Are there nominations for the moderator? Thank you. Gus Selig has been nominated for the moderator. Do I hear a second? Second. Are there other nominations for the moderator? Hearing none, all in favor of closing nominations, please say aye. Opposed? All in favor of Gus Selig for moderator, please say aye. Opposed? I rise have it. Gus Selig is our moderator for the year. Thank you. Okay, thanks very much. Usually what I do when I start a meeting is go over all the rules that govern a town meeting. But I think we have a small group. We don't have a lot of business to do. And I'm not going to go through every detail of the rules that I'll relay again when we begin the town meeting. 20 minutes to go through this. The budget is on the Australian ballot, but basically the general rules are that you need to raise your hand to be recognized. Big part of what we're going to do this morning is to hear a presentation about what's going on at the school. My role is really to facilitate the discussion, not to get involved in the details of it, and I would just encourage that if you didn't get a chance to read the school report, you've got it. It came with the town report and take a look at it. And in general the school board, which is seated over here, is very open to your questions, to your input both today and at any time. We govern this meeting by Robert's rules of order. Today you're acting as a legislature. Everybody's voice is equal. The folks that are sitting up here are not sitting up here because they're wiser than the rest of us, but because they work hard and they may have answers to some of the questions that you ask. But we are all equal and everybody gets a chance. I would just say let's speak with civility. Let's speak to issues. Identify yourself when you begin. We're taking minutes and you may know who you are and many of your neighbors may know, but maybe not everybody and not our minnet takers today will necessarily know. We've got a couple of mic runners and you may think everybody can hear you, but some of us don't hear as well as we used to, so please wait for the mics to get to you. So with that, Article 2 is to authorize the Board of School Directors to hold any audited fund balance as of June 30th, 2018 in a reserve fund to be expended under the control and direction of the Board of the School Directors for the purpose of operating the school. Would somebody move that article please? Okay, it's been moved. Do we have a second? Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Mac, and identify your question. Where are we in the Act 46? Is it still possible the state could cause us to consolidate with the other towns and so we would be able to fund balance? Right over here. And identify yourself, Todd. Dorothy Naylor, since actually Thursday, the Board of Education has had an hour meeting with our representatives to ask questions about the alternative governance structure. Big paper basically is like a huge paper at the end of a course if you're taking a big course. And basically where Washington Central's advisory union described how we were going to meet the goals of Act 46 and keep our individual boards. Now, maybe at some point being forcefully merged, I'm hoping not. We really don't know. The state has very, very many of these alternative governance structures to go through.  We have no idea what they'll do. And of course, there's many people who think that Washington Central should have been the poster child for Act 46, but they forgot about the debt problem amongst our schools. So we are not that. And they also could say for instance, Twinfield or Cabot has to become part of our supervisory union. And we have to fold that in somehow. So we really don't know what will happen next summer. When we know anything, we'll put it on the front porch forum and try to let you know. But that's where Act 46 is now for us. Any further discussion of Article 2? Thank you. Since we don't know, should we be carrying a big fund balance that we have to give up to a unit district? Or should we, you know, should the board be trying to reduce that? I think we'll have plenty of time to reduce that if it comes to merging. And I would just say that we, as a school, are planning really carefully how to maintain our building and we know that our septic system is fragile. And so we need that. Any further questions or discussion of Article 2? If not, are you ready for the question? All those in favor of Article 2, which authorizes the Board of School Directors to hold any auditing fund balance as of June 30, 2018 in a reserve fund to be expended under the control and direction of the Board of School Directors for the purpose of operating the school. Please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Article 2 is passed. Article 3, to authorize the Board of School Directors to borrow money in anticipation of the receipt of revenues for the school year. Would somebody make way to move this article? I'll move it. Okay, it's been moved. Do we have a second? We have a second from Linda. Okay, it's been moved and seconded discussion. Any discussion, any questions? If not, it sounds like we're ready for the question. All those in favor of Article 3, authorize the Board of School Directors to borrow money in anticipation of the receipt of revenues for the school year. Please say aye. Aye. Opposed? You've approved Article 3. Article 4 is to transact any other business that may legally come before the meeting. So at this point, we're