1 00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:07,799 hello and welcome to Williston's annual budget presentation and we have a few 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:12,630 things to talk about today I'm Terry McKay chair of the lawson select board 3 00:00:10,139 --> 00:00:18,539 next to me is Deb Beckett who is the town clerk and treasurer and next to her 4 00:00:15,660 --> 00:00:24,029 is Rick McGuire Town Manager and then Eric Wells our assistant to the town 5 00:00:21,270 --> 00:00:30,630 manager we thank you very much channel 17 for hosting the show and our town 6 00:00:27,510 --> 00:00:35,760 meeting is starts on Monday March for us at the Williston Central School at 7 7 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:40,559 o'clock in the evening voting on the budget and special articles and for the 8 00:00:38,129 --> 00:00:45,629 end also for the town offices is the following day on March 5th voting it 9 00:00:43,559 --> 00:00:48,780 will be held at the Vermont National Guard Armory in the middle of the 10 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:54,210 village of Williston the polls are open from 7:00 in the 11 00:00:51,510 --> 00:01:00,239 morning till 7:00 in the evening we have a lot to cover today the town budget a 12 00:00:57,030 --> 00:01:05,309 bond resolution and six articles relating to the proposed charter changes 13 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:09,540 so let's start out with Rickon to tell us about the budget this year well thank 14 00:01:07,229 --> 00:01:13,650 you Terry any conversation about the budget really has to focus first on 15 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:20,100 services because really that's what's the most important part of why we even 16 00:01:16,409 --> 00:01:24,509 have a budget I took the opportunity to actually count the number of services we 17 00:01:21,990 --> 00:01:27,570 had Terry and you'll be may be surprised to learn that we have about a hundred 18 00:01:26,070 --> 00:01:34,740 and eighty different services that we provide so it's more than just what you 19 00:01:30,299 --> 00:01:38,100 would normally think of and I actually have a slide here that shows some of the 20 00:01:36,630 --> 00:01:42,600 major ones that people are most familiar with you know police protection fire 21 00:01:40,710 --> 00:01:51,299 protection library services but there's far more than what those services would 22 00:01:46,860 --> 00:01:54,240 imply I think we're going to have Eric talk a little bit about the budget 23 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:58,619 detail so I'm gonna turn over to Eric thanks Rick so first we're gonna look at 24 00:01:56,490 --> 00:02:02,340 the cost of services in the budget this year is about eleven and a half million 25 00:02:00,270 --> 00:02:05,579 dollars this is an increase of just about three hundred and eighty four 26 00:02:03,659 --> 00:02:10,709 thousand dollars and that's a three point four percent increase we've got a 27 00:02:09,060 --> 00:02:13,650 slide here that looks at and expenditure comparison it shows graphically where 28 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:18,420 tax dollars are being spent throughout the town so 29 00:02:16,019 --> 00:02:24,500 well over 55% goes sort of public safety related services as you can see and then 30 00:02:20,790 --> 00:02:28,260 the rest of the breakdown is showed here so to balance those expenses we have to 31 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:32,400 look at our revenue sources throughout the year almost half the revenue support 32 00:02:30,780 --> 00:02:38,010 the town services is in the form of property taxes 25% is generated through 33 00:02:35,670 --> 00:02:42,060 our local options tax reminder this is a volatile tax source which means it can 34 00:02:40,140 --> 00:02:46,290 fluctuate up and down as the economy goes up and down so then the difference 35 00:02:44,879 --> 00:02:54,000 can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars our remaining 25% is from a 36 00:02:49,349 --> 00:02:59,430 variety of other sources so the question is what will this cost me our current 37 00:02:57,569 --> 00:03:04,920 taxes are based on a hundred thousand dollars in based on a hundred thousand 38 00:03:01,650 --> 00:03:10,019 dollars of value is $266 taxes for the next year based on the proposed budget 39 00:03:06,569 --> 