Okay, like to call a meeting order at 630. Do we have any additions to agenda. Yes. Oh, we do. Usually it's under penalty of death, but let us slide. Oh, are we talking about the Kellogg Harvard library exclusion. That's the addition. Okay. That's the only edition. All right. We'll figure it out. Now you folks visitors. Oh, okay. Cause we usually have a signing sheet for visitors. I don't know. We can sign. Yeah, you could sign in there. All right. Next item on agenda is review of minutes, February 13, 2023. Okay. Very good and comprehensive as usual. And I have a few minor suggestions. Bottom of page two. Mr. Etnair. I would like to amend the remarks attributed to me there to be. Mr. We have a couple of comments. Like the vertical fluorescent stripe on the sign posts. That Mr. Kaplan suggested. Or baskets of flags and then continue. Kaplan. Page two at the bottom. Yeah. Oh, Mr. Right. Yes. Mr.  And then page four, the bottom of the first item. So just before the liquor license applications. I did not go back and review the video of this, but my memory is that the upshot of all of that was that we authorized the town clerk to process the playing field of the liquor license. Recognizing that we did not as a municipality have any ability to approve it. Okay. Yep. Please. Good catch. And, and then finally at the bottom of page four, same page. How the third line, I guess it's the fourth line from the bottom. However, the reference statute is unclear. Okay. So either the names, et cetera, et cetera, to leave that sentence as it is, but then add after member comma. As are the capital West bylaws. And finally. Wait a minute. Could you repeat I'm trying to understand the sentence. So it's the sentence that begins. However, the reference statute is unclear as to whether the town of East Montpellier or the east Montpellier fire department. Yes, and you wanted to add comma as are the capital West bylaws. Is that clear? No Okay, how about this period leave that sentence and then add an additional sentence He said the capital West bylaws are also unclear Who okay? Sure. So this I would because we might have forgotten who he is you might just say Mr. Eitner Eitner also said Mr. Eitner. We would say it and I are okay. Thank you, but I think it should be Mr. Eitner with an eye You would not be the first sorry about that Okay, but wait a minute who was looking at the bylaws wasn't you I was yeah, cuz Petrella was unclear Also, yeah But no, I was I was reading the bylaws as we're talking and made that comment Sure. Okay, and then finally I have not checked in with mr. With chair Gardner about this but Judas I'm going on my normal presumption that chair Gardner knows whereof he speaks and So I think that on page six under other business the third paragraph The second line chair Gardner noted that the town would need to change the ordinance to enforce such a sign rather than put up a sign Does chair Gardner agree with that? Where's this I share got everybody's a topic of the parking issues, so that's big So it's here chair Gardner noted that the town would need to change the park. Oh, yeah to enforce such as that's that's What I said, yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, and that was my understanding of the ordinance Yeah, the lack of an ordinance when you put up a sign, but I can't enforce it, right? Okay. Yeah Okay, are you done? What about your Comment that's in there. Oh, that's in there. Yeah, that's your yeah. Yeah Okay, I suggest you take it home and study it. Oh, I definitely will Pearls of wisdom Do we have any other comments on the select court minutes of February 13? Good minutes long meeting just great Okay, that was your comment. That was my comment. Okay Judith I'm all set. I make a motion. We approve the minutes with the amendments Carl. I mentioned second All in favor, please say aye. Aye The eyes appeared to have it that you have it All right, I mean it's rather way Public comment is the next thing on the agenda. I see a lot of public here Does anybody want to talk under public comment or are you here for a specific item? Okay, good enough Okay, 640 is Review Northfield Savings Bank Services proposal Megan Yo, is a sickio Cecil ask them Senior VP. Yes, enterprise banking with Northfield Savings Bank. Yes. Can you take the floor, please? Yeah 31 years and I presented an RFP proposal to Michelle and Gina on behalf of Northfield Savings Bank to Potentially have the town of Eastmont player Do their banking with Northfield Savings Bank? So I've given them the full RFP Not sure exactly what you would like me to touch on. I'm happy to touch on whatever Points of the RFP We always have Operations so we would essentially want to close everything. That's an empty, right? So do we go through those things line by line? I'm not sure how you all have evaluated banking options in the past We didn't have to have representatives from the bank come in But this is probably a little bit more thorough or comprehensive But we've had to identify what we needed from the bank so Do we check the account and I sweet the count? And we have gone through Megan has seen all of the current account structure that we have and Northfield can obviously provide what we need In addition to the added benefit that the fraud will stop because we will be closing our current account Because the fraud has not slowed down at all our fraud attempts. Excuse me. I should say But Northfield has some better investment options has lower fees we didn't necessarily quantify all of that but Overall just feel more comfortable with local bank this really Yeah, that's been kind of a push in the second a while But Don was always telling us We didn't have a million dollars something something. I came There were a lot of there was some drawbacks he felt to go into a local bank 755 put that 757 55. Yes, okay. Yeah It might be sure sir Not later Sometimes things go bigger So In the banking business, I can't remember the drawbacks to going to a smaller bank because that's basically what we'd be doing What is what are the drawbacks? So we're actually the largest bank headquartered in the state of Vermont. Yeah, and we've been in business for over 150 years And I had actually previously done an RFP for dawn, but that was my knit was still peoples and you were comfortable with that initial transition from Chittenden Bank to peoples there was still a deeper local presence And I think that sort of Disappointed and you're not the only municipality that's had struggles with the conversion And so what I did was I put together the proposal I gave a couple of options because we do have the ability to finalize your funds Within the RFP I did a standard checking account and savings account where Michelle and Gina or Rosie would would be responsible to move money as you needed as well as an option where it would automatically sweep every night And that's the option that they wanted to go with because it's the same account structure that you have now We have the ability to collateralize your funds for any funds that aren't secured by the treasuries And our online banking platform allows you to customize the control limits of who can do what within the system Who has the ability to approve transactions? We offer positive pay just like you have now So you won't have the fraud issues in terms of any checks that are not approved We only pay checks that have been approved by you As well as a CH services So we can continue to support those needs that you have and remote deposit capture Which allows you to scan checks right from the office here to deposit the funds into your account automatically Another big plus for Northfield is someone will actually come on site here to work with us to set everything up and to get everything Switched over Support is certainly something with the transition from people to MIT that was lacking and if you talk to someone at MIT They would admit that themselves It just was so that was a big factor for us as well We did meet with a few banks, but not every bank could offer that that that on-site support and that was definitely something That was important to us Did you want to say something or you're mute Thank you, I just wanted to make sure I understood the two recommendations from the bank and then the one that Rosie and Gina or excuse me, Gina was recommending that we go with so looking at the The document and kind of the first Reckon the first comments blurb I think that's on Where to go Yeah, thank you. Thank you page page for it says there are two recommended options The first would be to establish an enterprise checking account with interest which includes a free business money market account So that's the first option Is that correct? Okay. And so and then the second option is the cash cash management sweep option Correct. Yes. Okay. And so I guess I'd be interested in why Gina The cash management sweep option is kind of the better option of the two from your perspective With that one, we are not really managing the cash ourselves So the bank you kind of almost go negative during the day as any funds are Basically any checks or cash or payments process and then at the end of the day, the bank essentially replenishes the account Otherwise, we would really have to have a cash management system in house to manage what text we're cutting put the money over It's it's honestly a better way in my opinion too because you're keeping the money Kind of in your kind of interest bearing and then and you use it as you need Great, thank you You won't even have to take out of that reserve You'll have an excess and so every night that there's an excess that sweeps the money into the reserve So it's a two-way automatic So if you've spent all of a sudden you have to pay your school tax payment and you do that and you're running negative It'll it'll sweep at the end of the day It waits till all of the transactions both the deposits and the withdrawals have processed through and then it'll either sweep to the Reserve account or a sweep from the reserve account whatever is needed for the town I Actually have relayed this M&T is aware that we are speaking with other banks And I let our representative know that the other struggle that we have is the M&T platform the online banking platform is very difficult to use I Pried myself on being able to figure out systems fairly easily. This one is not intuitive at all Simple things. This is with the credit card, but with the credit card system I have yet to be able to figure out how to get an online statement to us It's a print and to have it automatically email. I'm sorry to us and then even to print it to select it It's just a very odd system. It's very difficult to use Yeah, Michelle has a hard time use it using it and that was one of our other big considerations is We simply don't like their platform And then Michelle's made calls in one day and gotten three different people and three different answers when she's having an issue So, you know, I happen to use Northfield personally So I'm aware of their online system and then Michelle looked at it You know, that was something that we went Megan What their online platform looks like and that was actually one of the driving factors as well for choosing more field So as Megan knows, I'm a customer at Northfield. Oh, Megan I have a question about what other banks you interviewed and What of the other banks you interviewed why Northfields? Percolated to the top why you're only presenting that the one alternative to us Has only one branch in Barry They're trying to get into municipals, but they do not have a lot of clients currently They also because they are so small did not have the ability to have someone come in on-site support us through this transition So those were the big factors there. Yeah, community bank was second in line Overall, I think the real factors there were Michelle really liked the online Interface with Northfield a little bit better than what we saw with community And frankly, we just felt a greater rapport with with Northfield as well and with what they could offer Right. Okay. Very good. And and then who owns Northfield Bank or municipal savings. Thanks. We're owned by our depositors. Yeah Not the stock Thank and within the RFP there were references from other municipalities so that if you wanted to follow references as well as your CPA would give a reference When we met the Chad and You can actually talk to human some of the fingers get an answer. It's just Yeah, I agree Got more questions. Hey Seth. Can I ask a question? Sure. Yeah, I don't know where you live.  Yeah, I know Amy's Amy set this up. Can you blame that on her? We say it's still a lap. Yeah, I know I'm in a I'm in a dungeon. So I'm in car. I'm in car. She logs you up before she leaves Yeah, the Unitarian Congregation joking aside, would you introduce yourself for the record? Yes, Scott Hess citizen on North Street and his resident of East Montpelier Just a quick question curious about the cash sweep since it's a competitive environment and and The rate structure is obviously different than a year ago. Well, how many basis points or Can you can you just describe a little bit about our idle cash that's swept and and what type of? rate structure or Interest interest bearing we can we can anticipate Because of the balances within the account and the fact that they exceed over a million dollars the average collected balance We look at rates as often as once a week traditionally and the rate is currently for over a million dollars It's a yield of 1.25 The rate is 1.24 Okay And maybe a little further question Is there opportunity to Make investments in short-term Investment vehicles for instance if we knew for the next month we weren't going to use $500,000 that we could that we could purchase T bills that are now, you know Somewhere around 400 basis points. Is that is that an option that would be available? for um for East Montpelier If the time wanted to do that, I don't know what your um investment policy is but I do have a page within there for northfield investment services That we could and I have offered um that we could have an investment advisor come out So that you could look at options for some shorter-term investments that would still provide you with fdic coverage Or some collateralization that the town should require for all of their deposits as well as I did include within the rfp. I had actually done the rfp I think it was back in october and then we updated it Because the rates had changed and some of our cd specials had changed I've also put the nine month cd special here for any excess funds If you wanted to keep them collateralized within the bank And that nine month cd is paying three and a half percent today with a minimum balance of a thousand dollars So the the benefit of municipalities is we have the ability to collateralize funds in excess of $250,000 Where most borrowers are capped at that $250,000 coverage limit through the fdic Unless you have a ics or cdars account with the municipalities. We can guarantee the funds on deposit Okay, thank you Certainly opportunities for a lot of excess Income at this point for for the town. It's I mean, it's real money at this point. Thank you You're very welcome And that that would be up to the town and this left board in terms of your investment strategy. Yeah How big is our investment policy I was gonna say I've never I've never been Well, no, we have some cds But I don't think we don't have a policy. I don't think we have a pot. I don't like you can't do. I mean like for instance, no Right. Yeah, we have fund balance policy, but I don't know if there is There is no options probably There is an investment policy. Yeah, you have to yeah You have to look at that. Yeah, that's kind of a separate little bit of an issue though. Yeah, so just to Tie up the Banking thing is what we really need to do Is is there anything