going to get our presentation and report to the school and Katie's going to leave that. So the floor is yours. Two presentations today actually, one on our budget, which will be voted by Australian Ballot. But we wanted the opportunity to explain to you how we came up with this year's budget and what it means for taxpayers. We have a second presentation, which Cap Fair, our Calis elementary school principal, will share with you, just highlighting some of the things that are happening at the school right now. And that's what we really want you to be able to see what's going on at Calis elementary. What are the kids doing? How are they meeting our student learning outcomes? Which, if you get a chance, there are these posters on the back wall describing the student learning outcomes for all of Washington Central Supervisory Union that are really focusing the work of our teachers right now. So this is a presentation of our proposed budget for the coming year. This is how we develop our budget every year. This year we had three drafts come to us from our superintendent Bill Kimball, our business administrator Lori Bebo and Cap Fair with input from the staff at Calis elementary. So we had a proposal in November, another in December, and then a final budget proposal in January, which we approved as board. So our proposed budget for the coming year, as you can see, is just under $2 million, $1,904,291. And this is a reduction from the current year's budget. You can see that it's a reduction in two ways. It's an overall reduction in budget spending and also a reduction in the spending per equalized people, which is a really important number. This slide is just to illustrate that two-thirds of our budget goes towards staffing toward people. And this makes a lot of sense. If you think about a school, it's the people who are most important in our children's education. And actually, this slide is slightly misleading because the non-salary portion actually does include some people as well, who we have to contract through the supervisory union office. So they're not considered salaried employees of the school we pay to contract them through the SEO. So most of our budget goes to employing people. This is a further breakdown of our budget comparing the current year's budget with the proposed budget for the coming year. So you can see that direct instruction is the largest piece of the pie. You can also see that the WCSU assessments have increased. So if you look at this blue section on the left of the pie chart, that's our Washington Central Supervisory Union Office. And that includes special education money. And that's where most of the increase is coming for the coming year because we've changed how we're delivering special education at Calis. So research has shown that the best way to deliver special education is with special education teachers and not with paraeducators. And so we've changed our structure so that we have fewer paraeducators working with our children and we have two full-time special education teachers who are licensed teachers. And that those two employees are contracted through the central office. So that's why that piece of the budget is bigger than it was. So this slide breaks down the major changes from the current year to the coming year's budget. You can see that there's a salary increase, so that's contract increases that were negotiated. There's a slight decrease in benefits. We had a change in our health care. And then there's a major reduction in staffing, the reduction of 191,000. And that is from a few different places actually. So part of it is the paraeducator piece that I talked about where we reduced paraeducators and increased special ed teachers. So that's reduced paraeducator money. Part of it is that we've decided for the coming year that we are reducing our classrooms in the Calislam Interschool from seven classrooms to six classrooms. And this is because we have fewer children at the younger ages at the younger classroom. So the kindergarten class for next year and the first grade class next year are very small. We're going to combine them into one classroom, which means we had to lose one teacher. So that's part of that staffing change. One full-time classroom teacher, two paraeducators, and also a reduction of 0.4 FTE across our allied arts, which is music and visual arts and library and physical education. Those programs, there's a reduction because there'll be one fewer classroom accessing those programs. So in total, those staffing changes or negotiated items end up with a reduction of 168,000. There's an increase in non-salary items of 93,000. And that's again when I was talking about the increase where we're contracting two full-time special education teachers. So an additional full-time special education teacher and also some increase in our pre-kindergarten enrollment. So we have to pay for vouchers for pre-kindergarten children and a little bit of an increase in transportation costs. So we end up with a total expense reduction of 75,000, but then you have to factor in and I put it in a different color in purple. We also have a reduction in revenues next year of 46,000 and that's mostly around again special education where we won't get as much reimbursement for special education because our special education costs are lower. So in the end, we're saving $29,000. This slide is just a reminder that our enrollment is really important when we're talking about budget. So the enrollment for