[0:00] [Music]
[0:08] [Music]
[0:12] My uncle Turner's
daughter Leroy. Did you see Marjorie
[0:17] lost her husband? Marie Turner.
Okay.
[0:25] » So, at 6:01
[0:29] joint meeting of the town school board
and the town select board.
[0:34] We'll have an agenda review about the
flag. We'll do updates for both sides
[0:39] and then go over preliminary budget
factors
[0:43] comments and motion to agenda. Do we
have any changes to the agenda?
[0:59] To the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for it
[1:03] stands one nation under God indivisible
with liberty and justice for all.
[1:21] Um, welcome Diane. I think you're the
only new person at the table, but you're
[1:28] not new. But,
um, okay. Do you guys want to start with
[1:33] updates?
>> Um, well, we could do several updates.
[1:38] Talk about common updates. We could also
about the school um act 73 a little bit
[1:44] um and that process is moving along um
down in the state house. Uh I do know
[1:51] that the districting task force had
another meeting today. Uh the couple
[1:55] things that I've heard coming from the
school districtricting task force is um
[2:00] one of their uh thought processes was
around um using county lines you know 14
[2:07] or 15 county 14 or 15 districts but I
think today they were going to discuss
[2:12] more about
utilizing the CTE more as kind of parts
[2:18] of the districts.
probably about 17 roughly 17 at that
[2:24] point. I know is just as tuned in or
maybe even more at times tuned in than I
[2:29] am process but um that's just something
that I heard about that now starting to
[2:35] talk talk about the CP process become a
very central part of education at this
[2:40] point connecting the districts to the CP
is something that they're starting to
[2:46] explore
[2:50] everything else on that side it's really
going to alling on these maps coming
[2:55] through and the legislation actually
deciding on a map
[3:02] if any of the three maps are acceptable
to move forward.
[3:08] On the town side, we're still moving
forward on some projects. We're moving
[3:12] forward on the hourglass that seems to
be uh still on schedule for 2026 coming
[3:19] up next construction season.
There will be some traffic delays and
[3:26] traffic pattern changes around Route 7
and the hourglass area. Um, from what I
[3:31] hear, they are planning on trying to
keep at least one lane open on Route 7
[3:37] at all times coming through that area.
Um, the north is open and the southbound
[3:43] is utilized going around the new road.
That's preliminary kind of process on
[3:50] that.
We're still on the town site discussing
[3:54] a multigenerational recreation facility.
That process has moved forward a little
[4:00] bit to where I've been discussing with a
couple different groups
[4:04] to maybe different ways we can partner
with them and have them involved in
[4:10] either everything from groundbreaking to
management or just management. So I have
[4:15] two different companies I've been talks
with them about. hasn't gone very far
[4:20] where they received our feasibility
study and now on our side I believe
[4:24] we're coming up with an RFP and start
exploring more on how we actually want
[4:31] to move forward with the project we want
private partnership which I think really
[4:36] is the most feasible way for us to
actually get this done or how we want to
[4:40] go through so there'll be more
discussions
[4:43] with myself and the select board on
exactly the process that we take care of
[4:47] but that's still well in the works and
we still really looking forward to
[4:50] seeing how we can make that happen for
[4:57] one of the and also it's not directly
but it directly very directly affects
[5:02] the new interstate
rebuild um that's literally a year ahead
[5:08] of time that was not scheduled to be
done till next year and I can't
[5:14] officially say that it will be done this
year but if you all look at it it's
[5:18] I would say that
[5:24] » that whole new bridge and all that.
Yeah. So that to me I could see them
[5:31] being done in a couple of weeks because
they're tearing up the last bits and
[5:35] pieces that are not going to be used any
longer.
[5:39] Like for instance, the the southbound
entrance to 89 coming from Chimney
[5:46] Corners is literally a clover on the
inside of the old
[5:52] rerouted coming off
the roof.
[5:56] So, uh that's a change. So, you know,
left.
[6:04] So, yeah. And uh um That's good news.
