[3:41] test. Hello.
[3:48] Mic 10.
[3:54] Yeah, I think I think this one works.
Okay. Can you hear me? Okay.
[4:02] Test, test, test. Is it loud enough?
[8:31] the
[8:35] the EV charger in town.
[8:45] Who
or what brand charger is it?
[9:31] City actions
[9:35] nights.
[9:39] Uh, no.
[9:45] Yeah, I mean that is kind of
[10:21] Okay, I'm going to get this
[10:40] Hey, I think the link would be best if
you
[10:51] you're going to need to write down the
code.
[10:55] Enter your access code.
[11:01] What's that?
Okay. Ready?
[11:07] The um join by phone is area code 2
36
[11:15] 057
[11:21] then
the ID that you'll have in
[11:27] 974
073
[11:42] Yep.
[11:46] Okay.
Okay. Thank you.
[12:45] Click that now. Or five. Five of us.
[12:56] Good day, John.
[14:55] Okay,
got
[15:00] meeting up. Stephanie
and Chris Kelly just confirming you guys
[15:06] can hear us. About to get the meeting
started a few minutes late, so
[15:09] apologies.
[15:15] Stephanie, can you acknowledge you can
hear us online?
[15:36] Get the
[15:43] Are you talking, Stephanie? Is your
computer muted?
[15:56] Can't
I can't hear her.
[16:01] Well, that's I guess. Yeah. Can you
unmute yourself, Stephanie, and see if
[16:05] that's a possibility? No, you can't
unmute. Okay. Chris Kelly, can you
[16:13] unmute?
[16:27] You guys hear me? You guys hear me?
There he is. Here it is.
[17:25] I have two mics on.
I am unmuted now. If you can hear me,
[17:32] maybe that's good news.
[18:22] Well, if you are all talking, I can't
hear you, but I am unmuted
[18:27] just so you know what the public
experience is now.
[18:37] Can you hear me now?
>> Yes.
[18:40] » Through that microphone, you can. Okay.
For some reason, my computer mic's not
[18:46] cooperating.
>> Probably shouldn't use this use the
[18:51] use the computer mics.
>> Oh, this one wasn't working.
[18:54] » Th This one does work. So, this I'll use
the town mic, but the the monitor.
[18:59] Got it. Okay.
Okay.
[19:05] All right. Let me just
[19:22] Okay.
[19:28] Well, I really want to call the meeting
to order
[19:32] since it's 6:15.
Um,
[19:39] so I think I'm going to um call the
meeting to order. This my name is Andrew
[19:44] Der, the chair of the NDA, and it is
6:15
[19:50] and I'm gonna ask John if he wants to
call the role.
[19:57] Just go around the room.
[20:00] That's okay. I mean, we had the name
tags. So, we've got
[20:04] Dwight.
Um, Dwight is not here. Dwight's not in
[20:08] tonight.
Richard.
[20:13] Okay.
[20:16] » John Thompson.
>> John Thompson here.
[20:18] » Yes. Andrew Dert is here.
>> And Meg Fox,
[20:23] » I'm here.
>> Great. Looks like Chris Larson is not in
[20:27] tonight
and Ron should be joining momentarily.
[20:33] So, let me just Sorry, guys. Give us a
[20:39] minute for Ron to call in.
[20:44] » Yeah, that's weird.
[20:49] Says he's dialing now. So, one second.
And we can complete our role and have a
[20:54] quorum.
[21:30] I have some
[23:05] for your patience, guys. Ron's trying to
dial in. Almost there.
[23:37] to get one of like the Snoopy phones or
the Garfield phones. Yeah.
[23:58] Oh,
that Ron
[24:04] » calling the roll. Okay, Ron Mitchell
>> here. Okay,
[24:10] thank you for your patience everyone
while we work through our um trying to
[24:17] get quorum and work through some of the
technical things. Um are there any
[24:22] questions or comments on the consent
agenda?
[24:29] And if not, I would ask for a motion to
approve the consent agenda.
[24:37] A motion to approve the consent agenda.
>> I second.
[24:43] » Great. So I will call the role. Um Magg.
>> Yes.
[24:50] » And Ron
>> here.
[24:53] » Motion to approve the consent agenda.
That's a it's a yes or a no for you.
[24:58] » Yes.
>> Okay.
[25:01] Um and Richard.
>> Yes. and John.
[25:06] » Yes.
>> Okay. And And Andrew Dart? Yes. Motion
[25:11] passes.
And then is there any public comment on
[25:15] non-aggenda items?
[25:22] » Uh I can't really cycle through and see
people online. Um Cass, if you can help
[25:27] me to see if there's any hands up
online. Doesn't look like it. Okay. Um,
[25:33] » wait, wait.
>> I guess I'm gonna Oh,
[25:36] » I think you can hear me.
>> Yes.
[25:39] » But is this the time, Andrew, that I
would bring up Ned to go or you're going
[25:43] to bring it up and it will be an item
for approval in a future date?
[25:48] » Um,
you know, I think I guess this is a good
[25:51] opportunity to to touch on that. you
know, tonight I think the intention we
[25:57] have a there's um
you know what, Steph, Stephanie, do you
[26:02] want to just go go ahead now and kind of
use this and the meeting before we get
[26:07] kind of down a lot of different paths
that have to do with governance and
[26:10] transitions and I think this would be a
good time for you to to bring up um Ned
[26:15] to go.
>> Sure. I'll give it one minute.
[26:20] » Okay.
>> I have
[26:21] » you got three minutes. You don't need to
keep it to one minute. We can give you
[26:23] three minutes.
>> Okay. I have come before the board to
[26:28] talk about nettogo.com
and the value that it has for our
[26:32] community in keeping people up to date
for eating, drinking establishments,
[26:36] their hours, their menus, how to order
online and all the special events that
[26:41] can be public health to music to
gatherings of people that are public.
[26:47] Uh, and it goes, as you know, from
Netherland down to Cole Creek Canyon
[26:53] down to Rollinsville or over to
Rollinsville and to Jamestown. So, it is
[26:58] not all Netherland. However, 80 I think
my analysis was 88% of the businesses
[27:03] and events are Netherland. uh and it is
a passion project uh that came out of
[27:09] COVID and I keep it updated uh regularly
and the business owners all call me,
[27:15] text me, email me when there are
updates. So it is nice to collect that
[27:19] information and be a pass through to get
it out to the community and then I also
[27:24] market it on Facebook groups and through
postering to let people and people who
[27:29] live here and visitors know about it. So
come this time of year, the leaf peepers
[27:34] use it as a big resource. And then when
it's holiday time, we open up our gift
[27:39] card tab and it's people who used to
live here who want to support businesses
[27:44] how they can buy uh a gift card for $200
from the rock shop, etc. And so I have
[27:53] asked in the past for actually the DDA
or town to buy this website and we would
[27:59] customize it for the town and only have
it be Nutterland. But the last time I
[28:04] said, "Can we just help with uh defay
some of my out-ofpocket costs?" So a
[28:10] fraction of those out-of- pocket costs
in a year, I came with a $2,000 request
[28:16] and I would like it to continue through
the end of this year.
[28:20] Awesome.
[28:25] Thank you, Stephanie. I appreciate you
doing that now and in your own voice.
[28:30] Um,
okay. Any other public comment on
[28:34] non-aggenda items.
[28:39] Okay. Um then we are going to go into
our first action item which is the
[28:48] annual board um officer elections. But
before that I guess I'd like to give
[28:52] kind of my second um
public comment on non-aggenda items. So
[28:59] you know tonight there's a lot of kind
of transition that we're working
[29:03] through. Um, and I think all of the the
items that we have to work on are
[29:08] related in one way or another to the
bigger picture. Um, we've got a recent
[29:14] resignation of the executive director.
We've got some board elections that are
[29:19] happening and then there's also kind of
some organizational governments pieces
[29:24] that are working together. So, um, we're
all of these things kind of tie back to
[29:30] one another, but the intention that I
would like to put out there for tonight
[29:34] is to leave with like a sound financial
and governance controls where we've got
[29:39] one owner and one next date for every
transition item, an agreement on the
[29:45] information we need before the next
budget and project decisions.
[29:50] Um, so
tonight, you know, we've kind of gone
[29:54] through the consent agenda and now we're
going to get into the government
[29:58] governance and then we're going to get
into program decisions and then some
[30:02] transition reports. So, I also want to
make it clear I guess now I'm going to
[30:06] move um formally into the next action
item which is the annual board officer
[30:12] elections.
Um
[30:17] so the
one thing that um our bylaws talk about
[30:25] is annual elections but they specify the
chair and the vice chair and they don't
[30:31] necess necessarily specify the
treasurer. Um, I just want to make that
[30:37] clear tonight that um,
we we don't necessarily, my
[30:43] understanding, and John Kane, you can
correct me if I'm wrong, but with the
[30:47] bylaws that we're not necessarily voting
on a treasurer. The treasurer needs to
[30:52] be named, but it's not something that is
required in our bylaws to be voted on
[30:57] every year.
>> I think you're right.
[30:59] » Okay,
>> that sounds right.
[31:00] » Okay. And currently, our treasurer is
John Thompson. Okay. Um so with that in
[31:08] mind, um annual officer elections were
delayed from July to August due to
[31:14] recent board appointments. Um we've got
still vacancies. Um I intended at the
[31:21] time that I wouldn't seek re-election as
chair, but I I want to remain on the
[31:25] chair at at this time. Um I wanted to
kind of put put that mentally out there
[31:30] so that the door was open for people. Um
but being that at the last election no
[31:35] board members at all expressed interest
in serving as chair or vice chair. Um
[31:40] but John Thompson graciously continued
expressed willingness to continue
[31:45] serving as treasure. So I think tonight
just because of knowing that there's
[31:49] some financial things that we need to
talk talk about later. Um, I'd like to,
[31:55] um, revisit the elections and I'd like
to throw it out there that I would, um,
[31:59] be happy to continue serving as the
chair of the DDA until, you know, we've
[32:05] got some more members and a more stable
footing of governance.
[32:10] I'd like to nominate Richard um for vice
chair um to he and I were able to have
[32:17] some conversations earlier u in the in
the day and week to go over that. Um but
[32:24] I wanted to throw it out there to the
rest of the board on their thoughts and
[32:29] feelings.
[32:32] » Ron, were you saying something?
>> No, I'm ready to nominate you to be the
[32:38] chair.
>> Okay.
[32:40] Um, Meg, how are you doing on elections?
>> Um, I'm good. Yeah, I like being a board
[32:48] member.
>> Okay, got it. And um, well, I think that
[32:54] kind of makes it um, simple. I guess I
would like to um, make a motion to vote
[33:01] for Richard um, Brandon as the vice
chair. Can I get a second?
[33:06] » I second a motion.
>> Okay. And can I call roll? So Meg,
[33:11] » yes.
>> Ron, this is a motion for Richard to be
[33:15] the vice chair.
>> Yes.
[33:18] » Okay. And John, I approve. And it's this
is Andrew Dart. And it's a yes from me.
[33:25] And Richard,
>> uh, that's a yes from me also.
[33:29] » Okay. Awesome. Thank you.
>> Is there a motion for the chair?
[33:36] I would like to make a motion for Andrew
Andrew Dwart as the chair.
[33:41] » Right. And a second.
>> Second.
[33:44] » Okay.
>> Second.
[33:46] » Um Richard on the vote.
>> Yes.
[33:50] » And John on the vote.
>> Yes.
[33:52] » Egg on the vote.
>> Yes.
[33:54] » And Andrew, I'll say yes. Okay. Motion
passes. Um, and given the the bylaws
[34:02] about the treasure, we're it's noted
that the treasur isn't necessarily an
[34:07] annual vote and the board has agreed for
John Thompson to remain treasur. So,
[34:14] that is um I think that's it for the
officer elections, which is great.
[34:20] » Sweet. Um the next
[34:26] action item.
So I recently just had some a
[34:32] conversation with UNMB bank because um
there's more to do with this than just
[34:39] um
Kate resigning and other governance
[34:44] cleanup that that we've got to do. But I
would like to read the resignation
[34:49] letter from Kate for the minutes
so that we can all basically UNMB bank
[34:56] said you know just having a resignation
letter from the executive director is
[35:01] not enough. That what they what they
really need from us is in the meeting
[35:06] minutes to say we as a board want soand
so removed and other people added.
[35:13] Currently,
the signers on the account include a
[35:18] former treasurer, Steve Roundtree, Kate
Massingale, Ron Mitchell, and myself.
[35:25] So, it's going to be after we go through
the reading Kate's resignation letter.
[35:31] Um, it's going to be my recommendation
that we remove Steve Roundtree and Ron
[35:36] Mitchell as signers on the account. keep
the basically are always keeping the
[35:40] chair, vice chair and treasurer on the
account would be my um
[35:46] my recommendation. Furthermore, UNMB
also said they are not really interested
[35:51] in managing
uh you know access to the account. In
[35:56] other words, if you're a serer on the
account, you have access to the account
[36:00] and you can make changes and do things.
