Good evening. I'd like to call the regular schedule select board meeting for brick town of Berlin for Monday the 21st 2023 to order with us tonight to my left is low Smith and Joe Stodd my right toward Nelson And I'm Brad town Editions or changes to the agenda I think we can add under flood updates So Public comment The citizen appointment to the fire department board of directors is Just is that something that you're looking to appoint someone tonight? The other public comment hearing none none updates We are meeting with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, which is part of the USDA tomorrow a couple of potential projects with their Emergency watershed protection program a potential grant funding mainly working on the streams and stream banks You with the engineer tomorrow we've approached them with a couple ideas and They've been less than Rode about them, but so they would come out and talk to us and see if we can work something out. I've also had a couple citizens approach with a few potential Projects of which, you know deemed eligible for the EWP we as the town would have to be the sponsor for and would have to work out a It's a cost-sharing just like the other better government grant work out of cost sharing with the with the property owner Rob Allen who is our chair of the Public Works? Board Used to be in charge of that program with the USDA. So he'll be joining us as well We have our first meeting with FEMA on Wednesday We'll start What they'll tell us what paperwork we're going to be needing and the big meeting is going to be the week after Where they start seeing down with us and going over the damages and how we go about a time for funding them and everything like that and then Tim has approached with the need for a couple of culverts I Think he said they were seven culverts Which looking to be yeah, two seven-foot culverts Which could be around $25,000 a piece for a total of $50,000 That amount Protected me to go out to bed I'm something that Looking for all you want me to proceed Now that's due to flood damage, right? And what are the two locations? Well that I don't know It's probably one location a seven footer 20 foot I'm gonna say you put both of them together in one location. Okay Be my guess Okay, but we're kind of getting to the end of being able to classify it as emergency work You know, which we could use that clause in our purchasing policy The deadline is September Let's apply for the funeral And the work is going to continue on right You know, it's been six weeks now it's not really an emergency to I do believe that FEMA has two classes that emergency stuff and it has permanent infrastructure repairs and both are Inversible, but It's like like you said based on how long it's been since the event Yeah, well, they're gonna look for us to follow our purchasing policy, which you know, we say everything over $5,000 needs to go out for for beds There's an emergency exception in our purchasing policy, but it's kind of stretching it at this point to qualify for that Well, a good thing is it won't take the call around to get a bid on it Yeah, yes, good question. Sure Is this possibly in reference to a pain turnbike or you said you know, it's not pain turnbike I'm thinking it's it's the culvert at the bottom of Downing the change the angle that the water comes into the culvert at because that is apparently what plugged it I'm not so sure The thing was that we said I'm thinking it's that one too based on recent work I mean, you know, the only other one I can think of is there at the foot of Junction Road, but I don't think that's a seven footer. That's a big culvert Pretty sure it's the one on Darling Road at the bottom because the way it is now the water comes down It has to make a 90 and it's that's what caused that culvert to fail. It got behind it and pushed through Excuse me, Brad. Yeah Tim during his triage He said that this was an emergency repair, but it wasn't as dire as other things Yeah, he said that I could see that it would fall into your policy, right? We have a finite amount of labor and that the repairs I don't know if you necessarily have to go through the bid if he if he recognizes an emergency now They're just just getting to look but the only thing is is that even if he goes out to bid It's it's not even it's not even a week out. I mean, you know, it's just a Purt know basically see what they'll sell the culvert for The other thing with the one there on Junction Road, I think that one there He's gonna have to replace too because I think I'm pretty sure he said the in claps on one You'll be in for that sometime Anything else on foot updates? No, okay Select for the place to we can actually kind of combine The last meeting we had the hearing on the potential fire department merger We are still accepting applications For interested parties to serve on the committee for technically it's another week. We gave him three weeks So we have one week left So we're still looking for people understood me about a few people express some interest and Just want to give everybody a chance to get their names in if they're interested and On the sim token the expectations start thinking about what questions you have Regarding a potential merger that you would like to Have them come in you look at I've got a big list going already and keep adding to it all the time So that's really all I have on those two items Any other comments on this? Okay Since we're not solid waste management district I'd like to introduce Dan Casey the general manager general manager of the district Throne they sleeper member of our planning Commission and Antoine and Matt Levin who is our citizen representative on the District or like to welcome off or you get tonight. Thanks. I have a presentation I was hoping there'd be a cable There's a cable down there So Okay, ready to go So just by way of an introduction yeah, I again I haven't been on the job very long as hired in April and Couple of weeks ago. I came in and met with Tour and Tom Our art facility down Barry was completely obliterated For those of you who aren't familiar with it. That's where we collect additional recyclables for us and batteries paint electronics and so The EPA is in the process right now cleaning it out for us But before that it's just taking a step back We've been talking to the triple view about buying his property of 300 grandeur to become our new headquarters And the reason I popped up to talk to The tour and Tom was to see if there might be a possibility of actually Uh us renting that facility to to run the arc if we decide that to go back Into north me and street and Barry anyway, um What came about from that was uh their recommendation that I come to you guys and talk about Our larger plans for the property which we really kept pretty close to our chest up to this point So, um, that's why we're here and um Whether the arc moves up here before we actually Purchase a property from chip before we were able to buy it by the property from chip or not This is what This is probably a good time to get the word out about what we what we have in mind So, uh, just a quick review of what central west always management management does We have an ambitious outreach program where we Provide education for schools businesses and individuals through events workshops our website social media But on the administrative end we provide licenses to haulers and We advocate in the legislature with other solid waste districts Environmental matters and we also run a grants program for Schools for towns And organizations as well Um Our field programs, which are probably our higher Visibility programs are the arc which I mentioned just out of curiosity. How many of you folks have been to the arc down in barry It's a really great program and Well-loved and missed especially this at this time but our The other things we do the other field programs are our house whole has waste collections And we also do emergency responses And that was in full gear With the flood we actually had two pickup trucks and all of our stuff were going out through the debris piles and In my pillar and barry and actually pulling hazardous space materials out of there before series and The series actually got to work doing their thing so We have a small staff seven full-time people and We we do a lot So Why are we looking to relocate up on the hill here in bro land? We're we're hoping to establish what we're calling our eco depot For several reasons. We want to consolidate our operations as I said, you know the arc has been in barry Yard has waste collections are in five different towns throughout our district and Our In our offices have been on barry street and in my pillar for years and years and years now so We're hoping to bring everybody together. It's going to create a more efficient Program for us It's going to improve access for residents businesses schools and municipalities And it's going to respond to resident business demands Here around with all of our programs Okay, what's it going to do for the community? We're going to provide again convenient accessible programs and services for burlin residents And for residents from other district towns as well Um, we're going to protect residents with emergent and emergency professionals solid waste workers and infrastructure We're going to be able to offer trainings for emergency professionals on batteries and hazardous materials and We're thinking that we're also a direct benefit to burl in is we're going to be the brain people In from the outside and while they're here Getting rid of their They're recyclables and their has waste materials. They're going to be visiting other businesses and burl in at the same time at the same time So um, one of the ways that we're going to be able to do this is Because the state has been largely in support of it. We got a decent sized grant I'm going to start things off If you look at the map up there the red dots Show where there are currently has waste collection facilities and that's what we're starting with because that was our priority here So We'll be talking about the other programs as well, but right right now. We're talking about has waste So if you look at those dots Our district is out is that teal colored area that's outlined in black Thanks, man right so All the central one line and if you look at the northeast kingdom up there as well There's nothing in the way of has waste facilities and the only way people have been able to get rid of these materials is through our collections uh, and by going to Other areas where those uh red dots are so it's pretty It's pretty glaring when you look at the map. They're pretty obvious why the state sees sees that there's a need for this Uh central my really isn't adequately served as as is Next slide please So what do we do right now we do um, we