ve been able to conserve our funds and and um really leverage that i do hear what you're saying and and we're not saying no to that i think we'll will look for funding but i think that there are many um towns and organizations looking for that funding uh similarly so my guess is that a group that isn't well practiced in that isn't going to be super successful you know where we don't have a history of grant writing or or grant administration so but just just to add to that though bill is that we we did um early in the summer um actually retain a lobbying firm to spend some time and energy lobbying the legislature to try to funnel recovery funds to Montpelier specifically and then other designated downtowns as well so we we have made some significant efforts to to do that there was you know there's always a lot of legislative process of course but we did spend some resource to to do what we can to get to get funds towards this community that's true that's a good point i didn't look at that as as in the same category but that's right we spent um quite a bit and we didn't just look at Montpelier we actually funded an entire statewide effort to bring funding to designated downtowns um so you know that's those are the kinds of things we are doing and we should have mentioned that you know i think that there's a lot that everybody on this board is doing in addition to all their other work and there isn't a person here that doesn't work as hard as they can for Montpelier when we have our board meetings and everything else i mean you know the enthusiasm is high and the belief is strong that we can have continue to have a high impact if you wish any other comments or questions for the mc crew okay well thank you again so much for all of your the time that you've given in your energy and enthusiasm from Montpelier thanks for all your work with the the men fund and you know just all the efforts that you have put forward on behalf of the the businesses and residents of Montpelier we're really we're very grateful we're thankful for you watching tonight we you know it's amazing what you all are doing it's incredible it really is i'll hang in there and we will support you however you ask great well thank you so much okay all right yeah all right have a good evening thank you okay um all right so we're at 937 i am inclined to not punt anything which i think is going to take us past 10 are you okay with that unless you want to punt something okay i'm getting some thumbs up so we're gonna keep going um right the next item is talking about public restrooms and for this i'm going to turn things over to Cameron um i'd like to walk through my memo um first i'd like to thank the chief gowens the chief fakers of funding uh chief gowens with the fire department dpw and the parks department and the homelessness task force for helping me with this memo and getting this research information together um generally i wanted to step through an overview of the situation um since the beginning of the covid pandemic the city of montpellier has had few open 24-hour restroom facilities available to residents and visitors this is not a direct outcome of the pandemic that's exclusive to montpellier even for mont this is country-wide and once open public facilities have closed this really does impact quite a lot of folks and the need outweighs the available resources all over our nation city staff has asked to look into options both short and long term to address this need in our community so we took efforts to get rough estimates for creating permanent restrooms uh including to begin work expanding the city's youth supported john units and expanding our understanding of what is available uh what available facilities are already in existence in the city you've already heard the budget update i want to make it very clear that these possible projects are all presented with the understanding that our city budget is in a historic shortfall and that we've been trying very hard to get required funding um through other means other than the city budget but we do know that these lack of restrooms is a holistic issue and need we are really do want to support this if this effort but do understand that it requires sort of a holistic community approach as well so the first part of our work included getting the current restroom location in hours that we know of so we collected information about local places that are currently open we also reached out to the state to learn more about their facilities to see if they can open any of their doors any of their buildings which we were told no because they're really also suffering from a lack of staff they don't have their cleaning staff in the buildings because they don't have staff in the buildings so they don't they don't have that available to them so um i also did not include places on this list that have high barriers for restroom use such as purchase requirements some of our gas stations etc are open very late but do require purchase use so i did not include those i have a list of our current available restroom locations that i know of this list is probably not exhaustive but it was a group effort to pull together right now the vermont history museum is open stays and sat through saturdays 10 to 4 the color covered library is open for specific hours city hall is open specific hours coverland farms gas station on berlin street is open 24 hours we were told that it does not require purchase for use of bathrooms we do have a few 24-7 accessible corda john units the city maintains two currently um i will get into this a little bit later but we have the potential for a third unit uh location is to be determined sponsored by the local nonprofit just basics they did just give us a their board approved funding to help us get another unit uh we did talk to the state about unlocking their two units that are available right to the left of the state house lawn uh those uh we've tested them they are currently unlocked and then um council member jack mccullough mentioned that there's an offer from b s ecu that they may have an additional port of john unit but that's unconfirmed at this time so that's really where we focused our efforts is to supply the community with more port of johns um we have been in active discussion with multiple local partners to expand the number of port of john units available i don't want to call out specifically the folks that we're working with now because i don't know if that's confirmed and i don't want to put any pressure on them but we are working with a few so our goal is to partner with them uh that are not in the flood plane which does become an issue in downtown moffillier to put accessible port of john units in parking lots we can either pay for and maintain them or we can get help and support from local agencies again like i said just basics a nonprofit here that normally does food supply um approved a one time five thousand dollar expense to sponsor a port of john unit until the spring uh location and timeline is to be determined we're trying to figure out with our street outreach workers what would be the best place to put that so we're also working pretty hard to create sort of a sponsorship campaign again trying to get folks to help us facilitate getting more units for people that includes things like hand washing stations as well so it's not just restrooms there's a couple other options that do cost funding or cost money including reopening the 24 seven police department restroom until city hall is open 24 or is open on a normal schedule the police department has hesitations and opening up that space uh we really cannot risk our officers at this point or our public um safety staff so normally the lobby bathroom is available at all hours by request um i realized that my memo doesn't go into the uh i stopped the sentence there i don't know why so i will go in and fix that and resend that but opening the pd restroom does require um a small amount of funds but funds nonetheless the hire a cleaner we don't have enough cleaning staff right now for the capacity of the 24 seven bathroom we'd also need to create a barricade of some variety to keep folks from wandering into our public dispatch area just for safety concerns so we're also trying to work very hard with local organizations to increase the amount of open restrooms besides reaching out to the state we have begun permitting discussions with both another way and good Sam two groups that work with those experiencing homelessness to expand our restroom options in town good Samaritan has begun the permitting process for already opening winter overflow shelter at christ church which would provide one accessible restroom and two non-accessible restrooms to our community inventory i do believe that would be for folks who are staying in the shelter so there's some long-term projects that we looked into and we priced out again these would be funding dependent if you did want to go investigate any of them but we do have a current grant open with another way in washington county mental health i wanted you to be aware of it's a seven hundred thousand dollar grant that has some funding going to another way to add expanded restroom and shower facilities along with a laundry room this work is delayed slightly due to state environmental impacts but another way is working through those and that grant has been approved and funded so i did look into some interesting toilet options such as the portland lou which is used in portland organ that is on average one hundred and forty one thousand dollars for installation and that does not include shipping because that is a very specific type of standalone toilet that they use in their parks there um um we also looked at the renovation of the information kiosk at 60 states tree we estimated that at about a 20 to 35 thousand dollar effort to install and connect to utilities um we also looked into the option of a i'm not going to try to pronounce it but it's a toilet type that incinerates waste um so it doesn't have to connect to utilities um but again that would also need to be a renovation of that space but that does cut the cost quite a lot but those are very specific um types of toilets that we don't have the expertise to maintain so we do have to think about that as well but we did but we did look into those options and we also looked into upfitting city hall um that was a cheaper option as well along with the incinerator toilets um probably we got it uh off the back of a napkin estimate around five to ten thousand dollars for outfits which would include gates um to make sure that people couldn't get up into our third floor or second floor but still maintaining um you know ada accessibility with our elevator because there's no way to get down there without walking downstairs we'd also need to install a new security camera so that our dispatch center could see that space uh there are some safety concerns with those restrooms uh the way that they're situated and in a small hallway there have been uh multiple reports of loitering and assaults in those bathrooms um that is just a small safety concern we're not trying to say that it's not possible we just wanted to give you all that information we also looked at composting toilets that we use in the park system those usually cost around ten thousand dollars uh there are some issues with those as well um normally they're supposed to work on a ten-year timeline but those that have high traffic fill up pretty quickly and so they don't actually decompose like they're supposed to so we have to pay a pretty high price to get those cleaned out because they don't