[0:12] Good evening everyone.

[0:14] Welcome to the

[0:15] elected

[0:16] council meeting. September 2026

[0:18] . I didn't hear

[0:20] them say that

[0:21] recording was in progress.

[0:22] Uh, no, not on this one.

[0:23] Okay, 5:00 p.m. And our

[0:27] meeting was announced in

[0:28] three different places in the

[0:29] city. It has been posted

[0:31] on our website and

[0:32] emailed to

[0:34] interested

[0:35] parties. Therefore, we

[0:37] believe that we can

[0:38] continue to

[0:39] hold legal

[0:40] open meetings. Yes

[0:43] . The meeting complies with

[0:45] open

[0:46] meeting laws. Too many

[0:48] meetings. Let's start

[0:50] again. Um, the first

[0:51] item on our

[0:52] agenda is the

[0:53] minutes of the previous

[0:54] meeting. And our

[0:55] last meeting was on

[0:57] September 14, 2026. Um, I

[0:59] reread the protocol, and

[1:04] , uh, except for a

[1:05] typo

[1:07] where the vortex should have been the

[1:08] apex. And I thought

[1:12] maybe we should

[1:13] add, uh, two words

[1:15] to the part about the flag

[1:19] in the park being

[1:20] lit up at night.

[1:23] Um, I propose

[1:24] to accept the minutes of

[1:26] the meeting of September 14,

[1:28] 2026.

[1:30] Second.

[1:31] All in favor? Yes.

[1:35] Not bad.

[1:39] Do we have any

[1:40] additions to the

[1:41] agenda?

[1:47] Shall we move on to the reports of

[1:48] our departments? Do

[1:50] we have an update

[1:51] on the

[1:52] energy coordinator? I

[1:53] don't think there is. Uh,

[1:57] an update on the

[1:58] grants? The

[1:59] only update on

[2:00] the grant is

[2:01] that we received, um,

[2:02] well, as of

[2:02] today it's

[2:03] in

[2:04] pending status, our

[2:05] reimbursement to the

[2:06] USDA

[2:07] for the

[2:08] Haynes project. Hmm,

[2:13] so that's 136,439. Hmm, and

[2:15] yes, I requested, um,

[2:16] a refund for that

[2:18] last Tuesday. Hmm

[2:21] , they

[2:21] work great and

[2:23] do it quickly. So it

[2:24] was

[2:24] as wonderful as it may

[2:26] sound.

[2:26] Yes, of course. Yes,

[2:28] exactly. Hmm, and that's all

[2:30] I have for now.

[2:31] Okay, thank you.

[2:34] Traffic Department.

[2:36] Paving on

[2:37] Cory Hill. I hope that

[2:40] , if the weather

[2:41] cooperates,

[2:42] it will be done in two more days

[2:43] . And we

[2:46] are trying

[2:47] to prepare for

[2:48] winter.

[2:50] What? Sprinkling

[2:52] winter sand? Hmm.

[2:58] Do you think you

[2:59] will have

[3:00] problems

[3:00] getting salt again

[3:01] this year, or is it too

[3:02] early to know?

[3:03] Sorry? Do

[3:05] you think you

[3:06] will have

[3:07] salt problems again this year, or is it

[3:08] too early to know?

[3:13] I think not, but I don't

[3:15] know.

[3:16] It depends on

[3:18] whether there is an ice storm in New Jersey

[3:19] .

[3:20] Yes.

[3:21] Wow. Supposedly they

[3:23] solved the

[3:26] problems they had

[3:28] . I have other

[3:30] ways, but they

[3:31] cost more

[3:32] money. Many.

[3:40] So, our salt is

[3:42] Syracuse. Yes.

[3:43] Does our salt

[3:44] come from Canada?

[3:45] It is coming to the

[3:46] Syracuse area.

[3:47] Good. This is a plus. From the

[3:51] city. I was driving

[3:53] past the old town.

[3:54] Perfectly. That's why there

[3:58] is salt in the ocean. Something

[4:00] spilled. They both

[4:03] fell

[4:04] into the water. My God.

[4:06] Good.

[4:07] Library update?

[4:13] So, the AGD grant, which was supposed to

[4:14] be announced

[4:15] at the end of the summer,

[4:17] was postponed to October.

[4:19] So we're still waiting

[4:20] for that.

[4:21] Good.

[4:23] Um, we're moving

[4:24] forward with the drainage. Um,

[4:28] we thought it was a

[4:29] bigger project than it

[4:31] actually was. So it seems like

[4:32] it's a simpler thing, which is

[4:34] good. We'll put

[4:35] gravel, um, around

[4:36] the building to

[4:37] prevent splashing. And that's what

[4:40] will help

[4:41] wet the wall

[4:42] in the spring and all that.

[4:46] Um, we set up a

[4:47] platform in front.

[4:50] So a lot happened this summer

[4:51] . Um, and it

[4:53] was, um,

[4:53] funded by

[4:54] the Friends of the Library.

