It is seven o'clock and I'll call to order this April 15 Meeting of the Waterbury Select Board First item on the agenda is to approve the agenda. Do I have a motion? Alyssa I move to approve the agenda for the Waterbury Select Board meeting for today with three changes from how it's printed One to take the minutes of April 1st 2024 off of the consent agenda and move it to write after public Two to note for us McDonald's under the vacancy for the natural disaster preparedness committee And three after the 930 handicapped parking in the business district item to add a discussion on a light display for national stuttering awareness month When is that when you're proposing to do was national stuttering last item before next meeting agenda So between handicapped parking at 930 in the end And there's my part in the audience I'm starting to wonder if I have the wrong zoom link He said he would be No, apparently I made two links. She's got the two links running Oh Are we getting some free time off at you thought yeah, we have been since the planning commission was meeting Mike does indicate he'll see us Mini Oh Me tries to give you That's okay, just let it chill for a while Tom logs you in Does via email he'll be on zoom Mm-hmm, and you know Mike's on there No, he just sent an email at 530 and says see you all online in an hour So it does appear that his intent was to join If you go back to that get the numbers. Yeah, this is the right one My part himself we've bridged the time space. All right So We had a motion on the floor would you care to repeat it? Yes. Hi welcome zoom friends So our first item I move to approve the agenda for this April 15th select board meeting with three changes The first is to take the minutes of April 1st off the consent agenda and put them immediately after public The second is to add force McDonald under the vacancy for natural disaster Preparedness committee and the third is to add a discussion on a light display for National considering awareness at 930 after the handicapped parking in business district second Okay, moved and seconded any further discussion Hearing none all in favor say aye. Aye Any opposed any abstentions? All right Gender is approved as amended Next is a consent agenda. Do I have a motion and note that the minutes have been removed? Second moved and seconded any discussion hearing none all in favor say aye aye any opposed any abstentions All right the consent agenda is approved as written without the minutes Next is the public session Anyone wishing to address anything not in the warrant agenda can please step forward. I ask that you keep your Comments to three minutes anything requiring more time will get it on a subsequent meeting Yes My coming forward and introducing yourself for the audience Because this is my end of my term And I'm hoping that they have another alternate to replace the missing But I do want to thank the select board for trusting me with this appointment for the last two and a half years I worked all four committees while I was And the governing board while I was that you're delegate The first ones I worked with the communications committee and the policy committee and then I worked my way into the Construction committee I learned a lot about And finally ended up in the finance committee And that was probably the most work. I did with the finance committee trying to keep CV fiber Upload they are now moving as a small company into employee based Which is really good not volunteer based And I see a very good future for them They are putting in for more grant money to continue the construction. I can't tell you when they'll get to waterberry I wish I could but thank you again for Appointing me Linda, thank you so much for serving the town as our pointee to CV fiber and all the work that you put into it We really appreciate it. Thank you. It's very Fulfilling to do public service. So, thank you We find someone as able as you to come back in Thanks again Anyone else like to address something not on the ward agenda Yes Tom little waterberry just a couple of things a shameless plug for green up day Before May so we're just over two weeks out It's unfortunate I'm making the plug today, but it's because I'm just alarming amount of dumping going on if you've noticed it and Question I had was the and it's always been curious to me. Who has responsibility for the underpass Directly under the underpass for the graffiti and the and frankly dumping lately Is that a town or a time about the train trestle right over here? No, no the highway underpass Stowe Street. Oh, yeah Yeah Graffiti estate responsibility or is it it gets painted so it's almost up It's like a six-month thing right it goes beautiful paint job and then we get more graffiti It's just it's an indicator of a problem Okay, and then I know you have on the agenda at some point time now I'm not a I'm not really a big fan of a bunch of security cameras and stuff But if you do have that discussion sometime, that's probably a prime spot to start thinking about That's all thank you Chris yeah, thanks real quick because I know you got a busy agenda Could you comment a little bit on where the armory issue stands at this point? Sure So the building has been renovated they put a new source new sort service in And the building's not fully springboard, so it's ready for use So there's no the department tells us there's no need Thank you Yes I just wanted to publicly acknowledge and thank leap which is Waterbury's energy committee And I believe one of the only ones in the state that its own 501 C3 They had their energy fair on Saturday, and we've just a normally well attended takes a lot of volunteer work to put together So just thank you to leap the town and community is really lucky to have them putting that on And then I also wanted to give Karen the opportunity to let everyone know why there's vote here signs Outside because I know there has been questions so in public information Karen if you're willing There's two votes going on simultaneously. They're they're different. We have to treat them as two different elections The Everett for utility district annual meeting is May 8th. You can vote early now for elected officials And the school budget ballot is available now as well 20 days before the election You can vote early in my office eight to four thirty Monday through Friday for the new rendition And I'll yeah Eric I was just going to say I Appreciate the fact that you've got us a bunch of information over the weekend unfortunately, I we had to post the warning budget or the agenda on Friday, so it didn't get in there but if you wanted to Say a couple words about why you posted what I thought was that it's a lot of information And I'd like to have a review conservation commission And I'm gonna sit in Michael Bard seat I feel very important Got that Mike He'll be seized anyway The we have been doing a lot of work on the on the on the petition that we're doing and We're actually right here tomorrow evening going to have both the stowe and the waterbury conservation commissions Meeting right here with us and we've been meeting with a lot of others and we've got getting almost unanimous support so The key support that we really need is from the waterbury the select board itself It's interesting in the Use of public waters on the reservoir Waterbury and stowe are equal partners that the primary use of the reservoirs We all know is the is that it's the flood control flood control and power generation and then in 1963 They added recreation to it so recreation is actually the last But in all of the headings, it's a waterbury waterbury reservoir in the towns of waterbury and stowe So we've had a very a lot of support with the Stowe select board and and like you they didn't want to do anything on the first meeting So it'll be probably next week There's so much I can say I don't want to take up much of your time But I'd like to ask if you have any questions in particular that you would like us to address because we're pretty well informed I guess I wanted to know My understanding is that the the regulation of Motor traffic on the reservoir is up to the state What is the your Strategy for getting the state to act on this well the the It's a February 14th a number of us here gave Testimony to the Elkar the legislative committee on administrative rules and Immapillier and as of that date they approved The what we were asking for at that point and that was a 500 foot rule from shore throughout the state and so It's it's a cute waterbury reservoir is in a curious situation here because The North arm and the East arm are protected now from wake boats It's it's the other arm which poses a lot of its own issues because Well for one thing there are some boats are Coming out they're on the drawing board and maybe out of this summer or next year There will be creating wakes big enough to create the pipelines the curls which you can actually be inside of and There's six hundred thousand dollars by the way if you want to buy one Roger And we have some handouts we can leave with you later, too, but Well, it's really you know It seems like this is a fairly Urgent thing It is past couple of meetings. I was just wondering Do you expect that there's going to be new legislation on this at this late date in the Right the legislative process is over now what it is is it's a Petit it's lake by lake petitions that there will be addressed and so We'll be one of the first lakes. We're trying to get ours in within the next two weeks We've totally rewritten our Petitioner Francine, could you come up for a little bit here and Yeah And People have asked us other boards and people say why are we so interested in this project? It's not that we're not interested. I'm wondering about the timing of the time. So the timing really is for us We're being encouraged to so the lake by lake petitions is something granted by an R and DC we in the early 90s we created a What we consider a compromise of how users use the reservoir and that was part of that process Maybe I can answer a little bit what what Roger's asking is the timing and if for us to have Even the possibility of a decision by the Department of Environmental Conservation Before this season we would have to have it in within the next couple weeks And it will be because we're just about finished with this is our original One here and it will be similar to that, but it'll be it'll be done and and sent in Within the next two weeks I'm happy to put around the agenda for next The information's been clear Is there anything else that we could answer for anybody Would you like us to leave any of this any this stuff, please feel free We'll sort it out here and give it to you because I've drawn up the In fact, why don't you just get they'll just briefly show them one. Yeah, there's just one in particular It's a map of that of the dam area and And that's what it is right there. I've highlighted Three or four areas and where the campsites are and so on and the dark part there's where the white boats will be allowed to To be can pass that around friends if you like and it's The thing is I've labeled the 500 feet from shore on each side is actually Kind of gauntlet A and gauntlet B and then there's a gauntlet C but every single craft that launches from the water buried dam will have to negotiate that the There's also some information here It's talks about and the reason why these why these waves are so powerful They they're 10 to 25 times more powerful than a natural Waves created by wind and so that's why they can flip over pontoon boats and any fishing boats and so on there's pictures of palm pond to boats one of them on Joe's pond where they Boat was flipped up and put on top of the dock almost one corner of it was but they're there The accidents waiting to happen. That's where we feel and so Yeah, so so we'll see in two weeks. Yeah, well, maybe three weeks would be two weeks Any other questions from the public Chris Did you have something else? I'll catch up with these guys. It was it was aimed at those guys All right Nothing more from the public. We'll move on to the next side of the agenda Which is the entertainment permit for the craft fair in the minutes. Oh You're right minutes. I Would move to approve the minutes of April 1st as posted with the addition We hadn't a consent agenda at that meeting An emotion to approve the consent agenda was made by Mike Seconded by Kane and it passed unanimously So I would move to approve the minutes of the meeting with that addition about the consent agenda a second Any further discussion? Very none all the papers say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed any abstentions? Still passes Do we have the applicants I voted for Okay Welcome back if you wouldn't mind reintroducing ourselves And you came forward before previously asked for Right and getting in touch with Sorry She sent this to me The green arrows is where the parade will be going and the red arrows is where they exit and And Not necessarily Any of the floats will be too big or too small. We're not sure but on the side And there's a note that says any oversized floats will have to go through that row But other than that they're taking this route Which does not go through there whatsoever Aerial stated that Mars unlikely there's no floats that go through there, right? And we also made a copy of that row how we plan setting it up We're not allowing anybody on the baseball fields like on the dark part But on the grass we're allowing people to walking have their table set up with a Can key type We're also we're planning on having our food trucks in the parking area There'll be six food trucks in total We plan on We actually has actually spoke to somebody about Renting poor bodies, which we're gonna have available for anybody that comes through We have five, but if we need more we can get more and we have one handicapped accessible So on this picture, I don't know if it shows on yours because it's a photocopy It's a little dark. There's one with the map on it too though. It's kind of dark That's why I gave you the other one. Yeah That one you can see there's cars parked here Along this road out on on this end of that goes towards the news. Yeah, right We are hoping that we can have cars park there just our vendors not public Maybe you know older Not be able to walk as far or have a way to help You know get them their vehicles moved Katerina also suggested to us that we use the municipal office parking There's Anderson field that has public parking She had stated we could probably use in the post office and we have vendors That are willing to just get dropped off and their husbands or who will ever take their vehicles out There's also such a brook that's got parking and if Worse comes to worse people are willing to bring their vehicles up to the parking ride in carpool with somebody else back down After they're set up And we've made it clear that when they come and set up they have to keep their vehicles on the road and wagon their Things onto the grass We will have other friends volunteering to help make sure we have some kind of security Or if somebody got hurt or something there's some people around there You know available to help with any kind of incident whether they need help carrying something or somebody got hurt Or if there's somebody driving on the grass we can stop them we plan on Blocking it off if it's full There is chains We saw down on this side, and I know there's a gate. I'm sure we can just close it up So that we don't have people driving in and out And we're gonna have it one way so they can't Know your customers they can as long as the this parking area the first parking area has space But if it does not then we're gonna ask people to walk in because we're gonna cone off the Graveled parking area on either side so cars can't go through because most of the pedestrians