else you want to tell us unless you have other questions? I Who's got questions or Thank you How long will the transition take? Um, so basically what will happen is I have all the paperwork with me that in the event you approve it I'll leave it with michelle. She'll she'll get signatures And what we'd like to do in this situation is we'll get everything set up I've actually already got the platform sort of built waiting for you to give the green light so that we'd have your Positive pay your a ch and your remote deposit capture will come on site We'll load the new scanner. We're providing new scanner for free for you So that you can get rid of your old scanner and we'll get all the checks ordered so that when you're ready to go Live we'll be able to work with um, michelle and gina to get the files the a ch files rebuilt for all your Records and then we'll when you're ready to go live you can go live I think we should have motion so We have a second second the motion is to Transition to north of savings to transition our banking services to northfield savings bank as recommended by the Municipal staff Is that correct? Okay sounds good We have a second. Yeah Oh, Amy second All those in favor, please say I Hi The eyes appear to have it. Did you say hi jr? Yep Okay, the eyes appear to have it. They do have it. It's unanimous Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming in. Thank you Yeah I Yeah, I just want to say we as you mentioned earlier Seth we've been talking about getting our money into The local bank for a long time and I'm really glad to see us take a good move There's no question about especially with the problems we have amity. I mean peoples was different Once you move to amity. It's like this is all going downhill. Yeah So Okay 655 for right on schedule selvin empowers fy 2022 audit report presentation Chad Hewitt Is here I believe Sure Yep Chad I'm going to follow your seat there when they were saying there wasn't any investment policy I guess Hi, my name is Chad Hewitt. I'm one of the partners at solar powers and company and actually over here is just a jordan plumber He's he's another partner. He is still working at the office tonight. I said hey come with me and meet these people So it's like both jordan. I actually worked worked on the audit with a couple other team members and Actually at our office. We actually have two other partners actually work on it just different segments of the of the audit so But this is the first year. We've been doing the town audit now for Six seven years Yes, okay This this this this town up north. Did you ever heard of it? It's such the h I'm not sure I can't remember the name of it Ever comes out That's it. That's been up there quite quite a while. So anyway in the past Bruce has said oh they slept more they don't care about the audit. Well, we don't need to go over there so with this year Michelle and Michelle and Gina asks us to come and present and um, but So just just starting in I get for you guys read this cover to cover But we just got it really right? Oh, oh, yeah, so Oh, absolutely So actually so on a serious note, um, again you you have here a a 58 page document here and uh, there's a lot of there's a lot of information to hear but What I want to what I want to do is actually just kind of point out a point out a few things here He just pages one through five Is is what's called independent auditors? This is the only thing that's really, uh, so empowered. It's it's our opinion. It's our It's our uh, uh response to you guys saying, uh How the audit went and you guys are getting what's called a clean audit or professionally referred to as an unqualified opinion and which you can't you can't get anything anything better than that. So um, everything everything after everything after this I'm sorry There's a few other pages here but um The next pages that I just want to kind of refer to you is is from pages, uh four through Four four through nine and what this is this is called the management's discussion and analysis otherwise John's written these in the past, but this is a glorified Select working for it's really for the for the layman to read this five pages It figure out you kind of can you get all the municipal facts or are they all all the financial facts how the town did as opposed to reading the other 50 pages in the report. It's really just a layman's term in This kind of tells the results of operation. So I would Of all the pages that's other than our opinion. This is probably the best document out there. It's just just to read this Um Going a little bit further. I'm going to skip over Pages, uh 10 and 11 and the reason I am these are these are what was called government-wide financial statements It talks about the town of easement clear As a whole and it talks about capital assets and it kind of treats you as a business Uh, that's not really the case for easement clear because you guys are really what's called fund base Which you have your general fund you have all these reserve funds. So that's that's the main focus of the audit Um, look look at page 12 and 13. This is this is where the majority of the work is done here. Um, page page, uh, page I'm sorry page 12. So it's page 12 and 13 You'll see here. There's there's five. There's six columns. Uh, there's this general fund cap reserve fund Community fund and most recently the ARPA fund And then it's a fifth column called non major governmental funds The premise of our audit is really focused around what we call major funds and major funds I mean, it's it's really kind of like a sound. It's the most important funds of the town And I mean and not that the other funds are as important, but but again for my financial aspect Um, I mean these these are the the big the big hitters the heavy hitters of the town So look at look at the furthest of the column general fund. Obviously, we know everything about the general fund That's we live and die by that's what our budget is And about three quarters of the page down there on the left hand side down under the fund balance section It actually talks about how much money how much fund balance the town has You'll see that the the town as of june 30th 2022. So this is a snapshot in time The town the town had 600 and just just shy of 658 thousand dollars of fund balance, which is which is great And then that fund balance is broken down into three pieces Um 38 thousand dollars of it is what we call non-spendable. What that is is where you bought Well, you've kind of prepaid items out there. You prepaid your insurance and stuff like that So you can't get that money back very easily. So that's just a that's just kind of a segment Uh, there's another 192 thousand dollars of fund balance that is considered assigned and that's where you as a select board member members have have tentative plans for this money And what this what this is made up of of the 192 thousand Actually, this turn I got turned to a page. Uh, turn to a page to figure out exactly what it is No, actually 150 thousand dollars of your fund balance is money that you've given back to the voters in fy 23 So what we're saying is here. We have all this fund balance in june 30th 2022 But 150 is a sign. We're going to designated we In in other words, we hope to lose 150 thousand dollars in fiscal year 23 if our budget projections come to fruition There's another 30 thousand dollars out there that's assigned to compensated absences. That's just basically A reserve out there so that uh, and you most recently just used it when you paid out bruce It's it's it's for it's for vacation payouts that that are unexpected by by your employees Uh, then there's $10,000 still remaining for the treasury transition That was like what don has come back come back in or our help at all But then again that you might not need that at all And lastly, there's like $2,500 of recreation money that's still sitting out there That's again. It's part of the general fund of it. It's earmarked for recreation Then it leaves the unassigned number the unassigned number is truly the the money that has not been Uh To finnishly assigned for any purpose. It's your it's your it's I don't want to call you such one But it's really your your rainy day fund and that's 426 thousand dollars Now out that 426,000 we got break it down into one piece. There is the town that set up an emergency reserve fund I want to say four or five years ago. I can't remember exactly but but out of that 426 287 thousand dollars is what's called your emergency reserve month. Yeah, um, but then again, it's it doesn't have a It doesn't have a specific purpose, but it's truly as you say for emergency reserves And and then it just so so so out of 426 287,000 This is sitting out there for emergency reserves and then that leaves about 139 thousand dollars of just true surplus I mean just that can be used for anything like for instance, I use uh I think uh, john is up to up and hard to use this example all the time at least to have fund balances Uh hard up one year had a had a flood in the royal river and we had to go out and hire a crane that I think we was there maybe stand hill. I can't remember I had to hire a crane to beat up the ice in the river Well, they obviously didn't budget to 30. They didn't have a budget for 30 thousand dollars But that's why you want to have a fund balance and uh, so it's this stuff like that is so having having that having the available fund balances is It's good planning. You actually had a town manager one year, but uh, He uh used an x navy seal And he blew up the ice the ice jam The same getting a crane The next column or a capo reserve fund you guys already have a reserve fund But basically the town is sitting on 1.8 million dollars of capo reserve money And I know you guys have a capo reserve plan. You have a lot of plans for this money Uh, the third major fund is a community development fund. It's it's not very active But it's but it's when the town uh, got it got a community development grant And I know you lent it over to the place over there, uh, I Yes, any pines and and they keep they're repaying the money and as they repay the money You guys have to get the stable mod back a little bit of it, but you're going to keep it for future community development Then the fourth major fund is obviously the newest fund for for 2022 that's your apple fund Um, you'll see here. You get you have 381 thousand dollars as of june that amount pretty much doubled in fiscal year 23, I believe Yep, and uh, and as as of as of the time of this audit you guys hadn't had any You haven't definitively defined how you're going to use the money yet. Is that correct? No, some some some so so then we use 381 thousand dollars of money still out there that you receive that you haven't spent yet That's why it's that's why we we show the asset But you don't see it in fund balance because we consider it what's called deferred revenue or unearned revenue You received it yet haven't haven't really earned it. You haven't figured out what it's what we spent on Fifth column is what's called called the non-governmental funds again We spend we have less emphasis on these funds There's a lot of small funds the majority of it is a reappraisal fund. You have 146 thousand dollars in there You know that your cemetery fund of 120 thousand dollars in there then then this is just a bunch of other small funds but again, there there's there's uh There's schedules in the back that kind of show these these non-major funds, but again, they're they're not as significant I don't turn a page to exhibit D Exhibit D is it's like exhibit C was was basically the balance sheet of the town exhibit D is a It's basically in other words your income statement. It's it's also referred to revenues and expenses and changes in fund balance um, it's it's a kind of a global look of uh, of the town's finances, but But I know look just about near the bottom bottom section here The third lineup you'll see a line that says net change in fund balance and really what that is that is the essentially the profit or loss for the year And you'll look at the general fund there and you'll see the general fund lost 89 thousand dollars You're going oh my god. We lost 89 thousand But remember the town had budgeted to lose 100 thousand dollars because that's it For this fiscal year you gave back to the voters 100 thousand and when you when you give money back That's essentially you want to lose that so you came very close to your budget and projections of and Then your capital reserve fund you'll see there You may you may you actually had a positive surplus of three hundred and thirty two thousand dollars Well, the capital reserve fund the money comes from the general fund so Four hundred and forty eight thousand came into the capital reserve from from the general fund and you only end up spending Uh between I think it's about 120 grand of it So therefore if your capital reserve fund balance actually increased by 330 thousand bucks Community development fund didn't really have again pretty much 15 came in you sent the state Back seven so the the community development fund didn't change much And then you'll see the opera fund the opera fund There's no it doesn't show any revenues expenses because the money is still On the balance sheet is sitting as deferred revenue if you will The other focus of the audit I just want I just want to uh from a from a uh More of a fine line getting into the weeds type of uh detail Turning the pages 40 41 through 46 And this is this is a report very similar to what you guys used to seeing it's it's what we call the budget actual I know on a monthly basis or maybe even every two weeks Michelle and jenna hand you a budget report John c means over and over but basically it shows what the town budgeted and what the actual reserve results were and one of the things that's Again getting really cutting me is getting back to my initial Initial comment is that when michelle and jenna wrote the management discussion and analysis that they actually tell in here Why their large variances? It's like like for instance State aid to highways we got $18,000 or more than that was planned And then I think they described in it what there was the state or not handed out extra supplemental and supplemental payments Property taxes were actually under budget. Well, that's because more people Uh were were delinquent at the end of the year than the prior year Um, you got some you got some unbudgeted uh grants for emerald emerald dashboard Work and then there's then they then you go to the expense the expenses I mean this one please 72 thousand dollars more you spent 72 thousand dollars more than actual and that was a lot of that was Gina coming on michelle coming on also paying bruce. Uh while he's here. So those were unbudgeted items and uh, and again, there's Of all stresses before is that there's there's never anything wrong with going over budget? The biggest question is the biggest reason is just knowing why And I'm obviously that the town is well aware when bruce and jenna were here They were going to go over budget, but then again, they saved in other areas. So Well, look at schedule one. There's there's a few there's variances up and down in many areas Of the budget, but again, um, the the management discussion analysis Kind of does tell the whole story The the largest the largest thing was the highway operations. Um The highway operations came in 64 thousand dollars under budget. So, um, you can think you can think your road foreman for coming in A budget to pay to help pay for the additional salvage. So, I mean, obviously, uh, You saved a lot on salt because that's that's a that's a timing thing. Um Saved saved on chloride but obviously mud season last year kicked in the butt because of uh, because of the mud and that happened that happened everywhere So then there's just a lot a lot of areas were