[0:00] Okay, I'd like to call this meeting to order. Good morning, everybody.

[0:04] September 1st, 8:30 a.m.

[0:10] Um, start out with additions and deletions.

[0:13] Do we have any? >> Um, I have one just a fix. Uh, we got a

[0:17] comment last night from a resident. Um, so we're going to just change the

[0:21] citizens comments, remove the word resident just per person. Uh, so non we

[0:27] have allowed non-resident in the past. [clears throat] So this will be an extra

[0:30] edition. >> Okay.

[0:33] » I just have an addition uh just to add a statement uh ahead of the both sections.

[0:39] So after after this Yeah, I guess now whatever.

[0:46] » Go ahead. >> Okay. Yeah, I just wanted to share uh

[0:50] unfortunately after a lot of soulsearching I've been decided to

[0:54] resign from the select board effective at the end of this meeting. Uh there's

[0:59] several factors that led to the decision but the biggest is time. I've uh simply

[1:04] don't have the time to dedicate to the role right now given the demands of my

[1:07] career which includes increased uh travel requirements over the coming

[1:12] months that become increasingly challenging to schedule around. So, I

[1:16] appreciate your grace with me in the past on the scheduling stuff. Um, and

[1:20] then the two disasters our hotel business has gone through over the last

[1:24] year have complicated matters further, both are ongoing and require my

[1:28] attention. In normal times, I may have been able to continue the board

[1:32] commitment, but given the tumultuous times our town is going through, I feel

[1:36] the role needs someone who can dedicate more time than I have available to give

[1:40] right now through the end of my term in March. Um, I wanted to do this while we

[1:44] were searching for Susan's replacement as well, so it doesn't come as another

[1:48] item. I just want to thank the community, uh, most importantly for

[1:52] placing their trust in me in this role and my, uh, fellow board members and,

[1:57] uh, the town staff. It's been amazing to see how much you do on a daily basis.

[2:01] So, I look forward to serving in other ways as I can, mostly on things where I

[2:06] can work my time in, where it's not on a strict schedule. But, thank you all.

[2:11] Thank you, Cliff. Thank >> And thank you, Cliff, for your your

[2:14] service. We really appreciate it. We're sad to to see you go.

[2:18] » Oh, thank you. >> Um, okay. So, we have a little

[2:22] housekeeping since Susan's uh resignation.

[2:27] We really haven't appointed uh a select board chair or a select board vice

[2:32] chair. Uh so, I'd like to take the time now to do that. Does anybody have any

[2:39] motions? I would like to make a motion. May I do both positions at once, sir?

[2:43] » Uh, I don't do one >> one at a time. I'd like to make a motion

[2:47] that Norm is chosen as a select board chair.

[2:50] » Second. >> Okay. Any discussion?

[2:55] » No discussion. Just in favor? >> All those in favor say I.

[3:00] » I. >> All those opposed.

[3:02] Okay.

[3:06] I would like to make Oh, actually, I don't think I can make a motion. Someone

[3:09] else could make a motion for Maryanne. >> I can't make it.

[3:12] » I'd like to make a motion that Maryanne is the select board's vice chair.

[3:16] » I second that. >> Okay. All those in favor say I.

[3:21] » I. >> I.

[3:22] » All those opposed. >> Okay. Housekeeping's done.

[3:27] » Congratulations. >> Um, ambulance write offs.

[3:33] Anybody have any >> Denmore is here from the finance office.

[3:37] Morning.

[3:40] » Morning Robert. >> Um so in our process for ambulance um we

[3:47] have a so from the time of the call we have like a year to uh to bill insurance

[3:55] and to then um attempt to collect on any outstanding balance from there. Um, and

[4:01] then we, you know, so when we're doing this, we go through the end of like a

[4:07] fiscal year and then we go till the next fiscal year before we collect. So this

[4:11] would be like the ambulance writeoffs through June 30th of 2025. Um, since all

[4:18] those calls happened prior and they've gone more than the year collection

[4:22] period, um, the amount is consistent with the previous year as well. Um we're

[4:31] hoping that amount will go down with the um with the addition of a third party

[4:35] software. Um that you know this is their sole focus is ambulance filling.

[4:42] » Um I don't have the number in front of me. I believe it's like 119,000

[4:47] » 113,900. >> So 113,000 like I said it's consistent

[4:52] with last year actually. I believe it's a decrease of about six to six or 7,000.

[4:57] » I think it's an increase. down went down

[5:01] » went down went down 2024 was higher >> was

[5:05] » go ahead >> yeah I think we were about 119,000 last

[5:08] year um and now we're at 113 so we had a slight decrease I think that's in part

[5:14] um to the staff that we have they have uh really dedicated time to tr you know

[5:20] to trying to make sure that we're getting as much as possible and I think

[5:24] um with the third party we're going to continue to see that trend um like I

[5:28] said that's their sole focus where as you know here we have so many

[5:32] conflicting responsibilities. Um so I think it will allow for a higher level

[5:38] of dedication to it. >> Are they are they incentivized?

[5:42] » Um so they receive a portion like a percentage of what what we what they

[5:48] overall what they collect. What we figured out is it's probably about the

[5:52] same amount as we're going to be paying uh staff time to do the same thing. Um,

[5:57] I think between the sa savings and software staff time and benefits, we

[6:02] were within a couple thousand dollars of what we would pay versus what we were

[6:07] going to pay them. So, it wasn't a huge it was not going to be a huge impact

[6:12] overall on the budget because then we're going to be able to take that staff time

[6:15] and dedicate it to other areas that are in need at the moment.

[6:19] » Found it very interesting after reviewing that. Uh there were about 90

[6:23] claims and 25 claims were not paid by insurance companies or Medicaid, not the

[6:29] non-insured. So there's a good percentage of those.

[6:33] » But what I don't understand is Medicaid and Medicare paid for some and didn't

[6:37] pay for others. It's weird. >> Uh so there's many Yeah, there's there's

[6:41] many reasons. It could be um it could be as simple as an issue with the claim

[6:45] itself. It could be the type. uh it there could have been an error in the

[6:51] original submission. So um once again with having this third party they're

[6:56] dedicated to that. So if there's any one of those issues then that will be

[7:00] resolved by them. So that's why I say we should receive more or have less

[7:06] writeoffs going forward. Um their process is slightly different. I think

[7:10] they do like a 30 60 90 day and then when when it hits 120 they consider it

[7:15] uncollectible at that point. Um whereas we um we would we would

[7:21] attempt to collect on it for like a year. Um but the the likelihood of

[7:25] collecting on anything that's more than 120 days past is so is is rare um in the

[7:32] ambulance field. Um so it's one of those where once they hit that's their policy

[7:38] and so once it hits that then it would be deemed a write off on their end.

[7:43] » Okay. I think um looking at the numbers I

[7:48] think was brilliant to hire this uh part this vendor because 2024

[7:57] most the majority was uninsured in 2025 it was these u insurance so these this

[8:05] biller is they know what they're doing here they they know the ins and outs so

[8:09] I think it was really a brilliant move whoever kudos to whoever

[8:13] » brought them It was a collaborative effort. I mean, it was a discussion

[8:17] between finance, between ambulance department and, you know, obviously

[8:20] Eric. Um, but I think it we just highlighted the need at the time. Um,

[8:25] because we had so many different conflicting priorities at the time. So,

[8:29] we were um it it had been talked about in a smaller level at the past or a like

[8:35] a not as large of a discussion and then we really highlighted it as a need for

[8:39] improvement and that's why we went that way. uh October one of 25 I believe was

[8:44] the date that they came on board. >> Good move.

[8:48] » Yeah. >> Yeah.

[8:48] » Do you uh do you track by essentially monthly monthly collection rates?

[8:52] Obviously there's a maturation period where the insurance comes back in and

[8:56] everything but given we started them in October.

[8:58] » We have uh we get reports every month um and it shows like outstanding

[9:03] [clears throat] balances for the previous ones. It shows what will come

[9:06] in from insurance and everything like that. They handle everything as far the

[9:11] only thing that we have is anything that's automatically deposited into our

[9:15] account through an AC. We provide them that information and then they will um

[9:20] they it's part of their monthly report. Um, so what changed in our process was

[9:25] instead of um, receiving the ambulance payments and then processing it through

[9:30] our cash receipts module, we now just do one monthly journal entry at the end of

[9:35] the month and we list out all the payments that came in that way. Um, they

[9:39] also uh have the ability to deposit into our bank account. So anything they've

[9:43] received as far as checks, they're deposited automatically by them as well.

[9:47] So, it's um we are going to continue to look at the reports. Um but we are still

[9:52] I mean we're not even a full year in so knowing the difference right now. It's

[9:56] just it's still fairly new as far as looking at everything.

[10:00] » And then is that that's an annual contract there?

[10:03] » Um >> three year

[10:05] » three years. >> Yeah. Three-year contract and then

[10:08] obviously with the ability to renew uh in 2028.

[10:13] Thanks. >> Sounds good. Great.

[10:15] » Thank you, Robert.

[10:18] There's a motion to approve the write-offs.

[10:20] » Oh, I make a mo motion to approve the write off.

[10:23] » Second. >> All in favor?

[10:26] » I. >> All those.

[10:28] » Oh, good. Thanks. [laughter] Got that one.

[10:30] » Okay. Approved. Thanks, Robert.

[10:35] » Okay. U next on our agenda number four, school board vacancy appointments.