[6:17] » Amy and Chris and anybody else who wants
to jump into this deep end of the court,
[6:22] but do we have any sense as to how the
new legislation is going to impact,
[6:28] you know, the traditional December 1st
time frame as when the tax department,
[6:35] » there shouldn't be any impact. They're
saying December 1st. So I don't see
[6:40] anything coming from the state
[6:49] » positively.
[6:53] » Right. Now I know that the actual tax
rate was less
[6:58] » last year.
[7:04] Wild card.
I think that's going to also depend on
[7:09] the state level that's going to be
utilized again.
[7:16] [Music]
>> It was a total of 115 million that was
[7:20] that was from two different sources put
into buying essentially buying down the
[7:25] tax rate if you would.
>> Um but like Chris said that's a big butt
[7:31] on that whether that happens again in
the next couple years.
[7:36] We were told not to I was just going to
say on it.
[7:40] » We're seeing the agency of
transportation really in a deficit with
[7:43] their budget now. So money just like on
the local level and the state level is
[7:49] going to be some very hard decision
>> implementation is FY 28
[7:57] 28 28 28 so there's a couple years more
to deal with still. So
[8:05] yeah, pretty much this year 27. Yeah. So
we'd have
[8:13] » Yeah. One more fiscal year of something
needing to be done or you could see
[8:17] another.
Yeah. Actually two reality.
[8:30] » Yeah. They believe
[8:35] So, it's not likely going to be
2024
[8:42] taxes at 2026 costs.
>> There's going to be something,
[8:54] » right?
[8:58] » But
this current Yes. the next one or two as
[9:03] a wild card
that's the most I want to I guess
[9:11] it depends there's a lot too on December
3rd we all go down for a
[9:17] annual uh really you know they call it a
budget over it's really it's like a the
[9:25] state economists come in and give kind
of like a health of the of the state
[9:30] budget and what what revenues look Are
they up now? Good news is this last
[9:35] couple few years well all the way back
or forward have been in the positive
[9:42] direction. Um but you can't hear that on
December 3rd. I don't like
[9:48] transportation for instance if you all
saw took a hit just recently because um
[9:53] truck sales are down. Literally I was
talking transportation and that's that's
[9:57] a big factor with truck sales down
because the cost of living trucks. So so
[10:02] high
on grand.
[10:09] So it's had a profound impact.
You got vehicle payment as much as your
[10:14] mortgage.
[10:23] » They do so far. In a couple months that
could could change, but hopefully not.
[10:29] in your circles, have you heard any
glimmers of hope?
[10:32] » No. Um,
[10:36] you know, there's the federal title of
course
[10:41] likely we have just what we
issued, but
[10:46] it's likely that many of those title
funds will be eliminated or
[10:53] reduced
except for the
[11:02] until
[11:09] you know I think
we all know that healthare is up again.
[11:20] I think our revenues look pretty steady
[11:25] and we've already started back and forth
with the state around our numbers. So,
[11:33] those aren't matching and they usually
don't. We have to go through a very
[11:37] lengthy process of back and forth.
[11:52] We have some other school updates. It
was a fabulous start to the school year.
[12:01] our work with um you know our teachers
collaboration
[12:09] professional development that's
happening around literacy and
[12:13] instruction
[12:16] we had a very successful summer on our
project speak to that a little bit
[12:22] » yeah all the storm water work is
complete you guys have storm water that
[12:26] you have
[12:29] a couple projects here and there.
[12:37] » Yeah, we um you know they just they did
their own bidding process and picked a
[12:42] contractor and we got one from Fairfield
called who did an excellent job. And the
[12:48] thing that I don't normally see out of
contractors which was much appreciated
[12:52] is at the end of the day they were
sweeping Avenue.
[12:55] » Nice. 5 5:30 at night after they had
their trucks going down there every day.
[13:00] So, I thought that was it was nice that
they hired someone local for us, but it
[13:04] was also nice that they were just taking
care of the city at the end of the day.