[4:56] So we can

[4:57] use, um, the

[4:58] furniture that we have, but

[4:59] we couldn't

[4:59] use

[5:00] before. So, this was

[5:01] done to

[5:02] create more

[5:03] places for people to

[5:04] spend time. Um, there's a

[5:05] sapling nesting there

[5:07] , um, in the lilac. So we

[5:09] finally found

[5:10] someone to take it down

[5:11] . So they're

[5:12] going to remove it. Um,

[5:16] and the stained glass window was installed,

[5:17] um, in July. So, I

[5:21] think this is the fifth of the

[5:22] sixth, um, in the whole

[5:24] restoration

[5:25] project. So, it's actually

[5:26] going very well

[5:28] . Um, we had a

[5:32] few shelves collapse. Um, I

[5:35] think they

[5:36] checked all the other

[5:37] shelves, and I would say there

[5:38] is some deformation

[5:40] . So, it was

[5:41] temporarily fixed

[5:43] , um, but that's something we're

[5:44] going to start

[5:45] looking into, um, that could

[5:47] be replaced. Um, but

[5:50] we'll figure that out. And Maya is currently

[5:54] working on

[5:55] weeding out

[5:56] fiction and

[5:57] nonfiction so that she

[5:59] can keep up with

[6:00] all the current

[6:00] information. And our

[6:04] disaster recovery plan has been completed

[6:05] and updated. And, uh,

[6:10] well, I was busy.

[6:11] We haven't had a good report in a while

[6:12] , so

[6:13] this is a good discussion.

[6:14] Yes. Perfectly.

[6:21] Some updates from the council.

[6:23] Um, I really don't have anything to

[6:24] share. Um,

[6:27] my email

[6:28] was compromised

[6:30] at the end of August,

[6:31] so I closed it for a while

[6:32] , and so, um,

[6:33] I kind of fell out

[6:35] of touch,

[6:36] relying on

[6:37] the women here to

[6:38] do things, so, um,

[6:39] I don't have anything to

[6:40] report.

[6:44] Um, I guess I have

[6:45] two things. Um, at our

[6:49] last meeting, um

[6:51] , I said that I would, um,

[6:52] contact the

[6:53] state engineer,

[6:54] um, regarding the, um,

[6:56] sidewalk project. Um, Katherine

[6:59] Shankman asked for

[7:01] some information. Um,

[7:04] and I received from them,

[7:05] um, the final plans for

[7:07] this project. Hmm, I

[7:10] gave them to Catherine. Hmm, have

[7:12] n't heard anything else,

[7:14] so I assume

[7:15] they gave her what

[7:17] she needed.

[7:20] Yes, and we still

[7:21] expect this

[7:22] project to happen in

[7:23] October.

[7:24] Any day. Uh,

[7:28] secondly, again, from the

[7:30] last meeting, I

[7:31] mentioned that, uh, I'm

[7:39] going to talk to a

[7:39] Norwich

[7:41] Solar representative about the resiliency zone project

[7:42] at the, uh,

[7:44] gravel pit on

[7:45] Route 73. Uh, I didn't

[7:47] learn anything that I didn't

[7:48] already know from my

[7:50] conversations with Green Mountain Power.

[7:56] Uh, but, uh, they from

[7:57] Norwich contacted us

[7:59] , and I think that's a

[8:00] good sign. Uh, and

[8:07] they're currently working with

[8:08] Green Mountain Power to, uh,

[8:10] rework

[8:11] the administration of the

[8:12] project, you know,

[8:13] contractually, uh, which is

[8:14] expected to be

[8:15] completed in the near

[8:17] future. Um, so there will be a

[8:26] contract and Norwich

[8:27] will get permission to

[8:28] start work, but, uh

[8:30] , in terms of the timeline, I

[8:31] got the same response from them

[8:32] as I

[8:33] did from Green Mountain

[8:35] Power, which is that

[8:37] the work is expected to, uh, be done

[8:38] next year. Uh,

[8:44] in the summer. Uh,

[8:48] we're still

[8:49] looking forward

[8:50] to it.

[8:50] Yes. In the meantime, I will

[8:52] periodically

[8:53] inform them so that

[8:54] they don't forget about

[8:55] us.

[8:56] Yes, well done.

[9:00] I'm fine. What is it?

[9:03] Drew Hudson just

[9:04] dropped by.

[9:05] Okay, we want to

[9:06] go back and

[9:07] see if

[9:08] Drew Hudson has any

[9:09] updates on the

[9:10] energy coordinator for us?

[9:14] Wait, I'll

[9:15] press the magic

[9:16] button now.

[9:19] Greetings. Uh, sorry, I

[9:21] just got here. I'm not

[9:22] sure if you've

[9:23] talked about this yet, but I

[9:24] think the main

[9:25] update for me

[9:26] is going to be the same as the

[9:27] main update

[9:28] from Mike, who

[9:29] talked about solar

[9:30] panels, so...

[9:31] We haven't gotten to

[9:32] that yet.

[9:32] We haven't discussed

[9:34] this yet, so stay tuned

[9:35] .

[9:36] Perfectly. I will be here.