try to cover the district as well as we can by Having these has waste collections um We have two currently in central Vermont one in barry in the spring or one in Montpelier, which is our latest one in early fall And the others are scattered through like Bradford ton bridge. You know, what's hardwick and hardwick is our last one Uh, what's the problem? You know, if people aren't available the day that we have the collections and you know, they're traveling to get rid of these materials um So attendance varies depending on weather availability Right now, you know, um We we set up tents to bring a contractor in and that's economically not the best thing to do because You know, no matter what what the quantities we collect we have um global industries from From burlington coming down and and it's an expensive bench It's so expensive Actually, people don't really don't realize that it's uh, they it comes down to about 200 to 400 dollars per car for us So one of the improvements we're going to see by locating Hasway service to burlain one will improve access will reduce wait times for some of the more For the more busy events, you know, people can be waiting in line for a good amount of time It'll allow for efficient use of supplies and shipments the reduced costs from one day events It'll increase safety And just just for those of you who don't use our hasway services What we collect for these events is household cleaning products Used motor oil gasoline and other fuels Spray and auto paints and solvents pesticides and herbicides, which is what we'd be looking at collecting Ungrangered road Let's move on to our arc Our arc Collects other items like household paint batteries tv's and computers I touched upon this a little bit in the beginning mercury devices electronics smoke detectors Small metals other landfill band recyclables So from a time standpoint, we were really thinking that our phase one Would center on getting the property or to snuff And getting our hasways facility Uh in operation with the flood wiping out our arc and we've kind of decided that It's probably a good idea to start talking about including the arc in our phase one plans as well so Do we have a folks familiar with this property up on grave your road? Previously Previously it was used as a math clinic Before that it was a restaurant and a truck stop right now chip is Renting it out to a crane company and to facto Homes they have they have a bunch of Prefabs located up there right now At this point i'm going to turn the presentation over to ferrin who's been much more involved in the um In the planning process In the logistics and we've been we've been talking about this and we've been on grave for a while And uh, he can he can tell you a little bit about what we're over what yeah for the uh for the use and What we're going to do in the buildings up there. Okay. Thanks, Dan so So yeah, as you can see in these pictures if you can see them There's there's three existing built. Well, there's two existing buildings on the property There's the office building which we're planning on turning into our office Um, and then there's the garage building and it has two bays Split side by side. So we're thinking that we would put our household has ways facility in one half and we put our Our our additional recyclables collection center in the other half And that's about as as uh as clear as it gets we um I'll talk about some of the improvements we're considering for the property in the next slides So currently as you can see on this map, hopefully You've got the existing office. You've got some parking areas There's the garage with the two bays up on the um on the right side And then there's a a concrete pad and some storage trailers What we are hoping to do is um renovate the The office and the garage. Um, probably add some insulation lighting Uh, probably sprinkle as well Talking about improving the the parking spaces and adding a covered awning for customer intake so that people can be dry when they're unloading their stuff Future plans for the facility and and for the property would be to eventually expand onto the existing garage just build off to the northeast and um And add to our programs and services and potentially the things that we accept for recycling And continue to improve our service from there We're estimating currently about 200 to 300 thousand improvements for the property And we hope that we can begin construction in summer of 2024 There's a lot of things in the air But we still have to get lined up, but that's that's what we're hoping for We'll also be adding a fence and a gate to to control access and we're working with some architecture firms to to develop a landscape screening for the property as well Here's a zoomed in somewhat zoomed in picture of the facility and what we're looking at the blue Are new Things that we're proposing and then the in white is the existing building. You can see there's two bays there We're proposing adding a blue Well, it won't be blue, but the covered intake area is the big square on the top So our customers will be able to come in there. They'll be undercover. We'll take their stuff out and they can They can head off and then the smaller blue rectangle on the top is a modular pre-engineered flammables containment building specifically for storing any Things like motor oil or fuels that we that we accept So those are those are our proposals for the or our thoughts for the improvements for the build for the buildings Here's a just a rundown of what that what that modular building looks like looks very similar to a shipping container but it is outfitted with the dry chemical suppression system. It's fire and explosion proof and It's about it can take about 32 drums of material Which we would then ship out to be processed elsewhere So do you want to take take over on the process progress? Yeah, sure. Sure. So where are we now? Are we developed the financing plan for the project? We have a purchase and sale agreement with with chip We've contracted with our civil engineering firm western and samson working on burl in the past And they're going to check out what we need for permitting and hopefully acquire those permits And what do we have left in front of us? Well Of high importances is coming to a host time agreement with ufo and We'll be presenting a proposal for that Pretty soon we have something in place already. We just go ironing out the fire points Uh, we'll conduct neighborhood outreach to see what everybody else in the locale Thinks about things about us being there We'll hold public meetings And we'll hold an open house from the facility is commissioned and As part of the um the outreach will probably actually invite people onto the site to to to talk about Essentially what we talked about here tonight, but we need a little bit more detail and uh, I want to see for themselves What we're what we're proposing Um, you know has waste to the term can be a scary one This is well planned and well thought out well planned now We're going to have professionals who have been trained how to handle these materials The way we look at it the way the state looks at it is, you know, this stuff is a lot better off You know our hands and in the hands of people who processed it Then it is in people's basements And we saw the first hand at the flood the stuff that we were pulling out of piles We had there were some stops where we had fluorescence that were and this is no exaggeration piles of fluorescence So we're like five feet high people are just collecting the three years years and years and stuff with mercury in it and This is the way to go. I mean you saw the red dots on on the map We first put what's happening in other places in the state and it's happening all over the country and this is Keeping the stuff out of the waste frame is of supreme importance for everybody Um this location Is from our perspective is an ideal one that offers a buffer to the surrounding properties a generous buffer It's centrally located um You know, we we're fully prepared to then talk to you folks about um a pilot, you know We haven't come up with a number yet Tour squad tour scared me a little bit with the uh the number he threw out a couple weeks ago But we but we can talk we can talk about that And uh, you know, we're really excited about it. It's I think I think And hope that we will be you know a real asset to the tenor burl in his This as well as to the disc the rest of the the district has in in general. It's um So we're open to work with you. We're hoping to be part of the community and uh One thing Dan that we have talked about Dan there. How often are things picked up? Would things be picked up? From thanks for how long because people think oh, it's just going to sit there But actually that's not the idea is it it's not at all You want to take this? Yeah, so the facility would be serviced at least twice a year And that's um, that's based on what we've heard from our colleagues In windham county who run another has ways depot with the similar population base So so that's what we're that's what we're estimating. It's about two times a year. We'll have it clean now And more if necessary. Yeah, of course, yeah So I think I found your notes you were talking about being open to the public I think three days a week something like that a set of five days a year Um, and you're saying that you're only going to be servicing Uh twice a year maybe to haul material out potentially, but again, it depends on the volumes that we that we get in We'll we'll move things out as we need But um, one of the one of the big things about running a permanent facility is we can make much more efficient use of our supplies Um, if you go to, you know, one of our has ways events We have to bring packaging for every item, right? And maybe it doesn't get all the way filled But we still have to pay for shipping and processing them for those things, but You know, here we can we can put say a bunch of spray cans In a drum until it's full and then we ship it out So there's really no added traffic truck traffic anywhere? We uh, we don't anticipate a lot of added truck traffic. Um, currently there's a crane company and a mobile home, um Business running things out of there. So we anticipate more residential, you know passenger vehicles And then a few the box trucks and tractor trailers per year Is there going to be a specific design on the improvements? I mean For containment if a spill happens in the building. Yes. So um, so that a lot of that is going to be put together by our our contractors and by our civil engineering professionals that we've hired And we also have a has ways facility expert that we've um hired on to consult with us for this whole process I think it's really important from the board's perspective. We've been having this conversation for