the previous school year was 122. The enrollment this year is 126. And the projected enrollment for the coming year is 108. But those numbers really change in the months between now and when school actually begins in the fall. So we'll see. We have contracted with the company, WCSU has contracted with the company that's been studying our enrollment for several years and they're projecting what our enrollment will look like over the next 10 years and further. They look at birth rate, they look at housing costs, they look at the housing market and try to figure out what our enrollment's going to look like and they're projecting that our enrollment will continue to decrease. So this is really important for us to think about as a town for our school to be robust. We really need young families to come in and continue to populate our classrooms and create a robust school community. And the population of our school, the enrollment number affects this figure which is the cost for equalized people. So you can see in the coming year this compares us to the other towns in our supervisor union and Calis is looking pretty good for our cost per equalized people for the coming year because we brought our budget down. And this is the again comparing our towns and the six schools in our supervisor union and looking at what their proposed budget means for taxpayers. And this is the slide that always really confuses people because Calis is reducing our budget by 3.82%. And yet our budget, our taxes rather, are projected to increase by 6.8 cents in people. This is just a bad thing to hear.  And so the next slide is trying to explain why this is so and it's because of the really complicated tax formula that Vermont uses. So four factors affect our tax rate in Calis and they are the CLA common level of appraisal, the state tax, the property yield and then the budgets of the two schools where we send our kids Calis Alimentary and U32. And this just goes into a little bit of detail. What is the CLA? It's a way for the state to make sure that towns are not reducing the cost of their homes so that they pay fewer taxes. So we have to continually appraise the houses in our town and make sure that the value that we have listed matches their market value. And so this is actually really important work that our town has been doing with our listeners to keep our CLA at an even level and that really helps with our tax rate. That's how I feel when I start talking about this tax formula. Okay, so the state has set the tax rate at a dollar and they need to maintain it at a dollar and they use something called the property yield to calculate how much this dollar will yield in monies. So the property yield will decrease this year which means that taxes go up. So in other words, a dollar will generate less money so we need more dollars to generate the money that we need to raise in taxes. So this is again another slide showing what the impact is on the residents of our five towns. You can see that a 6.8 cent increase in Calis means $68 per $100,000 of property value. So that's what it actually means to the residents of our town. Also below there's an important note that the tax rate in Vermont is still still incorporates income sensitivity. So based on people's income there's a sliding scale of adjustment to people's taxes so not everyone is going to pay an extra $68 on $100,000 in property value. And in Calis our data shows that 66% of Calis residents receive some kind of income sensitivity on their taxes on a sliding scale. So in the end this is our proposed budget. We've worked really hard to maintain the quality of the education that's happening at this school which is really amazing and at the same time balance that taxes keep going up and we don't want that any more than anybody else. And so we think this is a fair and balanced budget and we hope that you'll support it and encourage others to do so too. So thanks for listening and Kat has some amazing pictures to show you about what the kids are actually doing at our school, what this is paying for. So thanks. Any questions while I'm signing up? Oh yeah. Please identify yourself. Let's get him a mic please. Very good Steve. I just wanted to thank you. It's a great presentation and I know I know this is not. And I just, I know how hard the things are fans of you guys working on the whole question merger and alternate. So just thank you all very much. Any other questions? Comments? Thank you. So what you're about to see are some slides. Could you pick a shorter person? What you're about to see are some slides that demonstrate so much of the work that we've done towards achieving the student learning outcomes for our students. There are just a few highlights from the last few months. The first slide what you're going to see is a list of our student learning outcomes. If you haven't had a chance to check out the posters in the back room please do so. The student learning outcomes for those of you who have not had a chance to take a look at that, there are the core essential academics that is literacy, math, science, global citizenship, physical education and health, artistic expression and financial literacy. Embedded across all of those content areas are what we call the transferable skills. Things like problem solving, critical thinking, self-awareness, self-direction, engaged citizenship. The next few slides that you're going to see are just the wealth of volunteers that we have in this community. In