[10:41] Um, David Rubin and Claire Bernard. Is

[10:45] anybody here? Are you here? Claire, come on up.

[10:50] » Like to uh >> Morning.

[10:53] » Morning. How are you doing? >> I'm well. How are you guys?

[10:55] » Good. >> First day of school, Eve. So, very happy

[10:58] day in our house. [laughter]

[11:03] » Tell us about yourself. >> Sure. [laughter] So,

[11:06] » make a great school board member. >> Yeah. So, um I'm Claire Bernard. My

[11:10] husband and I moved here with our three kids three years ago. We live up Church

[11:13] Hill Road. Um our children are entering kindergarten second and third right here

[11:18] at West. Um very happy um thriving there. Uh it was a deliberate choice for

[11:24] us to come to this community in a lot of ways. I work at Dartmouth and so we

[11:28] looked sort of in the, you know, drivable radius for me of Hanover and we

[11:33] were looking for a community that's thoughtful, engaged, committed and the

[11:38] school was a very important part of that decision for us. And so we felt great

[11:42] about um the conversations we had with parents locally, the administration

[11:47] about the quality of the experience here. So we and it's been great since we

[11:53] have arrived and um there's a lot going on with the school in the district and

[11:58] we would like to see it continue to thrive in the future. And so uh it only

[12:03] happens if people step up and and participate in that process. And so my

[12:08] my professional background is um I'm educated in law, higher ed

[12:14] administration and policy. I practice law for a couple years and I've been

[12:18] working in higher education for over a decade now. Um I'm an athletics

[12:21] administration at Dartmouth and so I write a lot of policies, I interpret a

[12:26] lot of policies, I do a lot of leadership hiring. Um and in a context

[12:31] where the purpose is holist holistic education um and there are a lot of

[12:36] stakeholders who care deeply about what's going on and not enough resources

[12:40] to do all the things everyone wants to do. So I feel like that's very similar

[12:45] in the sense of what our school board is being asked to do in this moment with uh

[12:49] the budget crisis and technology changing education and the construction

[12:54] of the build and the bond and everything happening in Montpielar.

[12:59] So I just want to help. >> Great. Thank you.

[13:02] » Thank you very much. Do you have any questions for us?

[13:06] » I don't think so. [laughter]

[13:09] » Is there anything else I can answer for you? No.

[13:12] » Have you been attending the school board meeting?

[13:15] » I've I've been to some. Yeah, I've been to some. It hasn't been something I've

[13:19] been able to do consistently going on, but and it's a big commitment, but you

[13:23] know, after talking with my family, it's something that's important. So,

[13:28] » be there going forward if if elected. >> Have you had a chance to talk to Carrie?

[13:32] » Yes, I have talked to Carrie. >> Okay, great.

[13:35] » She didn't talk me out of it. [laughter] >> That's good sign.

[13:39] » Yeah. >> Great. Thank you. Thanks. Yeah. Thank

[13:42] you. >> David, is David in the room?

[13:46] » David, if you're online, you can raise your hand.

[13:51] » Okay. Was he invited? >> Yeah, he was invited. I think he said he

[13:54] would be online.

[13:58] » Don't see a David online at all.

[14:07] message.

[14:12] » How should we? >> So, you can make a recommendation now if

[14:14] you want or you could table it to later in the later to see if David can hop on

[14:17] later in the meeting. It's up to select board.

[14:20] » We looked over the letters sent by both Claire and David with their

[14:24] qualifications and their interest. We would like to make a recommendation to

[14:29] the school board that >> Sorry, you you should make the motion

[14:33] yourself, not for the whole board. >> Oh, okay. I'm speaking for myself.

[14:37] [laughter] It's hard sometimes. Um, but looking

[14:41] over both candidates and their qualifications, the recommendation is

[14:45] that we I would like to see Claire Venard on the school board.

[14:51] » Okay. >> We make a motion.

[14:52] » Yeah. So, just rephrase that. Make a motion to recommend her.

[14:55] » I make a motion to recommend Claire Venard be a part of the

[15:00] I can never remember. Mountain View Supervisory School Union. I second.

[15:06] » Okay. All those in favor say I. >> I.

[15:10] » All those opposed. >> Okay. Congratulations.

[15:14] » Keep smiling. [laughter] >> Okay. Is that enough for what you guys

[15:18] need? >> Yes.

[15:19] » Perfect. Okay. Thank you. >> Um, okay. Number five, Pumpfort and

[15:24] Hartland Hill Road Paving Bid Award. >> Yeah. So, Greg Fulton's here. Um, so

[15:30] Greg received $200,000 in a grant from Vrans uh to pave this road. Uh, we went

[15:36] out for a bid. Uh, you have the three bids in front of you. Um, a little bit

[15:40] came in uh with Pike. Um, we also have $239,945 [clears throat]

[15:49] in reserves for road improvements. Um, so we're recommending the board approves

[15:55] the Pike um bid as a lowest bid. Um, and then we'd allocate the rest of the money

[16:01] to capital reserves. >> Pike's done work for the town before

[16:04] Town Village, right? >> Correct. Yeah.

[16:06] » And Pike was the 365. >> Yeah, they were the lowest.

[16:10] » Yeah. >> Uh, was there a um did the did the quote

[16:15] on that one? I'm sorry, I read this last night. Did the quote on that one pass

[16:19] the deadline pass already? I thought I saw something seven days within

[16:25] » Yeah, >> accepted within seven days.

[16:29] » They were one of the first ones to get back to us, I believe.

[16:32] » So, we have in touch with them that there has to go through the select

[16:35] board. So, we can confirm that that remains the same.

[16:38] » And Greg, this covers everything that we needed to do on both those roads.

[16:43] » I mean, what you asked for. Yeah, it needs more than it's a band-aid like

[16:50] we're doing everywhere, but we can't afford to rip it down and start over.

[16:55] Not at this point in time. So, we're going to resurface the whole thing.

[16:59] We'll have to do the shoulder edges where they need if there's a bit of a

[17:03] drop off um off the edges, we're going to do that. Um

[17:08] but it's [clears throat] it's a help. Heartland Hill is terrible.

[17:15] my opinion, it should be all ripped out and new material put down. But I think

[17:21] we got to do what we have money enough to do with at this point in time.

[17:24] » We need to do something. >> How much did we hand it in reserves?

[17:29] » Uh $239,945. >> Okay.

[17:34] » I got places for the rest of it if we don't burn it up.

[17:38] » Okay. >> Small projects. And there's also I Rob

[17:41] was like $50,000 in the operation budget per year for paving around that.

[17:45] » Yeah. >> Yeah.

[17:51] » Okay. >> Anybody like to make a motion that we

[17:54] approve the >> I make a motion we approve Pike to do

[17:59] the work. >> I second. [clears throat]

[18:02] » All those in favor say I. >> I.

[18:04] » All those opposed. Okay. Good to go. and Greg. And they

[18:09] they can do it this fall, right? That the hope.

[18:11] » Yeah. Yeah. I think he said October, but I'll I'll uh it's been on hold until we

[18:16] did this step. So, I'll get in touch with them. Perfect.

[18:21] » You have to stay right there. >> Yeah. [laughter]

[18:25] » We're dealing with the town garage repair contract.

[18:28] » Before we get that, can I actually I was going to be in my management report, but

[18:30] could you maybe give an update of what happened yesterday with the water pipe

[18:33] and where we're at? um has more of an expert than I am. So if

[18:38] there are questions >> um obviously I don't know everybody

[18:42] knows we had a bottoming break um down by Melishwood which was them digging

[18:49] um and they hit the line that is now feeding mewood

[18:54] to the valve off. So we had two inches of pipe running

[19:00] u with no shut off. Um they were doing it to put thrust

[19:04] blocks in behind the new water line that they're going to use for the new

[19:08] building. Um so we had to pump all the water out of

[19:13] the dish box and get a new valve on there. It was it was uh quite a chore to

[19:18] do. Um and in the meantime the well was shut

[19:22] down so we could put in the new BFD box. So, we had no water to speak of coming

[19:28] into the system except for the small well. Um, which we run into a problem

[19:33] with that now, too. We're looking into another box perhaps to control that

[19:38] well. So, we're up and running now with the old control in the well. Um, and we

[19:44] put a valve on the existing line that's going to feed the mellishwood until that

[19:51] building gets tore down and the new one is occupied.

[19:56] Um but it was their fault basically. Um >> we're going to say allegedly their

[20:00] faults. >> Allegedly mean.

[20:02] » Yeah. >> So it was a bit of a challenge for a

[20:08] while yesterday afternoon. >> Sorry. Go ahead.

[20:11] » I saw your crew down there 6:30 7:00 they were working.

[20:14] » Yeah. Yeah. But the tank maintained level um and it gained overnight and the

[20:20] the well is working. The main well is working now. So, uh, we got to regroup

[20:24] on the patrol docks for the main Well,

[20:30] » I just want to say the crew was there late last night and I was here at 8 in

[20:33] the morning and they were already here in the morning. So, they've been going

[20:36] full on last 24 hours. >> Okay. So, I just want to give an update.

[20:42] So, >> yeah.

