[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.