00:03:17,069 are estimated at $270 per 100,000 dollars of value that's an increase of 40 00:03:11,549 --> 00:03:22,530 $4 so Eric you mentioned of course there's only a $4 increase but I think 41 00:03:19,340 --> 00:03:28,290 there's a another piece to this story that I kind of wanted to tell I did an 42 00:03:25,799 --> 00:03:35,340 analysis of the various increases the town has had over the past three years 43 00:03:30,180 --> 00:03:42,150 and found out that based on a home that's valued at $400,000 the taxes in 44 00:03:39,209 --> 00:03:48,180 2017 were was a thousand dollars and a thousand $60 and the following year it 45 00:03:46,319 --> 00:03:52,829 remained the same the year after that there was a slight increase and there's 46 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:57,930 an increase also proposed for next fiscal year but all together the total 47 00:03:55,949 --> 00:04:04,169 increase over that four year period was only $20 again based on a four and a 48 00:04:00,780 --> 00:04:08,430 thousand dollar value home I think the other piece of good news is when you 49 00:04:06,150 --> 00:04:13,079 look at our tax rate and this again municipal taxes compared to the various 50 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:18,810 municipalities throughout Chittenden County Williston is near the bottom 51 00:04:16,190 --> 00:04:22,800 we're just above the town of Charlotte and all the other communities have tax 52 00:04:21,479 --> 00:04:27,630 rates that are much higher than Williston and Charlotte has lower tax 53 00:04:27,090 --> 00:04:33,360 rate they also offer a fewer far fewer number 54 00:04:30,990 --> 00:04:40,250 of services that we provide here in Williston so Eric that's a quick summary 55 00:04:36,750 --> 00:04:45,510 of the budget that involves article six but if people want to dig deeper into 56 00:04:42,810 --> 00:04:48,090 the numbers where would they turn to ya thanks Rick 57 00:04:46,230 --> 00:04:51,600 if someone's to go in our town website we have a number of resources to look at 58 00:04:50,010 --> 00:04:55,170 the budget and everything related the Town Meeting the easiest path to find 59 00:04:53,580 --> 00:04:59,550 that is going our home page you'll see our news briefs a link for Town Meeting 60 00:04:56,910 --> 00:05:03,750 2019 follow that link and you'll find a number of resources videos and a number 61 00:05:01,500 --> 00:05:07,530 of documents or you feel free to stop by the Town Hall since some of the 62 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:10,550 manager's office an email or just give us a call we're happy to discuss this 63 00:05:09,060 --> 00:05:18,450 with you so thanks Eric and Rick for that there 64 00:05:15,090 --> 00:05:23,460 are several other important articles for consideration by the voters in this 65 00:05:20,850 --> 00:05:27,990 kamar CH and one of those is the bond vote for two new fire trucks and the 66 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:37,070 select board has talked at length about this proposal and recommends a proposal 67 00:05:31,740 --> 00:05:41,370 to you well this has been somewhat controversial already the board did 68 00:05:39,930 --> 00:05:45,750 spend a lot of time talking about the various issues here and so I've prepared 69 00:05:44,070 --> 00:05:51,140 a couple slides here that I think will hopefully explain this issue a little 70 00:05:48,270 --> 00:05:57,930 bit better for people currently we have a number of pieces of large equipment we 71 00:05:55,410 --> 00:06:03,480 have one ladder truck three pumpers and a brush truck and from the chart that is 72 00:06:01,170 --> 00:06:10,410 on your screen you can see that over the years the amount of a number of major 73 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:17,370 pieces of equipment has decreased for example in 2010 we had a total of seven 74 00:06:14,580 --> 00:06:22,980 large pieces of equipment that was reduced a couple years later or a few 75 00:06:19,020 --> 00:06:29,190 years later to six and for the current year we have only five the proposal that 76 00:06:27,060 --> 00:06:35,729 is before the voters is actually to reduce that once again to four major 77 00:06:31,650 --> 00:06:41,520 pieces of equipment so that is the proposal now each truck that we have 78 00:06:39,410 --> 00:06:46,319 generally lasts 15 to twenty years so it's a significant life 79 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:50,669 