[20:43] » Um, moving forward, um, we have a quote for, uh, repairing the lower garage

[20:50] roof. Um, Greg can speak to the concern with the rubet as is um we've spent I

[20:56] don't know six seven months trying to get other quotes we can only get one

[20:59] quote um per the person uh procurement policy you know the effort to try to get

[21:05] quotes is enough to satisfy what the policy says um we have

[21:11] $105,000 in capital reserves for a lower lower highway garage roof repair. Um, so

[21:17] that's where this money would be coming out of if the board agrees on the

[21:21] contract. But I'll let Greg speak to a little bit. [cough]

[21:24] [clears throat] Currently, elix

[21:27] way overdue. [laughter] Um, we have equipment in there. It's

[21:31] heated. It's a heated place. Um, the there's wood that's rotting around the

[21:36] edges. We've actually the guys have taken peeled up the the rubber roofing

[21:42] and put plywood underneath to keep the water away from the side of the

[21:45] building. Um, this has been going on for I don't know how many people

[21:51] before me. Um, we had a price in uh [clears throat and cough] 22 I think.

[21:58] Um, the can just get kicked down the road and the roof isn't getting any

[22:02] better. So, these guys have been good about coming and looking at it. Um, not

[22:06] only are we getting a new roof, we're getting insulation down first. They're

[22:10] taking care of all the wood, the rotted wood and so forth, and putting a

[22:14] standing seam roof on the back part of it. Um,

[22:20] uh, we need to do something. It's It's leaking inside. I don't know if it is

[22:23] today, but it excessively is during the winter when there's snow up there. So,

[22:30] » is there a guarantee on the roof? >> I believe so. I don't have it. I think I

[22:35] saw it. I didn't see it. And it might be in that um pamplet that

[22:42] you have. >> Yeah, I think it was.

[22:50] » And you think it it covers everything that you would like to have repaired on

[22:54] that roof? >> It looks as though I mean the thing I'm

[22:56] going to tell you is anybody probably knows that rot is something that's not

[23:01] always seen. So, if they peel back that roof and there's something else, we may

[23:05] have to put some more sheathing underneath it. Um,

[23:08] » it looks like it's in that contract that they're going to

[23:10] » most of it is. Yeah. >> Yeah.

[23:13] » The longer we wait, the more water gets in there, the more damage is going to

[23:17] happen. Plus, prices keep going up, >> right,

[23:19] » on this stuff, too. So, >> yeah.

[23:24] » Anybody like to make a motion that we approve that roofing?

[23:29] » Yeah. I move to approve the roof construction as presented.

[23:34] » Second. >> All those in favor say I.

[23:38] » I. >> I.

[23:39] » All those opposed. >> Okay.

[23:41] » Great. >> Greg,

[23:43] » thank you. >> Thank you, Greg.

[23:44] » Thank you. >> Oh, can I just ask one question? Do we

[23:46] do we um post bids on that Vermont business registry site?

[23:51] » Yes, we do.

[23:56] » Okay. Okay. Number seven, foliage portaotti rental.

[24:00] » Yep. Uh this this is mine. Um what what I'm asking for the board is approval of

[24:04] up to $5,000 um of the economic development local option tax fund uh to

[24:10] fund uh portaotties for at least indigenous people weekend and if not the

[24:14] weekend before uh we place them behind the welcome center uh so we have more

[24:18] facilities for all the tourists that'll be coming in over those high periods.

[24:22] How many of them are there? Uh >> in the past we've gone two.

[24:25] » Two. Yeah. I'm I didn't catch. Where is it coming

[24:29] from? What? >> Uh my request is for it to come out of

[24:31] the economic development local option tax. Uh Robert has a number. We have a

[24:35] projected balance around 700,000 in the account as of June 30th. Um so $5,000.

[24:41] It's not a lot, but um that's what I'm asking from the board.

[24:46] » And I think it'll be under I'll be under $5,000, but I just want to make sure I

[24:48] don't have to come back in front of you. >> Okay.

[24:53] » I had a question on that. Is it that much more expensive to keep it until the

[25:00] Wasel parade? >> Um I I believe it's somewhere between

[25:04] $800 a weekend. Is that right, Stephanie? I think it was $1,200 for

[25:09] July 4th. >> Um so you're probably talking from

[25:12] people that's two months. >> Okay. So maybe we just

[25:16] » Yeah. And then you have the issue of uh either locking it and not using it or

[25:20] having people use it and having to clean it and pay for the cleaning. Yeah.

[25:27] All right. Does anybody have any other questions or would you like to make a

[25:31] motion that we approve the portaotties? >> I move to approve up to 5,000 on the

[25:37] portaotties for the foliage season as discussed.

[25:42] » Second.

[25:45] » All those in favor say I. >> I.

[25:48] » Allos. Okay. Board of parties are approved.

[25:53] Trustee of public fund appointment Mark Hall.

[25:59] No, I think it's Mark online. >> I don't see a mark online.

[26:12] » Yeah. >> So, everybody reviewed his application?

[26:19] » Would anybody >> How often do they meet? I the last

[26:22] meeting notes I saw um was in September 25 and there are two people on the board

[26:29] already. This would be the third, right? >> With Mark Harris going off uh 2027.

[26:35] » Yeah. So they meet at least once a year to vote on the allocations to come

[26:39] forward. Um but they can meet more often. I think the hope is for them to

[26:42] meet more often and have a better sense of the totality of the of the funds and

[26:46] their responsibilities. Uh and actually uh Rob and I are meeting

[26:50] with uh Mark Harris on Friday and that's part of the conversation on the agenda.

[26:55] Even though maybe we need to sit there. >> Thank you.

[26:58] » Yeah. >> I make a motion that we appoint Mark

[27:03] Hall to the P uh to the trustee of public funds.

[27:08] A >> second. Okay. All those in favor say I.

[27:12] I. All >> those opposed. Okay.

[27:16] Congratulations, Mark.

[27:21] Okay. Um, in our last meeting we talked about uh reviewing hiring a forensic

[27:29] accountant for um our report for the financials and uh

[27:35] Susan and Maryanne were tasked with this research and they have a little bit to

[27:40] report on today. We're very fortunate in that a variety of individuals came

[27:45] forward and gave us names, whether it was from Norm, somebody in the

[27:49] community, or our lawyer. We selected four candidates to be interviewed based

[27:55] on their certification, how long they have been in practice, and where they're

[27:59] licensed. One woman no longer does this type of work. a gentleman I am going to

[28:05] be zooming with on Thursday morning at 11 and Maryanne is sending out a letter

[28:10] of what was it called? >> I sent it I sent a he'll be sending us a

[28:14] letter of engagement >> a letter of engagement. Uh we looked at

[28:18] amount of time when this could get started and how much it would cost and

[28:22] those are the figures that we're waiting for. So hopefully in two weeks we'll

[28:27] have more concrete information. >> Okay,

[28:30] » Mary has her hand. Mary is I think you want to try to have discussion with the

[28:36] commission done the discussion before you open up those

[28:39] » do we have any good >> okay Mary

[28:58] » the um the Forensic um update was are the um

[29:08] addit auditors um arson per the auditors for the town

[29:17] were they um consulted?

[29:23] » No. But um uh

[29:31] Janet

[29:35] Mud Janet Coer is the auditors for the town and there's there's um their t

[29:45] their time and money are very um very good. And why would that

[29:54] not be them to have the the forensic accounting update for why would that not

[30:05] be the person who would forget it? >> Do they have the certification that is

[30:12] needed? >> Yes.

[30:14] » Do they for certified fraud examiner? We looked at all these different titles

[30:19] that I have no idea. I mean, we didn't consider them because

[30:25] I think that the opinion was that we wanted an independent

[30:29] uh firm to to look at the the all the the numbers.

[30:34] » Well, they're independent because they're the town and village and there's

[30:42] independent are auditors. There's there um Tyler Kimberly the auditor that

[30:53] what has w worked in the town that there's

[31:00] they're um they'll they'll do that work.

[31:06] » Yeah. I don't see why we couldn't reach out.

[31:08] » Can you give us that name again? Or >> we can get that

[31:12] Robert. get in touch.

[31:14] » I mean, is there any reason we can't >> um auditors the tailor

[31:20] » is that what we're saying? >> Yeah, that's what that's what the

[31:22] residents asking us. >> I think there was some um concern from

[31:27] residents that they didn't catch this. They didn't um look at at documentation

[31:35] behind some invoices. Well, this audit audit is the

[31:42] where is the audit? Where is it? Or is it um right now?

[31:49] » You're a for 2025. Yes, it's closed. >> It's done. It's done.

[31:53] » Is that correct? >> Yeah. The books are closed. And there's

[31:57] um all of the the

[32:02] um information is all the

[32:07] » you make a good point. >> Yeah.

[32:13] » Yeah. I Thank you, Mary. >> Thank you.

[32:15] » Thank you, Mary. >> Your hand up online.

[32:22] Who is it? I think >> Hello.

[32:26] Hi. Um, yes. So, I just wanted to clarify that uh Mr. Kimberly probably

[32:31] should not be considered in this process because um as Miss Sweeney recognized,

[32:36] he completely overlooked this issue uh when he was conducting the initial

[32:40] audit. Uh and then more importantly, I mean, I think the recording the minutes

[32:45] recording um from the board meeting where he was presenting pretty much

[32:49] evidences that Mr. Duffy has already misled him and he accepted Mr.

[32:54] story without factecking it. So, he's not independent. Thank you.

[33:01] » Anybody else? >> I just want to make clear that I had no

[33:03] communications with Tyler during the audit process. I go through the finance

[33:07] department and I emailed him a few times checking on the deadline and that was

[33:10] it.

