[0:28] for

[0:58] e

[2:28] for

[2:58] e

[3:28] for

[4:28] e

[4:58] for for

[5:53] like milk cows then I'd like to welcome

[5:55] you all to the annual meeting the town

[5:58] of Pell to begin our evening this

[6:01] evening I'd like to recognize as the

[6:04] town report has dedicated the the the

[6:08] program to Jim and now Winchester Jim we

[6:12] certainly thank you

[6:19] for you've been a great asset to the

[6:22] town and I know you will continue to be

[6:24] and we all appreciate it you make us all

[6:26] proud thank you

[6:36] to begin with I'd just like to make the

[6:38] usual announcement about if anybody

[6:40] would like to speak who is not a

[6:42] resident of pel Simply Express that you

[6:45] are not a resident and the laws say that

[6:47] we have to get the approval of the group

[6:49] for that you can speak so if you would

[6:51] like to speak at some point and you're

[6:53] not a member of the community not a

[6:55] member of P let please let us know

[7:00] we can begin with the Articles as most

[7:02] of you remember the first three articles

[7:05] are simply paperwork that need to be

[7:07] done here at this meeting after those

[7:09] first three articles we'll read the

[7:12] remaining articles and those people that

[7:14] wish to speak to them certainly have an

[7:16] opper to do so so as I read the first

[7:19] three articles I just need a motion in a

[7:22] second to work them through the first

[7:24] one to hear reports of town officials

[7:28] and take action there are ran grab me

[7:31] one grab a you one can you get that

[7:34] Julie do you want I didn't hear the

[7:35] second do you have a

[7:37] second Jim Winchester very

[7:43] good okay let's see number two to see if

[7:48] the voters will authorize the treasurer

[7:51] to receive taxes until they become

[7:55] delinquent

[8:00] thank you have a second yep I got it

[8:04] okay well I think we're all set three

[8:07] shall the voters authorize payment of

[8:09] real and property taxes on November 10th

[8:15] 2025 before 5:00 p.m. by delivery to the

[8:19] town office postmarked on or before that

[8:24] date online payment must be made before

[8:28] that date and time the time is 5:00 p.m.

