care of.

[56:51] And that's not in your packet because that was done after it was sent in.

[56:57] So I'd like to make a motion that the Town and Council accept this brochure as it's been presented

[57:06] to the Council so that we can get it, get some made up and get them out to the first event

[57:14] that's coming up would be the Broad Creek Bash and we were able to get a sponsorship that's under

[57:21] the name of Friends of Laurel is going to have a sponsorship for the Broad Creek Bash and we're

[57:26] going to have a tent set up and I would be the first to volunteer to sit at that tent and

[57:32] pass out these broad shorters to people coming to town. So I'd like to get a motion to accept this

[57:38] sure as it's been presented to Mary Council at this time.

[57:44] You made a motion?

[57:46] Yes, sir. I'm making a motion to accept it.

[57:48] All right, before we go, I just want to say this is God willing.

[57:52] It's Cheryl.

[57:53] We're done by the whole group of Cheryl and everyone else.

[57:59] All right, all those in favor say aye.

[58:01] Aye.

[58:02] All those opposed say aye.

[58:03] Okay.

[58:04] Thank you.

[58:05] Thank you.

[58:06] Okay, now

[58:10] we're going to go with the adoption of the Sussex County Tax Assessment at this time, and I just moved.

[58:14] Mayor and Council, I have here the Sussex County Assessment list for all properties with entail limits.

[58:19] We get this list from Sussex County. We do not offer it until Mayor and Council accept it.

[58:25] The board of assessment, they come in, they take a review of it, and if they have any questions, certainly try to answer them.

[58:32] And they sign off on it and recommend that Mayor and Council accept it as presented.

[58:36] From this point, once it's accepted, then we will use this list and convert it into our system with the tax assessment so we can do the tax bills.

[58:46] And then at the August meeting, we will have our Court of Appeals. Should any residents have any questions or concerns about their assessment?

[58:53] Where is this list? I don't know. It's right here. I haven't seen it. It's Sussex Counties. They send it to us.

[59:00] That's what we said we were going to accept.

[59:02] So do I

[59:07] hear motion?

[59:08] I'll make a motion council,

[59:09] don't make a motion to accept the so-called

[59:11] here a second.

[59:13] Second.

[59:14] Thank you.

[59:15] All right.

[59:16] All those in favor say aye.

[59:18] Aye.

[59:19] Thank you.

[59:21] All right.

[59:22] Tom, I'm going to just Smith,

[59:23] adoption of the 2024 audit.

[59:26] Mayor council, you have the audit before you.

[59:31] that Brandon presented tonight for fiscal year 24 and it's presented up for adoption or acceptance, not really adoption.

[59:40] So do I hear a motion for that as well?

[59:47] Thank you. Do I hear a second?

[59:50] Second

[59:53] Like John can have a question. Thank you Regan. Is this what we were talking about?

[59:58] Yes

[1:00:00] Yes, of course. So the number of the stuff will change. Brandon, can you answer that question? So it's clear. I mean, if the goal is just understanding the auto-fender, I would never discourage anyone from that. So the only thing I would say the prior discussion about me, just sending questions to the town manager, the report is pretty broad. So probably going to have to research any questions that I have to really give you.

[1:00:29] And so I say answer. So if you guys would just like to put some questions together and then I can kind of take that

[1:00:34] I do a little research day and then come back to you. We could probably do it most efficiently in that way.

[1:00:40] But it's totally your fault. You guys have the point.

[1:00:43] This is the only question and I think maybe I'm just getting confused and in this whole thing is

[1:00:49] the order really doesn't have anything to do with the budget per se. The order is just to show that

[1:00:56] that we, that the count has kept within the budget process, right?

[1:01:01] It doesn't really have to do with the budget, or am I misunderstanding this?

[1:01:04] A budget is a component of the permanent duty.

[1:01:08] Right.

[1:01:10] Okay.

[1:01:11] I just said that one doesn't, one isn't actually, the order isn't the budget, the budget is not

[1:01:18] the audit.

[1:01:23] Right.

[1:01:28] No, I like being able to put questions together, give the Jamie and let Jamie present them and, you know, there's anything that needs to be questioned.

[1:01:36] I mean, now we could read it, but thank you, Mr. Tom.

[1:01:40] Appreciate it.

[1:01:40] All right. I did get a second on that.

