[0:03] Oh one.
[0:08] Good morning
[0:08] everybody. Good morning,
[0:14] Dan.
[0:17] I'm gonna, it is 10 0 1.
[0:19] Welcome to town meeting 2026.
[0:25] Is this my, is this, can somebody turn the mic up in
[0:28] that case, are we better now?
[0:31] Close. Close. Close. Okay,
[0:37] Mic.
[0:38] Let's not get personal.
[0:41] Welcome to town meeting 2026.
[0:43] Ladies and gentlemen, it has been our tradition
[0:48] to start this meeting with a poem for decades read
[0:52] by our unofficial poet laureate Charlie Barish.
[0:57] Charlie has, I'm sorry to say, declined
[1:01] to read this year for understandable reasons,
[1:04] but I wanna keep the tradition of a poem
[1:07] and with, even though it was extremely cold last night,
[1:13] there is hope of spring and baseball season on the way.
[1:19] Therefore, I give you Casey at the back
[1:26] for your entertainment pleasure.
[1:30] The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day.
[1:34] The score stood four to two with,
[1:37] but one inning left to play.
[1:41] And then when Cooney died at first
[1:43] and Barrows did the same,
[1:46] a Paul like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
[1:50] A straggling few got up to go in deep despair.
[1:54] The rest clung
[1:56] to the hope which springs eternal in the human breast.
[2:01] They thought if only Casey could get a whack at that,
[2:05] we'd put up even money now with Casey at the back.
[2:09] But Flynn proceeded Casey
[2:13] as also did Jimmy Blake.
[2:15] And the former was a hoodoo, and the latter was a cake.
[2:21] So upon that stricken, multitude grim, melancholy sac
[2:25] for, there seemed to be no chance
[2:28] of getting Casey to the back.
[2:32] But Flynn let drive a single to the wonderment of all.
[2:37] And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball.
[2:43] And when the dust had lifted
[2:45] and men saw what had occurred,
[2:47] there was Jimmy safe at second
[2:50] and Flynn, a hug third.
[2:54] Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lus.
[2:59] It rumbled through the valleys. It rattled in the Dell.
[3:02] It pounded on the mountains and recoiled on the flat.
[3:06] For Casey, mighty Casey
[3:09] was advancing to the back.
[3:12] There was ease in Casey's manner
[3:16] as he stepped into his place.
[3:18] There was pride in Casey's bearings
[3:21] and a smile at Casey's face.
[3:24] And when responding to the cheers,
[3:26] he lightly docked his hat.
[3:28] No stranger in the crowd could doubt
[3:31] was Casey at the bat.
[3:36] 10,000 eyes were on him as he rubbed his hand with dirt.
[3:40] 5,000 tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
[3:45] Then wild arriving, pitcher ground the ball into his hip.
[3:49] Defiance flashed in Casey's eyes
[3:52] and a sneer curled Casey's lip.
[3:56] And now the leather covered sphere came hurling
[4:00] through the air and Casey stood watching it in Horty
[4:04] grandeur there, close by the sturdy Batman ball.
[4:08] Un sped. That ain't my style, Casey said.
[4:13] Strike one, the umpire said,
[4:20] from the benches black
[4:21] with people there went up a muffled roar like the beating
[4:25] of the storm waves on a small stern
[4:28] and distant shore kill,
[4:30] kill the umpire shouted somebody in the stand,
[4:33] and it's likely they'd have killed him, had not.
[4:35] Casey raised his hand with a smile
[4:40] of Christian charity, great Casey's vision shown,
[4:45] and he stilled the rusting alt and he bathed the game.
[4:50] Go on. He signaled to the pitcher.
[4:55] And once more, the Dun sphere flew.
[4:58] But Casey still ignored it.
[5:00] And the umpire said,
[5:02] strike two fraud.
[5:06] Fraud cried the Madden.
[5:08] Thousands and an echo answered fraud.
[5:10] But one scornful look at Casey and the audience was odd.
[5:16] They saw his face gu, stern and cold.
[5:18] They saw his muscle strain.
[5:21] They knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.
[5:27] The sneer is gone from Casey's lips.
[5:31] His teeth are clenched in hate.
[5:34] He pounds with cruel violence, his back upon the plate.
[5:40] And now the pitcher holds the ball. And now he lets it go.
[5:44] And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.
[5:51] Oh, somewhere in this favored land,
[5:55] the sun is shining bright, the band is playing somewhere,
[6:00] and somewhere hearts are light.
[6:04] And somewhere men are laughing and somewhere children shout.
[6:09] But there is no joy in mudville.
[6:12] The mighty Casey has struck out
[6:24] the meeting's over.
[6:25] Now, before I begin,
[6:32] I just want, just really briefly, I, I'm, I'm indebted Mike,
[6:37] I'm sorry, I'm indebted Rebecca Ellis, who's the town
[6:41] moderator in Waterbury.
[6:42] I I put this in front porch for him.
[6:45] Posted some really nice information about Robert's rules.
[6:48] And I'll just go over a few of these before we start.
[6:55] So the discussion can only begin
[6:58] after an article is moved and seconded.
[7:01] Each person may speak once until everybody else who wants
[7:06] to speak has spoken.
[7:09] Motions can be amended, but only once.
[7:13] So excuse me, motions can be amended
[7:15] and the amendment can be amended only once,
[7:18] meaning you cannot amend to the third degree.
[7:23] If you want a motion
[7:24] to call the question meaning ending debate.
[7:28] In order to do that, you cannot shout
[7:30] that out from the floor.
[7:31] You must be recognized.
[7:34] And when you are recognized
[7:35] and you say, I, I wish to call the question
[7:38] or call the previous question, either one is acceptable.
[7:40] That stops debate that is won by a two thirds majority.
[7:50] You'll notice when I call for a voice vote, I'll ask
[7:54] for the yays and nays.
[7:56] I will say the yays appear to have it
[8:00] or the nays appear to have it.
[8:02] I will wait after I say that I am waiting for somebody
[8:07] to say division of the house, which means you're not unsure
[8:12] of how I called the vote either yay or nay.
[8:15] Anybody who wants a division of the house, you don't have
[8:18] to be recognized to say division of the house.
[8:21] And then we will count the votes by hand.
[8:24] We can also on any, on any motion,
[8:29] have a paper ballot.
[8:32] I would ask you to please remember, oh, it takes seven votes
[8:36] to sustain a paper ballot.
[8:37] So the person who calls for it, six others,
[8:40] I would remind you that a paper ballot takes forever.
[8:48] So that's that.
[8:52] I also wanna just acknowledge very quickly
[8:54] that Paula Emery is here to help me.
[8:58] Paula has been,
[9:03] she's been helping if, if you have an amendment, if you,
[9:07] if you have an amendment and you can possibly write it down,
[9:09] that would be most helpful.
[9:11] If you need help formulating an amendment,
[9:16] I will do my very best to help you do that.
[9:20] And so, and Paula is also, has also kept a queue
[9:25] and helps me because I don't hear very well
[9:27] and she can speak into my right ear.
[9:32] So with that said,
[9:33] before we take up article one,
[9:37] Our representative, representative Mark Mahaley
[9:42] and Senator Andy Perker here
[9:46] with no objection by, by unanimous consent.
[9:51] Or I will, lemme put it this way, is there unanimous consent
[9:55] to allow our elected representatives
[9:58] to speak before the meeting?
[10:00] Yes. Yes. Okay.
[10:04] Yes, there is unanimous consent.
[10:06] I wanted silence, but I'm gonna take that
[10:08] as humanist consent.
[10:11] Ladies and gentlemen, representative Mahaley, Senator Ley,
[10:20] What did we do for,
[10:31] I didn't need to hear Casey at the bat
[10:33] after being in the legislature.
[10:37] I kept hoping that he'd hit the ball,
[10:39] but oh well I kept hoping that Casey would hit the ball.
[10:43] It just reminded me too much of the legislature.
[10:47] So just first of all, where we are really quickly,
[10:52] we're about to be half over.
[10:54] That is not this Friday.
[10:57] Next Friday we have to have all of our bills out
[11:01] of our committees and over to the Senate.
[11:04] And same thing for them. So they go like this.
[11:08] So it's kind of hard to know what's gonna happen.
[11:12] But just a few observations really quickly.
[11:16] One is the,
[11:19] the craziness in Washington is unfortunately affecting us.
[11:23] It, it really, the federal government's efforts at the
[11:28] state level are kind of collapsing.
[11:30] You know, there's just a lot of money that we used to get.
[11:33] About a third of our budget more,
[11:36] I guess came from the federal government.
[11:38] And it's gonna be less,
[11:40] and Andy's gonna tell you he's head
[11:43] of appropriations in the Senate struggling with this.
[11:47] But I just tell my committee all the time, there's no money.
[11:50] You know, it's, it's a real problem.
[11:53] Also, although I'm head of the housing committee,
[11:57] I care a lot about flooding.
[11:59] Guess why. And
[12:02] so I had a bill last session which created a study
[12:06] and this session I think that Bill has a real, another bill
[12:11] to do disaster relief planning
[12:15] and set up a real system that works fast, I mean
[12:20] fast in the event of a problem at the dam.
[12:24] So I just keep pushing that issue
[12:26] because I really believe playing Field and Marshfield
[12:30] and really East Montpelier all would be in terrible trouble
[12:33] if there's a problem at that dam.
[12:35] So we're working on it.
[12:38] Everybody knows that there's not enough housing
[12:43] and what we've got is too expensive.
[12:46] And so I'm just gonna say I'm spending my time trying
[12:50] to make housing easier to permit less bureaucracy, trying
[12:55] to make it easier to finance
[12:59] and trying to make it a little harder to challenge,
[13:02] not impossible, but a little harder so that we get,
[13:07] you know, people who wanna build, can build.
[13:10] I'm spending a lot of time this session on rural towns
[13:15] and helping small towns
[13:17] and like this one build if they want.
[13:22] Healthcare is a total mess as you know, I don't have
[13:27] to tell you, but le we did pass legislation
[13:31] that makes it allows better negotiation over drug prices.
[13:36] And that saved $230 million.
[13:39] That sounded like a lot of money.
[13:41] It ain't compared to the total cost of healthcare,
[13:44] 230 million is a drop in the bucket.
[13:47] But it's something and we're continuing to work on it.
[13:51] Education, I think I'll let Andy talk about education
[13:56] for me, just in a word, I think the most important thing is
[13:59] to figure out how to change the financing.
[14:03] I mean, we're spending more and more money
[14:05] and we're not getting the quality we want
[14:07] and everybody knows that.
[14:09] The last thing I'll say is there are a number
[14:12] of bills in the house that would increase the tax rate
[14:15] for the most wealthy Vermonters.
[14:18] I have to say, I,
[14:22] although generally I don't think there's much room
[14:24] for a lot more taxes in Vermont,
[14:27] the most wealthy Vermonters have received huge tax benefits
[14:31] from the federal government.
[14:32] They're just paying a lot less
[14:35] and the federal government wants the states
[14:38] to take over everything.
[14:39] So I think some of that savings has to come back
[14:42] to the state and I support that.
[14:48] Thanks Mark. Yeah, and I, and I agree
[14:50] And there's work happening in the senate.
[14:52] Your other, one of your, your other two senators,
[14:54] Anne Watson, Ann Cummings, Ann Cummings is on the chair
[14:56] of the finance committee and they're working
[14:58] through a couple different ways of, of taxing the,
[15:01] the highest in income brackets, moving a bracket like
[15:04] to those that are making over $500,000,
[15:06] having a new marginal tax above that.
[15:09] So yeah, de definitely support that hope.
[15:11] Hopefully we can find a way to get it past the governor.
[15:13] 'cause the governor has been very clear
[15:14] that he would veto anything like that.
[15:16] But maybe as part of a whole package on education,
[15:19] we would have something that the governor can
[15:20] support on education.
[15:23] I wanted to, to say that we're, we're working on trying to,
[15:26] you know, maintain local schools.
[15:29] Some of us are trying
[15:30] to maintain local control and, and good schools.
[15:32] But at the same time we hear that we, we know that we need
[15:36] to do something about property taxes and the,
[15:38] and the whole education system as how complicated it is
[15:41] and how there isn't as direct connection
[15:42] to your vote on your local budget and what your taxes are.
[15:46] So we're trying to fix that.
[15:47] So I think we are, there's agreement between the governor
[15:50] and the majority of the
[15:51] legislators that we should do something.
[15:53] We will likely move to a foundation formula.
[15:56] But how the new districts get formed
[15:58] is really the sticking point.
[16:00] I'm supporting the, the Senate Education Committee is trying
[16:03] to do a more bottom up
[16:05] or organic kind of decisions on
[16:07] how the new districts are created.
[16:09] Where the governor's proposal is more just top down,
[16:11] just like Montpelier has to do it.
[16:13] We will decide, but I think that usually just doesn't work.
[16:16] 'cause they're gonna make mistakes all different towns
[16:18] throughout the, throughout the state.
[16:20] But I wanted to do a quick poll.
[16:21] I did this on Sunday in Marshfield.
[16:24] And also I wanna say, Jim,
[16:26] you guys are all packed in your feel guilty in Marshfield
[16:28] that we have the, the, the school.
[16:30] We're all spread out very comfortably when we're there.
[16:32] We probably don't have that many more people
[16:34] than you do here in Playfield.
[16:36] Yeah, but it, it's much cozier here.
[16:41] So if Twinfield was to merge with another district,
[16:45] I just want a quick poll to see whether you would support,
[16:47] which you would rather you have three choices
[16:51] move towards U 32, move west towards the Montpelier area
[16:54] or the U 32 district.
[16:55] Just kind of stay where we are
[16:57] or have our attention focused east to the bill,
[17:01] the Caledonia district
[17:02] or the third op option is you either don't care,
[17:05] need more information or want something else.
[17:09] So if you, just a show of hands,
[17:11] who would would rather have Twinfield merge East
[17:14] to the U 32 district.
[17:17] Okay, thank you. And who would rather stay
[17:19] with the Caledonia or kind of east of the Danville area?
[17:22] St. J. Okay. And then who's, who's the third option?
[17:26] Like don't care, don't know about another option.
[17:29] Okay, that's helpful. That's similar to what the,
[17:32] the boat was in, in Marshfield.
[17:36] And I'm on,
[17:38] I'm on the transportation committee and the appropriations committee.
[17:40] I just wanted to say something about transportation.
[17:41] We're having trouble in the transportation fund as of the,
[17:45] as the, as we are with the general fund.
[17:46] The general fund is, as Mark's talked about,
[17:48] the federal government.
[17:49] Not that the government's not just pulling back,
[17:52] but they're also completely chaotic and erratic.
[17:54] They'll say you have 65 million, you don't have 65 million.
[17:57] Oh there's 80 million coming,
[17:59] but we don't know when it's coming.
[18:00] So it's very hard for the state to budget when there's,
[18:03] they're drawing back, there's lawsuits they're doing drawing
[18:06] back funds saying that they're just holding it,
[18:09] but they may give it to us later.
[18:11] So it's making it very difficult
[18:13] to have the federal government as a,
[18:15] as a partner and a lot of things.
[18:17] The one exception is on transportation.
[18:19] The federal government is meeting our kind of current needs
[18:23] for federal funding for transportation.
[18:25] But the state pays somewhere around 30%
[18:27] of all the transportation costs in our revenue
[18:30] through gas tax and other things is not keeping up.
[18:32] So we're having trouble keeping up with the paving
[18:34] and the bridges and things, things like that.
[18:37] So we're trying to figure that out.
[18:39] What's the best way to make that gap?
[18:42] 'cause we want to be able to pull down all the federal
[18:43] funds, but right now we have about a $30 million gap to,
[18:47] we would leave kind of money on the table if we didn't
[18:49] find that, find that money.
[18:51] And the one other thing that we're working on that I,
[18:54] one thing that I've heard from constituents the whole eight
[18:56] years, seven and a half years that I've been there,
[18:58] is about the, our vehicle inspection system.
[19:02] And we've tried to amend it and work on it before.
[19:05] 'cause a lot of Vermonters have had a lot of trouble
[19:09] with getting their vehicles inspected, not feeling
[19:11] that it was a safety issue,
[19:12] but being told that it, they had to get, you know,
[19:15] repairs done $1,200 rotor jobs
[19:17] and things like that when they weren't really sure
[19:19] that the car only had 4,000 miles on it.
[19:22] So I had a bill to get rid of safety inspections entirely.
[19:25] There's no evidence that it really makes your,
[19:28] the straight the streets or the, the populace more.
[19:31] Yeah, thanks. More safe.