Um, now there may be other banks that
[36:05] would be willing to do some type of you
need two out of three signatures in
[36:09] order to do something, but UNMB made it
clear that they have no interest in
[36:13] doing that just as a as a heads up. Um,
so I think you know internally we want
[36:19] to have some discussion about that and
what what that means. Um, I was able to
[36:26] verify
the funds in both accounts and
[36:32] they we we still need we're working on
some um outside accountant Mandy Near
[36:39] verifying what is currently in the
NDA laptop when she is given access to
[36:48] it, which is kind of another point of
discussion that we can we can talk
[36:51] about. But for the meantime, let's um
formally
[36:56] recognize
um Kate's service and then I can read
[37:01] her
resignation letter. So the motion
[37:06] let me just find that
[37:37] Sorry, I had to um kind of work on
updating a little bit of the language
[37:42] because in the proposed packet, it had
language that the bank if we took it to
[37:50] the bank and the language that it's in
the packet
[37:53] » how it is saying, you know, need two out
of three, they're they're going to send
[37:57] it back to us. So
um
[38:03] however we can
read the resignation letter.
[38:09] Um
so
[38:13] the action item is going to be um I want
to read Kate's
[38:21] resignation letter. Dear NDDA board
members, please accept this as a formal
[38:26] notification that I am resigning from my
position as executive director of the
[38:30] NDDDA. My last day with the organization
will be moved or will be Monday, August
[38:36] 31st, 2026.
Okay.
[38:41] » Um,
so I think the the mo the board we need
[38:46] to make a motion that um I move to
accept Kate's resignation effective
[38:53] August
31st, 2026.
[39:03] » I second the motion.
>> Is that does that work, John? Anything?
[39:08] Okay. All right. Um, take a vote. John
Thompson.
[39:14] Um, yeah. I mean, I think without
getting maybe we could do the vote and
[39:19] then discussion if that works or no
other way around. Okay. So, yeah, the
[39:24] discussion I mean I think you know Kate
was with the DDA for a few years. Um
[39:30] there is a lot of organizational
transition that we're in the midst of
[39:35] that if you've been um I think John
Thompson because he's the treasurer is
[39:41] aware of some of this and certainly town
staff is aware but there are there are
[39:46] some things that have become clear that
going forward we need to have better um
[39:52] systems in place because now currently
we don't have access and I know town
[39:58] staff is working on this to the DDA a
laptop where there is a bunch of
[40:01] information um passwords and accounts
and other things that in order for our
[40:08] third party accountant to verify and
help with a um a a reconciliation,
[40:15] it's it's kind of put the DDA in a tough
spot to be honest. And um not that we
[40:19] can't get through it, but it's just kind
of it was a you know basically a week a
[40:24] week or so before the meeting and maybe
five business days and working through
[40:30] um a lot of this transition really
without any systems in place. That's the
[40:38] one, you know, one example that Steve
Roundtree is still a signer on an
[40:42] account and, you know, and he hasn't
been on the DDA for,
[40:47] you know, over a year, well over a year.
Um,
[40:51] so there's there's certainly some
internal kind of reflection and
[40:56] housekeeping that I think this brings up
with going forward whatever the
[41:01] organizational structure is that the DDA
continues and maintains where you know
[41:07] we basically have a a you know systems
and procedures of this is what happens
[41:14] when a new board member is elected or a
treasurer changes. is and these steps
[41:22] need to be followed and it shouldn't be
something where if um for whatever
[41:27] reason they aren't done then we're kind
of and and a resignation happens that
[41:32] everyone's scrambling right so um I
think that's
[41:38] you know part of the um discussion
that's going to be a common thread
[41:43] throughout the night is you know the
transition right like Um the the the
[41:52] we've got you know what what failure
looks like for the DDA is urgent
[41:57] packing, urgent packet and bookkeeping
work displaces project management.
[42:02] Projects receive updates but not
documented closure. Minutes, files, and
[42:07] system ownership depend on one person.
The board receives incomplete
[42:12] information and town staff cannot tell
what is actually moving. a vacancy
[42:16] becomes an organizational emergency
instead of a manageable handoff. So I
[42:21] think we check every single box of
failure in that sense tonight, you know,
[42:26] of um that one one vacancy
um makes it clear that really there was
[42:34] no systems in place to you know another
thing is like there there haven't been
[42:38] minutes uploaded to um the town website
in many many months and it's there's you
[42:48] know a bit of um like
discussion about that where okay if
[42:57] really it's been kind of working
together with town staff and town staff
[43:00] deals with the YouTube uploads and maybe
posting of things however it's up to the
[43:07] executive director to go back and make
sure the minutes are recorded like
[43:12] there's just things that have kind of
maybe happened sometimes better than
[43:16] others in the past but certainly they
they stopped happening ing quite some
[43:21] time ago. Um, so it's a really good
honestly I'm it's a really good and
[43:26] exciting opportunity to look at all of
the things that none of it is rocket
[43:31] science. It's just a matter of, you
know, turning over the rocks, looking at
[43:37] things clearly and saying it out loud
like what um what what's the issue and
[43:44] you know what's just the proper
procedural
[43:48] way to deal with this so that
everybody's on the same page and we're
[43:52] supporting town staff and town town
staff feels like they're supported. Um,
[43:58] so again, like tonight, um, a lot of
what we're talking about is who who
[44:05] carries this transition. Um, so we've
got kind of some budget stuff to carry
[44:10] in transition. We've got our basic
organizational like minutes, agenda
[44:15] intake, civic web, the recording of the
meetings, the action minutes.
[44:20] Incidentally, John, one question. Do you
know and cast is this meeting being
[44:23] recorded?
It should be. And where can we get the
[44:28] can I access the actual transcript of
this meeting so that I can make minutes
[44:34] and then get the minutes back into Civic
Web.
[44:40] What's I'm sorry I didn't hear you.
>> You need a town account in order to
[44:46] access it on Teams is what I've been
told.
[44:48] » Yeah, we're going to have to take care
of that for now. We're going to be
[44:51] changing the system to be a live stream
to YouTube very soon. Okay. And then
[44:55] that transcript will just be the YouTube
transcript. Okay.
[44:58] » And then this one we can get this one
uploaded pretty I think we can try to
[45:01] get this one uploaded right away and
it'll transcript anyway. But the same
[45:05] security issue exists for the
>> Okay. Cuz just there's like a couple
[45:08] there's the organ, you know, the the
bylaws and requirements where we have to
[45:13] post the minutes, meaning I got to be
able to get the minutes, right?
[45:16] » We can we can help in this transitional
meeting and then we'll we'll have a good
[45:18] system. But I'm I'm trying to go back
and make sure that the last 10 months of
[45:23] meeting minutes are also posted.
>> I understand.
[45:25] » Yeah,
>> we're just gonna have to build the
[45:27] system to make it happen.
>> Sure.
[45:28] » The if there are wait um I will check
with Britt and see where we're at and
[45:33] what we've got stored and how that needs
to be, but we can probably get
[45:36] transcripts figured out pretty quickly
so we can get that work done. And I
[45:39] would be happy to like take those all
and because another thing that I think
[45:42] would be helpful for our partners and
town and residents is to be able to look
[45:49] at a summary of the meetings and you
know even if it's not the full
[45:54] transcript to go back and say okay this
is what the DDA was doing at this month.
[45:58] Um so I think that's for me and you know
of any town meeting and any town board.
[46:03] I'd love if all of the, you know, the
website was kind of the same where I
[46:07] could look at ProSAB and see what
they're talking about or BOT or someone
[46:11] could look at a DDA meeting, you know,
click on the month, see the the the high
[46:16] level, um, or see the granular
transcript. So, um, I think that helps
[46:21] with communication. It's certainly by I
think by law and statute what we need to
[46:25] do.
>> Well, I don't know about bylaw and
[46:27] statute, but I agree we want to improve
communication as much as possible. It's
[46:31] not a statutory requirement to do
something like that. It's statutory to
[46:34] post those minutes. Okay. We also don't
have the capacity right now to do that,
[46:38] but I think that we're right in the
middle of our strategic planning effort.
[46:41] Yeah. And I think building that capacity
is something that we could certainly
[46:44] talk about, especially using some modern
tools that could help us with that.
[46:47] » Okay. Um, so for I think at least
receiving Kate's resignation, we can do
[46:56] the vote on that now and then kind of
continue to carry this conversation
[47:00] because there's a banking signature
thing. That's a whole another action
[47:04] item. So, I think we can probably um
call I can call the role on the Kate
[47:10] resignation vote again. Um, so we we
just stated that um we would move to
[47:16] receive the resignation of Kate
Massingale, former executive director
[47:21] effective August 31st, 2026. And I heard
Ron, you said
[47:28] » yes, I second it.
>> Okay. And Richard, that's your vote.
[47:34] » Yes.
>> John Thompson?
[47:37] » Yes.
>> And I'm Andrew Durart and I say yes.
[47:40] Egg Fox,
>> I'm wondering what not approving of it
[47:44] would even accomplish.
>> Um,
[47:48] that's a good question because I think
it would it would pass. Um, John Kane,
[47:52] do you have a thought on what would
happen?
[47:53] » Agreed with what you just said.
>> Yeah.
[47:55] » Okay, I approve.
>> Okay.
[47:59] Okay. Um,
so the bank made it. Now, we're going to
[48:05] move into the proposed banking changes,
um, which is the UNMB banking signer
[48:10] authorization and access transition. Do
>> you mind if I ask a quick question?
[48:14] » Yes.
>> I was just wondering if we're currently
[48:17] hiring to fill Kate's position or if
we're trying to like get our feet under
[48:21] us a little bit and figure out what that
position entails first.
[48:25] » That's that's a great question. So, I
think it we're Yes. And yes, we are not
[48:30] presently
advertising a replacement executive
[48:34] director. My um this is now Andrew Dart
talking as chair is that I I certainly
[48:42] acknowledge that there is a a need for a
lot of administrative
[48:49] you know agenda intake posting on civic
web recording reposting these minutes um
[48:56] and communicating with town staff and
DDA vendors. I think we need to have a
[49:02] bigger conversation amongst ourselves
and and with town staff and the b like
[49:10] what is really the best um
you know what is the best outcome right
[49:16] because we basically had our model
previously has been what I'll call the
[49:23] executive director generalist where it's
one person owns nearly everything so the
[49:28] former executive
um director role combined board
[49:32] administration, public records,
bookkeeping, bookkeeping, coordination,
[49:37] communications, programs, and complex
project delivery. Those are different
[49:42] disciplines with competing deadlines.
The current bylaws establish a
[49:47] director-led structure, while state law
appears to permit some alternative
[49:51] administrative arrangements. Like we
also have to talk about a lawyer
[49:57] tonight, our legal engagement. But
there's what I want to acknowledge is
[50:01] that we've got kind of four distinct
bodies of work. There's the
[50:05] administration of the board which is
notices, agendas, aims, packets,
[50:11] correspondence, records, and annual
governance. There's the finance
[50:15] administration, invoices, coding,
reconciliations, banking controls,
[50:20] payroll support, budget updates,
commitments, grants, and audit records.
[50:24] And then there's programs and
communication, business directory,
[50:28] website, events, promotions, outreach,
surveys, public art, and community
[50:33] partners. And then there's what I'll
call a catalytic project delivery,
[50:38] bigger scopes, procurement, consultants,
engineering, town coordination,
[50:43] schedules, contract risks, closeout, and
measurable results.
[50:48] So when one person was doing all of
those things, now maybe a different
[50:53] person was able to execute was would be
able to execute all of those and execute
[50:59] all of them well. And I think that's
kind of was our previous model.
[51:04] » Um I want to say that that wasn't
working. Um, and you know, maybe there's
[51:09] not maybe I'd like to think there's a
different model where we've got we break
[51:14] some of those pieces apart and that's a
bigger conversation that we have with
[51:19] town staff and the BO.
Um
[51:23] » um would a conversation like that be
happening
[51:30] » with all of us together in the same
room?
[51:32] » I think so. Yeah.
>> Okay. And there there's nothing on the
[51:34] agenda for that at the moment. Um
there's not I think what we were what we
[51:40] were trying to deal with is an immediate
emer you know kind of plug some gaps but
[51:45] this is certainly like what I feel is
the highest thing that we need to be
[51:50] focusing on and talking about and it
also involves you know my hope is that
[51:55] we have a b work session and we can
bring this up and talk about it because
[51:59] I think we have a really great
opportunity to kind of shift how things
[52:03] have been being done and move into a
more collaborative approach.
[52:09] Um, your thoughts on that either John or
Richard?
[52:18] » I agree it's good.
>> I agree it's a good opportunity to
[52:24] definitely look at where we are and what
changes can be made. Uh,
[52:31] it seemed like there was a lot of
disorganization for the last five months
[52:35] that I've been here. And from what I've
learned from history, it's gone back
[52:39] further than that. And
you're right that it could be run
[52:46] efficiently, that job description, by
another person. Um, but that seems like
[52:51] a lot and I'm not sure if that approach
is the best approach and I think it is
[52:58] worth the conversation of having uh
another general administrative assistant
[53:04] s so to speak sort of thing to and maybe
another person. I'm not sure how that
[53:09] those roles or responsibilities would
break out, but I think it's definitely
[53:13] worth looking at. But also as a top the
top priority item. Yeah.
[53:21] » What what would need to happen for um a
breakout discussion like that to be
[53:25] scheduled?
>> Well, I mean, I think we could, you
[53:31] know, as far as having a special
meeting, at least amongst ourselves, to
[53:35] get consensus on what that looks like. I
think we just need to talk about having
[53:39] a special meeting, right?
