[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