that this equipment has the equipment's also very expensive it's not just the 80 00:06:48,539 --> 00:06:55,379 truck that you're buying it's tons and tons of equipment that goes with each 81 00:06:52,440 --> 00:07:00,569 truck and each truck I would also say performs multiple functions it's not 82 00:06:57,690 --> 00:07:06,629 just a single function that each truck does and finally the process for 83 00:07:03,690 --> 00:07:11,550 replacing these trucks is a long one it can take two to three years to actually 84 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:16,770 complete the process from start to finish in the purchase of one of these 85 00:07:14,310 --> 00:07:22,889 trucks so I think that's important to consider when you're looking at the 86 00:07:19,710 --> 00:07:28,860 whole process and the whole issue behind whether or not we should buy new trucks 87 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:34,800 we currently have the trucks that are we're hoping to replace one is out of 88 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:38,280 service now and so that will continue to be on a service and we'll get rid of it 89 00:07:36,389 --> 00:07:43,710 the other two trucks are currently in service one is a ladder truck and the 90 00:07:41,819 --> 00:07:49,500 other is a what's referred to as a pumper these trucks are nearing there 91 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:52,380 and the useful life one is currently eighteen years old the other is 16 years 92 00:07:51,930 --> 00:07:56,969 old and if you add two to three years on to 93 00:07:54,270 --> 00:08:00,659 that one will be twenty-one years old you're hiring three years and the other 94 00:07:58,020 --> 00:08:05,610 be 19 years so both of them will be near the end of their useful life at the time 95 00:08:03,180 --> 00:08:11,190 we actually got to replace it but you have to plan these replacements far in 96 00:08:08,190 --> 00:08:15,360 advance because of the long delay or a long process and actually replacing 97 00:08:13,380 --> 00:08:22,860 these trucks so you do need to think ahead so the three trucks that we're 98 00:08:20,940 --> 00:08:27,569 replacing if you were to take the replacement value of those three trucks 99 00:08:24,599 --> 00:08:32,159 it would be about 2.2 million and of course by reducing it and buying less 100 00:08:30,180 --> 00:08:38,909 expensive trucks which is what the plan is we are asking for only 1.4 million 101 00:08:35,459 --> 00:08:46,740 and that amount will likely be reduced by the replacement if we go to sell 102 00:08:44,579 --> 00:08:51,449 those trucks after we buy the new ones then we'll be able to get some value 103 00:08:49,529 --> 00:08:55,200 from that and reduce them out that we're going to have to borrow so that can't be 104 00:08:53,820 --> 00:08:58,769 factored into what we have to as for because we don't know what that 105 00:08:56,970 --> 00:09:03,480 amounts going to be but we do anticipate receiving some money back when we sell 106 00:09:01,139 --> 00:09:08,670 the old piece of equipment the newer trucks have a number of advantages and 107 00:09:06,269 --> 00:09:14,070 there's a couple pictures on the one slide here that shows what the tricks 108 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:18,930 the new trucks might look like the first is a Quint truck which by its name 109 00:09:17,070 --> 00:09:23,339 implies of performs five different functions but the important piece of 110 00:09:21,389 --> 00:09:28,139 that is that both of these trucks actually these trucks are lighter trucks 111 00:09:26,220 --> 00:09:33,649 than the current trucks we have there are shorter in length they have a 112 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:39,870 shorter wheelbase which allows them a shorter turning radius and of course 113 00:09:36,329 --> 00:09:45,209 lighter also means less wear and tear on the the town roads and the proper truck 114 00:09:43,290 --> 00:09:50,820 which is significantly smaller than our the proper truck it's replacing also as 115 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:57,180 a four-wheel drive truck and that allows for even more bility during the winter 116 00:09:53,730 --> 00:10:02,990 months like we're having now where the trucks might be challenged on a steep 117 00:09:59,730 --> 00:10:11,910 slope the four-wheel drive allows it to maneuver more readily in bad weather