[33:16] » Any further? Okay. Um number two on on discussion um we we

[33:24] need to talk about as a board uh how we're going to move forward um with uh

[33:31] our two select board vacancies uh Susan and Cliff. And so we have we have three

[33:37] options. We have uh one option is we can as a as a board appoint two two members

[33:43] to board. uh we could with some angst we could we could add them to the general

[33:51] election in in the fall but it's not really uh according to Charlie it's not

[33:57] really a a a good process because of what we were what we're required to do

[34:03] on mails Charlie can maybe explain more of that or we could wait until March

[34:09] town meeting and and elect

[34:14] It's my recommendation that u we open the applications. We consider the the

[34:21] current uh people who want who uh raise their hand for the previous election and

[34:29] we asked them if if they would uh entertain service and I also think

[34:33] because it's two seats we should still open up the application process. the the

[34:39] three uh people who did not get voted in uh they've already gone through the

[34:44] application process and interview process but if we have any new

[34:48] applicants uh we would entertain that we we would like that if if we could um or

[34:55] I would like that um anyway any

[34:59] » I can just make one point of clarification uh and cliff and I knows

[35:02] this we've talked about a lot there seethwidth I think or forthright is our

[35:07] appointment. The advice we got from council basically means you should do

[35:10] that as soon as possible. So leaving it open to March is probably going to be an

[35:15] issue for us just with the way the state statute's written. I just want to make

[35:18] that. >> Yeah. And it ultimately was unresolved

[35:22] like there's legal opinions on both sides of what for means.

[35:26] » So we went through that. >> I would um not limit. So there a couple

[35:34] more people put applications in. Eric Nesbbit and Robert Cole, they they

[35:40] provided. So if they wanted to apply again, I don't I think that that we

[35:44] could use the same application as well. What do you think?

[35:47] » Yeah. Yeah. >> And do you have a deadline for

[35:49] theations? >> I I think I'd like to propose September

[35:52] 10th so we could get this resolved hopefully by our next meeting uh which

[35:57] is the 15th. Mhm. >> Um,

[36:01] and they would need to, anybody new would need to uh complete the

[36:04] application and anybody that already has an application would need to let us know

[36:08] that they are interested to to serve out these two terms.

[36:15] Any more discussion? Anything? I think it might be helpful for the

[36:21] public. Obviously, I will remove myself from what you decide here, but uh for

[36:26] Charlie, if you're willing to explain like the difference between November and

[36:30] the primaries because that like we obviously had a lot of discussion last

[36:34] time about how to go about this. >> Yep. Yeah.

[36:37] » Yeah. I'm happy to um join in the conversation here. I think

[36:42] » Sorry, could you give your full name? >> Charlie Dunner, Woodstock Town Clerk.

[36:46] the board I [clears throat] think was well-intentioned last time when you had

[36:51] vacancies and uh unfortunately I don't think it procedurally worked out the way

[36:57] everyone had hoped. So Vermont statute says that when there's an opening on the

[37:02] select board the select board needs to appoint someone to fill the vacancy

[37:07] forth with. Um

[37:12] I'm a little offkilter here so I apologize. There's a few different

[37:16] things going on. So, if you you will need to appoint somebody to to serve on

[37:23] this board regardless. And I think you've already had an application

[37:26] process and you've had some parties who've expressed interest in being on

[37:30] the board. And I think Norm's suggestion for how to proceed makes the most sense

[37:33] to me. Um, if you hold an election at the general election in November, I

[37:39] think you're still going to have to appoint somebody to serve until

[37:41] November, and that's going to create problems for you. Also,

[37:45] administratively, trying to um piggyback something on the November general

[37:50] election becomes

[37:54] ext has extra layers of complication. Now that the state has universal mail-in

[37:58] ballots for the g general election, the Secretary of State's office will be

[38:03] mailing every registered voter in Vermont [clears throat] a general

[38:06] election ballot for the state. So we would have to be running a concurrent

[38:11] election at the same time. Then the question arises, do we have a vote of

[38:15] the town to proactively send town ballots to every registered voter in

[38:20] town? Do we not? So people automatically get their general election ballot, but

[38:24] they have to call and request a town ballot or come and vote in person for

[38:28] that town ballot. So I think just for the extra confusion that would be

[38:33] involved, I would not advocate running any kind of municipal election

[38:38] concurrent to the November general election. And I think because you need

[38:42] to appoint somebody forth with, my recommendation is to follow what Norm

[38:46] suggests. I think as a board maybe solicit find out who's interested and in

[38:52] a short amount of time make two people appointed to serve until town meeting in

[38:58] March and then we'll um under the normal timetable um elect people to serve on

[39:04] the board. >> Thank you.

[39:06] » Wasn't very articulate but >> you did a great job. Charlie, you did a

[39:10] great job. There are two hands up online. The board

[39:14] is done. I don't know who they are.

[39:18] » Sheldon and Roger. >> Hello.

[39:23] » Nicholas. >> Yep. Come on. Go on.

[39:27] » So, uh, you know, I had my hand raised at your last issue just now and I was

[39:32] not called on. So, I'm just hoping to make a point of order. Uh, Mr. Duffy had

[39:37] made a representation again to this board that he had no communications with

[39:41] Tyler, uh, the auditor. And that's just not true. The auditor told us during his

[39:47] presentation that Mr. Duffy was interacting with him, was providing

[39:51] information to him about the legal fees, and was providing documentation to him.

[39:55] And I just cannot have these misrepresentations continue to stand.

[39:59] So, thank you. >> Uh, I think we have Roger Logan.

[40:09] » Roger. >> Hi. Um,

[40:14] can you hear me? >> Yep.

[40:16] » Okay. Um, I just want to um I I agree with with Charlie. Um, and obviously

[40:23] Charlie knows a lot more about this than I do anyway. Um,

[40:28] I think you should appoint people until the next until town meeting. And I also

[40:35] urge you not to take the road that was taken last time, which is to only

[40:40] appoint someone if they have if they have explicitly said they do not plan to

[40:46] run. I think you need people who are committed to this for the long term.

[40:51] It's obviously becoming a complicated and difficult thing for people to serve

[40:56] on the board under the present circumstances. So, I think we need

[41:00] people who are who are going to be able to make a long-term commitment. Thank

[41:04] you. >> Thank you, Roger. Anybody else?

[41:10] » Mary.

[41:13] » You You can You can stay right there. >> Thank you.

[41:15] » Yeah. Um,

[41:22] » the um the process that we had for the um the select board was um there's is

[41:36] there everyone who um

[41:41] there's four three people that did Not. Yes. In the fourth person, um is there

[41:52] anyone who that that um there quickly can be

[42:01] uh um

[42:06] Yes. Well, so we're our hope is that u we

[42:13] will hear back from the previous candidates and that we will hopefully

[42:18] get more applications in between now and September 10th.

[42:23] » And our hope is that we have all all appointments done by the September 15th

[42:29] meeting next time our next board meeting.

[42:37] » You're welcome. Anybody else? >> So, we'll get language out about the

[42:40] applications. Uh, we can reach out to the former anyone who's sent an

[42:44] application in the last five, six months, say interested and then go from

[42:48] there. >> Yep.

[42:50] » You ready to go over that? >> Yep.

[42:52] » Okay. Uh, >> okay. So,

[42:57] number three, agenda format change. >> Maryanne,

[43:01] » this is me. Uh I am proposing two changes to the agenda. Instead of having

[43:09] vote and discussion which uh were confusing to me I think to a lot of

[43:14] people that we have to vote on these items and apparently it's not that what

[43:20] I would propose instead of vote and discussion is to have two sections old

[43:25] business new business. and the old business. First of all, it

[43:29] will keep things in in our head and and public that that we have not forgotten

[43:35] anything that we will be hopefully checking things off on that. And um for

[43:41] new business, if there is a vote or an action, it would say specific action

[43:48] may be taken. So, you could table it, you can uh vote on it, whatever. So, so

[43:53] I'm suggesting those I think um it'll be clearer and it'll be a bit more

[43:59] transparent. That's the first thing. The second thing

[44:03] is I'm proposing something called a consent agenda which is used by a lot of

[44:10] governments and um corporations actually. And what it does is it it

[44:15] groups routine items like um >> liquor licenses or abatements that have

[44:23] already been vetted by Robert and puts them in one category. They're still

[44:27] there. We still have the paperwork. But if they're under consent agenda,

[44:32] » the board can come in and just say we are there any discussions about these?

[44:38] If there are, then they're taken out. Otherwise, it's one motion, one vote.

[44:43] I looked at the agenda for the last meeting and twothirds of the items could

[44:50] have been if they were in a consent agenda. Nothing was um opposed. They

[44:56] were routine non-controversial items and we could have saved a lot of time for

[45:01] more substantial discussions. So that's what I'm proposing. I will say

[45:06] in all transparency that the downside of this is and it puts a little bit of

[45:11] bonus on the taxpayers. You'll get the agenda prior. It's on the

[45:17] website and if you have a problem with something

[45:20] or you have a question about something under the consent agenda, you would need

[45:24] to tell us ahead of time so that we can take it out. So it's not something that

[45:29] can be done in real time in the meeting. it would be presented and then we would

[45:35] do a motion and a vote. So, I don't know how that will how anyone feels about

[45:41] that. We could try it, we could not try it, whatever. We could limit um the

[45:46] consent agenda items to certain categories such as liquor licenses or or

[45:52] even approval of minutes, I think. So that's what I'm suggesting those two

[45:56] things because a meeting that that goes over three

[46:00] hours um I can't I don't have stamina for it. So

[46:04] » can I ask a clarifying question? >> Yeah.