[1:01:42] All those in favor say aye.

[1:01:44] All those opposed say nay?

[1:01:46] No.

[1:01:47] Okay, upcoming community events,

[1:01:49] time management.

[1:01:50] Yeah, Mayor and council,

[1:01:51] I just like to point out some events

[1:01:53] that we have upcoming.

[1:01:54] There's a lot of community events

[1:01:56] that we have this weekend, the Saturday.

[1:02:00] There's the helping hands, Dr. Harris, she left.

[1:02:04] Okay, she talked about that.

[1:02:06] That's from one to eight in Roger C. Fisher Park.

[1:02:10] On August the eighth is the,

[1:02:13] the Arc Jamberry, that's in Genosic Park.

[1:02:17] On August 15th, there's another back to school bash.

[1:02:20] That's in Rodersey Fisher Park from 10 to 5.

[1:02:23] Operation West Law is having their camp of Christ,

[1:02:26] August 10th through August 13th.

[1:02:29] And August 22nd, it's the second annual Brawl Creek

[1:02:34] bash in Genosic Park.

[1:02:37] And then back to school bash is August 23rd.

[1:02:41] and then I know we have a August, the third, the sixth is St. Andrew's Bible School,

[1:02:50] and then on that Friday is the block party, August 7th, or the block party, yes.

[1:02:56] So, six and in the seven. Okay. All right, we'll move on to May and Consum's comment.

[1:03:04] Roger Nate?

[1:03:06] Hello, hello. I know Dr. Michelle here is thank you so much,

[1:03:11] Michelle. Thank you so much for everything that you all do. Love out loud out loud is an amazing

[1:03:18] program. They help a lot of people. I just want to mention a couple of things. Also thank you to

[1:03:24] everyone tonight. August the 8th is the art of the there's 12 annual back to school jamboree

[1:03:32] and that's going to be in Janos like park. We are having a youth event. It's going to be on August

[1:03:40] first we are working and all using Fisher Park if you know need be will change the date but it's

[1:03:47] going to be an event where the youth's voices matter. The program is called Youth Voices Project so

[1:03:57] it's a lot that we're doing with it. They're happy that this is coming along and if there's anybody

[1:04:05] that would like to reach out and help out please let me know. Like I said August the first is the

[1:04:10] date we're aiming for and it's going to be the Youth Voices project where we hear them speak for themselves.

[1:04:17] And thanks again for everybody. Thank you, Mayor and Council, and all the department heads. And that's all I have to say tonight.

[1:04:23] Thank you, Reginae. How's the minute of that?

[1:04:26] First, I'd like to thank Enforcement Director Dan Haag and his department for the detailed events.

[1:04:34] I'm sorry, reports that you've been given us, they're really refreshing to see.

[1:04:39] And I have taken notice around town on,

[1:04:44] it looks different.

[1:04:45] If you really look around and see it, it looks different.

[1:04:47] I see a lot of grass being cut, the lawns look a lot better.

[1:04:53] And I know your people from your reports are out there doing what we ask them to do.

[1:04:59] And I just want to tell you, I appreciate it, and it's very refreshing to see.

[1:05:02] And also, Melissa, thank you very much.

[1:05:05] Your reports that you've given us in our packet tonight are more insightful and more

[1:05:12] transparent to see some of the reports that you've put out this month.

[1:05:17] Thank you very much.

[1:05:19] And Jamie, the updates on upcoming events that are brought up here and in the packets.

[1:05:24] Again, you know, I see a lot of positive changes over the last couple of months and I appreciate

[1:05:32] From from your staff and in the town staff and there is a lot of changes that I do notice and they are very refreshing and hopefully our residents notice them also.

[1:05:45] Thank you.

[1:05:46] Thank you.

[1:05:48] Thank you.

[1:05:49] Councilman Cateo.

[1:05:50] Nothing to see me.

[1:05:51] Thank you.

[1:05:52] Thank you.

[1:05:53] Councilman Johnathan.