[13:07] I thought that was cool. Um, and the
roof is done. Um, and that came in under
[13:12] budget, which was great. Um, so, um,
happy to have that figured out. And now
[13:18] we're just in the process of planning
what we're going to get done next
[13:23] summer. You know, we really only have an
8week in the summer and we need to
[13:29] increase the amperage coming into the
building. Um so that's going to be the
[13:35] first piece of next summer before we can
really do anything in there. Um because
[13:39] we have we're running sort of that
maximum capacity of what that building
[13:44] can handle. Um so that's going to be
sort of the first piece um to get things
[13:49] moving. So that'll start literally the
day school is up. It's a three-we
[13:53] process. you can't do it like during
vacation or and it's big cables, you
[13:59] know. So, um
time we have so we're gonna we may lose
[14:05] a little bit of time um in the beginning
of next summer with that. We're going to
[14:09] have to have a lot of people bring power
in starts.
[14:14] We essentially have three more summers
to finish all the projects that we're
[14:19] we're doing. So, we're going to try to
knock out as much of it as possible. Um
[14:23] All the windows will be delivered
shortly and they'll be ready to go. And
[14:26] they're going to start going in whenever
they can work. If it's 40 degrees over
[14:31] Christmas week, they're going to put a
couple room windows in in February break
[14:35] and April. So the window projects going
really well. I'm just happy the roof got
[14:41] on before school opened and that storm
water project was really really good and
[14:46] easy to do. So good luck with yours. I'm
assuming yours are more widespread than
[14:50] just
projects.
[14:53] » Oh,
[14:58] » it's all consuming right now.
[15:06] » No, honestly, there's really not. I
mean, we're
[15:10] hoping that, you know, insurance come
out. It's a struggle right now. We have
[15:16] obviously like everybody we have certain
regulations that we have to follow
[15:21] that we have to meet
[15:27] » a lot of it is public works.
[15:34] When is the first bond payment due on
>> so we actually uh paid it in the last
[15:41] » okay
>> um but the delta between
[15:47] year one is just interest and year two
is principal and interest so the delta
[15:54] between that will be adding 400k to the
budget
[15:59] » what we're trying to do
some of our um storm
[16:05] We have the storm water utility
ordinance that we are putting in place
[16:09] and looking forward to being through the
process and
[16:14] get 60 or 90 days now to we have some
money that we have set aside that is
[16:22] going to seed that fund utilizing
all our options and how we're going to
[16:28] move forward.
[16:32] » We were actually program. Our work was
350k and we only pay 35 of it which was
[16:38] great. And they also refunded us like
the permit fees which were about 5,000
[16:43] for even 6,000 for there.
>> So that worked out really well. But you
[16:47] had to commit. You had to they were
running out of money
[16:51] » and only the people who were ready to do
it this summer were guaranteed to get it
[16:55] done because it's a fivey year window
that started last year. So because we
[16:58] were ready to go, we were able to access
that. also recently been uh we've had
[17:06] some grants that we've had to turn to
turn down due to not being reimbured.
[17:16] So even when you get grant money, it's
not a guarantee that you'll be able to
[17:27] schools as well.
[17:32] » Bouncing back to the whole
redistricting, do you guys have a
[17:36] preferred plan in place or you just kind
of waiting until
[17:40] » Well, you know, it's it's interesting
that um
[17:44] you know, one they haven't
So we did a lot of work last spring and
[17:52] association said we'll come to you with
some proposals based on what we know
[17:58] about building usage and programming and
demographics and um transportation.
[18:05] They weren't interested and um and now
it it looks like there's been some
[18:11] movement of some districts, you know, to
sort of partner with other districts and
[18:17] then present their proposals
um to the task force, but to me it seems
[18:23] like it's not they're not interested,
right? Like if they were interested,
[18:27] they would have asked us, right?
[18:37] CTE
[18:43] customer of all three.
>> Yeah.
[18:46] » Are we primary to ethics? Is that how
that works?
[18:49] » Not necessarily. No.
[18:53] So, and you know, as we know,
um, even with having access to the CTS,
[19:02] we often still have students that are
waiting
[19:06] » really.
>> So, and that's common across many of the
[19:09] high schools that those CTS.