[46:06] » So we talking about um there are things in the consent agenda. We post agenda on

[46:10] a Thursday for a Tuesday meeting. Are you saying that residents would have to

[46:14] reach out to the board prior to the Tuesday meeting and then the Tuesday

[46:17] meeting you'd make a motion to move something out of the consent somewhere

[46:20] else? >> Correct. There would even five minutes

[46:22] before someone you could just walk up and say, you know, I want to discuss

[46:26] this item in the consent agenda

[46:31] » by streamlining an agenda. And I do agree with you also with keeping citizen

[46:37] comments to or I'm sorry, yeah, citizen comments to two minutes. If this does

[46:42] work by streamlining anything, any possibility we can go back to maybe one

[46:45] meeting a month, >> but just a thought. Just a thought.

[46:50] Yeah. >> Yeah. I can get some history to that. I

[46:52] think um two years now maybe we went to uh

[46:57] historically the board would go to one meeting a month during the summer. Um

[47:00] and they found the time that right before we did anything with the water

[47:03] company, one meeting a month was signed. Um then when the water company thing

[47:07] kind of kicked off, they were meeting three, four, five, six times a month to

[47:11] kind of go through that process. Um and there was some concerns with uh

[47:15] overwhelming the select board and staff at all these meetings. So I think for uh

[47:20] last May was when they decided to go to two meetings a month to try to stop

[47:24] having special meetings and keep that kind of routine of two meetings a month

[47:27] going. Um so that's kind of just the history of it. Um just so you know that

[47:34] » I recall it was just after I was elected.

[47:37] » Yes. Thanks for ask me. >> The one thing I would say is like on the

[47:43] old business and new business because there could technically be a vote in old

[47:47] business as well, right? Or you only have them in new business.

[47:51] » No, I think it would you can say it within the item. You can just say

[47:55] specific action may be taken or for discussion only. So

[47:59] » yeah, I just would want to make sure it's really clear to the public like

[48:02] what items we're voting on because those have to be worn in advance and then just

[48:06] making like so I don't know however it was designed to make sure that's super

[48:10] clear like what items are being voted on, you know.

[48:13] » I'm not sure actually if it has to say vote on the agenda or if it can just say

[48:19] specific action. >> Yeah. So this is the Maryanne talked

[48:22] about this last week. This is when the communications the board would have to

[48:25] do if you want to make the change. let people know that there will be things in

[48:28] the agenda that may be voted on that does not say necessary will be voted on

[48:32] like you know people are used to this format. Um so it just be kind of

[48:35] communication that people understand that it's going to be a different format

[48:38] going forward and if something's on the agenda it could be a vote you know this

[48:42] so it'll be very people have to be very clear with that.

[48:45] » I think that we we can also work on the [clears throat] agenda to be more

[48:50] specific about what it is we're doing. So, we could say discussion and possible

[48:55] vote um for each item and it's a work in progress.

[49:02] » Well, I think we give it a shot. Yeah. >> And uh

[49:05] » Maryanne's going to work with me and Eric on all of the agendas moving

[49:10] forward. So, we'll work through it and if we have to make changes, we can do

[49:14] that. Uh >> there's a hand up online. K. Do you have

[49:18] your hand up, too? Or gay.

[49:34] Okay, Travers Wishto, it's nice to be back on this side of the table. Uh, two

[49:39] things. Um, is the plan to keep citizens comments at the end from now on?

[49:44] » Uh, we're that's we're going to try it. Yeah.

[49:47] » And may I ask why? uh because um I look at it as a significant roadblock. It

[49:53] means that citizens who have something to say have to wait throughout the

[49:56] entire meeting and I just think it's a it just sends a message out right right

[50:02] away that you know you that citizens have to wait and and you know that's

[50:07] sort of my you know uh my soap box of where I am on this is that that citizens

[50:13] should feel free and unencumbered to express what they have to say.

[50:19] So, I'm just wondering why the change. >> Well, I' I'd like to say that um

[50:29] from my when I was on that side of the table that I felt that we were spending

[50:34] a lot of time with with the uh public comments and they and

[50:40] then we'd be brushing through the rest or you know looking at the clock and

[50:44] things. So I think that um the citizens comments are necessary but the point of

[50:50] this meet it's a business meeting and not a hearing and and sometimes it has

[50:55] veered off. I think there are other avenues and

[51:00] » what are those? >> Well, you can contact any one of us

[51:04] about an item and I can tell you that you will get a response from this board.

[51:11] And so I think that will take some of the heat off these public comments by if

[51:16] you write in about something, you'll get a response within 10 business days.

[51:20] That's what I'm proposing for this board. Um it may not be a resolution

[51:25] because something's very complicated. We don't know what the timing will be, but

[51:29] you'll get a response. And so I think um if we give this a chance to see how it

[51:36] goes, and that's my that's my feeling about

[51:40] it. This is a business meeting. We're doing the business of the town and you

[51:45] are the town, but sometimes it fears a little bit off and we'd like to get

[51:49] through these excuse me these items. >> So my my reasonings my reasonings were

[51:56] uh we have to conduct business of the town and important that we focus on that

[52:01] initially. We're not we're not eliminating anybody's opportunity to

[52:04] talk to have a citizen's comment. Uh we're just moving it to the end. Um, we

[52:09] spent a lot of time as board members trying to uh govern and help govern our

[52:15] town and we need the opportunity to do that and I think this allows us the

[52:20] opportunity and time to work on it and uh we're not eliminating anybody's

[52:25] opportunity to speak. >> Um,

[52:30] I obviously disagree with this. Uh, I I did not see a big hold up with citizens

[52:36] comments. I mean citizens the citizens are your boss ultimately and yes you are

[52:41] conducting a business meeting but it is for the community and it's just it just

[52:46] sends such a message is what I'm saying it sends a message hey you know you guys

[52:51] are at the end good luck you know hang around you know so that's that's that

[52:55] secondly I really think you should put other business back on the agenda for

[53:01] the select board it was on for years and it suddenly mysteriously was taken off

[53:05] in the last year. It gives um select board members uh the opportunity that

[53:11] something comes up and they're able to speak. I found myself, frankly, to be

[53:15] quite muzzled on your side of the table and not being able to do that because it

[53:20] was very regimented. So, I really advocate for a much more open process. I

[53:26] know you all are saying it, but once again, it's hidden behind forms and you

[53:31] know, requests and speaking to one person so that it's not open. You know,

[53:35] it's an open process when you have somebody sitting here talking. Thank

[53:39] you. >> Thank you.

[53:41] » You have three hands up online and

[53:45] » um who can you just give me the names online?

[53:48] » Uh Nico, Roger, Alisa. >> Alisa, I always

[53:54] » Eliza you online.

[53:57] » Hi, I'm It's actually Alisa. Thank you, Eric. It was right the first time. Alisa

[54:02] Tarlo, I live in the village. Um, I want to comment on on all these changes. Um,

[54:08] I forget what you called it, but if you're putting something on the agenda

[54:11] that we would have to notify you about before it begins, I think that's a

[54:15] mistake. If you want to have like right in the beginning, if you have a comment

[54:19] on these things, you need to like say so we can move it from contingent or

[54:24] whatever um to like discussion, that's fine. But to say we have to tell you

[54:29] ahead when like we don't even know when the agendas are going to come out and

[54:33] like we'd be rushing right before to make sure because it's not always there

[54:37] early. And anyways, I think that's a bad idea. I think it's just another way of

[54:41] saying we're not going to listen to you. I think I'm shocked you guys moved it to

[54:45] the end. Um I I think public comment should be at the beginning and at the

[54:50] end, but at least at the beginning. You're basically saying everyone has to

[54:55] wait and wonder when we're going to be done. Maybe someone has a comment and

[54:59] they are totally not interested. They agree with everything on the agenda.

[55:03] They have no concerns, but they have a comment. They have to randomly try to

[55:08] guess when they should join the meeting. It's absolutely shocking you guys are

[55:12] doing this when there is so much controversy going on in town and there

[55:16] are so many upset residents. Just instead, you should be opening your arms

[55:22] to people talking to you, not closing the door. So, please reconsider, push

[55:27] public comment back to the beginning of the meeting. It's very important. And I

[55:32] also agree other business should be on the meeting. You have to say you are

[55:37] here for the people of Woodstock because that is who you're hired to represent

[55:42] and um it's just one thing after another of dismissing the people and and it it's

[55:49] it's not okay. So, please reconsider all of these changes that are really pushing

[55:54] us out of being able to speak to you all. Thank you.

[55:58] » Thank you. Uh, Nico, >> hi. Yeah, I just wanted to uh echo the

[56:06] last two speakers. Um, it sounds as though you are pushing citizens comments

[56:11] to the end. Uh, from what I heard from Miss Chiefsky, it sounds like you intend

[56:16] to give us onethird 33 and a3% less time to speak. So, you are silencing us.