just under budget. So it's just it is cumulative to a to a large amount So um, so so again, those those the schedule one is more of the finer details of the audits. So And again, it's it's got a great analysis The last thing I guess I just want to just want to give uh the readers Some insight on is what we call our footnotes. And so really that is pages 17 17 through 40 And if it really is it gets down into the the finer details of the audit It kind of tells about like for instance, I guess in the details about your cash Specifically how much cash you have how is it? Is it collateralized? Is it is it got fdic coverage? Is there anything that's restricted? Again gets into really the the the bigger the bigger details of cash It talks about your receivables. Uh, how are the receivables broken down? Is it delinquent taxes? Is it grants? Is it fees? Um, and again, there's kind of every aspect of the audit gives you because more details There's a lengthy lengthy disclosure john seen this you can probably recite it about the state's pension plan I mean, there's there's like five pages of disclosure about belt veemers if you really want to look at it So it talks about the town's debt the town's fixed assets So there's a lot of there's a lot of Detailed information in the footnotes that really just kind of support the overall global numbers of the town So those those are the highlights of the audit and again, I know that was a quick version and but again, I just think the town is is well well funded And uh, I mean again, there's nothing better than unqualified Unqualified opinion from us. So so congratulations on that aspect so material Deficiencies, so so there's so there's a there's a Managed matter. So basically you got three you got three three reports from us the financial statements a management letter in an audit community letter and The management letter what we end up having is there were there Well, first of all the town The management is broken down into three types of weaknesses Material weaknesses the town the town needs Montpelier had zero material weaknesses. Those are what's called the worst So which there's definitely nothing here Uh, the the next level are what's called significant deficiencies and that is that is where there's there's an issue out there that the town should address But it's nowhere Doesn't doesn't mean the criteria to be a material weakness and and these are basically, uh issues that are uh, a tough a tough accounting issues, uh The first one and again, I think that these have already been resolved because it's spent some time with Gina and michelle the first one just relates around, uh, grant grant accounting and recording the transactions about Okay, what what is owed when it's owed? And in accounting terms, it's what's called the matching principle trying to match up. Okay, when we when we spend it when we owe it and and So those are transactions that are very difficult. I just needed some assistance on but I think Gina and michelle have Or we've met we we talked about it. I don't see that being an issue next year Were the processes that we were using not what you would suggest It's not necessarily a process. Again, they're complicated The timing yeah, what might because again even even when dawn was here Uh, and again, these are very municipal special municipal rules is is it makes them difficult So I mean so don and you can call me every year. So all right, this is how I think it's gonna work So so it's just and again, it's they're just it's complicated one time things that Anything is we really want to deal with them at the end of the year, right? These entries from what I understood speaking with both don and bruce in the past We're not posted until the auditors were actually on site and posted with the auditor So unfortunately for michelle and I when we tried to get information on how things were done previously There's really nothing to go by because it didn't happen until the auditors and there was an entry That was actually posted before our time. That is one of the items that that ended up on that list and and we also gotta remember that Gina and michelle were only here a year. I mean a one month out one month out of the 12. So so a lot of these are Don's numbers as well throughout throughout the year The second significant division we had is again, it's I it's called classification of grant revenues It's just the fact that it's how it got some grants in and they they just got recorded to a wrong account, but I get I fact is These guys came in in june's like, okay, what are these grants and Now I think I don't think it's gonna be an issue next year because they're gonna be their numbers they're gonna they know the grants and and at the time it's just like XYZ grant got put in the wrong spot that that's really what that's really what all it was And the third thing the third thing again, it's a what one time a year Transaction for recording a crew payroll is that and again now they know it's just that that first payroll in july We were we have to factor in How much time how many those hours were for june? It's just a matter of having to get recorded in the into the prior year again We've gone over these guys and and I think it's it's just I attribute a lot of this to just the transition issues So so then other than that we had a few what we call other recommendations and I mean again nothing's significant at all um in the for other recommendations and again, they're they're they're just Things that we think they could could make the town a little bit more efficient like for instance one of the issues was the recreation department that we noted is that the recreation department I know is is a part of the town. I know sometimes they kind of act autonomous But like like when we were reviewing their their activity, it's like, okay I wasn't seeing the deposits only about once a month and it's like, okay We got to get that money to the bank sooner. We got to get that money to the town. So so again that that was That was just it's not it's not a significant efficiency. It's just it's just a other recommendation that we have Another thing that we've talked about uh, I talked with Gina and michelle about is is a A fraud risk assessment at some point and what that is and I'm good I'm not saying there's any fraud here at all, but it's we recommend this to every single municipality is that Is that you kind of have a sit-down brainstorming session? With with everyone to figure out where can the town be beaten? And we you just document it. I mean I mean I like to come in and think or like what actually what I come in here I'm I'm thinking as I walk up through the door How can I be a crook in this place? But but really but really what it is is it's a matter of of the slack board the the staff and and Just trying to figure out. Hey, where can we be beaten? Is whether or not is it is it or didn't person in parts it's Decent fuel I mean as we all know decent fuel right now is it's just like home heating oil and I've actually had Two towns in the last two years Caught people stealing decent fuel just just putting it in can so it's just again. There's there's many different ways They're having a fuel pump that people attract the amount of fuel you're taking out of it But if you have a whole bunch of people taking fuel out of it, it's pretty hard to track who's doing it But every single month you have to qualify these little Kind of reconciliation, but right and that's what it is It's it's it's a it's a fraud product fraud assessment is just trying to Figure out where can we be beaten and how can we how can we uh? How can we mitigate it and again and we don't deem this as a as a significant deficiency at all It's just it's just another recommendation that we feel that the the town could Help deter fraud and the way kind of what you put it was that We because we did that and and the way you put it was that anywhere people can handle money touch money Have an opportunity just Get money because we have library water waste water plant You know all kinds of things are taking taking places those places.  How much do you handle? But it's not always that wasn't all the green cash. No, sometimes there's pieces. It's consumables, right? It's consumables racial wipers Well, no exactly situation for that But this kind of an audit would not uncover fraud per se. I mean, this is not a this is not a fraud No, it's what it is. It's an assessment so that you guys can assess where do we think we can be beaten And and then then just try to say, okay, we figured out where we can be beaten now. What can we do to what can we do to to uh to Possibly stop it and whether or not and again a lot of it is just the discussion of it I mean and again, I mean we always recommend we always recommend to a town that that once a year you You have a fraud conversation with your employees. You you blame it on the mean old auditors because like for instance if uh if Rosie knows that uh michelle is stealing. Okay We want rosy. We want rosy to go tell somebody. I mean, that's that's what we want to do We want to I mean same with the highway guys if highway guys sees Joe pulling putting decent fuel in a truck. I mean we want them to say This is the open line of communication and this is what you do with it And but a lot of times just discussing fraud. It is the it is the biggest deterrent So again, are we saying it's happening fraud happening? No, we're not saying that but it having the discussions that that's that's what we And again, uh, this is not a material. This is not material weakness. It's not a significant depiction. Just another recommendation But we are running yep We haven't got it. It's got it. So do we have any more questions? And just because I'm just because I'm leaving now Oh, okay I'm leaving the town has I mean we're all our doors always. Okay. Yes. Yeah So so first of all, thank you for coming in chat and giving us this this overview and thank you Gina michelle for inviting him to come in and talk to us I think that's very helpful. Um Questions in two areas one about the fraud discussion that uh, you were just talking about the recommendation for As you've seen we have just decided tonight to change our banking services from one bank to another and with a new bank Comes new opportunities to engage in fraud. How long after we make that transition? Do you think would be? Right for having that fraud discussion in the new environment. Well, I think there's two different fraud center fraud here I think what what Gina michella did with frogs in the bank is outside people Vendors trying to I mean they showed me some of the checks where the scam artists are trying to get your money And that's what that's what the fraud that the bank is going to handle The fraud I'm actually talking about is is really internal. I mean internal fraud and employees and stuff like that So really just two different types of things. So the we're quite honestly the banking aspect doesn't Doesn't really affect the conversation that I have internally. Okay. So thank you The other is that you had had mentioned if I understood you correctly that There's nothing wrong with going over our budget as long as we know why it happened. Yes In well currently we are having votes Taken every day coming in on our budget for the next fiscal year and those will culminate on town meeting day Could you describe as an outside auditor how you see The town's vote on the budget that we've put before them. How does that vote constrain? What we as a select board do in the next fiscal year I'm sorry. I guess I I'm not understanding the question. I'm sorry Okay, so we propose a budget you propose a budget town votes on it. It let's presume that it gets voted in How does that vote limit what the select board does in terms of spending money?  So but again and if you do if you do go over your budget It's like that's that's where that's where these guys say, all right We're going over budget now. Let's find ways to cut and it might be whether or not you're cutting in different areas and And but again another example. I could use it Rosie could go over on her office supplies because the interest rates are down to two percent But again on the other side of it her recording fees are going to be sky hot So you also want to look at both sides of Of the picture. I mean whether or not you go you get a like here I discussed about the fact that you have some contractor services for For emerald ash borer, but the other side of it was you had a you had a grant to cover that So but again, the biggest thing is if you go over budget just know why and Make sure you have a funding source and hence. That's what we talked about having adequate fund balance Basically what he's saying is the budget is your best guess exactly a budget. It's your plan. It's always a plan You're not out of the budget, but you like to stay within the parameters of budget if possible. Absolutely. Sometimes you can't Yep, no a budget is it is just a plan just your plan and and and again and like this year the plan changed because Bruce leaving and hiring these the plans changed, but again, you knew what was happening and so And you didn't trust you knew you had a great year in the highway department. So you could get a way to pay for it All right Okay, recording in progress It wasn't what I wasn't doing recording. Oh my goodness. Well, we have a recording anyway Okay, okay, okay, so I like to move to the next item which is the town treasury fort And we have the january 31st 2023 month reporting package What is that? That's something that we Have That's what Chad was just referring to Yeah, I think so and We have any red flags here Okay, that's just just the two pages that we have here 10 pages Nothing jumped out at you as being unusual. No needing attention. No We don't want to bust you along though. We're really significantly behind A lot of people waiting for us to What else to share that you can see I don't see anything myself Anything you can point us towards michelle? Say you can point us towards in this Um, I was just going to discuss the delinquent tax numbers with you. Oh, yeah, that's good. Okay. Sure. Um, so As of the 22nd or showing a bit behind last year We're at about 108 almost 190 000 and outstanding taxes of that amount 100 Thousand are just the current year late and 89 Are prior year delinquents, which is more than last year last year. There was only 63 000 at this time in delinquents Yeah, what was it last year? How much uh, 63 just over 63 last year for delinquent Did you happen to look at the last five years or so because Well, actually Actually, you know what it goes up and down to me it does it does and I had a It does go up and down It looks that way, but there are definitely some that are They're just adding from year to year. Yeah, so so yeah, so we we need to get together Soon and I have the list I have um, I've I've created some letters um some notices Different, you know notices to send out people on a tax agreement Based on our policy, but it's a little bit different So I just want to go through that with you and look at the people in the list and then kind of talk about the process And you know the thought was michelle would kind of go over because that has some experience with the way this has been dealt with in the past to go over some of her draft letters And then obviously presented the select for the next steps of how communication would then occur with the delinquent tax Individual so we we followed a process for these tax bills in the past Not that we can really find a clear very clear consistent approach in the past and that's what we're trying to create Is a consistent approach going forward She actually has gotten We've had we've had a process It might not be documented, but yeah, we discussed this as a select board. We made some decisions On on setting up some firm