[8:34] have a

[8:38] motion thank you have a

[8:40] second very good we can move on then

[8:45] article four has to do with the

[8:47] elections of town officer moderator

[8:50] select board select board Constable

[8:53] Trustee of public money any questions

[8:56] there

[9:02] Mo shall the Town Place its public

[9:05] burial grounds under the charge of a

[9:10] cemetery commission pursuant to 18 VSA

[9:17] 5373 considering of three consisting of

[9:21] three ministers to be elected

[9:26] separately just back the first three

[9:29] we didn't the motion in the second but

[9:32] we didn't take a vote on yeah we did

[9:34] take a vote

[9:38] on okay Julie has reminded me that and I

[9:42] should have rested this that we need a

[9:44] motion on each of these articles so I'll

[9:47] take a motion on the first article no we

[9:50] already have the Motions we just didn't

[9:52] take we yes or

[9:56] no okay um now all in favor signify by

[10:01] saying

[10:03] yes those oppos saying

[10:07] no shall number article six shall the

[10:11] town no we have to do each one of them

[10:14] separately so you did the first one now

[10:17] we got

[10:22] go we have a second we have to

[10:26] vote vote know we had

[10:30] where's well let's see

[10:37] here article one we voted on it we

[10:40] didn't vote we had a motion in a second

[10:42] but we didn't take a vote we have a

[10:44] motion in a second motion we have to

[10:48] vote go

[10:50] back we just

[10:55] one let do one again okay just to be

[10:58] sure that we all the regulations and I

[11:00] apologize for not being up on that we

[11:04] need to have once we have with have

[11:06] motion and it's been seconded we need to

[11:08] vote so we'll go back to article one and

[11:11] all those in favor signify by saying I I

[11:15] opposed article

[11:17] two all those in favor signify by saying

[11:20] I I

[11:23] opposed article three signify by saying

[11:26] I I

[11:30] closed okay we can go down now to

[11:32] article four and we've had that all

[11:35] those in favor we don't have to do that

[11:39] we go

[11:40] through okay so now we're at

[11:44] five and we just did five article six

[11:48] shall the town provide notice of the

[11:51] availability of the annual report by

[11:54] positioning notices on the town website

[11:58] Town Clerks office and at least two

[12:01] other places at least 30 days before the

[12:05] annual meeting instead of mailing

[12:08] postcards or otherwise Distributing the

[12:11] report to the voters of the town

[12:13] pursuant to 24

[12:16] VSA

[12:19] 1682 any

[12:20] comments article three anybody would

[12:23] like to speak to this the fire

[12:25] department or the rescue squad certainly

[12:27] feel free to do so shall the voters

[12:30] appropriate 1, 670,000

[12:33] [Music]