have the time that they're supposed to be they're supposed to sit for five years and they're normally um the park's department says they're emptied out about 1.5 years um also there it has a significant impact to our staff as people inevitably from non-organics into those toilets and we actually have to fish those out um but if that is the term it is a viable possibility we have identified two potential locations for a composting toilet one in Blanchard Park and one in the state house path but that would need to be in partnership with the city or I apologize the state as it is their land then we also wanted to point out that this none of these things are off the table because we are looking for alternative funding opportunities we've already know that in February 2021 the community development program will be re-releasing their grant opportunity which does often fund capital projects which a lot of grants don't so we will be looking into that as an option for one of these proposals in the future my recommendation is really continuing to help get more portable like Porta John units out there I know they're not the best option but they're the one that we can afford right now because there's a lot of community support for them and I just want to say again that I appreciate all the support we've been getting from our local nonprofits and our businesses who have been willing to talk to us about that I also think that with those with our our understanding of what is out there for use of restrooms and working with our street outreach professionals that people will be able to locate those 24-hour access accessible places such as the Porta Johns and prevalent farms and really add that to to their resources that they know about I know it's not the best answer it's just the answer that I think we have right now so that that's the whole of my memo if you have any questions Donna go ahead just a wonderful report it just is so expansive I love it thank you thank you and if we could just get things posted that you know about and that you got the state to unlock their Porta Pots whoa I don't know how often they're unlocked but to see them unlocked once has never happened to me and I'm there a lot in one of their picnic tables so kudos kudos really I'll show that she's going to again he was the one who had the conversations with the state yes and and it's good of you to mention yes we need hand washing also so this has some really great short-term and long-term proposals thank you just thank you very much thank you other comments or questions jack go ahead I think thanks Cameron I think this is great I should point out that I got the idea of the state employees credit union came up because I was walking my wife's dog the other day and I noticed that they had construction going on over there and they had a Porta Potty there for the construction so I contacted a friend of mine who was on their board and said hey can is there any way we can just get the credit union to keep that there and keep it open at least through the winter for people to meet it and it's not sure jumping on that but they're definitely expressing an interest in in being part of this effort and and so I I think I forwarded that memo to to you Cameron I think that has has potential for being really being part of the solution I like the idea of you know started another way do you know how much the estimated cost of doing the the police department bathroom would be I do not I don't have an estimate from a cleaner right now that that we were able to turn around and I don't want to misquote what that cost is right now so that I don't have yet because that seems like a another pretty promising option because it's it's it's in an already existing facility doesn't have some of the same security issues that the city hall bathroom does and so I'd be interested in seeing us move forward on trying to make that happen we'll try to be more robust about asking for quotes no criticism intended of course that's fine thank you um before Donna goes any other city councilor have something they want to say uh go ahead Dan so well you know I I appreciate the memo as well I think it collects this information um that's badly needed a couple of issues strike me as uh relevant one is I don't I was thinking about this and I don't know if we have a metric for demand um you know what what is the need for bathrooms I mean we all agree that there's a need out there um but I'm struggling to to understand what that metric looks like and you know I think when we talked about this before we're really talking about two pretend two to three groups of people that are likely to use it or that we're aiming towards which would be obviously there's a there's a homeless population that needs um this resource um and that we're starting to see with some of the letters that we received from the transit center people uh that it's starting to have an impact on other people um but there's also the idea of tourists and um you know people who happen to be downtown with a need um but I it just strikes me that I'd like to have a better sense about what this need really and truly looks like um because I think that may drive what we're thinking about because what what seems to be establishing is you know if we have a port-a-body at vsccu too at the state house if we were able to open up the police station if we were able you know and there were the two continuing the two port-a-bodies you know by city hall as well as the cumberland farms you know what what do those numbers look like and are we still not having it are we still having an issue or not issue with meeting that need um you know I'm sorry go ahead well I wanted to respond to that um so I apologize if I cut you off I think um first off we're getting some reports from our street outreach workers and our um you know embedded clinician and the police department of a real need after hours for a lot of folks who are on the street and um that's one opera that's one um and really valid and important that demographic that we're trying to get here um but also you know I hear and it's just in the year I've been here I hear almost every time there's a farmers market why isn't there a port-a-john at the farmers market why isn't there a toilet for me to use farmers market a lot of those places downtown are open on Saturdays except businesses who may not have an open and available restroom for the public so this is just for me hearing it anecdotally and that is a problem that most of this data is anecdotal if you will but I think if you um sort of look outside of Montclair itself this has been a national trend that you know public restrooms really are needed if you think about the folks who may have a medical concern that can't wait or hold it for as long as they might be able to get home I think it's a it's part of being a welcoming and open community um so data real hard data or not I think it's an important goal to strive for even through grant funding if that's because that isn't something that I'd like to stop working on for sure right well it just it just strikes me that that seems to be the missing piece of this this puzzle or the next piece that we as we as we think about these because I you know if I think about how how this is you know what what we're trying to put together is can we piece together a short-term solution to deal with an immediate problem um where we can where we can say you know we have five six seven places where people can go to use the restroom and x number of them available after hours of 24 7 in locations that make sense but then you know I think that then shapes how we think about this long term and then what kind of resources we want to either think about what we have to put behind this solution or um you know how how we think about it because I was thinking about the last time we talked about it when I was proposing you know sort of that Tokyo toilet model and I think one of the fair criticisms of that is well we may not need it in one spot we may need it in three spots and you know we may need we may need to think differently about it and I think that's that's fair but I think that's really driven in part by figuring out what this needs looks like let's go Lauren and then Donna and then I I suspect there may be some comments from the public and just just two quick thoughts kind of piggybacking on Dan's point of you know who are the populations we're trying to serve here um one I do think you know we've brought up before when we've talked about the police department as an option I think that does not you know certain populations I think will not use that so we should just know that that could serve some functions but I think it's you know it would not meet other people's needs so we should just be aware of that if that was going to be part of it and part of our investment um and then just thinking about kind of the locations where right now even like signage I don't know how people would even know if you come to town like these are all kind of hidden or you wouldn't necessarily know where to find them or how to look for them so some of it to to the point of you know now that you've done all this great work compiling some information some of which I think is new to to me certainly um you know how do we let people know this in a way and even visitors you know is there some way of providing clear signage if you're downtown and that there are actually places where you can go if you need to so just something else to think about yeah thank you uh Donna uh thank you I wanted to go back to Cameron's statement about all the Porty Johns is there cleaning included on the ones we have and like Vermont State Employees Credit Union are they going to maintain it and keep it clean because that makes a big difference and as I as you all know I picnic almost every lunchtime by the state house it's great to see people and those Porty pots are never open and the Law Station Theater had an event that they arranged and got approved on the state house lawn but they would not open those Porty pots for them they had to rent their own Porty pots I mean they were willing to pay the state to use theirs but they had to rent another one so I hope you really make some progress with them but tourists after tourists would come up to me especially the picnic table at 133 and say do you know the state office building is open I mean restaurants don't let you eat there of those who started eating in unless you're eating there most of them are going to move to take out once we many of them may move to take out once we close in for the winter so bathrooms even the ones that you assume aren't available to people I know I time myself how long I can be gone from home by my bladder it's like okay I better do this and get back in two hours or I stop at city hall on the right day but I can't use the police department anymore so I mean it's a real issue just for everyday people shopping and doing things it's just amazing but for tourists as fall was and all through the summer it was really bad I mean I just never was on the street without somebody asking me for a bathroom I wish I kept the data damn because it was just incredible and I couldn't refer them to any place once the police department closed I used to send people there so and posting so when we do know that there's some open we really need to publish it for our people so they can share with everybody they see on the street to know where they're at I mean it's a really issue I really one thing I liked about the Portland Lou that was part of this report was reminded me of all the public bathrooms in Europe I mean you