[1:05:53] Come I just want to thank everybody for coming out and

[1:05:59] And welcome back

[1:06:00] I just like to say I don't

[1:06:11] I'm not I'm like I still you've done that I want you to use a talent, but there was a good ribbon

[1:06:19] Cut in ceremony down to the boys and girls club in my

[1:06:23] favorite library. They're still doing wonderful things. A lot of people don't get the

[1:06:30] publicity, they don't get the publicity, but we're one of the best, if not the, well,

[1:06:36] I know we're the best library in Delaware. We're small, but we're the heart that they have

[1:06:43] and the way I see how they treat the young people and all folks like me too. It's really

[1:06:50] refreshing and great to see. Thank you and thank my college here for keeping your

[1:06:57] shoulder to the wheel.

[1:07:02] Thank you, Council Member.

[1:07:06] Mayor, I would like to say something else.

[1:07:10] I do also want to give a shout out to the Boys and Girls Club for their ribbon cutting.

[1:07:15] it was amazing, genuinely amazing. The kids were so excited. Having Nancy Lieberman there

[1:07:22] was amazing. They got to see an actual basketball player right there in their own backyard. So

[1:07:29] that was great for the youth, and I greatly appreciate the boys and girls.

[1:07:35] Thank you. I just want to thank Alexis also for the fun raising for the 4th of July,

[1:07:44] I went off well, including some of nature's fireworks as well.

[1:07:48] Those of you that got wet, it was wonderful, but it was beautiful as well and we needed that ring.

[1:07:53] Also, keep your cars and properties safe.

[1:07:56] It is the summer. You have a bunch of kids going around looking through people's stuff so be careful with that please.

[1:08:02] And don't go out on your own. If you see that, just call 911 for your safety please.

[1:08:07] And then if you haven't been to the west side, the west side is put together a little community garden.

[1:08:12] you ought to go and look at it. It's about, you know,

[1:08:15] the San Tide violence is by the in-community violence program

[1:08:20] and other angels that come to our town to help us out.

[1:08:26] I also want to thank Ron Hamby from the Lib program.

[1:08:31] We had a wonderful meeting last week about the labor force

[1:08:34] potentially coming here, so we're in the stages of talking

[1:08:37] about that, where we can produce opportunities

[1:08:39] for these young kids out here and all the folks.

[1:08:41] So we got people out now calling us helping us out also the Google program

[1:08:46] We had a wonderful meeting last Friday with the Google program, which is a program that's going to offer free certificates

[1:08:51] where you can get your certificates for free and

[1:08:55] Go ahead and start working even from home. So it's something that Google program is going to come in at town

[1:09:00] It's going to sponsor. Yes, and I'd like to add to that. So I have a meeting scheduled with with them this week because we are going to get

[1:09:07] some licenses, the town is, so I got to get all that set up, but I have a training scheduled for that.

[1:09:13] So as soon as I get all that settled out, let Mayor and Council know and then we can move forward

[1:09:19] in advertising that. Thank you, Jamie. Basically just a bunch of wonderful things coming.

[1:09:23] And another thing we already mentioned, the Nancy Lieberman thing was wonderful. Obviously

[1:09:29] that's a very dedicated woman, just to give you a quick example. There was 142

[1:09:33] dedication she's only missed one so that tells you where her heart is for these kind of things so

[1:09:39] that's a wonderful thing other than that I have nothing else and we can move on to citizen's

[1:09:45] comments I would just remind everybody that please just state your name write it down on the paper

[1:09:51] and we'll be implementing the three-minute rule as of today so anyone from citizens comments can

[1:09:58] feel free to step on up. Thank you.

[1:10:19] Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Council, town management and fellow citizens.

[1:10:25] I was driving down South Central Avenue today and I was amazed

[1:10:31] at how all of a sudden all these people have cut their lawns

[1:10:34] all on the same day. So, Dan, I also want to thank you very much.

[1:10:40] I'm sure that was you, and it's amazing the difference it makes, it really is, so thank

[1:10:46] you very much.

[1:10:48] I would also like to thank the Finance Department, Melissa, for adding the additional data.

[1:10:55] I think it's very, very helpful, and I think that other citizens are going to find it useful

[1:11:02] as well, so I want to thank you as well.

[1:11:05] And when I was looking at this data on Friday, I noticed that since we now see the accounts

[1:11:14] are listed, I believe, and Jamie, you can correct me if I'm wrong, when it comes to reserves

[1:11:24] that at the minimum, a 10% of your annual budget is recommended, our annual budget this

[1:11:31] years 8.5 million. And if you have an old infrastructure, which I would say, James,

[1:11:39] would you say we do? Yes. Okay. That at least 20 percent should be in your capital reserves.