[56:24] That's what this is. You are not walking the talk of transparency. You ran on

[56:31] transparency. That was your platform, Mr. Freighus and Miss Sweeney. That was

[56:35] your platform. And you are walking it back step by step. You're talking the

[56:39] big talk, but you're not actually doing behavior that is transparent. That is

[56:45] transparency. You work for us. Okay? We don't work for you. We are not your

[56:50] employees. We elected you to do a job. We elected you to listen to us and to

[56:54] put our thoughts into public policy. And what are you doing? You are you are

[56:59] hiding serious issues. Look at the legal fees. You didn't disclose that to us. We

[57:04] disclosed that to you. We brought that to you because you couldn't figure that

[57:09] out. The boards couldn't figure that out. The boards couldn't figure out that

[57:11] manager Duffy was lying and hiding. We brought that to you and now you want to

[57:16] put us last. I I've been asking the boards this for weeks and months. Who do

[57:22] you think you represent? I I don't know who you think you represent. And this is

[57:27] the ultimate stab in our backs, especially those of us who voteed for

[57:31] you expecting transparency. Thank you.

[57:37] Roger Logan. >> Hi. I just want to say that I strongly

[57:42] support a decision to move citizens comments to the end. First of all, let

[57:48] me point out again there is no requirement in Vermont law that there be

[57:53] citizens comments on items that are not on the agenda.

[57:57] I I think you should have citizens comments on items that are not on the

[58:01] agenda, but it has become a huge distraction.

[58:05] The boards are here to do the people's business. We need that business to get

[58:10] done. Thank you. >> Thank you, Roger.

[58:14] » Anybody else? >> Yes. I just want to uh

[58:17] » you you got to stand up. Tell us tell us who you are.

[58:21] » Come on up. >> You can stay there. You can stay there

[58:24] if you want. Just tell us who we >> swear.

[58:28] » No, >> no swearing.

[58:30] » Michael France and I just want to support the uh citizens comments at the

[58:35] beginning of the meeting. They've been done that for decades, decades. They've

[58:39] always been in the beginning. It's only due to the recent controversies that

[58:43] citizen comments have loomed. But again, the transparency issues are very

[58:47] important to the community and you need to regain the respect of the community.

[58:52] By keeping the citizens comments at the beginning of the meeting, I think you

[58:56] will achieve that. So I don't I don't see the inconvenience of having it early

[59:00] on, having it later. Again, as Gay says, it's just

[59:05] it's putting people down, putting them in their place, and uh we need to be at

[59:09] the forefront of life again. and I am affected by citizens comments today

[59:14] because I have an item to say but I have to wait forever. So thank you

[59:22] » Wendy.

[59:27] » Hi hi. Thank you. Um, yes, I I was not

[59:34] going to add to this conversation, but I do want to say that I've been attending

[59:38] meetings for a long time and and uh my recollection is that moving citizens

[59:45] comments to the very beginning was recent. Um, and I think that maybe Mary

[59:53] Riley as a previous select board chair can attest to that. Um because I think

[1:00:00] there was a response not too long ago by this by the um administration, not sure

[1:00:07] you know who made the decision, but to move it forward. So it's it's been in

[1:00:12] both places. It has not always always been at the beginning. I've waited

[1:00:18] through many meetings to make a comment. What I'd prefer to hear from you all is

[1:00:23] a way to address throughout an entire meeting how the

[1:00:28] public can engage on an issue. Um I think reflecting on the vote versus the

[1:00:34] discussion, there's been um seemingly a message, I don't know if it was

[1:00:40] intentional, I um to just vote and not continue discussion. a citizen may not

[1:00:48] have participated in the discussion and suddenly there's a vote. Uh there needs

[1:00:54] to be flexibility. There needs to be a way that citizens trust that they can

[1:00:59] speak on any agenda item whether it's action phase or discussion phase. So I I

[1:01:07] am in support of changing it to old business and new business and continuing

[1:01:11] dialogue. I think the real point is continuing dialogue. I think the select

[1:01:16] board needs to decide when it's time that enough discussion has been had or

[1:01:21] whether to table a discussion. But I would just like to say rather than

[1:01:26] hyperfocusing on citizens comments, let's take a step back and make sure

[1:01:32] citizens feel comfortable commenting throughout all topics. Um, and how um

[1:01:37] and thank you for listening. >> Thank you.

[1:01:41] » Thanks, Wendy. Anybody else?

[1:01:44] » I see. [clears throat and cough] >> Okay. Um, Marian, do you want to talk

[1:01:49] about the resident agenda request form? >> Sure. Or you can talk about it.

[1:01:54] » You want to talk about >> Yeah. I think um a little while ago the

[1:01:57] the board uh kind of voted on the approval of this with edits from myself

[1:02:01] and the and the chair. Um Maryanne has helped me in the last two weeks kind of

[1:02:06] put the final edits on it so we have it in the agenda. It's already been voted

[1:02:10] on. So, we don't need to do anything, but it'll be on the website. I think the

[1:02:14] original intent um for the new chair was the chair will be the one responding to

[1:02:20] the intent items. Um so, it's responsibility. Um so, we'll have it on

[1:02:24] the website. We'll also have it hard copies um at town hall. Um I think the

[1:02:29] goal was a 90day trial, see how this would work. So, we're talking September

[1:02:33] 1. Um, so CL goes through September, October, November and if the board wants

[1:02:38] to continue this process or becomes overwhelming or not useful, we can

[1:02:41] revisit it. >> Okay.

[1:02:43] » But it'll be on our website Kitty today. >> Yeah.

[1:02:48] » So, um, some of the changes that we made to the format that you had seen earlier,

[1:02:54] the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, is that we

[1:02:59] we [clears throat] clarified how this will be done and who will do it. So

[1:03:05] a request for an agenda item will go to Norm and he will either respond or

[1:03:11] delegate among the board member but a response will be made within 10 business

[1:03:16] days I believe >> outside of extraordinary 10 seconds. So

[1:03:20] a response could be hey we don't have time for this.

[1:03:22] » That's right. A response could be you know this was already discussed removed

[1:03:27] or whatever. So, it just be um we're and it could also be we may not have the

[1:03:32] time to add this now or this is we've re we've received several of these. It'll

[1:03:37] be on the agenda, you know, whenever. So, you'll you'll get a response which

[1:03:43] is important.

[1:03:47] Okay. Um any comments on that? Okay. Uh we added number four the I'm sorry

[1:03:56] number five the Vond Delov easement review and we just added it because

[1:04:01] we've got a lot of new members and it was important that you reviewed the the

[1:04:07] our our easement language in there and Eric want to speak a little bit about

[1:04:12] that. >> Yeah. So the really outstanding thing

[1:04:14] between now and the conservation ement go into effect is an agreement on what

[1:04:17] the easement will actually say. Uh we posted a notice that the 30 days that's

[1:04:21] already out there. Um our engineering firm has given some comments. Um Womba

[1:04:27] has given some comments. Those are both with the land trust. Now they're

[1:04:29] reviewing it. Um town council has also reviewed it. They're going to give some

[1:04:33] comments as well. Um but I thought it was important for especially the new

[1:04:36] board members who weren't here when disease origin was created um to have

[1:04:40] some time to review it and let us know if you have any questions or comments.

[1:04:44] Um the land trust email me this morning. they'll get back to our comments and

[1:04:49] Womba's comments by the end of this week. Um, and we're probably still

[1:04:52] looking at a midocctober closing. So, we still have plenty of time to kind of

[1:04:55] hatch out the easement if things need to change. So, I'd recommend um the board

[1:05:00] review easement. If you have any questions, reach out to me. Um, and we

[1:05:03] have to call Donna Foster if we need to trust.

[1:05:07] » Okay. Any any further discussion on that questions?

[1:05:11] » Is that road a class 4 road >> up there? Yes, it is. Right, Charlie?

[1:05:15] Yeah. is Yeah, because one of the things in here says something about motorized

[1:05:19] vehicles. >> Yes.

[1:05:21] » And that means you can't use it as a class 4 road anymore.

[1:05:26] » That's right. >> I saw that, too. And I'm not an expert

[1:05:29] on this, [clears throat] but my interpretation was that the class 4 road

[1:05:34] is the town road and it passes through this property. So, I don't think we're

[1:05:38] talking about limiting or prohibiting use of the road. It's um still a

[1:05:43] municipal road that just goes through the property. So, I don't think the

[1:05:47] easement covers that at all. >> Okay.

[1:05:50] » That's a great thing to point out. So, we confirm that

[1:05:52] » thing to confirm. >> We need to do that.

[1:05:54] » But yeah, I would dig into that and make sure that that is the intention.

[1:05:59] » I don't want to get in trouble. >> Too late. I know. Uh on page nine, it

[1:06:05] mentions something about fees. >> Where is that?

[1:06:11] The right to charge members of the public reasonable fees for admission to

[1:06:15] use of the protected property.

[1:06:20] Number 10 on page nine.

[1:06:33] » I that that just gives a child's ability to do it.

[1:06:36] » Yeah. And just one last thing, is the porta

[1:06:40] potty going to be there forever? >> Um, I actually have to a

[1:06:44] » trial basis. Trial based to I have not heard any complaints um from it. I'll

[1:06:49] reach out to I'm actually meeting with on Friday. So bring that up as well.

[1:06:54] » Perfect. Thank you.

[1:06:58] » Any comments? Okay.

[1:07:03] Again,

[1:07:12] this is my other soap box. Uh, two of you haven't heard my spiel, so I'm going

[1:07:18] to be very brief on this. Uh, I questioned why we're doing this at all.