may have to pay 35 cents but there was always a bathroom available within a relatively walking distance and I would like us to move towards that when we have the resources to do so that's all I'm getting them clean it's really important to keep in I did want to address that your question at the beginning about cleaning the city is paying for extra cleaning for the two that we monitor and that is the level that we want to have people sponsor that love the idea of having a having sponsored port bodies it's really interesting that having recently to a few places that attract tourists I see porta potty's all the place that I never used to see seems to be that is what people are doing now you know in in these circumstances so you know it's not it isn't the most desirable but it seems to be where places are going that are attracting lots of people in and in cities and first locations just to get a non-scientific observation all the state rest rest stops have it now um yeah before we go to Dan a comment from the public yes matter of matter Stephen worker go ahead Stephen porta potty's uh don't cut it by any stretch um you know I don't think Donna you're going to welcome anybody coming out of the port body knowing there's no hand washing to join your picnic just the whole idea that we're in a pandemic seems to be lost on this conversation I've been raising this conversation for a solid year and some of you tell me this is the first year here but um city center used to be the primary public bathroom everybody knew the code uh and orca was there as well which was a secondary public bathroom um we we have we really need to address this in an entirely different way not uh publishing other bathrooms that are we're going to soon be overloaded and then create a reaction of closure we really need to tackle this in a comprehensive take the low-hanging fruit which is clearly sitting all baseless bathrooms rear entrance and transit center grab the low-hanging fruit that we have immediate control over and deal with the cleaning issues deal with the security and the video issues uh as uh Cameron pointed out or don't point it out people are not going to many people on the street are not going to want to go on the police station and the police station doesn't really want them there they they've made that clear uh they i i saved the no trespass obviously uh had served on one of the homeless you know persons uh i thought it was fascinating that this person who's most likely to need the police has a no trespass order to go to police so this is how discombobulated this whole thing is uh for the bodies our example is a perfect example of the lack of dignity we show both both our homeless and our tourists um in a pandemic you need hot wash hot washing and washing um we could have negotiated at a time with city center before neck he moved out we missed that opportunity uh that was subject to one of the public records requests which has still not been addressed with sit with uh that you've been lied to about that when there were permit conditions that numerous people in town even people who worked on that building there were permit conditions assigned to that first public restroom being available and they were lost or hidden or uh you know slipped in between the wrong file um but that's that's a different problem uh permanent public restrooms uh need to be part of a plan should be a design competition possibly you know the city would be well uh wise to invest a few thousand hours and getting somebody like Lord Joyce just to go and come up with a plan of where the lease costs uh the 60 state street location will require plumbing to be for washing even if you were to do a incinerating toilet there um so we there are no inexpensive options other than where already exists we should try to negotiate with landlords of vacant properties that have plumbing in them and make even a six-month or a 12-month uh agreement to use and clean those those restrooms but this is this is a public health emergency and for y'all to say oh but you know fortified is your final I've been telling you for six months that people are crapping in the alleys in the line in the church gardens so it's it's hard for me to maintain calm in uh you know convivial conversation full tone about this when you've neglected the emergency for far too long and uh I would encourage you to deal with the low hanging fruit no one's going to walk to cumberland farms and that would be you know I wouldn't even tell one of the little ladies on the street out walking where to find a bathroom oh yeah go across the river and have a block about that quarter mile and you'll find a gas station it's like it's absurd y'all y'all are really um not taking the appropriate leadership on this thanks okay thank you Stephen uh Dan well I had a question actually about the um the port of bodies and the expense which is and I I don't know if this is even at all feasible um but it just struck me that some of the cost obviously these port of bodies is that they have to be maintained um and disposed of the contents that are cleaned out um is there any capacity in the city to take over any of that given our sewer treatment plan um so that the owned by wind river and we're not supposed to do anything with them no I understand obviously the ones we rent there we wouldn't be able to but is there um any possibility as a sort of way of trying to drive that service in-house and possibly bring the cost down or is that you're saying that you'd want DPW to buy and service their own yes to the extent that you know with the with the sewer plan um I would hesitate to say yes in because of the fact that it's a pretty specific type of equipment that they use to clean that out and then we would have to buy that type of specific equipment which would then defeat the purpose of cost savings that probably answers my question it just it just occurred to me as we're talking about that um you know what that what that option would even look like we'd also be able to clean the equipment in-house either we'd have to outsource that as well right I think sort of shifting off of that hairball idea um which uh you know one of the problems I think with the portland blue is is that it it seemed to be an outdoor um bathroom and that it you know it had mesh it did not have I would wonder how it would function in a cold winter environment um and it didn't seem to have a sink either um the sink is on the outside of the portland blue okay um because I think if we're thinking about um long-term solutions for this um you know obviously we are talking about running water hot water soap um and data toilet um as the functional parts of this I would I would share the the sort of misgivings about the city hall bathroom um in the basement it seems like that's a security risk um I think that creates a situation that's not safe for um people using it it also creates an unnecessary situation that the city might have to become involved because we own that property um and the potential liability um you know I think you know as as not great as port of bodies are um you know they seem to be the way we're going to get across the finish line with this um with this problem and you know we have to recognize as well um that there's you know they're part of trying to understand this is you know we're setting up sort of the the basic basement threshold of what if someone came into the city without any resources what would be their facility um whereas when we think about you know the different populations this might serve there are going to be people that will be able to go into a facility make a purchase and use their restroom um you know the the you know the tourist or the um the resident who finds themselves downtown can can afford to buy the package of gum that gets them admission to the to the bathroom um so I think it it's really going to come down to what what the population looks like but I guess I'll beat the drum that I beat before which is that I think we have to think about this as an opportunity to create something that is lasting when we think about the final next chapter solution um and the long-term solution of how we create public facilities um and they should be facilities that are sustainable but also facilities that we have a certain amount of pride in in the city and having those bathrooms public bathrooms as as something that you know like the european bathrooms are um not things that are hidden in corners but that are readily findable and um are worth worth looking at on the outside um from an architectural point of view from um a cityscape point of view you know I just building on that I um if this was a normal fiscal year I would be very interested in the prospects of converting that information booth that's right downtown to a bathroom for 20 to 35 thousand dollars that you know again in a normal fiscal year that would feel doable to me even if it's 100 off and it's you know 70 thousand dollars that that still might be worth it having said that this is not a normal fiscal year um so I don't really know where that leaves us um for that and I don't know where that leaves us even for some of the the short-term solutions it sounds like we've got um some basically like emergency need um solutions in the port bodies and that is you know that's that's what we've got right now um and I think we'll probably just have to um I mean I think this could be one of the things that is on the table that we discuss uh alongside other budget considerations but you know we'll just have to see where where it lands um I don't think there's any other action that we necessarily need to take this evening on this um Lauren and Dan I see you have uh comments uh and then I think I'm anticipating that we're going to move on so Lauren go ahead just really quickly just seeing all in one place the um the hours and stuff that various um public restrooms are open through the community just I know the issues been raised before about like having running water and being able to clean yourself in a different way um so you know making sure our street outreach worker has that nice list that you compiled you know so that people you know again all of this is not ideal and then this terrible you know budget situation but making sure that at least what is available people um you know it's getting into the right hands of people might not realize all the you know library has their windows the store yeah all of that so anyway I think that's a great resource you put together and hopefully it can kind of help you some of the emergency response are the good Samaritan street outreach worker uh Don Little who you've spoken to and is on the homeless list task force helped me put this list together and so she has it and is aware of it thank you great thanks and Dan go ahead sorry I just had three things that I think might merit um not necessarily emotion but some some action one is I think this question about population strikes me as a homelessness task force item to to identify what what is the population look like and what is the need for we we have numbers okay but I mean doesn't match up to the need I mean is is that well that's where we're getting the reports of the need is from the homelessness task force from our street outreach workers and our embedded clinician we have right now because the state is still holding people in the hotels holding people's wrong word allowing people to stay in the hotels through our general voucher system that is in place um our population has swelled because of that but the population on the street is still relatively low um and and stable I say relatively