[9:38] Good. Uh, the

[9:40] utilities department. There is

[9:43] no report this time. I'll just say

[9:44] that the people from Massanetta

[9:46] echoed Terry's...

[9:47] Mmm...

[9:47] Erm, about them

[9:48] coming to visit to

[9:49] check out the

[9:50] leech field in November.

[9:51] November...Well, okay.

[9:53] Water pump station

[9:54] ...Yes. Yes.

[9:58] VHI management update?

[10:01] I have...Can you hear me?

[10:04] Yes, we hear.

[10:05] Greetings. Greetings. Well,

[10:07] you know, autumn

[10:09] has fully begun in the center. Ours

[10:11] said that the schoolchildren

[10:13] returned to the

[10:13] building, which was very

[10:15] fun when their

[10:16] noise and excitement

[10:17] returned to the

[10:18] building. Um, ours

[10:19] said no, they did

[10:20] n't hire an

[10:21] art teacher. They

[10:22] hold a series of

[10:23] exhibitions by

[10:25] resident artists. So it's actually really

[10:27] fun to have different

[10:28] artists work with the

[10:29] kids and

[10:29] exhibit their

[10:30] work in our

[10:31] art zone. Um,

[10:33] they also have music and a

[10:34] band in the building, so that

[10:36] was fun. Um, we're

[10:37] also partnering with

[10:38] Amy Brown, who, for

[10:40] those of you who don't know,

[10:41] is an

[10:43] outdoor activities teacher for

[10:45] preschoolers and sixth graders.

[10:48] Um, and she came up and

[10:49] asked if

[10:50] the students could take

[10:51] responsibility for

[10:53] looking after Kate's garden, the

[10:54] memorial garden

[10:55] by the music

[10:56] room. So she

[10:58] sees it as an important

[10:59] part of

[11:00] science education, as well

[11:02] as community

[11:03] service. So, um, we

[11:04] 'll work with

[11:05] her to ensure the

[11:07] garden is taken care of. Um,

[11:10] also, the center is now

[11:12] open, um,

[11:13] Monday through Friday

[11:15] mornings, usually from 8:00 a.m.

[11:17] to 12:00 p.m. And there's, you know, a

[11:20] quiet space for

[11:21] remote work, and

[11:22] there's also a more

[11:23] open space

[11:24] for people who want to

[11:26] come in, get out of

[11:27] the rain, and enjoy

[11:28] each

[11:29] other's company. Um, and of

[11:31] course, we'll

[11:32] work closely

[11:34] with the people who

[11:34] are opening the bakery

[11:36] to make sure that

[11:37] we're not competing,

[11:38] you know, we, um, we're

[11:39] partnering with them

[11:40] to make sure that there

[11:42] are open spaces

[11:43] for the community. Um, oh, we're

[11:45] also having, um, uh

[11:47] , like last year, a

[11:48] children's

[11:49] Halloween party, which will

[11:50] take place in

[11:51] mid-October. So

[11:53] , again, so that it

[11:54] doesn't compete with the

[11:55] Pierce Hall events or

[11:56] anything like that. Um, and

[11:58] we'd like to have a

[11:59] late fall event

[12:00] for adults so

[12:01] they can have some

[12:02] fun. Um, and

[12:04] the last thing I want to

[12:05] say is that Holla,

[12:06] our

[12:07] art program, our

[12:08] art classes,

[12:09] are starting soon. So we will be

[12:11] posting the, um

[12:12] , fall

[12:13] art class schedule soon. Um,

[12:16] I think that's it. Do you

[12:18] have any questions or

[12:20] what door do you

[12:21] want people to

[12:22] use, Asha?

[12:24] Oh, okay. Sorry. Um,

[12:27] due to

[12:28] safety protocol with the, um,

[12:29] elementary school, the

[12:30] theater wing is

[12:31] completely closed, um

[12:33] , when children

[12:33] are in the

[12:34] building. So, the door

[12:38] to access the

[12:39] office wing, which is,

[12:41] um, you know, the

[12:42] remote workspace

[12:43] , the gathering place,

[12:44] my office for

[12:46] any issues

[12:46] related to the hub, um

[12:48] , fabric sales,

[12:50] bone builders, um, all these

[12:52] different office

[12:53] spaces, it seems like

[12:54] they're getting more and

[12:56] more every

[12:57] week, um, we're

[12:58] using the

[12:59] office wing door, um. And

[13:02] actually, there

[13:03] 's a blue sign above this door

[13:04] that says "office," from back

[13:06] when it was

[13:07] , uh, the main office.

[13:08] So, these are the doors that

[13:09] will be open

[13:11] Monday through Friday

[13:12] mornings. Thank you for this

[13:13] question.

[13:18] Hmm, I will say that, uh, there is

[13:20] a video that, uh, Rob

[13:21] Gardner, uh, made

[13:22] a little

[13:23] documentary

[13:25] about 8

[13:26] minutes long about the

[13:28] center project. Um, and so we're going

[13:29] to put a link

[13:31] , sorry, a

[13:32] YouTube link to, uh, this

[13:33] documentary

[13:34] in the minutes and on the

[13:35] city's website so

[13:36] people can

[13:37] watch it.