[1:07:23] I've gotten sort of this uh answer that, well, it'll be protected forever. My

[1:07:30] response to that is as long as the town owns it, it's protected forever. Um 100%

[1:07:38] of the select board who put this in action

[1:07:43] are gone. So that's how that's how permanent that

[1:07:48] was. So five people put this in place for something in perpetuity

[1:07:55] and now they're gone. So, I really ask and suggest that you all really look at

[1:08:03] this again as fresh members, new members. You're going to get two more

[1:08:08] members and really look at why why are you doing this?

[1:08:18] Are do any of you can any of you answer that question?

[1:08:23] » I can answer it. At least my opinion my opinion is that um we are uh selling the

[1:08:31] development rights but maintaining the ownership of the property. So in

[1:08:36] perpetuity nothing that property can't be subdivided, can't be sold. It it can

[1:08:41] be used for recreational purposes only and we have a backup if we need to for

[1:08:46] our water company. Um, we're we're making it a a a facility for all to to

[1:08:54] enjoy and on top of it we're getting a million5,000

[1:09:01] for it. That those are my reasons.

[1:09:06] » Have the two of you had time to be able to assess it?

[1:09:13] » I I just know it was a done deal. So, and and

[1:09:19] done deal. It isn't a done deal. There are all these steps and it still isn't a

[1:09:22] done deal. It hasn't closed. So that's why I'm really sort of beseeching you.

[1:09:26] Um because I just there the second we owned it was the

[1:09:34] second this started to go into into action. And I I just really wonder, you

[1:09:40] know, once again why when owning it we have complete control.

[1:09:45] Frankly, the Lantra sometimes um can prove to be disappointing on on what the

[1:09:50] expectations have been. So anyway, so I ask you the two new board members to

[1:09:56] really look into it. That'd be great. And also to sort of then wait because

[1:09:59] you're going to get two more because as I say 100% of the people who

[1:10:05] put an action are gone. Thank you. >> Thank you K.

[1:10:11] » Any more comments? No, I just want to Raj and if I made one clarification,

[1:10:15] there is about 10 acres that's being exempt, you know, from the whole

[1:10:18] property that could have future development on it. Everything else will

[1:10:21] be exempt. >> Uh, Roger, I just end up Roger Logan.

[1:10:28] » Um, I just want to say again, this board needs to do the work that you

[1:10:35] were elected by the people to do. If we revisit every decision that's ever been

[1:10:42] made, you will never do any work. This decision has been made. It has been

[1:10:47] talked about for months and months and months and months and months. Do not

[1:10:54] revisit decisions like this unless there is some absolutely horrible outcome that

[1:11:00] you that was not known about at the time. We need the work to get done. We

[1:11:05] do not need to sit there and revisit every decision that's ever been made.

[1:11:09] Thank you. >> Thank you.

[1:11:14] » Wendy,

[1:11:19] » thank you. I just wanted to add that uh there were many public forums. I

[1:11:24] attended some of them to educate people and review the the select board and the

[1:11:30] um uh municipal manager's office uh solicited a lot of public opinion. It

[1:11:38] was in paper. There were a lot there was a lot of discussion about public

[1:11:43] interest in doing this easement. So, um just wanted to share that uh having

[1:11:49] experienced it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Wendy. Anything

[1:11:54] else? Okay, moving on to our last discussion

[1:12:00] item. The chamber town website memorandum of

[1:12:06] understanding. Would you guys like to come on up? Okay.

[1:12:10] » Jim Kelly, let's talk chamber.

[1:12:14] » Lauren Fischer, village resident, president of the chamber of commerce

[1:12:17] board. So, we are proposing

[1:12:21] » You want to talk? Go ahead. Sure. >> We're proposing uh a change to theou

[1:12:27] that the town has with the chamber of commerce regarding the website. Uh when

[1:12:32] it was put together a year ago, part of the discussion was the selling

[1:12:39] of ads and who would do that. And it was our understanding that both the town and

[1:12:43] the chamber would sell the ads. uh as it stands now uh town has expressed no

[1:12:49] interest in doing that and uh and as such uh the advertising revenue is split

[1:12:57] 50/50 between the town and the chamber. We're doing all the work. We'd like to

[1:13:03] see the proceeds. Um one that we're proposing is uh determining how much the

[1:13:11] town spends annually to maintain for uh actually not maintain but for uh

[1:13:20] uh fees for the website for hosting u and subtract that from the revenue and

[1:13:28] then the chamber would receive the rest of the revenue as sold by the chamber.

[1:13:36] » So the the fees for do we know what those are the fees to make

[1:13:45] So something that they're looking into. I mean there's fees for uh the website

[1:13:49] itself. There would also be I would consider fees for running the website

[1:13:52] and having mer be in charge of the website. So it's probably a lot of

[1:13:56] conversation we want to have where we can get all the information for the

[1:13:59] board to discuss okay >> you know losing fees.

[1:14:03] » So was that would that be something you would

[1:14:06] » Yeah. also we could that could designate uh this currently three of you um two of

[1:14:11] you to you know meet with Lauren and Jim and myself and maybe Abby or Jess Kirby

[1:14:15] and kind of have this conversation to kind of hash out more what the chamber

[1:14:18] wants and you know what the fees are. >> I'd be willing to do that.

[1:14:21] » I would be willing to >> All right. So Susan and I will

[1:14:26] » okay >> we'll kind of

[1:14:28] » and just so we we're aware um this agreement should is in place through

[1:14:35] December 31st 2026 uh can be renewed and affirmed or new agreement put in place

[1:14:40] by then. So we have some time. >> So we have some time. Okay. All right.

[1:14:43] Cool. >> Very good.

[1:14:45] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[1:14:45] » All right. Thank you very much. [cough]

[1:14:49] » Oh sorry. While I hit the chamber, uh do you have a preference on porta potties

[1:14:54] um just for indigenous people weekend or the weekend before as well? Do you have

[1:14:57] a sense on or you look at your numbers from last year and tell us when you

[1:15:00] think you need? >> Both weekends were according to our

[1:15:05] records really busy.

[1:15:08] » Doesn't matter each way. >> I I would think there's nearly as many

[1:15:12] people here that we had before. Perfect. Good. Thank you.

[1:15:15] » So, we're doing both. That's what I'm hearing.

[1:15:17] » Yes. Okay. >> [clears throat]

[1:15:21] » All right. Um, next up is citizen comments.

[1:15:28] Michael, >> you're going to need to come up. Sit up

[1:15:32] here.

[1:15:36] » Stay state who you are. >> Michael Brands

[1:15:41] and Lincoln Street. Uh, it's my understanding

[1:15:46] the discussion of the rooster ordinance has been stopped by this board and I

[1:15:53] don't know why that occurred. I wasn't able to attend for a couple meetings.

[1:15:59] I've been out of town for a good portion of the summer and uh but but uh we still

[1:16:06] have a rooster on site. There's a apparently they may have taken away the

[1:16:11] the main culprit, but there's a new baby rooster that is starting to get his

[1:16:16] voice. And uh it says I assumed it would happen once you stop trying to adopt an

[1:16:23] ordinance, the owners would replace that rooster with another and

[1:16:28] life would continue on. And uh it's not pleasant hearing a rooster all day long

[1:16:36] from 5:30 in the morning. Uh I urge you to continue discussion of

[1:16:42] the uh rooster ordinance. Get it adopted. I've proposed a very simple

[1:16:46] simple ordinance that affects a very small portion of the town and I don't

[1:16:53] need to change that going forward. I know there's only three

[1:16:58] of you left anymore, but hopefully we can get some agreement on this.

[1:17:04] » Okay, >> so uh where do we stand?

[1:17:07] » Well, we were told that there was no longer a rooster and so there was no

[1:17:11] longer a problem and I think at that point we tabled it or right cliff.

[1:17:17] » Yeah, I that was the that that was the information that we

[1:17:21] got. There were no other complaints about other roosters. I don't know who

[1:17:23] informed you of that, but uh there is a rooster on site and he's continuing. Not

[1:17:28] the same one maybe, but >> it's not the same one.

[1:17:32] » Different rooster >> coming on. It's a younger one because

[1:17:34] his voice is fairly >> useful at the moment, but he's he's

[1:17:38] coming on >> learning the process. [laughter]

[1:17:41] » Okay. >> There's just no need for I can't see any

[1:17:45] possible need for a rooster in a community like that.

[1:17:49] Um, so where do we move from here? >> There was a village ordinance. Remember

[1:17:56] Mary 198 something >> because I

[1:18:00] » there is a village in your >> neighborhood.

[1:18:02] » Thank you. Yeah. >> Two houses down.

[1:18:04] » Two. Yeah. Well, that that rooster crowed like from midnight to 6, took a

[1:18:08] break and went again and um the rooster had to go away. It was many years ago.

[1:18:14] Many many years ago. But the neighborhood, we have a very tight

[1:18:17] neighborhood. same situation where I am.

[1:18:20] » Yeah. >> Neighborhood and

[1:18:23] » I think we can add it to our >> Yeah, I can I can discuss this in my

[1:18:26] manager reports after this if you want. >> We had some proposals. Yeah.

[1:18:29] » Yep. >> Okay. So, we can continue forward with

[1:18:32] that and uh see where it goes. Excellent. I appreciate that.

[1:18:37] » Thank you. >> Thank you, Michael.

[1:18:40] » I have two online

[1:18:44] who do we have. Alisa.