>> Which I think was probably in order no
[53:43] matter what. you know, um we've got a
couple of members who for various
[53:48] reasons, all legitimate reasons, haven't
been able to be at the last several
[53:52] meetings. And um
with K3 resignation, I think this is an
[53:59] opportunity to kind of talk about the
different models and then the risks and
[54:04] benefits of each model, right? Mhm.
>> So, I I I definitely would love to, you
[54:09] know, propose sometime in this meeting,
if not right now, that we figure out a
[54:13] time where we can have a a special
meeting. Um, and it doesn't necessarily
[54:18] need to be in the evening. You know, if
that doesn't work for people, it could
[54:21] be in the morning. Um, I I don't I know
this is a volunteer position. I'm I'm
[54:26] not trying to make uh people come to
more meetings than they need to, but I
[54:31] think by, you know, putting in some work
and getting on the same page and an
[54:36] agreement and an alignment amongst
ourselves and then with the BO uh and
[54:41] town staff, we really have a great
opportunity.
[54:48] » I would like to comment if I may.
>> Yes.
[54:50] » Ron, go ahead.
I uh when the DDA started for the first
[54:55] seven years uh we had meetings in the
morning every other week, two meetings a
[55:00] month and it really worked well. They
were short, they were at breakfast and
[55:06] they were almost unanimously attended.
So I really feel that we need to try to
[55:16] have a schedule. there's so much to be
done and it 12 meetings a year uh is
[55:23] just not enough. I feel that's uh my
experience was that when we got started
[55:30] we all volunteered. We didn't have an
executive director because we had no
[55:33] money. It took 15 years to get money and
uh I don't think that we can afford to
[55:40] waste the money and one way to do it is
to be a little bit more attentive to
[55:45] what we are doing. Thank you.
>> Thanks. Thanks, Ron. Yeah, I mean that's
[55:52] another valid point is that maybe twice
a month meetings where the meetings are
[55:57] a little shorter, they're a little more
focused and um
[56:02] I I don't know, John, do you have any do
you see any thoughts with that or do you
[56:07] have thoughts about that?
>> I do. This is my last meeting with you
[56:10] all so I'm going to share yeah
>> some of my just what I think. Um,
[56:15] I would be reluctant to have you guys as
volunteers take on project management.
[56:20] That is really significant. And I think
for the reasons that you said, um,
[56:23] you're a volunteer board. You you all
run businesses or are involved in
[56:27] business in town and your time is not
your time is not free. You know, you're
[56:32] you're very well valued by the community
doing this work. And I think that
[56:37] there's a lot of challenges with how
things are happening now. And it could
[56:40] be streamlined. as an example of
something that doesn't affect you but
[56:43] does affect staff is this setup is three
to four hours to put this together and
[56:48] break it down and it's necessary when
you're when you're taking a really big
[56:51] action but you're not it might be
possible to shrink the room down like
[56:54] you said and have more of a work session
kind of vibe and those are easier to run
[56:57] and manage anyway from a working
perspective and I think that'd be really
[57:01] good in my perspective I think the
biggest problem is that Kate kind of
[57:05] existed in a void I think it's hard for
volunteer staff to manage a professional
[57:10] employee
And I think it's a position that has to
[57:13] be able to work really well under
general supervision and have really
[57:16] clear priorities and workflows and all
those kinds of things. I think that it's
[57:21] kind of a wicked problem because I think
it's it's you know you're all working
[57:24] she's trying to do things and I think
from her perspective sometimes it was
[57:28] difficult to to prioritize where things
were going and I think that that's
[57:32] something that could be addressed
through the system too. I do think an
[57:36] executive director type role, somebody
who can, you know, the admin pieces here
[57:39] are not significant. It's putting the
packet together, communicating well with
[57:43] folks, making sure that somebody who can
write. Um, you know, Kate, one of the
[57:48] things that she was asked to do was to
be a bookkeeper. And I think we all know
[57:51] that that job is something, you know,
it's not it's not always the easiest for
[57:54] everyone. So, I think having that skill
set, you know, having either an
[57:57] accountant or once we have a treasurer
again at the town staff, that's a lot
[58:00] easier to manage. But, I think that was
a challenge. And so I think for me what
[58:04] it really boils down to is how all this
work happens and how it's coordinated.
[58:08] I'll give you an example. The ADA access
to the bridge that was going on two
[58:12] years ago. Um Kate was tasked with that
project, but really it's on town land
[58:16] and she has no authority to speak on
behalf of the town. Same thing with the
[58:19] sign project. She just doesn't have that
authority. And so she's trying to work
[58:23] through systems in with people that
already have like established workloads
[58:27] and that there's just not this capacity
to say, "Hey, let's go figure this
[58:30] project out together." And so I'm not
trying to make excuses for anything
[58:34] here. I think that um execution in this
role is the most critical thing. You
[58:39] needed somebody who can manage projects
and who can manage workloads and do all
[58:42] those things. You know, also when Kate
when I started, Kate was only part-time.
[58:45] And so making that a full-time position,
I think is helpful. But I think when you
[58:49] guys think about what this position is,
and I think um to Chair Dart's point,
[58:53] the key is is that you need somebody who
can execute. And that means two things.
[58:57] You need somebody who's got that kind of
mindset. You need to make sure that this
[59:00] board is giving clear and distinct
direction that is very clear what their
[59:04] pri priorities and goals are and that
they're aligned to the plan of
[59:07] development which I think is something
that could be improved upon a little bit
[59:11] and that we're just following process. I
think that's the biggest thing is
[59:14] process first and then just respecting
all y'all's time. You know, you're here
[59:18] right now when you could be I mean you
don't have to watch football but you
[59:21] could be watching football or something
like that or eating s'mores or whatever
[59:24] it is that you want to do. And so I just
think maximizing your time and making
[59:28] sure that in your volunteer capacity
you're giving her good direct or this
[59:32] new person good direction to execute
whether that's one person or two people.
[59:35] I think what I would prioritize is
making sure you have some kind of
[59:38] bookkeeping function that's really
effective and um and good and then you
[59:43] have either if it's one person or two
you have like some kind of an admin
[59:47] person but I really think I think that
role could be put together as long as
[59:51] it's structured in the hierarchy right
and I think one thing that could help
[59:54] that we have talked about is maybe that
person's a town employee I think that
[59:58] would that would put that person under
the town manager's authority which has
[1:00:02] its own challenges but um for instance
Cass
[1:00:05] interfaces with SAB in a very similar
way to how Kate does, but she reports
[1:00:09] through the town structure, which gives
her access to our resources and
[1:00:13] different things that they need. So,
that's just my thoughts. I think having
[1:00:16] this conversation is a really good idea,
though. And figuring out what works
[1:00:18] best, what's the most agile, I think, is
really the key here. And making sure
[1:00:22] that that person isn't like, you know,
locked outside of a door that they need
[1:00:26] to be inside would be helpful, too.
[1:00:31] » Thanks, Jonathan.
[1:00:35] Yeah, I think you know that's the right
the risks of one person is that it's
[1:00:41] somewhat I don't want to say it's rare
but um it's a higher level
[1:00:46] um it's a lot of skills that you the
four kind of distinct bodies of work
[1:00:50] which is the board administration
the finance administration all of the
[1:00:55] programs and communication and I mean to
your point maybe it's not the project
[1:01:00] management but um there's still
uh you know what I'll call the town town
[1:01:07] coordination piece right um and and
communication on that part so um you
[1:01:14] know a high single person dependency if
that person um can't you know for
[1:01:21] whatever reason has a medical issue or
um you know has to go away again then
[1:01:27] that's a big risk whereas
you know maybe Maybe there's a hybrid
[1:01:33] model where I I I personally think that
some type of hybrid where it is the a
[1:01:39] townman
what I'll call higher level project
[1:01:44] manager.
Um, and then the the DDA has more of a
[1:01:50] kind of the board administration
piece and business communication is kind
[1:01:55] of what the the person that's dealing
with the day-to-day administrative
[1:02:01] burden of the DDA does. Um, as
personally what I think would be
[1:02:06] helpful, but I I also think this is a c
a conversation we need to kind of
[1:02:11] continue after. We could talk about this
forever tonight. So, I want to put a put
[1:02:14] a pin in it and come back to it later.
Maybe it's a a work session, right? I
[1:02:19] mean, as John brought up, it takes a lot
of time to do this. Sitting down and,
[1:02:23] you know, patronizing a local business
and having coffee there or whatever um
[1:02:29] and having a meeting and supporting the
businesses, I think would be a valuable
[1:02:33] way to to get a work session done.
Okay. Well, um I think back to the next
[1:02:42] action item, which is the UMB signing
sheet. So, basically the um the
[1:02:49] conversation that I had with the bank
was that they are not at all interested
[1:02:54] in managing any type of access. And we
we basically tell them who is removed in
[1:03:00] a in a motion. You know, I move to
remove Kate. I move to remove Steve
[1:03:05] Roundry. Okay. I move to add or I move
to move Ron Mitchell I move to add like
[1:03:09] that's all the bank wants and then if
that I think there's another
[1:03:13] conversation where we need to talk
amongst ourselves are we is that
[1:03:17] something that anyone was aware of are
we all comfortable with that you know
[1:03:20] what type of other checks and balances
do we want in place um so that you know
[1:03:27] one person doesn't end up um you know
doing doing some damage on behalf of the
[1:03:33] DDA So, I I was able to confirm, you
know, both checking accounts are at
[1:03:40] UNMB. We've got a money market ending in
um ending in the numbers 89. That's a
[1:03:47] 10-digit account with currently with
1,395,760.
[1:03:55] And then there's a checking account, the
last two digits in 62 with $358,92454.
[1:04:05] So there's a total bank balance of
1.754,68460.
[1:04:14] and um that doesn't account for what
financial commitments are kind of
[1:04:19] factored into this budget, previous
approved budget and any upcoming budget.
[1:04:26] So, um to try to make the proposed
banking changes as simple as they need
[1:04:30] to be, um I move to remove
Kate Massingale as a signer on the
[1:04:39] account.
I I wonder if the best thing to do is to
[1:04:43] remove the three people that maybe I'll
do it that way. Like that's the best way
[1:04:48] to do. Okay. So, I motion to rem I move
to remove Steve Roundtree,
[1:04:54] Kate Massingale, and Ron Mitchell as
signers on the MB bank account.
[1:05:00] » I second.
>> I second.
[1:05:02] » Okay. Let the record show that um John
Thompson seconded first, but Ron, you
[1:05:08] can be the first vote on that.
Yes.
[1:05:13] » Is yes. And Meg.
>> Yes.
[1:05:17] » And Richard.
>> Yes.
[1:05:18] » And I'm Andrew Dart. And I say yes. And
John Thompson.
[1:05:22] » Yes.
>> Yes. Okay. And then I
[1:05:27] authorize or I would I would move to
authorize
[1:05:33] John Thompson the treasurer,
Richard Brandon, the vice chair, and
[1:05:38] Andrew Dur, the chair, as signers on the
account.
[1:05:43] » I second that.
>> And I will call the role. Richard,
[1:05:50] » yes.
>> And John,
[1:05:52] » yes. I'm Andrew Durart and I say yes.
And Meg Fox.
[1:05:57] » Yes.
>> And Ron Mitchell.
[1:06:00] » Yes.
>> I heard a yes. It was faint, but I heard
[1:06:04] it.
>> Okay, Ron, you got a little quiet, but
[1:06:08] okay. So, for right now, that's all we
need to do with respect to UMB and
[1:06:15] dealing with the signing authority. Now
there is another factor kind of a part
[1:06:21] of this John Kaine that we need to talk
through which is so town staff currently
[1:06:26] has the NDA's laptop and you are to my
knowledge working on being able to get
[1:06:32] us access to that so we can work on
online banking.
[1:06:38] » Yeah, I don't know. You're going to need
to reset up the two-factor
[1:06:41] authentication through UNMB. Okay. But
you'll have it as soon as they remove
[1:06:45] the town
like the town network.
[1:06:49] » So maybe the easiest thing honestly for
us to do since we need to do the
[1:06:52] signature cards anyway is that for us to
deal with the signatures the three of us
[1:06:57] in person need to go down at the same
time and do this. So I don't know if you
[1:07:03] guys know when a time, you know, rather
sooner than later would be where we
[1:07:08] could shoot down to the bank and deal
with the removing. And then at that same
[1:07:12] time, I could also probably deal with a
re we could reddo the online banking
[1:07:17] down there at the bank and kind of take
it so that we're not waiting for town to
[1:07:23] to do that because I think anything we
could, you know, if we were there in
[1:07:27] person and we updated this, we could get
back into online banking down there, I
[1:07:32] believe.
Um,
[1:07:37] so
just not sure if you know off the top of
[1:07:40] your head your schedule.
>> I'm available Monday through Thursday.
[1:07:45] » Okay.
>> Is when I'm in town primarily.
[1:07:49] » What works for me is first thing in the
morning, like be there at 9
[1:07:53] » and that way I can open the store a
little late and not have to leave in the
[1:07:57] middle of the day.
>> I can work around
[1:07:58] » any day of the week is fine for me. I
can do that in the mornings.
[1:08:06] » I don't know about tomorrow.
>> Oh, we can't. I got
[1:08:10] » uh I know.
>> Yeah, I was thinking I I could do that
[1:08:14] first thing Monday if we wanted to do it
first thing Monday the 14th.
[1:08:17] » Monday.
>> I'm down Monday at 9:00 am.
[1:08:21] » Tomorrow came a little too quick.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
[1:08:29] » So, Can I add just a little bit to this?