So, that's concerning to us that the CT,
[19:17] you know, divide Bington into one
district and
[19:23] still.
[19:31] » No, but we do have some.
[19:42] » Yeah, it's not.
It's Fair. It's
[19:50] nursing
kids.
[19:53] I I don't know.
>> Cool. Okay. That was an option.
[19:59] » We don't go down there,
>> but we have students that go to St.
[20:14] » Yeah, we do. She played on the team. the
other team the other day. I saw it.
[20:19] Yeah. How does that work? I've never
heard of that.
[20:22] » We get a bill. We get a tuition bill
from them
[20:25] that we have to pay just like people in
North Georgia.
[20:30] » When I was on the school board, if you
didn't have a student coming from there
[20:34] to here and there to there to make it
even, you couldn't do it. So now you can
[20:41] pay for it.
>> Well, change.
[20:44] » Yes. So the new law is that
There's a lottery system where students
[20:50] can apply in a given time frame to
students from can apply to go to a
[20:56] different school within the lottery
system. The school doesn't have to
[21:00] accept them as long as they have so many
students participating in the lottery
[21:06] and
they um they say our student
[21:15] so
that works.
[21:17] » Oh, so even though this student's going
to say, "Oh, then she'll have to
[21:21] graduate with the milk."
>> No, but she's counted in our
[21:26] » So, we pay for it even though there's
not somebody coming here.
[21:31] » Yes.
[21:35] » Well, it's not. We We get the ADM, so we
get to count them as part of our advert.
[21:41] » So, no, we're not paying money.
>> Okay.
[21:43] » So,
Yeah, it's the lottery and it's very
[21:47] it's very small number of students.
>> How many do we have right now currently
[21:51] going to other schools that fill us?
>> I don't I don't know. It was only
[21:56] » that's tuition. That's different than
the
[21:57] » lottery.
I
[22:01] It's only high school students that can
participate.
[22:13] » It's changed since
It's hard to get in. I mean, there's
[22:17] students that apply that
[22:25] is very popular, but they're also kind
of
[22:28] seems
[22:39] basically two more months.
[22:47] have a very limited time frame.
[22:52] » So what's the plan after district?
[22:58] » Yeah. Once the once the district map is
adopted
[23:03] um then uh right now at the same time we
just started seeing the u voting wars.
[23:10] another committee to start talking about
voting wars within the districts. So
[23:15] they in conjunction with task force are
now starting to meet. Um and then after
[23:20] the district for when I think it's 2028
is when um the districts the new
[23:28] districts are supposed to take over
total
[23:32] handling
the school and all that stuff. There's a
[23:37] a very strict November 2027 is when they
would do the elections for the new
[23:43] boards. That new board will hire a
superintendent
[23:47] after the school year after year starts
and then those
[23:55] board will start
[24:02] » there's no details about how that's
going to happen.
[24:06] » Quite honestly, I would not say that
there's a
[24:12] very it's going to be fluid I think
>> well it guidance all these collective
[24:17] bargaining
right there's there's all sorts of like
[24:21] the debt how
service going to work so there's a lot
[24:25] of things
all these moving parts are going out
[24:30] there
>> five districts
[24:33] contract
>> absolutely different term lengths and
[24:37] ends
You know, as much as you think that
[24:40] might be the hardest part, it's probably
going to be the easiest part to come up
[24:43] with figuring out the rest of the
process. I think this year actually is
[24:48] going to be much harder than last year.
Last year was
[24:53] the process ahead of us is going to be
harder than the process that's
[24:57] » Chris. I was under the understanding
that the school board chair at the time
[25:02] is the person that's designated. That's
what I was at one meeting I went to that
[25:08] the current chair of the individual
schools would be the person that there
[25:14] wasn't an election.
>> I don't
[25:17] I don't believe that's the case. I know
discussion about that.
[25:20] » Yeah.
>> I don't think I don't think that's
[25:23] actually kind of set.
>> Okay. But there was discussion.
[25:28] » Yes.
[25:31] » Okay.