[1:18:49] » Hi there. Alisa Tarlo with I live in the village. Um I'm just going to read my

[1:18:55] comments so I don't get nervous. Okay. Anyways, I'm So I'm not sure if you guys

[1:18:59] are aware, but um in August, the last planning commission meeting. They spent

[1:19:05] it as their first meeting to go over redoing our town and village plan. Um,

[1:19:13] you all unfortunately approved a grant for Two Rivers to assist with this. Two

[1:19:19] Rivers was at the meeting, of course. Um, they're running the show. They're

[1:19:25] like full steam ahead on changing our town plan. They've already made a whole

[1:19:32] bunch of changes. They plan to go through a chapter a month. They will

[1:19:37] maintain the master copy. They're directing the entire process. I want you

[1:19:42] to stop what's going on with this. So, I think you need to let your constituents

[1:19:48] be the drivers of our own town plan. In a meeting that was held last Friday by

[1:19:55] the chief of staff and both zoning administrators,

[1:19:59] um, a lot of citizens came and everyone felt the same way. They heard a earful

[1:20:06] from from a lot of citizens and we all want to determine our own town plan. So

[1:20:14] I am requesting that you relieve Two Rivers from attending planning

[1:20:19] commission meetings while the planning commission spends many months focusing

[1:20:24] only on community outreach. This would include speaking with all of the boards,

[1:20:30] all of the committees, speaking with businesses, local nonprofits,

[1:20:35] have group brainstorming sessions with residents, creating surveys to reach all

[1:20:41] of the home residents and people that are not coming out of their home.

[1:20:45] They're unable to attend meetings for whatever reason. [clears throat]

[1:20:49] And speaking with those that have a real history here in town and have lived here

[1:20:54] for 30 or 50 more years, your chief of staff said that the grant with Two

[1:20:59] Rivers can be extended. And I encourage you all to put a stop to

[1:21:04] the way this town is being run and stand up for your constituents and let us

[1:21:11] determine the future of Woodstock. let us determine our town and village plan

[1:21:17] and then we can bring river two rivers back in to do what we want them to do.

[1:21:23] Whereas right now they're telling us what to do and that is not how we should

[1:21:28] go about this. This should be a bottom up process not a top down one. So,

[1:21:34] please, I hope you consider this and discuss it because you can make a

[1:21:39] difference and the citizens of your town want to be heard and this is one way

[1:21:45] that you can show them that you care. Thank you.

[1:21:50] » Thank you. Gay

[1:22:00] » Gay Travers. I just want to say that it is going to be a big loss losing you,

[1:22:06] Cliff. And I just want to express my appreciation for your service

[1:22:11] » and your measured presence. It's been really appreciated and it's a real loss

[1:22:14] and sorry to lose you. >> Thank you. Thank you guys.

[1:22:18] » Cliff Johnson, that's the one that dropped off.

[1:22:25] » [laughter] >> You can shut your

[1:22:30] uh Nico. >> Hi. Yeah, Nicholas Elden. Uh yeah, just

[1:22:33] I just want to thank Cliff Johnson as well. You know, out of out of the entire

[1:22:36] board that existed when all of the legal fee issues were going on. He was

[1:22:40] actually the only one who stepped up and did a calculation and he published that

[1:22:44] calculation publicly. Uh and he confirmed for the public that everything

[1:22:48] Allison Taylor was saying was correct. And I just want to thank him for that.

[1:22:52] And you know, this is a huge loss. Uh I'm I'm very disappointed to hear uh

[1:22:57] that he is resigning from this board. It was it was one of my you know little

[1:23:01] glimmers of hope as what the future is going to look like. Um but not to lament

[1:23:06] that and I'm not going to lament transparency. I already discussed that

[1:23:09] earlier today. Um I just wanted to point out that a new news story has come out

[1:23:13] in the Upper Valley, I'm sorry, the Valley News. Uh where Mr. Duffy has

[1:23:18] given a new interview and a new story that he has not previously given about

[1:23:22] those legal fees. And I encourage you to go and look at the news article. And

[1:23:26] what you will see is that Mr. Duffy is now claiming that he always intended for

[1:23:32] the town to spend $150,000 on the village legal fees and that the town was

[1:23:37] supposed to pay for all of the vill's legal fees related to Chief Joe Swanson,

[1:23:42] who is a village employee. That's what the news article says in his interview

[1:23:46] with them. uh which again like I said new story that he's not previously given

[1:23:50] uh it's actually in total conflict Mr. Freighes with a story that you've given

[1:23:55] uh about where did these fees who authorized them how much is it how did

[1:23:59] this happen and what could we do to prevent it from happening again and

[1:24:03] that's exactly what you had said Mr. Freddy's is the same thing that Miss

[1:24:06] Ford had said is how do we prevent this from happening so those two stories

[1:24:10] don't align Mr. Duffy's story does not align and it never has aligned when you

[1:24:16] actually look at the facts and you look at the evidence. Um it it's because it's

[1:24:21] fraud. It's that's why he's under criminal investigation right now for

[1:24:25] financial fraud. Uh and and this is going to be evidence in Joe Swanson's

[1:24:30] discrimination case that Mr. Duffy is under criminal investigation for fraud

[1:24:35] and you as a board as a joint board with the trustees are not putting him on

[1:24:39] administrative leave. you're not doing any of the things that he did to Joe

[1:24:42] Swanson. That's discrimination. Joe Swanson wasn't even under criminal

[1:24:46] investigation. So, I really encourage you to look at the decisions that you're

[1:24:50] making and the failure to make decisions and how that's actually going to impact

[1:24:54] Woodstock in the long term in other contexts. Um, but I agree with other

[1:24:58] people. I think Woodstock is being taken over right now. We've got the Avatars.

[1:25:02] We've got, you know, a sleazy accountant who has repeatedly lied to the public in

[1:25:06] order to get more money and a higher salary for himself. Uh, we've got people

[1:25:10] that have moved here from New York a few years ago and they instantly tried to

[1:25:13] outlaw motorcycles and they just, you know, accept Mr. Duffy's statements at

[1:25:18] face value and they're coming here and they're telling this board, "Silence

[1:25:22] your citizens. Put citizens comments at the end. You don't even need citizens

[1:25:26] comments. There's no Vermont law that requires citizens comments." Who are

[1:25:29] these people? They move to our town. They move to our community and they

[1:25:33] start to destroy it and they start to change it. And then this board, like

[1:25:37] Miss Ford and other people, you blame us. You blame the public for our

[1:25:41] reaction. My reaction, my anger, my anger about being lied to, my anger

[1:25:47] about what Mr. Duffy has done to my family, my anger about what this board

[1:25:51] has allowed Mr. Duffy to do. And you make us the abusers. And that's that's

[1:25:56] classic abuser syndrome. That's what abusers do. That's what, you know,

[1:26:00] aggressive husbands do to their to their battered wives. And that's what this

[1:26:04] public board is doing to its residents. And it's got to end. It's got to end.

[1:26:09] Thank you.

[1:26:12] Thank you. Anybody else? >> I haven't seen mine.

[1:26:16] » H >> not seeing mine.

[1:26:18] » Okay. >> All right. Uh we're going to end with

[1:26:22] the manager's update. >> Yeah. Just a few things. One, um Greg

[1:26:26] already spoke to the water issue. So, again, I just want to thank the staff

[1:26:28] for all the work over the last 24 hours kind of fixing that as soon as possible

[1:26:32] and making sure we didn't have to uh conserve water or anything else. So, I

[1:26:36] want to thank AJ Butch, Greg, and his whole public works crew for all the work

[1:26:39] they did. Uh, this Friday is the last Friday of summer hours, so after Labor

[1:26:45] Day, Friday, we open 4:30 and that'll continue throughout the rest of the

[1:26:50] fall, winter, and spring. Um the second uh third um I believe the

[1:26:57] trustees are going to hold their public hearing on the bylaw updates on

[1:27:00] September 29th. Um so I believe that's the the the date for the hearing. Uh we

[1:27:05] haven't officially scheduled it, but that's what we're talking about. Uh just

[1:27:08] the word out so people are aware of when that hearing is going to take place. Um,

[1:27:12] finally, uh, late last night, I got an email, um, that looks like FEMA has

[1:27:19] approved the various buyouts, um, that some businesses did in Woodstock post

[1:27:24] flood. Um, and what that is is people were able to apply for the buyouts.

[1:27:28] Federal government comes in, um, gives a fair market value price, you know, for

[1:27:33] the property. It turns over to the town. uh you basically have to level the

[1:27:38] entire buildings and it can become a green space and very limited elsewhere.

[1:27:43] Um so we'll be reaching out to those business owners the next few days to

[1:27:46] make sure see if they're still interested or not. If they're interested

[1:27:49] we'll work with them go through the process. Uh they can also reject the

[1:27:52] grant if they want and kind of keep things as they are. Uh so that'll be

[1:27:55] happening in the next week, two weeks. So hopefully by the next meeting we have

[1:27:59] an update on where we're at with all that. Uh that's all I have. Okay.

[1:28:04] Anybody

[1:28:08] we open for any more comments? Okay. Well, I would like to someone make a

[1:28:14] motion to adjourn the meeting. >> Move to adjourn for the last one.

[1:28:19] » Second. >> All those in favor say I.

[1:28:22] » I. All those opposed. >> Okay.

[1:28:24] » What a pleasure to work. Yeah. on weeks.

09.01.26 Selectboard

Transcript