[13:38] Oh, great.

[13:39] This is a great little

[13:41] video. Worth

[13:42] a look.

[13:44] Very expected.

[13:47] Hmm, Drew raised his hand.

[13:49] Okay, Drew. Yes, I would have

[13:51] a few

[13:53] questions about BHI and

[13:54] Efficiency Vermont and, uh,

[13:55] heating controls.

[13:58] Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry.

[14:00] Hmm, Asha might be

[14:01] better at answering the

[14:02] question about

[14:02] heating control. I

[14:03] was just going to

[14:04] mention, uh, so that the

[14:05] election commission would

[14:06] know as well. Um, we

[14:07] added some

[14:08] information, including

[14:09] a little flyer about

[14:10] solar energy

[14:11] downtown, not

[14:12] solar energy at

[14:13] city

[14:13] hall, um, to a

[14:14] recent

[14:15] grant report that was

[14:17] sent to some of the

[14:18] state sponsors of the

[14:19] project. So, the cat is

[14:20] out of the bag,

[14:21] or people were told that

[14:22] we were doing it too. Um

[14:24] , and so, um, just

[14:25] wanted to let

[14:26] you know that this was

[14:27] reported, um, as part of the

[14:28] normal

[14:29] grant reporting

[14:30] that we do through Two

[14:31] Rivers and People. And there

[14:32] was a mention of the

[14:33] part of the project

[14:34] that we usually

[14:35] reported to them about until now, which is the

[14:36] reconstruction, the roof, the

[14:38] walls, the interior of the

[14:39] building, all that other stuff

[14:40] . Um, we haven't

[14:41] really talked to

[14:42] them about

[14:43] installing

[14:43] solar because

[14:45] they don't fund that

[14:46] part of the project.

[14:49] Good. Thank you. I think

[14:52] this brings us

[14:53] to the relevant

[14:54] information. People

[14:55] we should

[14:56] ask at Asha about

[14:57] effectiveness?

[14:58] He, I think, yes, do

[15:00] you know anything about it?

[15:03] We actually

[15:04] met with...we

[15:05] actually

[15:06] met with

[15:07] someone from...uh, Efficiency

[15:08] Vermont...uh about

[15:09] insulation, especially...

[15:10] uh, the theater

[15:11] wing, which is used pretty much

[15:12] constantly

[15:14] during the cold

[15:15] months. Uh, and we have

[15:19] a lot of good ideas,

[15:21] a lot of

[15:22] DIY projects that the council will

[15:23] take on...Uh,

[15:24] about doors and windows.

[15:27] They suggested

[15:28] a lot of good ideas

[15:30] that are fairly

[15:30] inexpensive

[15:31] options for us.

[15:33] Of course, there are some more

[15:34] expensive options

[15:35] that could help

[15:36] . But right now we're

[15:38] going to work

[15:39] with our volunteers

[15:40] and install

[15:41] insulation for doors and

[15:42] windows, potentially

[15:44] looking at window

[15:45] dressers and all the other

[15:46] options we

[15:47] can do

[15:48] ourselves. And

[15:49] we hope that this will

[15:50] have a great

[15:51] impact. We also

[15:53] work with our

[15:55] pneumatics control specialist

[15:56] to really isolate

[15:57] certain areas that are not

[16:02] being used,

[16:04] to lower

[16:05] the temperature in certain

[16:06] rooms and so on. So we're

[16:09] monitoring that, and

[16:10] we're hoping that

[16:11] this season we'll

[16:12] see some

[16:13] fuel savings

[16:14] compared to last

[16:15] winter.

[16:18] Yes, especially this

[16:19] winter. And someday,

[16:21] maybe we'll buy

[16:22] you a new boiler.

[16:26] Yes, it's something of a

[16:27] relic.

[16:31] Yes, that's just my opinion

[16:32] . Okay, thank you. So,

[16:38] I think we're ready to

[16:39] move on to new

[16:40] things. So, the first

[16:41] item on our

[16:42] list for new

[16:43] business is a

[16:45] catering permit for

[16:46] special events

[16:47] at Pearce Hall on November 5th and 6th

[16:48] from 4:30pm to 9:30pm.

[16:50] We had to ask around a bit

[16:51] about what kind of

[16:53] event this was. We

[16:54] understand these are

[16:55] Ridgeline Outdoor

[16:57] Collective bikes. People are hosting

[17:00] an event, and this application is from the

[17:02] Red Clover Ale Company. And

[17:07] they will, I believe,

[17:08] serve beer and

[17:09] ale during this

[17:11] event. So, they

[17:13] had to

[17:14] apply for control of the

[17:16] liquor and lottery department,

[17:17] which Israel approved

[17:18] statewide, but we also

[17:20] have to

[17:20] vote to

[17:21] approve it verbally.

[17:25] So, I move to

[17:26] approve this

[17:28] special event permit

[17:29] for Red Clover Ale Company to

[17:31] serve alcohol at

[17:32] Pierce Hall on November 5th and 6th

[17:33] for the Ridge Line

[17:35] Outdoor Collective.