[12:41] 6377243

[12:44] and 32 to be raised by taxes and

[12:51] 1,500

[12:53] 1,59

[12:56] 49740 from a prior years negated surplus

[13:04] funds number eight shall the

[13:09] voters wait one second they want to talk I didn't see a hand

[13:14] thank you pal rescue's

[13:19] first beine pal rescue I'd like to take

[13:22] a moment to express our heartfelt

[13:23] gratitude for the continued support of

[13:25] our community your trust allows us to

[13:27] provide essential care when it's needed

[13:29] most in 2024 we responded to 837 calls

[13:33] and I'm proud to say that we answered

[13:34] 100% of the calls within our response

[13:36] area this is only possible because of

[13:39] the dedication of our team and the

[13:40] support of our community right now we're

[13:42] seeing about a 44% increase in call

[13:44] volume compared to where we at this time

[13:46] last year and our crews continued to

[13:48] work tirelessly and train to ensure that

[13:50] we are prepared to provide the best

[13:52] possible care we can in 2016 our budget has been $50,000

[13:59] uh since 2016 which was sufficient when

[14:01] we were a fully volunteer service

[14:04] volunteering in EMS in the EMS industry

[14:06] has become increasingly rare in the

[14:08] demands of not only the job we do but on

[14:10] our service have grown

[14:11] exponentially we moved to paid staff

[14:14] which has better allowed us to meet the

[14:16] needs of our community and surrounding

[14:17] areas as there are rising costs

[14:19] everywhere these costs also affects

[14:21] affect us which have been significant

[14:23] increases across the board including

[14:24] medical supplies Insurance Fuel and

[14:27] ambulance prices uh just to put some

[14:30] things into perspective in 2016 we

[14:32] received a cardiac uh two cardiac

[14:34] monitors each priced out at the price of

[14:36] $24,000 a piece which are required to be

[14:38] on our ambulance today that same monitor

[14:41] cost $55,000 which is a more than 50%

[14:44] increase in price in 2018 when we

[14:47] purchased our one of our ambulances

[14:49] $150,000 the price of that ambulance is

[14:51] now over

[14:53] $250,000 in order to keep up with these

[14:55] Rising costs and continue providing the

[14:57] level of service to our community in the

[15:00] care that it deserves we've made the

[15:01] difficult but necessary decision to

[15:03] increase our budget to

[15:05] $150,000 this adjustment will ensure

[15:07] that we continue to provide the meeting

[15:09] or continue meeting the growing demands

[15:11] of our community while maintaining the

[15:13] high quality service that you expect

[15:15] from us we will continue to apply for

[15:16] Grants to offset larger costs thank you

[15:19] for your unwavering support so we can

[15:21] continue to provide care to our

[15:22] community thank you thanks anybody else

[15:37] evening Jeff Miller with the p Valley

[15:39] Fire Department second assistant chief

[15:41] just going to read what we wrote Into

[15:42] the town report here quick um Pon Valley

[15:45] Fire Department would like to

[15:46] acknowledge and thank the residents of

[15:47] the town of ponel as well as the select

[15:49] board for their continued support the

[15:52] funds received each year are used for

[15:53] fire department operations building and

[15:55] apparatus maintenance insurance and

[15:57] general upkeep of our three stations

[15:59] we have asked the select board to raise

[16:01] our yearly budget this year to include

[16:03] funds for payments for a new fire truck

[16:06] also to raise the amount of refunding

[16:07] for a building fund from 20,000 to

[16:10] 40,000 all very much necessary increases

[16:13] to continue to provide the best possible

[16:15] protection to the residents of the town

[16:18] as well as the members of our

[16:19] department this year this year yeah this

[16:23] past year we once again hosted a cash

[16:25] calendar fundraiser we were able to give

[16:27] away over 3,000 to those who purchase

[16:30] calendars all raised from generous