It's something that you were what you
[1:08:34] were talking about before and I never um
I totally agree with what Ron said
[1:08:39] earlier about maybe having meetings
twice a month and I think that's one
[1:08:44] part that we've had a high turnover with
board members but I think due to the
[1:08:50] lack of involvement I think it's like
when I was in college and one semester I
[1:08:55] made all my classes on Tuesday Thursday
but then I realized if I missed either
[1:08:58] one of those days I hadn't been to
school in a week and I flunked out that
[1:09:03] semester just because of my lack of
>> I think it would be a really good idea.
[1:09:07] I think we should do a work meeting and
try to plan that tonight. We'll have to
[1:09:12] get the approval of the people that
aren't here. But I mean, just to throw
[1:09:15] something out there at least
to have us all meet to get past this
[1:09:21] kind of
>> Yeah.
[1:09:22] » big lump that we're swallowing.
>> Yeah.
[1:09:25] » I'm happy also to be more involved in
this. I, you know, showing up one month
[1:09:30] once a month and just kind of commenting
on what's going on. I'm more than happy
[1:09:33] to be hands-on with something like
you're saying, getting the medics
[1:09:38] together or, you know, give give
different people different jobs and it
[1:09:43] gets them more involved. I think that
might help keep the members more.
[1:09:47] » Yeah, I I agree.
Um, I mean, I I think having a work
[1:09:52] session,
you know, in on the times between, you
[1:09:57] know, may if it's we're talking
maybe not every week or every other
[1:10:02] week, just a lunch or a, you know,
because I honestly I'm in town most of
[1:10:06] the time. Um, and especially, you know,
that Monday through Thursday, 9:00 am
[1:10:13] till 2 pm. I mean, I'm generally around
working in my office and it's super easy
[1:10:17] to, you know, go out and meet for for
coffee or for for lunch and have a work
[1:10:22] session. Um, I don't know if there's
days or times that work better. I mean,
[1:10:27] I think collectively if the the four of
us or five of us with Ron on the phone
[1:10:32] said, you know what, yeah, you know,
Tuesdays or Thursdays or whatever the
[1:10:35] days are, Wednesday, I don't know, Meg,
what what is kind of what's your
[1:10:38] schedule?
>> Um, I could do mornings uh or most
[1:10:44] afternoons other than Thursdays.
>> Okay. Um, so Thursday's not good for
[1:10:51] you. So,
um, and I know Mondays are kind of can
[1:10:56] always be a Monday. So, it looks like
maybe Tuesdays are Yeah,
[1:11:00] » this is not I'm I'm just noting this is
not really the agenda item that we're
[1:11:04] on. And this conversation wasn't
noticed, right?
[1:11:06] » And you're talking about further
meetings of this board that are
[1:11:09] official.
>> Yeah,
[1:11:10] » I might stick a pin in this and bring it
back for another conversation. And you
[1:11:14] can also um
>> I just think it might be better from a
[1:11:17] transparency perspective.
>> That's that's fair. Totally totally get
[1:11:19] it. Um,
>> thank you, John.
[1:11:20] » Yeah, thank you, John. I think it's yeah
this is uh because there's so much to go
[1:11:26] over it's sometimes it's hard not to
dive into it right so okay well back to
[1:11:32] the real agenda
tonight um so we dealt with the signing
[1:11:39] and then the next is going to be um I
think that was all of the action items
[1:11:44] and now we're on the discussion item
which the I guess I'm going to let Cass
[1:11:49] I'll stop talking Cass do you want want
to introduce the pilot commercial
[1:11:53] composting program grant match.
>> Yeah, definitely.
[1:11:56] » Thank you.
>> Um, hi everyone. My name is Cass. I'm
[1:12:00] the sustainability coordinator for the
town. Um, thank you for letting me bring
[1:12:05] this to you tonight. Uh, so I have been
preparing an application for um the
[1:12:11] circular economy fund, which is a grant
that is run by Boulder County each year.
[1:12:17] And so the grant application that I've
been preparing is an eight-month pilot
[1:12:23] program um for commercial composting. So
that's for Netherland uh restaurants or
[1:12:29] food establishments and organizations. I
include organizations just um because of
[1:12:34] the food pantry and their their um
possible participation in this. Um so
[1:12:39] this is something that has come up
before with the board of trustees with
[1:12:43] the zero waste subcommittee. This is
actually born out of the zero waste
[1:12:46] subcommittee which is a subcommittee of
the sustainability advisory board. Um
[1:12:51] and so we've been working on this kind
of in the background for a bit and I
[1:12:55] have done a lot of uh work to contact uh
business owners who might be interested
[1:13:03] in participating in this um program. But
really this comes about now because we
[1:13:11] have an in vessel composting unit um at
the transfer station that you might know
[1:13:15] about if you've been up there. Um and
that in vessel unit can take up to 600
[1:13:21] lb of food waste per day. And it creates
compost in about 21 days and then
[1:13:28] there's a 30-day curing period. But it's
been pretty regularly creating compost
[1:13:33] and they haven't had many issues for the
last few months. Um, and this has been
[1:13:37] around for about a year now. Um, so this
unit is really great. It's working
[1:13:44] great. Um, and we just want to take
advantage of the fact that restaurants
[1:13:48] create most of the food waste um, in the
town. And it would be um, a lot of
[1:13:56] contribution to the vessel compared to,
you know, individual households
[1:14:01] collecting com collecting food waste for
compost. Um and so with that, this uh
[1:14:08] AIM has a lot of information um project
descriptions um such that I will include
[1:14:15] in the grant application and I'm happy
to answer any questions on that. Um but
[1:14:19] really the reason I'm bringing it to you
um is because we are hoping uh to ask
[1:14:25] for a match um for this project. So, the
grant itself does not require a match,
[1:14:33] but they do um encourage matching funds.
They also uh only have $50,000 each year
[1:14:41] to give out, which is not that much. Um
if you have five projects each asking
[1:14:45] for $10,000, that's only five that you
can fund. And so, they usually choose
[1:14:50] one larger project, one that's, you
know, between 15 to $20,000 to fund. Um,
[1:14:57] if you look at the bottom of the AIM, I
have a table that kind of outlines some
[1:15:03] of the materials. Um, the table has
since changed slightly. Uh, just in
[1:15:08] terms of we're not going to do stickers
anymore. We're going to do stencils cuz
[1:15:12] we can get spray paint for free. Um, and
then the buckets that we're going to use
[1:15:17] are actually need to have a screw lid,
so they're going to be slightly more
[1:15:21] expensive. Um, so this budget has
changed a bit. Um, but the ask for you
[1:15:28] all is still um a $4,000 match or up to
a $4,000 match. Um, and that again
[1:15:36] depending on the total project expenses
would be between a 15 to 20% um match
[1:15:42] for this uh for the overall um expenses
for this pro project. Um
[1:15:49] so with that I just want to say um the
businesses that I've talked to that um
[1:15:56] are very interested in participating um
are Net General uh the food pantry and
[1:16:03] the Caribou Room. And then I'm also
talking with Mountain People's Co-op and
[1:16:07] Buucy Brews. And we're not excluding
anyone else. I just haven't really been
[1:16:11] able to get in touch with like other um
business owners. Um, I've tried going by
[1:16:16] and emailing and that sort of thing, but
you know, people are very busy,
[1:16:19] especially in the summer. Um, we also
can't take all of the businesses right
[1:16:23] away. That's why it's a pilot program
because it can only accept 600 pounds of
[1:16:28] food, and I don't know how much food
waste each restaurant is creating. So, a
[1:16:32] lot. Exactly. So we want to start
smaller um with like three to four
[1:16:39] restaurants, serve food establishments
um and then kind of go from there. So um
[1:16:46] after the pilot program, we would try
and institute some kind of subscription
[1:16:50] model where um businesses could pay
money to have us collect their food
[1:16:56] waste um or have a contractor collect
their food waste and bring it up to the
[1:16:59] transfer station. Um however that you
know financial component has been worked
[1:17:05] out. Um yet we want to make sure that
it's cheaper than you know paying for
[1:17:10] trash uh for for these businesses. We
don't want to create like we don't want
[1:17:15] to create more of a financial strain on
them. Um so we want to make it easier in
[1:17:19] that sense. Um but that's why this is a
pilot. So after the pilot it would not
[1:17:24] uh necessarily keep going unless we
worked out some kind of model there. Um,
[1:17:31] yeah. So, I will stop now and just see
if there's any questions, discussion.
[1:17:39] » Um, so you I think I heard you say, "Oh,
yeah, go ahead, Ron."
[1:17:45] » Um, okay. Yeah, I want to start by
saying I have two composting machines
[1:17:50] that have been resting on my property
now for 11 years that belong to the
[1:17:54] county that I hope you could uh take a
look at these and incorporate them into
[1:17:59] your program. Second thing I like to say
is that I think if rather than hiring a
[1:18:04] contractor, if you just paid the gas for
the restaurants to uh uh take their uh
[1:18:11] food waste, uh they would gladly do it.
I would be willing to work with you on
[1:18:16] that with the restaurants that I own. Uh
because that would save them on their
[1:18:20] trash bill and a reimbursement for their
gas to take it there. And I think that'd
[1:18:24] be the quickest and simplest way to do
it. Uh I did this exact thing several
[1:18:30] years ago. Uh we uh uh raised five pigs
with the garbage from about six
[1:18:36] restaurants for one year. And I did all
the leg work myself. It was just too
[1:18:42] much for me, but it was a lot of fun.
And then we had a great big pig roast uh
[1:18:46] at the end and also we butchered the
pigs and and parcled it out. The meat
[1:18:51] from uh that kind of thing cannot be
sold but everybody got a share of that
[1:18:55] to have at their own home parties. So
those are my two contributions to this
[1:19:00] discussion.
[1:19:03] » Thanks Ron.
[1:19:08] Um,
[1:19:11] so it sounds from what you were saying,
there's no set grant amount at this
[1:19:17] point.
>> Um, we have an estimate of how much
[1:19:21] we're asking for.
>> And how how much was that? Is that's the
[1:19:24] 23 at the bottom?
>> Uh, yes. So, it's a little bit less than
[1:19:27] that now. It's about um we're so we're
saying the total project budget is
[1:19:32] 20,000 if we provide um incind funds of
my time and then also um matching funds.
[1:19:40] Okay.
>> Um we would be asking for about 13,000
[1:19:44] or about $14,000.
Um and if you don't provide the match
[1:19:49] then it would be about $18,000.
[1:19:55] uh what would become of the eventual
compost? So, right now they're offering
[1:20:01] it for free to the community and I
believe the uh community gardens that
[1:20:07] are run by the food pantry are utilizing
some of that. We'd want to make sure
[1:20:11] like that um that is being facilitated.
Um but they don't actually test the
[1:20:17] compost so they can't sell it for
anything right now. That would involve
[1:20:21] another conversation with the county.
Um, but yeah, it's it's being taken. Um,
[1:20:26] and when I go by sometimes there isn't
any because it's all been taken, so I
[1:20:30] think it's pretty popular.
>> Is that the pile at the transfer
[1:20:33] station?
>> Yes. Yeah.
[1:20:34] » Okay. I saw another pile of compost um
near the wastewater plant. Is that
[1:20:39] » we we bring back compost from A1
Organics. that's also free, but it's a
[1:20:43] different It's kind of funny that we
have two programs, but what we do is we
[1:20:46] haul our own bioolids down there to to
A1 and then we bring back that compost
[1:20:50] as well. So, it's just another source.
>> Yeah. Cool. Love it.
[1:20:54] » But also free,
>> but that's not something that we
[1:20:56] necessarily offer to the community just
at any time. Um, but it is there's
[1:21:02] potential for that as well.
[1:21:07] » Um, yeah, I think so.
I
[1:21:13] I've had some conversations with um some
of the business owners, restaurant
[1:21:18] owners on First Street as well. And I
know we've talked about like um a
[1:21:23] sanitation district and you know knowing
that you like there's overflowing
[1:21:30] dumpsters and I know we're just talking
about compost right now but I I would
[1:21:33] like to you know support this with the
hope that there's a better way to deal
[1:21:39] with all of the trash throughout town
trash and recycling you know within the
[1:21:43] district because you know at various
times you'll see someone blocked the
[1:21:48] container Or there's a dumpster by
Catmandeue that's overflowing and
[1:21:54] there's trash everywhere. Or there's the
one by beauty. Same thing, you know, or
[1:21:58] covered wagon and it's just like, okay,
there's there's got to be a better way.
[1:22:02] Um, and in talking with the business
owners, like, you know, everyone's just
[1:22:07] kind of used to doing what they're
doing. And at night when it's snowing
[1:22:11] and you've got, you know, one person
closing or maybe there's two people, but
[1:22:16] what it's if it's one person, you know,
it's like, well, you got to walk, you
[1:22:20] know, now 700 yards over there. So, I
think being able to do something where
[1:22:24] you're we're starting like a system of
picking things up, you know, and maybe
[1:22:28] it's a daily I don't know exactly. I
know I'm kind of like talking bigger now
[1:22:33] about the whole sanitation thing beyond
just compost. But if it's like trash,
[1:22:37] compost, and recycling where we're
figuring out a way to pick that up from
[1:22:41] the businesses and make it so that we're
not asking someone to walk, you know, in
[1:22:47] dangerous conditions or bad weather, I
think people would be all for this. So,
[1:22:54] you know, I think that's I guess my some
of the kind of nitty-g gritties is with
[1:22:58] like who owns and titles ensures the
actual trailer itself.