quite a while It is a mature conversation nationally. There are professionals who know how to do this It's going to make it easier for us because we're going to be able to use design Knowledge and expertise that has been working in other places for issues like this We're not trying to figure out How to make a safe site There are other safe sites that are operating and we're going to use those Plans and those that that knowledge To make it work here. It's not to say we're going to just get to make a cookie cutter But there's a lot of knowledge out there that I think makes the rest of the board members comfortable that We have a lot of knowledge internally and we can use knowledge from other folks to make sure that it's a safe effective facility And the safety stuff is going to be the the main concern for people And we're we're able to in greater detail talk about that kind of stuff the floor surfaces and Storage containers that we're going to use is the last thing we want is for stuff to pile up. It's just not going to happen It's it's it's going to be it's going to be done in the most responsible way Impossible that's the whole point of it. Yeah is is having something that's that's perfectly set up for instead of these you know one-day events all over through the hills and right Which have worked. Yes, but There's limitations. Not any of that. Any other questions for these folks? Yeah, Tom So everybody knows I was in the waste industry for 30 years. So Berlin currently plays host to a major of solid waste recycling facility It's on 302. It's the tire piles, right? It's regulated by the state of mont. This will be regulated by the state of mont I don't think that the the pile of tires benefit the town of berlin and it's it's a hazard We can't seem to get the regulators to to Give us inspection reports So I just caution this board that when they when they Think about programs like this that what it could morph to And if I would encourage that if if you allow this to occur that you prohibit other things like composting I mean I could see these folks wanting to get into composting them, right? There's 10 acres. What if I don't want it? It's 10 acres That's conceivable that that would be the next that's that's what these that's what Usually happens with these types of types of entities they're not looking for the next thing they could do There are some very sensitive receptors in that neighborhood of three or four medical campuses that surround this property We've encouraged them to go talk to those folks well in advance of any other plans This use is not a permitted use Therefore it's a prohibited use that they have they have to come To the development review board and make There's a provision in the berlin zoning regulations That how to address the a prohibited use. So it's it's not the It's it's not a One meeting event. It's it'll take a process. It'll take a what's good about it. There's a good public Involvement process and so everybody then gets to go So Tom just There's a bit of a difference between us and uh, the guy who is a tired recycling business And in one aspect in one respect where your employees are you know We do you're one of our memory tasks of what you what do you have to say about our operations? Carries a lot more weight than a private guy down on the very Montpelier Road. Uh second I was on again a new You mentioned this this uh this business to me last time we ran I've done a little bit of research on it and I'm prepared to go in there and have conversations with this guy. I stoked it out myself and um And it's on the list of things to and I've talked to the state about it And um, it's something that I fully prepared to to address Tom would welcome your involvement in that. Thanks Any other comments on this? Yep. Well, I right up till you said something I was going to say that it was a very unfair connection of the two I think you know this here would benefit many communities and I think They would do it very respectfully and That site down the very Montpelier Road is an individual and it's not benefiting anyone Besides himself, but they are regulated by the same organization. Yeah One thing on your site. I don't know if it really makes much of a difference. I think is there a right-of-way between Industrial Lane and Granger Road And I think it was this right there and how that might affect your layout There is not we actually I actually I walk my dogs up there all the time And actually it looks like that goes straight down there, but that's actually owned by somebody Somebody else Are you planning for this and if you can see that up there? It's a little small, but we are planning to have one entrance And that will be the same exit. Um, so folks will come in they'll go through the that covered intake area They'll loop around where all the trailers are currently and they'll exit the same Easier to control site access that way. I also add that the the district has done A lot of surveying of members of our towns individuals And this issue has come that the need for a permanent household hazardous waste collection facility Has come up time and again as a key priority for our communities as a municipality It's important that the district is responsive to the to the customers. So Um Well It's hard to know in 15 or 20 years what the demands of the customers will be Um as dan points out this is a municipality. It is run by the towns And that I think provides a degree of responsiveness and accountability So that should there be future discussions about other needs or other services It's going to be a very public one. It's going to be one that involves the towns and It will be structured in a way that will I think produce good outcomes Just a little fact so I um 60 of the telephone calls that we get at the district Are people who are wondering where they can bring their their hazardous waste And it's unfortunate uh in the off season they have to tell them well You've got to drive all the way over to chitin county or hang on until until you know Somewhere turn right and that's the big that's the big one is we want to improve our our service and be able to Help people get rid of these things responsibly year round When they when someone makes the gets the motivation to actually take care of we all know We all have places in our house that we talk things away when you finally get around to doing that chore And you want to take care of it That's the time when the district wants to be there to take advantage of that Initiative and get that stuff out of the community out of the waste stream and in a safe location Any other comments on this? Matt I just want to say for you and the board Dan and Theron have been very helpful with the flood debris recovery right at a time when their own facilities have been severely impacted and on conference calls multiple times a week on them and They've done a lot to get the debris picked up around the area the the district is a real of positive Presence in our community that a lot of times no one notices it, but I think we're all very glad that they're there We definitely notice and thank you so much Okay Anything else Hearing nothing Thank you folks very much for coming in. Thanks for having us The sample you rich in your packet so uh the Actually sit here the Came to the board here meeting or two though and discussed our thoughts for on november 7th 2023 ballot initiative Maybe recall that that's a first Tuesday november traditional voting day, but there are no state or federal elections that day so We've looked at five projects that would require financing into that end That would require a voter approval I'll just reiterate what those are. They're five articles. The first one is the berlin town center gateway improvement. It's the roads the sidewalks the multi-use paths the street lights the streetscape for the what is now the the berlin mall road that once it gets redeveloped To be trans and town of berlin standards the town of berlin has agreed that they would take that over and you folks have Wanted to name that gateway avenue so The current price tag on has 2.5 million dollars a little more than that We have received an initial grant of 205 thousand dollars so that's This language will at the end of the day Change or we'll add to it is what we think that the out-of-pocket expense would be to to the town And so we're still working on we're hoping to have some resolution of some additional grants by now, but the flood is flood has Sort of changed that a little bit. The second one is a public's work board And this is you may or may not know that there was a failure on a Sewer line on hospital hill rob allen. It was here a couple meetings ago We had temporarily repaired that we needed to make a permanent repair That's estimated at 2.2 million dollars and that that will be paid by the users of the Sewer system. That's where that would get paid from the third article is If you know the town 2015 2016 developed the first ever water system for the town In crimes I mean what it is I think that We can point to that is really the springboard of a lot of the development that has occurred in town since then Water and wastewater are intricate to to economic development So right now that there's approximately a one 1.8 mile section of Of that water line, which comes down airport road That there's no loop. So if there's a if there's a break on that section the entire customer base is without water and so with this Article three the the public's work board wants to put a redundant line down Scott hill road connecting to calm stock road Completing that loop and that's 3.7 million dollars We have requested two grants one for Half of 3.7 and another for an additional million dollars We are supposed to hear on the first one by the end of august which is looming We feel pretty confident we're going to get some funding on that But again, this is paid for by the folks who use the water system The the article four is initiative by the recreation commission They have developed a cross berlin trail And one of the key components of that trail is a Is a multi-use path on scott hill road So when they saw that that that road may be torn up to put in a water line That may make sense that when that road is being put back We add an additional multi-use path So they're looking at two million dollars for That cost is 1.6 million dollars That would be from the the general revenues of the the town of berlin the tax base Uh, we're we have applied for an 800 thousand dollar grant We're supposed to hear from about that at the end of august as well And the last one there is another initiative by the recreational commission They have this this ice rink out here, which is a which is a single season use They would like to put a canopy over that ice rink put solar panels on top Uh reconfigured the base to uh in