[16:32] donations from local businesses and

[16:34] residents proceeds from the sales of the

[16:36] calendars once again went directly to

[16:38] our new building fund for the

[16:39] replacement of our Center

[16:40] Station this past year we also received

[16:43] money from the select board from arpa

[16:45] funds from which we were able to

[16:46] purchase a set of turnout gear a new

[16:49] boiler for our e station a side by side

[16:52] that will be used for brush fires and

[16:54] search and rescue operations we also use

[16:56] some of the funds to modify our brush

[16:58] and utility truck to accommodate a skid

[17:01] unit which we received from Williamstown

[17:03] fire department which has a water tank

[17:05] pump and holes re to combat

[17:09] wildfires the last few years we've tried

[17:12] to focus more on community outreach by

[17:14] being more visible and involved in many

[17:16] Town activities including teaching fire

[17:18] prevention here at the elementary school

[17:20] I'm

[17:23] losing

[17:24] um our annual Santa parade the community

[17:27] tree lighting and and the pel Day

[17:31] festivities you can also follow our

[17:33] Facebook page under Pono Valley Fire

[17:35] Department to stay

[17:36] informed on most everything we're doing

[17:39] from training

[17:40] calls and active emergency events in

[17:43] town to fundraisers and special events

[17:46] please continue to support our Emergency

[17:48] Services here in town as one day it

[17:49] could save your life respectfully the

[17:51] membership of the P Valley Fire

[17:53] Department thank you

[18:08] I'm Jamie ell president of the P Fire

[18:10] protective Association I would like to

[18:12] thank the residents and the P residents

[18:14] of the community for the continued

[18:16] support each year this year we have

[18:18] increased our our

[18:20] budget after 20 plus years we can no

[18:23] longer support fire to support Fire

[18:25] Equipment purchases along with yearly

[18:27] increases such as fuel Insurance

[18:30] utilities we have seen an increase in

[18:32] volunteers over the past 2 years which

[18:34] is a good thing for the community but we

[18:36] also need to provide them with gear for

[18:38] training before they fight

[18:40] fires many of our firefighters are

[18:43] attending out of state forces to receive

[18:45] training Vermont fire academy has less

[18:48] instructors and that are and less

[18:51] instructors that are likely to travel

[18:52] the southern Vermont we also took

[18:54] delivery of a new pumper tanker in

[18:56] February this truck will race re replace

[18:59] our 1992 engine tanker the truck was

[19:03] purchased without asking for f funding

[19:05] from the town this truck will hopefully

[19:07] be in service within the next 2 weeks we

[19:10] also took delivery of a new sidebyside

[19:12] utility off-road

[19:14] vehicle since we've seen an increase

[19:17] over the past few years in wildfires and

[19:19] off-road rescue this vehicle was P

[19:21] purchased from arpa money from the

[19:23] town with which we we thank the select

[19:27] board we we have have ordered a skid

[19:30] unit that will be delivered in the

[19:32] spring each each year we apply for both

[19:35] state and fun Federal granting grants

[19:38] for equipment replacement and upgrades

[19:42] these grants are harder and harder to

[19:43] obtain each year as always we will stay

[19:47] we we stay involved with local community

[19:50] events such as Community Day the block

[19:53] party on Main Street The Polar

[19:55] Express plus we also assist our fellow fire fellow fire department

[20:01] Palo Valley with prevention with local

[20:04] schools we are one of the only

[20:05] communities in the area that has that

[20:08] has completely volunteer fire

[20:11] departments and we are proud to serve

[20:13] the community and volunteers and hope to

[20:15] continue that for years to come thank

[20:18] you thank you

[20:24] Jamie is there anybody else who like to

[20:26] speak to that article

[20:30] [Music]