[1:23:04] » Um, I believe it would be the town.
>> That's correct. Okay. And town town
[1:23:11] truck would pull the said trailer.
>> So, we're um going to hire a contractor
[1:23:15] if we go through with this grant because
um but they they are required to have
[1:23:19] insurance. That's part of like um being
a hauler in Boulder County, being a
[1:23:22] licensed hauler is having insurance and
paying the fee being to be licensed.
[1:23:27] » Um and that's only because I've tried uh
or I've talked with park the parks
[1:23:32] department who did um a composting
program back in during COVID, I was
[1:23:37] told. Yeah. And um they said that they
were picking up from each individual
[1:23:40] business and it was a nightmare. um they
she used much other language as well
[1:23:48] about the situation and it sounded like
it was really awful for them. Um and so
[1:23:53] I am hoping that a hauler who is used to
um hauling trash, not our park staff who
[1:23:59] have a lot of other things going on um
would you know be able to handle this
[1:24:04] better. Also, if the restaurants are
having to bring their buckets to one
[1:24:07] central location rather than trying to
figure out logistics of how do we get it
[1:24:11] from the back of house from each of
these restaurants, um it might
[1:24:14] streamline it a bit more. This is just
the program that I came up with after
[1:24:19] having a lot of conversations with
business owners on how why they stopped
[1:24:22] composting and like what worked and what
hasn't.
[1:24:25] » Yeah, I'd love to look into the county
thing because I have like a dumpster
[1:24:28] hauler and multiple dumpsters and trucks
that haul. So, I would need to get I
[1:24:33] need to probably get my if there's an
endorsement from Boulder County that I
[1:24:36] need um I need to work on that because
I'm not familiar with that, but I am
[1:24:41] familiar with, you know, rolloffs and
picking up and moving dumpsters and the
[1:24:46] trucks and all the places to take them.
Um
[1:24:50] so, would love to would love to learn
more about this and support this. Um any
[1:24:55] I guess any other questions for guests?
>> No, I just love composting. I'm really
[1:25:01] excited about this.
>> Yeah. So, I think what I would need then
[1:25:06] um is just a letter of support um signed
by Andrew indicating that the NDDDA um
[1:25:12] if you all do um support this uh
indicating that you would be willing to
[1:25:18] provide matching funds of up to $4,000.
And that's really just to cover the cost
[1:25:22] of the trailer. Um so if the trailer is
less then it would be less.
[1:25:27] » I could draft something and send it to
you if you want. And then you could do
[1:25:31] » I mean I think do we do because I know
we're talking about budgeting and we
[1:25:34] this isn't necessarily in the budget yet
so we'd have to defer it but we could at
[1:25:37] least get on the same page about a
letter tonight. So, I guess would the,
[1:25:41] you know, if I were to make a motion to
um have the DDA support the letter that
[1:25:48] John Kaine would draft for uh the um
pilot commercial composting program of
[1:25:58] up to and not to exceed $4,000. Would I
get a second? Is that that motion sound
[1:26:04] correct?
I'd go I'd let you go further, Andrew,
[1:26:07] and just move to appropriate 4,000.
>> Okay. So, the I have a motion to
[1:26:14] appropriate 4,000 for the trailer. Um I
know there's some budgeting things that
[1:26:22] we need to talk about, I guess. John,
what are your thoughts on the way
[1:26:28] » because I I'm not exactly sure
>> the guideline.
[1:26:31] » Well, Ron, I think there's a guideline.
That's I I understand. Um I just as far
[1:26:37] as like where those funds would come out
of right now, if it's the 2026 budget or
[1:26:43] the 2027 budget, I'm not sure what we're
talking about.
[1:26:46] » The the grant wouldn't be awarded until
like Yeah, we wouldn't be able to use
[1:26:50] the funds until March and it probably
wouldn't be awarded till December or
[1:26:54] January.
>> I think we just are talking about a
[1:26:57] letter at this point because really
that's all we can do because we don't
[1:27:00] have a budget that's approved by the BO
yet. Yeah, we could structure it. I
[1:27:04] guess Cass, tell me what you think about
this. We could structure it to say the
[1:27:07] DEDA would like to support with X amount
in our like so the language would say we
[1:27:14] want to support this project at this
amount in our 2027 budget
[1:27:19] » and then that's not making a promise.
It's just saying that's what we're
[1:27:22] intending to do. Yeah.
>> Is that
[1:27:24] » I think that works. I have something
drafted um that I can change the
[1:27:28] language to match that.
>> Okay. Do you want to do you want to just
[1:27:32] work on like get it to where you feel
comfortable with and we can figure that
[1:27:35] out for
>> Yeah. And I I'll send it to you to
[1:27:37] review before we send it over to Andrew.
>> And I think if I basically I make a
[1:27:43] motion that we're in support of the um
$4,000
[1:27:47] we're in the support of $4,000 to the
compost program at this meeting and
[1:27:52] signing a letter to that effect for the
2027 budget.
[1:27:56] » Yeah,
>> I second that.
[1:27:59] » Okay.
Um, so we have a motion to support 4,000
[1:28:04] with $4,000 the pilot commercial
composting program in the 2027 budget.
[1:28:11] And um, I had a second. So Meg, your
vote.
[1:28:15] » Heck yes.
>> Okay, Meg is yes. I'm Andrew Durton.
[1:28:18] Yes.
>> John Thompson, yes.
[1:28:21] » Right. Richard,
>> yes.
[1:28:23] » And Ron, I think you voted yes. Do you
want to vote again?
[1:28:28] » No, I don't want to vote twice. just
wants in the G.
[1:28:30] » Okay. Yes. Okay. Got it.
Thank you.
[1:28:34] » Thank you.
>> And great.
[1:28:38] » Yeah.
>> Okay.
[1:28:41] Um,
next
[1:28:44] we've got a,
you know, I realized I might have
[1:28:48] forgotten to call for public comment on
discussion items. I don't know if um, I
[1:28:56] should do that now. I just wanted to
acknowledge that I might have forgot to
[1:28:59] do that.
>> Maybe just give people an opportunity if
[1:29:02] they want to
>> raise or if there's any anyone online
[1:29:05] that wants to comment on this or or
anything else.
[1:29:18] » Are we still um going to hear Kate's
resignation letter also or
[1:29:22] » I mean I kind of read it. I mean do you
want to did I read it all in its
[1:29:25] entirety? No, just the top part.
>> Okay, I can read the whole letter.
[1:29:32] Um,
[1:29:49] okay. Um, I'm going to read the letter
from Kate that we received. So, dear
[1:29:54] NDDA board members, please accept this
as formal notification that I'm
[1:29:58] resigning from my position as executive
director of the NDDA. My last day with
[1:30:03] the organization will be Monday, August
31st, 2026.
[1:30:07] Then in bold reflection and next steps.
Serving my community with the NDA has
[1:30:13] been a privilege. I am proud of the work
we did to better situate the
[1:30:17] organization.
I am ready to move forward and use my
[1:30:20] skills in a new way in the community.
and embark on a new adventure. I have
[1:30:26] submitted my application for appointment
to the board of trustees and must resign
[1:30:31] so that there is no conflict of interest
and in transition support bold. I will
[1:30:37] work closely with the town leadership
before I leave. I am fully committed to
[1:30:42] squaring away all open tasks and
projects. I want to ensure a smooth
[1:30:47] handover. Thank you for your work and
time during my tenure as director. I
[1:30:52] appreciate your service. I look forward
to continuing to serve our community in
[1:30:56] this next chapter. Best, Kate.
[1:31:02] Was the Kate's resignation in full?
Um,
[1:31:08] okay. Seeing no other public comment,
um we've got the next information item
[1:31:20] uh or I'm sorry, discussion item is a
legal services transition and engagement
[1:31:26] of possibly Bare Peak Law. Um, so there
is an attorney named Nick Larson who has
[1:31:36] a firm called Bear Peak Law, but he has
sent a letter of um his bio. So I'm
[1:31:43] going to Sorry guys, I have a big packet
that I'm trying to get
[1:31:48] get this to.
Um, so we're kind of discussing whether
[1:31:52] the NDDA should engage outside council
to advise the board and review important
[1:31:57] legal, governance, financial,
contractual, and project documents. If
[1:32:02] the board concludes that the proposed
engagement is ready for approval, this
[1:32:06] discussion item may proceed to possible
action. So the background, the NDDA is
[1:32:12] working through an administrative and
financial transition while continuing
[1:32:17] projects that may require legal review.
Outside counsel can help the board
[1:32:22] identify legal risk, confirm statutory
and procedural requirements, and review
[1:32:28] the documents before the NDDDA signs,
approves, or relies upon them. Nicholas
[1:32:34] Larson submitted an NDDA specific
engagement letter proposing Bear Peak
[1:32:39] Law PLLC as primary counsel with Paul C.
Benadeti serving as co-consel.
[1:32:46] Both attorneys are expected to discuss
their experience, proposed roles,
[1:32:50] availability, and approach with the
board. Potential areas for outside
[1:32:55] council review, board governance,
bylaws, statutory compliance, open
[1:33:02] meetings, public records, and meeting
procedures,
[1:33:06] intergovernmental agreements,
development agreements, contracts,
[1:33:10] procurement documents, and other
commitments.
[1:33:13] Tax increment financing, financial
documents, banking authorities, real
[1:33:18] property, infrastructure, parking,
streetscapes, and public improvement
[1:33:22] matters. Implementation of the plan of
development, project closeout, document
[1:33:27] retention, file transfer, and
coordination with town staff or other
[1:33:32] council.
That is the background of tonight's um
[1:33:39] aim. And so the proposed engagement
terms engagement letter from Nick
[1:33:45] proposes $500 an hour as primary counsel
and Paul C. Benadetti as co- counsel. Um
[1:33:55] there they would each be build at 500
per hour in tenth of an hour increments
[1:33:59] through consolidated monthly services.
The proposed scope excludes bond
[1:34:04] counsel, disclosure counsel, special tax
counsel, and litigation unless
[1:34:08] separately agreed. The engagement letter
should control if this memo and the
[1:34:13] letter differ.
Um the discussion questions, does the
[1:34:18] proposed scope cover the documents and
matters the NDA expects outside council
[1:34:23] to review? Are the proposed roles of
Nicholas Larson and Paul Benedetti
[1:34:28] clear?
Um,
[1:34:32] see here, sorry.
[1:34:37] Um,
then
[1:34:42] does the board want a written spending
cap, prior approval threshold or cost
[1:34:46] control direction? Is the board prepared
to act at this meeting or should it give
[1:34:51] direction and return the engagement for
later action?
[1:34:55] So, possible action after discussion and
public comment, the board may approve
[1:34:59] the engagement, approve it with stated
conditions, direct revisions, or defer
[1:35:04] action. And there's a suggested motion,
I think. Um, so that's all kind of on
[1:35:11] the paper, but what's important, I know
Ron probably has the longest experience
[1:35:16] with Paul Benadetti. I've met and talked
with Paul a few times. I've talked with
[1:35:22] Nick, I think once or twice. um some of
the reasons in fact I'm just texting him
[1:35:28] because I know they both these guys
wanted to have the opportunity to talk
[1:35:32] and answer any questions but I think
what you know if the DDA is is continues
[1:35:39] to exist which I hope it does I
certainly believe that there have been
[1:35:43] many times where I've you know had a
conversation with town staff and heard
[1:35:47] something like well that's really a
question for the DDA attorney so I don't
[1:35:52] I don't in my mind. The question isn't
do we need does the DDA need an
[1:35:58] attorney? Um I believe there's lots of
reasons some of which we've dealt with
[1:36:02] recently regarding some advice on
contracts and wayfinding and then
[1:36:07] questions about governance. Um I think
the question is who who you know why
[1:36:14] Nick and Paul um if if we are going to
have an attorney. I talked to the town
[1:36:19] attorney recently tonight and I asked
her what her opinion was and you know
[1:36:24] she said she really didn't have any
background. Um she had another uh
[1:36:32] another attorney um that you know she
was going to kick a name. In fact, it
[1:36:37] just came in. I haven't had a chance to
do anything other than look at that.
[1:36:41] Jennifer Manson sent me the name of
someone that if I John am I able to
[1:36:46] forward something to the entire board
with open records law or how do I how
[1:36:51] can I do that or do I need to send
everybody the bio individually?
[1:36:57] » Um you can do that. I it's a good
practice if you do that you want to put
[1:37:03] we usually typically would say do not
reply all.
[1:37:05] » Do not reply all
>> because you don't want to have any kind
[1:37:07] of threaded conversation just between
you and them. I don't know if I know or
[1:37:11] have ever sent like a you know the the
email to the entire board because I
[1:37:18] don't have access you know it's like
Kate would do it and she would send it
[1:37:22] to a email address where it would go to
the entire
[1:37:25] » there's a distribution an NDDDA
distribution that sends it to that list
[1:37:29] and I could share that address with you.
It's I think it's just NDDDACO.org
[1:37:34] but I will double check.
>> Okay. um because I'm happy to share this
[1:37:38] other bio with um with everyone just
because I I I haven't had a chance to
[1:37:44] look at it. Um so just know that this
isn't you know there's other there's
[1:37:50] other people out there now Paul Benadeti
is is an older gentleman. Um Ron are you
[1:37:56] can you hear me? Yes, I can. Clearly,
>> can you can you give us kind of I you
[1:38:02] probably have more experience and
knowledge of Paul and his you know his
[1:38:07] forte and things that he's worked on
over the years and what he kind of some
[1:38:14] of the things that he can bring to Nick.