addition to ice in the winter time allow it for Other spring and summer fall activities examples would be tennis pickleball or basketball courts there And so that cost is seven hundred seventy five thousand dollars We we have applied for a half grant three hundred and fifty There's fifty some thousand dollars We're supposed to hear by the end of august if that has come to fruition So this is the the the first Blush for the slack work To to advertise this and start seeking some comment The actual date uh for when they have to make the final decision So september 18 september 18, so it's about a month process We we're going to uh find out about these grants We'll we'll make any changes to these to these articles Depending on the funding that we get Come back to the to the board and Make recommendations to you on on moving forward, but those are the that's the the the draft Rachel has We've met with a bond council He's reviewed most of I think all of the all of the There's like five or six Different documents that has to be done. He's reviewed them all Rachel has those and we will share those You folks as well But you'll be hearing more of this in the future We're we're now starting a Media campaign to Take some some Photo Video video of folks talking about the projects we have members of the public's work board talking about the public work board Folks recreation commission talking about the rec folks planning commission talking about the gateway improvements And uh, we'll be putting that into a package And we'll we'll share that with the select board as we go Chelsea from the town clerk's office is the task as the as the lead on that project. So she's coordinating the The efforts she's developing a landing page on our on our Town website where folks could be able to go in and take a look at it You'll be able to go in as we get updates rachel's send out updates to everybody say go You know take a look at this. This is what's what's out there So this this process is going along we again september 18th is a is a critical date. That's the date Rachel has to have to meet all the regulatory requirements for november 7th So we've got a month of work to do That's all I have mr. Chair Any questions to come so all of these articles Everything didn't with water and sewer really are important They're all important. Yeah, but I mean yeah The more yeah, the most important one is that sewer line repair. Yeah, that's That is the most important And that's the one that's paid for by the users anyway, that's correct, you know, which We are a user the pounds of users Thank you for the thorough explanation And all the tremendous work you do. No, we haven't got some money yet. Well, we want to get the money It's inevitable. I like your attitude Any any other questions for tom? Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you Water ordinance construction standards revision So the in front of you it looks like this The public's work board Has met and would like to make some Change to the water ordinance And particularly around around The finding fire protection capacity And that they would like to define that as fire protection capacity The ability of a public water system in mitigating the unwanted Effects potentially destructive fires We want to add that to our To our list of definitions and then which would lead to Two two additional paragraphs The newest new section 20 And you'll see it's a and b there that I'll just a basically says Up go in the go back a little bit when when the water system was put in place The select board said that as the water was going in if you had an existing home you were you were not required to To to connect And that's how the public's work board has has been operating what Section a says is that any new homes That are constructed today not existing homes any new homes businesses Industries any any buildings that have human occupancy Would be required to connect to To the water system or public water restrooms and that and we said Within 200 feet of of the water main to thought was a reasonable distance Off that if someone had a large track of land and they were thousands of feet off of that it didn't make sense for them to run a lateral that far So that's that's a b basically says that all non human habitable structures like And we've seen a proliferation of mini storage units. We're seeing a prolif proliferation of solar arms just to name two that don't have human occupancy that that Need fire protection and and How far fire protection is paid for today is is is it's the users of of the of the system And so the the town doesn't contribute outside being connected at this property the town doesn't Earmark funds to the to the water to the water system and so the public's work board wants to be able to to Charge those non-human Occupancy structures fire protection is they'll burn if they need fire if they're fire They look they expect a fire company to show up if there's a fire hydrant At the end of their end of their lot. They're going to hook to the to to that fire hydrant to put out the out those fires So that's what b is. It's it's saying those commercial Structures that aren't used for human occupancy have to purchase a fire protection capacity and you may recall that Uh, our the plucks work board water billing is Is is is two pieces one of them is is the debt service We've taken out Six and a half million dollar loan To pay for the water system and the other is use And so the five process was that that folks that fall under under b would be subject to the debt service piece of it not not the use and so this We have a date of October 2nd for a if you all agree there's a listing of the Key dates in your packet. I've combined both the bond boat and the water ordinance onto one document kind of watch the order hopefully About October 2nd would be a public sharing and adoption of the water ordinance to get One in the next in minutes and posting Then Period ends on November 17 And if nothing changes like December 3rd is when the effective date will be run, which would be So again, if you're all are Um I think this is a Good way for the public's work board to proceed I'd ask you to okay this language Which would then set the stage for that public hearing where we take public comment on it I make the motion to approve the water ordinance and construction standard revision as presented to us this evening You're a second a second Any further discussion Hearing none those in favor I Motion carries. I have stated Thank you I just wanted to say Rachel's office has been really great on all these things and she's she's carrying a ball on a lot of it So kudos to Chelsea, thank you. Yeah, thank you Okay, adopt a resolution to create a local cannabis control commission So The town voted to allow Retail sales marijuana in the town That was a binding vote by the town There is now one retail Status from an open There's also a few growers who are expressing interest At the time and you know, it's still possible now We could uh, there's a lot of local cannabis control commission on included in your pack And as in the last week's the guidance from the camp state cannabis control board Municipalities It's another step that we as a town can take To protect our interests in the town Zoning regulations do apply for Marijuana retail establishments however, we cannot create The zoning rules just for marijuana Um Establishments, it's our regular town life zoning restrictions Um There's about Maybe two dozen towns in the state that I have implemented these local commissions fairy city and barry town Uh, being two of the closest, um burdens and King Richard Derby Hardwick as a junction Johnson Milton Randolph Rutland Springfield Stowe Manuski Woodstock or some of the other ones um It gives us a voice, you know in the state issuing the licenses um Because otherwise, you know, we're basically left out of loop when this last one Um moved into town. So I would recommend You all have the draft of the resolution in your packet This is the straight language out of the state Guidance. I would recommend that we adopt A local canvas control commission and that would be made up of the members of the sweat board Can't you do you have anything else you wanted to add or no also that I would recommend As established Do I hear a motion on this? I move that we adopt the resolution to adopt that software redundant a town canvas control commission As presented and I second that motion Any other discussion all those in favor Hi Hi motion carries Um police department server proposal acceptance chief yes, um The tech field is not exactly my area of expertise Um, as you may or may not be aware, we recently had some upgrades to our systems at the PD they were outdated And in dire need of replacement What happened when RV tech came in is that we saw that we were woefully um in need of an update Other than it's pretty much being kept together with duct tape and chilling down In order to access state and federal data systems, we need to comply with certain standards and we were really not in compliance with one of those standards So we were lucky that there wasn't a major issue We're in much better shape now We'd be in much better shape if we established thermal servers and had centrally Located place to store our data And that's what this proposal Presents. It's costly But I think it's needed These things were neglected for a number of years. Unfortunately This is the cost of kind of getting Up to date and being in a better place To establish that somebody doesn't see there is some kind of issue It's approved with their timeline or information um I don't know. I don't know what It took RV tech a lot longer than they anticipated to update our systems just because of that amount of problems they're getting into Uh, I think they have a better understanding of what they're up against now There's some brief requisites that they have In place There's a requirement on us probably the most Problematic one is to find this area on our side of house That can regulate the temperature They may need to assist us in some way, but that's the case. It's probably not going to be an additional amount That's always a huge Under keeping How much do you have in your budget that you would allocate to us? We have budgeted for this, so no, not at all I think when you first started talking about this you're looking at our company Yeah, we were and I you know, I couldn't find anything in the minutes to support that. However, in you know, keeping this ARPA thing together Um, Vincent and I had thought about having 50 000 sites with that, which is more than enough for this But I just couldn't find any minutes to support that. However, I do have I already put it into the ARPA How much is left in ARPA? After all of these things, if you know if we clue this 50 000, we still have about 