low because it's not low anyone who's on the street it's pretty high number so and we're between 20 30 people right now actively is what I'm being told um but that but the the the issue mainly is location not necessarily so that's the the number that we have right I guess I guess it's it's a matter of like matching up with like location as well as you know I I mean I don't know what uh what one if you know if you have if you have 10 10 people you know in a particular area what does that translate to as far as need for facilities does that mean one board body two board bodies or you know I guess that's what I'm looking for as as we continue this conversation and then so that just strikes me I don't know if they're if the task force would be willing to to tackle that kind of question but it just seems to me that's the data where we're needing the other piece of information that might might help is also the bathrooms that you've listed um how many have where are the sort of hand washing elements to it you know sanitizer versus actual running water and then I'm wondering if the third thing I was thinking about is whether Montpelier are alive or another group would be able to give us any sense about you know sort of visitor need um you know what those what those numbers look like I'm muted I apologize um so OSHA's recommendations for Porta John numbers is I think a good ballpark and I'll just read that um one toilet for 20 employees or less so one per 20 folk and the ones we have now have hand sanitizer that's restocked twice a week but I don't believe that they have running water options I will say that I don't want to throw out too many hypotheticals because that can get a lot of folks hopes up but we are talking to some folks at the state about maybe getting a FEMA um type restroom facilities which are those red cross larger ones that have shower facilities and I I said I don't really like talking about potentials because they are that they are potentials and I don't want us to get excited about something that might not could happen but that is we understand that that's a need and we're trying to get in low cost no cost options for help to get us there great um Madam Mary can I offer a closing insight on this um well actually I think there may be a couple other comments it's not necessarily closing but if you'd like to jump in now is okay and then we'll go jack and then I think we have one other person who might want to comment um so go ahead Stephen with regards to the uh portable trailer type I've mentioned that before I mentioned it at the homeless task force the time is now to put any plans together the main thing about citing a toilet trailer or a shower trailer is they need the is the citing they can be maintained they have self-contained fresh water self-contained wastewater but then you're going to have to wrestle with the sanctions camping or the sanctions congregating if you want to move to Gertin Park you're not going to want to put a toilet trailer there so you've got this kind of chasing your tail with unresolved issues that have been unresolved for over a year but now it's the time to think about those because there is going to be left over CRF funds and if the monies are committed before December 20th or December 30th to purchase uh a shower trailer or more than one and or same with toilet trailers those are legitimate long-term useful uh investments that can be relocated to another place of higher need or a disaster zone uh once we do get permitted bathroom spilled but we need to be thinking about and putting a plan together now so the this this has been on the list of the charge for the almost this task force for over a year and it's not been done until now so that's an example let's not wait for but just as an example that you go to Shaw's bathroom clothes you go to obvi shaw's not even customers could customers could use that capital copies same way you know wrap around their same way you basically got a serious problem for tourists that I talked to and asked me where to go and in the joke on the street is that oh the new way finding signs will point the way to all the non-restrooms you know so uh let's get serious about this thanks thank you Steven um all right jack and then um Morgan do you want to say something about this I was the reason I was on was just to say that Morgan contacted me and he wanted to get on to so I wanted to make sure we didn't close it out before he had a chance fair enough no worries uh Morgan go ahead uh thank you uh mayor and thank you jack I appreciate it so if you will indulge me a bit I'd like to speak about public restrooms and the need for access to them and also what Steve Whitaker was talking about with needing to be able to you know the proper having access uh proper hygiene and you know wash one's hands and stuff and how brutal it can be in the winter uh period but then you know needing to relieve oneself and I don't know if any of you have a lived homeless without permanent housing but I have three years including the last 12 years during the excuse me during the last roll-around and you know I remember having to walk the streets during the winter because I didn't have a place anywhere to rest and be and sometimes yeah I went over to sharing playing farms and paid rent for a cup of coffee you know to be able to sit there for a little bit and they don't always let you for very long if they know you you know living homeless and then you leave the place and with me with coffee it goes right through me and I gotta go to the bathroom where do I go and think please what if it was you what if it was one of your family don't you neighbor anybody can pretty much anybody can end up living in the homeless you know there's a lot of concern about the torsion stuff but what about people without anything and think about it please you can see the pain I mean right now just we delivered it it was real hard please do something this is just awful you know with people whether it's during the daytime or the nighttime and I know I live through it and thank goodness and all those people who helped me get out are still hurting from those experiences and you know people need more than talk they need more than good intentions they need something meaningful and you have the power you have the duty representing our city to do something about it you know these citizens too please please do something thank you thank you Morgan for thank you Morgan for sharing your experience and you know we certainly hear you and we'll certainly have to take it in all into consideration I mean there's I'm grateful that we're that we've collected the information that we have so far about the options that are available and you know we'll be considering how to move forward so grateful that you were able to jump into the conversation just to keep them up it's already cold out there you know during the daytime and then at night you know you got people sleeping out there maybe they're fortunate enough to manage I mean me yet when I didn't have any place to culture or say you know I was walking the streets literally I'd sit in that little bus stop that used to be on Taylor Street and sit there hope the cops didn't come by or nothing you know it's like just winter's coming up you know and it's already cold at night and you know just people they they need some place okay and I'd rather have people housed you know I'm on for you know getting people housed permanent housing that's what you know does the trick I know you know I've been houses well in 2009 yeah no I'm I'm also so glad that sounds like the permitting is moving forward for the warming shelter at Christchurch I think that's really encouraging as well yeah but that's where they've trimmed it down to eight people as I understand it you know yeah keep in mind keep in mind that the need is greater than that and so we have to do something and you know you want to do something meaningful you know we need to invest in permanent safe affordable housing particularly for those most in need and and the other things that are needed to um help people get housed yeah you know it's just essential it's important and we need to do we don't need to talk we need to do we have to help people you know we don't need people suffering and getting they'll and dying on the streets you know do you want that really I mean seriously ask yourself do you want somebody to end up in the hospital or some institution or dead because that could happen okay if we don't deal with this stuff really you know and remember COVID-19 you know just and then the flu season you know just compounds is so you know I I want a second everything that Steve Whitaker said because I support his efforts along these lines and I just and I also want to give a half tip to Cameron Cameron you did really good and thank you thanks for that that I'll get up thank you Morgan okay so council I just want to say thank you and also I will continue to work on getting signs I thought that was a thank you for that feedback um and just expanding what we have going on right now our network of what we've already started and then I will come back with um like we will be looking for grant proposals that fit this project okay all right thank you so we're going to move on um I know it's I recognize it's 10 30 um hopefully we're doing okay here still team um we have to talk about Halloween it is coming up um so let's just we're going to jump right into that um and I assume that's also Cameron it is okay I will very very quickly go through my full like memo but I will very brief highlight since it is available to folks um I think it is important to call out that there has been an outbreak in Montpelier there has been uh at least 12 new COVID-19 cases in folks associated with both youth league and adult players in the hockey arena so I just want to sort of reiterate how important it is for us to continue wearing masks and following guidelines um travel impacts have also been pretty huge in the last few weeks the number of travelers who can come to Vermont has fallen almost almost three million since last time I updated you it's only at 1.8 million folks that can travel in our area at this point which is a huge drop from like the 4.8 it was last time I talked to you um the state did tell us that they will be letting us know about winter sports by the end of October which may impact some rec uh of programs um uh there is a simpler PPP forgiveness for $50,000 loans or less through the US Small Business Administration um so there is a loan forgiveness application that's like really pared down and easy for folks to um there's a very low barrier on how to get that so that is also important to call out um also you can see it's behind me we have opened city hall successfully on Wednesdays for people who want to come here and participate via zoom um I'm seated in where the public would be um if they want to participate in the zoom meeting and have comments with you face to face um so that went well we'll consider tonight a trial run and people may be here next meeting um we are opening up our recreation department uh the building itself the rec building for rentals uh on a limited basis with a lot of guidelines so um just letting you know that we are taking that step and then um I did want to call out um that another way is looking for donations um in the form of tarps, tents, sleeping bag, bags and backpacks and anything kind of related to that but they are not accepting clothing so I just wanted to call that out before I jump into Halloween but that's my general updates for COVID regarding Halloween it's our recommendation that each