Can you share with the board your
[1:38:17] experience?
>> Sure. Um I really um admire Paul
[1:38:24] Benedetta. He's been a wonderful
attorney. uh he was instrumental in uh
[1:38:29] trying to get the DDA law established.
Uh it kind of got hacked up politically
[1:38:36] from what the um people who were uh
profering it uh wanted. Uh so that left
[1:38:43] some gaps between state law and how the
uh DDA should function. So, he's been a
[1:38:50] master at getting DDA and town boards to
work together. Uh, I think he's in his
[1:38:58] late 80s and he's taking on this other
law firm to replace him and as long as
[1:39:05] he stays reasonably with the thing, I
think this is probably the uh type of
[1:39:13] representation we should continue to
have. Uh there were a couple of things
[1:39:17] there that bothered me in that uh it uh
a contract with them and their letter of
[1:39:23] engagement would not include litigation,
which would mean we'd have to have a
[1:39:28] problem that we might work through and
then be faced with litigation. We never
[1:39:33] have, but there have been several DDAs
that have been in quite a bit of
[1:39:38] litigation.
There's only 13 DDAs left out of 33 that
[1:39:43] started. uh and the reason is they were
too successful. So uh the uh when they
[1:39:51] ended why the amount of money that they
had was needed desperately by the uh
[1:39:57] entities who forego it with the tax
incre incremental financing. I think we
[1:40:02] only have seven or eight years left in
our life as a DDA and we still can do
[1:40:08] some projects with it. Uh I'm a little
concerned that the fee has gone up from
[1:40:13] 300 or maybe was 350 to 500, but
everything's gone up. Uh I don't I would
[1:40:22] prefer to stay with Paul Benedetti
rather than having someone else even
[1:40:26] though he's taking a secondary row
because he will be advising the younger
[1:40:32] attorney and breaking him into the
knowing the ropes of how DDA should
[1:40:38] function.
So I think at this point my only caution
[1:40:42] is that uh the limited amount their
scope is a little bit more limited than
[1:40:48] I would like to see it based on the
proposal and I didn't it went by quite
[1:40:53] fast but I don't think there's anybody
that could do a better job. That's the
[1:40:58] bottom line.
>> Okay. um that and primarily Ron was I
[1:41:06] think talking about Paul and I think
Nick you know one of the things that in
[1:41:11] my conversation you know brief
conversations that I've had with Nick is
[1:41:16] that he has a lot of experience in kind
of development and projects and how
[1:41:25] public and private partnerships can work
and strategies to um
[1:41:32] you know I mean in my opinion there's a
lot of work to do in Netherland and I
[1:41:37] don't exactly necessarily have the you
know know exactly how it works with town
[1:41:43] and public and private partnerships in
the DDA but I know that's a probably a
[1:41:47] perfect fit for getting some really
sound legal counsel and strategies for
[1:41:52] how to do things. So, I've asked Nick
and Paul to be able to jump on and
[1:41:57] answer if there's specific questions.
And I think bringing up at least Ron,
[1:42:01] your question about um you know, the
litigation, why why are we excluding
[1:42:07] litigation
is is valuable. Um you know, the the
[1:42:12] rates, I don't know if there's any room
there, you know, for if there's a
[1:42:15] certain um exceeding
number of hours like we get we get a
[1:42:21] break there. Um, I get it if it's just a
few hours a year, which, you know, I I
[1:42:26] wouldn't expect to try and beat somebody
up on, you know, four hours a year, but
[1:42:31] I think that would be um my question is,
uh, you know, why why have we excluded
[1:42:40] litigation? And maybe he's got there's a
great reason for that. Um,
[1:42:46] » Richard or
>> Well, I think the reason is simple. Um,
[1:42:49] I don't think either one of these
attorneys are litigators,
[1:42:53] » right? That that and that could be that,
>> Magg.
[1:42:57] » Yeah. So, just for clarity, that means
we don't currently have an attorney.
[1:43:02] » Well, we Paul Benadetti has been our
attorney for the many years. He has
[1:43:08] attempted to get a re-engagement letter
signed for the last, I think, 18 months
[1:43:14] and been sending it to our former
executive director and it never came to
[1:43:18] us and was not resigned.
>> So, he's not been working with us for 18
[1:43:25] months.
>> He Well, when we pick up the phone and
[1:43:28] say, "Hey, we we need your help on
this." He has been there.
[1:43:31] » Oh, okay. Um, and he, you know, offered
to help various things, but he made it
[1:43:36] clear like, hey, I've been waiting for
you guys to tell me what's going on.
[1:43:41] » So, I think, you know, tonight we we owe
it at least to make a decision of, you
[1:43:46] know, um, what's going on or you some
some followup there. And there's Nick.
[1:43:52] Hey, Nick. Joining us.
>> Hey, everyone. How are you?
[1:43:56] » Hi there. Um, we were still going
around.
[1:43:59] I we can we can hear you fine. Um we
were still just going around the room to
[1:44:03] a couple more board members. Um myself
and Ron and Meg have talked, but John
[1:44:09] and Richard, I wanted to give you guys a
chance to talk before we give the any
[1:44:13] questions to Nick.
>> Uh I generally Yeah, I totally support
[1:44:18] outside
council kind of helping us through these
[1:44:23] stages. I certainly don't know enough
about the feasibility and financials of
[1:44:27] larger developments. um at at at a
higher level and
[1:44:31] would love to learn from that experience
to help help us understand
[1:44:38] the size of these projects. Um and I
think their advice would be invaluable.
[1:44:44] » Um
I was curious about uh the approval
[1:44:48] threshold or the spending cap. I'm not
imagine there should be something like
[1:44:53] that, but I have no idea what that would
be. I don't know. Jonathan, you might
[1:44:57] know like with the town finance policy,
is there something set up like spending
[1:45:01] caps and uh anything like that that we
need to follow as locally?
[1:45:07] It's uh in uh it's a good question. We
do have a purchase policy. We have an a
[1:45:13] procurement policy that's within that
purchase policy. You are a quasi
[1:45:18] governmental entity, which means that
you have statutory authority outside of
[1:45:23] the town. So, you're appointed by the
town, but you're not really the town.
[1:45:27] » Um, I think it's a best practice to
follow procurement policy in a case like
[1:45:31] this and to do those kinds of things.
It's good for transparency. It's good
[1:45:34] for all of that,
>> but I think um that's a decision of this
[1:45:39] board about how you'd want to proceed
with that. We could if you want to take
[1:45:42] the time to do it like I could share the
policy um with chair dart or something
[1:45:47] to that effect and we could do it that
way like through a procurement but um it
[1:45:51] would just be the time required to do it
is really the trade-off there.
[1:45:55] » Okay,
[1:45:58] good good questions.
>> Well, I'm all for it. Especially if he's
[1:46:03] been working with us all this time
anyway. I kind of assume we were using
[1:46:06] Musl's
lawyer.
[1:46:09] » Yeah. But yeah, definitely
>> I do think that that is a con that's an
[1:46:14] extenduating factor here that there's
this existing previous
[1:46:17] » there's a relationship. Yeah. Um, so
Nick, I think one thing that would be
[1:46:22] helpful for the board to hear, we've
talked about, I guess, a couple of
[1:46:26] things in discussion, which is one maybe
can you speak to in your um engagement
[1:46:31] letter the proposed scope excluded
um you know various councils, bond
[1:46:38] council, disclosure council, special tax
council, and litigation unless
[1:46:43] separately agreed. Are those things that
you put as exclusions because you would
[1:46:47] say, you know what, those aren't my
those aren't my specialties and I I
[1:46:51] really would refer you to someone else
or is that you would try and you know,
[1:46:55] we would look at separate agreements for
those.
[1:47:00] » Um, as much as I would love to be a
one-stop shop, um, that is a full breath
[1:47:05] of subject matter expertise, right? Um
so setting aside litigation for um for a
[1:47:12] second, the other expertise that you
just laid out, bond counsel,
[1:47:16] underwriting council, tax council
in the in the uh in the realm of of DDAs
[1:47:24] and bond finance and and you know
raising tax increment finance, those
[1:47:29] council would really think they would
all come in in like one specific
[1:47:32] circumstance and that would be if the
authority decided that they wanted to
[1:47:38] pledge future tax increment to support a
bond issuance so you can basically make
[1:47:44] dollars available today to fund future
infrastructure. And the way that that
[1:47:49] bond process works is you typically have
an investment banker. So it's typically
[1:47:54] DA Davidson or it's Piper Sandler who's
sort of the maestro of the operation. Um
[1:47:59] and they're leading the charge and
there's a whole list of vendors that
[1:48:02] support that bond issuance. So there's
kind of a a local mafia in Colorado of
[1:48:07] like the usual suspects that appear on
those settlement statements. So you
[1:48:11] typically have bond counsel, you have
underwriter counsel, disclosure counsel,
[1:48:16] you might have PIFF councils. They're
very specific niches. Um and you would
[1:48:21] go to those firms that specialize and do
nothing but like that very finite um
[1:48:28] service if that makes sense. So that's
>> if we went down that road, I would have
[1:48:33] yeah
>> other council doing that.
[1:48:35] » Yeah, you named everything I guess, but
you took the litigation out. So maybe
[1:48:38] that question, what about litigation,
right? Is that something that you just
[1:48:42] feel like isn't a specialty as well?
>> Yeah, I mean, you know, in full
[1:48:47] disclosure, so I used to be a federal
prosecutor uh before I transitioned into
[1:48:52] real estate. I was I was an Army JAG
officer and I did um um like criminal
[1:48:57] prosecutions
um yeah in the federal government but
[1:49:02] that was sort of a different life ago. I
I don't have any experience doing civil
[1:49:05] litigation. I have a good track record
in most of my real estate transactions.
[1:49:09] The, you know, the cheese doesn't slide
off the cracker uh too often. But in the
[1:49:14] in the rare event that you would have a
civil litigation matter or an employment
[1:49:18] law litigation matter, yeah, I would
have other council come in and and
[1:49:22] advise on those again on those very
specific questions.
[1:49:26] » Got it. Okay.
Um, and then you know I think one other
[1:49:32] you had we talked a bit briefly
yesterday and you kind of I wonder if
[1:49:36] you'd be able to give the rest of the
board you know some examples of you know
[1:49:42] how you've been able to work with other
you know towns and jurisdictions and not
[1:49:48] necessarily disclosing anything you
can't disclose and just you know types
[1:49:52] of um situations where you know seeing
kind of where where Netherland is at,
[1:49:58] what um and you know where Netherland
potentially could be going, how you
[1:50:03] might be able to help help with that.
>> Sure. Um
[1:50:10] so I suppose I wear two hats. Um I, you
know, as I shared with with Andrew
[1:50:15] yesterday, um you know, my main job, so
to speak, like during the day, I'm I'm a
[1:50:21] transaction real estate lawyer. I was
with Brownstein High at Farber Shrek as
[1:50:24] a shareholder for the last uh almost
seven years and then recently went out
[1:50:28] on my own have you know most of those
clients that I um represented was at
[1:50:34] Brownstein I I continue to represent
them now. So these range from private
[1:50:38] equity firms you know very large public
sort of name brand homebuilders uh very
[1:50:43] large master plan developers that we set
up these master plan communities around
[1:50:48] the country. Uh, I'm I'm also a
developer. Um, I ventured into
[1:50:54] development because I had a pretty hefty
case of imposttor syndrome. You know,
[1:50:58] here I am as a quote unquote dirt lawyer
uh representing these big public REITs
[1:51:03] uh and venture funds doing u big master
plan communities. I'm drafting these
[1:51:07] contracts and realizing that some of
these finer points about like cloers,
[1:51:11] you know, conditional letter of map
provisions and like the fine nuances of
[1:51:16] um some of the land use provisions, I
was like, man, I don't know if I really
[1:51:19] know this. Uh, I certainly don't want to
represent that to the client, but I I
[1:51:23] feel like I need to walk the walk of a
developer and experience that deal
[1:51:28] stress to like truly understand and
appreciate
[1:51:32] what goes through the client's mind so
that I can be like of better value as an
[1:51:37] adviser. Uh and so that was you know
five or six years ago and we got into
[1:51:44] industrial started doing like you know
pad vertical developments and then
[1:51:48] quickly got into horizontal because you
kind of you know in the word of Samzel
[1:51:52] you control your destiny when you own
the land. Uh and then that got me into
[1:51:56] the world of municipal bond finance. Um
and through that through that
[1:52:02] transformation
I've had this just wonderful
[1:52:07] five to six years of of like first chair
experience working with and against
[1:52:12] municipalities. So these are you know
states, counties, cities uh and
[1:52:17] political subdivisions of the state
including you know title 32 special
[1:52:20] districts to DDAs. And I think the thing
I came away from most is you know
[1:52:26] democracy is best expressed on the local
level and it is messy and people come to
[1:52:31] boards like all of you. I mean you were
doing this really out of the goodness of
[1:52:35] your heart because you care about
Netherland. Um and you bring a diverse
[1:52:39] array of experiences and perspectives
but a lot of the times like this is very
[1:52:44] specialized stuff that you may not know
a lot about and you're giving it your
[1:52:49] best shot. Um, and I find that the best
way to advise boards or work with boards
[1:52:58] when I'm a developer is to take complex
concepts and distill it into plain
[1:53:04] speak. I feel like a lot of experts
I I don't know if it's by design or
[1:53:09] otherwise, but kind of stay up high in
these like complex notions. And a lot of
[1:53:13] this stuff does kind of boil down to,
you know, dare I say common sense. So,
[1:53:19] as sort of a a roundabout way of
answering your question, um that I think
[1:53:24] my time as a developer has helped me
translate
[1:53:29] um very bespoke development terms into
plain speak.