[17:38] Second.

[17:38] All in favor.

[17:39] Yes. Yes. Yes.

[17:42] I understand.

[17:43] Sounds fun. Um, I

[17:49] looked at the, uh,

[17:50] July

[17:51] Treasurer's Report, and, uh, there's

[17:52] only one

[17:54] month left in our

[17:55] fiscal year,

[17:56] so there's, there's, there's a lot to

[17:57] think about; but from what

[17:58] I've seen and

[17:59] analyzed so far,

[18:00] revenues

[18:01] have decreased a bit, but so have

[18:02] expenses, so

[18:03] we're operating

[18:04] unevenly. And so

[18:08] I move that we adopt,

[18:10] uh, the Treasurer's July 2026 report second

[18:13] by

[18:15] second.

[18:15] All in favor.

[18:16] Yes.

[18:20] And then we'll move on

[18:21] to August.

[18:23] We hope there

[18:25] will be more data there.

[18:30] Next on our list

[18:31] is signing the letter of

[18:32] intent for

[18:33] fiscal year 2026 with

[18:35] city auditors

[18:36] Melgett, Janette, and

[18:37] Crow Wisner. We just

[18:41] completed the 2025 audit

[18:43] . And here it is, and

[18:47] since this was the

[18:48] first year with these

[18:49] auditors, it

[18:50] took a long time,

[18:52] and it's just

[18:53] getting close to the

[18:54] start of the 2026 audit

[18:55] . So I expect that

[18:57] perhaps this year the

[18:59] audit will be conducted in a

[19:00] more timely manner. We

[19:01] can actually

[19:02] have better numbers in

[19:03] our

[19:04] city report. And I am very happy

[19:08] to sign this agreement.

[19:12] One question

[19:13] first, Kristen, what does it

[19:14] say about the

[19:15] schedule?

[19:18] I didn't even really do that

[19:20] .

[19:20] They are already working on it

[19:21] .

[19:22] I didn't share this.

[19:23] Well, I'm not so worried

[19:24] about the foreground, I'm

[19:25] more worried about the

[19:27] background.

[19:27] Yeah, I don't...I mean,

[19:28] things are going great right now,

[19:30] and when he was

[19:31] last time, he

[19:32] was here for two full

[19:33] days last week, and

[19:34] he, um, took a lot of

[19:36] information, um, and

[19:37] checked me on

[19:38] a few things, um, that

[19:39] I needed to

[19:40] research, and that was

[19:42] good. Hmm, he took the

[19:45] whole trial balance and

[19:46] all that back and will

[19:47] work on it. Hmm,

[19:49] he said he would

[19:50] probably

[19:51] come back again

[19:52] to check on some

[19:53] invoices and

[19:54] make sure I

[19:55] could pull them out, hmm,

[19:57] like he does every year.

[19:58] So that's good. He was very

[20:01] apologetic about how

[20:02] long it took, but

[20:03] I think we got off to a

[20:05] really good start and

[20:06] he said he

[20:07] got almost everything

[20:08] he needed so he

[20:09] didn't anticipate any

[20:11] problems. So we'll

[20:12] just continue to

[20:13] work closely

[20:14] with him.

[20:19] Okay, I mean,

[20:20] I would prefer there to

[20:21] be

[20:22] some kind of contractual

[20:24] obligation on their part to

[20:25] deliver by a certain

[20:26] date.

[20:27] Well, I don't know if

[20:28] we've had this in the past,

[20:30] even with Nathan, but

[20:32] like last year, I do

[20:33] n't think it's a

[20:34] forbidden request.

[20:36] This was also an

[20:37] initial audit. So

[20:39] ,

[20:39] if you think that

[20:40] this year is

[20:42] different and we can

[20:43] play by ear, I will

[20:44] follow your

[20:45] opinion.

[20:46] Yes.

[20:48] If you need me to

[20:49] talk to

[20:51] them at any time to

[20:52] bring them up to speed, I am

[20:53] willing and able to

[20:54] do so.

[20:55] Good. Yes. So, I

[20:59] propose to accept

[21:01] this contract.

[21:02] Second.

[21:03] All in favor?

[21:04] Yes. Yes.

[21:06] that's right. Thank you.

[21:15] Sign a

[21:16] grant agreement for a local

[21:18] road safety improvement program

[21:19] . This is a nice

[21:21] little package of

[21:22] grant agreements. This is a

[21:25] $40,000 grant

[21:27] that we have no

[21:28] equal. So,

[21:30] thank you very much, State of Vermont.

[21:34] Hmm, this is for the road

[21:35] department and

[21:36] the use of the

[21:37] $40,000 might be

[21:38] mainly for signs.

[21:43] Hmm, that seems to be what it's

[21:45] aimed at.

[21:48] Yes, these are your fences

[21:49] and then the trees.

[21:50] Fencing, signs.

[21:52] Kennedy Drive.

[21:54] Curvy. Yes.

[21:56] Repeat this again. Do

[21:57] you do fencing and

[21:58] tree work on Curvy

[21:59] Drive?