[19:34] There's, we're a one of only nine states
[19:35] that do annual inspections.
[19:37] You go to other states that don inspections, there's no,
[19:39] there's not more accidents than, there's not,
[19:41] the crashes aren't worse.
[19:43] So, but the, the DMV
[19:46] Scott's administration doesn't
[19:47] support just getting rid of it.
[19:48] So we're trying to work with DMV
[19:49] to just basically completely redo the inspection manual so
[19:53] that rust, if your high beam light isn't on,
[19:56] you don't pass inspection right now if you just have a small
[19:59] crack in a side window, you don't pass inspection.
[20:01] So just get rid of all those.
[20:03] And so it's really only some kind
[20:04] of very drastic like your brake
[20:06] lines are broken or something.
[20:07] And then everything else will just be a,
[20:09] basically a warning.
[20:11] So I'm, I'm hopeful that we can make that major change
[20:13] to our vehicle inspection system so that
[20:15] for Vermont can drive their cars.
[20:17] 'cause it's a major expense. It's basically a, just a,
[20:20] an un voted on tax of Vermonters
[20:23] to do all these repairs on their cars
[20:27] and yeah, I think that's, that's the update.
[20:31] The moderator has made it clear
[20:33] that I would strike out if, if we took any more time.
[20:37] So if you have questions
[20:39] or you wanna talk to us, talk to us, you know how
[20:42] to reach me and I'll just tell you right now,
[20:45] my personal email is mark, my name.
[20:47] It's just mark@mahaley.org and send me an email, reach out.
[20:58] Thank you Mark. And, okay, we're we're just about
[21:01] to Are is this microphone on?
[21:03] Can you hear me well enough? Yes. Okay.
[21:06] Before we get into article one, I neglected
[21:08] to say at the beginning when you are recognized,
[21:11] each time you speak, please state your name
[21:15] and also today when you are recognized,
[21:19] the microphone will be brought to you.
[21:21] I would ask you to stand unless you,
[21:23] unless if mobility's a problem and you can't of course,
[21:27] but it'd be it hopefully.
[21:28] If you stand, please state your name every
[21:31] single time you speak. Absolutely. Call
[21:35] It.
[21:36] I'm keeping stack, which means I'm gonna take your name and,
[21:39] and just cross you off when you've spoken
[21:41] and go to the next person.
[21:43] I may or may not know your name
[21:45] and so I may ask you for your name
[21:47] but I might, I'll point to you when it's your turn.
[21:49] Okay. So just, you don't have
[21:51] to keep your hand up just when I do this, it means I saw you
[21:55] and I got alright.
[21:56] Okay. If you have a mask on, I might not recognize you.
[21:59] Thank you. Article one.
[22:02] Shall the general obligation bonds
[22:05] or notes in an amount not to exceed $700,000
[22:10] subject to reduction by the application of federal
[22:14] and state grants and aid
[22:15] and reserve funds be issued for the purpose
[22:19] of constructing water system improvements, namely
[22:23] replacement of the waterline on School Street,
[22:27] the estimated cost
[22:28] of such improvements being $700,000.
[22:33] May I have a motion on Article one please?
[22:38] It's been moved. Is there a second? Second.
[22:41] Do we know who moved and seconded? I
[22:42] See Tim Phillips move Who Second.
[22:44] Scott Stewart. Scott
[22:46] Discussion on article one,
[22:50] Peter articles
[22:51] One, two and Three.
[22:53] Articles one, two and three are the subject
[22:55] of the Australian ballot not floor action.
[23:01] I thank you for the correction. Yeah,
[23:04] Those are the things that are people
[23:05] Keep Voting.
[23:06] I thought it was only article three that was so
[23:12] nevermind
[23:18] Article four
[23:20] to hear reports on the town officers
[23:25] hear reports of the town officers and act on the same.
[23:29] May I have a motion on article four?
[23:32] Motion Been moved. Is there a second?
[23:38] Second. Second.
[23:39] We need names of the first and second Scott Stewart
[23:42] And Tim Phillips Discussion,
[23:47] discussion on article four.
[23:50] Dan,
[24:00] thank you As much as I love Robert's rules, I we're about
[24:04] to hear about 15 different reports
[24:07] and I wonder if since it's one article on the ballot,
[24:10] if we could just have one vote at the end of the 15 reports
[24:14] rather than having 15 different votes.
[24:18] And so I guess I would make that an amendment to the motion.
[24:22] It it okay
[24:25] that we do one article vote rather than
[24:27] individual committee votes.
[24:29] Okay, it's been moved
[24:30] that we vote on all the town reports in one vote.
[24:34] Is there a second? Second
[24:36] Jeremy Discussion?
[24:41] Seeing none am am I missing discussion?
[24:47] Seeing none. All those in favor
[24:48] of voting on all the town reports and one say aye.
[24:52] Aye. Opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it.
[24:58] The ayes do have it
[25:01] and we will vote all in one.
[25:05] Is there any further discussion
[25:08] on the town reports?
[25:11] Any further discussion or questions on the town reports?
[25:18] Yeah, Charlie,
[25:19] Charlie ********>
[25:21] Mike Mike is gonna come.
[25:23] Charlie Cockwell, am I correct in
[25:25] that there is no treasurer's report in the town reports?
[25:34] I'm not gonna answer that. Peter.
[25:53] Yes,
[25:59] there is no narrative report from
[26:01] the treasurer in the report.
[26:02] There are four normal financial reports.
[26:06] Two of them are printed
[26:08] and there is a note that the other two were not ready when
[26:11] this went to press
[26:12] and they will be posted on the town website
[26:15] when they are completed.
[26:18] Any other discussion on article four?
[26:20] The town reports or questions on the town reports?
[26:27] Seeing none. Oh, in the back? Yep. Please go ahead.
[26:33] The mic is coming your way.
[26:39] I know we Are an electronic age, but
[26:42] I I find the idea of publishing on the website
[26:47] essential reports that are late completely unacceptable.
[26:53] That's not, I mean I I just, I'm dumbfounded
[26:56] that anybody would think that was acceptable.
[26:59] Not everybody has access partially
[27:02] 'cause some of us don't have really great internet access,
[27:05] but other people just may not be internet savvy.
[27:08] And it just seems like if that's the case, then
[27:12] what the board should be doing is delaying town meeting
[27:14] until there can be complete reports available to people
[27:18] ahead of time to peruse.
[27:21] I know another time we had an insert in the town report at
[27:25] the town meeting and I think there needs to be a lot
[27:28] of thought about the process
[27:29] and what it means in terms of accessibility
[27:32] and transparency to follow that kind of process that was
[27:36] followed this time and previous times.
[27:41] Any other discussion on article four?
[27:46] Seeing none, Carl?
[27:50] Yeah, I just have a more comment to respond.
[27:52] Yeah, by all means we do. Before you do
[27:55] Folks, I I I have a tendency not to look up sometimes
[27:59] if you're up in the balcony, please make a noise so
[28:02] that you get recognized in case I don't look
[28:04] Up there.
[28:05] Thank you. We have a list of people
[28:09] that do not have access to electronic
[28:14] reports and so they would have a report sent
[28:18] to them by mail.
[28:23] I don't know if that answers your concern,
[28:25] but we do, we do recognize not everybody's online.
[28:31] Rose Paul
[28:33] Rose Paul, I just would like a clarification
[28:38] on the select board report.
[28:41] Are we voting to accept the financial report
[28:46] as well as the narrative report?
[28:50] Yes, I believe we are. Well
[28:53] I Okay,
[28:57] Somebody tell me if I'm wrong please.
[29:00] Do you mean the budget?
[29:02] Well there's the budget.
[29:04] Sorry, I'm going to, all I know is baby talk.
[29:06] There's the budget that is for the coming year. Yes.
[29:11] But then there's the finances that review the past year
[29:16] and the past year has no actuals in it.
[29:20] It just represents the budget for that year.
[29:23] But we don't know how the numbers worked out.
[29:26] So I guess with that clarification, I
[29:30] I would like to have a separate vote on the select
[29:35] boards, the, the entire select board report.
[29:40] I I don't rose, IIII don't,
[29:45] I don't think we, I don't think we can reconsider the vote
[29:49] at this time since we already voted
[29:52] to accept them all at once.
[29:54] I I think it might be possible to reconsider the vote
[29:57] if somebody who voted on the winning side, which would you,
[30:02] you can ask, I think you can ask for reconsideration if,
[30:06] did you vote I rose?
[30:08] Yes. Then I believe you can ask.
[30:10] I believe you can ask for reconsideration.
[30:13] I I'm not Is that what you want to do?
[30:19] Yes, please. Okay, so is there a second? A second.
[30:24] So it's been moved and okay, it's been moved
[30:28] and seconded to reconsider the vote
[30:30] at, let me see if I can help.
[30:36] If, if I say this Rose would draw a motion, be I move
[30:40] that we reconsider the vote to take all the reports at once
[30:43] and discuss the select person's report.
[30:48] Is that a fair?
[30:51] I I well I I would simply like
[30:55] to have the select board report separated out.
[30:59] So if the, that I like your wording
[31:02] but it's the rest
[31:03] of 'em can be lumped. But the select board,
[31:06] It would only involve the select board report.
[31:08] What what I'm saying? So if you would, if you would say
[31:12] I move that we reconsider the vote
[31:14] to take all the reports at once
[31:17] and have a discussion about the select board
[31:20] report. It's not
[31:21] A discussion.
[31:22] It's the vote
[31:23] I didn't hear.
[31:24] It's not the discussion. It's the vote
[31:31] Saying it's the vote.
[31:34] It's not the discussion I'm
[31:36] Asking Rose State her amendment
[31:37] Is the vote on, well
[31:38] what she said is she didn't want the select board report
[31:41] voted on with all the other reports.
[31:43] So it's not a question of discussion, it's a question
[31:47] of being voted on separately,
[31:49] if I'm understanding correctly.
[31:50] But that's not what you phrase how you phrased it for her.
[31:53] And I see Rose shaking her head Yes.
[31:55] So I'm thinking that what, rather than saying
[31:58] to have a discussion separately, what you wanted to say is
[32:01] to have the vote separately for the select board report.
[32:04] Yes.
[32:05] I I I'm not sure I heard that
[32:09] Saying it's not the discussion,
[32:11] it's the vote that they're separating.
[32:15] I think that that it was initially stated as
[32:17] Rosa are you asking for a discussion or a vote?
[32:22] I would like a separate vote please.
[32:24] Okay. It's been moved
[32:26] and seconded that there be a separate vote
[32:30] not discussion as I understand.
[32:32] Thank you for the correction.
[32:35] All those in favor of having a separate vote. Peter?
[32:40] Yeah, Peter YoungBear.
[32:41] Could I ask a question of clarification?
[32:44] What you're looking for here?
[32:47] You talked about budget numbers, there is a vote
[32:52] the later article when we vote on the select board proposed
[32:56] budget, but it sounded like you were talking about something
[33:00] else other than the select board's proposed budget.
[33:04] The only other select board report is the narrative.
[33:08] I think you're asking, it sounded
[33:10] to me like you were asking something about
[33:12] the treasurer's reports.
[33:14] Well I may not understand properly,
[33:18] but the whole financial report of the prior year
[33:25] there, there are normally actuals.
[33:28] How did that year end up? Were you under over?
[33:32] What was the variance? I didn't see that in this year's
[33:36] Report.
[33:37] Right. And that is there, that is a notification.
[33:39] It actually appears twice in the report that says those,
[33:42] those two financial reports were not available
[33:46] and are not available.
[33:48] The, we have been without a basically an acting treasurer
[33:52] since the middle of December
[33:54] and we have a contract with an accounting firm, a CPA firm
[33:59] who is completing that work
[34:01] and that work is not yet done,
[34:03] which is why it's not appeared.
[34:05] Okay. So maybe I misunderstood
[34:08] and I thought all those financials were part
[34:11] of the select board report.
[34:12] If they're part of the treasurer report
[34:15] and we're not voting on it
[34:17] because we don't have a complete treasurer's report, then
[34:22] I'll withdraw my motion.
[34:24] Okay, thank you Rose. Thank you.
[34:26] Okay, any further discussion on article
[34:29] four in that case?
[34:32] All those in favor of accepting the reports of the town.
[34:35] Oh, article four reads to hear the reports
[34:38] on the town offices and act on the same.
[34:40] All those in favor of accepting the town
[34:42] reports, please say aye.
[34:44] Aye. All opposed? No, the ayes appear to have it.
[34:50] The ayes do have it.
[34:51] And you have accepted the town officer's reports.
[34:55] The Town Town reports Article five
[35:01] Shall the town vote to raise appropriate
[35:05] and expend the question?
[35:08] Any discussion until there's another article?
[35:15] Are you making a point of order sir?
[35:17] I yeah, I'm actually, what is your point of order? Phillip?
[35:21] Phillip Parisi. Phillip Parisi.
[35:24] You're not asking for Abstentions No.
[35:28] And aren't is that, isn't that part of Robert's rules?
[35:32] I don't believe it is. Huh.
[35:34] Okay, well then I'm glad you're not at the
[35:36] faculty assembly at Linden.
[35:37] Okay.
[35:42] Article five shall the Town vote to raise
[35:48] appropriate and expend the sum
[35:50] of
[35:50] $606,833
[35:56] and 6 cents for the support
[35:58] of Rural Community Transportation Incorporated
[36:02] to provide services to the residents of Plainfield.
[36:06] May I have a motion on Article five please?
[36:10] Second. Moved and seconded,
[36:13] Scott.
[36:14] Okay, so we got Scott Move and Tim Seconding
[36:19] Discussion on Article five.
[36:25] Yep. Dan,
[36:29] Mike, oops.
[36:31] Can we record this time too?
[36:37] I, I'll just say obviously this is an important
[36:40] infrastructure in our town,
[36:41] the rural community transportation
[36:43] and the actual sum they've asked for is totally flat.
[36:46] So they weren't asking for any more
[36:47] than we, we gave last year.
[36:48] So I think for both this
[36:50] and the the next article,
[36:53] they're both flat requests from these
[36:55] transportation providers.
[36:56] So hopefully we can all vote. Yes. Thank you. Okay.
[37:00] Any further discussion
[37:02] Over here?
[37:03] Yes. Rebecca? Yep. Rebecca down on
[37:07] I just, oh, thank you.
[37:10] I just wanted to let people know,
[37:12] and I am in support of this article,
[37:13] but I just wanted to let people know that they just
[37:18] canceled the mid-afternoon route,
[37:22] route two commuter route.
[37:23] So if anyone is relying on that there had, they didn't, I,
[37:28] I knew because a family member got a flyer on the bus,
[37:32] but even calling to check if it was running this week,
[37:37] there was not a lot of information.
[37:39] It took a, it was hard to get confirmation
[37:42] that yes indeed they canceled that route.
[37:44] So just want people to know that
[37:46] and I would, I would hope that there's an opportunity
[37:51] to try to get that back
[37:52] because I think that there are people that were relying on
[37:55] that that was the run
[37:57] that picked up in playing field at like 3 25
[38:00] or something like that on weekdays.
[38:02] So she wanted to let people know that don't,
[38:04] don't cow do riding that one anymore.
[38:08] Okay. Are you ready for the question on article five?
[38:14] Seeing none, the question is, shall the town vote
[38:17] to raise appropriate
[38:19] and expend the sum of $6,833
[38:23] and 6 cents for the support
[38:26] of Rural Community Transportation Incorporated
[38:29] to provide services to residents of the town of Plainfield?
[38:32] All those in favor please say aye. Aye. Oppose?
[38:36] No, the A's appear to have it,
[38:41] the ayes do have it.
[38:42] And you've accepted Article five,
[38:44] article six point of order.
[38:47] Yes. What is your point of order?
[38:52] I, I missed something and it's regarding article four
[38:56] and I apologize that I couldn't speak about this earlier,
[38:59] but I thought that the change in motion was
[39:02] to accept all the reports in one vote,
[39:05] but we haven't actually heard the reports.
[39:07] For instance, we haven't heard from the energy coordinator.
[39:09] We haven't. When when do we actually hear the reports?
[39:12] Mr. Michael? I'm gonna have to rule you out of order
[39:14] because we are, we are beyond that and,
[39:17] and it's just, it it is, it is out of order.
[39:20] So because we've already accepted it, it would've been,
[39:23] your argument is perfectly acceptable if it had been raised
[39:26] during that discussion, Michael. Okay,
[39:28] So point Information by the way,
[39:30] my ruling can be overruled
[39:32] by a majority if anybody wants to,
[39:33] So, so maybe I'll put it differently
[39:35] as a point of information.