will probably be there for the food And that's where they're gonna be parked and we don't want vehicles driving through there And The far gate As of right now nobody can drive in it. It's a So it's gonna be closed so it's cars can't go through anyway, so we didn't walk through grass and stuff By the cemetery there's some parking there as well that little pull-off. There's like 10 cars We're gonna revise the flyer a little bit also because we are not gonna have a dunk house Which we had told Katerina before the last meeting, but I don't think it got brought up We're not gonna do the dunk tank. We're just gonna have one normal size like castle bounce house that you have at a birthday party And we plan to set that up next to the pavilion in the swing set so it's Over there Okay, as far as closing off the entrance and the exit for vehicles Would that not impede an emergency vehicle? It could be opened easily We just we're gonna have somebody standing up there pretty much Alternating to make sure if the lots full that cars aren't trying to go down and turn around because there's no parking Unless there's an empty space that they know about them. We're not gonna allow them to drive down there Like a first aid kit. I have a huge first aid kit somebody was During this event Until I feel like anybody will but if you know the kids are bouncing Yeah, I never know kids. Yeah, we'll make sure we have that with us as well Self-prepared for this We've done a few and we're comfortable doing this We do them at CrossFit broke monthly we have about 50 vendors every month so it's we Walk around and make we set up We haven't done an outdoor event yet But we have we have probably 15 people that are willing to help out and walk around and make sure people are Doing what they need and taking care of so From 11 to 6 and our setup starts at 8 so that our their vehicles will be gone in plenty of time before the road closes So I know Dapro is not part of the official parade route. I also know having been to this parade many times that floats will use Dapro, I know he was said they won't but I Okay, because Ariel had emailed us two days ago I believe and she had said that they don't and just in case is there a plan if floats do come down They can't get through so that's one issue Eliminated well, they can't get through because there's a huge hole so they can't go to when you see the other right If we can ask that nobody we can make sure nobody parks in that parking area So they can turn around during the parade And make sure no cars come down the roads close anyway, so that shouldn't be a huge issue Yeah Oh It's the plan for overnight you have it We're gonna contact the local sheriff department and see if there's somebody but we've also told the vendors we don't It's on them if they leave their stuff down there and gets that's we can't control But we have advised them very like highly to pack up your things You can leave their tents and their tables, but they should not leave their products overnight And they should just reset them back up the next morning because they have to do that in any other event anyway Because I mean we can stay down there, but we're just two people we can't Yeah We're gonna have a few people adults sitting there managing that Rotating throughout the day as well as parking it's just a normal size I don't know the exact amount on it holds like 10 kids or something It's like a birthday party size bounce house from real bounce So they're insured they come and set it up and take it down themselves Yeah, yeah, thank you guys so much for answering all these questions. Yeah Will there be Close to the event an official Placement for each of your vendors. Yeah, when we we get our final list We will have exact maps of who's where because we do that for our events now On Sunday Right now they're 76, but we haven't advertised it again since we started this just in case so we haven't Even gotten we haven't tried to get any more or anything until we know for sure. What's going on? Like bar Yep, I still have some concerns About with the two events kind of having simultaneously, but I'm Leaning toward Hey, this is a first time. Let's see almost see how it goes and if there are conflicts You know that may be something to revisit in You know the following year, but I think they've tried to address some of the issues that we have Addressed before, you know in our select board meetings, which I commend them for but You know Being concerned about public safety and especially where parking is so limited in our downtown The NQ ID parade is a big draw And I I know that having the two together is going to definitely create some parking problems Just my thoughts On the on River Road on the side of the road is that it's not our purview. It's a different town Contact Yeah, I mean it's it's consideration and there it is a little tight there as you've probably seen We also take in a kind of human nature right people these days only walk so far, right? There could be some parking along Where there is Cheryl Laura Hi, good afternoon or good evening everyone. Yes. This is Cheryl Laura waterbury. I'm just want to make sure that No They're going to allow people to leave their tents or the pop-ups down there Just want to make sure who's responsible if something does get damaged or stolen I really don't want the town and the taxpayers to be responsible for any damage or stolen items So are we are they bonded or insured? Should something hit you other people's property while it's down there We all of our vendors have had to fill out a liability form for the town Which we have collected a bunch, but we have until the 28th to of May to get those in and we're also insured as well so Yeah Yeah, and we are we've made it clear to that if we don't have those back by the 28th They cannot come set up because we need to Caterina it advises that they all need to have their own and the food trucks They have gotten their own permits as well through the town Yeah, they do and they've all contact they all have been contacting themselves for those Yeah, and they're not like you they're just trailers and they're not giant or anything, but yeah More questions You had the May 1st deadline, so will you be able to give a layout by May 6th? We yeah, we probably can just the hard part is a lot of people wait until closer to the event to sign up So we can give you another updated list But like a week before the event to make sure you have or by the 28th when we need the liability forms back Yeah, I'm just think really finalizing this yes I would say I think it's really like again as everyone's acknowledged a lot of really good updates on this and just Acknowledging that we got it tonight and Rotary hasn't come back. We have a next meeting on the 6th, so I would say Do you work how do we don't want to review anything I think it'd be nice to have a little time to just do a final review I Don't know that I've made a motion to but I would say I would make a motion to support Continuing to pursue the craft fair with the intention of improving it up approving it on the 6th pending Final discussion from staff final updates from Rotary and a finalized site plan with the specific vendor sites So I got one correction to make and the correction is this is not the first time this has happened This is the second time this has happened We did it last year with 31 vendors right on the same front row same day Yes, Scott Calver Waterbury. Sorry guys I List you a list of questions and concerns that I had the last meeting and thank you and I've checked off Awesome. Thank you very much. She's over there. I love it So like I said, so being a MUT CD guy, you know manual uniform traffic control design So it's like there's a lot of questions that I have like access egress You can't have one way in and one way out. You have to have one of you have to have both at once Okay, two lanes of traffic coming down through if you're going to accommodate a flow We had more trouble with cars parking in that group Having a traffic control plan when you get out of the facility is great Once you get them to out of the facility which way you send in them like years ago with the parade when for the parade route swapped We're talking years ago. It was only a left-hand turnout. Everybody had to go one way or the other They couldn't go right. It was all one direction The fire and emergency piece that's pivotal and I spoke with Gary Dylan and he has not even been approached So that really concerns me because you're gonna have fire You're gonna have emergency at the festivities down on the other end of town Their response time is going to be slim to any depending on what's going to happen The parking piece Okay, no one even took Catarina or the town who I just paid the fee for the lily program gave it any consideration And if Anderson field is even going to be used or not So we're in the bids of process to have a softball tournament down there that same weekend So but having you know four five six seven teams however It's going to go that's going to be our park in a designated area for there So we paid for this we should be allowed to use it And if we're going to fill it up with vehicles for people to walk in isn't going to work So like I said, it's it's a lot of the handicap accessibility We when we did it over here. It was it was horrendous We didn't have a lot of them and I we said we had 20 some odd volunteers there So in the uniform traffic control officer has to be exactly that a uniform traffic control officer Not you can shut a gate lock a gate because that goes against part six of the MUTCV Right from the get-go and you could be in serious civil liability if something happens and that gate is closed And there's an is a un-uniform person at that gate directing traffic You have to have somebody who's going to be taking care of that. So I still personally have a lot of questions and I just I'm not feeling good about it at all You can take my experience for you know for whatever you want to take it I do not believe that Katarina is doing what she needs to do to make sure she's getting the good information to these individuals as well as Taking the full entire scope of what's going to be happening in a half mile distance down Main Street And then on top of that I would also like to know what the name on the Application for this process is because I also have some issues with a comment I was made the last public meeting we were here when they were told to go get an EIN In a business entity to run this program And I know for a fact these two individuals have been in business for better than two years Running under an entity that doesn't even have a tax setup So here we are with this portion of the other piece that goes along with it If you're gonna put a hundred vendors down there at 50 bucks a table that's a $10,000 weekend You're gonna tear this field up. I don't care how much insurance you have every other person from August 30th on is Gonna is gonna be damaged on what they're gonna have to do down there There's softball tournaments baseball turn whatever it's gonna be dog shows We do a lot of that stuff and I'm here for the town at the same time I want to make sure that when that is left the same way that it's given at the end or There's a lot of ramifications to other people who have paid for time on that facility Again, although you're addressing me I didn't mean literally shut the gate and lock like I didn't say to lock it. I'm just saying like So we can control the flow of traffic whether they're coming in or out We're still in the process of working this whole plan out So whether it's a one-way or a two-way whatever works better because we're still not familiar with all of it Yeah, we're still trying to put this plan together Right now it can only be one way because of that We have most of this pretty well laid out or we're comfortable with it with the safety of everybody and I don't understand why This is such a big problem. We've already paid for this. We already paid to have the space the permits Why are we paying for something that we have to come to the board to speak about? before Like we had the impression that we had this rented we had the space to do this and then we were brought here The same time now after we've already been told we had the space and we've already paid Well, I know but she was she's saying we had to pay the permit fees also and Katarina I have all the emails that I've got the permit to use the space when we got the email We were under the influence or impression that it was approved and that that we weren't told we had to do any of this Just two things first I want to point out When you see street will be fixed well before us we've been waiting to do it. There's been other priorities like monsees and just I think I Think tomorrow we will have a improved plan and some and about 14 grand from FEMA that they're going to give us to Help with the long-term repairs for that road. So we've been waiting to finalize that to do the work, but it'll certainly be done By this crash there. So there will be a way to get out over there. I can guarantee that Just a clarification Katarina or someone else on your team be in a position to help them direct the flow of traffic Should that be something that they figure out? I think it's something they better figure out which we which we have a bunch of people willing to we can put vests on them So they're uniformed if that's the issue the other piece I just I just want to say just my observation, but We had an awful lot of people here in town a week ago We've had parking studies in the past It's talked about at length 15 what Southmane was was agreed to be given to sell the downstream I think there's plenty of parking to be had people sometimes have to get a little creative We don't need to use Anderson field at all we've suggested for other parking spaces besides Anderson field too Yeah, I apologize that Has taken some time And we understand we just when we talked about it, we weren't aware that this was happening or we would have been prepared Nope, that was I was just going to speak to my motion The goal is to balance giving you a clear path to understand your pursuing event and Recognizing that we want to make sure we have a duck center off So that's what we're doing our best to and I will say we've all acknowledged that we in general want to streamline our parades in a Permit if nothing else for the time of our delightful audience members. Thank you all for being here I would say and then my last was that my motion was to So mine was pending discussion with town staff we hire and enable Tom lights to manage our recreation director Fire chief other managers so I trust him to do the coordination with pertinent department heads for us to have this to do a final review Yeah, I was that we just got this tonight, so noting that it's moving all in the right direction Opposed Right now we move on to board appointments Two to five minutes per person for Canada And the first one are three vacancies and the development review board one Full-time session and to all First first on the list is Tom I was going to say so just process wise we've received applications from most of the folks who have named on the agenda in your email correspondence with Karen and That's not when we move through two to five people and then could move to make appointments after we do everyone just for time and brevity Yes, Tom is not present has been a 10-year member of the DRB and I believe current co-vice chair of some variety So it's applying for reappointment Next is Monica Callan I'm Thank you for the opportunity I am interested in being in DRB For many reasons. I'm very interested in the housing Crisis that's going on I'm also interested in the conservation that We need to protect in in I live in the corridor. I love that corridor But I also understand that we We