97 miles And that has to be allocated in another year I think that was like 2025, but I'm not I'm not certain I want to say that when you next year Be allocated and spent But you expect it would be well below 50 000 from your perspective and based on what we're looking at here I think as long as we don't run into a lot of trouble in the building itself Right, right In the temperature controlling, is that right? I would expect really the only available room we have is in our evidence room. That's a secure location ideal for the servers In the temperature states are fairly regulated in there Probably runs on the warmer side, especially once you start throwing some electronics in there It's kind of a little crazy, but But some kind of mitigation system in there Do you want all the text and stuff to have access to that room? It's okay as long as they're in our presence But no Not free-brained The largest year of your room The evidence room has probably had this size in this conference room Yeah, one question I have is I noticed on here that there's a quantity of 28 for the workstation migrations $2,800 note 28 in terms of a quantity under services and third line down service TNM phase three workstation migrations service or project labor build an actual work rate It's 130 dollars and 50 cents but times 28 quantity I wonder if that's a typo. It must be a typo That would decrease the amount significantly Well, providing that that quality labor is not a typo. Exactly. The price is still carried over Well, the prices are in hourly rate. You know, I wonder if that was 20 hours It could be Go to the mix systems. Mm-hmm. It could if it's ours. Mm-hmm 350 shows up on all three of them I mean 130 dollars and 50 cents shows up on three of them Mm-hmm. That must be a hourly rate. It must be Is the evidence room an elf has an outside wall? Any other discussion on this? motion I move to proceed with the Disparencer with proposal from RV tech I make the second on that Any other discussion on this? I do. I just want to make sure that it's clear that the money is going To come out of our book and put in the minutes Definitely Thank you very much to you All those in favor. All right Motion carries. Thank you Proved drug and alcohol policy for CMD operators Policy, uh, this is an update of our existing policy Give you a draft of it at the last meeting This is a document that's required under federal regulations and there was an update required back in the 2000 that we did not implement It is under Page seven Total FMCSA clearing commonalities are required checks for Required to do every for every new CDL higher and once a year checking for previously Testing violations So this rectifies that mission or policy note major changes just a few updates to Names and things like that. So I recommend Adoption of this policy is presented and I'll make their motion Your second I'll second Any further discussion question so Section five random testing and they start to talk second paragraph And they're talking about the the minimum percentage of Pools drive drivers Selected for drug testing and this is going to be done quarterly. How many CDL drivers do we really have? I would base it on five our four road crew and correct And the minimum would be At least one Well, it's a quarter or so we are no because we are you could you can pull Okay Journalist got a consortium Which is which we're a part of through the Vermont leagues of cities and towns So this pool Has to test at the required percent Which I think is 50 and 10 50 percent of Drivers for drugs and 10 for alcohol Um, and that percent changes every year, but I mean it could change every year most likely it It doesn't mean it's the same for me or a year. So Pool wide you have to Connect those many tests not us as a town have to take that many tests The other questions the other conducts How big is the pool? That I Don't know offhand And it's quite it's quite a few of the cities and towns in the state Any other questions or comments? All those in favor Those opposed motion carries Assistant appointment to the fire department board of directors So About 10 years ago What you said joe the fire department corporation expanded their Um board of directors and gave the slack board The opportunity to make two appointments to the board Uh, the thinking was that one of the members would be a slack board member Which flow is serving in that Capacity the other could be a slack board member or it could be a member of the general public Rod sear has and his letters in the packet has expressed an interest in joining The board of directors as that citizen representative And I would make that motion for that appointment here a second I'll second that motion He for the discussion Yeah, joe. Yeah, so um The two positions were we're We're given to the slack board one would be the slack board member and one could be Uh, slack board or town resident it was supposed to have been Someone who is not part of the fire department Okay, and rod rod sear has history there Um, and I'm not talking speaking against this But I'm just being very upfront with you that he is a life member at the fire department has not been involved Probably for the last 11 plus years So, you know, he has some distance there, but I just like I said, I'm just bringing being very upfront Um So I've I've talked stopped and I talked with him I think he would be a good great asset to the the board. We haven't had someone from the community since jerry dmg's And that's been quite a while. He is now currently the chair of zd 500 so You know, I'm in favor of this But again, it's up to the board If you want to to waive that Okay, any other comments on this All those in favor of appointing rob sear to the berlin, I mean to the Berlin fire department board of directors Hi Motion carries Motion carries Thank rod will you see them? I will provable licenses Permits vouchers and applications I make the motion to approve payroll ward 24 dash o4 for payroll from july 27th, august 12th of this year Paid on august 16 2023 in the amount of 60,858 and 50 cents Payable warrant 24 g o4 with checks 23 250 to 23 2 90 for payables in the amount of 386,329 And 10 cents and the general journal entries for the july of this year I second Any discussion on this? Question for diane. So I think on our last meeting you gave us Basically a list of expenditures from the flood Is that what I was seeing some of in here? We're okay. Yes, and I actually updated the list if you want This is the latest which includes what's in it Granted a lot of the payables that are in there that you're just a proof of flood I just wanted to make sure that that was Is the same yeah any other comments? All those in favor? I motion carries approval of minutes for August 7th I make the motion to approve the minutes of august 7th 2023 I'm sick Any comments all those in favor seem to have a say I Motion carries approval of minutes for august 14th I make the motion to approve the specialist board meeting minutes of monday august 14th. That's presented to us this evening Second any discussion? All those in favor All right, any motion carries I was not there, so I don't understand Uh round table for nothing this evening. Thank you though Joe I'm good. Thank you tour Just a Few things Economic development committee will be meeting tomorrow to go over a text stabilization application for expansion of the comfort in hotel I think it's approved then you'll be seeing it future select board meeting um, I've included in your packet a draft For advertisement for town treasurer as Diane Keep my editorial comes to myself is seeking to retire at the end of october um looking at the personnel policy I think it is prudent to Do an open advertisement for this position And proceed that way So I've included the draft I'd like to get this out as soon as possible And another issue that we don't want to talk about tonight, but just thinking about is Tim was asking about the possibility of getting a on-call highway worker for the winter We do potentially have one worker going out for surgery for several weeks In the november Six to eight weeks is my understanding that he'll be out Starting in september So that will get us into potentially plowing season And then it just also gives us flexibility if somebody gets sick or gets injured during the season You know, we've always got craig But uh, you know, he's got his own duties needs to be doing as far as the water and sewer systems. So Uh, I think it'd be nice to have somebody else, you know, another backup on board Uh, potentially, you know, looking to the future of maybe, uh, you know permanent fte Uh, joint duties between water roads and other maintenance around here, but at least for the winter Uh, having somebody on call for telling them they can use it with, you know, tim davis senior Uh, I did the last couple Winners but he's moved out of the area and it's no longer available. So just looking for like a backup from there One recommendation I have to the Advertisement that we would list for the town treasurer is maybe we should specify the combination of education that we would see Because it says Candidates must have a combination of education and job experience to fulfill the minimum requirements of the job But we might want to specify that Um, to make it very exacting That's the only suggestion that I have on that Oh, I have mr. Cherry. I did have one other thing. I wondered about an update on the Things that have been left at the end of the roads.  