so 118 00:10:07,649 --> 00:10:17,250 I think that's a quick overview of the reasons behind or there's the 119 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:23,070 replacement the trucks are the current trucks are in dire need of being 120 00:10:19,290 --> 00:10:29,010 replaced and the new trucks will perform a wider range of functions and so we're 121 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:36,140 asking voters to support this important replacement of equipment oh the other 122 00:10:33,510 --> 00:10:40,560 piece that I wanted to share is our current debt because when you borrow 123 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:46,230 money it does affect your total debt load and this chart shows the current 124 00:10:43,470 --> 00:10:52,290 and proposed debt service levels and if you look at the year or 2019 you'll see 125 00:10:48,449 --> 00:10:59,010 that the current debt load is about the same as it will be in 2023 which is when 126 00:10:55,260 --> 00:11:03,980 the first payments for these two new trucks would be most likely to hit the 127 00:11:01,079 --> 00:11:08,670 books so it's not a significant impact between now and 2020 three we do see the 128 00:11:07,019 --> 00:11:12,990 debt going down somewhat and the after that they would also go down 129 00:11:10,650 --> 00:11:19,800 because as you pay off the debt the HAR the amount that you know will also go 130 00:11:15,570 --> 00:11:28,470 down so that's kind of a quick look at the impact on our debt service so I 131 00:11:25,620 --> 00:11:32,490 think Terry might be a good time now to start talking about the Charter changes 132 00:11:31,020 --> 00:11:37,950 that are being proposed because there's there's a number of them and these are 133 00:11:35,610 --> 00:11:45,390 kind of important issues especially a couple of them and so I think I'm gonna 134 00:11:43,890 --> 00:11:52,320 start the discussion and we're gonna ask that Becca to weigh in because she has 135 00:11:47,670 --> 00:11:57,510 some unique knowledge about issues there are six articles that are being 136 00:11:53,970 --> 00:12:04,080 considered and the the town's Charter was actually first adopted in 2003 and 137 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:11,060 it's been amended twice or once in 2007 and the other in 2009 the town charter 138 00:12:07,590 --> 00:12:15,720 is a way for the town to institute procedures and processes that are 139 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:21,420 somewhat different than state law allows for in Vermont to the state of Vermont 140 00:12:18,750 --> 00:12:25,890 the state is actually ruled by something called Dillon's rule and this is 141 00:12:23,730 --> 00:12:30,810 actually a judicial interpretation of the law and it says basically that 142 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:36,840 municipality can only exercise those specific powers that are expressly 143 00:12:33,210 --> 00:12:40,980 conferred to it by the state law and so if the state law doesn't say you can do 144 00:12:38,250 --> 00:12:46,680 it then you rather if the state law says you can't do it then you can't do it 145 00:12:43,970 --> 00:12:53,700 chowder the town charter allows you to specify what the rules are the 146 00:12:49,610 --> 00:13:01,290 individual town can do and so we're constricted by state law for the most 147 00:12:55,770 --> 00:13:05,270 part so I guess the oh I wanted to talk a little bit about the adoption process 148 00:13:02,870 --> 00:13:11,029 currently the process involves an adoption that 149 00:13:08,750 --> 00:13:16,339 requires two public hearings which have been held it also requires that the 150 00:13:14,390 --> 00:13:19,790 Select board approve it and then eventually it goes to the voters which 151 00:13:18,470 --> 00:13:23,930 is why we're talking about it now because the Select board did approve it 152 00:13:21,589 --> 00:13:28,160 in January and it goes to town voters for their consideration and then once 153 00:13:26,029 --> 00:13:32,510 the voters approve it then it has to go to the state legislature for a final 154 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:37,130 approval now usually the state legislature approves the changes that 155 00:13:34,580 --> 00:13:41,630 are adopted by the towns but I think there have been several state situation 156 00:13:39,020 --> 00:13:45,110 where the state legislature has not made those changes or it