have some Human needs in that corridor But I'm very interested in learning more about the the regulatory process and being a part of it and contributing to a healthy community and one that is Forward-moving without Eliminating the value that we have here in our community Thanks, Monica. I'm I'm sorry. No, I had a question. Sorry. That was that was my premise and the tone timing was not great I know that you've applied for the planning commission in the past and just based on what you just described around Vision for housing and conservation in the community. I'm curious What drew the interest to the development review for because that's the regular that that is Executing the the plan and Helping people find solutions that and giving people You know giving people the the voice to bring questions forward and Resolving conflicts that may arise You Have you did you serve on the housing committee? Um, I I am on the W. A. D. C. Yeah, which is the Waterbury area development committee. Yes for acronym suit. Sorry so there's lots of I'm also a real estate agent. So I see what that what that plays out in real time for people in this town and Other places around Vermont other questions like You're muted Mike No, no questions. I know Monica quite well. I think she she would serve the Development review board well Thank You Mike Yes, just clarifying we do a planning commission openings development review board is I want I'd like to be on the development review board Yeah, I applied for the planning commission because there was a there wasn't I think when I applied for the planning commission There wasn't something on the DRB So that the DRB is where I'd rather sit Are we doing public questions Uh With due respect to you and to everyone I said this at our last meeting So I am on the record at the end of the meeting saying that as a select board member I do feel bizarre that we as a select board are charged with making appointments of members of the public and To me, it's a select board appointment and I feel bizarre when members of the public are asking questions of perspective folks If it's not all the folks I guess that's just So I think we should decide how we're approaching this for everyone, but it gives me pause as I Stated at the end of the last meeting People in the audience are free to make a public comment this part of the agenda Asking questions of the applicant Yes, so I think the public comment they can clearly direct you to a towards a line question I don't think it's quite appropriate for someone To directly ask a question of an appointee they should be directing to the select board. Does it make sense to everyone? all right, so let's finish up with candidates for the DRB and then we'll take any other comments and then we move forward with the next series To Yes Okay Thanks, we have me tonight I Just I feel there is a little bit of a I don't know maybe still a stereotype Over the permitting process and review process, and I know there's been a lot of growth in the last couple years Just through talking to some folks I'd like to kind of lend my life experience into helping streamline some of this and maybe get rid of some of the the cloud that keeps people from actually Submitting applications, and I've been on job sites So I was a realtor for at least 15 years. I was a mortgage loan officer for another decade I've had a construction company and currently I'm a licensed electrician with a small electrical company here in the village So I look at blueprints and plans and I deal with Multiple different vendors different contractors, and I'm on job sites where Some are permitted some are not some we have state inspectors some we don't and I kind of like to bring more people to the table I feel like Some of the process is daunting for folks who don't Have to go through it more than once or twice in their lifetime. So I feel like I want to bring a little More fluidity to the process Can you share your perspective on local government and how you build trust in local government institutions? I Don't have much experience with local government most of my experience is with private homeowners and Commercial job sites and you know commercial business owners So this would be my first array really into a public service Just you know even at one of our select meetings a handful of months ago, you know someone got up and told a joke in what I feel is a Kind of I don't want to say desperation mode but making fun of a situation that people are disappointed about And again, this is a lot. Maybe these stereotypes still exist and the process has gotten cleaner But I feel like I Feel like folks look at these permits and look at having inspectors and look at having inspectors come in and things along these lines as more of a beast of burden and I I would hope to you know kind of break that stereotype and This way get more people under the umbrella of actually filling out the applications and take on the right process So you've been very vocal in your disdain for eFUD and the 51 South Main Street project Do you think you could put your opinions about some local development projects aside To enforce the rules that the DRB is required to enforce Well, that's a standard, you know, I mean I Am allowed to have an opinion. I was actually interested in purchasing that property If I don't believe in a project I'm gonna have an opinion towards that as This has already been approved It's Now on the books. It's now a plan to be built I Don't have to agree with it. They're abiding by the regulations. They need to they've Went through all the steps. They needed to go through And they recently just you know, I guess got the approval final approval. I don't know handful months ago So if I don't believe in a project, I'm definitely gonna voice my opinion about that I'm not of the group think so if I don't believe that this is a right project for the community But it's the function of the DRB to apply Absolutely, I mean, it's just you know, it's just another piece of information It's just another document that you got follow We do that all the time and with all the permits I have to pull for all the jobs that I do whether I believe in the job or not I have to you know, do everything to code and everything gets looked at and expected by State inspectors and whatnot Yes Do you feel that you have any Potential as a realtor potential conflicts With applicants coming into the DRB I'm currently not a realtor. That was just something I did in my past Which exposed me to you know commercial and residential real estate But based but based upon those past relationships Regarding what would what would be the past relationship? I'm sorry Past relationships as a realtor. I'm sure you have have had a number of different, you know Clients and stuff that you know might come before the DRB It was in a different state. I have not been a realtor or a morage alone officer here in Vermont Okay All right, let's move on we'll be again making our nominations for all these positions at the end of the session Four vacancies on the conservation commission And we have one applicant a Martin Johansson Hey, Roger, this is Amy. So Marty is already a member. I think there might have been a misread on that and he's still eligible, I believe Yeah, his appointment has lapsed Oh, I see. I thought we did a Interest in being reappointed Gotcha, I don't think he was aware of that No, he brought in the paperwork, Amy When I talked to him on Saturday, he had no idea what I was talking about Wonderful, or is there anything I need to pass along to him for tomorrow if he's not there in the room Um, we'll be making an announcement at the end of all of these Okay Who are going to be? Thank you. You bet. Okay. Um No more applicants for the conservation commission again, I encourage everyone to step forward We will continue to try to fill these positions as we can We have one person that has put in their name for the natural disaster preparedness committee.  Okay. Yeah, all right All right, and three, uh, vacancies on the planning commission starting with the chair Martha stacks Okay, Katie Gallagher Vice chair Hello Katie Gallagher Um, I've been fortunate to serve on the planning commission in the past two years as vice chair Also serve as the representative to the housing task force in that position Um, and really excited to hopefully be continuing with this work. It's um, also my profession and really dedicated to and in passionate about sustainable land use planning which is Very nerdy, but I love it. Um have been living in waterberry center for the past four and a half years or so and I feel very Grateful to be able to call waterberry my home Any questions for Katie? Uh, yes, Melissa anything you want to plug with regards to that ongoing work the planning commission is doing right now The planning commission has worked very hard to finalize the updates to the zoning by-laws for phase one we're very excited to be sharing those with this legboard and Moving on to phase two very soon where we'd be doing a lot of community outreach. I think we'll be um, also a really positive phase of this work All right. Well, thank you so much for your service. Thank you Why do you have any questions? No Okay, uh Robert Adler Hi everyone, can you hear me? Yes Hi. Uh, yes. Um, yeah, I'm Robbie Adler. Um, I submitted an application to being on the planning commission um, I live in waterberry center Two young daughters wife I've lived in the center for a little over six years on and off of vermont for a little over 20 years I'm interested in joining the planning commission I've I've had a chance to speak with dana allen who's a member of the commission just to learn more about it I attended the walk through town this summer around phase one plan. Um, I you know as a Luckily a homeowner in in waterberry, but I had you know many friends who are currently in a situation trying to find housing or or You know purchase a home in the area I'm eager to see You know us put into place Zoning regs that will allow waterberry to Grow in a sustainable way in a way that ensures People who want to come to to our town have the ability to do so Uh, but balancing it against the competing pressures that we face from issues like flooding and and otherwise and I think zoning it's really our long-term plan for how waterberry can and will be developed. Um, and Um, you know, I see it as as kind of a foundational role to ensure that those bylaws allow for A bright future for waterberry. I understand the commission's role was really advisory I was incredibly impressed by the work of the committee when I got to go to the public meeting and just kind of see all of the the work that the commission's put in for phase one and um as a community member, I'd love to participate and help in that process um And uh, I saw that there was a vacancy. So I uh threw my hat in the ring Great, thank you Questions for Robbie Listen, did you offer to share the pro bono gis work that dana is currently doing for the town? Would that be part of your work on the planning commission? Dana dana my my gis skills are about 20 years dated. So, uh I I still will probably rely heavily on him, but um, I do I do understand gis a little bit Worth the ask. Thank you Yes, thank you Just for the sake of asking because we have so many holes in so many committees Outside of uh, you know, because we've had holes in the housing task force in the past Why did you pick planning over all the other committees? Um, I will give uh part of it honestly, it's just I'm not I'm not always abreast of all the openings. Just it's not something I keep track of I have a little bit more of connection to uh, the planning commission just through through my friend dana who's on the committee um, and I would say over the last couple years. I've just become much more aware of the impacts of zoning and and uh, how it intersects with with um The housing crisis. Um, the housing task force is definitely Deep interest, uh, I would say but it's something that I just I think I was I was unaware of kind of openings or learning about it, but um Housing generally is an area that you know, as I look at all the problems facing the state. I understand it's like such a crux issue and um, it's something where I you know like to help participate and see to see how you know how I can Uh, advance things for the for the town great like My question is similar to canes um Should we not select you on the planning commission? Would you be interested in that and being a member on the housing task force? Um, I would I would certainly I would certainly be Open I I don't I don't know a ton about the work of the task force, but uh at the surface level kind of um from title. Yes. I mean I I'm interested in um working on housing issues in in waterberry and um I am happy to help however. I can I it my back my professional background is somewhat relevant, but not directly and I'm not in the trades or any anything like that But I have more familiarity with zoning just from early work in my career Um where I worked worked on this um outside of Vermont, so Not just based upon your initial preamble You know housing seems to be an interest and there were some connections that I saw On your resume that I think the housing task force would benefit from so Yeah, yeah Either could be a good fit Sure. Um, yeah, I'm happy to look more intuitive If you all want to direct me to someone I could chat more about The task force with that I'd be eager to have that conversation Sounds good. Thanks No openings, right? The task force doesn't have the same structure as the other boards, so I don't think there's no one for them So that's a and there are three openings. Right, right It's gonna be a big issue. Um, all right, any other comments about planning commission We will move on to the foreign vacancies on the recreation committee First is paul wassum I'm going to be reappointed Paul's not here Okay, and then Emma lynch lyncher So Emma is I understand currently teaching her testing of her purple belt Purple So she'll be stopping by much later this evening So I don't know if we can Get into the peaceful mode If we can discuss her application when she gets here Okay, sure Ryan cook the mortar Hey, everyone can hear me Yeah Okay, well, sorry. I couldn't be there tonight, but thanks for the opportunity to talk My wife and I moved to waterbury in 2019 and since then we've Obviously one of the reasons we moved here was for the recreational resources that are around town and And since then we've been involved in in a lot of organizations with green mountain club and and water And those opportunities have been great, you know, we've been really enjoyed volunteering for those organizations and I really wanted to be involved more consistently and And since we have a two-year-old and another on the way we've become very Familiar with the town of waterbury resources at all the different parks And programs that the town offers so We love that it's It's a great town for for raising a family and we want or I want To be more involved With the recreation committee because I think that's a good opportunity for me to give back to the town For the things that it's given to our family and so in the past I've worked for the Forest Service and and worked with Audubon Society with recreational projects outside of Vermont I don't work in In that stuff anymore, unfortunately, but I would love to be back involved with it through the town And and as noted on the agenda, I do live in more town. I have a waterbury mailing address My water comes from waterbury I live in the Gallagher acres neighborhood just outside of waterbury. So Waterbury really, I mean, I love more town. Don't get me wrong but But waterbury is where we go for everything because we're so close to waterbury. So We'd love to be involved with waterbury specifically. Um, so yeah open to questions. Thanks for the opportunity Yeah, I have served as liaison on the from the select board to the Recreation committee and Ian has just recently taken up that role And one of the things that we recognize is that waterbury does serve particularly waterbury recreation Serves a community that is beyond the borders of the town So I personally don't have any issues with appointing someone from outside the town to the committee I'm open to other questions and opinions Any other questions? Yes, uh, how long have you been involved with Green Mountain Club in water? So I volunteered periodically with like trail work. I've only gone for water only a couple of times. Um, but That's something I'd like to continue doing And for Green Mountain Club, uh, I maintained a couple sections of trail Uh over the past couple years the last time I did it it was the Clara bow trail up in Moscow Any other questions? Yes, one Yes, um I have a quick question for you.  