[39:37] When will we hear the reports of the town officers?
[39:43] There, there they're in the,
[39:46] There, there usually is a verbal report.
[39:48] I mean, I'm just saying that in custom that's been the case.
[39:55] Yeah, I mean I think during that point when, when
[39:59] Donnie asked if there was discussion 12 different times,
[40:02] that was the time if anybody wanted to speak
[40:04] to their report they could have done
[40:05] so maybe that could have been clearer.
[40:07] But that is, we've moved past that.
[40:10] So I think there are, there is the other, other,
[40:14] whatever the last article is, if folks really need to speak,
[40:16] they could always do it then.
[40:17] Yeah, I mean I I frankly,
[40:19] and I don't wanna take more any more time on it than you do,
[40:21] but I, I thought we were voting
[40:25] after the reports we would only vote once, in other words,
[40:27] hear all the votes and only vote once.
[40:30] We would hear the reports and only vote once.
[40:32] And that's, I that's why I re
[40:34] that's why I didn't discuss anything.
[40:36] 'cause I thought I was just voting
[40:37] about how many times we'd vote
[40:38] I that I can see where there is a confusion
[40:41] and I don't that, that,
[40:45] that might have been confusing
[40:47] and I, I'm not sure what to do.
[40:48] Yes, please, please state your
[40:50] name when you state your name. I'm Carlos
[40:52] Siegel and it's just, it's, I'm Carla Siegel
[40:56] and it was just our experience that people stand up
[40:59] and talk about their, you know, their reports
[41:03] and so we just expected that.
[41:05] I also thought that we were just saying
[41:07] that at the end we'd vote on mass,
[41:09] but it seems like a other people thought that
[41:16] There's a hand back.
[41:19] You don't need to bring Mike all the way
[41:20] back here, but just affirming that.
[41:21] I also thought we were gonna hear report
[41:23] your name, vote on all of them.
[41:24] Sorry. Ren lanky. Ren Lansky. Okay, thank you.
[41:29] Peter. Do Okay
[41:34] Donnie.
[41:35] I I I think you the the,
[41:38] what I would say at this point is I think
[41:40] those points are well taken.
[41:41] It was misunderstood.
[41:42] I don't know how to go back on the order at this point
[41:45] because we have gone beyond the article
[41:48] so it would be wrong to go back.
[41:49] There was a chance to reconsider if it was misunderstood
[41:53] forever for whatever reason.
[41:55] I'm sorry I didn't understand it.
[41:57] There was clearly confusion
[41:59] but we don't, I don't believe that it would be an order
[42:02] to go back after we have passed the article.
[42:05] Dan? Yeah, so our article 14, which is the last article, is
[42:09] to transact any other non-binding business
[42:11] that may properly become before the meeting.
[42:13] I think if there are folks who want to verbally report
[42:16] that don't get a chance to, they could stand
[42:18] and be recognized during that period.
[42:21] Say that again please. Article 14, which is the non-binding,
[42:25] if let's say the emergency manager,
[42:27] emergency management director wanted to speak to his report,
[42:30] he could do it during that time.
[42:33] You could recognize him then
[42:34] and we could hear from the courts
[42:35] so it could come up under other business.
[42:37] Yeah, it's not called that but yeah.
[42:39] Okay, we're gonna move on. Article six.
[42:45] Shall the town of Plainfield appropriate the sum of 1,490
[42:51] shall the town of Plainfield appropriate the sum of $1,499
[42:57] as its share of the 2024 year
[43:02] cost of commuter bus service along route two
[43:05] with service into Montpelier?
[43:07] This appropriation funds a portion of the total cost
[43:11] of the service which will be supported
[43:14] by appropriations from other towns, state federal funds
[43:19] and passenger fares.
[43:22] May I hear a motion on article six?
[43:28] It's been moved. Is there a second?
[43:30] Second we have them, Scott
[43:32] And Tim.
[43:35] Discussion Peter,
[43:52] I would move To amend, I think there's a typo there
[43:55] that should read 2026, not 2024
[44:02] Seconded Jeremy, excuse me. It should read 2020.
[44:07] It should read. So Peter will you make that an,
[44:09] I think it needs an amendment.
[44:10] Yes. Yes. So
[44:12] Amen that to read 2027 fiscal year.
[44:15] So it's been moved. Is there a second Jeremy
[44:18] Mass second.
[44:19] Yes.
[44:20] So it's, it's been moved
[44:22] and seconded to amend Article six to read Shall the Town
[44:26] of Plainfield appropriate the sum of $1,499
[44:30] as its share of the 2026 year cost?
[44:35] 27 the year
[44:41] of 27 cost the commuter bus service along Route two
[44:44] with service into Montpelier.
[44:45] This appropriation funds a portion of the total cost
[44:48] of the service which will also be supported
[44:51] by appropriations of other towns, state
[44:53] and federal and passenger affairs.
[44:55] We are voting on the amendment.
[44:58] So your name please This discussion on the amendment
[45:02] Timothy Buxton.
[45:03] So, so you are doing it correct now you are voting
[45:06] on the amendment
[45:08] Correct with The previous article.
[45:11] Dan made an amendment to
[45:15] act upon all the reports at once
[45:17] and what we should have voted on was voted on the amendment.
[45:21] If the amendment was accepted
[45:23] then we would've voted that way.
[45:25] But anyways, the decision has made been moved forward.
[45:28] This is the correct way to do it.
[45:30] We're voting on the amendment and then we will vote on
[45:32] The you are correct and it is my apologies.
[45:35] No, no, but it's okay. You are correct. We're
[45:36] Good.
[45:37] Thank you
[45:39] Again.
[45:40] Up. Yep.
[45:46] I have a point of information on the,
[45:48] on the article not the amendment, so
[45:50] I'll wait.
[45:53] I think we can do that in the
[45:54] other business when we get there. No,
[45:56] It's on the article.
[45:57] Yes, on the, okay.
[45:59] So any further discussion on the amendment,
[46:03] which basically changes the year 2024 to 2027.
[46:07] I won't read it again. Any further
[46:09] discussion on that amendment?
[46:13] Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
[46:17] No, the ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it.
[46:23] And you have amended Article six.
[46:28] Any further discussion on Article six as amended?
[46:33] We have Ren who's gonna come down the stairs.
[46:42] I just have a point of information on article six,
[46:45] which is, how is it different than Article five?
[46:47] My understanding is that RCT Rural Community Transit is the,
[46:51] the agency that runs the Route two Commuter
[46:54] and then Article six is about the Route two meter.
[46:56] I just don't understand the difference between the
[46:58] two line items.
[47:06] Two different entities. Yeah,
[47:09] folks are saying up here are two different entities.
[47:12] Green Mountain Transit and Rural Community Transit.
[47:16] Do they both run separate? They do.
[47:20] I think both together and we create separately.
[47:23] Okay. Any further discussion on article six?
[47:27] Are you ready for the question? Yes,
[47:31] I do have a question, right? Oh, we got one up.
[47:33] Yep. Those we can't,
[47:36] We need, please say your name
[47:37] And there's a microphone coming to you.
[47:46] Both of these rural transit companies have been cutting.
[47:50] John Hosford have been cutting their routes regularly.
[47:54] Green Mountain Transit a lot last year.
[47:57] Is there anything in our contracts with them
[47:58] that we get money back when they stop servicing us?
[48:06] Any further discussion on Article six as amended?
[48:17] Seeing none, all those in favor of accepting I'll,
[48:21] I'll read the, I'll read it again since it's amended.
[48:23] Article six as amended reads, shall the town
[48:26] of Plainfield appropriate the sum of $1,499
[48:31] as its share of the 2027 year cost
[48:35] of commuter bus service along Route two
[48:37] with service into Montpelier?
[48:39] This appropriation funds a portion of the total cost
[48:43] of the service which will be supported
[48:45] by appropriations from other towns, state and federal funds
[48:49] and passenger fares.
[48:51] All those in favor of accepting Article six, please say aye.
[48:55] Aye. All those opposed? No. The ayes appear to have it.
[49:01] The ayes do have it. And you have accepted Article six.
[49:04] Article seven Shall the Town Voters
[49:08] authorize the expenditures
[49:10] for the following nonprofit service agencies as recommended
[49:14] by the appointed Social Concerns Committee
[49:18] Capstone Community Action.
[49:20] $500 Central Vermont
[49:25] Basic Education $400
[49:28] Central Vermont Council on Aging,
[49:31] $1,450 Central Vermont
[49:35] Home Health and Hospice.
[49:37] $3,100 Circle
[49:42] $525 Elevate Youth Services
[49:47] $550.
[49:50] The Family Center of Washington County. $500.
[49:54] Good Beginnings, $400.
[49:58] Good Samaritan Haven $1,250
[50:04] Neighbors in action.
[50:05] $250 Onion River Food Shelf,
[50:09] $1,000.
[50:11] Our House, $100 People's Health
[50:15] and Wellness Center, $1,000
[50:20] Twin Valley Senior Center, $4,650
[50:25] Twin Valley Together mentoring program, $250
[50:31] Vermont Center for Independent Living, $175
[50:37] Washington County diversion.
[50:39] $400 for a total
[50:41] of $16,500.
[50:45] May I have a motion on Article seven?
[50:49] Jana Second Osman. Wait who? Who? Jana.
[50:54] Okay, so wow, okay, this is really throwing me off.
[50:57] Jana moved. Yeah, second Jeremy.
[51:01] Okay, You ought thank you.
[51:04] Discussion on Article seven.
[51:10] Steve State your name.
[51:12] Steven Farnam.
[51:14] I'm not proposing to change any of these
[51:18] because that's a very painstaking process.
[51:20] It'll take all day. But what I would like
[51:24] to know is a little more information about the numbers.
[51:30] I broke up my calculator last night
[51:33] and discovered that in some of these situations we're paying
[51:36] as little as a dollar 66 per person served.
[51:40] And on a couple of the others it was as much
[51:42] as almost $70 per person served.
[51:46] Some instances it was a family served as a,
[51:48] as opposed to a person.
[51:51] And I guess I'd like a little more context
[51:53] about what this means.
[51:56] You know, maybe some of these organizations have
[51:58] significant funding from elsewhere
[52:00] and they're just looking for a matching grant
[52:02] and maybe others this is the only money they get.
[52:06] I think a little more information about
[52:07] that would be helpful to understand
[52:09] how these numbers have arrived at
[52:15] The discussion.
[52:16] Judy, Judy sip.
[52:21] Judy Sip. And I'm a member
[52:22] of the Social Concerns committee.
[52:24] Can hear you. Can you hear me now?
[52:27] Okay, Judy Sip
[52:28] and I'm a member of the Social Concerns committee.
[52:31] Would it be helpful if I explained the process?
[52:34] So towns put in a request for funding every year
[52:39] and then we consider that requests.
[52:41] We ha I have to say we think all the organizations
[52:45] that put in requests are totally worthy of our support,
[52:50] but we have to consider the budget
[52:54] and you know, what the town can afford.
[52:57] So we look at the requests
[53:01] and we have some criteria that we use to make our decisions
[53:06] about how much funding
[53:08] and some of that criteria is what are they asking for?
[53:12] How much of an increase is it? How?
[53:17] How unique are their services to playing field?
[53:20] Are they local? Which we support more than a
[53:23] statewide organization.
[53:25] How many people do they serve?
[53:27] So there's a lot of things that we consider
[53:30] and so we really base it on what was their request?
[53:33] Have they been somebody that we funded in the past,
[53:38] which isn't, I mean we also fund new things
[53:40] and we just try and make a decision.
[53:42] We don't break it down into how much per person.
[53:49] Also a member
[53:52] You have to be recognized now you are. Okay.
[53:55] Hi, I'm Marcy Holle
[53:57] and I'm also on the Social Concerns Committee.
[53:59] And the other thing about the numbers is
[54:01] that the groups asking for money tell us sometimes
[54:06] how much they're spending.
[54:07] So it's not equal for group to group.
[54:10] So one group might say it costs a hundred dollars per family
[54:14] and another group might say it costs $25 per person.
[54:17] It just varies.
[54:19] And some of them are just asking for a show
[54:24] of support so that they could get other major funding
[54:27] and they're not really asking for us
[54:29] to give significant support.
[54:31] So it varies so much from group to group
[54:34] and some I, I really think they should ask for more.
[54:38] Not that we can give more,
[54:39] but it really is based on what they ask for.
[54:41] We can't give them more than they ask for.
[54:43] One group actually asked for less.
[54:45] I don't know if that was on purpose or not,
[54:47] but that's what they did.
[54:50] Yeah, it just varies so much. Does that help?
[54:56] Are you ready for the question or are there more?
[54:58] Is there more discussion?
[55:02] Seeing none if you are ready for the question.
[55:04] The question is, shall the town voters authorize the
[55:07] expenditures for the following nonprofit services
[55:10] as recommended by the appointed social concerns committee
[55:14] for a total of 16,500?
[55:17] I won't read them all. All those in favor of please say aye.
[55:23] Opposed? No, the ayes appear to have it.
[55:27] The ayes do have it. And you have passed Article seven.
[55:33] Article eight Shall the town voters
[55:37] authorize an appropriation of $56,000
[55:42] to the Cutler Memorial Library to pay for the librarian,
[55:47] a library assistant and the purchase of materials
[55:50] and services, including those to make the library
[55:55] accessible to the community.
[55:59] So moved. It's been moved. Is there a second? Second.
[56:02] Second. Your name Carla Steve Farner moved.
[56:07] It's been moved and seconded
[56:10] to accept Article eight discussion.
[56:18] Seeing none. All those in favor
[56:21] of article eight please say aye.
[56:24] Aye. All those opposed no ayes appear to have it.
[56:29] The ayes do have it.
[56:30] And you've passed Article eight, article nine.
[56:34] Shall the town approve
[56:40] $311,874
[56:45] for the operation of the water department for the period
[56:49] of July 1st, 2020 sixth
[56:53] to June 30th, 2027 to be paid for
[56:57] by the rate payers of the system.
[57:00] May I have a motion on Article nine?
[57:05] Been moved by, moved. Second.
[57:07] Second Moved and seconded.
[57:09] Discussion on Article nine please Steve.
[57:16] I would Say say your name again as Steven
[57:18] Farham.
[57:19] I would like to amend that to state the users of the system,
[57:23] not the rate payers because the rate
[57:24] payers doesn't tell you who they
[57:26] Are.
[57:27] Okay, so Steve, you you want
[57:31] to amend this exactly the same
[57:33] Substitute users for rate payers.
[57:37] So the EMO
[57:43] is, is there a second to this amendment?
[57:46] Second. What's
[57:48] Your name?
[57:49] Garfield Barn.
[57:51] Okay, so now we are on the amendment.
[57:54] It has been moved
[57:56] and seconded That article 10 shall read.
[58:00] Shall the town approve $392,055
[58:04] for the operation of wastewater department for the period
[58:08] of July 1st, 2026 to July 30, 27 to be paid
[58:13] for by the users of the system.
[58:22] All the article, article nine,
[58:27] I'm sorry, article nine by the users of the system.
[58:30] Any further discussion on the amendment stand?
[58:43] So just for clarification,
[58:45] the rate payers in the system are the users of the system.
[58:47] The reason we use rate payers is the Vermont
[58:49] League of Cities and towns.
[58:51] Attorneys have told us
[58:52] that's the best way for us to word this.
[58:55] We should be using rate payers
[58:56] because we wouldn't want a situation where
[59:00] there was some sort of weird definition of user
[59:02] that if you're gone for six months you're only
[59:04] half a user or something like that.
[59:05] So I would say we should reject this amendment
[59:07] because it makes it unclear who's paying the bill.
[59:10] Whereas rate payers is a clear distinction in law
[59:13] and with the water and wastewater department.
[59:15] So please vote no on this amendment.
[59:18] Further discussion on the amendment up,
[59:20] up in the balcony. Just
[59:22] To say a user could be a Rent.
[59:24] We need your name please, Janice.
[59:26] A user could be a renter.
[59:27] They're not the ones paying it, they're paying rent.
[59:30] So it should be the property owners defined by
[59:34] damn set rate.
[59:36] Payer Further discussion on the amendment.
[59:41] Seeing none. Yep,
[59:45] I I can yell Jeremy.
[59:47] Matt, we should follow the
[59:50] Advice or follow the advice of the lawyers is what I think
[59:56] then, then you would vote apparently for according to Dan,
[59:59] then you would vote no on this amendment correct.