every single one of our classrooms we have volunteers, some who are parents and family members and some who are just dedicated community members who come in and volunteer every month in what we call four wins which is a curriculum that is aligned, a science curriculum that is aligned with the next generation science standards. You can just skip through these. This is a shot of the first day of school. I love that excitement, that first day. In the next few slides you're going to see a lot of work from our third and fourth grade unit. The kids are engaged in every one of those core content areas. And fun. So for those of you who had a chance to walk through the building this morning, you'll see our walls are covered with some amazing artwork and creativity from our students. And for the first time in probably a decade that I can recall, we had a winter art show in concert. So these are some great telephotos of it. I don't know if you can see that but that last one shows the word artist built in situ papers. So the next two slides you're going to see an example of the tech integration. We have an amazing librarian in tech integration. Gratianess Jill Abert. She has worked with kids from kindergarten up through sixth grade on the different aspects of coding. These are photos of our fall on the site. These are the next two pictures of our photos of our fall play and we've just begun rehearsals for our spring play. Gifts for Giving is an annual event where we bring community members and local artists together with our students to upcycle and do some crafting to create gifts for others. This is a wonderful thing. It's something our previous art teacher, Heidi Marie Holmes, brought to us I think 17 years ago. And with a new art teacher this year we weren't sure how that was going to play out but she embraced this tradition and she invited Heidi Marie in to participate. So these are some great photos of that. These pictures of the kindergarten I think are the most exciting to view. Some of our youngest learners really engaged in all aspects of learning. This is engineering at kindergarten. Amazing, right? In the next few photos we see a couple of demonstrations of some of our all school celebrations. PBS is an initiative, an approach that we've taken on over the last, I don't know, five years at Catalyst and across our elementary schools in Washington Central. It's CS for positive behavior intervention system and the rules that we share across all settings in our school are to be safe, be kind, and work hard and students have to really work at trying to figure out what that looks like in each setting. We've also had to make quite a few adjustments this year to think about what are the most effective strategies and our kids have had a lot of input into that. You can't tell from that picture but that was serial heat and yes I think too. These are some great photos of our physical education and health instruction. One of the things that I think often draw families, young families, too callous is the fact that our board has really prioritized physical health education and we offer PE four days a week and health instruction one day a week. These are great pictures of our very youngest learners, our PK. In some of these photos you'll see the kids exploring, they do a version of Hands on Nature or Four Winds with Debbie Charrington. She's great, Debbie comes in at least twice a month if not more. She takes the kids on a little adventure every time she's in the building. You'll see her introducing our students to goats and to a fairy house building which was tied in nicely with her literacy and on fairy tales. These last two slides are a demonstration of some of the hard work in artistic expression with our new music teacher. I see our music teacher from Days of Yore in the audience, Steve Owens. Steve was a hard act to follow but we brought in a wonderful young man Brad Olson who also began the new tradition of a winter concert and the kids struck me as being so musical, so in tune, so one voice which was a great thing to see. Can't tell but that's the third through the sixth grade all singing together. So that's it. I just wanted to make sure as you're sitting here thinking, contemplating the cost of doing business as a school, I wanted to remind us all of the purpose in our being here to educate our children and to provide them with a safe and connected community. Thank you. We have a question here and Mike is on its way to you. Cindy, I wondered how we're doing with our math and literacy scores as we compared to other towns in the district and other towns in the state. Thank you. So if you take a look in this one, you'll see that there are a couple of pages on, do you see it? I do. Okay, so what you're going to see is in grades four through six the English language arts that we are doing fairly well when it comes to comparisons across Washington Central's supervisory union and across the state in math we still have some work to do. There's absolutely no looking at that any other way. I think that by comparison four through six in math we are coming out slightly above the average across our central Washington Central's supervisory union. But again, we want to set a higher bar than that. We've got more work to do than that. Barry? Just time to ask for information on the budget. You can ask for information about the budget, sure. Yeah, just a question and I see that with the heating being projected to almost triple the cost of oil that's