deadlines as to when we would start the process We worked with our town attorney to initiate the tax sales Uh, so I think a search of the minutes would Give uh, we have some indication of what that process was That's that's for if you get to the tax sale, but they're we're not at that point yet Oh, I thought that's the point We need to get to the point of tax sales with all the letters and the notices before me and then setting up the came agreement I haven't found any Should take place right when people become delinquent. Yeah, and then when do you know when do you notice them? How often do you notice them? Do you offer them a contract? What if they don't pay the contract you have to have that all in there and that's before they go to tax Exactly, that's exactly where we are what we need to get some clarity on moving forward Yeah, and we've had a process that we've followed in the past. Yeah I know I don't know why it's not written down if it's not written It's not it's not a true process because it can change for any individual person And it shouldn't be it should be treating everybody pretty much the same And and we went uh when we uh transitioned from having a separate elected delinquent tax collector to incorporate it into the function of the town town administrator at the time Then one of the comments that we made was that we wanted to go from personalized attention to each person to having a set of common rules for every taxpayer So we can work on that but we don't really have the time tonight to work on Yeah, yeah Talking about it. Okay. It's good. I'm good with that. And then the next thing. Oh, yeah, you go ahead So we the rfp is technically up for the external auditors fiscal year 22 was last year and what Sullivan and powers was engaged to be Are the town auditors? Yeah We asked Chad if he could create an engagement letter for fiscal 23 to keep them on for at least one more year as an auditor And delay the rfp process. Yep for the simple fact that they have been doing the audit since 2014 They have a lot of history and know how things have been done It would be very helpful for us given that there isn't a lot of documentation of certain things If we can tap into their knowledge for fiscal 23. So I presented that to the board Yeah, it's when you're changing so many things it makes sense to keep audit external auditors stable So that's why we would like to Have them continue through fiscal 23 and then we can consider of course an rfp at that point And they would be in the in the running with everybody else, but I moved to accept the solvent and powers engagement letter for the fiscal Yeah, they have I think I can sign it by them. It went up $600 from 15 4 to 16 000 the budget for fiscal 24 is uh, which we'll end up paying in fiscal 24 is 16 5 They've only gone up about $300 every year. This one's a little bit more But that's kind of understandable. We've had discussions with chad. Obviously just with everything else giving people's difficulties Yes Is there any further discussion about the audit? All those in favor, please say aye All right guys appear to have it. They do have it So Um Oh, and then a delinquent tax collector update we're gonna put that off Yeah, we don't have the time tonight to go into that Yeah, yeah, and then you can take a look and yeah, we'll start from there. Sounds good. Okay You're good. Thank you Okay The next item is the village center crosswalk and traffic safety There's someone here to talk about that Yeah, so I don't know what has been shared with the board They have they have the email Okay, actually does include your email as well. Oh, okay, so yeah, I just wasn't sure what to Melissa, will you please introduce yourself for the We live in the yellow house next to the folks office. So we see a lot of interesting things happening there. Yeah So What what's bringing me here today was initially your guys, um Asking for Capital improvements a little while back and so we said oh well, you know like hey this this Crosswalk that we see that it was being held up by the orange cone is getting knocked over all the time And it wasn't really safe and in all sorts of things that kind of culminated and it's really become into For us a concern for our neighbors and community members of the traffic safety Um, we all know that this area is extremely busy But we have seen a lot of fender vendors major accidents or I've heard we've seen or heard them In the past seven years. So we just wanted to raise the awareness to folks that There is potentially traffic issues safety issues happening. I noticed that the or the veterans did come in and put that that stripe down I do have passed it tonight on my way here because I wasn't coming from home and it's It's barely it's barely visible, you know, so I understand that folks are trying to work towards something But so I will start with the crosswalk We don't use the crosswalk We we would like to use the crosswalk, but instead of walking to fox market. We will drive because There's a there's a concern that within the two traffic lights that hold within the town center there's Traffic coming through Transient traffic at high speeds and they don't notice us at all. So we just choose we feel safer to get into our car to go anecdotally our neighbors also feel the same way of we'd love to use the crosswalks that were put in town To increase pedestrian traffic However, we don't feel safe using the crosswalks going over. So we just wanted to raise that awareness of how how it's being used in the community um, we've noticed that since the trap the the Excuse me the sidewalks have been put in there has been an increase in in pedestrian traffic specifically school kids You look it off the bus to go to deadlies and grab an ice cream or whatever they do and we see a lot more people walking on it, but The concern is that it's just not generally. I mean you've got a tough area here with deadlies in the post office and Three entrances slash exits from either side that they're Commuters people driving a car They don't see the pedestrians because they're too busy trying to figure out who's coming out of deadlies. Who's coming in who's going to post office I mean, I think you guys if you live in you you see these things. So You know, we haven't seen a major accident or heard of a major accident But there will be one and I just want to raise the concern that We as a community should try to think about how can we limit that? Um, the in regards to the traffic Um 30 miles per hour rarely happens. We used to see the state police across at the post office all the time Um, but again knowing that we don't have or maybe we do have a contract with them I'm not sure you guys will have to tell me we don't see them as often so people just you know just cruise through So it's just the visibility of pedestrians and folks on the crosswalk As well as the three to four ways it four ways to engage with the post office slash deadlies Just two weeks ago. There was a fender bender.  I couldn't I couldn't pull in you know I realized we live on a busy route. It's commercial and Um residential transient traffic But just wanted to raise the awareness that the things that we see because we're so darn close to all of it um and just wanted to see if You guys see the same things do You know when you go through an uski They the crosswalks are a mess too. I mean, there's just so many people going through there Right. I have the ones that you just hit a button in the light splash and people can cross Would that help here? Well, we asked we that was one of the things that we proposed to Gina We we actually mentioned I think it was like the flashing strobes. Um in Pagosa Springs I saw where actually there were flags on both sides. So the pedestrian would carry a flag Don't know. Um, the gentleman from v-tran suggested a couple of things. Maybe a bump out Um, I I don't know. That's not my wheelhouse of what the answer might be The bump out allows people to be more To to be exposed without being in the road Right, right. Exactly. And I just I just don't know if there's a right answer what that answer should be but I do see Traffic increasing on that sidewalk It's already increased since 2020. I mean, we just anecdotally we just see it all of the time People are coming down from the trailer park. That's just off of 14. They're cruising, you know all over the place and it's just I mean, we just we hear we hear the fender benders that may or may not be reported. We hear all these things and I'm just I and I and I just worry that one day there's going to be something that where somebody gets hurt and if we can mitigate that Then maybe we can And I don't know what the answer is. So it was just about raising the awareness is what we see and we obviously we We live next to all the day. So Well, it sounds to me like the state's willing to do some things on that crosswalk They already did what they were willing to do So they put they put a a strip down And so but I gotta tell you when I drove through tonight, it makes absolutely Um, no difference. And I don't know, you know, Waterbury has things where um, You know, because we went down was it 40 to 30?  I mean every day, you know between Seven to nine and then noon to two, you know, you've got that heavy congestion coming through and people trying to get in Dudley's get in the post office out of the post office I just don't know what it is, but it's we just wanted to say hey, it's not looking pretty and something's going to happen Right those before our previous meeting and yeah, we talked about it and then we heard that They've acted on it since then They said something about the signs being modified in the spring and summer And I think well, I think that What he said was going to happen was the strip down the pole of the crosswalk has already that happened earlier late last week No The post office is in like the orange barrel And we've we've seen that knocked over because people pull, you know, you can't pull into the post office really well And unless you do a loop and you see people reverse and knock that down and it's been down for a day or two And I think the orange barrel was actually put in place to try to because the side had been hit so many times Okay, that's what I understood from the previous administrator The orange barrel was put there in an attempt to make it more visible to try to make it more visible Yeah, people still back into it they look it over and so it's just brand to light like hey What we see I mean What you guys are hearing is what I've been dealing with as well same thing living very near that same spot it's You see it. It's Definitely a tricky spot. I will say that I don't know how easy it is to get flashing lights on a federal highway. That's probably a lot more than even It's going to be a lot of different agencies involved in that But the raising of a sidewalk right in that spot. I don't think that's going to be the answer either There's it's it's definitely a tricky spot. It's about the only way you can explain it I'm open to ideas or the state threw a couple of different ideas out there. So Well, it sounds like you could put we could put the flashing lights in you just have to apply for the Uh The permit to work in the state right away And the town could spend the 12 thousand dollars for the lights I checked on the lights and you can probably cost about seven or eight thousand for the ones where you push a button into flashes Yeah, or something I think that's a good idea myself. But the other thing is the barrel idea Is that I was about to ask Guthrie. When was the last time the sign was hit? My only concern with an investment there is if the sign is regularly hit today Then the blinking sign is just going to be hit. And what would that cost then be? You can put a pretty rigid pole in there that might hurt the car more than the pole exactly You cannot put in a rigid pole I like the idea, but you cannot put in a rigid pole Why not? They can't do that It's got it's all stuff that you guys have adopted. That's why you see the big green signs all over town We have rules. We have to follow For signs technically that's not even our sign I know it's a state sign But you're saying we can't put in a more solid sign there 100 you cannot put in a solid pole Get an empty breakaway Oh, it has to be less rigid so the car could back over. Is that what you're saying? I'm just I'm just wondering. I don't know Because you would have to look I could look in to see what there is but I I see this gentleman down here is raging his hand Well, I know ending this in the clear zone has to be a breakaway for It's soft because it can't be damaging To the vehicle not so much damage in the vehicle Pole can become projectile in the vehicle or somebody else. You can't have solid objects like that And there's a clear zone based on the speed. So there's so far out. You're supposed to keep all ridges Poles probably within the right away also. I mean within the clears But they have these signs flashing signs They have I think you're going to find with the flashing sign there if somebody pushes the flashing sign you have two Stop two lights very close together. So we push the flashing sign You're at four o'clock in the afternoon. You're going to back traffic through both intersections Now you're going to have more traffic backing up the road And more people are kind of irate any ways it is driving now They don't seem to have any patience to get from point A to point B And they cut in front of people and you start backing traffic on both sides because of a crosswalk of the light The traffic in both directions the minimal time of day is going to get backed up As a general rule people do not pay attention to signs the more signs you put up the less people pay attention to them So how is that going to differ from a pedestrian crossing? Pedestrian meaning like crosswalk in like month failure. No somebody using the pedestrian crossing there and walking across That's in the backup traffic too, right? That's going to back up traffic But when you when you push the button the people will take and well, hopefully they're starting to see There's a break in traffic and make a cross when you push the button You're going to force them to stop no matter what it is, right So if you have somebody who wants to take it Pedestrians have the right of way I understand that I'm I'm I will not argue that but pedestrians have the right of way. I'm talking about driver tent of this You put the flashing light there That you may get them to stop but you're going to cause a problem with traffic back Or at least that's my past experience with dealing with traffic But you do have a very hard situation between two two lights Right Public places people want to go to post office gas station Dudley's in a short area You got people pulling it in and out and you have very high traffic. The answer I do not have to that My answer would be don't drive. I mean don't walk but that would be my answer But that's only because it's dangerous Well, that's what's happening at sidewalk anything like ball bouts or something that there's gonna be a kind of maintenance section for You know files hitting it. No That's why we didn't do it to stop it There's a filing issue You want to say something No, I like to say I haven't seen it get hit by a plow I'm assuming it's mostly delivery trucks from Dudley's that are swinging it out around the backside of the post office No, I don't mean I didn't mean the signs.  