The waterbury recreation programs are lacking that you would like to see brought to waterbury Uh, are you speaking specifically about the like the education like the summer camps and things like that? No, just in general, you know recreation opportunities around town Oh recreation opportunities around town um Well one thing we noticed as a you know as a with a young family and kids like I you know I think the the playgrounds that the number of playgrounds are great You know, we have a lot of different playgrounds in different places But with a with a two-year-old who's just really walking and just kind of finding himself There are parts of the playgrounds that feel out of out of reach for him And in all the places. Um, so there are there a lot of the playgrounds have uh Some some tough spots will call it for for kids that are that age And so there's something that I think uh, we could explore some potentially If we do have the opportunity to look at playgrounds and and those things we would maybe make them Make some areas Better for that age group. They're really young walkers Um, that's one thing Okay, thank you Any other questions? Yes. Yeah I'm right. Um Quickly, did you say you had two children a two-year-old and an older child as well? No two-year-old and one on the way this summer Gotcha, then I'll hold my question. Thank you All right Little seven brian. Thank you Aaron starmer Thanks for having me. I'm Aaron starmer Uh, I live in waterbury center right down the street from hope davie. So I'm there all the time so I I see all the comings and goings there and I'm also uh father of a 10-year-old and a six-year-old at cross at brook and um in brookside So I've got a very strong connection to the school community. I'm a Author of children's books. I I travel to a lot of schools. I speak to a lot of children speak to a lot of teachers and and And administrators so I I sort of know the world of kids So I'm in the middle of the world of kids right now And I look at our community and I see a lot of potential in sort of all the fields and facilities that we have that are in need of updates and I've been attending a lot of the school budget talks and sort of paying attention to that because it's going to affect our family More than anyone and I see all these sort of roadblocks were hitting there And being on the recreation committee seems like an avenue where I can actually Make some difference and and make a little change to make their lives better make the community better my uh My in-laws live in Essex and we will spend a lot of time visiting them and they live right down the street from the Recreation facility in Essex and if you've ever been to that facility Um, it really sets a standard that that we haven't met yet um, and I would like us to meet that standard um and Help in any way that I can to meet a standard like that. Um I know a lot of the since I live in the the center. I spent a lot of time at the reservoir Um, I didn't I don't know what the latest is on when it might be closed For repairs. There's always rumors of that, but I can tell you If and when that happens, it's going to change a lot of people's summer activities and The recreation department should have to pick up a lot of that slack including the pool Which obviously is in in great need of updates. So I'd like to be involved in that Questions for Yes Quickly you talk about the fields in need of updates. Can you specifically Mention a field and update or well, I mean, I I don't I don't think it's the actual fields themselves We have so many resources here and uh, you know, I've got an older daughter that you know I've coached in soccer and lacrosse And we do a lot of traveling around And I think that you know, we've got some of the best options around As we as we learned earlier things like parking things like logistics Anderson field is is woefully underused that whole section of water barrier And I know there's a lot of talk of doing step down by the ice center that that could open a lot more opportunities up You know, we're just we've got a great position here in the state To do a lot more with what we have Yes, as someone who also lives right by hope gating How do you feel about disc golf I do well, you know what I I am not a I am not an avid disc golf player. I have some discs. I have played It's a great course. I understand the issues going on with the development there. That was the question.  I know that they're they are rerouting a couple of the holes To keep them away from some of the new houses. I don't know where all the status is there I would say just from my experience it is used more by Out of towners than it is used by residents In the summer the parking lots are always full And it's primarily people from burlington because it is a very good course. It's a very, you know It's it's something that people come to so I think it's a valuable thing to have the community But I do understand and I've watched that development over the last seven or eight years Sort of trickle into existence is, you know, one house every year or so But you know with with our housing situation, we would like to see that expand and and Coexist with the disc golf course in a good way As someone who plays that course, he's absolutely right about it mostly people from burlington All right Other questions for her just yes Just on a just on a lighter side. What division three lacrosse team did you play for? I played for drew university in and madison new jersey It's back in the back of the old days What's that did you have a Yeah, I played long stick midfield in defense Yeah, I grew up in Syracuse, New York. So that was a religion growing up But it's good a lot All right, thank you. Thanks Okay, I played long stick defense How anymore All right, we have two vacancies on the treaty board with uh, Mike was shabbo Asked him to be reappointed. It's my care No Okay And then a a delegate and an alternate position open on cv fiber and Chris shank So, yeah, I'm asking to be reappointed I I joined cv fiber in august of 2021 And I I served alongside linda gravel She was the delegate and I was the alternate For a little over two years And then a couple months ago linda decided to swap roles and has since decided to step down So I've been serving as the primary delegate for waterberry at cv fiber And I would like to continue to do so Can you point to your most significant achievements? I would say the recruitment and appointment of cv fibers I just her title has just escaped me but the Um The president of cv fiber when we started executive director. Thank you linda. Um, yeah, so cv fiber started with with no No employees at all and I I wrote the recruitment and onboarding process for cv fiber and Led the recruitment of The executive director and then they've subsequently used that to hire Two or three more employees That sounds pivotal I think so and I think we did a very good job because geneal smith is Is really great at her job Other questions for chris. Thank you Thank you for serving. Yeah, happy to do so. Um, my partner Still muted still muted Hard There it goes only hit four times um chris fiber's been very recently in in the news as to What viability? A lot of the local Fiber services is going to have because they haven't expanded nearly As quickly as they expected. I know the board has Showed an interest You know, we would like to see fiber But most of the things we want to see fiber for is for those not served or You know, you know not well served by You know other traditionals could you comment on some of those news reports? Well funding is definitely an issue. I'm not an expert. I'm not on the the finance committee I'm not, you know, I'm not fantastic with the finances, but I do know that that funding has been a significant issue through grants and everything but We've lit up over 200 customers now and The plan is is continuing to move forward. So as long as as funding holds out it will happen Um, it just you know might unfortunately happen slower than we would like but We are, you know keeping to our promise of starting with serving the unserved and underserved first And I am one of those Technically speaking. I am unserved even though I do have very slow dsl internet that is still technically Unserved because it's it's under the 25 megabit cap. So it is it is coming. I'm very hopeful. Um, it it'll You know for me personally, it'll probably be another two years, which is you know, painful, but it's coming. So I've held on this long Thank you your comments All right, thank you for your service. Thank you Okay, uh, one vacancy on the cemetery commission Open seat not filled on town meeting day And the Karen Cavender has uh, put her name in Karen here Tree warden Mike Lushavo is Served currently serving as tree warden and is asked to be Reappointed Already tested this and Mike was not here three minutes ago. I don't think he's here now All right and then uh Representative to the mad river resource management alliance alex tuskeny Okay All right, that brings us to the end of the Candidates this clarification. Uh, Alyssa, were you uh, suggesting we uh, Make an appointment at this point? Or I'm doing that or we do have if we're waiting on someone for rec. I'm happy to do it after that Yeah, we don't know when uh, she's Include her So To a point Tom Kinney to a full term on the development review board ending april 30th 2027 Second Mike Roger I move to a point. You're my mom. Okay. Is he are we is he doing something? No, okay. I move to a point Keep going I Move to a point Monica Callan to the ultimate position on the drb I second that Moves in seconded any further discussion hearing none. I'll never say I I Any opposed any abstentions? I also think it would be it it's good that we're having um, I because the drb has historically been very Male dominated and I think as a matter of fact, I think the whole Committee is male. So it's will be nice to have a female perspective on the committee I make a motion to approve Todd Volatis if I have that right for appointment to the drb I'm not hearing a second. Okay, we'll move forward. Um, Four vacancies on the conservation commission I'll move to a point. Martin Johansson to a full term ending april 2028 on the conservation commission second Moved in seconded any further discussion Hearing none. I'll clear to say hi Hi Any opposed Any abstentions It was approved One vacancy on the natural disaster preparedness committee I moved to a point forest mcdonald to a full term on the natural disaster preparedness committee ending april 30th 2027 second Moved in seconded all in favor say hi Hi Any opposed Which one was that like you four are against? Or should I yeah, I know Two minutes later Okay, he's four Any opposed Any abstentions Okay, now one's approved Three vacancies on the planning commission As the as the liaison i'm doing this is a slate with thanks to our returners martha and kitty So I would move to a point martha stackis and kitty gallagher to two full terms in the planning commission ending april 30th 2027 And to a point robert adler to one Unexpired one-year term ending april 30th 2025 second Moved and seconded any further discussion Hearing none all of ever say hi Hi Any opposed I think you got it in right before I said that Uh, any opposed Any abstentions? All right the slate is approved as as moved Four vacancies on the recreation committee Uh, well, we can do the three and then we can come back All right, well, why don't we wait and maybe she will show up before them Um, two vacancies on the tree board From canada. I moved to a point michael osciavo To a position on the tree board Ending april 30th 2027 ending april 30th 2027 Do you want to also point in tree warden in that motion? Yeah, can we do tree warden too in this motion? No, do you have a whole different thing? Okay, moved and seconded all of ever say hi Any opposed Any abstentions, okay That is approved Uh, I apologize. I didn't get your delegate to see me fiber on the little cheat sheet Oh, you're not using the cheat sheet? No, I'm not using the cheat sheet Um, let's uh go with the delegate to cv fiber One candidate. I think I make a motion to uh, approve christopher shank as our delegate to uh, cv fiber second Moved and seconded any further discussion Hearing none all of ever say aye. Aye Aye Any opposed Any abstentions All right Christopher shank is approved That's delegate One vacancy on the cemetery commission I moved to a point caron cavender To a position on the cemetery commission Is that that's not on our cheat sheet either until town meeting day until town meeting day Until town meeting day second Moved and seconded any further discussion Hearing none all of ever say aye Aye Aye Aye Any opposed Any abstentions Okay, that is approved Now tree warden I move to approve Mike lociavo as tree warden For a one-year term Second Moved and seconded any further discussion Hearing none all of ever say aye Aye Aye Any opposed Any abstentions All right tree warden is approved Representative to the mad river resource management alliance I move to approve alec tuscany to a one-year term on the mad river resource management alliance Second I make a move up Second Two seconds on that one Any further discussion Hearing none All of ever say aye Aye Any opposed Any abstentions Okay, that is also approved and We can I guess hold on the um recreation committee until We uh hear back If uh we want to hold it until nine o'clock We'll see if uh Emma uh Shows up Thank thank you to all involved to volunteering to serve the community Okay, thank you all Hey, uh moving on policy for special article payments Okay, Mike Yeah Uh I've always been a big believer that we need to have some sort of accountability for people for The nonprofits that apply to become special articles. I know Karen has almost beat people down to try to collect money and uh I think it's it's reasonable to to expect That if we don't receive the information and I'm almost going to say by January 31st That we do not we send them a letter and say we're we're not You know, you know paying The special article that has been voted in because they haven't submitted the appropriate documentation So, um, you're proposing that anyone who has been The voters have approved the allocation, but if they don't submit any, uh An invoice to us, um Invoice and town report by by the 31st, which kind of is is a warrant period 31st of which month of warning 31st of you know the following year And I love 31st during a particular year. Do you have a month in mind first of january? I think I said before January No, I just say so this is background to our monday january 29th meeting in the fire station if anyone stayed after for that Just to say where we felt like we needed to have a consistent policy on this to help support karen So I'd be curious from karen what you're suggested propose timeline as as the one doing the chasing Yeah That you gave to me I think I think if there's gonna be a