why the wood chips are the same. We'll share it. Okay, thank you. Those estimates are just based on the contract prices that we're seeing in the future. It's an estimate. It's a smart estimate, but it's an estimate. This isn't a big item, but I often come and talk to you about the wood chip plant, but if you're using the same amount of wood chips, the cost of oil hasn't gone up 300%. So I'm just surprised that we can talk on a one-on-one. Yeah, that's great. Have that one back. Okay, thank you. I got two. I love microphones, but... Other questions or discussion? We are on article four, which is to transact any other business that may legally come before the meeting. Other items anybody wants to bring up? I just had another question. I was at a school board meeting a while back and you guys were talking about the level of carbon CO in classrooms. I know Paul... Yeah, great question. It's been quite high. I was wondering just what's been going on with that. So that's part of our plan for the coming year. It's one of our priorities, actually, is we're going to have a group come in and recheck our systems, all of our HVAC system and then make sure that the air flow is appropriate. So where we're at right now is more research, study the questions, see what's actually happening, and then if we need to bring big changes to our system because obviously that's really important, the air quality in the school. But that's where we are right now. We need to collect more data and see what's happening. Any other business? Anything you want? Yes, Gail. Gail Graham again. I would like to commend the Calis School Board as well as Scott Thompson for all the hard work you have done during this last year. Thank you. Any other business? Scott, I've got five years left. Yes, that was very kind. Now that the Center for Gravity of Action on Act 46 has moved to the agency and state board of education, we find ourselves with all kinds of time on our hands. So the next big thing that we're looking at, actually at U32, but that may also in fact is almost certain to affect the elementary schools, is looking at school start times and possibly in a pretty big context. So on March 26 at 6 o'clock at U32, there will be an invitation to everyone to get together to just talk about this. Some of you may remember that back, I think it was 2012 maybe, there were tentative exploratory steps taken in this direction. But I think they met with resistance on grounds of athletics, transportation and childcare, which typically are the three big issues that have to be dealt with. But as we look at them, I think they're all manageable and possibly in ways that allow us to do some interesting new and beneficial things in our schools. That's beneficial not only for the schools but also for our communities. So March 26, 6 o'clock to 8 o'clock, public forum on start times plus. Thanks. I have some poll search for that. I'll put out in detail too. Other items anybody would like to bring up? Seeing none. Article 5 and article 6 are on the ballot. The ballot boxes open all day long. I don't see an article to adjourn the meeting, but I'll accept the motion to do that. Please. I just wanted to take a quick second to recognize Shantel Eckhouse for her years of service on the board. She left us this past spring. She was an extremely dedicated worker, served on many important committees, not least of which was Act 46, was board chair for a couple of years. So in the tradition of the House School Board of Directors, we're going to present her with this film. It turns from maybe vacation. She's working. She's working. So we can get around the applause for Shantel. Okay, anything else? If not even without a warrant article, would somebody like to move to adjourn this meeting? Linda, we have a second. All those in favor of adjourning the meeting and the town meeting is going to start in about 40 minutes. So please stick around. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you all very much. Motion carries. Article 1 is to elect the moderator for the ensuing year and will hand the gavel to Judith to conduct this election. Good morning. I'm Judy the town clerk. Are there nominations for moderator? I nominate Gus Selig. Gus Selig has been nominated and seconded. Are there nominations for another moderator? All in favor of closing nominations, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. All in favor of Gus Selig for moderator, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Gus Selig is our moderator for the year. Thank you. Okay, before we get to article 2, let me just review with all of you the rules for town meeting. My role is to facilitate your discussion and your debate. We conduct the meeting according to Robert's rules of order, at least as best I understand them. We have a warning that begins on page 11 of the town report that will work from to get us through the day. A few things about Robert's rules. They ask that you speak to the moderator. The reason for that is to not get into too heated a debate with each other. And so I would just ask that we speak with civility, that we speak to the issues. I'd ask everybody to identify yourself when you get up to speak. You may think everybody in town knows who you are and some of us don't remember names as well as we might like. We also have our new note taker Katie here and she would like to get your name correct for the minutes. We have a couple of folks and I'd like to thank them for their service today through