And things that people have left Near the road but not close enough to be picked up by Say the state and we don't have dumpsters yet. Have you heard anymore on? What we can do or should do Or is there any updates to that? um My understanding the contractor has been through the whole except for making one last pass on cedar drive Which will be tomorrow or wednesday the contractor has done with their work In the town as far as picking everything up because there's quite a bit still at the base of mussy road It's been spread out per se almost like maybe Sort of like what dan was saying tonight. Maybe someone's come through and pulled some out But there's still a lot. It's just been spread out per se And there's some other things as you get closer to riverton on the left hand side There's Quite an amount there as well And there may be others but those are two that I don't know is Anything else for her? Yeah, I'm sorry. We got to go back around Um, just to go off of flow. We're talking about I was contacted I think you might have had a voicemail as well from an individual about uh Coming up into helping the demolition of mobile homes. I didn't know if you Happen to reach out to him or I've not talked to him yet. I don't know who you're talking about. Um, some issues Potentially run into a lot of these are the older mobile homes that are left and getting to asbestos issues So it's not just somebody that can come in and anybody that can come in and sure Tear these things apart. The other thing is you know, what do you do? When they're deconstructed they still be removed off. So we're waiting details from the governor's program Which I don't think he's funding putting the funding into that program to You know take care of berlin and all the other towns have to do as well So, okay, let me get severely underfunded And I guess one last thing we we still have the fire department has a number of fans Deque humidifiers that are available to anyone who's still going through whatever moisture or Uh, yeah basement Issues so We have a place to store these once this is all over Good question I've had people who asked me that And right now we're storing them until we're until we can find a place to store them after what quantity do you have with the current? I believe there's currently We're somewhere around 14 fans and one dehumidifier that can still go out Tell me you're out now How many are out now roughly about 13 fans and four dehumidifiers So you've got 20 fans and five dehumidifiers roughly They grab 27 fans. I think that's what it is in the else around table executive session I move that we enter into executive session regarding personnel and of course the one vsa 313 a3 All those in favor Okay, uh, next on the agenda is appointment of a full-time police officer I'm moved that we appoint marshal colliers a full-time police officer second Any further discussion? all those All those in favor Notion carries Now set alternate date for select board meeting for labor day holiday our next regular schedule select board meeting is on Monday Every day holiday can't believe it's a liver day already Uh, so just wondering if you wanted to have that tuesday or just the following week or I can do the tuesday when flexible so whatever majority Can do Tuesdays are bad for me And i'll tell you the second monday is not the best But wednesdays I can't do a wednesday Let's just do the second monday For thursday that that particular week a thursday works for me and we do it that thursday it'd be the first available oh so If we do the second monday, are we going to keep the following Monday as well. Yeah, so they're going to be back to back Okay, it's the warrants that have to be processed. Yeah Okay, i'm good with that i'm fine with that too back to back mondays Cool, thank you We'll call that one by Agreement, uh motion to adjourn. I make the motion to adjourn tonight's regularly scheduled select board meeting All set. Good night everybody. Good night everyone


Hello, and welcome back to the craft box. My name is Brenton today. We are crafting once more slight change of how these Episodes are gonna go if you've been in my live streams, you know that they're slightly different Now I've kind of changed up things. We're not gonna be crafting a whole bunch of things at once I could but it means there's longer between episodes and I kind of want to keep these rolling at least once a week Hopefully sometimes more Today as you saw is the balance level 15 plus jewel From a Dora on screen now boom look at that nice big graphic. I know all of the the like requirements for this What what you need for it? So obviously the five citron and the scorpion and the pyre I did also tells you where you should get it Yep, easy peasy So basically just so you know that this is these episodes are gonna be really really short I hope to get them out a lot more quicker than before and Yeah, kind of just what we're trying to go here on screen now as well are the Requirements so how much gold it costs the cooldown of it the crafting station and the crafting rank you need Yep, let's go ahead and craft this really quick just this one to create first jewel. I've ever actually created We got the weakness citron Obviously since it's a jewel you can get a whole bunch of things. So, you know on screen now All the things all the other jewels that you can create out of it Yeah, these videos are very short just to kind of Basically say that I've done this is kind of like a checklist of all the things I have to craft and If you wanted to follow me on screen or all the things that you can get all the things that you're needed all the important bits and Yeah, so I can kind of just end off the episode now Thank you for watching until I can subscribe and if you've already subscribed press the little bell So you know exactly when I post another video and a member craft outside the box


The weather conditions were virtually perfect at lovely Black Mountain today. The international series Thailand once again producing a feast of birdies and eagles. Round of the day, honey besoja of India. This eagle pats at the last to help them to a round of 62.9 under par out in 28. A day to remember for the Indian. A lot of good players queuing up behind though they all played well today. Jaewon Yeom, second in the New Zealand Open last week. This was his second into the ninth. He would hold the putt and a 67 leaves Yeom right up there. So too is Yongsu Kim, who saved his par at nine with this putt. A 67 for 10 under alongside Yeom. Miguel Tabueno was the overnight leader after round one. Took a little while to get it going today. He was only even par for his front nine, but he picked up a couple of birdies on the back, including this one at the 15th. And a 70 leaves him at 10 under par, four behind at the halfway stage. Some terrific golf today from Zach Murray, the tall man from Melbourne. This for an eagle at the sixth on his back nine. Coming towards the end of his round, he was on 12 under, only two back. And as you would expect here in Thailand, the big name ties are right up there. Jazz Jane Watton and on this into the fifth lovely approach from Jazz. He would hold the putt and he's on 12 under. Alongside has come to him and Kiritek Apibon right another, who took a little while to get going today. But in the end, five birdies and six holes in the back nine, including this one at four, gave him a 67 for 12 under. But the man who leads is the American, Dodge Kammer. This birdie at the 18th has ninth, one of eight in his round today. A 64 for six under and he leads at 12 under par.


وصلاة والسلام على أنبياء الله جميعا وعلى سيتهم وخاتمهم حبيب الله العالمين أب القاسم المصطفى محمد لا أهبيته الطيبين الطاهرين المعصومين قال تعالى في كتابه الكريم أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم ولقد نصاكم الله ببدرين وأنتم أذلة فاتقوا الله لعلكم تشكرون صلاة الله العليه العظيم اليوم is the 17th of the month of Ramallah a day that witnessed exactly 1436 years ago this day the 17th of Ramallah witnessed the first defensive battle in Islam very first one where the Prophet peace be upon him defended the integrity of his community in the battle called Badr وقعة بدر or وقعة بدر or غزوة بدر or معركة بدر all these names are similar it means the battle of badr tonight we learn few things about the life and the legacy and the tradition of our beloved Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم we learn few things about his life through this battle the preparation for it and the battle itself and the aftermath of this battle this battle has been mentioned in the Quran in a few chapters in chapter 3 Surah Al Imran the family of Imran which is the family of Mary and in chapter 8 Surah Al Anfal the war spoils also speaks about the battle of badr this battle took place in the second year of the hijrah now what year is it now one was 1438 so it took place in the year 2 as I said 1436 years ago it was the very first major battle that took place defending the city of Medina and the newly established Muslim community in the city of Medina against the aggression of Oresh and the arrogance of their enemies Oresh Oresh is the tribe of the Prophet himself who did not accept his invitation out of arrogance because Prophet Muhammad was not the richest he was not wealthy they thought that the messenger of God whoever God sends to the humanity should be millionaire he should be wealthy if he does not have money then he doesn't have influence then we are not going to listen to him so out of prejudice out of bigotry and arrogance they rejected the invitation of the Prophet and they turned against him they turned against him when the Prophet was in Mecca preaching the word of God inviting them to the right path they persecuted him they chased him they tortured him and his followers they confiscated whoever would turn to the side of the Prophet and join him his property his land would be confiscated his money will be taken away so many of those Muslims were driven out of their land out of their homes they were persecuted by Oresh some of them however remained in Mecca they could not travel to Medina because of family ties they had families they could not leave them and for other reasons they could not move from Mecca to Medina but many Muslims they moved with the Prophet when he moved to Medina they moved with him to this new city that welcomed the Prophet you know Oresh they had two trips two business trips two major business trips one in the summertime they take their goods to Syria to seldom in Syria to the north the other one was in the winter time where they take their goods to the south to Yemen and they sell their goods they purchase new goods and they come back to Mecca two trips two business trips winter trip and summer trip the trip the journey of the winter and the summer in this winter trip Oresh invested all their money in this caravan and the caravan was headed by Sakhar ibn Har Sakhar ibn Har is the real name of Abu Sufyan Abu Sufyan is real name is Sakhar Sakhar is stone and Har is war so the stone of the war this is the translation of his meaning as his name so they put all their money in that they invested all their money in that caravan that would go from Mecca to Syria every single person in Mecca who had money they would invest that money in this caravan and he took it to Syria on the way back on the way back he has to pass it through Medina because Medina is in the middle between Mecca and Syria Medina is in the middle so the Prophet realized that this caravan is coming back and the entire economy and the entire wealth of Oresh is in this caravan so the Prophet wanted to send a warning a strong message to Oresh that if you keep persecuting the Muslims and if you keep harassing us and torturing the Muslims then your economy will be in danger your caravan would not be safe your wealth is going to be confiscated and you will be under embargo and you know any country when you put any country under embargo economic embargo that country will kneel down so the Prophet sent a message to Oresh and he said to his community let's go outside Medina and intercept this caravan if we get it we will get it and put our hand on that caravan