residents family review CDC guidelines regarding Halloween to assess the risk level of Halloween activities that they want to participate in um if residents plan on either collecting or handing out candy the CDC recommends adopting a one-way trick-or-treating method which they still consider a moderate risk for families this sort of means that families would put out individually wrapped goodie bags or treats that are lined up for folks to grab while continuing to social distance so their example was putting bags of candy at the end of your driveway for people to pick up on their way around a neighborhood again they still consider that moderate risk but that is way less risk than traditional methods of trick-or-treating or like trunker treats which they also list as high-risk activities that should be avoided they also called out um avoiding events like indoor parties haunted houses hay rides and traveling to other communities we as the city are not hosting any traditional Halloween related events our fire department will not be handing out candy and um in general that's what the state is espousing as well is following the CDC safety guidelines and so that is what we've traditionally been following for COVID-19 and that's our recommendations also at this point I don't know of any street closure requests nor are we closing any streets for Halloween just add to that um mobility are alive in the downtown are not doing their traditional downtown you know trick-or-treat I will say you know Cameron I spent a lot of time talking about this and in our position has been from the beginning and I think you've somewhat adopted this that we the city are not public health experts we don't have the capacity to to make these kind of determinations so we have been deferring to the state and the CDC to provide these guidelines and I think that really remains our our position but I will I will say and I haven't had this conversation with Cameron last few days I've gotten a lot of sort of requests like what's the city gonna tell us to do and and I think people are expecting us to say something and I think you know what I've always said hey it's you know the state and the state has really not said much about anything about it just well practice you know have good practices so I don't want to have a long conversation unnecessarily or I wonder if we shouldn't say you know something to the extent that you're not public health experts these are the guidelines we if people are going to do this but we urge people to exercise extreme caution and make your own personal decision about whether you're going to participate in this I mean I you know it was up to me personally just based on my own hunch I'd say don't do it but I don't have any expertise that says that I don't have any knowledge I don't have any you know science behind it so and I think and it's not a regular activity right we can't tell people they can't walk up and down a sidewalk and knocking somebody's door and and you know it's not a city sponsored event per se so I think but I do think people are looking to city leadership to provide some sort of statement some sort of comment or tone so that'll be quiet Conor go ahead is it worth putting out a press release just saying basically what you just said Bill it's I know it's a press drop off the call there but I think that's good like common sense and you know I I don't think the state is going to put anything out so I think it might just be worth circulating the or press that makes sense to me Donna go ahead well I think you also could refer them to the Vermont health department and they have a little section on Halloween yeah it mostly echoes exactly what the CDC says yes but I mean if they wanted something for Vermont directly related I think that's the way to do it it's referring to the experts how do you all feel um uh Dan and then Jay I mean I what I'm hearing from from Bill and from from others is basically you know some some clear message that any city or Montpelier alive sponsored activity is not going to happen there's not going to be street closures there's not going to be fires department can't be hand out there's not going to be a downtown um and that what what remains then is if individual citizens wish to do Halloween we would recommend that they follow both the state and CDC CDC public health guidelines which which clearly do not recommend people physically hand out candy but have have prepackaged candy available for a non person-to-person handoff right and I think we want to be careful about so this again this is you know I'm not a public health person I'm not a lawyer so I'm going to play both and say um that you know we want to be careful by I mean if we say it's okay in any way shape or form and then there's a break out yeah you know it was like well the city said it was okay I mean I think I'd rather us be on the side of caution and saying you know we're not so sure this is a great idea it's really up to you we're not doing anything about it here's the guidelines state and state and state right you're on your own all the guidelines are about assessing your own risk and even this sort of like a bridge trick or treating is medium risk and so they're recommended up like activities from the CDC and the state or just stay home and do fun Halloween things at home you know so I'm going to jump in line here and say I mean we did just have 12 cases in Montpelier I think it's okay for us potentially to say that publicly perhaps an oppressed release that we recommend that you don't go trick-or-treating that we want to minimize the risk for Montpelier we cannot forbid you from doing it but we're going to recommend that you don't and this is a year to celebrate at home I'm just going to say that I'm seeing a bunch of head nods and some thumbs up yeah so but I also jumped the gun here so Jay and then Lauren I'll just two things one is for the for those of us who may who have kids in the school district or may have seen we we all got an email from the superintendent right before the meeting started to say that there was a positive test in the school district so you have another reason to to encourage overly safe behavior but then the other piece of that more related to Halloween too is I think that it's worth mentioning not that it necessarily needs to be part of the press release is that I've been in touch with a lot of the folks up on College Street and for the most part all if most if not all will not be participating in handing out candy and and I think you know we we know that in terms of large gatherings besides what happens downtown which is not happening that tends to be you know a significant you know a huge gathering gathering point on Halloween and they have you know kind of you know it's up to individuals like we said but the general the general thinking is that they will not be participating and so I will encourage I agree with everything's been said about the the city putting out a statement but then I'll also encourage them to put out on you know social media front porch forum and let folks know that you know there that folks who live on College Avenue will not be handing out candy so don't you know please don't show up expecting to to find it yeah that's fair I think we could in addition to say there are neighborhoods that have already committed to not participating in in Halloween trigger or trick-or-treating really um Lauren go ahead uh yeah I mean I I just agree with the the rest of it I think clarity on you know with a really strong statement and I mean because it is a personal choice but it affects others like I want people knocking on my door I don't you know it's it does affect other people and then it could you know exacerbate this community spread we're already seeing so I think clear wondering about the can network also putting out information through their network and um one other thought that's getting really late and it'll come back to me oh I was thinking we could put in that statement like examples of the kinds of things like it might have even been in that that your memo camera of you know to a scavenger hunt with your own kids around your house or like there's all these examples out there right now of you know so try to be like here are the kinds of safe options that there are like make it fun for your kids but we don't need this unnecessary risk so that could be another piece oh the last thing sorry um I was wondering too if and I don't know if it will go into press release or maybe there's something like the city just puts out of like um you know all the money you're going to save on buying halloween candy consider get contributing to a local popular business or I don't know something like that yeah yeah uh yeah go ahead I'm not sure people are stuff are reframing from buying candy even if they're not going to wind up giving it up to little kids but I think this is all good tell people not to do it and then we'll just eat all the candy ourselves there you go with yeah obviously it's not you know this is otherwise not going to buy multiple bags of candy for the one or two kids that come to my house to be prepared that's right you never know um okay so I I don't it doesn't seem to me that we need a motion on that it seems like we're all pretty much least statement in the morning saying that we recommend that you're not have trick or treat that there won't be sponsored city activities or support and you know if you do it you're on your own and here's the CDC guidelines thank you for the arrest of people who do it yeah yeah right okay oh sorry Dan I like the idea of sending out a discouraging message maybe coupling it with the reminder that there are there have been outbreaks and that the safest behavior is staying home and eating your own giant bag of candy um so dr felici recommended okay you know like we've got some clarity on that which is great um and we're gonna move on oh gosh gotta hold on to all the brain functionality I still have um okay so we're gonna jump into we're gonna do the other business and then we're gonna do um nominating uh a representative to the SRO committee and then we're gonna talk about the transit center and then we're at council reports and we're done oh gosh okay so um the above and beyond award do you want to do that film I can do it quickly I you know I don't believe he's on the call James Richardson got the write-up James Richardson and Richardson I'm sorry that's late James Richardson uh not Williamson um and he's you know DPW folk and I think the write-up explains but he's really been putting forward he was nominated by a couple of people so we're happy to recognize him um this has really been a well-received program you know we mentioned that um employees like it they like nominating other people they like some really it's really been a good thing and so that's all we don't need to belabor that if you were here I'd say more but thank you James and please pass along to James our congratulations um for a job well done it's always delightful to see uh who gets nominated for the news very grateful don't like that maybe a card on this though um I think it might be nice just to pass it around and we can all sign us maybe at the police station when we do the warrant put that in every time we have one of these you can expect a card to be put at the police station that's a great idea it's a really good idea cool okay um the next part of the other business is uh relocation of the garden uh or the the pocket of the structure the pergola um at the the pocket park um I wonder if I should turn this over to Bill or or I can explain it as well you know I mean we've