[22:00] Tree—Hooker.

[22:01] Good. I thought so.

[22:03] The fences will be

[22:04] on Maple Hill and

[22:04] Curve.

[22:06] So, this grant

[22:07] will cover the cost of

[22:08] removing that

[22:09] tree on Curve

[22:09] Drive?

[22:11] Yes.

[22:12] Good. Well, this is good

[22:13] news for the

[22:14] property owner. The

[22:15] property owner

[22:16] will be patient.

[22:17] Yes.

[22:18] Say whatever you want.

[22:19] Yes, and you work with

[22:21] Rita.

[22:23] I propose to accept

[22:25] this

[22:26] $40,000 grant from the

[22:27] State of Vermont for what

[22:29] we just

[22:29] discussed.

[22:31] Secondly.

[22:31] All in favor.

[22:32] 1.

[23:02] Heart Committee Update. Uh

[23:03] , it's me. So,

[23:04] last week, on

[23:05] Tuesday and Thursday,

[23:06] we had two

[23:07] informational

[23:08] meetings for

[23:09] anyone interested in

[23:10] volunteering

[23:11] and helping with

[23:13] park maintenance. Uh, we

[23:14] publicized these

[23:15] meetings in several

[23:16] ways. We

[23:16] talked about this at the

[23:17] last

[23:18] board meeting. I

[23:19] published a press

[23:20] release in the Herald. It was

[23:22] posted on the

[23:22] Front Porch Forum and I

[23:23] emailed

[23:25] directly to everyone

[23:26] who had received a

[23:27] park permit or had spoken at a

[23:28] board meeting about their

[23:29] interest in

[23:30] caring for the park

[23:31] over the past

[23:32] year. Uh, three people came to these two

[23:33] meetings

[23:34] . They are Nancy

[23:35] Woolley, Dan Ward, and

[23:37] Annie Brown. And, uh,

[23:38] one of the goals of these

[23:39] meetings was

[23:40] to see how much

[23:43] commitment and

[23:43] interest we had, and whether we had

[23:45] enough people to

[23:46] actually

[23:47] staff a

[23:48] full

[23:49] park committee, and I think the

[23:50] answer to that

[23:51] question is no. So, in the

[23:53] absence of an entire

[23:54] park committee, the

[23:55] next ideal

[23:56] option would be to have

[23:57] someone in a

[23:58] volunteer position as

[23:59] park coordinator,

[24:00] much like

[24:01] Nick Picciuto is

[24:03] Green Day's coordinator.

[24:04] So this person would be

[24:05] responsible for making sure that

[24:06] all the things

[24:07] related to the maintenance

[24:08] of the park

[24:09] were done. But my

[24:11] three volunteers are

[24:12] only interested in

[24:13] volunteering, not in

[24:14] coordinating.

[24:16] Therefore, my

[24:16] recommendation to the council is that

[24:18] we

[24:19] disband the

[24:20] park committee as such, so that it is

[24:21] no longer included

[24:22] in the city

[24:23] report. I believe

[24:25] we should appoint a

[24:26] park coordinator,

[24:28] even if

[24:29] it is currently vacant. It seems to me that this is the

[24:31] best way to

[24:32] move forward in

[24:33] park care. In a

[24:34] better world, we would have

[24:36] , um, one

[24:36] person who is not on the

[24:39] board of elections who we could

[24:40] give a list of

[24:41] tasks and proper

[24:42] support to, and then

[24:43] they could

[24:44] organize the

[24:44] volunteers. Um, in the

[24:47] absence of this

[24:48] person right now, um, this

[24:49] will be our thing,

[24:50] so I decided that with

[24:51] three volunteers,

[24:53] we would go over the

[24:54] list. Um, and I'll

[24:55] discuss this with them again. Um

[24:57] , and they chose what,

[24:58] um,

[24:59] worked best for

[25:00] their schedule. Um, and

[25:02] then I...Basically, the

[25:04] most empty thing that

[25:05] will be left is spring

[25:06] cleaning. Um, and so

[25:09] I'm thinking about some

[25:10] ways we could

[25:11] incorporate some of

[25:12] this into something

[25:13] like

[25:14] tree care, depending on

[25:15] what the arborist

[25:16] brings back in terms of

[25:17] fertilizer. Um, so, um,

[25:18] the report for me to you

[25:20] and for everyone else is that

[25:22] we don't have enough

[25:23] people to form a

[25:25] committee. We should

[25:26] create a

[25:26] coordinator. We do

[25:27] n't have it. We have these

[25:29] three wonderful

[25:30] volunteers who will be

[25:31] assigned to perform

[25:32] certain tasks. Um, and,

[25:34] um, we need to

[25:35] find ways

[25:36] to take care of the park,

[25:37] given what

[25:39] we have to

[25:40] work with. So,

[25:43] we need to

[25:43] define the position of

[25:44] park coordinator

[25:46] and his specific

[25:47] responsibilities.

[25:47] Yes, before we

[25:49] formulate it, and I'm

[25:50] right...

[25:50] before we

[25:51] formulate it. Yes. Yes.