[1:00:04] So any further discussion on the amendment, the amendment
[1:00:10] as put forward would read Shall the town approve
[1:00:15] $392,055 for the operation
[1:00:19] of the weight wastewater department for the, oh,
[1:00:24] I'm, I I'm sorry I
[1:00:26] They all look the same.
[1:00:28] I'm gonna take a vacation when this is over.
[1:00:35] We're on nine. Yeah.
[1:00:37] Shall the town approve
[1:00:39] $311,874 for the operation
[1:00:44] of the water department for the period of July 1st, 2026
[1:00:48] to June 30th, 2027 to be paid
[1:00:51] by the users of the system?
[1:00:58] That's the amendment. That's
[1:00:59] What we're voting on.
[1:01:03] No, we're voting on the amendment now.
[1:01:05] Am I we are voting on the amendment now. This is,
[1:01:10] That's the amendment Every now and again.
[1:01:13] I'm correct.
[1:01:20] The amendment basically changes rate payers to users.
[1:01:24] Is is everybody clear And are we ready
[1:01:26] for the question? Yes.
[1:01:27] Yes. All those in favor
[1:01:29] of the amendment which basically changes rate payers
[1:01:32] to users say aye.
[1:01:35] All opposed say no.
[1:01:37] No the nays appear
[1:01:41] to have it and the nays do have it
[1:01:45] and we are back to the original Article nine.
[1:01:49] Any further discussion on article nine?
[1:01:54] Seeing none if you are ready for the question.
[1:01:58] The question now is,
[1:02:00] shall the town approve $311,847
[1:02:05] for the operation
[1:02:15] We're here right?
[1:02:16] Article nine,
[1:02:19] Yeah.
[1:02:20] Shall the town approve $311,874
[1:02:24] for the operation of the water department for the period
[1:02:27] of July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2027
[1:02:32] to be paid for by the rate payers of the system?
[1:02:41] All those in favor please say aye.
[1:02:44] Aye. All opposed? No.
[1:02:46] The a's appear to have it, the a's do have it point of
[1:02:50] Order.
[1:02:51] What is your point of order Hug.
[1:03:01] Amen.
[1:03:06] I think now we're finally on article 10.
[1:03:11] We're done with that Article
[1:03:13] 10.
[1:03:15] Shall the town approve
[1:03:17] $392,055 for the operation.
[1:03:21] Oh that for the operation of the wastewater department
[1:03:26] for the period of July 1st, 2026
[1:03:29] to June 30th, 2027 to be paid for
[1:03:34] by the rate payers of the system.
[1:03:39] Can I have I
[1:03:40] Move Further discussion
[1:03:44] on Article 10.
[1:03:53] That's hard to accept that
[1:03:54] as discussion in that case.
[1:03:59] If you are ready for the question.
[1:04:02] The question is, shall the town approve
[1:04:05] $392,055 for the operation of
[1:04:09] wastewater system for the period of July 1st, 2026
[1:04:13] to June 30th, 2027 to be paid
[1:04:16] by the rate payers of the system?
[1:04:18] All those in favor of Article 10 say aye. Aye. Opposed?
[1:04:23] No, the ayes appear to have it.
[1:04:26] The ayes do have it. And you've passed Article 10.
[1:04:32] Article 11 Shall the town approve
[1:04:38] total fund expenditures of I had to rehearse this number.
[1:04:44] Shall the town approve the total fund expenditures
[1:04:47] of $1,842,047
[1:04:51] and 44 cents to pay for administrative operations,
[1:04:56] fire and rescue department
[1:04:58] and highway department of the town of Plainfield
[1:05:01] for the period of July 1st, 2026
[1:05:05] to June 30, 20, 27 Of which
[1:05:09] $1,326,787
[1:05:14] and 47 cents shall a 44 cents
[1:05:21] It's just 3 cents for God's sake
[1:05:28] shall be raised.
[1:05:30] And I'll start from the
[1:05:31] beginning article.
[1:05:36] Article 11, shall the town approve a total fund expenditure
[1:05:41] of
[1:05:41] $1,842,447
[1:05:46] and 44 cents to pay for the admin pay
[1:05:50] for administrative operations, fire and rescue department
[1:05:54] and highway department of the town for the period
[1:05:57] of July 1st, 2020 sixth
[1:06:00] to June 30, 20, 27 of which
[1:06:04] $1,326,787
[1:06:09] and 44 cents shall be raised by taxes
[1:06:14] and $515,260
[1:06:19] by non-revenue,
[1:06:20] by non-tax revenue. May I have a motion?
[1:06:25] I move that this article be postponed to a date set
[1:06:30] by the select board
[1:06:31] after the full financial reports have been received.
[1:06:35] I don't see how we can possibly do a vote on this without
[1:06:38] having complete financial reports. Just a minute. You, you
[1:06:40] Are.
[1:06:41] My motion is that this be postponed
[1:06:43] and not voted on at this meeting.
[1:06:45] That's not a point of order. That's a motion.
[1:06:47] It's a motion on the article
[1:06:49] to not vote on it during this meeting.
[1:06:51] It's not out of order. You weren't, you
[1:06:53] Weren't call them, you weren't.
[1:06:54] You don't have to. Everybody else goes so moved.
[1:06:56] And so I don't go so moved.
[1:06:58] I move that we do not vote on it at this town meeting
[1:07:02] and it be, it will be voted on at a date certain
[1:07:05] after all the financial reports have been received.
[1:07:11] You got me confused now you have not been recognized right
[1:07:14] now you are out of order.
[1:07:16] You need to be recognized to speak
[1:07:17] Number one.
[1:07:18] Okay. Could you recognize me please?
[1:07:23] There is also no second so far Pete.
[1:07:27] I not Did you have a point of order?
[1:07:29] I have you Scott moved. I will second, second.
[1:07:35] I'm sorry. I don't know what I
[1:07:36] Scott moved Tim Phillips seconded Now
[1:07:40] where we're at. Discussion.
[1:07:42] Okay, so now we're at discussion of the motion.
[1:07:48] Do you wish to make an amendment Sasha?
[1:07:50] Do you wish to make an amendment? You may make an amendment
[1:07:54] Discussing.
[1:07:55] I'm I I'm moving that we not vote on this.
[1:07:59] Not to make an amendment to the content.
[1:08:01] I am moving that the, that the vote on this article 11
[1:08:06] be delayed to a time
[1:08:08] after which all the financial reports have been received.
[1:08:13] I'm not asking to delay the entire town meeting,
[1:08:16] but I am asking and moving that this article
[1:08:20] not be voted on at this town meeting
[1:08:23] and be voted on at a subsequent town meeting at a date
[1:08:27] set by the select board.
[1:08:28] After all financial reports have been received, including
[1:08:32] Are, are, are you moving to postpone to a definite time?
[1:08:37] I'm not moving to postpone to a definite time.
[1:08:39] 'cause so far nobody has any idea when the audit, when the,
[1:08:43] you know, financial formal financial audit will be done.
[1:08:45] So I'm moving to postpone vote on this article
[1:08:49] to a date set by the select board.
[1:08:53] After all financial reports relate,
[1:08:57] have been received, including the financial
[1:08:59] report for the previous year.
[1:09:01] Can you put it in writing please?
[1:09:03] It would be very helpful
[1:09:04] if you could put your motion writing.
[1:09:05] I'll be, be happy to do that for,
[1:09:06] I think what you're trying to do is postpone definitely
[1:09:11] that, that, that that's what I see on, on
[1:09:14] as I understand my Robert's rules of orders that you,
[1:09:16] it would be very helpful Sasha,
[1:09:18] if you would put your amendment in writing please.
[1:09:21] Well, I don't know what the effect
[1:09:22] of postponing indefinitely is and I do wanna relate it.
[1:09:25] I don't either. I do wanna relate it to a time to be set
[1:09:30] by the select board after all the financial reports have
[1:09:33] been received, including the one
[1:09:35] for the done by the auditors.
[1:09:37] I'll try and write it out.
[1:09:38] But you probably have a recording somewhere.
[1:09:40] Dan, I I I won't weigh in on, on this postponing though.
[1:09:45] I do believe you in Robert's drills, you either have
[1:09:48] to postpone to a date or postpone indefinitely.
[1:09:50] Those are your two choices. You,
[1:09:51] you can't postpone to other action.
[1:09:53] But what I wanted to say is, so you know,
[1:09:56] we haven't had a town treasurer who's been physically able
[1:09:59] to do the job since early December.
[1:10:01] And so I just wanted to explain how the select board came
[1:10:03] to a budget that we have today.
[1:10:04] So when we knew Josh was out the board selected two of us,
[1:10:09] Peter Young Bar and myself to work
[1:10:13] independently on the budget.
[1:10:15] We contracted with Sarah Macy, who is the director
[1:10:18] of finance for the city of St.
[1:10:20] Alban's. And so we worked through our, our budget,
[1:10:25] we worked with all the different departments within the town
[1:10:28] for how much they've spent.
[1:10:30] You know, in the last years
[1:10:31] and this year we did also speak with the bowel shelter
[1:10:35] and associates who were the auditors who we've been working
[1:10:37] with and using their financial acumen along with a lot
[1:10:41] of input from all of the different departments
[1:10:43] and volunteers and folks in town.
[1:10:45] We created this budget that is a little,
[1:10:48] a little under 2% under last year's taxed amount.
[1:10:51] So it's actually not even a flat budget.
[1:10:53] It's a, it's a negative budget partly
[1:10:55] because we have some funding we're able
[1:10:57] to pull across from this budget into next year's budget.
[1:11:00] And those numbers were verified by Sarah Macy, the,
[1:11:03] the financial director of the city of St.
[1:11:06] Alban's along with the folks at the batch
[1:11:08] Elders and Associates.
[1:11:09] So we worked very dig diligently for about two months
[1:11:12] to come up with those numbers.
[1:11:14] And it is not an issue of us not knowing
[1:11:18] what the budget should be, what we spend
[1:11:21] or any anything else.
[1:11:22] There are some official reports,
[1:11:23] some official auditing reports that it just take time
[1:11:26] that we don't have because we didn't
[1:11:27] have a treasurer for those times.
[1:11:30] It is not a situation where we are,
[1:11:33] we don't know what's going on in the town finances.
[1:11:35] So I think that's probably fair.
[1:11:36] And I don't know if Peter has anything to add,
[1:11:38] but I, I am reading the, the two choices.
[1:11:42] It seems to me parliamentary are either to postpone
[1:11:45] to a definite time or postpone indefinitely.
[1:11:48] I have been handed this in Vermont town.
[1:11:52] This is from Robert's Rules
[1:11:53] of Order in Vermont Town Meetings, which are governed
[1:11:55] by Robert's Rules of Order as modified by state as modified
[1:11:59] by state statute, the motion to postpone indefinitely acts
[1:12:04] as a procedural tool to kill a main motion,
[1:12:08] a warrant article, without having to take a direct vote
[1:12:12] on the issue itself.
[1:12:14] Here are the specific effects
[1:12:16] and rules for this action in Vermont.
[1:12:19] Final disposition for the session.
[1:12:22] If a motion to postpone indefinitely is adopted,
[1:12:25] it effectively defeats the original main motion article
[1:12:30] for the duration of that specific town meeting.
[1:12:34] It avoids avoids direct vote.
[1:12:37] It is used when the assembly does not wish to vote yes
[1:12:41] or no on a sensitive, embarrassing,
[1:12:43] or badly worded motion, allowing them
[1:12:47] to avoid talking a direct position.
[1:12:50] No automatic reconsideration.
[1:12:53] Once an article is postponed indefinitely,
[1:12:56] it cannot be brought back in the same meeting
[1:13:00] limits on reconsideration.
[1:13:03] While it kills the motion for the current meeting,
[1:13:06] it does not prevent the issue from being warned
[1:13:09] and brought up at a future or annual or special meeting.
[1:13:14] Procedural requirements Debatable.
[1:13:17] The motion to postpone indefinitely is debatable
[1:13:20] and debate can include the merits of the main motion.
[1:13:25] It requires a majority vote rank.
[1:13:29] It is the lowest ranking subsidiary motion, meaning
[1:13:33] it cannot be made while other motions like amendments
[1:13:37] or to postpone to a specific time are pending
[1:13:41] distinction from table.
[1:13:43] It is often misused for the motion to lay on the table.
[1:13:48] In Vermont, Robert's rules postponing indefinitely is
[1:13:52] attended for the final disposal, not a temporary delay.
[1:13:56] The context of Vermont town meeting articles except
[1:14:00] for the election of candidates generally cannot be passed
[1:14:04] over, but it can be postponed indefinitely.
[1:14:08] Those are the rules, as I was just understanding.
[1:14:11] So There is a motion on the floor.
[1:14:18] Do we have it? Well, there's
[1:14:21] Steven's hand is up.
[1:14:23] It was just a point of order that we had a motion
[1:14:25] that hasn't been seconded that I've heard.
[1:14:28] So this is Jeremy,
[1:14:29] By the way, right?
[1:14:30] It's been seconded. Oh, it has? Yes.
[1:14:32] Yes. It's been seconded. So we have Steve with Carla,
[1:14:37] but are you, he hasn't called discussion yet. I'm
[1:14:40] Just Point of order.
[1:14:41] No, Sasha's made a motion that hasn't been seconded that I
[1:14:44] Heard.
[1:14:45] But we need to hear Sasha's motion.
[1:14:47] You don't have to be recognized for a point of order.
[1:14:49] You can just stand up and say it
[1:14:50] and we'll hear the point of order.
[1:14:53] I just felt confused if we were in discussion or not,
[1:14:56] Or we are not in discussion yet. Okay.
[1:14:59] But we're going to be right. Hopefully
[1:15:02] Hope springs eternal.
[1:15:08] Okay. Is this Sasha's amendment? Well,
[1:15:10] This is right.
[1:15:13] Sasha, are you moving to postpone to in, are you moving
[1:15:17] to postpone indefinitely?
[1:15:19] Which in effect, as we just read, kills the motion.
[1:15:22] Well, it doesn't, it kills it at, at this town meeting,
[1:15:27] as you mentioned, in two separate times in that account.
[1:15:31] And I appreciate that account.
[1:15:32] So I am, I, I I think my motion would've worked,
[1:15:36] but my motion would be I moved to
[1:15:39] postpone the vote on Article 11
[1:15:43] to an indefinite date.
[1:15:46] After all financial reports have been received,
[1:15:51] including those
[1:15:53] for the 20 25, 20 26 fiscal year.
[1:15:58] Thank you. Will you hand that up please, Steve? Okay.
[1:16:03] It's been moved and it is now
[1:16:05] that this is an official motion.
[1:16:07] Is there a second? Because we really didn't have an official
[1:16:10] motion until this, now there's
[1:16:12] an official, is there a second?
[1:16:16] It's been moved and seconded.
[1:16:19] Now there's a discussion on the amendment.
[1:16:22] Let me, as soon as Paula gets this, I shall,
[1:16:24] well, I'll do my best. So
[1:16:26] Sasha, you're gonna need to fill in some
[1:16:28] blanks. Probably. We'll
[1:16:29] Send it up.
[1:16:30] Sasha, can you send your, your, your up here
[1:16:32] so I can read it correctly.
[1:16:43] Thank you.
[1:16:48] Sasha has moved.
[1:16:49] I, Sasha says I move to postpone the vote
[1:16:53] on Article 11 to an indefinite
[1:17:07] to an indefinite a date.
[1:17:11] DATE. Sir, I moved
[1:17:13] To postponed on Article 11 to an
[1:17:17] Inde indefinite date to, in i I moved
[1:17:20] to postpone Article 11 to an indefinite date.
[1:17:23] After all financial reports have been received,
[1:17:27] including those for 2025
[1:17:31] and 2026 fiscal year.
[1:17:35] Sasha, do I have your amendment correct? I think so, yes.
[1:17:38] Okay. It's been moved. Discussion.
[1:17:42] We are now on the, on Sasha's amendment. Steve,
[1:17:47] So it appears to me Say your name every time, Steven
[1:17:50] Far.
[1:17:51] It appears to me that we have the option of
[1:17:54] indefinite postponement
[1:17:56] or a date certain that we don't have, excuse me, a date.
[1:18:00] Certain or indefinitely.
[1:18:01] It doesn't seem like we have any other option,
[1:18:04] but we could have a date certain,
[1:18:06] if the select board could say we might have this information
[1:18:09] ready by a certain time
[1:18:12] and then we could set that date.
[1:18:16] And the reason I raised this point is I assume if we're
[1:18:19] gonna postpone this vote, we'll have
[1:18:20] to convene a second meeting to vote on it. Am I correct,
[1:18:24] Steve?