policy, I think we'll send the 31st The calendar Right we're giving them a 30-day leeway So the challenge The challenge we have is if they're approved in the budget as an item in a warning their own warning I think we have a lee level. You should pay it That being said The history is when someone petitions to get on the warning it's carried forward year to year if they don't bother to Ask us for the money to do the basic work like Sending an invoice or an email and maybe this like board's published. You should be that They're not automatic and they put a repetition Because if you don't ask for the money, maybe you don't need it that bad It's not that hard to get signatures. What do you think about that as a friendly amendment? That's a very friendly amendment I I just think it's like people who petition every year and they just expect the money You know, it's it's not a high bar that we're asking is that getting an invoice and something for the town report. So I don't know. I just I it frustrates me and I I'm trying to help Karen with our documentation because I don't think it's It's it's hard job to go chasing after these people so many times to try to get them paid. They should be You know, they're they're all big boys and girls, you know and They just need to get the documentation together and you know, if you send them one warning say after the You know, you know, we have asked for that documentation Right up front and just because you know, they're a yearly ballot doesn't mean that they're going to get paid but Okay, so I guess what I'm understanding is that we would Send them a letter Saying that we need an invoice by the 30th of november If we don't receive it, we'll still pay them by the 31st of december but be back on the Town meeting agenda, they will have to petition to get back on which means they need a certain number of signatures Yeah, I'm curious to restate that as a motion um I'll state that as a motion um I think any any entity that applies for uh a Special article appropriation They need to submit things by with november 30th, we said and if they if they don't provide everything that we need By january 31st, we will ask them to resubmit a petition on on the on the next year's award I say that's not a realistic timeline Mike because Town meeting day is the beginning of march. You need to warn that a month ahead of time I think tying it to the Report, sorry. I didn't raise my hand. Roger is confusing, but I will move that for the payment policy um For special articles. So this was what like 11 through 20 this year. Um Waterbury adopts the policy to inform All folks after the town meeting vote has happened, which Karen you already do via email or does someone after the budget passes They all ask okay. I might propose in the motion That we notify them That special awards are notified must provide an invoice by november 30th If they don't provide an invoice we will pay but they need to petition to get back on the next year And It would be for the upcoming town meeting year because also I'm just acknowledging outlawed for folks of the town operates on the calendar fiscal year So the end of our year is december karen's indicating she makes many of these payments in december In hopes of having an invoice to help facilitate that process We are telling folks if when the town meeting budget passed and indicating they have to pass and Give us an invoice by november 30th That's a carrot so that they don't need to petition to get back on next year I I have no problem with your met your your your revised motion I withdraw my motion All right, it's moved and seconded any further discussion Hearing none all in favor say aye. Aye. Aye Any opposed Any abstentions? All right that motion carries All right, we're gonna move on to the rental property ordinance It was introduced last meeting The purpose here is to go through it. It did receive quite a bit of feedback at the last meeting So Anyone like to Stay up front. Uh, how they like to address The revision of this Otherwise, we'll go through it section by section I guess I would just acknowledge I had some feedback on like particular line items in the purpose of the last meeting So I would just know this has the full text. We were presented at the last meeting as far as I'm aware. Is that correct? So just to say the last meeting was our first full group discussion of this The housing task force provided a recommendation for um regulating both Sorry For creating a registry for long and short term rentals in the town of waterway Importantly without regulatory implication. So that would just help gather data on them Tom and other staff looked at proposals from other communities Which do a wide variety of things both that particular thing of creating a registry for long and short term Rentals, but also in many other communities address A variety of other problems Um or concerns in communities regarding housing Um, so in my mind, we have a menu of those things that we could look at We received feedback at the last meeting about that um So You also mentioned roger wanting to allow time for folks to continue to provide feedback Um, so I guess I would say we heard strong feedback There was an additional proposal regarding the regulation of security deposits Um, which was a separate consideration that we do have the allowance as a board to do Um, but was not part of that task force recommendation We certainly heard feedback regarding that at the last meeting Um My personal thought would be I think it's important we proceed with a registry one of the biggest purposes is just getting better data Because we just don't know what's out there. So when we're talking about How housing availability and supply is being impacted. Um, we just Have folks Providing all sorts of anecdotes, but right now it's all anecdotes because we don't Again joe and the housing task force joe is the chair. He's here. I think in the back Digs through like any data. He can get his hands on But there is some still gaps around knowing how many short term rentals are here How many long term rentals are here where they are what type of housing they are who owns them So the goal of registry is to try and get some of those answers Um, so I think that's important. I am a member of the housing task force. I voted in support of that proposal, but um My proposal would be to to have a limited Um registry that is just doing those things. I think our goal is to get more information I think that's really all we're I'm interested in doing at this point recognizing we're doing a lot of work around housing. So there's other projects we're doing at looking at like building new housing and Zoning updates and a whole platter and menu of housing things in my mind a registry is a new and different thing And so I would like to see it be accessible recognize. It's going to take a lot of property owner outreach to get it up and running Um, so I would like to see it be as straightforward and easy to use and not have any Reason someone wouldn't want to register again the goal not being that we're changing someone's behavior. Just that we're understanding it To further emphasize so uh to that I would probably take this proposal minus the lock box And minus the security deposits for long-term rentals again just recognizing the scope of this is getting more information And I would propose a zero dollar fee, but again those would be my proposals for a discussion at a next meeting Um, and I think we can shorten the purpose statement Sorry for the monologue Most suggestions Uh denotes enforcement And then it also has penalties assigned to it And all we're talking about. I mean, it's just constantly repetitive is about affordable housing I like your idea of not throwing a fee on it because that's definitely going to keep Landlords away Or it's going to trickle down to a greater expense to tenants. Ultimately, they're not going to eat a registration fee They'll pass that down and there goes, you know, a larger monthly rent So then on section or page four here underneath enforcement I don't know if this is just a copy and paste mistake, but I would not want enforcement from the stowe fire chief. Yeah, that was draft one. That's not in today's version Okay, I didn't see today's version So and waterberry on this issue share the same attorney And then so we we are quite comfortable with the enforcement language And that's fine, but it's not who would be providing that enforcement It'd be the the new draft would be that myself and the fire or the fire chief. Okay from waterberry Okay Thank you Yes, k. Tom, how much were the proposed fees So potentially there's no fees in the ordinance Fees according to state statute are supposed to be tied To the cost of the ordinance and the regulation itself Um In this case how much time is it going to take to administer the ordinance? It's not really clear. Um, we're setting up Um, you know an online permitting system, which we would also use for this But we didn't buy that software for this purpose Um, you know, it's certainly going to take some staff time, but it's really hard to Give any estimate of that And what I'm told from other communities are that The rb and bs and vrbo's of the world have gotten good at getting their members to fill out the form So It's going to take some effort. I'm not convinced it's going to be an appealing effort You know, I could probably come back A year after a registry is adopted and give you some some fine-tuning to that But I don't think it's going to be an astronomical amount of time I don't think it's going to be any any actual cash beyond staff time Uh, yes, sir How you doing? My name is Nelson Lawnford. I've been a landlord slash tenant advocate for 48 years uh A lot of people are setting up registries the state's probably going to end up setting up one There was two or three items here that kind of caught my attention is uh The first one Would be the fact that You'd be given a key to private property To somebody that isn't on the lease That's uh That would be the fire chief and yourself But you're talking about the lockboxes? Yeah, you want lockbox on there with a house key Um, so there would be numerous people that would have access to that key You got the whole fire department police department on and on So my question is Do you understand the liability you're getting into for one? Because once you Have access to that house And with that many people What's going to happen with somebody makes a copy of it?  Like most landlords have to be now I mean these are one of the issues a big one. I mean that's a I mean a lot of towns You say a lot of towns are setting this up. I think it's only 10 out of the 247 towns I haven't read chester's thing Very few of them Montpain included which has drawn up a real And extensive We'll see how that plays out and uh They don't have any keys lock boxes or any of that. I think that's opening up a big gana warms Um That's one issue the other issue would be the 45 minutes from the property 247 You're going to make these mom-and-pop landlords Be chained To within 45 minutes of that property. I don't I don't think that's legal Say anything about so that's a huge issue. First of all, I want to ask why Give me an example why that person would have to be Called to that property first off you don't have to be there. You've got to be reachable Okay, so that's that's the intent well that that the ordinance Is talking about 45 minutes to 30 minutes Possibly an hour That's what that's what it reads So therefore you're going to put a time Of a person has to be within that distance Again, it's reachable. That's not reason at all You know reachable Well But what it reads is they would have to come to that property within a reasonable period of time Of 30 45 minutes doing that Shall respond its definition of designated responsible person top of three I think it's on page two You know we're at the top of page three page three Designate responsible persons shall respond within 45 minutes of notification by a water worry fighter fighter or the RPA Should So I think I think respond the intent is just just to we need someone to reach And the simple example is alarm calls where there's no actual fire, but there's an alarm going off which Eventually which gets its way to our fire department and then for them to have Way to deal with that alarm Now we're talking mostly with commercial buildings Most most short term rentals are not commercial buildings with Fire alarms going off So you're really dealing with we're back to mom and pop landlords, which 90 percent are in the state of Obama It was 95, but You know they've been whittling that down So I mean that you know that's kind of an issue The other item of course is putting the name of the owner on the building In the today's day and age nobody wants their name out there with phone number and all that stuff And and I don't in there again. I asked why If you're going to have a registry you got the phone number their email Anybody 911 number You're going to be able to get a hold of these people And anybody can go access today and know any property who owns it You name a property I can get it in a few minutes So I I don't see where the name on the property I think it'd be a dangerous thing Other than that, uh, the other issue is you mentioned Miss Johnson It's just going to be a registry However in here, you're going to sign a minister Administer that can change anything at will Once you have the registry and the ordinance put in place Uh Then then you're going to give them Power to change it as they will So is that correct? No, I would say that's not the intent and this isn't no and that's what's in here Understood. So thank you. The goal of tonight is to solicit feedback on this So I appreciate you being here and raising these points because in considering the administration We've heard from some folks, but not all folks. So I would say the what's the Timeline you think god's getting this completely approved We had asked for at least a month of comment and that was from our prior meeting So you were very Next Because I mean, you know, everybody is getting into this But you need to kind of try to To have it be accepted and you know work for everybody Manager notes per the town charter the select board will not have to designate a staff person administrative ordinance Next one down rental property registration Town manager and subject to the requirements. This ordinance may be administratively Modified from time to time That's a change that will without an input from the select board. I believe that is for the registry form right So that's not the ordinance itself. That's just the questions. Well, I just received this about three hours Understand, so yeah, but so yeah, I don't have the authority to change an ordinance only the select board can do that I would have the authority to appoint the person in town hall who does the work Now, what about the in your is there anything in here that? Regulates inspections and all that stuff there's not whatever does not have building code again This is a baby step for our municipality. Just recognizing. I just wanted to acknowledge I've been on the select board for two and a half years and we have residents who come in and say, oh my goodness There's an out of control situation at a short-term rental in our neighborhood. Yeah, we're doing a comprehensive zoning rewrite That's taken seven years to do and that board hasn't felt like they've had the tools and distinction to address It looks like you want to this thing to morph into long-term Registrations of course along with that couldn't other Things I mean this looks to be like kind of a door that's going to open up a crack turn and be an open all the way So I'm just You know most Associations I've longed to have for like said 48 years most and not against the rich Okay, because it actually will help That