our mic runners and you may think that you speak loudly enough that you can be heard without a mic but at least some of us don't hear as well as we once did and so please wait for the mic to get to you and let's thank both Sonny Cole and Avery Cochran. Sonny's over there, Avery's over here. They're welcome to talk to you. I'd ask if you have a lot of town meetings about just seeing friends and neighbors that you may not have seen for a while and you may want to chat with them but the background discussions can get noisy and make it hard for folks to hear so you might want to take that out into the hall if you'd want to really have a silent conversation. To get an article going I'll ask somebody who may have been a proponent of the article to move it we'll get a second and then we'll be open for discussion. I'll go back and forth across the room looking for people who want to speak to an article or ask questions about it and once you've been recognized to speak to an issue it may be a long time before you get a second shot at it and if you actually speak time in my play or you find it if you want to speak to an article for a third time in the legislature you have to get special permission to do that we don't think we want to enforce that kind of rule here but I guess I would just say think about what you want to say and be ready to say it. There can be confusion in town meetings sometimes and I find when I look back on a town meeting and what went well and what didn't it's usually because we were rushing or we weren't clear so if you're not clear about what it is we're about to vote on especially if there are amendments you can ask for a point of order to clarify that and we'll stop and try to make sure that it's clear. There are some motions like a motion to end the debate that takes a two-thirds vote most other questions are a simple majority when it's time to vote I'll reread the article there are three ways to vote one is a voice vote that can be notoriously unreliable so if you think the outcome is not one that you're happy with and it was just a matter of who had the loudest voices you can ask for a division which means we'll raise these yellow cards and if you haven't got a yellow card you get it by checking in to get your ballots for the day but without that we don't count your vote if you're not happy with that result we can also have a paper ballot as well we can have any issue amended and there could be amendments to an amendment when you get beyond that it can get really confusing so we may stop at that point and I guess the last thing I just say is that we well two things one is that we come in here as friends and neighbors and I hope we don't leave that way also if you get really heated about something if you want to make a point just make sure it's something that you wouldn't mind seeing on the front page of the newspaper or here on the radio because the newspaper is here ORCA is here and the public radio is here so it may just be your friends and neighbors but it is whatever you say is a public record today so with that article two is kind of a oh one other thing article 19 which is the callous climate resolution was put on the ballot after article 18 which is our traditional end of town meeting of other business when anything can come up so unless there's an objection I've been asked and I will bring article 19 up before I bring article 18 up and we'll hand it that way unless somebody objects are there any objections to that as we get to it at the end of town meeting or somewhere around 12.30 there'll be a great lunch that I think is also a fundraiser for the Kent many of you brought food and I look forward to enjoying it and we'll try to get our business done before lunch but we may have to recess and come back after lunch so any questions about how town meeting works before we get into article two so article two is to ask questions about the reports of town vote or as an officer so there's many reports in the town report and you can raise pretty much any question or issue at this time about any of those reports so anything anybody wants to inquire about Barry and let's get him a mic right here in the second row and we're going to miss Barry Bernstein from Beastalus I had a couple of points I don't know one was I just been going through the town budget I noted that there were a number of areas where the increase was closer to seven to eight percent and I know you guys work hard so this isn't trying to change anything I just think it's important to try to look at when we have those kind of increases in a way to kind of keep them down so it's just a comment I did want to, if it's appropriate to make a comment about one of the reports that's in here yes it is it's page 38 under the middle of the page under the energy planning and lighting and solar it's the next paragraph and it's the second line this has to do with washing electric co-op which our president of the board and many of Calis residents are co-op member owners and a lot of the sense says WEC grades for net media and are now attractive for homeowners interested in installing grid solar systems the co-op has dealt with this trying to represent 11,000 homes many of them in Calis and we feel the rates have always been attractive the difference of course is with the new net media rate that started in January 2017 many of the costs that we had in a two year pilot project aren't fully covered so it's basically some cost shifting for members who don't