[1:18:25] I think that what you can do if you want to is amend
[1:18:29] Sasha's amendment from indefinite to a certain time.
[1:18:34] Well, I'm asking for a recommendation 'cause I
[1:18:36] Not from me.
[1:18:37] You're not gonna get one. Well, there's
[1:18:40] A select board up there.
[1:18:41] Can they give a date that we can
[1:18:44] Use?
[1:18:45] That we can set? Are you making I, I'm sorry, Steve.
[1:18:49] I I don't, I'm confused. I need to know what your,
[1:18:52] I would make a motion if I had a date
[1:18:54] to move it too, is my point.
[1:18:55] That is out of order at this point.
[1:19:00] Okay, so we have, we have a few people.
[1:19:03] Okay, we're on the amendment. Jana.
[1:19:06] Oh, Charlie Carla. I think
[1:19:10] Jana Michael.
[1:19:11] Okay. Oh, it's got that. I have the mic in my hand.
[1:19:15] You have what? That doesn't matter. Janet.
[1:19:22] No, no dispensation for wives.
[1:19:25] Thank you. Charlie. Cogno.
[1:19:27] Actually, I have been pondering this exact problem
[1:19:30] for the past since I received my annual
[1:19:33] Report.
[1:19:35] I think there's a confusion between
[1:19:38] the financial report and the budget.
[1:19:42] The financial report is for the treasurer and assistance
[1:19:47] and the auditors to present what has happened in the past.
[1:19:54] The Budget proposal is a proposal
[1:19:58] of the select board.
[1:20:01] Now we're snookered
[1:20:03] because the select board could not take into account
[1:20:07] what the auditors haven't gone over.
[1:20:12] But the select board budget can stand alone
[1:20:17] without having those.
[1:20:18] In fact, I would predict that if we postponed it,
[1:20:21] we might end up with financial reports,
[1:20:25] but we would end up with basically the same budget, which is
[1:20:29] what should be on the table here.
[1:20:32] So what I suggest is that we have a discussion,
[1:20:36] we defeat the amendment to pass over,
[1:20:39] or excuse me, the motion to pass over
[1:20:42] and then consider the budget.
[1:20:45] Yes, we have all heard
[1:20:47] that the financial reports are coming.
[1:20:51] Who knows when the town has an audit that's ongoing.
[1:20:56] The town has consultants.
[1:20:58] The town has two select board members
[1:21:00] that have gone in great detail over
[1:21:03] what this budget should be.
[1:21:06] I think we should get on and discuss the budget
[1:21:09] and not worry about what is missing
[1:21:11] that will not change things.
[1:21:24] Carla Siegel again, I don't mean to cause trouble,
[1:21:27] but information is everything.
[1:21:32] And some of us have it and some of us don't.
[1:21:34] And I do trust our elected officials,
[1:21:38] but we audit for a reason.
[1:21:43] I don't think we should put the cart before the horse.
[1:21:47] I think we should mind our Ps and Qs.
[1:21:49] And I think it's the end of democracy when we start saying,
[1:21:52] oh, trust us, it's fine.
[1:21:54] We are supposed to be here to look at the information.
[1:21:58] We're supposed to have time to consider the information
[1:22:02] and I just don't think we should rush past that.
[1:22:09] We pause one sec. We need to pause
[1:22:12] One moment.
[1:22:13] The moment's recess.
[1:22:15] I only got the first part of,
[1:22:19] No, it, I mean Charlie, I don't, we need, we don't need
[1:22:23] to record it word for word. Okay.
[1:22:24] So then Jana. Okay. Jana point of information. Yes.
[1:22:29] You have a point of information. No, I can. Oh, okay.
[1:22:32] Thank you. Janice. I wanted
[1:22:35] To support, I wanted to say Exactly what
[1:22:37] Charlie said.
[1:22:39] Okay, well said.
[1:22:42] Is there any further discussion on the amendment?
[1:22:45] Michael and Jeremy? Michael.
[1:22:49] Michael Billingsley. I just wanted to say,
[1:22:53] I think this is appropriate that in our
[1:22:57] ongoing fiscal year, which ends in the, at the end of June,
[1:23:03] our present fiscal year is the one
[1:23:05] that has already been budgeted
[1:23:07] and the budget was approved in last year's town meeting
[1:23:10] that we're living by, I just speaking
[1:23:12] for emergency management have not expended all my budget
[1:23:17] and to report on it in part of the year.
[1:23:20] In other words, if somebody wants what's going on
[1:23:21] with emergency management, how long, how much of your budget
[1:23:25] that we allocated for you have you spent so far?
[1:23:29] We often spend somewhere close to 40%
[1:23:32] of our budget in the last three months of the fiscal year.
[1:23:35] And it wouldn't be helpful for you necessarily to know that
[1:23:37] unless we're vastly off track.
[1:23:40] So at any point
[1:23:42] that a report is made about the current year,
[1:23:44] it's always going to be a shifting landscape
[1:23:46] because each of the departments is spending money
[1:23:48] as it goes along, as the need arises.
[1:23:51] So I personally don't feel we're gonna gain much
[1:23:53] by changing the data, which we examine the financial data.
[1:23:57] Further discussion on the amendment.
[1:24:00] Jeremy?
[1:24:04] Jeremy, that's fine.
[1:24:07] I've spoken a lot. You can cheat. Okay. Which is it?
[1:24:10] Yeah. Jeremy first, I believe
[1:24:13] Jeremy, Matt.
[1:24:15] I also think that we have enough information to vote.
[1:24:17] We know what the costs are.
[1:24:18] I'd also be concerned about, you know, these important
[1:24:22] things that we're trying to fund here.
[1:24:24] Being left without a budget indefinitely
[1:24:28] until we get some financial reports
[1:24:31] that we don't know when they're gonna arrive.
[1:24:34] I don't know. I I just, I I I think
[1:24:36] that Charlie said it really well.
[1:24:37] So yeah. Vote no.
[1:24:44] Allison, joy, IL My question is,
[1:24:49] if we don't pass this today, how does this affect,
[1:24:54] for example, salaries of our road crew, et cetera?
[1:25:04] Dan, you wanna respond to that?
[1:25:05] So the budget year starts July 1st,
[1:25:08] and so as long as the budget is passed by July 1st,
[1:25:10] it wouldn't have any effect.
[1:25:11] I mean, even beyond that,
[1:25:13] there's provisions if we didn't somehow pass a
[1:25:15] budget for what our budget would be.
[1:25:17] So it's not gonna affect anybody's salaries.
[1:25:19] Folks are getting paid regularly. Okay.
[1:25:22] Any other further discussions? Betsy?
[1:25:27] It's coming.
[1:25:31] Hi, Betsy Zigler. I'm just disappointed.
[1:25:35] I feel like this is no way to run a business.
[1:25:38] This is our town business
[1:25:40] and we should know what we've spent,
[1:25:42] even if it's three quarters of the money spent.
[1:25:45] I, I have beyond the regional plan, regional
[1:25:50] solid waste district,
[1:25:51] and I said to long meetings of looking at spread sheets
[1:25:55] and looking at quarterly reports.
[1:25:58] I mean, this is how you should be running an organization.
[1:26:00] And I'm sorry, this person who was, was our treasurer is,
[1:26:04] was unavailable, but it seems like we're late in
[1:26:07] getting fixing that problem.
[1:26:12] Karen,
[1:26:17] Karen Hatcher.
[1:26:20] I just wanna say that I appreciate all the work
[1:26:23] that the board did to try and figure out this budget.
[1:26:25] And I also wanna just acknowledge that Josh Pitts
[1:26:29] put in a lot of time and energy
[1:26:31] and effort into creating the beginning of this budget.
[1:26:35] And yeah, it's, it is unfortunate that he took ill,
[1:26:39] but I think life's not perfect.
[1:26:44] You know, we've been dealing with a lot of things
[1:26:46] and this board has taken on a lot
[1:26:48] and I, I think that the kind of expertise that you went
[1:26:52] and got in Sarah Macy
[1:26:54] and the batch shelter group consulting with the League
[1:26:57] of Citizen Towns and doing your best work to create a budget
[1:27:00] that we, you know, that all of us
[1:27:03] who worked on it feel pretty good about.
[1:27:07] I think, you know, I would just say
[1:27:11] for me it's a, we should go ahead.
[1:27:13] I,
[1:27:18] Any, any further discussion on the amend on, on the,
[1:27:21] on the, on the motion.
[1:27:23] It's not an amendment, it's a motion.
[1:27:24] Any further discussion? Steve,
[1:27:26] Can you just clarify if we're voting no on this motion,
[1:27:30] that means it's going to be defeated
[1:27:32] and we're get a second chance to vote yes on the budget
[1:27:35] Or the amendment?
[1:27:36] What's the process if you vote no,
[1:27:37] the amendment will be defeated
[1:27:39] and we will go back to the original article.
[1:27:44] Is that, is that what you're asking? Yes.
[1:27:47] Any further discussion on the amendment?
[1:27:52] Glenda, is your hand up? I'm sorry. Okay.
[1:27:56] Seeing none, I shall read Sasha's amendment.
[1:28:01] Sasha, please again, correct me if I, if I get this wrong
[1:28:04] because which are Sasha moves
[1:28:07] to postpone the vote on Article two
[1:28:10] to an indefinite date After all financial
[1:28:13] reports have been received. Article
[1:28:15] 11.
[1:28:18] I didn't
[1:28:22] Oh, article 11.
[1:28:24] Yeah, I thank you.
[1:28:28] I moved to postpone the vote on Article 11
[1:28:32] to an indefinite date
[1:28:34] after all financial reports have been received,
[1:28:36] including those for 25, 26 fiscal year.
[1:28:41] All those in favor of the amendment say aye,
[1:28:45] Aye.
[1:28:46] All those opposed say no.
[1:28:48] No, those appear to have it
[1:28:52] and the nays do have it.
[1:28:54] And we are back to the original article.
[1:28:57] Further discussion on Article 11
[1:29:05] if you are ready for the question.
[1:29:07] Yep, Betsy.
[1:29:12] Okay, I'm looking at the,
[1:29:14] I think I'm looking at the budget.
[1:29:17] We are in the budget. Is there money allocated
[1:29:19] for the central Vermont Solid Waste Planning District?
[1:29:23] I don't see it. What what pa what Under what area
[1:29:29] Aren't we talking about the budget?
[1:29:31] Am I sorry, am I at the wrong?
[1:29:34] No, No, I I think that
[1:29:36] The article We're on article 11, which, which
[1:29:40] Does not, I'm, yes, I, okay,
[1:29:43] maybe I'm in the wrong spot,
[1:29:45] but I'm looking, I'm asking the select board,
[1:29:47] where in the select board's budget did they allocate money
[1:29:51] for the central Vermont Solid waste planning districts?
[1:29:55] Thank you.
[1:29:57] Okay, Dan?
[1:29:59] Yeah, so we have a, a section
[1:30:01] of the budget called public safety.
[1:30:04] Okay. Oh, I, I'm looking at the,
[1:30:08] let me see if I can find it on the pages
[1:30:10] 'cause I'm looking at the spreadsheet.
[1:30:12] Page 46,
[1:30:15] Number 75, Number 75.
[1:30:18] Apparently you guys are there faster than me
[1:30:20] because I was looking at the spreadsheet. 75
[1:30:22] Line 75. Line 75.
[1:30:24] There you go. It should be $1,900 for solid waste.
[1:30:29] Okay. Okay. Page 46, line 75.
[1:30:38] Thank you. That wasn't clear to me.
[1:30:42] Bob. Bob
[1:30:47] Enson, energy coordinator on page, I talked
[1:30:52] with Carl about this yesterday.
[1:30:53] We got on page 45, line 64,
[1:30:59] the energy conservation budget was put
[1:31:04] into the conservation commission budget.
[1:31:08] So I'd just like that to be weed out.
[1:31:09] It's not gonna change the amount at all
[1:31:12] in the overall budget figure,
[1:31:14] but I'd just like that
[1:31:15] to be Donnie
[1:31:20] Dan.
[1:31:21] So in, in an effort to make our computer system work better,
[1:31:24] Josh has been, was implementing some changes.
[1:31:26] It's really hard for our system if,
[1:31:29] if like literally one thing is its own
[1:31:31] department, so like energy.
[1:31:33] So we've been grouping things into departments.
[1:31:35] So your $500 budget is still your budget.
[1:31:38] It's just the way that it comes out on here.
[1:31:40] And the conservation commission has their own
[1:31:42] written, we just have to group things.
[1:31:43] So like public for example, solid waste being part
[1:31:46] of the public safety grouping.
[1:31:48] It's just the way that our online system works.
[1:31:50] And so we're trying to have this budget match
[1:31:53] what we use in the online system.
[1:31:54] So there's less confusion
[1:31:56] as we actually try to track things.
[1:31:57] I know there's been a regular problem
[1:31:59] of folks not knowing exactly
[1:32:00] how much might be in certain accounts
[1:32:02] or which committees have, which budgets left.
[1:32:04] And so we're try as in a way to do that.
[1:32:06] And we may be able to turn change the title
[1:32:07] of it in the future from Conservation Commission
[1:32:10] to Environmental Commissions or something.
[1:32:12] But that's the reason they're together. Okay?
[1:32:15] It's not that they're in control of the budget.
[1:32:17] Well, in trying to Avoid
[1:32:19] Confusion, you created confusion.
[1:32:22] Confusion for you left, confusion for office staff.
[1:32:27] Okay, further discussion.
[1:32:28] Article 11. Charlie.
[1:32:33] Charlie, yeah. Charlie Cobell.
[1:32:37] I've always been confused whether we can line item
[1:32:41] change the budget.
[1:32:44] That's just a que an open question.
[1:32:47] We certainly can change the bottom line,
[1:32:50] but I'm not gonna address that right now.
[1:32:53] The only thing in the budget that this body has control over
[1:32:58] are the salaries paid town officers.
[1:33:01] That's by statute and by our charter.
[1:33:05] That's the point of information I want to jump on
[1:33:08] to the budget itself.
[1:33:10] The budget itself proposes about 15% more
[1:33:15] expenditures, but that is balanced by revenues.
[1:33:20] Two lines of revenues, one hold harmless,
[1:33:24] $180,000
[1:33:27] and another prior year surplus,
[1:33:32] I hate to say who determined prior year surplus
[1:33:36] after all the discussion,
[1:33:37] but there's $200,000 in in the budget
[1:33:41] that brings the budget below level funded
[1:33:47] tax needs from the town.
[1:33:53] I would hope that the, the various items such as the flood
[1:33:59] received as revenues for reimbursement
[1:34:01] that are would come in in this fiscal year.
[1:34:03] I would assume that there are many other things
[1:34:06] that are totally unable
[1:34:09] to estimate was it sits now we have
[1:34:13] a better than level budget
[1:34:16] and we have an opportunity to vote
[1:34:20] that which is our taxes.
[1:34:23] I would say with all the uncertainties,
[1:34:26] this is about the best we're ever gonna get.
[1:34:29] So I, I support voting that as the budget
[1:34:34] and let it play out as it plays out.
[1:34:39] And we might hope to have $200,000 more in previous year
[1:34:43] because it was wrong.
[1:34:48] Any further discussion? No.
[1:34:50] Yeah, just, I'll just explain the,
[1:34:53] the previous year surplus.
[1:34:55] So a big part
[1:34:57] of our flood work is actually like our road crew spending
[1:35:00] time and energy on flood recovery, flood repair stuff.
[1:35:05] And so we're paying 'em in this year,
[1:35:07] we're paying their salaries
[1:35:09] and things like that in this year.
[1:35:11] And so when, when we get reimbursed, a lot
[1:35:14] of the reimbursement money comes right to the town.
[1:35:16] And so not all of it,
[1:35:18] but some of it is what we were push we're putting forward.
[1:35:20] And I'll say Josh, Josh Pitts had a whole spreadsheet of of,
[1:35:25] I mean I think he feels we could have a bigger number there,
[1:35:28] but in working with Sarah Macy,
[1:35:30] who's the director of finance from St.
[1:35:31] Albans town and working with our auditor,
[1:35:34] we felt the most conservative
[1:35:35] and comfortable number that we could put
[1:35:37] as prior year surplus was the 200,000.
[1:35:40] I will say Peter and I spent a frantic four
[1:35:43] or five days getting ourselves to a budget that was even,
[1:35:46] or at 2% without that 200,000.
[1:35:48] And then we reinstated funding once we found out for sure
[1:35:51] that that 200,000 was there.
[1:35:52] But we did have a plan, a plan B
[1:35:54] scenario in case we decided we couldn't do the surplus.