[1:53:38] » No, thank you. That um I think that
helps.
[1:53:43] I appreciate your explanation. I don't
know if um any of the other board has
[1:53:47] any clarifying questions or follow-up
questions.
[1:53:54] No.
Okay.
[1:53:58] Um I think you know there was a Ron
noted he's on the phone call Nick he's
[1:54:04] not in this room but he noted that the
rate previous rate had gone up but he
[1:54:10] also noted you know everything's gone up
in the last few years. Um is there a
[1:54:15] situation where you know and we haven't
as a board discussed kind of like a a
[1:54:20] ceiling or a cap um and
you know knowing that in the last
[1:54:28] um you know two years that I my to my
knowledge and I guess recently I think
[1:54:35] I' I've talked to Paul and yourself you
know a short amount on um for maybe a
[1:54:41] total of an hour and a
you know, combined with Kate uh about
[1:54:46] various things. So,
>> I don't know if we know historically if
[1:54:50] we can share, you know, what Paul um or
you know, both you and Paul in the last
[1:54:56] year. I think we're talking, you know,
it's been under five hours total. Um
[1:55:02] » it's it's somewhat dimminimous. Yes,
>> it's Yeah, it's it's small. So, we're
[1:55:06] not we're not talking about, you know,
you spending hours a week uh advising.
[1:55:12] You know, hopefully we're just trying to
still get our feet under us. But I think
[1:55:16] » right
>> for me it's important to have a
[1:55:19] relationship and have counsel that we
can call if something comes up. Um, and
[1:55:24] I think for for right now, um, you know,
I just want to kind of look at this
[1:55:31] engagement letter and just see, you
know, if for whatever reason the board
[1:55:36] later decided, what is your per uh, do
you have provision for termination? Is
[1:55:41] there like do we have the ability to
terminate at any time? Not that we
[1:55:47] would. I'm just wondering.
>> Yes. Yeah. The answer is yes. I mean, I
[1:55:49] I work at your uh at your pleasure,
right? And so at any time you can say,
[1:55:54] you know what, vendor attorney, we uh no
longer need your services. And then
[1:55:59] there's certain ethical obligations that
trigger, you know, from the state uh bar
[1:56:03] where I have to return all client files,
um all emails. There's yeah, it's it's a
[1:56:10] pretty
quick exit should you ever want to
[1:56:14] exercise that. And it's a unilateral
decision. I mean, it is the client's
[1:56:19] decision.
>> Yeah. Okay.
[1:56:22] Um, any other questions for Nick or
Paul?
[1:56:30] Well, um, I mean, this is our last
action item and I'd entertain
[1:56:38] a motion.
Um,
[1:56:42] so, in fact, I'm going to move it. I I
move to engage Bear Peak Law PLLC as
[1:56:48] outside counsel to the NDDDA with
Nicholas J. Larson as primary counsel
[1:56:53] and Paul C. Benadetti as co-consel under
the September 9th, 2026 engagement
[1:56:59] letter at the rates and on the terms
stated in that letter and to authorize
[1:57:04] the chair to execute the engagement
letter on behalf of the NDDA.
[1:57:08] » I second the motion.
>> Okay, I'll call the role. Richard,
[1:57:13] » yes.
John,
[1:57:15] » yes.
>> And I'm Andrew and I say yes. And Meg,
[1:57:20] » yes.
>> And Ron,
[1:57:22] » yes.
>> Okay, the motion's unanimous.
[1:57:26] Thank you, Nick, for making the time to
jump jump on and we'll get this signed
[1:57:31] and um engagement letter back to you.
>> Okay. Well, thank you all. It's such a a
[1:57:36] pleasure and um an honor and I look
forward to working with you. I mean, I'm
[1:57:40] a Boulder County resident and I grew up
here, uh, you know, on the east side of
[1:57:44] of the of the Flat Irons, but I I grew
up here as a kid. I grew up skiing at
[1:57:48] Eldora. Um, in fact, my law firm, Bare
Peak Law, is I don't know how many of
[1:57:52] you are familiar with South Boulder, but
the um the second highest um flat iron
[1:57:58] is is Bare Peak, and I grew up at the
base of it. So, that was the name of my
[1:58:01] law firm. You can almost see it from
Barker, but not quite.
[1:58:04] » Nice. Awesome.
>> So, it's a real pleasure, but I look
[1:58:08] forward to this. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much.
[1:58:10] » Thank you everyone.
>> Yeah, appreciate it.
[1:58:15] » Okay.
Uh well, I don't I kind of we're we're
[1:58:19] close to the end here. Home stretch. Um
do you guys want to take a two-minute
[1:58:23] bathroom break? Okay, we're going to
take a bathroom break. Thank you.
[1:59:03] Oops.
[2:02:43] It's good for working my knees. knees
though.
[2:02:45] » Yeah.
>> Yeah. I sit in that stupid stool and I
[2:02:48] just can't bend my knees enough for my
new I got surgery on both of them.
[2:02:53] Slowly but surely they're getting there.
So, how much how much of a
[2:03:17] How big of a grant are we going to have
to give you to keep you? Again, joking.
[2:03:21] These are jokes.
[2:03:28] » It's a great move.
[2:04:36] Okay, it's 8 o'clock. We're gonna call
the meeting back to order.
[2:04:42] John, do I need to turn on any
microphones over there?
[2:04:45] Okay.
Um, so we're moving I guess before was
[2:04:52] there any I don't know if I need to call
for comment again. Um, any other public
[2:04:56] comment on any of the action items?
[2:05:05] We don't see any hands.
So, okay, we're going to move into
[2:05:10] theformational
items. Um, the chair report. I mean, I
[2:05:17] think the chair report really is
um
[2:05:22] the
a lot of the things that we've been
[2:05:26] talking about, right? Um the
organizational
[2:05:30] governments. Um we got through
our the
[2:05:34] other business. Um,
I
[2:05:40] I think that, you know, us reflecting on
the the opportunities we have to look at
[2:05:47] our own organization and how we work
with um the BO. Incidentally, if nobody
[2:05:54] is aware of it in this on this board, I
was I um put my application in and was
[2:05:58] elected to the BO. So, I'd like to, you
know, feel like I can be a better
[2:06:04] conduit as a liaison. Not to, you know,
not if Chris Larson is, of course, if he
[2:06:10] loves to do it and wants to do it, I'm
all for him to continue doing it. But,
[2:06:15] um, I I suspect or my thoughts were that
he just kind of stepped in because Tanya
[2:06:20] didn't want to do it. So, um I feel that
one of the things that I've seen in my
[2:06:27] time is that there could be a greater
integration
[2:06:31] um of the DDA and the BO. And I know
there's the question of like, well,
[2:06:36] isn't that just duplicate? Isn't, you
know, why do that? Why just have one
[2:06:40] organization? And I think there's, you
know, some that's a that's a valid
[2:06:45] question to to answer. But I I do
believe that there's actually more funds
[2:06:49] available and there is more energy and
more collaboration that can happen with
[2:06:55] having a DDA. Um because I think to like
some of the things that Nick brought up,
[2:07:00] there's a lot of different ways that a
DDA can work to help unlock funds that
[2:07:05] town wouldn't otherwise be able to get.
So, um I think you know really we've got
[2:07:14] um an interim structure that we've got
to evaluate over the next coming couple
[2:07:20] of months as we figure out what um you
know whether we have a director and what
[2:07:24] the functions are. We've got um stuff
that we're working on tonight which is
[2:07:30] the concerns you know the owners the
missing facts. I'm not trying to force
[2:07:34] any permanent model decision. Um, within
the next 30 days, I think the goal I
[2:07:39] would like to see is that we have like a
transition dashboard and I've kind of
[2:07:44] been working on that. I shared some of
it with Richard and with John Kaine, but
[2:07:48] I'm happy to share it with the board of
like, hey, there's some concrete like we
[2:07:52] need access to systems to verify, for
example, the former executive director's
[2:07:57] payroll, like financial housekeeping
stuff that that needs to be dealt with.
[2:08:02] um systems inventory and then kind of
start building a handbook. Um because if
[2:08:07] there is another if it were to continue
like it was and we hire a new ED to my
[2:08:12] knowledge there's not and there hasn't
ever been really like a handbook or a
[2:08:16] manual for this is how you do things and
I think um that's something that that I
[2:08:20] can help work on creating. Um but then
also talking this through amongst
[2:08:25] ourselves and with the B. So,
um, I don't want to kind of ramble on
[2:08:30] too long other than it's exciting.
There's a lot of work to do. Um, and
[2:08:36] yeah, that's I think the chair report.
I'm excited and there's a lot of work to
[2:08:40] do. Um, to sum it up as concisely as I
can. And now for the treasure report.
[2:08:47] Um, I don't know, John, if you have
anything in particular.
[2:08:52] » Nothing really. I was just going to say
to the best of my knowledge, Kate tidied
[2:08:55] up pretty well before she her departure.
>> We'll know more after our
[2:09:02] uh we get more direct access to the
accounts.
[2:09:05] » So, that'll be good.
>> Yep. One day. Okay. Um
[2:09:10] » I have a comment for the treasurer.
>> Yes, Ron.
[2:09:14] » Andrew.
>> Yes. um the that we have money on a CD
[2:09:18] at UMB and uh you should look into when
it matures uh and whether or not
[2:09:26] » I can tell you we do not have a CD
anymore. We have a money market.
[2:09:32] We have two accounts at UNMB. There's a
money market and there's an operating
[2:09:37] account. And the um
money market has
[2:09:45] currently as of this afternoon 1,395,760
[2:09:53] and the checking account has
$358,924.554.
[2:10:01] Um, so there's obviously commitments
against those, which is why we're trying
[2:10:06] to reconcile what is written on this
treasurer report versus what is actually
[2:10:13] um in the showing in the account. So
that's some work that we've got to do
[2:10:18] over the next month. Um, but I think a
lot of this we can when we have access
[2:10:23] to the laptop and are looking back
through kind of the resolutions and the
[2:10:28] funding and working with Mandy, who is
the the temporary um accountant that
[2:10:34] we've engaged to help do this, although
she hasn't been able to do a lot just
[2:10:37] yet, but that's that's where we're at
with kind of the the purse right now.
[2:10:43] » Okay. Thank you.
>> Yep.
[2:10:46] Um, okay. Town staff report.
Well, everyone, um, this is my last
[2:10:52] meeting with you. Um, I want to
appreciate all the work y'all do. You do
[2:10:56] great things. I'm excited to see what
the future of this work is. I think
[2:11:00] we've come a long way. And I think one
of the things I've been really thinking
[2:11:03] about is how hard is to see the forest
of the trees sometimes. But in the two
[2:11:07] years that I've been here, although
there's new challenges facing my DDA,
[2:11:10] we've we've overcome a lot of things. um
new bylaws, newou for operations,
[2:11:16] thinking through how you work with the
board of trustees. I think a lot of that
[2:11:19] work can continue to grow and be
stronger. But I just am so honored I've
[2:11:24] been a part of the work that you guys
have done. I think it's worth doing.
[2:11:27] You're doing something that's valuable
for Netherland. I just appreciate that.
[2:11:30] In terms of town work, we are just about
to kick off 2027 budget process. That's
[2:11:36] a big one for us and for you. It's
something that we need to get done by
[2:11:39] December 15th. And so there's some work
that needs to be dedicated to that
[2:11:43] moving forward. And one of the things
that I think we're going to need to make
[2:11:45] sure that you guys have some resources
to spend time on just so you can get
[2:11:49] your budget where it needs to be and the
town can do that as well. Um other work
[2:11:53] that's happening right now is really
focused on Big Springs egress and trying
[2:11:58] to get that to a point where it can come
back into the public for a conversation.
[2:12:01] Uh we're relatively close to that which
is really good. And then we're also
[2:12:05] working on the SMS project which is the
initial part of the crosswalks sidewalk
[2:12:09] work. So it basically puts new
crosswalks across the highway at the
[2:12:13] library, the museum and the visitors
center. It installs new sidewalk
[2:12:17] essentially from Tungsten Village
through to the museum. And then some
[2:12:21] little minor improvements like
throughout that that kind of workflow.
[2:12:24] There's another kind of sister project
to that called the TIPS project and that
[2:12:28] builds sidewalks and reds first street
from the highway to the west side over
[2:12:34] towards the RTD lot. And that project
we're just waiting on a couple of things
[2:12:38] to kind of finalize and get that project
out to bid. So those projects are coming
[2:12:43] along. Other projects um that are
happening. I think the big one for the
[2:12:47] board besides the budget is the
strategic plan. That one's been working
[2:12:50] for some time, but they're going to see
a relatively close to final version of
[2:12:54] it at their meeting on Tuesday. That
does include some work planning for the
[2:12:58] DDA kind of based on the sub area plan,
which is your plan of development. That
[2:13:02] is kind of the work, you know, the
document that should be guiding your
[2:13:05] work as a DDA. Um, the board at our last
meeting was going to look at a letter
[2:13:11] that they had asked for that's going to
go out to businesses to ask folks what
[2:13:15] they think of the DDA and how they think
the DDA should act and kind of what it
[2:13:18] should be doing. Um, I think that's an
important part of the conversation that
[2:13:22] trust or that I'm sorry, um, Chair Dart
was alluding to with the BOT, like
[2:13:27] thinking through what the DDA looks like
in the future. Um, we're hoping to get
[2:13:32] direction on that letter on Tuesday.