[20:44] Jim my name is Jim Winchester and I live

[20:46] at 6:30 skyro Road

[20:49] East uh I just wanted to bring a couple

[20:52] of things

[20:54] up the uh fireworks are going to not be

[20:57] this year

[21:00] uh it's going to be the last year for

[21:03] fireworks and I think nationally with

[21:05] the fires and stuff they're going to be

[21:07] outb in a lot of places but that's not

[21:10] the real reason I guess the real reason

[21:14] is the the fire department needs money

[21:17] and I want to give the remaining money

[21:21] $9,700 to the p resc i mean to

[21:25] the for the new high to down office

[21:29] so that's what I want to say

[21:41] tonight do you want to speak now

[21:44] yes um Mike Gardener chairman of the

[21:47] select

[21:48] board this year is um in the general

[21:52] budget this is the first year that we've

[21:55] had our emergency services in the

[21:57] general budget as as most of you know in

[22:00] the past it's always been a ballot

[22:03] article and in those ballot

[22:07] articles I I want to be I want to be

[22:09] perfectly clear that if it were to be a

[22:12] ballot article this year for each one of

[22:15] those three organizations that have just

[22:17] spoken here it would be the exact same

[22:20] amount that we're putting into the

[22:22] general budget they came the the three

[22:25] organizations our Emergency Services

[22:27] came to the select board with their

[22:30] worksheet which we ask everybody to do

[22:33] whether it's the zoning administrator or the drb or

[22:37] whoever um and that's what those are the

[22:40] figures that they came up with that they

[22:42] were going to be putting on for ballot

[22:44] articles

[22:46] so it's it's kind of Cutting Edge I've

[22:50] been I've been on that side with the

[22:53] Emergency Services doing exactly what

[22:55] they've been doing I've been that fire

[22:58] chief

[22:59] in this town the same as they're what

[23:01] they're looking for I can't tell you

[23:04] Craig and I were talking about this

[23:05] yesterday um in Jimmy's when we were

[23:08] getting a sandwich I can't tell you how

[23:10] nerve-wracking it is and it's never

[23:13] failed in my life the ballot articles

[23:15] never fail but when you're but when

[23:19] you're one of the administrators I'm not

[23:23] going to say just Chief cuz it's it's

[23:24] not just the Chiefs that run those

[23:26] organizations right but when you're one

[23:28] of the administrators that run those

[23:30] Emergency Services programs in in our

[23:35] department there's there's been a lot of

[23:37] late

[23:38] nights waiting at the firehouse when the

[23:41] voting used to be there to see if your

[23:43] ballot article passed for the funding

[23:45] for the next year and it's been

[23:51] um I I've been I've been that person

[23:54] who's gone home come back down to the

[23:56] Firehouse at 10:00 to see if we got

[23:57] money after after everything was counted

[24:00] I've been on that end Craig and I were

[24:03] talking about it this year um it's it's

[24:06] definitely different um we worked hard

[24:09] the the five select board

[24:11] members um and the Emergency Services

[24:14] departments we worked really hard

[24:17] together to get this onto our general

[24:20] budget where we feel that it

[24:23] belongs and I just wanted to say that I know there's been there's been

[24:28] some questions about the amounts and how

[24:30] come it's so much it was going to be the

[24:32] same they were coming for the same money

[24:35] whether it was ballot article number 27

[24:39] or whatever on on our on our when when

[24:42] you go to vote tomorrow there was going

[24:44] to be the same exact numbers there's

[24:46] they're not inflated because they're in

[24:48] the general budget this is what they

[24:50] need um to operate for the next year for

[24:55] the next fiscal

[24:57] year all right good any questions on

[24:59] that

[25:07] yes hi Jenny deer um yeah the fire I

[25:11] think that I support all of that um I

[25:14] have a question though about the

[25:16] um the numbers here if I'm missing

[25:20] something for article 7 says the voters

[25:23] should appropriate 16 1,

[25:26] 67637 above of of which these two

[25:29] numbers but they don't add up to that so

[25:32] where where's the other chunk if you

[25:34] look at the general fund budget there's

[25:37] other numbers that play into that so so

[25:40] it says excuse me excuse me a couple

[25:43] people are having difficulty hearing

[25:44] would you just clar clarify your

[25:46] questions and then on article 7 yeah it

[25:49] says shall the voters appropriate

[25:52] 1,676 3772 for the general expenses of

[25:56] the town and then it gives two numbers

[25:57] of which 905 350 is to be raised by

[26:00] taxes and

[26:02] 9497 from prior year un prior year

[26:05] undesignated surplus

[26:07] funds where's the difference of those two don't add up to

[26:11] 1671 so I just I'm just not

[26:14] understanding because the other Revenue

[26:16] wait

[26:18] you at the top of the budget report list

[26:21] revenues first the other revenues are

[26:23] listed in the top of the budget report

[26:26] so all of those numbers plus those two

[26:27] total so I just wanted to make sure that was clear to everybody that there