It's a pop inside count It's a problem issue for people to keep clipping the those island type thing No in what just according to what I've seen who's hitting the the orange So it's people from the post office that pulled in and they're backing out Yeah, it's so easy Yeah, you're just like, uh, yeah, but they're not um, and it was very new they weren't used to it So guthrie you poo pooed the idea of a raised sidewalk. Could you play more about that? Yeah, so we had done that study up on town hill possibly to where they were going to raise that entire intersection town hill gallison hill razor intersection And it just kind of gives us a little bit of awareness I I don't know how much the same thing you're interfering with a federal highway So no matter what we do there. There's going to be some hoops to jump through but It's something to think about that just brings awareness, especially with the regular commuters that go through there if there was a Raised sidewalk, even if it's only an inch and a half or two inches over a matter of six feet It's going to be obvious and memorable Okay, so so your your objection to that idea and I'm sorry I misspoke a raised crosswalk is what I was trying to say Your objection to that idea Is simply the complications paperwork wise of trying to do it on a federal highway In the federal highway, it might be feasible off of it in front of the post office It's going to be a nightmare. So I'm saying raising the sidewalk not the crosswalk If you were to raise the sidewalk because that was one of the designs the state had come up with Okay, right, and I don't see that being an answer to anything. I see that being more headaches right Yeah, right sidewalk. So, okay. I'm not following you Raising the sidewalk by the post office. You you like that idea or not? I do not like raising the sidewalk by the post office the crosswalk itself. Okay, but you're crossing the road That is a different story. Okay And the way it's different is that you liked the idea of doing that. Is that correct? Do you think it would be? In the road, I can see where it would be effective. It doesn't have to be a speed bump just a raised area But that but that does act like a speed bump that's kind of what We've had discussion many times about raising Of an area where people walk across the road In that it does act a bit of a speed bump and it isn't a turn However, that's never we've never been able to get that We've never been able to do it. We've never been able to pull the trigger on But but you'd have to apply the Yeah, oh, we got people raising their hands here. We're gonna have to take this discussion real quickly because we'll wait Yeah, I'll I'll finish it. I just want to say when we were designing the sidewalks We had to um We could not put a sidewalk in front of the post office or in front of dudley's and that's why the curve is where it is So there's a whole long transition of discussions on that Point of putting any sidewalk in front of the post office or even near it. So we'd have to go back to those discussions Well, and for the record, that's kim what's in on the planning commission Well, one of the one of the reasons we didn't do the sidewalk in front of dudley's and the post office is because the person That owned the dubbies at that point was hard to work with and wouldn't give us the permission to do that Now there's a different owner easier to work with You know, if that was something that would help the traffic there I think we could work with a present owner of dubs, but I'm not sure that's even Option as far as safety goes. That's basically what we're talking about Yeah We have one other To to work on All of these issues in our village and we would never have dreamed that the issue So many pedestrians that That we needed to enhance the safety even further we fought to the nail to get that crosswalk is incredibly difficult to get across the federal highway So just a couple a couple of observations One is if you drive north on 14, which I realize is the state highway not federal highway All of those very small towns have a lighted sign that tell you how fast you're going. That's not the same thing as The crosswalk but just making people aware of the speed possibly in a safe place Where it wouldn't the pole wouldn't get hit might be the first step Second thing is as I remember we did have sidewalks designed in front of the post office and the owner I think that's happening But our solution at the time was to have parking parallel to the front of the post office So you are not backing out into the road and and that would have also Solved some of this so you park in and then and then you're not creating a hazard so I'm I'm I'm very glad you're bringing this to everyone's attention And and I'm so glad the issue is that so many people are using I I have seen I've I've seen the intersection eight to time 10 times a day Usually and I have seen many people use the crosswalk, especially elderly people I I think that there was not in their capacity to possibly give them a car To get their mail or to drive to either of the of the lights But um, but they they were crossing at the crosswalk. So I'm I'm glad we have it and I hope it can even get better Okay, so, um, I'm gonna have to end this discussion But I just want to touch on those two ideas. One is the flashing sign Flashing speed sign. I think it's a good idea. You can put that we've talked about that before The other thing is traffic control around the post office parking control Is something that I think that we could address and that's always a problem there In my opinion, people shouldn't park right in front of post office in background traffic. I just think that's a bad idea It's it's mostly they don't really folks that it's their easy access But you can but you can go on the side and and walk up that way and go around But wait a minute if if we We need to talk to the owner of the post office to see if we could do a better job of parking control Around that post office and also so traffic went all in the same direction around the post office That would make a big difference. I practice every single day and it's like people all over the place So that's something we can reach out to the owner of the post office about is maybe we could help them come up with a plan And the other thing is I think the sign With the speed speed limit sign that flashes. I think it's a good idea. I think that's something we could do Actually hit the brakes you do you're like, oh, no, I'm going 45 I should be going 25 Yeah So, um, I'm gonna thank you for coming in we do have to move to our next item and we've got a couple things that we can work on All right. Thank you. So thank you So just in terms of being following up on this should we say that we'll revisit this question in I think we have a couple of action items that we could work on One is reach out to the owner of the post office and think about a parking plan And the other thing is What does it cost to put those signs in? Okay, can we do that with this permission of state or the state? Yeah, you know, okay. Do we want to do those? As far as reaching out to the state. Sure. Uh, well, we get to reach out to John Kaplan Yeah, we can do that. Okay. And in terms of talking to the owner of the post office We'll have to talk to him or her replacement. Okay and We can reach out to the owner of the post office. Maybe you can or I can I guess. What's that? I can fight that. Yeah, okay. I'll look into that. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you. Yep Okay, so The next thing on our agenda item is discuss East Montpelier elementary school traffic management So, um is everyone aware of the issue or bought by Vincent Flass on the parking by the school to pick up times Yeah, I I would like somebody to walk me through it. I'm a little bit more confused than I was last time Having read the email correspondence that was prepared for us. So, but let me just quick overlay and then everyone else can jump in um At a certain time of day in the morning is in the morning too Mostly afternoon parents pick up the kids at the school elementary school. They park if you're going By the school Going north they park by the school left hand side. They're headed this way. That's correct. They're usually headed south And they're parked on the school side of the road and they usually go from the corner almost to the rec field one line of cars and um The issue is that when trucks come from Fairmont farm or trucks are going to Fairmont farm They're usually big trucks big manure trucks. They're going by all these parked cars by the side of the road And um, there's letters in here from the drivers from the grain company from Everybody that goes by there and they're concerned about the safety Uh, they don't want to run into somebody because it's only a lane wide It's a lane a half actually but when you have a big truck That's all the that's a lot of you're taking up a lot of that room and when people open their cars They don't pay attention sometimes when the truck's coming along along or a tractor's coming along And there's a kid there getting in the car or there's a parent open the door They don't always pay attention when they open the door. So this is becoming an issue Now the principal of the school did have a safety audit done september 13th She's pushed back and said we earned the gold standard for safety. She didn't think it was an issue at that point Uh, but all the other people concerned that drive by there do think it's a safety issue and what I don't understand is um When the the kids come out of the school is is that when they see their car right in front of the school Or did they walk to the road and walk along the line of cars looking for their Now now this is the process that I understand that's supposed to happen. I'm not sure it's always false There's supposed to radio in the school Is johnny ready to come out to my car and there's radio contact Then they send the kid out to the car So For the record, could you introduce yourself? One of the owners of bermont Ben and he's not fully a resident since 1987 Um, I have three kids go through. I'm not elementary school. We have two great kids there now Three more coming in the fall. So I'm all about keeping the school safe But what's happening for us as a as a business past the school is um When you're coming from our farm. So coming so Coming south When you are coming, um That's dodge road there. We're at wise And you've got the four corner school over here in your left as you're coming around that corner It's kind of a blind corner and that's typically where The the line ends for school pickup So what happens is that line gradually gets longer as parents get there and parents do get there About three a month Even though school doesn't get out until 335 So that line continues to build And usually it gets right up to that why And as they radio in for your kid, um You know, you're going through the circle in the school But what happens is because parents are in that line for so long They are getting out of their cars And chatting with each other Sometimes they're getting their dogs out But even if they did stay in their cars it just the visibility Is very limited because It's such a stretch. So you've got cars coming from Dudley's area and you've got Cars trucks, whatever it may be.  And then you've got somebody there waiting and you know You know, can I get by them fast enough because somebody else is coming? I mean it's It's a dangerous situation And certainly when we add our trucks And our tractors, which will be In april and all of our drivers are well aware of the situation. We talk about it every single day um But you know, it's our grain trucks. It's our milk truck the milk truck comes right at that same time every day nothing we can do about it and You know, he's got some real concerns. So I don't know. I they're talking about potentially using the rec field for that parent parking and then making a Walkway to the school Which sounds like a great solution um When I kind of discussed it with the principal it didn't seem that there was much urgency to make that happen and um I think for the safety of the community and the safety of the people in those cars waiting as well as the people driving back and forth It is a fairly urgent matter So how long each school day does Does this line of cars occur? He's saying it's starting as early as three It starts as early as three and it goes until it goes until about three forty because um school That's out about three thirty five. So by the time, you know, those cars are dwindled down. It's about 40 minutes Yeah And also the the other traffic thing that's odd So if you're coming from dudley's up to get your kid at school You have to go up and do a little u-turn right there to join the line, right, you know South and that's that's kind of a awkward Unsafe thing to do too when you're coming down from dodge road So so the other question is do you think the there's been an increased use of that? People who call their kids to school and back Well, you know This happened when covid happened and obviously there are reasons that it needed To become the way it is, but um, oh, definitely. Yeah, there's a lot more people picking kids up, right? Um, that's less use of the bus less use of the bus. Yeah. Yeah, no doubt about that. Yeah I was wondering if there was some way that we That parents could be encouraged to let the kids use a bus more though I know there's time for they need to pick up their kids, but It seems like a little gentle persuasion and using the bus a little more might be better for a lot of different reasons it wouldn't mitigate the parking for Some of us don't like the word parking in that situation, but I would call parking Alongside the road, right? Yeah So, you know, one of the solutions, I mean, I was hoping the principal would The principal's here. Oh, she's on zoom Okay, would attend because I don't know Is she buying into the fact that it's kind of an issue? Are you buying into that worse principal? Hi, this is Alicia. I'm here. Hi, Alicia. Um So I know that you did the safety audit in september 13th and et cetera, et cetera But are you thinking that this is an issue that we could work on? I absolutely understand it's a traffic issue for the for the farm and the larger vehicles when the sheriff's department and Others came to look at it They felt and shared and I think they might have even talked with Gina and spent some time at the town office They shared that they believe this is the safest way to dismiss students at the end of the day The the tricky thing is is we do have more parents That's not something that I'm comfortable telling parents There's a lot of reasons why parents pick up their children at the end of the day And it's not my place to tell them to put their child on a bus I feel like that's a personal decision each family needs to make You know the bus is is there for those that want to use it in the vast majority of our students do write the bus but we do have a lot of pickups and So that's just one thing I understand that it it is as far as traffic going around the corner And issue a couple of things that the sheriff said shared with us similar to the last conversation that I was just listening to Could there get the signage put up that says there's a school zone A lot of schools around the state have signage and it says between this time and this time speed limit 25 miles an hour Or slow down the school zone and there is no signage leading up to the school on either side of the road That was something that the sheriffs had recommended And I also know and I know this is not popular and it's not something that that even I want to explore but I do know after Reaching out to a lot of other schools in this state They closed their roads during pickup and dismissal and just stop traffic all together during that period of time because of safety issues I don't think that's a good solution. I understand that that Like bonnie was saying she does not have control over when the milk trucks come and I I totally get that Just one clarifier is that we don't send children out into the road At all gut three is one of our parent pickups And I think he can attest to the fact that we only dismiss them right to the