been talking about this um it's been a challenge and there's been a thought you know the new pump track is opening I think you've probably got forwarded to all an email inviting us to a grand opening next Monday and the thought is that um this might be a good place for to use a nice looking existing structure where people may want to sit and watch their kids ride on the pump track or even rest while they're they're using it uh and I think the parks commission's okay with that I know they are so I think it would provide you know just two issues at once okay um any thoughts on this Jack go ahead when we discussed this last time um there's also a suggestion that uh somebody talked to Paige about her thoughts about moving ahead and do you know I don't know if that was done uh Madam Mayor I did talk to Paige about it and she agrees with me that we should address the underlying problems that that are causing the uh attempt to move it um and I also know just in the way of public comment here that the since the food meals are no longer being distributed they have the litter they've been making much much more of an effort to keep it clean I've asked both the public works and the parks department to do one pressure wash through it uh it's been much more orderly the sculpture has been remounted so I I don't and I know that some of your council members ask that this be discussed so I think you need to table this for a future meeting this is not it seems like you're uh disregarding the need for it to be discussed and already making plans to have moved it and it's it's not proper process on the agenda for discussion okay um thank you Stephen uh Donna I also had a talk with Paige but she did do a posting on Front Porch Forum which made it very clear that she felt it shouldn't be moved that as Steve said the underlying problems should be addressed versus changing the park but if we are going to move it I do think the pump station is a good place for it to go and have a good use for uh people and families around the pump station I prefer we try to deal with the problem but I know it's difficult other thoughts on this uh Dan go ahead I I mean I I appreciate um you know that and I think we are trying to address some of the underlying problems but um I just don't think this is the right place for this particular uh structure I think it's it's at a narrow point in the bike path um and I think it just creates flow problems and I think it would have a much better use up at the pump station so I would support it being moved um but I don't think moving it is precludes the idea of addressing the underlying problems and continuing to work on those I just don't think that this structure at this particular place works any other thoughts I think we've got bigger emergencies on our hands right now to deal with and to punish the homeless folks for using that facility so um I would ask you to table it and take it up once you've got a better sense of what the priorities and what else is neglected and we can follow up the play right now um so first of all uh just one note Stephen please do um wait until you're recognized before you just jump in um second thing um seems like there's um some uh differing of opinion which is okay um on what to do with this any other thoughts from council um and it is okay if you think you would like more time to think about it um Jack and then Jay I came into this tonight not thinking this would be at all controversial I think it would be appropriate to uh to lay it on the table and to consider it at another meeting okay he's no urgency to this in terms of timing uh Jay um yeah I mean you know I think that there's there's a couple issues here I think that the structure should be moved and I think moving into the pump track makes a lot of sense I think where it sits now um doesn't make sense it doesn't work but seeing how um you know it has been used the idea of just sort of uprooting it without having any um communication with community outreach with the homelessness task force um and everything that's happening there any sort of plan um it feels premature because there it is not necessarily a time sensitive thing um you know the the pump track is is you know just opening on Monday um and you know I think that you know if we ask the staff to work work with the the with the task force and and others that come up with at least a transitional plan I think makes sense um yeah fair enough thank you um and just for for context I so I've had multiple conversations with uh folks who hang out there uh about their thoughts on it moving and there was a range I mean there were folks who were like in all honesty there were folks that were like I hope it goes away and there were folks that were like I'd be really sad if it moved um and so you know as with so many things there wasn't consensus um about that uh but I um I also think it doesn't hurt to you know make a decision at a another meeting and have a little more time for conversation um and that sort of intermediate um plan so uh unless so it's um if someone would like to make a motion that that would be okay too um would anyone like to make a motion well question I guess is uh you know if if the consensus is that we're sort of tabling this to another meeting um do we do we need a motion because it's not as if this is an application that we have to move to a date certain um you're just looking for well so if my um presumption in asking for a motion was if anyone wanted to make a decision about it tonight if you don't if we if we want to just put it on the next meeting I don't think we need a motion we can just put it on the next agenda yeah I I have no need to make this motion or make it happen tonight at least okay okay well we'll take it up um at our next meeting then um fair enough okay oh gosh we're close team I'm sorry it's so late uh all right so nominating someone for the school resource officer um they are looking to have one representative from council serve on this committee to review the SRO position um and is there someone from the council who is interested in being that person yeah go ahead Jay well yeah I've um uh I've had a number of conversations with Jim Murphy about participating um being that person um you know ultimately um and Bill I don't know if you were maybe potentially going to mention this later but the school board um turned down our offer to split the fees uh with uh with the facilitator because ultimately they want to be able to own and manage the process which I think is a was a good decision um but um Jim was looking looking to us to to recommend somebody to um to them to so they're going to be making all the appointments to the committee but they were looking to the council to make a recommendation for who we'd like to to represent um to represent us and and I'd be more than happy to um I think I'd bring a unique perspective to the SRO position having been the project manager um for the playground for a couple years I worked directly with Matt um I've also and then the transitions over to Diane um I also happen to be in a unique position where I have one child in each Montpelier school right now the elementary school the middle school and the high school um and so I thought that I could you know bring a you know the council's perspective the city's perspective to the conversation um as well as uh uh you know have a unique uh background and context around what the role of that the S of the world the SRO plays in schools and um and sort of the impact that that position has uh at at each of the the Montpelier schools so certainly open to conversation or if our others are interested or have any questions but I'd be more than happy to represent the council on the committee okay super um other thoughts or comments or other folks who want to uh potentially be that person uh Donna go ahead I don't want it yay Jay I'm glad you volunteered but I would like us to take it up sometimes so as a council as a whole could at least discuss a little bit more of our perspective from the SRO I think that is different than the than the school and so my only issue would be I feel that we also need to give Jay support of another point of view than just the school's point of view um and it may be with um along the way here as you all are meeting um to give us updates you know how what are you learning how's the conversation going um that's my thing um absolutely and I just so folks have a sense of what the process will look like um it's it's a fairly accelerated process the idea is that the they'll appoint everybody to the committee at they being the board um at their next meeting which is a week from or which is next week um but uh and then that that committee would have until the end of the year to make a recommendation around the SRO position um and then would have and until then until March to make broader recommendations around uh school safety um interaction with the police department and with the community etc um it's going to be a fairly um it is a fairly aggressive it is a very aggressive timeline um and as as the board as the school board has set it up there will be 14 people on the committee um so it thankfully there will be a facilitator um and uh and certainly as we go through that process which would be a few meetings in end of October into November and December I'll certainly be um the laying back and reporting back as as how those congress conversations go any emotion there uh I think I'd be good yeah okay I'll move the recommend uh Jay to the SRO task force second it okay any further discussion I really enjoy this is the second I'm great I hope we do that more of that okay so uh all in favor please say aye hi hi oh dear oh gosh we're getting punchy okay we live live lying prosper no okay thank you Jay for stepping up for that very grateful um okay we are getting there um I know this was not exactly on the list of things that we that I mentioned earlier but as a part of Kelly's uh presentation on the budget uh she mentioned that we don't have a or she wanted some clarity on who was on the CIP three I thought that we had appointed people to the CIP we did yeah we appointed three people to the CIP from from this group apparently the transportation committee would like somebody on uh and so the and they've actually named someone so I think the question is who's actually on this committee who uh you know it's obviously a committee of the city council but you can include whoever you choose so I think Kelly was just like who's who's on it so well I mean any member of the public is welcome to attend so there's that but I don't know I'm done you have a thought I mean I don't know Jack was also at that meeting for the Montpelier infrastructure committee there was a person chosen to represent that committee that wasn't to interfere with the council's representation they just want to come and participate and be advocating for for destinians and cyclists right well I mean we just understood that they were intent supposed to be you know a voting member or whatever I mean we've never for those that have done it before we haven't really had right you just talk you share yes come up with it but in the end of the day it's the three council members of the committee right yeah well I hope you come to a lot of those meetings and I know I'm no longer a voting member because they're so interesting so is there anything beyond that that you think that was it okay great uh any other comments on that okay great so I think we have one more item before council reports uh Donna transportation um I'm sorry I missed this when I went through over the weekend and it wasn't