made approve 157 00:13:43,490 --> 00:13:50,209 something different than the voter has changed I know what's in the minority 158 00:13:47,270 --> 00:13:57,110 but it can happen and of course it also adds some time to the whole process and 159 00:13:53,230 --> 00:14:03,890 that can be a concern under certain circumstances for sure so let's talk 160 00:14:00,230 --> 00:14:13,339 about the first article which is article 8 and Deb as the Wilsons town clerk and 161 00:14:09,529 --> 00:14:19,339 treasurer for the past 20 years why is the proposed change that's described in 162 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:25,100 article 8 important I think it's very important at this point the well first 163 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:31,550 off I do want to say that the possibility or the proposal to eliminate 164 00:14:26,899 --> 00:14:35,480 any elected position is one that had cannot be taken lightly and I don't 165 00:14:33,230 --> 00:14:42,470 think you know we are doing that in any way shape or form has been a lot of 166 00:14:37,700 --> 00:14:49,670 thought into this the position of the town treasurer has changed drastically I 167 00:14:46,190 --> 00:14:57,200 think over the last 20 years we're not in the days anymore of maybe one or two 168 00:14:52,670 --> 00:15:01,550 bank accounts and cash receipts coming in over the counter and being put into 169 00:14:59,510 --> 00:15:07,279 little envelopes and it's gotten much more complex than that 170 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:13,250 currently we the town treasurer we manage 29 separate money market accounts 171 00:15:10,459 --> 00:15:18,860 7cd and investment accounts totaling about twelve point six million dollars 172 00:15:15,699 --> 00:15:24,290 plus a general operating and pay accounts our primary goal for these 173 00:15:22,070 --> 00:15:30,020 funds are really to maximize the interest realized so these accounts 174 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:35,600 while still maintaining liquidity and I think between that and regulations that 175 00:15:33,620 --> 00:15:40,880 have come down the pike over the last number of years banking regulations in 176 00:15:37,850 --> 00:15:46,640 particular it it really is important that whomever is in this position has 177 00:15:43,010 --> 00:15:55,040 some background in finance in business and accounting as an elected treasurer 178 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:58,910 there there are no requirements somebody could just put their name on the ballot 179 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:04,700 say I want to be treasurer come in and have no background whatsoever in in 180 00:16:02,300 --> 00:16:08,870 finance or business and I think that would be a you know detriment to the 181 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:15,110 town especially with dealing with so much in the fundings I would say that 182 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:21,440 over the years we've been very fortunate to having your expertise in guiding that 183 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:25,820 piece of the town's finances and our audits have always been very good and 184 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:32,090 obviously that's something we want to retain it's an important piece of our 185 00:16:29,330 --> 00:16:40,850 town finances there's another piece though the proposals here is to change 186 00:16:38,180 --> 00:16:45,260 the treasurer's position from elected to appointed but it's also in the budget 187 00:16:43,070 --> 00:16:52,550 there's money for another change that affects this position moving that from 188 00:16:49,100 --> 00:16:57,920 much a part-time this is to a full-time position 189 00:16:53,870 --> 00:17:04,070 currently the my position as the treasurer I'm elected treasurer and 190 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:10,100 electric clerk we've had the combined position for I want to say about 50 191 00:17:08,150 --> 00:17:16,550 years certainly in degree my predecessor was clerk and treasurer for about she 192 00:17:14,900 --> 00:17:24,470 was that for about thirty of her 36 years the combined positions by 193 00:17:21,530 --> 00:17:29,870 separating this out it will give the new a new treasurer an appointed treasurer 194 00:17:26,830 --> 00:17:37,700 will have it is absolutely a full-time