and we will confiscate it from Oresh because they already confiscated the Oresh had confiscated their wealth the properties of the new Muslims in Mecca and if we don't we send at least a powerful message to the arrogant Meccans because those people in Mecca Oresh their arrogance was based on their wealth on their money once you take the money away from them they crumble down like some countries today in the Middle East take the oil away from them in Mecca nobody can survive the same story happened 1400 years ago same people so the people the community of Medina who were with the Prophet many of them were poor some of them were interested in the caravan they are poor and if they can seize this caravan and take the wealth away definitely they are going to be better off but God says to His prophet وَإِذْ يَعَدُكُمُ اللَّهُ إِحْدَطْطَعِفَتَينِ عَنَّهَا لَكُمْ the details of this battle is mentioned in chapter 8 Surat Al-Anfar beautiful chapter the details of this war before the war during the war and after the war is mentioned in chapter 8 وَإِذْ يَعَدِكُمُ اللَّهِ hence your Lord promised you اِحْدَطْطَعِفَتَينِ two things what if a means things or a group either you are going to get the caravan you are going to seize it for you which is a success or you defeat forayish militarily again this is another success احد الله if it either this seizure of the caravan either you break down economically or you defeat them militarily these two God promised you if you don't get the first one definitely you are going to get the second one وَإِذْ يَعَدَكُمُ اللَّهِ وَإِحْدَطْطَعِفَتَينِ اَنَّهَا لَكُمْ it's going to be of yours what they were doing but God knows about their hearts those who were around the Prophet they wanted money free money they didn't want to fight وَتَوَدُونَ عَنَّ غَيْرَ ذَا تِشَّوْكَ تِتَكُونُ لَكُمْ وَيُرِيدُ اللهَ وَانْيُحِبْقَ الْحَقَّ بِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَيَطْبَ عَدَابِرًا كَافِرِ God knows about your hearts you want to get the spoil of the war you want to get the booties you want to get the money without getting involved in any fighting but God determines to establish the truth and defeats falsehood so they went with the Prophet it was on the eighth day of Ramadan day number eight and remember this is the very first Ramadan Muslims are fasting because fasting was prescribed in the second year of kitchen in Mecca they did not fast when they were in Mecca there were no fasting neither there were formal prayers in Mecca there were no formal prayers, five daily prayers when they came to Medina prayers was established after 17 months prayers was established and in the second year of Hijra the fasting was prescribed upon them so they have just started fasting and after eight years of the beginning of their fast the Prophet eight days the Prophet is asking them to go with him to the battlefield which is about 100 kilometers 100 km south of Medina in a valley called Badr this is why the battle is called Badr which is named after the valley where the battle took place 150 km south of Medina and it is north of Mecca somewhere not exactly in between Mecca and Medina it is closer to Medina than Mecca and the distance between Mecca and Medina is about 400 km so the people who went with the Prophet they were only 313 313 soldiers but they were poorly equipped those 313 soldiers they did not have swords many of them were very poor so they would carry pieces of sticks or the trunks of the palm trees to fight with it they say the number of the swords were very small so the army was not really qualified army trained army prepared army well equipped army they were volunteers who were very poor at that time and even they did not have means of transportation at that time means of transportation were horses and camels so these 313 people they had only 8 horses only 8 horses and 70 camels so they had to take a turn some of them would ride the camel the others would walk and then they switch I believe they lost a lot of weight in this trip good exercise but they did not fast because when you travel you don't fast when the Prophet left Medina on the 8th day he broke his fast because this is the ruling in the Quran when you travel او على سفر people who are sick people who are traveling they are not required to fast so they were not fasting they were food or weapon with them so Abu Sufyan when he realized صخر of نحر when he realized that the Prophet brought his community to intercept his caravan he sent a distressed message to the camel he hired someone he told him to ride the horse and rush to Mecca and tell the camel your caravan is gone you lost all your money and that's a big disaster for the camel to tell them that you lost your money you know some people tell them you lost your life he doesn't worry but tell him you lost your money he worries a lot money for some people is more important than life believe me we see this in every community at every time so this guy came to Mecca and he started yelling he stood at the mountain Safa mountain there where they make the announcements so if someone stands on this mountain people gather to see what he says or she says so he started saying oh Meccans Muhammad confiscated your caravan all your money is gone so they all gathered they were mobilized and they decided every person in Mecca every single person every single mail to carry the weapon and go and fight even women decided women the wife of Abu Sufyan who was in Mecca at that time her name is Hint Hint Ben Otba her father is Otba and I am going to tell you what happened to her father soon he would enjoy what happened to her father Hint also said I am not carrying weapon but I am a good cheerleader have you seen these cheerleaders who jump up and down she wasn't that young but she was in her probably 50's but still she was able to dance she says I dedicate myself and my women with me my sisters my group as cheerleaders to entertain the army the army of Quraish we come as entertainers so they took off from Mecca with 1000 1000 soldiers Quraish's army was 1000 soldiers and the only person who stayed behind was the uncle of the prophet Abu Lahab Abu Lahab said listen my life is more important than anything else let my money go to hell I don't care I'm staying in Mecca they said to him but you must defend the caravan he said okay I will pay for someone to go so he paid someone he hired him to fight on his behalf so Abu Lahab stayed in Mecca so the prophet realized that the caravan now is gone Abu Sofyan was smart he made a detour he took a different route and he went to there there is a route on the Red Sea another path on the Red Sea which is close to the sea he took another route and he escaped he avoided Medina because he realized that the Muslim army are going to to seize his caravan so he managed to escape but then when he sent this stress message to the Mackens the Mackens came though they realized that the caravan now is safe but out of arrogance they said we are going to teach Muhammad Al-Lessar Muhammad who was a barefoot who was going to eat and he was persecuted by us and he managed to escape from Mecca to Medina now he is mobilizing an army to defy us we will teach him Al-Lessar though the caravan is safe but we will go ahead with the war so they decided to go all the way all the way to Medina to fight against Muhammad and the new established community of the Muslims in Medina here the Prophet used to consult his community always the Prophet was not a dictator although we believe in Islam the Prophet is inspired by God and he is commanded by God he receives commands from God but yet the Prophet used to consult to teach us a very important principle and that principle is called the principle of I spoke about it a few days ago sure consultation sure or shall we learn from God God says to the Prophet consult with them in these matters so the Prophet consulted his community would you like to go to the war or not the community was divided some of them did not like to go some of them were frightened if you read the book of Seerah Seerah ibn Hisham the book of Al-Maghazi and many other books that narrates the life of the Prophet you will find that there were two groups some of them were supportive they wanted to go to war to defend themselves others were afraid others were not in favor of war neither in favor of defense one of the people who was not in favor of war he said يا رسول الله إنها قرش ما ذلت منذ عزت وما آمنت منذ كفر those people are arrogant this is قرش is undefeatable nobody can defeat this superpower in the region it is a superpower and we cannot meet with them we are not equal with them so it is better to retreat it is better not to go to war it is better to stay so the Prophet said let me listen to others others came came up one of the companions he said يا رسول الله we follow your instructions if you tell us to to go through this sea we will do so ولو خفت البحر لخفناه معك wherever you tell us to go we will come with you we are not going to be like the community of moses when he asked them to come with him to palestine they said to him اذهب انت وربك فقاتلا إنها هنا قاعدون moses you go and fight alongside your lord let your lord help you we are enjoying our time in the Sinai Peninsula اهنا قاعدون but we will say to you يا رسول الله اذهب انت وربك فقاتلا إنها معكم مقاتلون we will come with you يا رسول الله we will come we will listen to you the same thing happened by another reader سعاد بن معاه the leader of the Ansar the Ansar are the inhabitants of Medina those who received the Prophet when he moved from Mecca to Medina and they helped him they are called Ansar helpers سعاد بن معاه said يا رسول الله we are with you we will fight courage and we will crush them those people are arrogant and if you don't stand up to arrogance you will be always abused and God does not want you to be abused God wants you to defend yourself self defense is important a good believer is the believer that when he or she is abused they have to defend themselves not just ask Allah Allah help me Allah these guys abusing me hurting me insulting me do something about it God says I will do but after you do after you defend yourself I will come to your aid you have to maintain your dignity and your honor and your value so you have to defend yourself so the Prophet when he heard these encouraging statements from some of his companions he said to them أبشرو I am giving you three tidings فإن الله تعالى وعدني أحدة طايفة my Lord has just promised me that we are going to score one of these two victories either we are going to seize their caravan or we are going to defeat them in the battle وَاَيْدِ يَعَيدُكُمُ اللَّهُ إِحْتَطْطَا إِفْتَيْدِ now some still some of them still were reluctant and this is mentioned in the Quran if you want to know the details of this of this military excursion read the Quran please and I