from the sidewalk Into the passenger door right in the pickup circle because we don't We don't want to do in the circle to pick them up And so parents open their doors In the line of traffic, they're just getting out of the cars because they get tired of sitting there or whatever I don't know maybe a nice weather that happens. I don't see that happening I haven't seen it in winter months mate. I have seen it in the pickup circle, but I don't I can't speak to that happening of the road I do think a solution could certainly be looking at the wreck. Um We don't maintain the wreck parking lot. We maintain our parking lot So it would be a matter of plowing and sanding and maintaining it. That's not I mean I think that's something we could certainly have a conversation with you about I think in When the weather is good and it doesn't need to be maintained I would be happy to ask families As an alternative to picking up their child at the sidewalk to Park at the wreck and walk up and meet their children In the past anytime that the school has ever used the the wreck parking lot We've always asked permission and it's been a one-off thing. So I think this would have to be a different kind of a relationship Okay, so just speaking From my perspective the solution Would seem to include the wreck parking wreck fuel parking Have the cars parked there and then the path I think that the path would need some upgrades to sustain that kind of traffic There's no path right now. It's I mean, there's there's grass, but there's no gravel or there's no designated path. Yeah The only the other thing that I would Advocate, but I'm not sure this is going to go over very well as if there was signs there that said no parking alongside that stretch of rope I don't know where you Can you tell me where would you want parents to go? I want them to park at the either the wreck parking area Or the school parking area not parking in the road That's the best that's the safest solution from my point of view, but I'm just putting that out there I think there's two issues with that right now. There is no parking if if you've ever been to the staff parking lot It is full. Um, there is no parking available And there isn't enough parking I know I know a lot of you have had children that go through Eastmont player when we have an event or there's something at the school There is no avoiding parking on the road. The wreck parking lot Would not hold all of the cars at either dismissal or for an event right That's true Yeah, when there's an event at the school there's no place to park to me that I guess we could count the car sometimes I would think for dismissal there would be room in the wreck field I think so. No, what about widening the shoulder of the road? So there was just actually more physical room for vehicles to pass each other What do you think of that doctor? I think if you're going to ride in the shoulder of the road, it would only be to the teacher's parking lot I can't picture going up That under Parker's land at all Right away there would be flooding issues too right away. It's a 24 foot travel You've got 50. You've got 25 feet on One side on each side. It's not identified. It's not identified where the Where the traveled way is in the right Even if it's in the middle There would be drainage issues there. There's a big culvert that comes underneath there that drains from the Parking lot the teacher's parking lot Yeah, some oh, yeah, Judith. Hi Thank you both for coming in I have a question for Mrs. Blyford the the principal. I was curious about the use of the term audit this fall We just had a discussion with an accountant and the word audit can mean different things in different contexts So what what exactly was that audit and what did it consist of and were there actually Cars parked along the road on the day when folk were there How many cars were there? How long were people there? What what did what did the audit consist of? Sure, so I reached out at the beginning of this school year as Bonnie shared This is our third school year with this practice and because I don't want to say COVID is over But a lot of our procedures changed this school year in regards to COVID We were trying to figure out Do we go back to pre-COVID practices for dismissal? Which was as Bonnie shared parking along the side of the road getting out of the vehicles Physically walking to the school and then walking children back out to the road Coming into the school building or do we stick with the procedures we've had for the last two years So I reached out to the Vermont state police. I reached out to the town administrator. I do rosy and Gina and Reached out to the Washington county sheriffs and what what I was told was the best people to come would be the sheriffs because they are the most skilled in dealing with traffic Issues and so we had several sheriffs come out over several days. It was over the course of that week of the 13th They observed from both up the road as well as right from the building So where Bonnie was describing the why they sat for several days at drop-off in the morning and also at dismissal They watched the exact blow of traffic that you'll see on any given day both morning and afternoon And then they came and met with us and I believe they also went and spent time with Gina at the town office sharing their findings With us and and what they concluded was What our practice is is the safest practice for school dismissal and arrival So for that reason we we kept the procedures the same Thank you very much. I appreciate that Approximately how many cars per afternoon are waiting in that queue? I have not counted them and I think it depends. Um, but I would say I would say somewhere around between 20 and 30 would be my guess and if in Guthrie shape nodding his head. So I'm I'm thinking that's about right. I agree with you I was going to say 25 would be a fair number anywhere from 20 to 30 And and just one last thing you had talked about not wanting to impose upon parents the requirement to take The bus there are a number of reasons why parents might want need to or want to pick up Or drive their kids to or from school But I was wondering if school doesn't let out until around 3 30 If if the school would be receptive to recommending asking suggesting Whatever that parents not Join start a line or don't come to the school before 3 15 3 20 so that the time during which There is this long line Is shorter as opposed to it being you know 40 to 45 minutes in the afternoon I don't know I we haven't tried that so I can't say for sure But I don't know that that would make a difference because 20 to 30 cars regardless of the the window of time It does astonish me some days That people have that much time to sit in their car And I'm you know, I wish I had that amount of time in the middle of the day I don't I I haven't asked them why I don't know why I haven't asked them to change their practice I think some just really enjoy getting to the school early if any of you who have been to the u 32 Dismissal it looks very much the same And it's the same period of time. They just have a larger parking lot. And so the cars They're backed up gallus and hill it is a it's a similar practice Um, I don't know each individual family's reasons for what time they get there But but they can't pick their child up before dismissal, right? So So dismissal starts at 3 25 3 25 and by 3 35 the buses are gone and that's typically when our last cars are coming through So for us You know when Bonnie described it there are cars that get there as early as three o'clock again for lots of personal reasons Dismissal itself takes about 10 minutes. It starts at 3 25 on the dot every day We come on the radio Let the teachers know they can dismiss that the buses have arrived That's when the radio starts calling and from 3 25 to 3 35 is when it's active dismissal So there's a there's a couple different things that we could do one is we could open up the rec uh area parking to the school Is that Is are you amenable to that thought? opening up the rec area parking Who are you talking to? I was just asking to be sure if that was gonna. Oh, what's that? I mean these are parents picking up kids in their cars who drive to the school right and pick up their kids And yeah staff parking lots full. So why would help? Why would opening up the rec parking lot help? Because then they wouldn't end up parking the road Yeah, but they're not getting out of their cars Yes, they are So you're having them wait on the other side of the building and then go hundreds of yards back to the school to pick up their child Or their child and they can walk They can walk But you need a path between the school I guess there is sort of a marked area there's two paths Yeah, it's two paths there, but they in certain times a year you probably want to put some gravel down or something so it was dark I'm just trying to think of how to get the cars out. No, no, no. I just so that's one that's one thought The other thing is that the kings live across the road There is an area there that could be used for parking if it was upgraded Maybe the school could lease that area there and put cars over there for parking The kings have the house right across the road they actually sold it to the halls Oh, they did sell that house. Okay. So I guess that's not an option Yes I've picked up my kids Children my grandchildren. Could you introduce yourself Mary? Oh Mary stone. Okay I'm amazed at how well that system works I wonder if People could be advised if they were going to arrive before 315 that they park in the rec area And then get in line because the line works And nobody has to cross the road The problem with trying to park in the rec area Then going out into the road and coming back into the pickup area. Just I think would create more problems So they can't walk though from the school to the record. I think that was the idea Park in the rec area But in the winter I I just imagine the parents aren't going to get in the car and go get their kids I don't imagine that will happen And if they want to get there early and have conversation that would be the place to park Where is the record? But then they'd have to get Back across and if they walk they could walk I mean Yeah, but you know And it's seven degrees. No, you're probably not I used to walk to school I'm sorry. May I ask the principal a question? Um, are you required to physically either hand off the child to a parent or put on the bus? So having a student walk by themselves across the path to the rec parking lot that would that would not work No, we would not because we wouldn't be dismissing them to anyone. We would We would ask set you had asked just a minute ago. Would I be amenable to parking in the rec? Absolutely under certain conditions one being that families would have to parents would have to come up We would have to physically unite the child with the parent We would not just send them off school property in hopes that they find the right car We have little very little ones three and four year olds Second is I would be absolutely open to using the rec for parking I think that would be a great solution But I do know that there will still be families who as the grandmother mentioned won't get out of their vehicle Again, lots of good reasons why and we'll still need to use that pickup. Um, that we have right now Well, if we can start getting some of the cars out of the road and parking the rec area that at least help Right won't be so many cars parked along the road short of the line Option One of the solutions that we've talked about is putting up no parking signs and we've discussed the disadvantages of it but if you know if dismissal is at 3 25 And a problem is the length of time that cars are there Then we could perhaps amend our ordinance and put up no parking signs going up until like 3 15 No parking from I don't know 230 to 3 15 on school days. Alicia. I'm sorry that won't work Because we have a lot of like a concert at the end of the day or parents come in like we our building is open to families all day Yep So you and you have things that Have so many cars that people need to park on the road during the day. Okay So there's actually more cars parked when there's an event and there is for the distance I was thinking of I was thinking of after school events that I think why do you on the road is a better idea? Yeah, yeah, well, I actually do that's why I wanted everybody to be here So we'd get this information. I like why in the road, but I know there's physical physical limitations to that But still you could gain a link. Um, anyway, do it I would I just wanted to voice my support for you know pursuing these other options But I think that we should have a school safety zone. I think that makes but I didn't appreciate that there wasn't signage saying school zone, um, you know It's certain 25 miles an hour or whatever it is between this time and that time I think that makes sense regardless of what we're doing with parking I think that we should do that and I think that we should explore pursuing that Yeah, that that's not going to take care of the actually safety issue As the drivers are going by they already know it's a problem. Yeah, but but anyway, it's not a bad idea I think it's actually a a prudent idea and a responsible idea to do to promote the safety of the students and also the People who are you know going in and out of the school during, you know, pick up and drop off time. So I appreciate that it may be a separate issue, but it has come up. Um, that The principal has identified it as a need or a desire and I think it makes perfect sense and I think You know, we might be an outlier of not having a you know, a skin identified school zone So I think we should be pursuing that Okay, we've pushed through that Sounds good Is anybody for You know giving the school permission to park cars down by the rec field Can I just state one thing about that? I pick up my grandkids and already park at the rec field Or at the old school house and walk down and get them only because they're young and and they prefer to walk And be outside. So I know that Many parents make like that idea as well So I think the rec field is a really good option to help with the parking issue Yeah I think we should should make a motion if everyone feels comfortable with that and at least get a little piece of the puzzle solved to some extent It's going to be the town offering the rec field parking. Yeah Is Guthrie still on the line? To me, it looks like it's always been plowed. So I didn't know what the issue was It was plowed when I drove by It's just a single road Yeah, it's all for traffic to drive through So we'd have to do a little bit more Yeah Well, we can check with Guthrie I think it's a good option If we we may need to make some more improvements in that parking because I may need more gravel, etc, etc Right. I think that the town could do that It's a viable option and we can help out with the path And we can help out with the path also because I think the path is that eventually need Gravel which means putting down some fabric Putting some gravel and town could help with that And I think that's going to alleviate some of the parking problem It's not a solution to everything but it can help And it's without a power to do that also So no no signage other than school zone signage. Well school zone signage is a good idea I don't know what other science we can put there. I'm I advocate for signage myself No parking, but that's not going to really work because they need that. Yeah The other thing is widening the road in certain areas would definitely help It would help and the town has a 50-floor right of way through there. We're using 24 feet of that So we've got 12 feet of the side that we could work with if it was wider. It would help I know you turn What's that let's bring Guthrie