[25:54] Uh, I'll be back

[25:55] at the next

[25:56] meeting, probably with

[25:57] some more

[25:58] specific details,

[25:59] like I don't have

[26:00] anyone to

[26:01] raise or lower the

[26:02] flag. Um, but right now

[26:03] I only have three

[26:05] wonderful volunteers, and

[26:06] we're working on

[26:07] what exactly they can

[26:08] do.

[26:10] Good. Stay tuned for

[26:13] updates. And

[26:16] last on our

[26:17] new to-do list is the

[26:19] selection and discussion of the

[26:20] final

[26:22] MERP grant scope of work items.

[26:23] Yes. Em. So, we're kind of

[26:28] completing, uh, the

[26:30] scope of

[26:31] work for the MERP grant.

[26:37] Um, you know, we

[26:38] were able to get, uh,

[26:40] about

[26:41] $380,000, uh, to

[26:42] improve the

[26:43] efficiency and

[26:45] sustainability of this

[26:50] building, the city

[26:51] hall or, uh

[26:52] , the city garage. Um

[26:56] , and, you know, we're trying to make the

[26:58] best use of this

[27:00] money. Um, you know, and it's

[27:05] only in the last

[27:06] few weeks that we've

[27:07] gotten bids

[27:09] on the work to

[27:10] find out how much it's

[27:11] all going to cost. Um,

[27:16] plus some of the jobs

[27:17] we learned we're

[27:18] not able to do.

[27:25] In particular, insulation of

[27:26] the attic in the garage, because

[27:28] the ceiling there is not

[27:29] load-bearing. And that would be a

[27:34] much, much

[27:35] bigger task.

[27:37] Take part of

[27:38] the garage out of

[27:39] service for

[27:40] a while. Plus, we didn't

[27:41] receive any

[27:42] tender offers

[27:43] . So this part of the

[27:45] planned expenses

[27:46] disappeared. What we're

[27:52] going to do in the

[27:53] garage, and, uh, some HVAC

[27:54] upgrades

[27:58] . This will be a

[28:00] new heater to

[28:01] heat

[28:02] the room better.

[28:05] The heating mode is

[28:06] a bit too small for

[28:07] this space. And, uh,

[28:11] we're going to

[28:12] install what

[28:13] they call an ERV, which will

[28:14] help with the

[28:15] moisture issues, uh

[28:17] , in there, because we don't have a

[28:18] drain in the floor. When the,

[28:22] uh,

[28:23] snow trucks come in, it

[28:25] gets really wet

[28:26] and humid. So this will

[28:28] help. But we still

[28:33] have the remainder of the grant. And, uh

[28:37] , we're looking at

[28:38] some options for

[28:39] solar

[28:40] photovoltaic

[28:41] panels here in the office.

[28:46] Uh, the request for

[28:47] proposals has been

[28:48] sent. Um, we

[28:51] had, uh, five applications

[28:53] . Um, three of these applications,

[28:57] uh, I think we're pretty clear

[28:59] that

[29:00] we're going to consider them

[29:01] inappropriate. There are two

[29:04] that we consider

[29:05] appropriate. Um, and

[29:11] both of them

[29:12] involve, uh,

[29:13] ground-based, uh, panels

[29:14] that will be placed

[29:16] in the northwest

[29:17] part of our

[29:18] parking lot, uh, in front of, uh

[29:20] , the office. Um, this all

[29:26] happens in

[29:27] real

[29:28] time. Um, we need to

[29:33] , uh, request more

[29:35] information from both of

[29:36] these contractors, uh,

[29:37] to determine the details

[29:39] that were unknown and

[29:40] how exactly this

[29:41] will work. Uh, but,

[29:45] uh, I would say it

[29:46] looks

[29:47] promising right now that it

[29:49] could come to

[29:50] fruition. Um, and, uh,

[29:53] you know, a

[29:55] 15

[29:57] kW photovoltaic array, uh, would be a nice

[29:59] addition. This would

[30:01] significantly reduce the

[30:02] operating

[30:03] costs of this building.

[30:05] And, you know, it would be

[30:07] 100% paid. Uh,

[30:09] no

[30:09] co-financing is

[30:11] required, uh, from the

[30:12] city. Um, Drew, are you

[30:16] still participating?

[30:21] Yeah, I hope that,

[30:23] you know, we don't

[30:23] have to do this

[30:25] right now, but maybe

[30:26] we could

[30:27] chat

[30:27] tomorrow and maybe

[30:29] set up a schedule to

[30:30] interview

[30:31] these two

[30:32] contractors.

[30:36] Yes, that sounds good.

[30:37] And Phil is here too, from

[30:39] Catamount Solar. If you have

[30:40] specific questions

[30:41] about this particular

[30:43] application...Um, and I'll just

[30:44] add to say, you

[30:45] know, I was glad to

[30:46] see it, I think

[30:47] it's a great

[30:47] use of what

[30:49] is essentially leftover

[30:50] money that we wouldn't

[30:51] want to leave on the

[30:52] table. Because, as

[30:53] Mike says, MERP grants are

[30:54] fully

[30:54] funded, we don't

[30:55] need to

[30:56] double them or

[30:56] provide any

[30:57] city funds. So it's

[30:58] like free money.