till I was reviewing the agenda this contract for the transit center bill they have listed like office hours great office hours Monday to Friday 8 to 6 but then there's all these conditions where they can change it and then they say that we have a 20% match coming from the city but they don't put any amount in there nor do we put any cap in there so that was a concern and and the contract is set for a two-year term I guess that's safe uh and then we evaluated versus longer or shorter so those are my three questions one was their office hours is there any way to account to get them to really be staffing that place and have it open and some in context about our obligated match so I'll take the first crack camera really handled most of this uh so she has the details so in terms of their office hours they don't have the money so their funds as you know Donna come really from the state you transfer money so they sought to put money operating cost money and it didn't get it so we were in a position of sort of demanding that something be staffed that they couldn't deliver so they said we'll make best efforts to staff to these points um you know I mean they're willing to do it if we're willing to pay for the staffing and I didn't you know we didn't really think we were in that position so that was that one and um well the 20% match we do have an estimate for that our own ballpark estimate at least so I'll turn that over to Cameron and also that first one if she has more detail in that hey yes so um they didn't put that in because the grant fund is subject to grant availability but I'll read what they sent to us the grant for operating costs at MTC is a grant for 49,600 dollars with a 20 percent required local match which is $9,920 looking at fiscal year 20 the cost while MTC was open ran about $3,000 a month but that did not include utility costs which they are taking ownership of when this operating agreement is signed that they're really hoping that they're going to have available funding to be able to cover their fiscal year 21 operating expenses but they're also approaching BTrans for additional funding so they're going to let us know if that match goes up in any way but we don't anticipate it going up just down so it does in the contract it talks about operating it's operating just to keep that office open and they're estimating 49,000 but that includes their utilities and no that's that's good but then that's supposed to keep it open eight to six Monday to Friday and depending on their staffing ability yeah so they they weren't even able to staff at the beginning they didn't actually physically get people to apply for that job yeah a huge delay in their opening at all well it's just that to watching GMT as it becomes as money becomes tight it's true with their route reductions too they still have an incredible focus on Chittenden County and Washington County loses so I really want the transit center to be a priority and I'd like us to have some muscle to make them make it a priority if we can't do it in the contract we're only passive it disappoints me that's all so we're restricted to some extent you know the transit center was primarily federal transit funds so you know basically we have to we've got to play by their rules well is that what the Montpellier Transportation Commission is I didn't really see a definition in the contract but that's the term that's used Montpellier Transportation Commission anyway I could talk about that I mean if this needs to be approved tonight fine but if it doesn't I would really like to explore some of this but my question is what exactly do you want to see if you if you were proposing changes what are those changes that we have some muscle to have it open and staffed so that they can't hire if we can't we can't control if they have funding to staff or if they even have the people to hire right but we put this money into the transit center so that it's open so that it'll work for pedestrian and bike and bus riders so I want them to put their commitment here instead of just all in Chattanooga County I mean all right well you know and there's no leeway on it there's no leeway on it but I'll tell you in the future it's there's going to be a lot more push if this is this is the style of contract and attitude that's going to come out of it I mean we put a lot of money in that transit center and I'm not seeing it paying it's giving to the community as it should at all um hold on a second Stephen I think Bill I'm with you we pushed as hard as we could on you know bathroom of value availability and all the other things um and we you know we can take it back to them I just you know we don't have any control over I made you know philosophically we may agree yeah you put more into Chattanooga County I don't know how V-trans assigns those funds we're not in that loop we don't have any say over how those funds you know what they ask for and what they get um so if I mean I really if there's suggestions we're happy to take a look at them and talk to them about this in the two-year agreement was because that was their current grant cycle so they couldn't extend beyond um one question Bill what is uh the urgency on this particular contract do we need to approve it this evening Cameron you want to take that I mean it would be great we've been at this for a long time we've been trying at all but you know okay they have a timeline they're trying to hit I think this is important for them for their continued funding is having an agreement in place but but we have I mean to be fair to us we have been pushing back on this for almost a year now we've been working going back and forth with them and our lawyers and their lawyers since I since I got here so um this is a pretty robust agreement so I do agree if you need more time it's their timeline not ours okay and even if we did approve it it's only two years so it could be renegotiated with within relatively speaking short time okay um and Stephen did you want to comment I do I think that if if you're going to move forward with it you insist that provisions be put in there that it can be renegotiated sooner than two years especially for elements of bathroom access if the city needs to share the staffing use part of the homelessness task force appropriation and put our own staff in there on certain hours but do not forfeit those valuable city-owned bathrooms you know in a pandemic emergency you know it's I don't believe that our staff have been arguing hard enough or have had sufficient direction from council on the urgency of making those bathrooms available to the public and it's a travesty that it's been closed as long as it has while the city gives the construction workers keys to go in there and use it while they're instead of having port bodies for the construction job on Taylor Street so it's been mismanaged and insist that the public access bathrooms be left open if the contract has to be approved it could be negotiated and look for funding from available resources to pay and share the staffing of that facility to keep it open thank you but just for the record so everyone's aware the city did not provide them keys if that was an arrangement that was probably made between the contractor and GMT the city wasn't involved in that okay thank you um okay so one possibility is that we approve it tonight another possibility is that we delay um either way um is there anyone who'd like to make a motion go ahead Dan I'll make a motion that we approve the contract with uh Green Mountain Transportation the transportation transit I always get those backwards Green Mountain Transit Authority is their second okay we have a second from Jack um and any further comments I'm going to vote against it so you're going to have to do a roll call okay and it's not I totally understand Cameron you probably pushed it and pushed it I just need to vote against it that's all okay I will never take personal offense against any of this ever thank you Jack did you have a comment yes the the only only question I have is if we if we don't think there's a realistic probability of getting more in this contract than we already have then I don't see a point to not approving it tonight so I think Bill and Cameron are probably in the best position to say what what the prospects are yeah I mean we wouldn't have brought it to you if we didn't think this was the best we could do okay that's fine with me any further discussion okay um all in favor please say aye aye oh roll call well I was gonna do well we can hold this let me just start with a roll call that's that's fine so um uh Donna nay Connor hi Jay hi Dan hi Jack hi and Lauren okay so the motion passes and okay I think that is the end of our regular business okay council reports uh we're gonna go in that order uh Donna just ask it everybody to be safe we've got some nasty numbers going on in Vermont be safe that's all thank you great thank you Connor 24 hours to fill out the census very important so just a reminder there and uh micro transit is plugging away I know a lot of people in the community have had some concerns so please get those to you know Donna and I are your reps on council here uh or sustainable Montpelier just want to emphasize um is it do no harm approach we really want to make sure everybody who rides the circulator bus is taken care of and even though it's a transition um we hope this broadens the level of services so you know if somebody um about North Street needs to you know use this they'd be able to so it's not taking away services it's actually expanding them but there'll be some growing pains there that's it for me thank you Jay um yeah echoing Donna around folks making sure they're staying safe certainly lots of uh lots of people in town right now from all over so just uh being extra cautious also uh just want to acknowledge a huge thanks to John Holler and the folks at Mamba for all their work on the pump track excited to see that open and available to to kids um and then also uh it's come up it's been alluded to here and there but a huge thanks to everybody involved in Montpelier live for seeing through all the wayfinding signs um it's been great to see those finally installed um and looking good uh around town so thanks great Dan uh no much other than to say voting is open and if you haven't made a plan to vote everyone should be doing that plan and and voting and I'm sure John will give us an update on that but vote it can't be set enough I agree Jack this is short notice but uh for people who've been interested in the issue of of policing uh there is an online event tomorrow five o'clock to 6 30 p.m alternatives to policing and Vermont schools how to organize for safer schools in your community hosted by uh half dozen or so nonprofit organizations including the human rights commission and Vermont legal aid and if people want to see how they can log on to that and register for it it's on the Vermont legal aid Facebook page I also shared it on my own Facebook page I'll be in another meeting so I won't be able to be there but uh there are I think most if not all the organizations sponsoring this have uh come out in favor of removing school resource officers so people who want to get some information about that side of the debate that this might be a good place to go and that's all I've got okay uh Lauren thank you I'll pass okay and all the things I was going to say you all have already said it so um I'm also going to pass and so that leads to John John Odom here sorry I always hit the wrong buttons you know I actually feel like I have a ton to tell you all but it's awfully late so I won't but I mean unless you really want your details it's nothing you can't wait um but I would just remind anyone who's listening that you should have received a ballot by now if you haven't um Leigh it's contact us I'm sure there's a very good reason but one way or the other we'll get it to you okay great thank you really just robust oh good as it has one would hope uh bill I can't imagine what we would have that would be a value added at 11 19 to pass you know this is the latest meeting we've had in a long time and I'm sorry team thank you for hanging in there I'm trying to not make this normal um okay I think that concludes all of our business um thank you everyone have an excellent evening I without objection I'm going to consider this meeting adjourned okay thanks everyone good to see you see you