[26:34] is another number that gets added to

[26:36] these two numbers to make that total yes

[26:40] okay thank you are there any other

[26:43] questions if not we'll move on article 8

[26:47] shall the voters appropriate

[26:50] 1,292

[26:54] 33743 for the maintenance and

[26:57] construction of highways of the town of

[27:00] which 1,

[27:02] 26,1

[27:05] 1481 is to be raised by taxes and

[27:10] $71,400

[27:12] 62 from prior years UND undated surplus

[27:18] funds number nine shall the rose

[27:21] appropriate

[27:22] $1,000 to the benington area Visiting

[27:25] Nurses Association

[27:33] 10 shall the voters appropriate $500 to

[27:37] the benington County Conservation

[27:41] District 11 shall the voters appropriate

[27:45] $500 to the benefit County Associated

[27:48] against children's abuse a nonprofit

[27:52] agency yes I sure come on up

[28:01] my name is Bob kenowski um and I'm going

[28:04] to give you my background because I

[28:06] think it's important for this one I am a

[28:08] retired lieutenant from Vermont State

[28:10] Police part of my duties way back then I

[28:14] investigated a lot of child abuse cases

[28:17] so I volunteered today to come and speak

[28:19] about the Bennington County

[28:21] Association Against Child Abuse

[28:24] otherwise known as the CAC or the child

[28:27] advocate Center uh Jenna caslin is the

[28:31] director she only has another it's her

[28:33] and another full Tim that worked there

[28:36] she's spread thin she feels bad that she

[28:38] couldn't be here or another

[28:40] representative I said I'll do it if you

[28:42] want so they help with children and

[28:47] families affected by abuse they help

[28:49] with interviews advocacy support and

[28:52] referrals to other Professional

[28:56] Services um the center staff by two

[28:59] full-time professionals including Jenna

[29:03] they have two special investigative unit

[29:07] people to do law enforcement duties they

[29:09] have a representative from the state

[29:11] police they have a representative from

[29:13] Bennington Police

[29:15] Department last year they had a total of

[29:18] 113 new cases in over 3,000 encounters

[29:23] what they count as an encounter is it

[29:26] could be them going to a school working

[29:28] with a family and they

[29:31] do um Abuse Prevention programs so they

[29:36] keep busy I know Jenna I know she works

[29:39] hard the other person next works there

[29:42] works really hard they're always trying

[29:44] to do fundraisers to raise money for the

[29:48] office it's it's really an important

[29:51] Place uh it serves as a hub for child

[29:54] abuse and sexual assault investigations

[29:56] they also act as a lays on for families

[30:00] with agencies such as DCF law

[30:03] enforcement the State's Attorney's

[30:05] office and Department of Corrections

[30:07] their main mission is protecting and

[30:09] supporting the children and families of

[30:11] Bennington County and she says thank you

[30:14] very much for your support thank

[30:22] you are there any other people like to

[30:25] speak to that article 12 shall V shall

[30:28] the voters appropriate

[30:30] $2,000 for the Bennington free

[30:35] clinic 13 shall ofs appropriate $2,000

[30:39] to the de Bennington project

[30:42] Independence for comprehens of pre-out

[30:45] inperson adult Adult Day services to pel

[30:52] Residents 14 shall the voters

[30:55] appropriate $1,800

[30:58] to B Community Action in Southwestern

[31:02] Vermont for crisis Fuel and food self

[31:09] assistance 15 shall the voters

[31:12] appropriate

[31:13] $600 to Green Mountain retired senior

[31:17] volunteer program and volunteer program

[31:21] for the support of the services rendered

[31:24] to the residents of the town

[31:28] 16 shall the voters appropriate

[31:30] $200 to Vermont Greenup for the support

[31:35] of services rendered to the residents of

[31:38] the

[31:40] Town 17 shall the voters appropriate

[31:44] $6,000 to oakill Children's

[31:50] Center 18 shall the voters appropriate

[31:54] $33,000 to the P youth baseball for the

[31:58] support of the baseball and soccer

[32:08] programs some of you may know me Colby

[32:11] Harwood I live up on Crossing I'm the

[32:14] president of the league um this year

[32:17] with the $3,000 that has been allocated

[32:20] to us we have replaced the roofs on

[32:25] dugouts that are in disarray

[32:28] um for safety of the kids um that was a

[32:32] huge donation by RK miles in Manchester

[32:36] also parks and recs donated towards that

[32:39] um we donated some money you put money

[32:41] in

[32:42] ourselves

[32:44] um the program is doing great things for

[32:47] the kids in pel um it's free the kids

[32:52] don't have to pay the kids the parents

[32:54] want to pay and last year was the first

[32:58] time in 9 years that the miners League

[33:03] went to

[33:04] playoffs that was

[33:11] St it was you

[33:14] know all the coaches are all volunteers

[33:16] all the board members are all volunteers

[33:19] and very you we have a couple of days

[33:21] coming up that we need some help with

[33:23] field work um we're going to be adding

[33:26] sand into the clay to make it a little

[33:29] easier for the kids to you know learn

[33:31] sliding and stealing and everything like

[33:33] that we sure appreciate some help um so