job between all the duties and 195 00:17:34,190 --> 00:17:43,700 we have it is a full-time operation right now I have myself and a senior 196 00:17:40,369 --> 00:17:50,029 assistant treasurer who does a lot of the work and combined it's well more 197 00:17:46,909 --> 00:17:55,279 than any one full-time position well thank you for that now the the next 198 00:17:52,999 --> 00:18:01,159 article that we wanted to talk about is article 9 and this one's a little bit 199 00:17:57,259 --> 00:18:07,249 different then you want to just briefly explain what that's about 200 00:18:02,749 --> 00:18:16,330 so article 9 would allow the town to vote at some future date to change the 201 00:18:11,929 --> 00:18:24,350 clerk position from elected to appointed that is different and what this is doing 202 00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:29,960 is it's simply allowing the town at a future date to make the decision that 203 00:18:27,379 --> 00:18:35,570 they want to go to an appointed clerk rather than having the legislature make 204 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:42,289 that decision through the Charter changes and whatnot 205 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:48,409 this I would say I would hope not to see come on the ballot here in the future in 206 00:18:46,009 --> 00:18:54,499 the future but it just it allows that to happen should we decide right so it's 207 00:18:51,259 --> 00:18:58,369 not really changing anything that we have in place now other than taking the 208 00:18:56,359 --> 00:19:06,169 state legislature out of the decision yes yeah and actually that a plain same 209 00:19:02,859 --> 00:19:14,119 issue applies to another article we'll get to in a minute here but I want to 210 00:19:09,619 --> 00:19:19,549 briefly talk about article 10 which is a proposal to eliminate the positions of 211 00:19:16,749 --> 00:19:23,840 pound keeper and town service officer both of these positions have essentially 212 00:19:21,919 --> 00:19:28,129 become obsolete over the years in fact I can't remember ever having a pound 213 00:19:25,730 --> 00:19:34,009 keeper but it is something that's in our Charter and I also think that by 214 00:19:31,519 --> 00:19:38,299 eliminating these it doesn't necessarily prevent the Select board from appointing 215 00:19:36,019 --> 00:19:42,590 someone to these positions for example town service officer Terry you can 216 00:19:41,269 --> 00:19:46,960 correct me if I'm wrong but I think the board did appoint someone to that even 217 00:19:45,470 --> 00:19:50,710 though under state law it is not acquired any longer we did that's 218 00:19:48,580 --> 00:19:55,990 correct yeah and and it's a position that does have some function so but the 219 00:19:53,440 --> 00:20:00,760 proposal here just takes it out of the Charter as being a required position and 220 00:19:58,210 --> 00:20:06,250 allows the Select board the flexibility as to whether or not they want to have 221 00:20:02,380 --> 00:20:11,529 someone fill that position and this next article board of Lister's is kind of 222 00:20:08,470 --> 00:20:17,080 similar than one on the town clerk because it's really the only intent of 223 00:20:14,980 --> 00:20:21,309 this article is to take the state legislature out of the process and I 224 00:20:19,779 --> 00:20:24,820 would agree with your sentiment that you said on the town clerk the same is true 225 00:20:23,380 --> 00:20:30,039 of our board of Lister's our board of Lister's performs a really good function 226 00:20:27,370 --> 00:20:34,360 in Williston it's not true in all other communities but in Williston it has been 227 00:20:32,620 --> 00:20:39,190 very true we have excellent board and they really do a great job so this 228 00:20:37,390 --> 00:20:43,600 proposal is not to eliminate that board it just takes the state legislature out 229 00:20:41,230 --> 00:20:47,529 of the process so it's some point in the future the town does want to eliminate 230 00:20:45,580 --> 00:20:53,529 this board then they can do so without having go to the state legislature and 231 00:20:51,059 --> 00:20:58,570 the town constable is another one that's article 12 this is a position that is 232 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:02,950 for the most part become obsolete over the years it does perform a little bit 233 00:21:00,399 --> 00:21:07,360 of a function but that's function that it performs can be can and does