Ladies and gentlemen, Simon Mike another vlog welcome another beautiful day in paradise, Los Angeles I decided to meet up with the homegirl boom boom fam But I call her boom Stacey D seen her on the grams for a while She's been an internet friend. So we both decided that we're gonna hang out when I was in LA We talked about perhaps doing a workout, but then we both ended up being lazy So no workout happened and then me and Connor had the plan the miraculous plan that if I was a real content creator That we would go to the content creator spot in LA the mural on Melrose this mural in LA Yep, it's restricted to influencers only and only those with 20,000 followers or more that's a lot or if you don't have that many followers you have to be verified There was something in like USA today vice all over Instagram that you had to have 20,000 followers or that magic blue check mark and you could go take a picture with this actually kind of ugly mural We were a little late to the game a little late to the game It turned out that it was a publicity stunt by the one and only Dylan Francis Dylan P. S. Side note Dylan we're gonna be playing fortnight together eventually. So might as well just hop on Let's let's where we're dropping boys. You know what I mean?  It's kind of the anti normie. It's I kind of like to think I'm the same thing We like to not take ourselves too serious and not take what we do so serious You know people ask me all the time like what do I do like look man?  Oh, I record my voice I put it on the internet and these beautiful beautiful people support me and listen to me Thousands upon thousands of people do it and I'm blessed and grateful but I'm still confused And I think Dylan Francis although he's a DJ and has like kind of a real talent I think he's still kind of confused or like likes to poke fun and not take himself serious at the entire world that we Kind of live in and me Omar Bart the whole crew that's why we get along as I think we're kind of like that way We don't take ourselves or what we do too serious. So I want to see this influencer thing I want to do a picture. I have briefly spoke to and talked to Dylan Francis manager shout out to Mike Met him one time at Reebok and so I wanted to tag them and just make a joke whatever So first we ended up just heading out to the Grove, which is very near to that area and I didn't know how close it was But we ended up just grabbing some food hanging out the Grove is a super cool mall out in LA It's like outdoor mall as you would think LA palm palm trees everywhere beautiful people everywhere All the kind of shopping you want to do plus on the back end They kind of have this farmers market, which is the outdoor farmers market and it's dope It's one of my favorite spots. I've been there a couple times you kind of get any food It just happened that the England World Cup game was going on at the second So people were wiling out as cool see a Lot of people out in LA it's a cool spot because I think everyone It's kind of like on a mission in LA in a way And some people might be treading water a little bit But everyone's trying to go somewhere rather than the typical nine-to-five city or the typical, you know Stuck in a rut kind of city. So there's people out even though it's the middle of the day on like a Tuesday So we walked around the farmers market a little bit grab some food And then we decided to head over to my hipster verse. You guys know me. I like some clothes I like some sneakers and it's right by Fairfax. So I did a little bit of shopping I ended up really not buying anything but Supremes out there diamonds out there the hundreds is out there all those kind of clothes Which I've been into probably since about junior year of high school, which to date myself was like 2005 I've been into sneakers my whole life Since I like basketball since fourth grade where I got my like my first pair of Iversons But I really just got into the kind of hype beast vlog and street work culture along with the hip hop and sneaker culture Probably junior year of high school and I've kind of loosely followed it I'm getting more back into it now, but I've loosely followed it for yeah over a decade I guess so stop by those places and little did I know that mural was right there So we try to map it we try to figure it out. There wasn't any direct directions It just kind of said the general area was in so we ended up Comparing a picture that was next to it and it had already gotten painted over one that there's a security guard there That was supposed to check your check mark and your 20,000 followers Which I just thought would be so funny the vlog because it's so so stupid And funny at the same time, but but that person was already gone But also the murals gone so I just took a picture with a regular mural insert photo here And then we had some time to burn my homie Jake from barben.com who's done a bunch of articles with me He basically covers all strength sports and coaches and lifters and stuff like that So we've done some some content together.  So that was cool.    Really. It's just taking potatoes up That's what I mean, but like what you mature you need to have it in Argentina I've been here so many times on the vlog What's your favorite kind of food then? Mexican food like what give us a okay So my favorite food are nachos and that's what I had even like Mexican. It's not real. Okay, it's like fake Mexican It's like Mexican-American yeah, which I love because if I'm gonna have real Mexican food, then I'll just go to like Mexico I get what here over there I love tacos because all their tacos are the same like la tortilla in the carnet But like there's different like flavors and then they put like different like Juices on the street taco though just like meat with some like people and that's there's like no There's like birria carne asada There's like how the different things that you can have and you wouldn't even know the difference unless you went over there So why don't you go go there get some and bring it back to me by the time I brought tacos back This is in a lot. It would be so soggy grab the good meal. Love me some steak and potatoes can't really go wrong So then we ended up rolling back to Barbara Gade and of course, you know, I lost my ice cream There's a place down here called salt and straw Looking for a good time Come on Joe pick up Yeah Hello, we're calling for the good time It is originally from Portland I believe there's actually a bunch of cool like hipster ice cream spots coming up in the West Coast and I love me so much So we ended to go in there shout out to the homie who got the hookup He's on the kaizen programs and I got some kind of gooey brownie cookie Shit on a cone and it was delicious end up with the stomach egg diet starts tomorrow hashtag. You guys know it But that pretty much wrapped the day was dope fun both Shout out to the homies super cool kicking with her a lot of fun positive vibes And that's kind of what I look at the people one someone who doesn't take themselves too serious to someone who's driven in three So I was good vibes positive vibes and she's all that so she can she can be one of the homies for sure Be sure to check out her YouTube though She drops some vlogs here and there and also her Instagram appreciate you guys solid Mike videos every Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Saturday Sunday Streams as long as I'm not traveling five days a week Twitch dot dot TV slash solid Michael 2k's and the number two mama's voice podcast Tuesday Friday new episodes I'm out of here appreciate you Thank you for coming to Mike's channel. I I always in my videos like that. I'm used to it. Okay. Bye. Okay. Thank you And I live for forever. I need to feed my children. Please subscribe to me on Twitch Give me five dollars and Come watch my life streams You


BadoeddAM yn gwaith â ddweud o gwaith y 18 eich mosque-side o unig trefoedd i siaradau i ddechrau cyhoeddfa a Llorr Ffwrdd Cymru. Mwielo'r gwbod gyda chi yn gwbwoedd iawn i ddodg bod bod yn gyfrannuxxod i ddweud. Rwy'n gweithio i ddweud o'r polegu a'r Sryddon Jeremy Balfour, a'ch eu ffordd i ddibwyd i ddweud i chi'n hwebwyr i ddwyll yn gweithfaith Creg Hwy'r Sryddon ac yn gwybod ar gyfer y Comитai. Felly mae'r cyffredinol yn ystod o'r lleidwyr, mewn cyfyrdd ac ynstod o gyllid, ac yn gwneud yn gyfifio'n cymdeithasol. Dwi'n gwych i chi'n gweithio'n gweithwyr i'r tyn. Felly mae'r cyllid yma yn mynd i'r perthynas a'r cyfryd yn ymgylchedd yma. Felly mae'r cyffredinol yn cyffredinol yn cyfryd ddechrau'r cyffredinol fwylltol. Fylltol yn cyfeimlo sy'n cyfryd yn cyfryd. 22. The Draft Registers of Scotland, Information and Access, etc. Miscellaneous Amendment Order 2022 and the Draft Scottish Tribunals Listed Tribunals Regulations 2022. Is the committee content with these instruments? Under agenda item number two, we are considering seven instruments subject to the negative procedure. An issue has been raised on one of these instruments, which is SSI 2022-173, St Mary's Music School Aided Places at Scotland Amendment Regulations 2022. The instrument amends the St Mary's Music School Aided Places at Scotland Regulations 2015. The amendments make provision to maintain eligibility for aided places for EAA nationals and their children who are resident in the British Islands before the end of the EU withdrawal transition period. The regulations also amend the income levels, which determine eligibility for financial assistance and extend eligibility to displaced Ukrainian nationals taking part in a UK Government relocation scheme. In correspondence with the committee, the Scottish Government confirmed that it is the parent and not the grandparent of a child who must be eligible for a remission of fees to meet the criteria for a needed place at the school. Nevertheless, the Government accepted that there may be some ambiguity as a result of the drafting of the instrument. The Scottish Government intends to clarify this ambiguity at the next available opportunity and at any event in time for the following school year. Does the committee wish to draw regulation 2A of the instrument to the attention of the Parliament on the reporting ground H on the basis that the meaning of the residency criteria applying to children of EAA nationals in a new paragraph 2BA of schedule 1 of the 2015 regulations that could be clearer? At the same time, does the committee wish to welcome that the Scottish Government intends to clarify the ambiguity at the next available opportunity and at any event in time for the following school year? Also, under this agenda item, no points have been raised on SSIs 2022, 167, 168, 169, 170, 172 and 186. Is the committee content with these instruments? With that, I will indicate that the next meeting of the committee will take place on Tuesday 14 June and I will close this meeting.