[33:37] keep an eye on our Facebook

[33:40] page Youth Baseball on Facebook thank

[33:49] you 19 shall those appropriate $500 to

[33:54] project against violent encounters for

[33:57] the support of services rendered to the

[33:59] residents of the

[34:01] Town 20 shall the voters appropriate

[34:05] $15,000 to the Solomon Wright library

[34:08] for operations and

[34:16] maintenance hi I'm Emily gold and I'm

[34:19] the director of the library I am going

[34:22] into my second year now and I just

[34:23] wanted to highlight some of the points

[34:25] that I made in the town report but I

[34:28] thought that I would make it a little

[34:29] bit more relevant to where we are right

[34:31] now um it turned out last year we had

[34:34] 83% more Patron visits than we did in

[34:37] 2023 which is

[34:41] huge 26 free events including our block

[34:45] parties um and the 30th anniversary

[34:48] party for the P Historical Society we

[34:50] have a bus stop now for the neighborhood

[34:53] and the bus does stop Monday through

[34:54] Friday even though we're not open every

[34:56] single day we received four grants

[34:59] including one grant that provided better

[35:01] highspeed uh Wi-Fi to our patrons and

[35:03] one for accessibility so we can make our

[35:06] entrances easier for people to get in

[35:08] and out of um we have kids programming

[35:11] in collaboration with Town Elementary

[35:13] School Head Start and oill we have an

[35:16] ongoing puzzle swap now so you can walk

[35:18] into the library grab a puzzle if you

[35:20] have one to leave you can but we have so

[35:22] many to take one with you um we have the

[35:25] library of things where you can check

[35:27] out shoes camping equipment and all

[35:30] sorts of stuff Museum passes and we have

[35:32] a pass to prospect right now and the

[35:34] Vermont state parks we always have new

[35:37] books for adults and kids uh we have

[35:40] inter Library loan which extends our

[35:41] offerings we don't have to purchase

[35:43] everything ourselves we have an upgraded

[35:45] computer now for patrons to use we're

[35:47] doing community conversations in

[35:49] partnership with friends of town so

[35:51] that's going to bring a lot of different

[35:53] of our local organizations into the

[35:55] library and be able to Showcase what

[35:57] they're doing

[35:58] um we have a partnership with the

[35:59] southwestern Vermont Council on Aging

[36:02] with a health fair and have monthly

[36:04] mindful moments Cafe um for any vermonts

[36:07] who would like to come we have free

[36:09] meeting space for local organizations

[36:11] and we've posted the select board the 4

[36:14] the quiet Val quiet Valley cters the

[36:16] book club and the parks and rep

[36:19] committee our momentum going into this

[36:21] year is really great even in January and

[36:24] February which probably really cold and

[36:27] really miserable

[36:28] um we're up 47% even from last year with

[36:32] our Patron visits um and our goal is to

[36:35] just keep doing this we're going to keep

[36:36] offering programs resources and books

[36:38] for all of um we are asking for the same

[36:42] amount as we did last year on our ballot

[36:45] articles and I think the thing that I'm

[36:47] the most proud of is that while we're

[36:50] doing all these things we're really

[36:52] trying to welcome the community in and

[36:54] we just want the library to be a common

[36:56] welcoming space to bring your kids for

[36:58] the afternoon or to sit and wait for the

[37:00] bus or connect to others or even just

[37:03] get help scanning and printing documents

[37:05] we're happy to do that um and so I

[37:09] really just want everyone to know that

[37:10] the library is really a place for

[37:11] everyone in

[37:21] town thank you article 21 shall the

[37:24] voters appropriate

[37:26] $330,000 to the Solomon Wright library

[37:29] for the support of the

[37:32] director

[37:37] yes my name is W Clinger I've

[37:41] been over 20 years and I want to

[37:46] thank

[37:47] librar and all volunteers spous time to

[37:52] create programs that provide cultural

[37:56] interest uh information and tie us into

[38:00] resources we need and knit the community

[38:04] together and it really uh works and

[38:08] creates a place for people to go and get

[38:11] together around issues and interest they

[38:14] had and I I thank her and all all that I

[38:19] also wanted to put it

[38:21] in for my my my favorite charity uh as

[38:26] you may may not know the state of

[38:29] Massachusetts is looking at bringing

[38:31] passenger rail service out to North and

[38:35] I have been working with different

[38:37] groups and

[38:40] ask and we'll continue to do so to look

[38:43] at how to get that train to come through

[38:46] pel and go all the way to R conect New

[38:50] York City and going to be working with

[38:53] different people to provide the

[38:55] political cloud and organiz ation to

[38:58] advocate for passenger rail here in

[39:01] Vermont which we desperately need we had

[39:04] a station here in pel it' be 3 and 1/2

[39:07] hours to Boston and 4 and 1/2 to New

[39:10] York City with a change in Rin

[39:22] Del no that was just anybody else on the

[39:26] library

[39:28] we can move on then to article 22 shall

[39:31] the raders appropriate

[39:33] $1,200 for the southwestern Vermont area