[1:11:47] And we know this because last year we experienced a problem that cost us all the sudden 200,000.

[1:11:52] It was at about right? Yes. Yes. Okay. So, yeah. So, so we know, you know,

[1:12:00] So this is going to happen and probably more often rather than less.

[1:12:05] So when I look at the accounts, I see a general fund of 113,672.

[1:12:14] And then capital reserve fund, which is where the 10% should be, is 267,181.

[1:12:24] All right, so that's not a lot of money.

[1:12:26] I mean, if we were going to have 10% in there, you know, you'd be looking at $800,000,

[1:12:33] right?

[1:12:34] And we have 267.

[1:12:37] Can I interrupt you?

[1:12:39] I promise.

[1:12:40] There is one reserve account, the transportation account that's not listed on here.

[1:12:45] Only because it's in a sweep account.

[1:12:48] And we have to get logged in to, we can look on the account through the bank.

[1:12:53] but it only shows the minimum, which is 5,000, so we have about total and don't hold me to this,

[1:13:00] but like a hundred and ninety five, two hundred thousand, but we are working with the bank. It's

[1:13:05] where the, it's at link bank, it's not link anymore, but where they took over, we got to get access

[1:13:09] and working on getting that access to the. Okay, now if it's a transportation account, can it be used

[1:13:15] for capital reserves? Is there something happens with water and sewer? Yes, it is all water and sewer, yes.

[1:13:22] Yes.

[1:13:22] Okay.

[1:13:23] Yes.

[1:13:23] All right.

[1:13:23] Well, that's better.

[1:13:25] Yes.

[1:13:25] But still quite a bit shy of where we should be at the lowest number.

[1:13:31] So, I guess I want to ask you, Mr. Mayor, if that concerns you that our reserves are, you know,

[1:13:38] less than the 10% that we really should have in there.

[1:13:42] And also, I'll let you answer that if you would.

[1:13:46] That's always a concern.

[1:13:47] I mean, I won't.

[1:13:48] I was going to send it back to the revenue.

[1:13:49] That's a book.

[1:13:50] All right.

[1:13:50] All right, so I guess I would ask then do we have a plan, a capital reserve plan?

[1:13:56] Do we have any kind of plan to maybe start putting some money aside for that?

[1:14:02] Because I know Jamie, we don't have a sinking fund either, right?

[1:14:06] Okay, so the difference in a sinking fund and a capital reserve is capital reserves are for

[1:14:11] things that come up that you're not expecting, like the water made stuff.

[1:14:14] The sinking fund is for things you know you can predict are going to need replacement and you start putting away for them way before something happens.

[1:14:25] So we don't, you know, is it possible to establish a sinking fund and put money into that, start putting money into that?

[1:14:32] Because it's just like an HOA. When you know you have to replace the roofs 20 years down the road, you could not put money in your reserve account.

[1:14:41] But when the roof's need replacing, you're going to get hit with big assessments.

[1:14:46] It's a very, very same thing.

[1:14:47] If we don't plan ahead with the sinking funds, then we get hit.

[1:14:52] And I know we've been lucky with grants, which is a good thing.

[1:14:56] But depending on luck makes me a little nervous.

[1:15:00] You know, what if we don't get a grant and something big happens? So I just would like mayor and council to kind of consider that and maybe talk about it a little bit in the next meeting to see if there's something we can do to improve our situation there. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:15:21] Is there anyone else from citizens comments?

[1:15:30] Okay. Do I have a motion to close today's meeting? Oh, no, we need to read. Yes. We need close session. Okay.

[1:15:37] Thank you, thank you for reminding me.

[1:15:40] Councilor Dalma, we're going to close this room.

[1:15:43] Recess it.

[1:15:44] No, recessed.

[1:15:44] I'll make a motion.

[1:15:45] Recess just reading.

[1:15:47] Okay.

[1:15:47] I have a second on that.

[1:15:48] Thank you.

[1:15:49] Okay.

[1:15:49] All those in favor say aye.

[1:15:51] Aye.

[1:15:52] All right.

[1:15:52] Recess.

[1:15:53] Three minutes.

[1:15:53] Please.

[1:15:54] Three minutes.

[1:15:55] Please.

[1:16:03] I

[1:16:10] did it after you.

Untitled meeting

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