said many times in the month of Ramadan we are asked to read the Quran but not just reading with no understanding it has no value no merits you have to read and understand the translation and understand the background why this verse has been revealed for what reason and what does it mean once you understand the reason you understand the recitation the recitation is going to be very capturing very interesting but if you don't understand the meaning you are wasting your time and I said you don't have some people say you have to finish the whole Quran yes people who understand Arabic they can finish the whole Quran people whose Arabic is well excellent they can understand the Quran and they can finish let's say one cycle two cycles three cycles but those who do not understand Arabic you don't have to finish the whole Quran Allah knows about your ability Allah knows your mother tongue is not Arabic you need to translate you need to understand you need to take your time so you don't have to finish the whole Quran without understanding even if you read one section one juzo with understanding that would be more beneficial than reading the whole Quran without understanding and I say this all the time read the Quran read one page read three lines but try to understand the whole Quran but try to understand it don't bypass it without knowing what does this this is a treasure believe me one verse it might take 3-4 hours of your time to reflect on it this is a book of reflection a book of meditation so we should we should respect the book and give it the value that it deserves by just reading it without understanding the meaning what do you understand what do you enjoy let us go enjoying it so here Allah says to the Prophet in Surah Al-Anfan Chapter 8 verse 5 and 6 read these verses whenever you make time كما أخرجك ربك من بيتك بالحق وإن فريقا من المؤمنين للكاريه God took you off of your house or Muhammad from Medina to go on combat orage why a group of the believers with you were a verse to this they were reluctant to come with you لكاريهون you know the meaning of لكاريهون how many of you know the meaning of كاريهون raise your hand كاريهون from Quran when you don't like something Allah is saying that the group of believers with you they were a verse they were reluctant to come with you they didn't want to come with you I want you to understand the community of the Prophet sometimes we believe all of them were angels but this is not the case the Quran tells us the facts some of them the Prophet is asking them come with me come to help defend your community your family they say no leave me alone لكاريهون you jadiloonak not only they don't like and they reluctant but they are disputing with you you jadiloon from جدال you jadiloonak في الحق بعد ما تبين they dispute with you regarding the truth when the truth is very obvious to them they know what is right and what is wrong despite that they dispute with you despite knowing what is right and what is wrong they keep like some children sometimes you know children they know what is good and what is bad but still they argue with their parents argue you jadiloonak في الحق بعد ما تبين كأنما يساقون إلى الموت وهم ينبون they were so afraid to go with the Prophet as if they've been driven to a slaughterhouse someone wanted to slaughter them they were too afraid this is the wording of the Quran صورة الانفار ريب the Quran I reflect on the book the Prophet himself he didn't want to fight he was not a war monger he did not want to shed the blood of people but that is his last resort last resort with the enemy who does not understand logic with the enemy who keeps persecuting you and threatening you and taking everything away from you and leaving you with no choice then you must stand up to that enemy you must defend yourself so the Prophet had to go out of necessity to defend his community and his people so they arrived make a short they arrived to the battlefield and here in the morning of the 17th of Ramadan like today the two armies they confronted each other one army 1,000 soldiers the other army 313 soldiers the Prophet raised his hand to his Lord he said oh my Lord I am doing everything I can I am defending my community my men though they are poor and needy and they have no weapon but we are standing to defeat those barbaric people those aggressors but my Lord if those people are going to die today the 313 no one is going to worship you on earth that is the end of monotheism the end of worshiping God because those people are idle worshipers and aggressors and they are going to wreak havoc in the land so if this group 313 are going to perish فلن تقبد في الارض no one is going to recognize you and worship you so I leave the case to you this is my last result and this is what we should do when we have a problem when we face something important you do what you can you do everything you can and leave the rest to God and leave the case to Him tell Him the case now is in your court I did whatever I was able to do and here the 2 armies they confront each other 3 arrogant men from this side they come out carrying their swords and they said Mohammed bring us our counterparts اكفاءنا من قومنا bring us we are heroes so we need to see the heroes from your side they were saying that's sarcastic so we teach them a lesson those 3 were 2 brothers اتبى ابن شيبة اتبى sorry اتبى ابن ربيعة اتبى ابن ربيعة اتبى ابن ربيعة is the father of Hind Hind the cheerleaders the mother of Muawiya اتبى ابن ربيعة so the uncle شيبة الى ربيعة 2 brothers اتبى and شيبة those were the leaders of pagans the most arrogant in N directional the most arrogant and the son of عتبى الوليد ابن اتبى who is the uncle of The brother of Hind and the uncle of who Muawiya Bin Abi- healthier so the 3 LEADERS اتبى 그리고 شيبة والوليد لذلك يتذكرون الوطب وشيبة ووليب. يأتي الوطب يسأل ثلاثة هيروز. اول هيرو علي يبن عبي طالب عليه الصلاة والسلام. 24 سنوات علي يبن عبي طالب. ثم يأتي الوطب الحمزة عبد المطلب عليه السلام. سيد الشوهب. ثم يأتي another companion by the name of عبيده ابن الحالث. وانتما يتذكرون الوطب في مقبوله. سببا علي يبن عبي طالب. فردت تجربة أسرع. يجب أن تجربة أسرع في السماء. مع فرد علي علي يبن عبي طالب. علي يبن عبي طالب إلى عبي طالب. هو عبي حمزة عبد المطلب. يبن عبي طالب إلى شيبة. ولكن عطب. عطب was able to strike on عبيده ابن الحالث. The Muslim companion. He wanted him. But then Imam Ali and Hamza Tubna Abdul-Mattalib came to his aid and they were able to put down عطب. So three of them were killed. The casualties are three from this side and a wounded companion of the prophet who later on died because of his bleeding. And then the two armies they clashed with each other. For a few hours the result was 70 people were murdered from Quraish. Another 70 were taken as captives and the rest of the army run away from the battlefield. The army of Ushraqeen. Run away and flee from the battle. With the help of God. How was the help of God? Here God when Muslims were outnumbered by the polyathists, the pagans God interfered here. How did he interfere? Look at what the book says. The book says If you recall him الله في منامك قليلا ولو أراكهم كثيرا لفشلتهم ولا تنازعتهم في الأر. ولكن الله سلم إنه عليم لذات الصدور وإذ يريكهموا إذ التقيتهم في أعيونكم قليلا ويقللكم في أعيونهم ليقضي الله أمرًا كان مفقول. What happened? الله says in the Quran that we made the Muslims see the non-Muslim army as a few. So when they are a few you will have more courage to go and defeat them. But if you see them as a huge army then you will be afraid. It will be a big army for you. So you will be reluctant to go. So God made Oresh army look few in the eyes of the Muslim army. So the Muslims will be more encouraged. They will look at them as an easy target. When you look at an enemy as an easy target you will have more encouragement to go and confront your enemy. At the same time God made the Muslims also look very few and small in the eyes of the Pagan army. Why? Not for the same reason for another reason. So they can be arrogant and they will say Hey, I don't prepare for them. This few number needs no preparation. So they will go to the war relaxed and prepared and lazy. And this is what happened. But this is in the beginning of the clashing. Later on in chapter 3 Allah says when they came because if they had seen the Muslim army as a huge army they would have gone. So Allah made them to see the Muslim army only in the beginning as a small army so they will go for confrontation they will go for confrontation with them as soon as the war started Allah made the Muslim army looks twice as much in the eyes of Boreish. So they could not continue the fighting. Do you follow me on this or not? This is all mentioned in the Quran. Where does it say that when they started the fight God made the Muslim army as it was as twice as twice as much Where is it? In Surah Al-Imran يرونهم مثليهم رطي العين يرونهم مثليهم رطي العين Chapter 3 verse 13 So they were exhausted they were fighting them all of a sudden this army that looked a few minutes ago it looked very small now it looks very huge we cannot defeat them so they were very exhausted and tired they could not continue fighting and this is why they run away they were defeated and Allah says another reason for Boreish defeat we cast fear in their hearts this is the work of God سأولطي God says سأولطي I will cast fear سأولطي في قلوب الذين كفروا الورق سأولطي في قلوب الذين I will cast fear in the heart This is when God interferes See God does not send you an airplane or a tank or a rifle God has his own ways his own psychological and spiritual ways of either defeating a wicked army or giving victory to another army He has his ways So they were defeated because of their fear though they had a bigger number well equipped and they knew they were good fighters they were trained but they broke down because God said I will cast in their hearts in their spirits سأولطي سأولطي في قلوب الذين كفروا الورق لكن دعني نهاية when the war ended unfortunately some of the Muslims were fighting with each other over what over the booties over the war spoils some of them were saying these are for us because we were fighting the others said no it is for us because we were protecting the prophet the third one said no this was for us because we are the old generation the fourth one said we are the young generation we work harder and you can find this in the beginning the very beginning of chapter سورة الانفال يسألونك عن الانفال الانفال means the war spoils قول الانفال لله ومسور فتقوا الله واصلحوا ذات بينكم وصدقوا الله وصدقوا جيدا ونقلوا تلك الانفال يتبقوا أحدهم يتبقوا الانفال ولكن the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يقول اتبع هذا السؤال لأيضا لأن الله كان يسألهم وضعوا الله ورسوله في كل مقمين يتبعوا ما the prophet says لأن ما he says لا one is going to be abused everyone is going to take his or her share صلى الله عليه وسلم على سيدنا محمد وأهل بيتها طيبين الطاهرين