[39:37] Council on Aging for the suppor of

[39:39] services rendered to the residents of

[39:42] the

[39:45] Town 23 shall the BS appropriate $5,000

[39:50] to Sunrise Family Resource Center a not

[39:54] for-profit Agency for the report of

[39:58] services rendered to the

[40:04] town good evening to the board and to

[40:07] all of you here my name is Jonathan

[40:08] Cooper and for a number of years now

[40:09] I've been uh the board chair at the

[40:11] Sunrise Family Resource Center um we

[40:14] provide services all across Bennington

[40:16] County uh to families to children and

[40:20] because we know that assisting families

[40:22] allows us to be the parents that our

[40:25] kids know that we are and that's the

[40:27] most important part of our mission and

[40:29] it always has been um pel is our second

[40:31] largest user group and so for a number

[40:34] of years now we've enjoyed the support

[40:35] of the Town each year through the ballot

[40:37] article process we're excited to have

[40:40] over 50 children in panel uh benefiting

[40:42] from the dolly part and Imagination

[40:44] Library which is a new partnership for

[40:46] us at Sunrise we know that number is

[40:48] going to go up this year and it's some

[40:50] of the best funding that we can use uh

[40:52] to provide children the books that they

[40:53] receive at home and the way that's is a

[40:55] fun for the entire family uh to to

[40:58] become a part of we've had automotive

[41:00] repair programs that panel families nine

[41:03] panel families have participated in to

[41:05] keep them on the move and to expand

[41:07] their choices um for work for play and

[41:11] for living um Sunrise is an organization

[41:14] about family and about living and so

[41:17] thank you for your support thank

[41:25] you all

[41:28] 24 shall the voters appropriate

[41:31] $2,500 to the Toral center for the

[41:34] support of adult education and literacy

[41:37] to the residents of the

[41:40] Town article

[41:42] 25 is there somebody that wanted to

[41:44] speak to that sorry article 25 shall the

[41:49] those appropriate

[41:51] $440 to the Vermont Center for

[41:53] Independent Living for the support of

[41:56] people who disabilities in the

[41:59] town article

[42:02] 26 shall the voters appropriate $2,000

[42:06] to the F pel Valley seniors for services

[42:09] rendered to the residents of the

[42:13] Town that's the final article as most of

[42:16] you know the polls will be open from 10:

[42:18] to 7: I think it is at the firehouse at

[42:21] the office at where the town office at

[42:24] the town office I'm good glad you

[42:26] collected that the town office so

[42:28] between 10 and 7 don't want people

[42:30] showing up with the fire

[42:33] department all right are there any AR

[42:35] any other uh issues that should be

[42:37] brought before this committee yes just a

[42:40] point of information

[42:42] question da well I remember a year ago

[42:44] Mike there was some contentiousness

[42:46] about the question of how to get on to

[42:49] the ballot could you just remind us what

[42:51] was resolved in terms of that process

[42:55] for

[42:58] signatur the whole process of having to

[43:00] get signatures or

[43:02] not

[43:05] um Julie's

[43:07] get I can answer that's where Julie

[43:09] comes in that's her that's her um

[43:12] expertise so to speak just to be sure I

[43:15] know what you're asking are you are you

[43:17] asking about the social service

[43:18] appropriation policy no I'm asking about

[43:21] remembering last year at this time CLE

[43:24] he didn't give and take because if if I

[43:27] recall correctly suddenly in order to

[43:29] get the organization on the ballot every

[43:32] each year they were going to have to get

[43:34] X number of signat so I think he's

[43:36] talking about about the ballot

[43:38] articles it's really highlighted on this

[43:41] timeline if you have this it shows where

[43:44] the board did change the policy but then

[43:46] at last year's town meeting there was a

[43:48] lot of feedback that it wasn't going to

[43:50] be feasible for many agencies so the

[43:52] board went back to the old policy you do

[43:55] not need to collect signatures unless

[43:56] you're raing the amount um essential

[43:59] services do not need to collect

[44:00] signatures at all obviously they're in

[44:02] the general fund but that decision was

[44:04] made sort of before they put them in the

[44:06] general amounts requested are elevated

[44:09] that we do need to yes that's

[44:12] correct are there any other questions

[44:14] that would be like directed to the TR to

[44:16] the select

[44:17] board if not I'd entertain a motion to

[44:20] adjourn oh you

[44:22] can't Jim and somebody else all in favor

[44:25] signify by saying I

[44:28] you can't adjourn we have to conclude

[44:30] tomorrow you have to vote so we don't

[44:34] adj so who was the first one who was the

[44:38] first one was Jim Jim was

[44:42] did can I don't know who was the second

[44:45] what you got wait I have a question wait

[44:49] a minute one minute one minute please

[44:51] Julie has a question who was the one

[44:53] that seconded who was the seconded

[44:56] [Music]

[44:58] thank you oh she wanted to know

[45:01] second

[45:04] D for Christmas

2025 Pownal Town Meeting

Transcript