is 234 00:21:04,929 --> 00:21:10,659 performed by others sheriff's for example can perform some of the 235 00:21:09,010 --> 00:21:17,289 functions that the constable provides the proposal here just takes it out of 236 00:21:14,740 --> 00:21:21,340 being a required position within the town charter again it allows the slight 237 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:25,620 board in fact I think it provides the Select board to make the appointment 238 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:30,159 rather than having it as elected and given the fact that most of the duties 239 00:21:28,299 --> 00:21:34,840 of this position have kind of gone away over the years I think it kind of makes 240 00:21:31,990 --> 00:21:41,529 sense to have it change the nature of the position and then finally there are 241 00:21:38,020 --> 00:21:46,029 some technical Corrections the the most obvious one is the start time for our 242 00:21:43,630 --> 00:21:52,809 annual Town Meeting the Charter currently states that the meeting must 243 00:21:48,130 --> 00:21:56,620 start at 7:30 p.m. and I think for years and years and years the meetings started 244 00:21:54,460 --> 00:22:00,940 at 7:00 so that's not consistent with our Charter and I think it might be good 245 00:21:58,899 --> 00:22:04,929 to modify our Charter to make consistent with what our current 246 00:22:02,169 --> 00:22:09,489 practice is so the Charter change provides some flexibility in setting 247 00:22:06,999 --> 00:22:13,389 that start time for Town Meeting there's some other minor changes in there I 248 00:22:10,989 --> 00:22:19,059 think there's an incorrect reference to a state statute in there and the thus 249 00:22:16,239 --> 00:22:25,659 technical change that's proposed will correct that as well so that's a quick 250 00:22:21,909 --> 00:22:30,879 rundown of the various charter changes Deb if someone wants to learn more about 251 00:22:28,139 --> 00:22:35,649 these or some of the other things where can they look for some additional 252 00:22:32,649 --> 00:22:39,940 information thank you yeah anybody can go on to the town website as Eric 253 00:22:37,570 --> 00:22:47,919 mentioned earlier and that's a talent Williston VT us copies of the town 254 00:22:44,409 --> 00:22:52,090 report will also be available at the Town Hall 255 00:22:48,429 --> 00:22:56,799 anytime 8 to 4:30 at 7,900 Williston Road copies of the town report can also 256 00:22:54,729 --> 00:23:02,320 we picked up at Town Meeting oh they'll be plenty there for everyone you can 257 00:22:59,559 --> 00:23:08,769 call or email us eight seven eight five one two one or you can email me at dee 258 00:23:05,379 --> 00:23:15,340 Beckett at Williston VT org and we can send out a town report to you and pretty 259 00:23:12,279 --> 00:23:20,470 much all of the detail information for the budgets and all reports of all the 260 00:23:18,519 --> 00:23:25,690 departments are contained in that town report there's also a fire that's going 261 00:23:23,950 --> 00:23:30,340 out shortly that has some of this information as well absolutely there's a 262 00:23:27,729 --> 00:23:36,099 summary a flyer for the town as well as the school that'll be coming out in next 263 00:23:33,580 --> 00:23:41,889 week's issue of the Williston Observer so look for that 264 00:23:37,239 --> 00:23:49,059 insert great thank you so it's my turn two more let's wrap up this presentation 265 00:23:45,190 --> 00:23:54,519 so remember the important dates of March 4th for our Town Meeting and that starts 266 00:23:51,999 --> 00:23:59,979 at 7 o'clock at the Williston central school auditorium and the following day 267 00:23:57,039 --> 00:24:03,980 on March 5th voting at the National Guard Armory for select ward and other 268 00:24:02,559 --> 00:24:09,500 positions that for election the town budget and also on 269 00:24:07,700 --> 00:24:15,350 the the special articles that we've just been talking about following the town 270 00:24:12,710 --> 00:24:20,140 meeting on the the fourth there'll be an information meeting held at the same 271 00:24:17,750 --> 00:24:26,960 location at the Williston Central School to talk about the budget the bond vote 272 00:24:24,620 --> 00:24:34,750 and the Charter changes which you'll be able to ask questions and get more 273 00:24:29,990 --> 00:24:42,260 information so I encourage all of you to learn more about the budget in the 274 00:24:38,510 --> 00:24:47,750 