It's possible,
[2:13:35] excuse me, they'll need to wait till the
first meeting in October for them to be
[2:13:38] able to look at it just because it's a
really packed agenda. But, um, that's
[2:13:41] the goal is to get that feedback so that
they can start working through that
[2:13:44] process. And I think they want to work
with you guys on that, too. One of their
[2:13:47] big goals in the strategic plan is to
tighten the coordination between the
[2:13:50] advisory boards and the other boards. So
that would be um the DDA, PROSAB, SAB uh
[2:13:57] and planning commission most
specifically, although BZA is another
[2:14:01] board that they have and make sure that
that's all aligned and working together.
[2:14:05] So everybody's kind of pulling the same
wagon there. And I think that's a really
[2:14:07] important thing that would help
everybody be more effective in all these
[2:14:10] strategy pieces. So they're working on
that. On the town side, we are going
[2:14:15] through a little bit of a administrative
makeover. As you know, my position is
[2:14:20] changing. Miranda Fischer, who was the
town administrator before me, is going
[2:14:24] to come back in an interim role. She'll
be here right when I leave, which is
[2:14:28] I'll be leaving August or October or
we're in September, September 24th. So,
[2:14:34] she'll be here on the 25th, and she'll
kind of take on an interim role. She's
[2:14:37] allowed to stay in that role for up to
nine months. and so she can kind of help
[2:14:41] transition the town and I think it's a
really good thing for staff just because
[2:14:44] she knows them. Um they've developed a
lot in the last two years. So I think
[2:14:49] it's going to be a learning experience
for her and for them. But having
[2:14:52] somebody who knows generally how we do
things and kind of what the policy is is
[2:14:56] a really good thing for us right now. Um
there's a couple other staff positions
[2:14:59] that are likely to change. We've had
some folks retire and we're kind of
[2:15:02] working through some of that. One of the
big ones is Rita 6. She was the town
[2:15:06] treasurer. We went through a recruitment
to fill her position and we were not
[2:15:09] able to find a suitable candidate that
was going to work for the town. So, we
[2:15:13] will be opening that position again.
That's something Miranda will do once
[2:15:16] she gets her feet under her to try to
get that position filled. In the
[2:15:19] meantime, we're working with a group
called Plant Moran, their uh contract
[2:15:23] finance position essentially. And
they'll be helping us with the budget
[2:15:27] and kind of some of the highest and best
uses for their time. And then our staff
[2:15:31] will be kind of handling some of the
day-to-day finance duties as we have.
[2:15:35] And then I think um there's a couple
other really cool things happening. We
[2:15:38] have a new community center manager. His
name's Armando. If you haven't met him
[2:15:42] yet, he is doing great work over here.
He's been auditing systems and trying
[2:15:46] to, you know, um clean out some spaces
and keep the work that Don was doing
[2:15:50] going. And they're doing a really good
job here. Um kind of doing that work.
[2:15:54] And then across the town, we're just
kind of finishing up our summer
[2:15:56] maintenance plan. That includes covert
work, especially in Oldtown and up in
[2:16:01] Big Springs and off Navajo and those
places just to make sure that they're
[2:16:05] cleared. We are about to do a pilot
project on a couple of roads in town,
[2:16:10] some of our steeper roads. It's with a
product called Permazy. Um, and what it
[2:16:14] is is an environmentally friendly
alternative to salt. A lot of times salt
[2:16:18] has a couple uses in road work. One is
to keep ice from forming on roads, but
[2:16:23] also some communities use it in their
road mixes and the dirt because it glues
[2:16:27] the dirt together. Netherland doesn't do
that, which is great, but our roads fall
[2:16:31] apart every single time they get wet now
because of that. And so this Permazy
[2:16:34] product has been used in Europe and a
couple other places for years, and it's
[2:16:38] environmentally friendly. It doesn't
have the same impacts that salt has on
[2:16:41] the environment. So the board approved a
little pilot project to do three miles
[2:16:45] of road out of our 16 approximately 16
milesi of dirt road to see how it
[2:16:49] performs and in theory it only needs to
be applied every 10 years and it should
[2:16:53] stabilize our our roads a little bit
which will save our budget and make it
[2:16:56] easier for our our road crews to
maintain those roads. So that's going to
[2:17:00] be happening very soon. And then I guess
the other big thing on summer
[2:17:03] maintenance, we we have undertaken a big
job of sewer inspection. So we're
[2:17:07] inspecting a third of our system every
year. It's a pretty big system. Um, so
[2:17:12] we did that work this year. We're
exercising valves, which is another big
[2:17:15] job for water wastewater where they're
just making sure, you know, some of our
[2:17:18] valves are buried under dirt just on
some of our older pipes. They go in
[2:17:21] there, make sure everything's working
good. Um, doing hydrant maintenance. And
[2:17:24] we're about to start transitioning
towards fall activities, which is, you
[2:17:28] know, shop- based maintenance work,
getting the plow trucks ready for
[2:17:31] winter. Um, the water wastewater teams
kind of transitioning to indoor kind of
[2:17:35] activities that they have, and that is
going to be ongoing as we kind of move
[2:17:39] forward. The last thing I want to tell
you is uh our parks crew, you know, they
[2:17:44] do a lot of work with the DDA. They do
some of the the downtown things and
[2:17:47] that's been going on all summer. Um we
have some really good new flower beds
[2:17:52] that they've planted this year. I don't
know if you've seen the sunflowers at
[2:17:54] town hall, but they're beautiful. And
then the flowers that you guys sponsor
[2:17:57] throughout town have been beautiful this
year as well. Um but one of their big
[2:18:00] projects this year that they were just
able to complete is what we're calling
[2:18:03] the Rink Link Trail. It may change its
name over time, but that's just what
[2:18:07] it's been called. And it basically
connects the rink up towards the
[2:18:11] elementary school. So you can kind of
like on Caribou up there. They just
[2:18:15] finished it. It's got a little bit of
edge work to do and they're kind of
[2:18:18] there's some growing as it grows in.
It'll start changing the look of it a
[2:18:22] little bit, but it is a fully ADA
accessible trail which is not something
[2:18:26] that we have in Netherland other than
the P basically the trail in Chapita
[2:18:30] Park. Um and it's a really big
accomplishment for them that they were
[2:18:33] able to do that and it's beautiful. So,
if you haven't had a chance to go see
[2:18:36] that, I would highly recommend that you.
It's a pretty short walk, but it's a
[2:18:39] beautiful little hike there. Um, and so
I just want to give them a little props
[2:18:43] on that. They also just recently had an
event and we're going to be looking at
[2:18:48] constructing a green mountain bike space
at the rink. Um, there's some trees
[2:18:53] there in the front of the parking area
if you're familiar with that area where
[2:18:56] we can build. Uh, Netherland doesn't,
while we have a lot of mountain bike
[2:18:59] trails, we don't have any learning
areas, especially for kids. And so this
[2:19:02] would be intended to kind of fit that
need. So just a really easy place to go
[2:19:06] learn how to um ride a bike off trail
and kind of understand, you know, how
[2:19:11] how they work when you're on a trail and
those kinds of things. And um we had an
[2:19:15] engagement event where several kids came
a couple of weeks ago and they were able
[2:19:19] to kind of give the parks team a lot of
ideas about what it could be. So I think
[2:19:23] we're not going to be doing that this
summer, but probably in the near future
[2:19:27] that's a project that'll be coming back
to the BO for review. So that's kind of
[2:19:32] a general snapshot of what we've been
doing. It's been super busy and honestly
[2:19:35] I just am thankful that I've been a part
of it and thankful for the work you guys
[2:19:38] are doing and if you have any questions
for me I'm happy to answer.
[2:19:44] » Thanks Jonathan. Um,
I mean the the nextformational or
[2:19:49] reports we've got accounting transition
status which I think if this I'm not
[2:19:54] sure if this is referring to Rita's
thing or um if that has to do with kind
[2:19:59] of our the Mandy temporary issue. John,
do you know?
[2:20:03] » I think that was what is intended. So
there's a couple things we're working
[2:20:06] through. The biggest issue is is that
she is not a town employee and she's not
[2:20:10] contracted to the town. So there's some
IT considerations we needed to make. So
[2:20:14] the laptop, the DDA laptop, Kate's
relationship with the town's a little
[2:20:17] bit different when she was an employee
of the DDA. So what we're going to do is
[2:20:22] basically clone the data from the DDA
that Kate was using.
[2:20:27] » Put it into an account that doesn't have
the same security risks as the other
[2:20:31] account does. And then you guys will
have that laptop back. And we put it in
[2:20:35] as a P1 ticket. So you should have that
laptop very quickly. I don't know
[2:20:39] exactly when, but very soon. And then
that one that can go to Mandy. And I
[2:20:44] think that the big thing as you
mentioned is like some little audit
[2:20:47] work, make sure everything's caught up
and where it needs to be. Yeah.
[2:20:49] » And then as I mentioned, we have
Plantaran is our our accountant right
[2:20:53] now that we're using on the contract
basis. So it's possible Mandy finds
[2:20:56] things that we just need to kind of
rectify between the two. And so yeah, I
[2:20:59] think there's just a little bit of work
making sure that we're taking care of
[2:21:02] our financial business.
>> Yeah. Um, just so that I don't know if
[2:21:07] anyone had seen, you know, we had an
agreement with um that we reached out to
[2:21:12] Mandy to help basically deal with some
of the um banking review prior to Kate
[2:21:19] announcing her resignation just in
preparation of our budget, having to
[2:21:23] make sure QuickBooks is in order, all of
the payroll accounts and compliance and
[2:21:27] reconciliation
and that the commitments and resolutions
[2:21:32] are in order.
um since Rita had primarily been the one
[2:21:36] doing that. So um as soon as we get that
laptop and it may be even sooner if we
[2:21:41] can get you know physical statements or
online access um for Mandy but I think
[2:21:47] that's something that you know Mandy has
signed an agreement with the DDA that
[2:21:52] she's not to you know use anything's to
be confidential. I realize that doesn't
[2:21:56] help necessarily town's network, but at
least there is um documents to solidify
[2:22:03] and codify Mandy's relationship with the
DDA as kind of a third party um
[2:22:10] accounting review. Uh she's not a formal
legal auditor. I just want to make that
[2:22:14] clear. Um and she's not trying to be a
full-time DDA, you know, accountant. um
[2:22:21] but she's just here for a couple of
months to help with a transition. So
[2:22:26] that's where we're at with that. So
that's the update on the accounting
[2:22:30] transition board of trustees strategic
priorities update. Well, um I think you
[2:22:36] know I'm new to the board of trustees,
but as as I am working through the next
[2:22:44] um BO meeting, certainly one of the
things that I hope to bring is to talk
[2:22:48] about, you know, my view of sitting in
and participating as a BO member, what
[2:22:55] components of that strategic plan um are
like the core things that the town um is
[2:23:04] focused fusing on. So, I don't
necessarily want to get I don't think
[2:23:08] there's anything to do about that
tonight. Um I think there is some some
[2:23:14] things I don't know if I've got I had a
bullet list of a few, but I want to wait
[2:23:19] till after the upcoming BOT meeting to
make sure that I'm aligned with the rest
[2:23:24] of the board before talking about
strategic priorities. So, that's the
[2:23:29] update. The update tonight is that
there'll be be an update in the near
[2:23:32] future after the next BOT meeting. Um I
don't have anything for the
[2:23:38] beautifification report besides what's
in the packet. Um same with the event
[2:23:45] support and public art report. Kate, um
me, do you have something on public art?
[2:23:50] » Uh not much. Just that we're working
really hard on getting net days of art
[2:23:54] up and running. uh if you know anyone or
if you and your families would like to
[2:23:59] participate in the scavenger hunt would
be awesome to have you sign up now. Um
[2:24:04] and that's the main thing we're working
on. I don't have an update on the Marian
[2:24:09] sculpture project, but uh yeah, we're
moving along nicely with everything
[2:24:13] else.
>> Great.
[2:24:15] Thank you. And I don't have anything
beyond what was in the packet for the
[2:24:19] summer concert series report or the
wayfinding report. Those are all in the
[2:24:23] packet.
Um, and the website report, I don't
[2:24:28] necessarily have anything verbally. Um,
John,
[2:24:32] » one really big thing that did happen, we
got the the directory is functional now.
[2:24:38] Okay.
>> And it's working. So, I think, you know,
[2:24:40] that could always be improved, but that
did get done.
[2:24:42] » Great. Um, is there any other business
or comment?
[2:24:50] No. Okay. I entertain a motion to
adjurnn.
[2:24:54] I second the motion.
>> All right. I Yay. Nods all around. Okay.
[2:24:59] Seeing nods. All right. Meeting
adjourned.
[2:25:02] » Excellent.
[2:25:25] bring my kids. Yeah, we used to do