side because then they got hired figures And but most of them including state have been wanting to make the health officer The inspector And they're not geared up for it. It's the fire prevention the state fire prevention There they've been geared up there, you know a tenant called state fire Marshall, they'll be there the next day I mean there's already quite a you know That's about it for me just the record it's nelson-leifert nelson-leifert L. Y. F. O. R. D. Our Interest is really to promote more You know, it's a big issue. I mean the whole thing is You know, the whole state of mind issue with rentals is an issue I mean we have 80,000 rentals in the state of mind There was 70,000 tenants and the last five years we've gained 5,000 And those 5,000 are the people that moved in here for jobs They're looking for short term under 12 months because They're going to buy a house Okay I don't understand why You have a lot of seasonal rentals in this town I mean we're like we were we're like the second largest in the country with 17,000 second homes People won't rent them out Because they can't evict people to use them in the summer I've been trying to get the state to put a slot Rental so you have to rent for at least 90 days for less than nine months And you collect your rooms and meal stacks But they can be given a 30 days Eviction notice for the sheriff's eviction You know how many people would turn around and eat up that 5,000 of short term Tenants that way and keep their family camp There would be a lot But you know these are there's a whole bunch of them But anyways, that's all I was concerned with and The other thing is Now Mount Perry they put theirs out to vote You're going to do yours by ordinance Right And do you think that's a fair thing to the town? I'm just asking In one way it's better this way another way it's better the other right Well, again, this is a registry We do think it's the way to go but that's why we're here Taking testimony. Personally, I think you ought to take more time to get more information out to your Townspeople and get more input but Thank you very much for your time Also, if this one will raise your hand before so Take her and then we'll go to the same time. I'll try to be brief. Thank you My name is george and g e o r g e a n n e Baker And I live on Union Street So, um I have to echo some of this gentleman's Concerns and specifically about the fire department um I having any entity outside my family or people I deem Appropriate for access to my home Concerns me, um I you know, I have a lot of questions about that, you know, where would the Uh Who would have access? Um Do firefighters have background checks, you know, um, yeah, they're wonderful people and I appreciate all that they do But I don't know them all So that's one issue I have Um, I also feel that if this is about safety for the inhabitants in the building either short term or long term Then this committee should be considering Putting lock boxes on every home in this town Um Honestly, I would not hold it against the fire department if they took an axe to my front door if my house was burning down And if that's the reason, you know, they're suggesting this then um Take the axe Just the It just feels so police state oriented to me. It really feels heavy-handed um I I'm curious about, um Whether this ordinance is just to have a sense of um Housing, you know, how many short term long term? um single Inhabitant homes Is it about gathering information or is it about pushing an agenda? Um regarding affordable housing um regarding More housing of any kind in our town and if it is I I as a taxpayer and a lifetime resident of waterberry feel Really uncomfortable with that I Am the only person my husband and I are the only people who pay for the improvements of our historic home on union street We are the only people who pay the taxes the insurances and we have insurances galore to take care of the airbnb to take care of our personal property in our home We've done what we feel is our due diligence I was a long-term renter for 25 years um We went to short term rental about five years ago um To have more flexible flexibility in our home um We want to be able to offer that space in our home to friends out of town friends or family um But also it generates more money for us. It's a financial burden To be perfectly honest. It's a financial burden to have a long-term rental And if things are pushed upon me, I may not have any rental.  Excuse my friend But let's face it. Do I want my neighbor's house to look bad? No, I want him or her to be keeping it up as well um, because that's part of being in a neighborhood and there's just a couple of questions which feel free to answer now or Send me some information later Has anybody considered the revenue from short term short term visitors to local businesses and how if we closed our doors how that's going to impact and I myself as a full-time resident Do not go out Every weekend three nights a week and buy dinner, right? These people are doing that. They're drinking the beer in town. They're going to the wine cellar in town They're spending a lot of money because it's their vacation Um, I don't think if I had a long-term resident there That they would be putting as much money in as multiple short-term rental folks do and I'm a teacher so I'm big into data and um It's the way you show improvement, right? It's quantifiable and so has data been collected about parking issues garbage noise and I mean like numbers Not someone came in and told us it's been terrible near my house. The noise is crazy You know, that's anecdotal So I would want to see more data um And the name of my property if people are curious who lives there. I have a big b on the front It stands for banker. Thank you Thank you very much I'm gonna take uh someone online and then we'll get back to in person Tom you have something to say one one quick thing. Um, Alyssa made A statement that's beginning about not being in favor of the The water box section I drafted this up. I got some input from the fire chief if the board is not in favor of that section You don't need to hear that from everyone tonight. You can simply say right now. Let's just go ahead and strike that section And move on if that's your desire And if that's the sentiment you're hearing Do you have further feedback on that? Uh, do I have a motion? I moved to strike the lock box section from the rental ordinance. I'll second it Moved and seconded any further discussion Hearing none of them will say aye. Aye. Aye Anyone opposed any abstentions? Okay lock box has been stricken from this proposed ordinance A woman named, excuse me, an individual named Vivian Is it Vivica? Yeah, yeah. Hi, it's it's actually my pseudo name. I'm Valerie Rogers Southman Strait Despite like, you know when I want to like stay private. I had a question about Why this is coming up because is there was there an event that happened that has asked that has like precipitated this lock box or registry Like what happened that has asked that makes them want to have a registry where they know where everybody is Was there an event? Is there a problem you're trying to solve or are you just trying to be preemptive? I'm gonna Ask Alyssa to address that. So this was a recommendation that came to us from the housing task force I would say the response has been A desire from the planning commission to note that they wanted to see the select board look into initially Short-term rentals probably five years ago when I was on the planning commission And I would say from there The planning commission hasn't had the capacity to do that in that time We stood up a housing task force and one of its first initiatives was to look into that I'll own right now. We have really great data and it's not all posted on the website So I will make sure that's there But that actually informed how we got to the place We are now because it started with I have concerns about short-term rental And then as many folks have commented here tonight There was also discussion about the significant benefits of short-term rentals in our community. So In particular and considering this approach, the goal was to understand comprehensively rentals to not be treating short-term rentals differently than long-term rentals Because again, as many folks have talked to those interact in all sorts of different ways So I would just say the goal of this is to gain more data because we do want to be data driven There is data. It is largely census estimates that go in five-year increments And or statewide data that goes out to the county or sometimes local level So we've pulled as much of that as we can we've compiled as much as that and it still hasn't given up Answers to questions about is there impacts positive or negative or how might we most effectively Helped with the housing issue in Waterbury. Someone also asked about a goal. I guess I would just say We have a town plan. It's also in the charge of the housing task force and the goal, let me quote it from the website is to Advance goals in the Waterbury Municipal Plan Which are to ensure the availability of safe decent and affordable housing for all current and future Waterbury residents and create housing in locations that are in like downtown but Those are so in terms of like what goal or agenda the goal of this is to further those goals around making sure that Folks who live here right now or want to live here have a safe decent and affordable based on their salary place to live So just I think what you're saying is important. But what I was asking about why is there This push for a registry to make sure that I am available at all times I am a long-term landlord a long-term rentals For 25 years plus and I have never had a problem with my landlords I have not heard of a problem where somebody can't reach somebody there has been a fire or a break in So I'm just wondering what precipitated this intense List so what I will say is I'm a long-term landlord long-term rentals and I don't understand this What's going on? So I will just say thank you very much for your efforts But I don't understand the registry at all Okay, I was going to respond to Valerie simply by saying we have already struck the lock box language from the ordinance just now Um, so it would no longer apply If it were passed Yeah So Would it be easier if the topic of discussion wasn't rental property ordinance because that's what's clearly on here What you want is a registry. That's what I heard Now the other thing is In tom I'm not trying to put you on the spot, but we do have a representative in town Is a sponsor of house 276 the act relating to creating a rental housing registry If we do it here and the state does it and we make ours too intrusive We'll be doing backlits I don't think 276 survived crossover. Well, it probably didn't came but the problem is Wait, have you listened to these? I mean, have you sat through When they when they have this debate over a state act that could be a lot. Have you have you done that? Okay, so do you notice who's in the room? I would assume legislate legislators and lawyers We don't have that here and I know you've you've passed that By people but what you've heard I'm not I I'm not landlord, but I have been a long-term renter I may tell I was 40 years old. I didn't own a house. Okay, so I know what the feeling is But I just I would really Really caution against doing something that's going to have to do to the flip backwards If you talk about in just one last comment A second airborne has a one hour recall eight second error When they're on drp, right Why would we ever expect a landlord To have a one hour recall. I get it the contact But I'm just saying those troops have to be by their phone Right. If you look at that pushing people into that kind of environment, it is intrusive Right. The renters don't have that same recall Right. So just be be advised. I I understand the intent. You don't want out of state landlords Right. Is that pretty much? No, I think you just want to be able to reach a landlord when there's a problem Yeah, I've heard previous select board meetings where you said there's people scooping up property That are out of state That are now Pulled the data on that because it was available No, no, I've I've seen I've actually listened. I actually do my homework with not I do look at But I would just very very much. I I like what Valerie said It comes down to what problem I'm trying to solve and what I heard a lot about which register So I asked I'm not a landlord How many I'm gonna put you on spot How many regular units I have Oh, I'm sorry. I can't can you ask me to respond one time first of all on the landlord What's good for the tenants good for the landlord? What's good for the landlords good for the tenant? This is the problem that the whole state is not keeping focus Agreed sorry can't ask him a question But I I just think you have the opportunity to ask landlords questions And that almost becomes a registry, right? I mean, I would say survey monkey You could probably get a lot of visibility on how many actual rent I mean you did it for revitalizing the water barrier when you did 51 south main We hired a contractor to find out how many rental units and Albeit was a new york contractor during coven, right? But we came up with data there somehow Right, do we not Updating the data using that methodology. I just only say if they did mls data That's what me and joe and oh and met on wednesday in the municipal building and I have a spreadsheet to data enter I'm sorry. Okay. I was I I bought it. I'm not I'm just I'm not trying to get anybody fired up And if it sounds like I'm fired up Really not I'm just saying what I heard over and over again is Landlords come don't don't pit landlords against tenants and I I respect what he said so much Because I wasn't a renter. Don't don't when you do stuff like this I'm currently a renter on a month to month lease just for the public record As I have been as long as Access Tom go ahead just just a comment to mr. Gore So first off The 45-minute roll that there's no pride of authorship in my case in this ordinance I was just directed to draft an ordinance And all the ordinances I could find had either 30 minutes or one hour I chose the middle as a as a draft. It's not even a recommendation That so I just want to make that clear I got a question the hang on just a minute Um The other piece that people people referred to about the intrusiveness There's no requirement in the ordinance that you've got to post your address Sorry, you've got to post your name outside your house Just as the owner's name's got to be in a conspicuous location So I think that can be interpreted a lot of different ways. Maybe that needs some clarity The part you said about the legislature and their their bill their rental registry That's been in the works for and debated for a long time And and the one thing I will say clearly To the swipe board is If there's an issue they want to address in waterberry And they can address it. It's a good idea to consider addressing it right out of the rely on the state legislature And I I love our legislators but My view of the state legislature, whether it's vermont or new york or florida or the us congress Is don't rely on action until it's occurred and signed into law until then You do your best I think that's a good rule to follow in general So they might enact their own registry and it could be vastly different from ours But ordinances can be rescinded just as they can be adopted and sometimes You have to do that. So it's it's a valid point, but I just don't think You can rely on the state. I mean there are bills that For those of us that follow the state legislature that Every year we think certain no-brainer bills will pass And sometimes they do and sometimes they don't And sometimes They're really really important bills