[1:35:57] But so three different folks, our treasurer,
[1:36:01] the director of finance from St.
[1:36:02] Albans and our auditor all felt that
[1:36:04] that 200,000 was a justifiable
[1:36:06] and pretty conservative number.
[1:36:08] Further discussion.
[1:36:10] Article 11 if you are ready for the question.
[1:36:15] The question is, shall the town approve total fund
[1:36:19] expenditures of
[1:36:20] $1,842,047
[1:36:24] and 44 cents to pay for administrative operations,
[1:36:29] fire and rescue department
[1:36:31] and highway department of the town of Plainfield
[1:36:34] for the period of July 1st, 2026
[1:36:37] to June 30, 20, 27 of which
[1:36:42] $1,326,787
[1:36:46] and 44 cents shall be raised by taxes
[1:36:51] and $515,260
[1:36:55] by non rev, by non-tax revenue.
[1:37:00] All those in favor of Article 11 please say aye. Aye.
[1:37:05] Opposed? No, the eyes appear to have it.
[1:37:10] The eyes do have it. And you've passed. Article 11,
[1:37:17] article 12.
[1:37:20] Article 12 reads, shall the town of Plainfield
[1:37:24] authorize the select board
[1:37:26] to apply any surplus from the current fiscal year
[1:37:31] to reduce taxes in the next fiscal year?
[1:37:35] May I have a motion on Article 12, please?
[1:37:39] Second, Jeremy Been moved
[1:37:42] and seconded to pass article
[1:37:44] 12 discussion.
[1:37:52] Seeing none. All those in favor of article 12 say, aye.
[1:37:56] Is there up? Yep, go ahead. Sorry.
[1:37:59] Aye Steve, we got
[1:38:01] A comment there.
[1:38:02] It was behind
[1:38:07] Garfield Barnes.
[1:38:08] I was just Garfield Barnes, your
[1:38:11] Name please.
[1:38:12] Garfield Barnes. Thank you.
[1:38:14] And I was just wondering if anything
[1:38:17] that was left over could be reserved as a contingency for,
[1:38:23] you know, like a rainy day rather than going through
[1:38:27] and having to have everybody
[1:38:30] get back 57 cents or $2 and whatever,
[1:38:34] or whatever it might be.
[1:38:37] Is that possible? It's our choice, right?
[1:38:41] Well, it is, it is our choice.
[1:38:42] So what typically happens is if there's un unattributed
[1:38:45] surplus at in June, at the end of June
[1:38:48] before anybody gets a tax bill, that surplus would then be
[1:38:52] put towards the next year
[1:38:55] and then the tax bills would be decided on.
[1:38:57] So the idea is, is it would buy down tax bills
[1:39:00] before the tax bills happen.
[1:39:01] And so this taxable amount that we just set of
[1:39:06] to raise of 1,326,000, et cetera,
[1:39:10] could become smaller if we have extra money.
[1:39:13] So that, that's the idea.
[1:39:15] We definitely don't have to do that.
[1:39:17] It's, I think what we've done at
[1:39:18] least as long as I've been in town.
[1:39:19] But it is a way for us
[1:39:21] to ensure the lowest tax rate possible for the residents of,
[1:39:25] of Plainfield for the discussion on Article 12.
[1:39:31] If you're ready for the question.
[1:39:33] The question is, shall the town
[1:39:36] of Plainfield authorize the select board
[1:39:38] to apply any surplus from the current fiscal year
[1:39:41] to reduce taxes in the next fiscal year?
[1:39:43] All those in favor say aye.
[1:39:46] Aye. Opposed? No, the ayes appear to have it.
[1:39:51] The ayes do have it. And you've passed Article 12.
[1:39:54] Article 13 shall the town vote
[1:39:58] to accept the provisions of public statutes relating
[1:40:02] to the collection of taxes by the town treasurer VSA
[1:40:07] section 30 VSA 32,
[1:40:10] section 47 91,
[1:40:13] and vote to collect municipal taxes 30 days from mailing
[1:40:17] and not prior and not prior to August 19th, 2026
[1:40:23] and collect school taxes
[1:40:26] on November 18th, 2026
[1:40:29] and February 10th, 2027, collecting half
[1:40:34] the total school taxes on each of those dates.
[1:40:39] May I have a motion on article 13?
[1:40:43] Motion Been moved. Is there a second?
[1:40:47] Second Discussion on Article 13?
[1:40:55] None. Seeing none.
[1:41:00] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? No.
[1:41:05] Ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it.
[1:41:07] And you've passed Article 13, article 14
[1:41:12] to transact any other business
[1:41:14] that may properly come before the meeting.
[1:41:17] Michael.
[1:41:24] Thank you Michael Billingsley.
[1:41:28] I wanted to take this opportunity
[1:41:29] because it's going to be pretty clearly to me.
[1:41:33] My last report as Emergency management director.
[1:41:38] I announced to the select board in November.
[1:41:42] I think that I was planning to step down in the spring.
[1:41:44] It was pretty, it was a soft date initially,
[1:41:48] although I did have May 1st
[1:41:50] as my assistant is leaving her job.
[1:41:52] And I felt it would be hard to continue
[1:41:55] after that in full capacity.
[1:41:57] But I fell down a flight of stairs in December and,
[1:42:01] and tripped at the top and, and
[1:42:03] and permanently pulled a tenant away from my shoulder and,
[1:42:08] and had a concussion and stuff.
[1:42:10] And so I pretty much saw that as a sign
[1:42:13] that I better be definite.
[1:42:15] I knew that exhaustion and distraction played into that.
[1:42:18] And I don't think at this point I didn't want
[1:42:21] to celebrate my 80th birthday in June
[1:42:22] and still be in this capacity.
[1:42:25] So I'm pulling away from it.
[1:42:26] But in the context of doing that, I also wanted to say that
[1:42:30] what lies ahead on some level I can be
[1:42:34] very optimistic about.
[1:42:36] We have, and on another level, I'm,
[1:42:39] I'm feeling a little bit glum, but first of all, we do have,
[1:42:44] and and probably I should say
[1:42:45] for the first time in a long time,
[1:42:47] we have a very solid public safety presence.
[1:42:50] And I'm using public safety in this context,
[1:42:52] not the way it's written in the budget,
[1:42:54] but the way it's defined at the state level.
[1:42:56] There is a department of public safety.
[1:42:57] Underneath of it are the police are the,
[1:43:00] which would be equivalent to our constable.
[1:43:03] There's also emergency management,
[1:43:05] there's also hazard mitigation, there's also all
[1:43:09] of the attendant things to keep people safe.
[1:43:12] That's what public safety is.
[1:43:13] And here in town, we have a really wonderful team right now
[1:43:18] with a constable, a public health officer,
[1:43:22] a emergency management coordinator,
[1:43:26] animal control officer and emergency,
[1:43:28] and an emergency management assistant and GIS mapper.
[1:43:32] And in order to go forward to have those services continued
[1:43:36] to be present for the town, I'm laying
[1:43:40] and have been laying that groundwork
[1:43:42] for the last six months.
[1:43:43] So I can announce that I have two very strong candidates
[1:43:46] to take my place and
[1:43:48] that they will be stepping into position when I
[1:43:51] retire on the 1st of May.
[1:43:53] I'm also working on finding the funding
[1:43:56] to have another emergency management assistant paid
[1:43:59] for in this case by AmeriCorps, starting in the summer,
[1:44:03] working under the new person who would take my place.
[1:44:05] So we can look forward to that.
[1:44:07] And then in the past, of course, we've had an enormously
[1:44:11] grueling year actually as Karen Hatcher certainly can speak
[1:44:14] to and Josh, but our funding group started out with all
[1:44:17] of the multiple ways in which we've lost money in which
[1:44:20] we've been hurt as a town by a constant procession of floods
[1:44:25] and, and financial disasters in a sense
[1:44:28] because there's a lot of costs going out.
[1:44:30] And we still don't know that all of those costs
[1:44:32] and monies are gonna come back.
[1:44:35] And so with our volunteers, people
[1:44:39] who have put in tremendous amount of time, we've pulled
[1:44:42] through that particular rough patch, we're now waiting
[1:44:45] to see what the federal government would do.
[1:44:48] I mean, I'm familiar in, as most of you are, that floods
[1:44:51] and are,
[1:44:54] we're about our biggest issue all along in history.
[1:44:56] I mean, I grew up in Northfield
[1:44:59] and went to elementary school there
[1:45:00] and I saw floods in Northfield
[1:45:02] and there are floods in any valley town,
[1:45:04] and we're going to see those again in the future.
[1:45:06] What we've always counted on is having the federal
[1:45:09] government assist us.
[1:45:10] We've always counted on the fact that when we,
[1:45:14] and it's through the state, a lot of that funding comes.
[1:45:16] The state receives a big chunk of money from fema.
[1:45:19] And what I now know is that this war
[1:45:21] that has just gotten engaged in in the last three days is
[1:45:25] costing a billion dollars a day.
[1:45:30] That money is coming from the quote savings accomplished
[1:45:34] by Doge as they gutted federal department
[1:45:38] after federal department
[1:45:39] and took away many of the skilled people
[1:45:42] that have helped our country navigate
[1:45:45] through enormous disasters.
[1:45:47] We've lost a skilled team or part of a skilled team
[1:45:50] and we're lost the money.
[1:45:52] Just got the notification on Thursday that fema,
[1:45:56] which has taken a lot of its budget under the decision
[1:46:00] of the Director of Homeland Security under which FEMA is,
[1:46:04] they're almost outta money.
[1:46:06] They haven't been putting new money in
[1:46:08] and they have not been basically squirreling away money
[1:46:12] for an increasingly damaging future
[1:46:15] from the point of view of climate.
[1:46:16] So we're all going to have
[1:46:18] to pull together a whole lot more than we have.
[1:46:21] And our state will be greatly stressed because the 30%
[1:46:26] or so of what our disaster recovery costs
[1:46:30] and it come in some instances up to close
[1:46:32] to 75% has been coming from the feds, may not come anymore.
[1:46:38] So I'm just kind of warning you in a, in a,
[1:46:41] in an encouraging way to, to, to,
[1:46:45] to believe that yes,
[1:46:48] Vermont is probably in a better position to weather
[1:46:53] all of the likely disasters
[1:46:55] that are still heading down the pike toward us
[1:46:57] because climate is not getting any cooler.
[1:47:00] The num amount of moisture in the environment is not
[1:47:03] reducing, it's increasing, which means the storms
[1:47:05] that we have will continue to both, both pound us
[1:47:08] and perhaps pound us work more
[1:47:11] water than even we experienced last year,
[1:47:13] which is unbelievable and hard to take in.
[1:47:16] So I want all of you to pull together, please
[1:47:20] to put aside the bickering,
[1:47:22] to put aside all the ways in which you might not
[1:47:24] comfortably work together.
[1:47:26] 'cause we're going to need to work together.
[1:47:29] We need to be a team no matter what our backgrounds are,
[1:47:32] our education, whether we voted for
[1:47:34] or against Trump, whether
[1:47:36] or not we support any particular kind of political party.
[1:47:40] This is a Vermont town with a long history
[1:47:43] and a lot of the history has included disasters
[1:47:46] where people have pulled together in the past.
[1:47:48] I'm encouraging you you to continue to do
[1:47:50] that again in the future.
[1:47:52] And I hope from the town's point of view
[1:47:54] that we can have a skilled emergency management team working
[1:47:58] to see our way through each disaster as it occurs.
[1:48:02] But I thank you for all your support
[1:48:03] for the select board support and for everyone else's support
[1:48:06] and let us go forward hopefully
[1:48:08] with optimism and collaboration.
[1:48:31] Thank you Michael. I know I speak for this entire town.
[1:48:34] When I say to say you have gone above
[1:48:37] and beyond is the understatement of the year.
[1:48:40] Michael has been phenomenal.
[1:48:44] Thank you so much for all you've given
[1:48:54] other business, Becky?
[1:48:56] Yes, Pies.
[1:48:58] We still have some pie slices here
[1:49:01] and if you've already had a piece
[1:49:04] and would like to put your used fork in this container,
[1:49:08] we will give it back to you next year.
[1:49:11] But, but it'll, it'll be, it'll be clean
[1:49:15] Other, So please, please bring your forks back and come
[1:49:20] and get another piece of pie that we've got about,
[1:49:22] I don't know how many, but they look wonderful.
[1:49:25] Thank you.
[1:49:27] Thank you. Bob. Are you
[1:49:39] For usual?
[1:49:40] Michael is a extremely hard act to follow,
[1:49:43] but I just wanna give you a quick little summary from
[1:49:47] energy coordinator.
[1:49:49] We've started to spend down the
[1:49:52] municipal Energy resilience program, grant Money merp
[1:49:57] and the town garage has benefited from
[1:50:01] two brand new overhead doors that, guess what?
[1:50:04] You don't have to climb down out of the grater
[1:50:06] to get the door open by pulling the chain fall,
[1:50:10] push a little button and it goes open for you.
[1:50:12] So there's a big improvement there that I'm hoping
[1:50:16] is much appreciated.
[1:50:17] And we've also contracted for solar array
[1:50:20] for the roof of the town garage.
[1:50:22] And I was able to get the group net metering thing in place
[1:50:27] so that that power can be shared throughout the other
[1:50:31] buildings owned by the town that's going on.
[1:50:38] We're gonna have a few meetings with the building managers
[1:50:42] coming up and seeing what we can best do for each facility
[1:50:47] as we go down through that.
[1:50:49] It's been really difficult.
[1:50:52] Everybody knows by having budget cuts
[1:50:56] that Michael was referring to,
[1:50:59] we've lost the 30% incentive as of the end of last year.
[1:51:04] There are still opportunities through efficiency Vermont,
[1:51:08] because by rate payers as a demand side utility.
[1:51:12] So would you please read the, my report
[1:51:16] and the town report?
[1:51:19] And if you've got any questions, please see me
[1:51:22] and we will see if we can work out the best way together.
[1:51:26] Solar still remains a very good value
[1:51:29] and a way to make power that is not involved
[1:51:33] with the fossil fuels of the world.
[1:51:36] Take care. Thank you.
[1:51:42] Okay. It's it's gonna be
[1:51:44] Next up.
[1:51:45] Paula, Karen, and then Jeremy.
[1:51:48] I have a question. I'm Paula Emery, can you hear me?
[1:51:51] Hi, are your hands up?
[1:51:56] Yes. Okay, you're on stack.
[1:52:01] I have a question about page 21,
[1:52:02] statement of delinquent taxes.
[1:52:06] The amount the balance owed for 2024 seems so high.
[1:52:11] 55,000.
[1:52:12] And I was wondering if anybody on the select board could
[1:52:15] speak to that.
[1:52:16] Is, is does this have to do with the flood?
[1:52:19] Is this, are these taxes, are people
[1:52:23] who lost their homes still responsible for paying taxes?
[1:52:27] And I, I just would love to hear a little bit
[1:52:31] of information about how that works.
[1:52:36] Peter, Peter And Sasha.
[1:52:41] Here's your notebook.
[1:52:48] Peter Young bear. Paul,
[1:52:50] I heard two different questions there.
[1:52:51] The, I'll take the second one first.
[1:52:54] Do people who lost their homes, are they still paying taxes?
[1:52:58] The answer is yes, but in most cases, the listers
[1:53:03] and if not all cases,
[1:53:04] and the listers can correct me here if I'm wrong,
[1:53:06] but the land values
[1:53:09] and house values were much reduced.
[1:53:14] There was a major, I, I can't remember how many,
[1:53:18] some 30, 32, 36 properties where we abated taxes
[1:53:24] in the, the year immediately following the flood.
[1:53:26] And then the reappraisals took those reduced
[1:53:29] values into account.
[1:53:32] So that's that the first part of your question had to do
[1:53:36] with the delinquent tax collectors report.
[1:53:39] And I was just trying to look back to the year
[1:53:43] before from last year's report.
[1:53:47] It is not unusual to see the high number in the most
[1:53:50] recent year.
[1:53:53] What it doesn't show, this was, this is also for the year
[1:53:56] that ended June 30th.
[1:53:58] So it's not what's going on in the current year.
[1:54:02] That is, this is the report for the year that ended already.
[1:54:06] So
[1:54:08] Karen,
[1:54:16] Steve, you got Steve.
[1:54:22] Thank you. I just wanted to take a moment to thank
[1:54:27] and acknowledge Carl bis.
[1:54:29] Yeah,
[1:54:53] you are well loved Carl,
[1:54:55] and you will be missed on this board,
[1:54:57] but I'm sure you will be everywhere the way you have been.