in for further discussion. Yeah, but I think we've already got how about Let's get a motion to say we could use that parking area by the record I don't want to vote on that without talking to the road for me You can make a contingent. I'm talking to Let's just invite him back for next meeting No, I'd rather have some action myself. There's no one so I'll make a motion that we that the town off wrote the parking area at the rec field for After-school parking for no, just say school for school parking And and also help the school with developing a walkable path up to the school improving the improving the path And then we keep it maintained and we do so We that contingent on on a positive response from the road for I want to have an idea how much that's going to cost how much improvements we're going to need to make in the rec field to have it used every day Yeah, so And then if there's if there's a problem with cost everything then we can recently We won't do it I will vote against that. Okay We have could I I'm sorry. Can I um I apologize, but one one other question might be And I don't think it's a question for Guthrie. It might be for us to look at our own insurance policies if we're if folks if we're allowing use of the um rec field and we're developing and maintaining a path Um, and if Okay, because I thought you said maintain I thought you said maintain you I thought you said maintain in your motion. Um, maintain We already do that though. Well, I would draw the maintaining part But but we're going to maintain the parking area because we already do right. Yeah And the school already uses it for physical education the kids are down here playing soccer There's parents there. There's games there. It's already used by the school Yeah Sorry insurance there. Okay. I just you're putting your you're creating a motion that we will be maintaining it. So I I'm in favor of this I'm drawing the maintaining. Okay We'll make it available Make it available. We already maintain it. We already maintain it Okay, okay. We have another comment here Mary so again. Yeah I also want to point out that it's there's a big distance between the dismissal area and the property line Where so the path would have to go through the snow Through the playing fields where they play soccer and you know, it's it's a big Area that we're talking about That has to be kept clear of snow in the winter for kids to walk Who clears the road who clears the parking lots for the school? But it's not I mean I I will note that the school already uses that area all the time So the snow is in consistent use and they're playing out there during the day Yeah, there's a path already there. It's just not a gravel path It's all on the fence right right Here with the fields Okay, so we have a motion the motion says will we allow the school to use the wreck Parking area parking As far as keeping it plowed he already plows it. It's just not widened It's plowed all the time. They they take a couple passes to it So what would be? Maybe a second is it Any further discussion? Yeah, I'll just say that I think that's not right for us to decide this right now I think we need to talk about it a little bit more get input from Guthrie It's not a simple black and white. Yes or no favorable or unpayable for him I'd like to know the cost to the town of doing something like this. I like the idea I'd like to know more about it before we go it on it. All right Um All in favor, please say aye. All right. Hi We have four ayes all those opposed. Please say nay. Nay, and we have one day Okay Well, we need a little progress on it. So we're gonna have to move to the next item And we'll work on some more ideas for this issue. I'm glad everyone could attend And um, we had a lot of feedback. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thanks for coming in everyone. Yep Thank you, Alicia. Appreciate it Um, okay, so we've done with that Discussed proposal to close county roads for recreation events We've got a lot of people here What is could we could we get a sense of could you show the gallery view? So we get a sense of who all is on the zoom call to Now, um, we do have a lot of people here, but have they all signed in do we have people signed in? To sign in sheet right there It's always nice for us to know we'll put in the hands um Okay, so I think everyone's Um, familiar with the proposal. There's an applicant just come in want to close the county road for Six times during the year Um, we've also Got a lot of feedback The feedback is generally In negative 16 What's that 69 no 27. Okay 69 no 27. Yes 4% that kind of undecided. Yeah, okay I've had some calls all the calls were negative. Um So I'm leaning towards denying LCT as well On this and liability for the town essentially their recommendation is that if we were to pursue this It needed to be a town managed event Yeah, could we ask larry to represent the idea so that we all have a fresh View of it and so that that's in the record and also any conversations that you've had with people since the last time Would you begin introducing yourself? Sure? I'm larry hillhurst. I live on the county road Um My every and idea to do this Uh, so the proposal is as uh, as Seth mentioned closed county roads six times Second sunday of every month may through uh, october three hours nine to noon For 2.1 miles from barns road to Templeton road And purpose of doing that would be to allow pedestrians and bicyclists and skiers and rollerbladers and non-motorized um activities uh along along the road in an effort to build community and um Just have a great place to go out and Get some exercise and recreate and be outdoors and meet neighbors um The um, if I could just quickly address a couple of objections That have have come up that that might be relevant to to your thinking. So the stretch between barns road and Templeton road is 2.1 miles If you detour around In other words, if the road was closed at that point And you drove down barns and took a left on center road and down to Templeton road and back out to county road That's 4.1 miles so Inconvenience for somebody would be 2.1 miles. They have to drive that much farther on the detour I drove it the other day the paved road took me Three minutes to drive the the detour took me nine minutes to ride Drive so six minutes. So 2.1 miles and six minutes of inconvenience is what is what we're asking for In in a month There are 700 odd hours 24 times 30 I don't have the number right in front of me We're proposing that it be closed for three hours in a month. That's less than 1% of the time. So Hardly seems like A huge a huge ask The reason we're here today or one reason we're here today is because when you gave us permission to close the road in November We had a really positive response a lot of people Stopped us and said Are you going to do this again? When are you going to do this again? So we feel that there is support out there in the community in the Montpelier community as well as the broader community That this could be a really fun cool interesting Safe activity. So with that I can answer questions And you have cut converse. I understand with folks from the complete streets in Montpelier We've talked about getting callous residents involved in this why Why did you ask or why did Montpelier residents get interested in this discussion? So I originally started talking with Nancy Schultz who is the director of the streets program in Montpelier because she showed up at our november event and was Wowed and thought it was thought it was great and she's been trying to do similar kinds of efforts in Montpelier Without success and so she wanted to support our activities thinking that maybe it would be contagious and and spread spread to other locales So there's some other folks here that probably like to speak Yeah, I'm wondering sorry If you could Yeah, I'm wondering if you can go into a little bit more detail about the safety aspect. You said that it would be a safe event so You know what one of the concerns that we've heard from residents and those who have commented it is the concern about safety um and the VLCT was concerned about some liability issues So, how do we how what's the proposal to ensure that? Folks, you know that it would remain closed that folks who live In that stretch or on that stretch can access it That if there's an emergency emergency crews can go through Having flaggers. What what's the safety plan or protocol that you're proposing? so We can't guarantee safety obviously But When we when we did this in November We had we had the road blocked and signs up provided by the town of east montpelier. Thank you very much We had a state police trooper parked at one end down at the at the at the southern end of the thing and I think that that that visual Allowed or any helped people to understand that this was Place where they had to had to drive cautiously if they had if they had to go through Additionally, there was cones Along the entire stretch Right down the middle of the road and so any of the local traffic was The the visual signal was for it Was to drive Very slowly Uh What we had we hope to do if given approval is to So this is the the closure will be to through traffic The local traffic will still be allowed to drive On the road And what we would hope to do if given approval is to reach out to that that's that two mile stretch of residents and Tell them what we're planning to do and and ask for their cooperation and driving cautiously If they have to use the the road at that at that time as far as the ambulance is of course They could come through at any time as as needed anybody that's being that's using the road as a pedestrian or a biker Would be told that the road would be Not completely car-free, but mostly car-free so That's what we're thinking about Okay, I'd like to move on with that Yes I'm Gerald Rose. I live in the section if I'm a closing The term road indicates my dictionary is motorized traffic If I would suggest that we were to remove all pedestrians bicycles from the road for a certain amount of time There would be an outcry about how they have a right to use it Is a roadway. It's meant to be driven on I understand that two three hours is a easy ask It's not an easy ask for people everybody who pays taxes to use that road With a certain amount of time frame. I'm sorry. Your taxes cannot be used at this big of a time because we would like to recreate on that property That is paid for by everybody You can say you can make an argument that everybody can go use it But maybe some people don't want their time or their money used towards that Or their their road is inaccessible at that particular time. You're saying the traffic people can do like my property I go through get in and out Let the weave around people.   Don't come up there. I don't want you I'm not even near the road. I'm playing with the road. You went without your way to go do this I don't want people on the road. They can ride the bikes on the road Absolutely. They can ride. They're walking or any day of the week. They can do that. Just say absolutely not I would never Advocate basically or walking on that road during regular traffic, especially since the road has been improved now I'd suspect that there's a lot of speeding issue a lot of complaints on that road Not at all. So that's an unfortunate issue. They're going to come in the summer But I found items like this are very politically they're politically They're emotional or they're financial Benefit from this financial behemoth road close Uh more star made the park hold down there ride the bike so he can make money off of that Somebody sells bicycles to make money off anybody can make money off that as as they can use it as a We like to do this. I understand we like a lot of things but that's take the second It's a roadways made for traffic. It's paid for paid It's Swiss was made for we have a bicycle pass. I can't go driving on that because nobody's using it anymore because they're driving on my road I can't go bike paths. I can't go. I have to everything has a detonation. This is a road public thoroughfare, which means every public can use it Automobiles public and I just think that having a road open our clothes. I should say I thought was really interesting We're celebrating the opening of the new road by closing That doesn't make sense to me. It should be open to people in drive. There's not clothes deep in recreation When I see bicycles at two in the morning or three in the morning or rainstorms snowstorms riding on the road is regular traffic Okay, they're traffic. They can use it But close the ruffles people can play in the road and skateboard Takes this for that I can't go driving any worse. I want I don't have a certain place to drive on the road I designed roadways. I do roadways. That's why I do for a living This is not a place to have any of that Not for fun not closing it down Okay So the lady next to you. Yes. Hi. I'm patty giabara. I also live on that sector And I love getting outside and biking and doing all kinds of things But I don't think that the road is a recreation path and I don't think it should be closed For the purpose of recreation and you know comedy road is You know kind of the one way to get out to the ponds and everything else that's happening out in palace And Sunday morning it would be kind of prime time. So anyway, I'll be brief. I just I just don't think it's a recreation path Thank you Mary scoundries don't I live on Cummings Road actually more or less on county road And I was within that closed area in November And my initial thought was That's really dangerous. I'm not going to let my kids go out there. My grandchildren go out there Well when it actually happened I Went down to the mailbox and I looked To the right and I looked to the left and I went This is amazing. I've got to get on this road I got my bicycle out of storage and got on the road and rode down And it was fabulous. There were people out walking. There were people out Communicating people who hadn't who didn't know each other We're walking together Smiling this was everybody Who lived and needed to go to callus or anywhere on county road all summer had to go around through the beautiful back roads and We were finally given the freedom to to be on that road. It was it was So wonderful. I went back to the house and you know, it was a cold day And it was kind of drizzling got the grandchildren out there and said you've got to experience this This is this is an exceptional thing that this town has done And the organizers And and making it happen, but the select board in allowing it to happen it was I all I can say is if you didn't get out and walk on the road You know, if you had maybe you feel different it really was A feeling of community that I had not experienced On where I live in East Montpelier. There is no town center. There's no green. There's no gathering place There's county road and I I would love to see it happen again okay um Michelle I know just I think it's a fantastic idea. We missed the opportunity when we're widening roads They are not getting paved for pedestrian or bike travel That that that's sort of a missed opportunity. We don't have bike paths At least not that I know of in our town They're just they're they're it's an extraordinary opportunity to create community and get people outside It's two or three hours once a month. I mean I I just I I think it's a fantastic idea So, um, do we have some people or are we in there would like to say something about this? Kate Phillips Yeah Hi, um, I'm Kate Phillips. I live um at the corner of county in Templeton So we're right. We're the first house right inside the the closed the pros closed area and um So there were um, we were the There were people, you know gathered outside of our house where the Kind of diagonally outside of our house For uh, the volunteers where they were