that pass In a matter of a few weeks and they weren't even introduced at the start and that may happen this year in education funding So I just don't think you can count on the legislature In advance Uh way their wedding Hi there. This is witty aldridge Small business owner resident at the town. We have an ABU that we use as a short term rental I agree with all points on uh from george and baker and I can actually say that a large percentage of our guests in the last couple years We're here looking at real estate to buy Um, so I just want to also add that to the to the mix of who is coming and what are they doing here I just want to say a big thank you to the housing task force elissa, especially you Appreciate the time and effort you guys make but please have patience with those of us that don't Have the deep well of knowledge and experience with this topic like you guys do My one point I want to make is um, well really question is about the registry registry fee if there is one Is there a way to work with the state? to Use the room and meals tax that's already being collected from us to help fund the registry instead of having a separate tax For fee. That's all. Thank you All right. Thank you My name is ben i live on union street um That's your last name grinand g e r n a nd 34 union street i've been here for an hour and 13 minutes With my phone on silent out of respect for the room. I'm in violation If I under a movie If I'm fighting a fire There's a lot of things that Turn my phone off doesn't make sense um Why does this registry slash ordinance have to be an every year thing? If you just want the data Do it one time Why is there a fee? For me to give you information That doesn't make sense Yes My name is sabila kim. I am a Massachusetts residence with a vacation rental home in waterbury since 2005. So i'm a short-term rental operator But i'm here tonight Sorry, okay. I'm I know that I have a low voice. I'm sorry Um, I struggle. My name is sabila kim I am a massachusetts residence with a second home in waterbury since 2005 that we've been renting out But tonight i'm not here as a short-term rental host, but as a board member of the vermont short-term rental alliance That exists since three years To represent the interests of short-term rental hosts and operators as well as be a network facility to bring people together and be an educator I hope you received my email that I sent you guys this morning With regards to the registry the position of vista is in support of a registry on a state level so, um I commend you actually for the work that you have been doing I have I remember during the covet days when the government the state of vermont was trying desperate to get hold of us Operators to communicate with us what we couldn't couldn't do The since those days the idea of having contact information of us hosts has been around We personally feel it's important to have a place that actually collects facts and data to make decisions based on So that policies can be formed out of informed informed Form facts not out of Emotions, so that's point one in support of the registry in waterbury The lockbox tissue is off the table. Obviously. I would have shared that this is an outdated concept Many of us have key pads lock. I mean entry lock Not not keys to get in but actually on it Um, I would also like to state that for the past five years. We have been trying to work with the highest fire person in vermont mr. Derosie um educating him on how far Technologies of smart homes have evolved to make homes safer Unfortunately, mr. Derosie has had zero interest in engaging in any kind of discussion with us for learning about it It seems he's just ready for retirement and not ready to learn where 21st century home automation software is we have I live in messachusetts as soon as a smoke alarm goes off in my home. My phone rings I have video cameras around the house. I have measures of if over occupancy is there There's many tools that we have that make some of the Suggestions that are coming this ordinance a little bit Worthy to look at alternative solutions that can be used Um, I think there was a third point that I had a lock box the 45 minutes So working with a property management company based in stow Just along the commute time to get to water barrier. There is nobody here that does the kind of service that I try to that I recruit 45 minutes is unreasonable And again with the video camera a ring door bell. You can literally call me On the premise and I can be on the phone anywhere in the world as long as I'm having my phone on Those are my five cents. Thank you so much Oh, and we are so required to list Contact information on the premise by short term regulations in the state of Vermont So on here this should every short term rental host should have this in their apartment in their listing in the house contact information of the owner Where smoke smoke detectors are where fire extinguishers are so there's a whole battery of things that exist already Just the education is missing to implement it So if you can't get hold of somebody in 45 minutes and they don't answer Is this the fine structure you're going to get Under this proposal Yes, it's strictly interpreted So for some reason you can't get a hold of me I'm out whatever deep sea fishing or whatever Canary said you don't have to be within 45 minutes of fun Or I don't have cell service I'm going to get fine Again, it's strictly interpreted. You have we have a number of ordinances on the books when when fines Can occur they very rarely occur. Well, no, but they're on the book and it's possibly up to the discretion of whoever's handling it That's correct. Yeah while the devil's in the details I'm gonna go online and then we'll come back to that John Grenier John Hi, sorry, this is actually Nicole Grenier. Um, John Grenier is with me. We're on his laptop So I just want to say, um I'll try to be succinct because I appreciate all of your time and want to leave time for anybody else who would care to speak John and I are both Reluctant landlords. We are both residents of waterberry and business owners in waterberry in 2021 We became reluctant landlords by way of the building that my business is housed in Us being notified by our then landlord that she was ready to sell and had we not scrambled To purchase the building. We were of course concerned that we might lose the opportunity to stay in that address Thinking that another buyer might price us out of a reasonable rent Realizing also that our neighbor bridgeside books as well as the long-term rental apartment upstairs And the air bnb short-term rental that she had upstairs Were all sort of in the mix as well as the property next door, which is also a long-term rental So that means that John and I and buying the building became Landlords for two long-term rental units and one short-term rental unit We chose to keep the short-term rental just to see how things went Our reality is that the short-term rental allows us to increase fees when things get tight And I will tell you month to month it is a stretch to cover all of the expenses that we bear as landlords and business owners So we use that little air bnb. It's a one bedroom for tourists who Rent it pretty consistently, frankly, and we're able to increase that rent in order to avoid Raising the rents for our long-term renters and to keep those rents affordable for our local folks Without that short-term rental. I don't know how that would play out for us in our ability to sustain The way that we have been trying to be as good landlords as we can be I will say that with the ordinance, um, John and I are both, uh, mostly in support Certainly the registry we believe that we do need to have data as a next important step in order to move toward affordable housing in Waterbury we thank you for, um Uh Voting against the lock box that felt a bit intrusive as responsible landlords We do feel it's necessary for us to be available or designate someone in our absence. Should we not be available? Um, we certainly would prefer not to have the fee and I know points have been made that those fees that are incurred by Landlords are likely to be passed on to renters. And so we certainly want to avoid that as well. Um Okay, I think that's it. I want to thank you for your time and attention and for letting me share and for All of your thoughtfulness and as we move forward Sure. Nicole. Thank you. Appreciate Um, I think chris had his hand up first So I've been sitting here listening to all the conversation here tonight and uh, chris. I want to express my condolences to the board for Being self-patient and understanding dealing with what appears to be a lot of frustration But what I want everybody to understand is that the board's been tasked to undertake this issue of trying to figure out why we have transitioned So much from long-term rentals to now short-term rentals Airbnb's and such Um It's almost like it's a self-fulfilled prophecy for years and years and years in the state. We have promoted as our state as a place to come and visit The consequence of that is be that everybody has come and visited here for so long and now be due to the pandemic The rush to come here to for a safe haven was one of the issues Uh Which has driven up the cost of housing and and The cost of living here in general has driven up the desire to take advantage of what has Come to fruition in the short-term rental business as a lucrative way of paying your property taxes and helping people stay here And afford to live here consequently burdening many of the others that Have it have don't have the income or don't have the ability to be able to keep up with that demand and compete with the The large amounts of money that's coming here from out of state so This is a result of of Like I said, uh many Issues that have converged on just the little state of Vermont Of which we were unprepared for I believe Uh, so it's important to keep that in mind Uh, I mean and when it comes to long-term rentals versus short-term rentals I was told earlier today that a three-day a two-day rental a three-day rental yielded 1600 bucks Through the through the eclipse Event you can't make that you can't make that in a month We make it yeah, you make it in three days. Excuse me, not everyone. Yeah, no, no, no, I understand That's what's that's what's driving. That's what's driving this transition And how do you how do you deny something like that? You know, it's difficult. So I appreciate everybody's patience and please understand that the slight court here is to try to solve the problem That everybody seems to be concerned with so They got their hands on you I'm Lisa Walton. I live up on Blesch Hill um I can see both sides. I've been on both sides and I can make arguments for both sides Um, I would love to see more long-term rentals and less short-term rentals Just for the sake of people being able to find a place to live. So I'm totally on board with that The the question that I have and the connection that I can't seem to make is how does having a registry lead to helping to solve the affordability Problem that we have with housing in other words once you have all the data that you'd like to collect We have a general sense of how many rentals are all I do is look at the short-term rental platforms and get an idea of how many rentals there are and I think it's crazy how many rentals there are But how do we justify The legit how do we justify having a registry? I don't I can't connect how once you have a registry we're then able to solve the problem or Or leave to some solutions. Oh, there's there's a lot of ways to answer that but I think the first part is that we're trying to get some data so we can Really understand it and we all have our own assumptions. I mean a lot of people I think have an assumption that with the growth of short-term rentals That's Directly reduce the number of long-term rentals and I'm not sure that's true I'm not sure it's not true, but we don't have to get it one way or the other So getting the data in year one is great, but getting it in years two three four and five I think is even better So we will see are the number of long-term rentals in the town Is it going up down or not moving at all? So having that data I think over time is more and more valuable second part is I'll use Woodstock as an example In woodstock They put forth a series of incentives To try to encourage more long-term rentals So maybe that's something that the board would consider at a later date once we have the data there's Back in I believe October the board adopted a policy related to the local option tax method would be spent and part of that is encouraging affordable housing and so maybe That tax will be in place soon if there was a registry and better data Maybe that would help them fine-tune their approach as to how they do that Maybe maybe giving a hundred thousand dollars to down street for 26 years at one lot Was a good approach, but maybe in fact there's there's smaller ways they can do with the influence the market so I think just That data gives you something to work with and something to understand over time and knowing how it knowing how the market changes over time Could also be really bad, but we could I mean We could be in a situation in 10 years when the market's reversed We don't know I think 10 years ago No one envisioned the growth of short-term rentals that we've had So I think just getting the data And then having Even more important than year one, but years two three and four to see how the market's changing is going to be of value to the board And I appreciate what you're saying. I I would like us to incentivize people to Put their units up for a longer term rather than a shorter term rental. I'm all for that But I I still feel like having a registry I'm still not able to understand once you have that data how that really can translate directly You can have some idea But it doesn't really change too much what your plan is going to be to try and fix the problem So I do think it's it's somewhat of an infringement on people's rights and privacy Not to have everybody know that necessarily they have a short term or a long term rental for a lot of reasons And I think that the board should consider that And maybe what somebody suggested Not having this be an all the time thing, but every few years Maybe they ask people to step forward and provide the information. So Asking for it rather than requiring for it that information. That's again my concern I don't have a horse in the race at the moment, but I can certainly understand why people have concerns on both sides Thank you Good evening. I'm Joe Camarada. I'm chair of the housing task force and I live in waterbury center And I just wanted to kind of follow up On what tom said, you know when you had your meeting on April 1st I think it was the first person who came up and responded said Why do we need the data and it's a very good question to ask You know, because You know, I think we have some data as elissa said, but we don't have everything we know We know there's about 700 rental units in waterbury We know that in february. There's about 100 maybe a short term rentals We don't know if those two overlap. We don't know if there's 100 maybe h are coming at the expense of the 700 or if they're Besides the 700 So I like to give you three Possible scenarios for having more data would help us. So the first scenario is that the talent Owns some property or could own some property that could be developed And it will come to the housing task force and it will say to us What would you like us to develop and without data to understand what we're having and more importantly what we might be losing Out of the long term market And you're not able to actually make a very important decision In terms of what should be done. That's one reason the second and tom touched on this