[1:55:02] I just have been honored to work
[1:55:04] with you these last two years.
[1:55:08] There is no one with a bigger heart for this town than you.
[1:55:13] And I don't know
[1:55:16] what I would've done without you as a partner.
[1:55:18] And I just wanna say how much I love you
[1:55:20] and I, I appreciate all that you've done
[1:55:22] and all the ways that you have led during these really,
[1:55:26] really difficult times.
[1:55:27] So thank you for being my friend and for being our friend.
[1:55:31] Appreciate it.
[1:55:40] Karen. I Would just like to take the
[1:55:43] A moment to say amen.
[1:55:48] Jeremy. Jeremy, you're up.
[1:55:54] Hi everyone. Well that was a tough act to follow.
[1:55:58] Just wanted to give a quick update on CV. Fiber.
[1:56:00] I don't really have anything prepared,
[1:56:03] but some really good news.
[1:56:05] We got a rather large grant from the federal government
[1:56:08] that will allow us to continue building
[1:56:11] and we'll build out the rest of our network.
[1:56:13] We are going to all addresses that are on grid is kind
[1:56:18] of a, a little bit of the line.
[1:56:20] There's some detail there if you want to talk to me.
[1:56:24] I'm over here. The other good news is
[1:56:28] that Plainfield is kind of front of the line.
[1:56:32] Plainfield, Marshfield, orange.
[1:56:33] That area is where our first phase of build is going
[1:56:36] to be once the bead funding arrives.
[1:56:40] However, that is a little bit of a
[1:56:44] uncertainty because there's so much federal red tape
[1:56:47] that needs to be completed.
[1:56:49] There's, you know, this review in that review
[1:56:52] and environmental reviews.
[1:56:56] I don't have a firm date still, which is frustrating.
[1:56:59] I, you know, I've been at this for, you know, close
[1:57:03] to a decade now, trying to push this forward
[1:57:06] and we're still working on it
[1:57:08] and we still don't have a date of like,
[1:57:10] we're gonna be served by this and such a date.
[1:57:12] But we're getting close.
[1:57:14] And yeah, if you have any questions, come by
[1:57:17] and have a chat with me.
[1:57:19] Thanks all.
[1:57:27] Alicias. Oh, I'm sorry, I got it out of order.
[1:57:31] But Betsy's next after
[1:57:34] You're outta Florida.
[1:57:36] Alicia Weiss, I am a member.
[1:57:38] I'm the chair, current chair
[1:57:40] of the playing Field Accessibility Advisory Group.
[1:57:44] And I wanna rec, sorry. Okay, better. I'm a New Yorker.
[1:57:47] I always think I'm too loud. Thanks. I wanna recognize that.
[1:57:52] I want us all to think about the fact that
[1:57:55] although some people chose not to come today,
[1:57:57] there are people who are not represented in this room
[1:58:00] because they couldn't be here for accessibility reasons.
[1:58:04] Accessibility means more than having a lift,
[1:58:08] which I'm glad we have.
[1:58:10] Vermont is one of unique,
[1:58:14] the unique states in the, in our union, if you will, that
[1:58:20] has voting laws that fly in the face
[1:58:25] of the Americans with Disability Act
[1:58:27] and its own disability laws,
[1:58:31] which in fact are more expansive than the a DA.
[1:58:35] The a DA needs to be the floor.
[1:58:37] It doesn't need to be the ceiling.
[1:58:39] And we have made our disability protections
[1:58:42] for inclusion stronger in Vermont.
[1:58:45] But the Vermont voting laws, which
[1:58:50] you know, began hundreds of years ago
[1:58:54] and more recently, the Secretary of States
[1:58:58] interpretation of them
[1:59:01] have really amounted whether intentionally
[1:59:04] or not to voter suppression for many, many people
[1:59:09] with disabilities.
[1:59:10] And that's not all people
[1:59:12] who are not able to be in the room.
[1:59:13] Maybe people with children
[1:59:16] with special, you know, with needs.
[1:59:18] They can't be accommodated at the daycare,
[1:59:22] which we thoughtfully provide people who are elderly, people
[1:59:26] with transportation issues of right people.
[1:59:29] It's a class issue. People who can't,
[1:59:32] don't get this day off, can't afford
[1:59:34] to take a day off unpaid and don't have personal days.
[1:59:40] Why am I telling you though,
[1:59:41] this other Vince is say you a bummer.
[1:59:44] I mean, we rarely think of ourselves as being a very caring,
[1:59:46] inclusive state and and town.
[1:59:51] The accessibility advisory committee is going to be
[1:59:56] launching a public education
[2:00:00] and outreach program this year, which we,
[2:00:05] our intention is to bring an article for the
[2:00:11] somewhat revision of how we do town meeting
[2:00:16] some alterations, modifications to
[2:00:20] this group next year.
[2:00:23] Okay. As an article, what I'm asking you is to just,
[2:00:28] you know, we all have really busy lives
[2:00:31] and we all get way too many notifications,
[2:00:35] but it real, we really need everyone to, when we
[2:00:40] put out calls for input or we have public meetings
[2:00:45] 'cause we wanna educate people
[2:00:46] and we want to hear what you say.
[2:00:48] Have to say, we wanna come to a solution together, not
[2:00:51] by us showing up and suggesting one or trying to impose one.
[2:00:56] Please take time out of your schedules to think about
[2:01:01] the people who may wanna be here
[2:01:02] and are, you know, we pride ourselves a lot on participatory
[2:01:05] democracy, see, in Vermont,
[2:01:08] but it's not participatory democracy.
[2:01:11] If people can't attend floor votes are usually
[2:01:16] maybe only 2% as they're currently conducted
[2:01:20] of people in a town.
[2:01:22] There are ways to make that better. We can do better.
[2:01:25] Vermont actually ranked 49th in terms
[2:01:28] of disability voting access,
[2:01:31] which I think is pretty appalling.
[2:01:33] So again, thank you all for being here
[2:01:37] and thank you all for being the people I know we are
[2:01:40] as a town who care.
[2:01:41] And I'd like to echo Michael's
[2:01:47] request, his ask or maybe even plea for us to come together.
[2:01:51] You know what? Social media, I often feel that we
[2:01:54] as a species have not evolved as quickly
[2:01:56] as our technology is.
[2:01:58] And social media for all it's good evils
[2:02:03] and in between seems to have unleashed
[2:02:09] a tendency for us
[2:02:11] to put things out there without thinking about the effect
[2:02:14] things we might not say to people
[2:02:17] or might not say to people if we didn't
[2:02:20] or might not say if we didn't have access to public media.
[2:02:25] And this goes for everyone. Let's not just be critical.
[2:02:29] Let's think critically.
[2:02:32] If there, you know, I see on all ends of the spectrum,
[2:02:37] all political sides, all sides of issues in,
[2:02:40] in this town that have been divisive.
[2:02:42] I see people making assumptions
[2:02:44] and attributions about people they don't know.
[2:02:47] What is their motivation for doing this?
[2:02:49] What is their motivation for not wanting to do this?
[2:02:52] Ask someone or at least put the question out there.
[2:02:55] But please, let's stop assuming
[2:02:57] that we know why people are taking positions they're taking,
[2:03:00] as Michael says, we're going to need each other a lot more.
[2:03:05] You know, I ju it's not just in terms
[2:03:07] of Envir environment right now.
[2:03:10] States are scrambling to
[2:03:14] ensure voting rights
[2:03:15] because federally,
[2:03:17] there's a good chance they're going to be decimated.
[2:03:19] We really need each other
[2:03:21] for the good people we are fi Finally,
[2:03:24] I wanna say thank you to Michael.
[2:03:26] You are unbelievable.
[2:03:29] You know, you, you're sort of in many ways, not all,
[2:03:32] but many ways who I want to be when I grow up
[2:03:34] as an ethical conscious
[2:03:36] and you know, someone with mindful service.
[2:03:40] So thanks everyone.
[2:03:48] Thank you. I just wanna say a couple things.
[2:03:51] Betsy Ziegler is my name.
[2:03:54] I'm requesting that in the next report we say it's the
[2:03:57] central Vermont Solid Waste Management District
[2:04:00] that's receiving the money from, so that it's not confused
[2:04:04] with the Northeast kingdom.
[2:04:07] You know, there's other solid waste management districts.
[2:04:10] Okay, thank you. And the solid Waste Management district has
[2:04:14] now opened the Eco Depot, which is up on Granger Road.
[2:04:19] And it will take all kinds of hazardous waste.
[2:04:22] It will also take just
[2:04:27] especially recyclable items
[2:04:32] such as batteries, light bulbs,
[2:04:37] other devices like computers, anything, anything
[2:04:41] that has mercury, propane tanks, et cetera, et cetera.
[2:04:45] If you're not sure what to do with something that needs
[2:04:47] to be disposed, check their website or call them
[2:04:51] or email them.
[2:04:52] But you can make an appointment Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
[2:04:56] So they're open now
[2:04:58] and a lot of the alternative recycling items are free.
[2:05:03] So thank you. And the other thing is, as a representative,
[2:05:07] I could use an alternative alternate.
[2:05:09] I could use an alternative too. But anyway, I could use it.
[2:05:12] We could use an alternate.
[2:05:14] So if there's anybody interested,
[2:05:16] they're a really well run organization
[2:05:18] and it's a worthwhile spending.
[2:05:22] It's usually worthwhile spending their time at the meeting.
[2:05:25] I wanna say one more thing.
[2:05:27] Thank you to the people who are leaving us
[2:05:30] and who have put in so much over the last years
[2:05:35] Damn f Carl Bishop.
[2:05:42] And I wanna, I also, I also wanna say thank you
[2:05:47] to our town clerk, Graham Tobin, who's leaving as well.
[2:05:52] They, all of you
[2:05:54] and many others have served us very with, with, with
[2:05:58] unbelievable amount of time
[2:06:00] and energy over the last few years.
[2:06:03] Not much. Thank you.
[2:06:10] I believe you have something, make a statement
[2:06:13] and then hand it up to us please.
[2:06:15] Ray Carter. Two things.
[2:06:17] One is there's an update on the playing field Resilience hub
[2:06:20] info sheet floating around.
[2:06:22] That's an update from what's in the
[2:06:23] town report if you are interested.
[2:06:24] It's on a few different tables.
[2:06:25] And I'm also here to make a motion
[2:06:29] for a non-binding advisory resolution
[2:06:32] to petition the Vermont State legislature to adopt the right
[2:06:35] to grow food and restore the regulation of farming and farm
[2:06:39] and farming and farm businesses to the Vermont Agency
[2:06:43] of Agriculture Food and Markets.
[2:06:45] I've never done this before, so I don't know if I
[2:06:47] say something else.
[2:06:48] You said, I make a motion that, and
[2:06:50] So I am making a motion for the non-binding advisory
[2:06:53] resolution second,
[2:06:55] Jeremy.
[2:06:56] Okay. Okay. If you hand it up,
[2:06:57] I'll not the microphone.
[2:07:02] Thank you very much. Oh, that's mine. Yeah, sure. Yeah.
[2:07:07] Can I have my copy? Yes.
[2:07:13] Okay. So it's been moved and seconded.
[2:07:16] This is the right to grow food.
[2:07:17] This is how Ray Rays
[2:07:20] resolution reads a non-binding resolution to petition
[2:07:24] the state legislature to adopt the right to grow food
[2:07:29] and restore the regulation of farming
[2:07:31] and farm business to the Vermont Agency
[2:07:34] of Agriculture and Food Markets.
[2:07:37] This non-binding resolution is intended
[2:07:40] to encourage the state legislature
[2:07:43] to restore the longstanding exemption for farms
[2:07:46] and municipal zonings
[2:07:47] and to codify the right to grow fruit
[2:07:50] that clearly includes the right to raise livestock
[2:07:55] and to sell agricultural products.
[2:07:58] The Vermont Supreme Court ruled on May 30th, 2025
[2:08:05] re Taft Street, DRB
[2:08:07] and NOVO Appeals 2025 Vermont.
[2:08:11] That farming is not
[2:08:14] exempt from all municipal regulation.
[2:08:16] Instead, the court interpreted exemption in 24
[2:08:21] VSA section 4 4 1 3D one A,
[2:08:26] the multiple zoning statute as a reference only
[2:08:30] to the policies and standards intended
[2:08:33] to reduce agricultural and water pollution.
[2:08:36] The court concluded
[2:08:38] that municipalities may regulate all aspects of farming
[2:08:42] that do not relate to water quality,
[2:08:45] thereby setting a new precedent.
[2:08:47] In stark contrast to the previous statewide understanding
[2:08:52] that farming is exempt from municipal regulations.
[2:08:58] Granting municipalities this new authority allows them
[2:09:02] to determine where farming may or not occur
[2:09:05] and potentially require new permitting for the events,
[2:09:09] for events, farm structures and other farming activities.
[2:09:13] All of which would add regulatory hurdles,
[2:09:16] operational costs,
[2:09:17] and additional burdens to farms, many
[2:09:20] of which already struggle with financial vulnerability
[2:09:23] and viability as all qualifying farms are subject
[2:09:28] to wraps required agricultural practices overseen
[2:09:33] by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture
[2:09:35] and Food Markets, regardless of their relationship
[2:09:38] to a water body.
[2:09:41] This ruling and newly granted authority creates
[2:09:46] where a farm is located.
[2:09:48] It it could, I'm sorry, a confusing
[2:09:51] and complex regardless of their relationship.
[2:09:54] This ruling and newly granted authority creates a confusing
[2:09:58] and complex mosaic of regulatory oversight
[2:10:01] that farms now face, which depend on
[2:10:04] where a farm is located.
[2:10:07] It could be subject to different levels of local regulations
[2:10:10] and oversight that others are not exposed to.
[2:10:15] Town by town farm regulation
[2:10:18] variances create a patchwork
[2:10:20] of regulatory framework across the state,
[2:10:23] which will be difficult to navigate and administer.
[2:10:27] This ruling also raises questions
[2:10:29] for farmers whose operations cross town lines potentially
[2:10:33] requiring different regulations for different parts
[2:10:35] of their farm properties.
[2:10:37] All subject to change over time, allowing municipalities
[2:10:42] to regulate private
[2:10:43] and commercial food production
[2:10:46] threatens the agricultural economy with inconsistent
[2:10:49] and destabilizing regulations for farmers across the state
[2:10:53] as well as for institutions that help keep farming alive.
[2:10:57] In Vermont, farmers are already grappling
[2:11:00] with many emerging challenges, including flooding
[2:11:03] and other impacts of a changing climate, changing
[2:11:06] to fed changes to federal funds and widespread inflation.
[2:11:10] Opening the door for municipal regulation
[2:11:13] of farms contradicts the longstanding policies, culture,
[2:11:17] and precedent that has protected Vermont's rights
[2:11:20] to farm the land
[2:11:22] and that farm the land they have access
[2:11:24] to hindering Vermont's ability to produce its own food.
[2:11:28] And by extension,
[2:11:30] comprising compromising the state's food security.
[2:11:34] The longstanding interpretation
[2:11:36] of the legislative intent has been
[2:11:38] that agriculture is not subject to municipal regulations,
[2:11:42] including practices defined by the jurisdiction of the state
[2:11:45] of ag, of state agency of agriculture, food and markets.
[2:11:51] Almost there folks. The new ruling
[2:11:56] diverges from this interpretation intent
[2:11:59] and now draws a distinction between regulation
[2:12:01] of agricultural practices broadly
[2:12:04] and the regulation of agricultural practices
[2:12:07] as they apply specifically to water quality impacts.
[2:12:11] This resolution proposes to resolve this divergence
[2:12:15] and return the ag exemption
[2:12:17] of 24 VSA section 4 4 1 3D one a,
[2:12:22] back to its original intent, as well as to codify
[2:12:26] the right to grow food for anyone engaging in substance
[2:12:30] or cultivating practices that are beneath the criteria
[2:12:34] of the RAP rule in order to protect the rights of the public
[2:12:38] to engage in food growing practices on any land they
[2:12:42] have access to.
[2:12:45] Has there been a second been
[2:12:50] moved and seconded? Discussion?
[2:12:53] Oh A second. Oh, I'm sorry.
[2:12:56] There's this, there's a back page.
[2:13:04] Okay. Therefore, okay,
[2:13:05] I'm gonna skip this part, be it resolved.
[2:13:09] Here's here, here's, I think this is the meat of it, Ray,
[2:13:12] please correct me if I have this wrong.
[2:13:13] Please. Therefore be it resolved that the town
[2:13:18] of Plainfield petitions the
[2:13:20] legislature of the state of Vermont.