have solar to pick up all of the poles and wires costs so when we get to the resolution in article 19 I'm going to raise this question again because it's a matter of trying to balance we totally have been supportive of net media in question like the co-op but when you put things on whether it's on trying to encourage solar on the town village in the schools set in another part of the report it's cost shifting and people who are co-op members in Calis already get 100% of the power from renewables so I think it's important to keep that in mind as we try to all reach the goal of 90% renewable in the state but it makes no sense to replace renewable with renewable and it costs some people extra to do that so it is cost shifting thank you other questions or comments on any of the reports of the town boards and officers? John for event one of your select board members one of your five just to kind of address Barry's concern about what was the percentage increase you came up with Barry on some items in the budget just generally 7% yeah on some items the overall budget is much less than that 7% and when we work to keep their increases there are always going to be increases every year we try to minimize those increases and sometimes we need to purchase one item for maybe the highway department or something which might make that budget appear to jump up a bit but then we always try to offset those cost increases overall with cuts elsewhere so that's what balancing the budget is all about and so it might look like that we're going up a lot in one area but we need to look at the overall budget thanks John other questions or comments on the town reports? okay seeing none we'll move on to article three to elect the following town officers from the floor in the first office as the agents convey real estate somebody like to make a nomination and on the Judy Fitzroberts okay do we have a second? Judy Fitzroberts do we have a second? second been moved and seconded to have Judy Fitzroberts serve as the agents convey real estate any other nominations or do we have a motion to close nominations? motion to close and a second? second been moved and seconded to close nominations and I assume we have to clerk cast one ballot for herself? yes okay that's the question all in favor of having Judith elect herself as the agent convey real estate please say aye opposed congratulations the next two jobs are the law agent and grand juror Tina Bielenberg is the incumbent somebody like to make a motion yeah one at a time okay we have a second second been moved and seconded to any other nominations been moved that we close nominations and have the clerk cast one ballot for Tina Bielenberg do we have a second? okay it's been moved and seconded to close nominations and have the clerk elect Tina Bielenberg as law agent all in favor please say aye opposed okay now grand juror Tina Bielenberg is again the incumbent and do we have a second for Tina as grand juror? second been moved and seconded to have Tina serve are there any other nominations? and if not okay do we have a second to that motion? second okay it's been moved and seconded to have the clerk cast one ballot for Tina Bielenberg to serve another year as grand juror all in favor of that motion please say aye opposed okay she's got both jobs yet again next is trustee of public funds I believe Bill Russell is the incumbent nominations are open do we have a second? second okay it's been moved and seconded to have Bill Russell serve as trustee of public funds any other nominations? seeing none moved the clerk cast one ballot in favor of Bill Russell for trustee of public funds we have a second to have the motion to have Bill Russell elected with one ballot cast by the clerk it's been seconded all those in favor of having the clerk cast one ballot for Bill Russell to serve as trustee of public funds please say aye aye anybody opposed and Bill continues next is cemetery commissioner I believe Juanita Nunn is the incumbent this is a five year term nominations are open yes okay that was Fletcher Dean do we have a second? second moved and seconded are there any other nominations for cemetery commissioner if not can I have a motion to have one ballot cast some move okay do we have a second? moved and seconded that we have one ballot cast by the clerk to have Juanita Nunn continue in a five year term as cemetery commissioner all those in favor please say aye opposed okay that motion carries we are up to article four article four reads shall the voters approve the total highway and general fund expenditures I'm ahead of myself yes okay we have one other item for article three three and a half would you like the floor of that yes I would a few little comments to make and thank yous to do and introductions I wanted to introduce you I don't know where she is Sandra are you there somewhere Sandra Ferver is serving now as assistant clerk and effective at the end of March when Donna retires she will be our new treasurer Sandra was town clerk treasurer and delinquent tax collector in Worcester for eight years and she and her family live in Berlin and have an organic fruit and egg farm is that correct so welcome thank you Sandra next up Nadine Martin who I know is going to hate this but oh well she was first elected in 2014 as our delinquent tax collector and was there after appointed by the select that's when we moved to change the delinquent tax collector from being nominated on the floor to being appointed since Nadine