with the new zoning by-law We have an opportunity to promote and even incentivize further info development in in in the town But again Should that info development be a use? Should it be one bedroom maybe use should it be duplexes? Do we need more single houses? Again without data it's hard for us to know exactly how to act and what and what to focus on It's not simply a matter of just building more. I think You know christy said this week. We're not going to build our way out of this problem At least not in the short term, right? So that would be it and the third is when it comes to advocating to the state itself The state has put together a number of programs In order to incentivize I can't tell you whether those programs are right or not for water buddy But if we had some data and we knew more about what housing we were losing or what we needed We could actually go back and work with our state representatives to make sure that the programs to state level are the ones that we needed Thank you. Okay after hearing First we heard about the lock box and then It seems that the second the second sentence In part three of the rental property requirements is what is the biggest hang-up so far We've heard is the designated responsible person shall respond 45 minutes of notification by water very fire department Should a problem arise. I would elect that we strike that sentence but keep the remainder of Part three here I think in that All right moved and seconded any further discussion Hearing none all in favor of say aye. All right. Bye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? All right And Uh, not so much here. Uh, I'm sorry go ahead I've just had a couple of questions Uh, first of all is the version of this posted on the town website the most recent draft All right, the stuff I was looking at didn't quite line up with things you were saying Second following along from what somebody said previously about privacy Who would have access to the data in the registry? Is it public is it town employees? Is it various boards and committees and policy makers? Can I just throw that's where I have to ring here the answer. Uh, I can Part of the answer if you own property or your name is already on the grand list right, we're just sectioning it out, you know, so It's not like you're not already, you know, it's not that a property owner isn't already listed Somewhere within the town with access. I mean if you're on the grand list, I can find you on on google, right? Yeah So it would be publicly accessible Yeah It's a good question and I confer with counsel on that and my my instinct is most of what we're asking is publicly accessible But the designated responsible person Um Perhaps the phone numbers those sort of things might not might not be or perhaps it would be Um an item in the registry where the owner could designate if they want that publicly accessible or not But I'll confer with counsel that's something we haven't gotten to yet, but the the data we collected what we do with it is Is not part of the ordinance. That's a separate piece that would be adopted by the sweat board later But it's a great question My last comment is I think there's one very important piece of data that isn't being collected At least as of the what is proposed in the version I was reading And that's the price of the rental how much it's being rented out for either per month or per night Depending. Uh, I think that's a very important thing that the town should be collecting Thoughts on that but also of course that would dovetail with the privacy issues It would be I think I think that's um private transaction between private individuals I don't think that's uh our business to ask that question. I think you're right. It'd be nice to have that data I think there's a reason the towns that have adopted these registries haven't asked the question. Yeah I think that's it. Okay. Thanks. Thanks. All right. We are running overtime. Uh, hopefully we've gotten enough information. Um One thing that was brought up a lot uh on the first not so much tonight was the question of the deposit Uh, regulation on the deposit which, uh, when people have concerns about One landlord test to be testified to the effect that it would be a disincentive For him to continue long-term rentals if he was under that The regulation Yeah, no, that's not the fact that he came last time my my mind isn't that weak Uh, but uh, I wonder if we wanted to address that tonight um I guess Yeah, I would propose we move forward without that She wanted us to motion Um, I moved that we remove regulation of security deposit section and subsequent drafts Moved in second. Is there any further discussion? Yes, sir. Uh, I would lobby that in doing away with The deposits for long-term rental that the town create a housing trust using funds from the local option tax For the purpose of housing initiatives It would be in addition to what we've proposed I'm amenable to such a policy change. Certainly. I guess I I was a before I made the motion Roger I guess I would say I appreciate everyone and thank you in particular Whitney for your framing because I do get emotional because I have Live this for seven years and it I am the policy nerd and it does feel back of mine And I'm just reflecting and appreciating that I think we need to do a better job Educating and conveying. I mean even for the charter vote. Tom had a very comprehensive PowerPoint laying out each section of the ordinance and why it was and what data we looked at initially So I was going to propose that we proceed to do that not at the next meeting because we have Bylaw hearings, but at the subsequent meeting that we plan And I'm willing to take this on a more comprehensive proposal regarding updated draft ordinance as previously made through other motions without the lock box without the time requirement for the person And assuming this motion passes Without the regulation of security deposit um for further discussion um Mike Kane's comment about Kind of a housing trust. I'm still kind of Against that. I think I just see And this is where I think a lot of people have expressed multiple layers of oversight which There are a number of You know housing trusts out there already And and do we want in waterbury to add another housing trust to that mix? I would be probably against that Uh, sure No, we're in comment from emotion I was going to call the question, but I can't call my own question because that's a technicality. I think we should We've got a motion that's moved been moved and seconded Which is to strike the Part I get that There there are other interests involved, but If there's more discussion pertaining to the security deposit Regulation I'll take that Hearing none all of those say aye. Aye Aye Any opposed Any abstentions one abstention Okay, it carries All right Further discussion on this Can I appreciate your point? I think Bringing up the issue around the housing trust is a good one But it does seem like it's a sort of Separate initiative that we can we can bring forward Sure Um to comment on that the Purpose of the security deposit Uh section of this ordinance was to keep At least the foot in the door affordable for renters And if we are striking that from this ordinance and rents continue to climb Renters are going to start needing assistance Before the state starts coming after wages, right? Because this problem is going to climb and climb and climb and someone's going to have to pay for it One way or the other and renters can't be left out on the street Yeah So there is a program with the state to help with the deposit For people that need it they just need to apply So there is a program through the state to help with deposits All right A number of the existing land trusts And housing organizations also have various down payment assistance and other kinds of assistance that's out there already and I just hate To duplicate what's out there already Are we aware of a housing trust operating inside of waterberry? Down street, right? I'm going to propose we move to the next agenda item unless there's other I'm curious to know if this will become a budget line item I guess With a yearly reimbursement I hate said precedent The town of waterberry is Giving last month's and security deposit for renters If there's a scenario where you were thinking that this would be paid back over time by the the renter I'd like to if you did move forward with it, which I Likely would oppose the renters to do so I would like to put it on a chronic basis Because I would be fearful that A lot of times it wouldn't be a payback In the town would just continue to have a debt line item that would cost them as time goes on Okay Well, so is there any further Tell them Make one suggestion based on what I've heard in the interest of time and maybe in the interest of Moving towards a more refined ordinance the sentiment I seem to have heard from the board is There's interest in a no fee at least no fee to start so The language here is pretty common and it creates It gives you the ability to create a fee schedule And I like the idea of fee schedules because a fee in the ordinance can only be amended by amending the ordinance The schedule outside of the ordinance can be amended by the board But if there's no interest at this time in a fee The ordinance as drafted goes into effect January 1 2025 I could add to it for the next reading language that would say The fee is zero until January until at least January 1 2026 you've got That full year at zero and then at that point we'll know how hard it is to deal with all this and If staff feels like there should be a reasonable fee We can come back to you but but it's it's your would be zero in year one So we we're moving in purchasing software Nothing's implemented yet That we were doing for the for planning and zoning purposes anyway for those departments and that has the ability to Incorporate a registry into it, but we were making that purchase And that was a plan purchase Well before this conversation, so I I can't logically say that we should reimburse ourselves Through the fee for that software the software in fact is going to make it a lot easier for everyone So if anything that'll reduce our costs it'll get rid of the paper Because All right, thank you and thanks for all everyone for your patience and Helping us get a better appreciation for how this is being viewed We're going to move forward Getting back to the recreation department. We have not Seen or not department of the recreation committee I don't know if Emma's here because I don't know Emma I think maybe not Emma. Are you here? Who's not I think we know what to uh everyone to at least uh The deal and we we have her uh application. So Emotion on that as well Well My motion was to appoint for the full term in world 2028 if he wanted a shorter term, I'm a member of that But I I think she was asking me to confirm Confirming that it's 2028. Yes Do I have a motion uh for the uh recreation committee? It's all four openings, right? Yeah, one is uh expires Three full terms and one unexpired Brian cook on the unexpired No Are you going in? No, you should go. Okay, um, I um Uh, I forgot my village now the nominate my uh appoint paul awesom moved to um, so I moved to appoint paul awesom uh to the recreation committee Um For a full term ending equal 30th 2027 Did you order the others or just one of them? Um, and yeah, I'll um I suppose I'll appoint uh Erin Move to sorry, um appoint Brian uh or erin starmer For the uh full term ending equal 30th 2027 Um as well as brian cook I moved to appoint brian cook For the full term ending equal 30th 2027 Because we're out or we need emma and then I moved to appoint I guess emma Lenschner, um To the full term Ending equal 3027 Do we have Are all the vacancies for 2027? Yeah, it would be three full ones Right, so then one unexpired term ending Does it make sense to move to appoint emma Lenschner to the uh One term one year term ending equal 30th 2025 second Moved and seconded any further discussions Hearing none all of ever say hi. Hi Hi Any opposed Any abstentions? Okay Are you all done with that? Um The emergency management plan So that was not printed for the packet unfortunately So it's it's or it's taken you a few minutes to run it off. Um I can go ahead and run those off if we can move that towards the back. Sure The one that's posted because we're at annual Time already. Yeah, we're at annual update time Yeah The only change I made to the so the only changes I made from last year and just just for the newer members So it's an annual requirement that it's updated There's a couple plans. We have to work on One is the local emergency management plan That's really focused on on local officials who are responsible during emergency. So it's It's in essence a big contact list. It's a major part of it And sometimes those contacts change so I did that internally. I sent it around to staff for some changes I think and then I think today I and I sent that around on friday and then today I sent one more tiny revision, which is So not a new organization, but new to me an organization called cv dart, which I added and cv dart actually has the ability to um Take care of pets during an emergency. So if there's a flood and people need the pets to go somewhere They're well cared for and they've got a mobile trailer Which I just learned about which I thought was pretty cool. So they're added to it But it's essentially identifying local officials and who's in charge of what and emails and phone numbers and cell phones It does make us eligible for some state funding so do not do it At some point could be Go to arm our bottom line make us less eligible and The other plan we have to do that. We're actually working on with central monterey film planning Not to be confused with the emergency medical plan is what's called the hazard mitigation plan and that is really more focused on A bit more of a natural resource focus. So it's a bit more about Things like floods That's actually a requirement and if that's not Adopted and according to the rules Um Then in fact, we would be eligible for less FEMA funds and so would residents For things like elevation projects be eligible for less So that's something that we have to do That's coming up soon because we're just about done with that So I can run off the emergency management plans if we want What changes have you made from this april 2023 that's currently posted? Um, is there any substantive besides the addition of the pet? Yeah, just cv dart and changing some some cell phones and contact info for people who change roles Is that correct that gary dillon is still the emergency management director and mike bard is the emergency management coordinator? Until otherwise specified by the board Um, for the purposes of compliance, I will move to adopt the updated local emergency management plan dated april 2024 with staff updates to pertinent contact information And the addition of what is it cv dart cv dart Um, and note that we should have an annual calendar. So, you know, it's coming every single year Is that part of the motion? No, that's me being sassy after 10 Second I don't know without the I want the calendar Move to the second at any further discussion hearing none. All in favor say aye All right Oh, i'm sorry, you don't look at the board No, I don't the only thing I would recommend and it doesn't affect the vote. Um Is that our natural disaster preparedness group be kind of put in the loop to the emergency management director gout gary dillon To give any input that they think is necessary Because I think that's what they're working on and you know part of natural disaster preparedness is part of all part of emergency You know, you know planning So that should be a yearly checkup No, I think that's just a comment I don't think it has to be in the as an amendment Moved and seconded An