[2:13:21] Two, restore the municipal zoning exemption for farming
[2:13:25] and ensure statewide consistency in the regulation
[2:13:29] of farming and agriculture under the authority
[2:13:32] and expertise of the Vermont Agency
[2:13:34] of Agriculture, food and Markets.
[2:13:36] Codify the right to grow food
[2:13:39] that explicitly includes livestock, protect the right
[2:13:44] of Vermonters to grow, raise, produce, donate,
[2:13:47] and sell the food they have produced, relieve municipalities
[2:13:52] of unintended regulatory burdens resulting from
[2:13:56] judicial interpretation.
[2:14:00] This resolution is in solidarity with ongoing organism
[2:14:04] and advocate and advocacy of rural Vermont.
[2:14:07] The Vermont Farm Bureau, Aramark Cabot,
[2:14:10] Vermont Dairy produces Alliance, nofa, Vermont nofa,
[2:14:15] Vermont, Vermont Association of Conservation Districts
[2:14:19] and the Connecticut River Watershed Farmers Alliance Farm
[2:14:24] to Plate, American Farmland Trust, the Land Access
[2:14:28] and Opportunity Board, more organizations and farmers
[2:14:33] and communities and more across our state discussion
[2:14:39] Or to this, James,
[2:14:42] I'm not calling on you, he's calling on you.
[2:14:44] I'm, I'm just pointing it out. Okay. Yeah.
[2:14:48] Toby Buxton, could you read
[2:14:50] sentence number eight in paragraph 64?
[2:14:55] No, I'm just get, so that was way too much.
[2:14:58] So could you just read what the resolution is? Not the whole
[2:15:03] Okay.
[2:15:04] I thought I just did, I fell asleep in the preamble,
[2:15:06] but because I agree with that, but I
[2:15:08] I'm happy to do it again.
[2:15:09] Thank you.
[2:15:13] It, So the resolution
[2:15:14] therefore be it resolved that the town
[2:15:17] of Plainfield petitions the legislature of the state
[2:15:21] of Vermont two, restore the municipal zoning exemption
[2:15:25] for farming and ensure
[2:15:28] statewide consistency in the regulation of farming
[2:15:31] and agriculture under the authority
[2:15:33] and expertise of the Vermont Agency
[2:15:36] of Agriculture Food and Markets.
[2:15:38] That's one bullet point.
[2:15:40] The second bullet point codify a right to grow food
[2:15:44] that explicitly includes livestock.
[2:15:47] The next bullet point, protect the right of Roman Vermonters
[2:15:51] to grow, raise, produce, donate,
[2:15:54] and sell the food they have produced.
[2:15:56] And the final bullet point, relieve municipalities
[2:16:00] of unintended regulatory burdens resulting from
[2:16:04] judicial interpretation.
[2:16:08] Ray, I just wanna make sure we have it exactly
[2:16:10] right wherever you are.
[2:16:12] Yeah, I I did not write this. Yes. This is why Yes.
[2:16:16] That is what is proposed by all of those
[2:16:17] Organizations that you Okay.
[2:16:19] Further discussion in that case.
[2:16:22] Ellen? Oh, I'm sorry. Where, where are we? Janice?
[2:16:26] Janice, Janice first and then, and then Ellen.
[2:16:28] I think I just wanna speak from a town perspective
[2:16:33] and a member of the DRB
[2:16:36] adding more municipal rules by volunteer boards in towns
[2:16:41] that we don't have any expertise over controlling farms
[2:16:44] and far people growing food is not a wise idea.
[2:16:47] So as a town representative, if somebody has
[2:16:50] to enforce rules, I do not support what happened in the law.
[2:16:55] And I support us wholeheartedly allowing people to grow food
[2:16:59] and care for animals.
[2:17:01] And there are other ways, if we find issues with people care
[2:17:04] for livestock, we can deal with that through animal control
[2:17:09] and through the state to main situations.
[2:17:11] So we don't need more laws in towns to regulate things
[2:17:15] that we already have laws for,
[2:17:17] and we need people to be able to grow food
[2:17:19] and share food without municipal rules.
[2:17:21] So that's what I want to say.
[2:17:28] Ellen,
[2:17:35] I I don't know about everyone else. We need your
[2:17:36] Name again. Ellen. Sorry,
[2:17:38] What's that? Your,
[2:17:39] Your name?
[2:17:40] Oh, Ellen Sitz. Thank you.
[2:17:43] I didn't have a chance of being able to process all that.
[2:17:49] I can't imagine that I wouldn't wanna support this
[2:17:52] just based on what I could understand,
[2:17:55] but I,
[2:17:58] I ha I find it really difficult when we had non-binding
[2:18:01] proposals at the end of long meetings
[2:18:06] to really be informed about voting on them.
[2:18:09] And this is more of a, a question about that process.
[2:18:13] I know we can't warn these proposals ahead
[2:18:18] of time if they're non-binding,
[2:18:21] but can we at least get information ahead
[2:18:24] of time from anybody who is planning
[2:18:29] to propose something new
[2:18:40] Okay. In the balcony.
[2:18:42] Yeah. I support what race that proposed.
[2:18:47] I know she didn't write you to your name, please.
[2:18:49] Deb Barnwell. I used to work at the color.
[2:18:53] From everything I've been reading online,
[2:18:54] there is a tremendous amount
[2:18:56] of pressure from the billionaires
[2:18:58] to greatly suppress our freedom of sovereignty
[2:19:02] with seed saving, food growing,
[2:19:05] and keeping it within our freedom to be able to do,
[2:19:10] they have a large attention.
[2:19:12] Bill Gates specifically who owns a great percentage
[2:19:15] of every seeds seed bank on the planet to
[2:19:21] interfere with our freedom as far as seed savings,
[2:19:25] food sovereignty, globally.
[2:19:27] It's not just here that they're trying to do this too.
[2:19:31] And I feel like this is an extremely important thing
[2:19:33] that need to be researching.
[2:19:35] I'm very upset the fact that
[2:19:37] that legislation has already inhibited our
[2:19:40] ability to do some of this.
[2:19:42] And they have every intention of pushing that envelope
[2:19:45] as far as they can.
[2:19:51] Okay. We're still on Ray's proposal.
[2:19:53] Anybody any further discussion?
[2:19:57] Ray, Ray,
[2:20:01] Ray Carter.
[2:20:03] This information has been circulating
[2:20:05] through the different organizations
[2:20:07] that were mentioned being asked
[2:20:09] to be on town meeting agendas.
[2:20:12] And it wasn't until six o'clock last night
[2:20:14] that I was asked to do this.
[2:20:16] And so I did the best that I could.
[2:20:19] I know that there, it would be push pushback
[2:20:21] around the non-binding resolution.
[2:20:26] And I took a risk to bring this forward
[2:20:28] because I think it's important for this community
[2:20:30] as a farmer, as the manager of volunteer manager
[2:20:33] of the farmer's market, I printed out on my own printer a
[2:20:36] couple of copies to hand it
[2:20:38] and did the best that I could to bring this forward.
[2:20:40] This is something that is going to impact us, us all.
[2:20:43] And this is something that Marshfield already passed
[2:20:45] and other towns are passing.
[2:20:46] And rather than it being called on individuals
[2:20:49] to contact slate state legislators over
[2:20:51] and over, which we are already doing for so many reasons,
[2:20:54] this is something that the old town can communicate about.
[2:20:57] And I will take the responsibility of if it does pass, go
[2:21:00] and make sure that that's reported back so
[2:21:01] that it gets back to the legislature.
[2:21:03] Thank you so much.
[2:21:09] Are you ready for the question
[2:21:10] or is there more discussion?
[2:21:15] I
[2:21:17] Do.
[2:21:18] Is the resolution the last couple of
[2:21:20] Paragraphs?
[2:21:21] Yeah. Let, I think we're, I think we're there if, if I may.
[2:21:25] So the question is, there's no more, the question is
[2:21:28] therefore be it resolved that the town
[2:21:31] of Plainfield petitions,
[2:21:32] the legislature of the state of Vermont.
[2:21:33] Two, restore the municipal zoning exemption for farming
[2:21:37] and ensures statewide consistency in the regulation
[2:21:40] of farming and agriculture under the authority
[2:21:43] and expertise of the Vermont Agency
[2:21:45] of Agriculture, food and Markets.
[2:21:48] Next bullet point, codify the right to grow food
[2:21:52] that is explicit, that that explicitly includes livestock
[2:21:58] bullet point to protect the right of Vermonters to grow,
[2:22:02] raise, produce, donate and sell food they have produced.
[2:22:07] And the last bullet point, relieve municipalities
[2:22:10] of the unintended regulatory burdens resulting
[2:22:13] from judicial interpretation.
[2:22:16] All those in favor say aye. Opposed?
[2:22:20] No, the ayes appear to have it,
[2:22:25] the eyes do have it, and you have passed the resolution
[2:22:33] On.
[2:22:34] Okay. I got four people on stack, Janice,
[2:22:36] Deborah Poller and, and Michael,
[2:22:39] I was gonna do the same resolution, so,
[2:22:43] Okay. Deborah.
[2:22:45] Deborah. All right.
[2:22:49] So another non-binding resolution
[2:22:53] that I would like to bring to the town is that I would like
[2:22:58] to the town of Plainfield to urge for,
[2:23:04] to, to make a statement, we know this is non-binding,
[2:23:07] but to make a statement that we urge the abolishment of ICE
[2:23:12] to keep all of our citizens safe.
[2:23:16] Okay. Can you hand it up, Deborah? Do you have it written?
[2:23:18] I just scribbled it. We'll, we'll, we'll do our best
[2:23:21] to interpret scribble.
[2:23:25] Okay. Is there a second?
[2:23:28] I'll second. Second. It's discussion.
[2:23:36] Well, immigration and custody enforcement is what ice is.
[2:23:42] All right. Let's see if I can read the scribble here.
[2:23:46] If, are you ready for the question?
[2:23:47] If you are ready for the question.
[2:23:48] That is a non-bias statement that the town of Plainfield
[2:23:59] recognize.
[2:23:59] Oh, recognize that the town of Plainfield
[2:24:03] demand demands the abolishment
[2:24:06] Of Ice, of ice and to keep,
[2:24:09] To keep all of our
[2:24:11] Citizens and to keep all our citizens safe.
[2:24:14] So the statement that we abolish ice
[2:24:16] and keep all the citizens safe,
[2:24:17] it's been moved and seconded.
[2:24:19] Is there any further discussion?
[2:24:21] Actually some, Yes, go ahead.
[2:24:25] I'd like to Amend that to We need your name please.
[2:24:28] Michael Morland. I would like to amend that to all
[2:24:31] of our citizens and residents safe.
[2:24:35] Okay, Deborah, if that's a friendly amendment,
[2:24:39] we can just accept it.
[2:24:40] Yes. Yes. And I, I wanna say
[2:24:43] that even though this is just a non-binding resolution,
[2:24:47] what's important about it is
[2:24:48] that this would go into the papers, right?
[2:24:51] So others around the state of Vermont would see
[2:24:56] that there are towns that want to ensure
[2:24:59] that all their citizens and residents are safe.
[2:25:07] Okay. I I'm just waiting a minute while,
[2:25:08] while Paul puts this in a, a form, I can read
[2:25:17] any further discussion while we're waiting in that case.
[2:25:22] Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, Wait. To
[2:25:25] To keep, what did you say?
[2:25:26] All of our residents,
[2:25:28] Citizens, residents.
[2:25:43] Okay. So it has been moved
[2:25:45] and seconded that the town of Plainfield
[2:25:48] demands the abolishment of ICE to keep all of our citizens
[2:25:52] and residents safe.
[2:25:55] All those in favor, please say aye.
[2:25:58] A All those opposed No, the aye appear to have it.
[2:26:02] The aye do have it. And we passed the resolution.
[2:26:09] Paula, you're up next.
[2:26:10] Michael, you're up after me.
[2:26:13] I am the plaintiff representative
[2:26:14] to the Central Mountain Regional.
[2:26:17] Oh, Sorry,
[2:26:23] My name's Paula Emery.
[2:26:25] I am your playing field representative
[2:26:26] to the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission.
[2:26:30] That means, you know, I want you to think about region as,
[2:26:34] as a watershed, as a a bio region, right?
[2:26:39] We are one little spec in a much bigger place.
[2:26:44] So when we talk about responsible development
[2:26:47] and all that, I, I really wanna encourage people to
[2:26:50] join me when I go to these meetings.
[2:26:52] We meet, they're really excellent conversations.
[2:26:55] Most of the time you can go by Zoom
[2:26:58] or you can ride in a car with me to Montpelier and,
[2:27:01] and a lot of times there's pizza.
[2:27:05] So it's a, the second Tuesday of every month.
[2:27:09] And, and it's fascinating
[2:27:11] and it, it just, it will help, it, it can help to sort
[2:27:13] of build understanding for people
[2:27:15] who wanna really focus on responsible development.
[2:27:20] Okay. Michael, I think you're next.
[2:27:26] Michael Billingsley,
[2:27:27] before we all disband, I wanted to quickly also add that
[2:27:32] in addition to the people we know have been working out
[2:27:34] front helping the town, and particularly people like Dan
[2:27:38] and Peter and Karen, who sort of officially are visible
[2:27:43] as helping us recover from our disaster,
[2:27:46] there are also two people who efforts are also heroic
[2:27:50] and involved, not just but weeks and weeks
[2:27:52] and weeks of solid effort.
[2:27:54] Who on whose coattails I now
[2:27:58] and others are getting the benefit,
[2:28:00] and particularly in terms of grants that were written
[2:28:02] or programs that are coming to fruit
[2:28:04] or repairs to our highways.
[2:28:06] And that is Gary Smith, who has just retired
[2:28:10] as from the funding group
[2:28:12] and whose work was incredibly important in breaking down the
[2:28:15] Great Road, great Brook, excuse me, the Brook Road and,
[2:28:19] and other assorted infrastructure projects.
[2:28:22] And also Michael Zaner, who
[2:28:24] although a Marshfield resident devoted incredible amount
[2:28:26] of time to help us get through a state
[2:28:30] and federal process to bring into the town hundreds
[2:28:33] of thousands of dollars, which we are in the process
[2:28:36] of putting to work.
[2:28:37] So I'd like to just add my thanks,
[2:28:44] Peter, Peter Young bears up.
[2:28:46] Yeah, I I would like to sort of make an announcement
[2:28:50] and to extend an invitation, several folks, Betsy, Paula,
[2:28:55] stand up and say they are our representative to such
[2:28:58] and such a, a committee or commission, et cetera.
[2:29:02] Most of those are annual appointments
[2:29:05] and those come up,
[2:29:06] those will all come up a week from now when the new select
[2:29:10] board has what is known in the statute
[2:29:12] as its organizational meeting.
[2:29:16] I can tell you in the approximately year, year
[2:29:19] and a quarter that I've been on the select board,
[2:29:22] that we often get a request to appoint someone
[2:29:24] to a committee or a commission to fill a vacancy.
[2:29:29] And we don't know for how long that term is
[2:29:32] because we really haven't paid close attention
[2:29:36] to that for a while.
[2:29:37] I have been comparing the list that appears in the beginning
[2:29:41] of this year's annual report with last year's
[2:29:44] and there are innumerable inconsistencies in the terms
[2:29:48] and we've been trying to get that straightened out.
[2:29:52] But in the meantime, if you are one of those appointees
[2:29:56] and would like to be reappointed,
[2:29:58] please contact Jamie at the town clerk's office
[2:30:02] and let them know they've been keeping a list
[2:30:05] and let's certainly let the select board know.
[2:30:08] And if you know the term of your office, we need
[2:30:12] to know that as well.
[2:30:14] This is something we've been trying to clean up along
[2:30:17] with a number of other things
[2:30:18] and your help is appreciated on the town website has been a
[2:30:23] list of vacancies.
[2:30:25] Those continue. We need and,
[2:30:28] and it's in the, in the back of the report.
[2:30:31] We do need you all to chip in and help out.
[2:30:35] We cannot do it without the volunteer work.
[2:30:37] So please step up,
[2:30:39] please let us know if you'd like to continue.
[2:30:41] Please let us know if you'd like to serve. Thank you.
[2:30:49] Is there anything else to come up under other business?
[2:30:55] I seeing none. I would be more than delighted
[2:30:58] to entertain a motion to adjourn.
[2:31:01] So is there a second?
[2:31:04] All those in favor of adjourn, say aye. A.
[2:31:08] All those opposed, keep it quiet.