[31:00] If we can do

[31:01] good things to them,

[31:02] we should

[31:02] try to do

[31:03] good things to them. Um,

[31:04] and this is a relatively

[31:05] small project

[31:06] compared to, for example, the

[31:07] solar

[31:08] installation that is

[31:09] proposed in the

[31:10] center building. Um, it's a

[31:11] much smaller

[31:12] system, a much

[31:13] easier-to-

[31:13] use project.

[31:15] Um, and one big

[31:16] concession we

[31:17] made is that

[31:18] we've heard before, and

[31:19] repeatedly, that the

[31:20] city

[31:21] hall roof is not

[31:22] designed to support the weight of an

[31:24] additional solar

[31:25] installation. So we

[31:27] excluded this part

[31:28] from the project plan. Um, and

[31:32] they did a ground-based

[31:33] installation instead. Wait,

[31:34] my other phone

[31:35] is ringing. So...Um,

[31:39] and so you see

[31:41] the proposal is to

[31:42] put

[31:43] the panels in the parking lot.

[31:45] Those would be both

[31:46] suggestions, as

[31:47] Mike says, we need to

[31:48] get a few more

[31:49] details, but both

[31:50] suggestions that could

[31:51] work are that

[31:52] they would be installed

[31:54] on high piles. Um,

[31:55] so you can

[31:56] park your car under

[31:57] them. Um, that wouldn't

[31:58] necessarily reduce the

[31:59] total number of

[32:00] parking spaces

[32:01] on site. Um, and there

[32:02] should be enough on

[32:03] the side so we can

[32:04] plow around it,

[32:05] pave around

[32:06] it, do

[32:07] other types of

[32:08] maintenance that

[32:09] we need to do

[32:11] in the parking lot without getting in

[32:11] the way. You know, it's

[32:13] going to be a new structure in the

[32:14] parking lot, but it's not going to

[32:15] ruin what we

[32:16] use

[32:17] the parking lot for. Uh, so

[32:18] basically

[32:18] we clear the snow from it

[32:19] and park the

[32:20] cars there. This is what we

[32:22] do with parking.

[32:23] Um, there might be

[32:24] some questions about

[32:25] where

[32:26] the panels are if they

[32:28] line the

[32:29] property line and snow

[32:30] comes off them and lands on a

[32:31] non-

[32:32] city lot. Um,

[32:33] you know, we'll address

[32:35] some of these, uh,

[32:36] questions or

[32:36] concerns, but in

[32:37] principle, this could

[32:38] work. Uh,

[32:39] both project plans,

[32:41] uh, will fit

[32:42] where they're proposed to be

[32:43] installed and will significantly

[32:44] reduce, uh, the new, uh,

[32:46] electric bill for the

[32:47] building, which we

[32:48] just increased because

[32:50] we added all these nice

[32:51] heat pumps. We've

[32:52] also made

[32:52] the building more efficient

[32:53] , so hopefully it

[32:54] will be

[32:55] warmer, more

[32:55] comfortable, and

[32:56] cooler when

[32:57] needed. Hmm, but it

[32:58] will increase your electric bill a little bit

[32:59] because we've

[33:00] shifted some of the

[33:02] heating and

[33:02] cooling load to these

[33:03] new systems. Hmm, and this is a

[33:04] great way to

[33:05] offset some of

[33:06] those costs, uh, and

[33:07] generate our own

[33:08] electricity so that

[33:08] we can run

[33:09] our heat

[33:10] pumps from our own

[33:11] solar energy

[33:12] at least for

[33:13] part of the year, uh

[33:14] , and it will make a significant

[33:14] difference to the overall

[33:16] electricity bill for the

[33:17] city.

[33:19] Yes, thank you, Drew. This is

[33:21] great additional

[33:22] information. Hmm, I'll

[33:23] just say, uh,

[33:24] Phil from Catamount, uh, we'll

[33:26] contact you

[33:27] tomorrow to

[33:28] arrange an

[33:29] interview.

[33:31] Good. Yes, that sounds

[33:32] good.

[33:33] They expect

[33:34] to be

[33:35] stationary, not

[33:36] on trackers.

[33:37] They are not on trackers.

[33:39] Hmm, yes.

[33:40] Under the name. Yes. Yes.

[33:44] Well, thank you. Sounds

[33:46] exciting. This could

[33:47] be the talk

[33:48] of the town. What's

[33:50] happening in

[33:51] Rochester?

[33:52] Yes.

[33:53] I have nothing in the

[33:54] "old business

[33:55] " section. Does anyone have any

[33:56] public comments?

[33:58] Anything extra?

[34:02] These people are

[34:03] fine. Yes, change is

[34:05] good.

[34:05] I propose to close the

[34:06] meeting.

[34:07] Second.

[34:08] Everyone "in favor"?

[34:08] Yes.

Rochester Selectboard - September 28, 2026 [ROS]

Transcript