various articles that we're proposing on the ballot and the select Court is 275 00:24:45,770 --> 00:24:53,540 asking you to support the changes that we have approved Rick so Terry there's a 276 00:24:51,580 --> 00:24:59,840 couple things I want to make a plug for sand so we have an audience here 277 00:24:56,830 --> 00:25:04,090 what is the an event that we've scheduled for April 10th there's been a 278 00:25:02,419 --> 00:25:09,980 lot of concern in the community about substance abuse particularly among our 279 00:25:06,380 --> 00:25:17,590 young people and the news recently is focused a lot on opiates but really 280 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:24,740 Alcohol Tobacco and and more recently cannabis have been in the news and those 281 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:30,590 are substances Ammar likely to be abused by our young people and this is 282 00:25:26,419 --> 00:25:37,460 concerning particularly mine's the young people are more susceptible to being 283 00:25:33,890 --> 00:25:41,750 changed by the abuse of substances and this can affect people later in life and 284 00:25:40,460 --> 00:25:47,090 so we want to have a community discussion about this and really talk 285 00:25:44,900 --> 00:25:53,419 about things that might have an impact to prevent the abuse of substances 286 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:57,860 amongst our young people and there are examples around the country and around 287 00:25:56,030 --> 00:26:02,240 the world where programs have been successful so I think as a community it 288 00:26:00,860 --> 00:26:05,780 would be good to learn about those and see if there's a way we can actually 289 00:26:03,860 --> 00:26:10,220 implement some programs that would have that so I encourage everyone to attend 290 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:14,510 this meeting the bigger the turnout I think the more impact it will have and 291 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:17,600 the greater chance of succeeding in moving towards programs that will 292 00:26:16,970 --> 00:26:22,520 prevent abuse of substances by our young people 293 00:26:20,270 --> 00:26:27,170 the other thing I wanted to give it a little pitch is a program that Eric's 294 00:26:24,740 --> 00:26:31,040 been involved in it's called what's up Williston and it's a monthly program 295 00:26:29,150 --> 00:26:36,020 about a variety different community topics Eric why don't you mentioned what 296 00:26:34,670 --> 00:26:39,680 some of the shows have been about and particularly the one that's coming up 297 00:26:37,550 --> 00:26:43,550 yeah we've number of topics in town we've explored things we've looked 298 00:26:41,330 --> 00:26:47,510 Police Department we've sat down with the police chief Patrick Foley we've 299 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:51,860 talked about fire rescue we had a wellness episode in January there's a 300 00:26:50,060 --> 00:26:56,120 number of topics we explore every month and it's um we've done the show for 301 00:26:54,080 --> 00:27:00,410 about since last summer and continuing to look at new topics Rick and I will be 302 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:04,850 taping our next episode that will kind of delve deeper into the budget process 303 00:27:02,150 --> 00:27:08,510 we presented an overview today but there's a lot of pieces to arrive at 304 00:27:06,740 --> 00:27:12,410 these final numbers so we're gonna take a closer look at that process to inform 305 00:27:10,580 --> 00:27:17,510 everyone the community how exactly that works and what that looks like well 306 00:27:14,900 --> 00:27:21,920 thank you Eric and that pretty much wraps up our presentation and I'm hoping 307 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:26,330 that people take the time to learn about our budget and the budget process a lot 308 00:27:24,770 --> 00:27:30,860 of time and effort goes into it it starts in September really and and 309 00:27:28,580 --> 00:27:36,320 doesn't end until the voters vote on it in in March and of course then we start 310 00:27:34,100 --> 00:27:40,610 the process all over again so we encourage everyone to get out and vote 311 00:27:37,820 --> 00:27:46,190 in support of the town budget and various articles including the bond vote 312 00:27:43,130 --> 00:27:49,780 and the various articles that are involved with our town charter change