closed and you know, we absolutely loved it We loved looking outside and seeing people out and about Everyone having a great time people of all ages on all different, you know types of uh, you know bikes Roller skates roller skis Roller blades everything We loved walking down the road And really kind of getting the chance to slow down on a Stress just usually sped through And I think um, you know life in rural Vermont, especially, you know coming out of a Global pandemic can be really isolating and anything that We can do to mitigate that is huge and I think also anything that we can do to discourage You know the total reliance on cars And car culture is is a positive thing in my book. Um You know, this is a Very car-dependent place and it hasn't always been we used to have a railroad stop in East Montpelier you know, there's no reason to totally embrace all things cars and I I just uh Don't think that three hours A month is too much to ask And uh, I think it was a really fantastic community building Moment and I really want to encourage that Thank you So may I also like this speaks To the zooming yep Hi, my name is Anne Gilbert and I live on county road And I'm also part of the work group that really I participated in the pilot project November And I met Kate. I may I met other neighbors on the road that I never would have seen And like mary stone said so many people were out there having a really good time Part of our work group was to really look at You know, uh, what what what worked and what didn't work in november And so some of the things that we came up with that, you know, is in the proposal now is really shortening the distance To you know, um to have it just be barns to temple tin And not all the way down blocking morse farm or you know all the way down to comings Also thinking about keeping it on a sunday morning, but keeping a lot of the things that Helped to make it positive last time which was support with signage There were signs up ahead of time and uh, we put information out on from porch forum It did come up quickly, but um I was at one of the roadblocks at county and temple tin And certainly if people came through and said I need to be able to get in my driveway I need to get to my house. I said, okay You just put your flashes flashers on and drive slowly And so one of the things our work group decided was we are Increasing the number of people who would be volunteers to take shifts to work on this so that There are people all along the way Um in a bright vest who would be able to um, you know just to help cars if they had to um get through uh navigate that so it's not closed county road It's really closed to through traffic and I work in public health and Part of what's really important right now, especially like kate said coming out of a pandemic is you know community involvement and um Especially for families and youth and to see so many kids that were out there With their families or with their friends or with their coaches It was really an opportunity to um get outside and have physical activity Feel like you were part of something, you know, we don't have rally day anymore and um, this was really uh important and I You know, I would hope that we could work with the town on reaching some kind of compromise of Instead of maybe a yes or a no, but like, you know, like how how could how could this work? How could it be a positive experience and I'd like to have Nancy. She'll say um something. She's part of our work group as well Thank you Thank you. Um, is anybody else? There's no me and want to say something on this issue Can I add? Oh, let's lay you down here. Yeah Um, I don't know. Are you guys directing? Yeah, I'm just looking for comments by the public and Yeah, okay. Well, as as larry and ann mentioned, um, I'm nancy shulls and I'm actually I don't direct the complete streets program In Montpelier. It's a committee that I'm a member of Um, we rotate who who is chair and I have been chair and I'll probably come into the rotation again But just to be clear, I'm currently a member of the committee and I did attend the november event. I thought it was fantastic Um, for all the reasons that that um, ann and larry and kate and others have mentioned It was all about community It was friendly It involved everybody from dog walkers to people pushing baby strollers and every kind of conveyance other than cars it seemed um and it's such a rare opportunity to Be on be in a place like that. I ride my bicycle on county road. Um regularly And I found myself that day Finding that oh my goodness. I don't have to keep looking in my rear view mirror every half second to see if a car is going to side swipe me or Push me further onto the shoulder. I mean I ride very conservatively, but People do drive quickly there fast and sometimes too fast And it was just it was just really wonderful to enjoy that road With all the other people on bikes and on their on on their feet Without having that anxiety That you have when you Are in a place with lots of cars. I mean as kate mentioned, we're in a car-centric society So to to get a break every so often and get that pure joy Of not having to be fearful is a wonderful thing Thank you. I think everyone's had a chance to Comment on this issue Turn it over to the select board So I think uh, due to your concern about the safety issues And insurance, etc Yeah, just a couple of things I do I do appreciate all of the comments and I unfortunately wasn't able to participate But I was struck by um Some of the language used to describe the event Um, and it was exceptional. It's rare Um, and I'm wondering There's a proposal that it'd be I don't know five or six Um sundaes in the summer But you know, I I do appreciate and that number to me seems like a lot because of you know, for some of the reasons that The gentleman who lives on county road had identified And and and the others are that, you know, primarily for me kind of the safety reasons and I wasn't aware that A state trooper had parked At one end of the route and we have very limited state police coverage And I think, you know, if we have to pay or take Take away our time dedicated to the town for state police coverage to dedicate to this event I'm not sure if that's uh a prudent and equitable use of our resource considering or our use of state police funds Or time considering all of the people in our town But I was curious if the group And those proponents You know would think about, you know, a once a year event and and I'm not I'm just It seems that a five or six times a year for me Because of the disruption to other residents the concern about the potential Safety risks, I appreciate that you're able to Control for all of that the last time around but multiplying that by six times That's that's increasing the risk and that's um I'm a little uncomfortable with that and I'm just wondering if the group's thought of maybe once a year um and also, you know whether You know, have you thought about just other safety concerns like, you know having training for the Volunteers and are you expecting that the volunteers? um, you know Have you know if they're injured somehow that the town compensates them for their injury You know, I'm just wondering if those types of things have been thought about but those are just things that I've been thinking about based upon What you've all been saying and I do and I do it sounds it sounded like a wonderful event and I'm really sorry that I missed it but I'm wondering if you know, perhaps If it could You know, if maybe it could be limited to once a year So thought that's a good compromise thought Kyle Sure. Thank you. So I I appreciate all the interest that this proposal has Has sparked and to appreciate everybody coming here and coming on to the zoom meeting My interest in something like this was first sparked around 1980 whenever it was that the pope came to boston and for security reasons the Highways coming into boston were all closed down And all of a sudden these highways that were you know, usually four lanes three lanes of cars in each direction Just had people walking and bicycling Skateboarding on them and it was marvelous One of my favorite activities in vermont each year is the new world festival in randolph And they closed down the main street in randolph. They're make people detour around town So that people can walk between music venues. They do that for about Six or 12 hours or so on a sunday and labor day weekend And you know the street has kids out with chalk making chalk art and just people dancing in the streets And it's a completely different atmosphere. What once a year of 12 hours As a select board member you know when I Have a decision like this where people are passionate on both sides of it Then I have to think okay. How should I be thinking about it as a select board member? And I take my guidance from the select board Way back in the day when we had just three people on the select board and there was a meeting called to give town input on this intersection here group 14 and 2 on whether to change the plans from What we ultimately got built to a roundabout And the the input to the select board was overwhelmingly in favor of putting in a roundabout Instead of an intersection with with a light on it The select board voted by a two-to-one vote to go ahead with the proposed intersection And that was something that was in the agency's plans It was quite well developed the agency told the town we needed We would go to the back of the queue to get everything re-engineered to get the roundabout I was disappointed that the select board Did not listen to the roundabout people since it was so overwhelmingly in favor of the roundabout Years later I was thankful for that because we got this built and Maybe it doesn't function quite as well as a roundabout But I'm very impressed with the way that it functions and I was told years later that gene viscering one of the people who looked at it And proposed and was a proponent of the roundabout said, you know, actually, I'm not sure we have the room for that but we got something built and Rather than going back to the end of the queue and that along with the bridge over route two was something that was just Had been on the town list of things to do forever Because the select board decided by a two to one vote to go ahead and do something that people in town told them not to do Then we got that and I told Martha Holden who was the deciding vote on that years later that I was really Really pleased that they voted that way And so that's what I think we need to be visionary And I'll have the guts to do what's right for the town Um Also, I in looking at the responses that we're getting Some people are responding to a proposal that that is different from what was actually made Some people are responding to a proposal to allow no traffic at all On county road during these three hours each month And I could understand why why they would be upset by it But as we've heard repeatedly, this is a proposal to Close it down to anything but local traffic so that the residents on this stretch would have the possibility of Coming and and going as they see fit or that their visitors would be able to come and go as they see fit Also, I'm told that it's true In other places that have done things like this that there's a lot of resistance like we heard from mary stone People who are worried about this and then once they experience it Then the there's a groundswell of support for it. So A common planning phrase i'm told when it comes to shutting down this is this is different but analogous shutting down a street Uh in a business district to car traffic is that people scream twice once The business owners scream twice once when it's proposed and then once when someone proposes to open it up to motor vehicles again Uh, I I think that if we do this that and more people in town have a chance to experience it and whether that's better than uh November gray very gray drizzly november day that uh, we'd also see more support for it You're done. I am. Okay John person's been in state and town government for 40 years and I looked too young for that but I uh I have concerns about I mean I grew up in Vermont. I rode my bike everywhere because you could back then There weren't any trails or anything. They're just back roads Um, and we we ride our bikes now on the rail trails and we really like doing that. We enjoy that but what uh, what what really It stops me from wanting to approve this project or this this This proposal is that we need to think about the liability issues to the town somebody's injured somebody has road rage and goes through there and hits somebody The people who organize this event are liable personally liable Okay, so you have to remember that you might want to get an insurance right To the town has a deep pocket so the town would be the final stop In the lawsuit that would occur if somebody was injured here There are things that you can do That would limit your personal liability would be if you became a volunteer of the town And then you had to sign off on an agreement That you would do certain things for the town in order to be able to do this But you have to remember that the town has liability here Somebody could get hurt here and do we want to take that liability there's ways around it so you can Kind of avoid some of that liabilities one being a volunteer of the town one following through on Um Agreeing to certain things you need to do like one thing. I think you need to be aware of is It has to be there has to be safety training You have to understand what it's like to be on the road You should take flag or training. I mean that sounds kind of foolish, but that tells you where to position yourselves What what the issues could be how you could get hurt? And that sort of thing and that's offered by the league and it's offered online and there's some way we could probably arrange to have people take that training um Also, I think there should be a couple of sheriffs there I don't know about the state police but somebody who is going to organize this thing should work this out So if there's a sheriff at each end so that we have some police officers present if we're going to be doing this It shouldn't just be you people um And I think the town should have a policy on this sort of thing. I know that um When I was town manager in hardwick, we had every single month a coin drop The coin drop occurred a little bit in the street right in front of the fire department People were in the street, but they had guidelines. They had to follow And we had a policy that outlined everything that they did and they had to follow those policies um And I think that we need some sort of policy like that if we don't do that If I can't get an agreement from you Folks that you're going to do that Then I won't vote in favor of it Because I'm looking out also for all taxpayers in town All right, so you're saying Yeah, you would policy and also that they would have to participate in safety training Or you're saying if they participate in safety training, you'd be okay with no I think we have that policy just outlined what our role is and what their role is And that the fact that they do need to take safety training And that we do need to have some We should have a couple sheriffs there. They're the easiest ones to hire and have out there But that's I believe that's the biggest impact for me And and I read a lot of I read those the emails there's a bunch of emails out there And I do know there's a lot of people are very concerned about the fact that That the road will be closed and there might be some issues surrounding that and they just don't like it So But the point is from my point of view, it's exactly what you just said it's it's safety awareness training It's liability issues and it's having some sort of guidance from the town On how this would happen. It was