[25:44] So on the town um healthare obviously we
do know what our increase is going to be
[25:50] already%
[25:53] is much better than we were anticipating
a really sad thing to say
[25:59] what we thought but if you compound it
with last year we're looking
[26:05] health insurance.
[26:08] We obviously don't see that going away
anytime soon. It's almost like you can
[26:12] establish a 10% increase yearly pretty
much. Um the also a couple of the big
[26:19] things on the town side that we have we
have the department of public works
[26:23] building bond that's going to start
to make payments on that. Paving costs
[26:28] are going through the roof. We're
getting a lot less done, a lot more
[26:32] money. And um
staffing staffing is always most
[26:38] expensive
part of operation
[26:42] making sure our staff is
in a position where they don't want to
[26:47] stay working for the county.
>> We have seen
[26:53] great success with the police
department. So, are we at full or
[27:02] right now?
[27:11] » Yep.
Two in the last couple months. One is
[27:16] already doing their field training.
>> The hardest part with our with police
[27:22] department is a lateral move which from
one police department to another police
[27:27] department, you're talking at least six
months of just before they're actually
[27:31] an active working officer in the
community. And when we start looking at
[27:36] somebody who doesn't have any
credentials and has to go through the
[27:39] academy looking
[27:43] out there enforcing law
the the pipeline and the time frame of
[27:50] that onboarding process is a really hard
thing to plan for when you start
[27:53] retirements other
[27:59] staff is almost impossible
[28:04] much better than where we're at.
>> Much better than where we are. The
[28:07] decisions that have been made over the
last couple years with the police
[28:10] department have really made it much
easier for them to recruit and
[28:16] » at one point we're down to 11 officers
on the road due to injuries and
[28:20] retirements
out of the 17 offic.
[28:30] They're still doing a good job
>> even though they're down.
[28:34] » You wouldn't know it.
>> Back there.
[28:40] » The other uh Well, what do you want me
to segue?
[28:42] » No, I just want to I was going to segue
into SRO or
[28:49] » you ruined it.
>> Sorry.
[28:53] » No, no. Obviously, now would be the time
if there was any desire effort to put on
[28:57] a second
for us to start considering that
[29:08] throwing it out there. There hasn't been
any discussion. Yes or no?
[29:15] Right.
[29:28] » Agreed. I do think if there's going to
be a year where Congress actually able
[29:35] to accomplish some things, I would
expect the city's massive crime bill to
[29:39] come out, which I would expect to be a
plus for local police department.
[29:45] program.
So I think we should at least be ready
[29:50] to jump quickly if there is such an
opportunity in the next year year and a
[29:55] half
[29:59] if there's going to be any success.
I think it would be around
[30:17] the other topic I was hoping to talk a
little bit more about
[30:23] mentioned at the last school board
meeting
[30:27] looking at some resource sharing
collaboration between the district and
[30:33] utilizing each other
more for things that we can obviously
[30:40] coming out of the same taxpayers
pockets. Um, and if we can
[30:44] » another couple years.
>> Exactly. And if we can eliminate any
[30:47] redundancy or you know taking more money
than we need to because we're both doing
[30:53] the same thing
[31:00] about that next meeting.
from
[31:05] where
>> our cabinets.
[31:10] » Our cabinets of two
me and two others
[31:23] bring down resources. I think that
[31:33] at one time it was very successful
remember
[31:37] with um sharing electrical work and all
that years ago was when I first got on
[31:44] the board we were sharing
>> still
[31:51] Yeah, you're
>> always
[31:59] the local cont.
[32:11] » Yes, unfortunately
[32:15] not.
[32:18] electrician. We do have a new vehicle
maintenance
[32:22] » person
[32:27] that
we do have what seven or eight
[32:40] » and we have the facilities
[32:45] before. So that's certainly an area that
we
[32:56] We get to move to community.
>> Absolutely.
[33:01] » Um,
do we have any
[33:07] members that want to make comments?
Anything online?
[33:17] I will make a motion to
[33:33] » I assume we're not meeting on December
29th. That's the next day.
[33:43] » I won't be here, but