came on she has recommended to and worked with the select board to adopt a delinquent tax policy making the process more transparent and fair and equitable for everyone she significantly reduced the amount of delinquent taxes owed to the town which benefits all the tax payers and because she did such a great job it also reduced her pay but not her hours most notably Nadine worked compassionately and professionally with delinquent tax payers to help them get caught up by developing a realistic repayment schedule thank you Nadine for your service to the town we'll find you something else to do don't worry anything to do about her retirement however we had to do something we can't thank Nadine enough for her dedicated and committed service to the town your service in many different capacities over the years has made Calisthen more vibrant community so as you start the next chapter we know you will be doing whatever you want to do we wish you all the best and we know where you live maybe phone number very good job and luckily I had the sport of even more skin here I was just thinking about how I got here and when Cat referred to engage citizenship here at Calis as one of the goals I just wanted to acknowledge oh I'm getting emotional I wanted to acknowledge my grandmother Mildred Bullock who was a teacher at the two room school house in Magel Corner who taught us about Robert's rules of order and citizenship my father was served in the legislature my father who was a select board member my mother who was a teacher and all of you forgotten for me thank you both very much it's been great to work with both of you we are up to article 4 article 4 reads shall the voters approve total highway and general fund expenditures of $1,525,150 of which $1,224,815 shall be raised by taxes and $300,335 by non-tax revenue and I believe the magic numbers can be found on page 20 of the town report would somebody like to move this article it's been moved by Barry Bernstein do we have a second moved and seconded you want to speak to it sure so on page 20 $1,224,815 you're voting on the expenses and the income at the top of that page and later on when you go to the articles you'll be added to it but right now what you are voting on is the highway budget the select board budget and you see the income below the expenses does anybody have any questions about what part of the budget you're voting on Matt wait for the mic and identify yourself please hi I'm Matt Gardner Morse how come the cemetery budget itself separated up from the select board budget it just seems like it has to go over nice statue the cemetery budget is separate cemetery commissioners are voted in so the select board has no control over the budget or the commissioners other questions, comments yeah over I'm Craig Lyon I'm a West searcher I have a list of questions most of them I think are very short but how should we proceed one by one yeah one by one I think it's good okay unless this is a quiz yeah on page 22 and this is kind of a theme I noticed page 22 line 5009 liability insurance I've seen wildly varied figures there from 2017 zero to 11862 to zero to 12,000 so we used to have all of our liability insurance lumped in together I think it was under our passive line item which is our insurance with Montego cities and towns and now we are dividing it up where that goes so the highway liability insurance is estimated at 12,000 for 2019 and I believe the rest of it you'll find elsewhere in here I think we took it out of insurance which is account number 6405 on page 24 liability insurance so it's laughter you would have seen it as one big number but now we are separating it out as to what belongs to the general fund what belongs to highways and so some years you do that or have in other years you haven't is that why it's fluctuating well we think that the voters should know how much liability insurance is for the highway equipment or highway workers versus the rest of the expenses so are the two amounts added up what will be paid overall for liability insurance if you add the two up and compare it to this year 2018 it should well I don't know it says it's 2 on 2 it's basically taking a number and dividing it up among the appropriate account codes and this this budget is laid out it doesn't have any indentations I'm having a little hard time finding things yeah I understand there's a lot to look at I just noticed the variance that's why I'm asking about it to find and understand how it can vary so much from year to year it's a different system of accounting for what is spent that's correct okay we have another question a minor question about sand which could be a unintended loaded subject it's very in amounts budgeted from 60 42,000 was spent age 22 9501 42,000 was actually spent 65,000 was budgeted for this year next year 55,000 there's been a lot of debate this winter about sand or the lack thereof on the roads and it was stated that Alfie and crew have double the amount of sand and double the amount of material on the county road for instance so how does that jive with budgeting less for sand next year than we did this year so Craig we looked at the overall going back a few years how much was budgeted and how much was spent and we've never spent the full amount on sand or gravel so in order to try to help keep costs down we kind of tried to get somewhere in the middle realizing that we needed to have enough but we didn't want to over budget which is apparently what we have experienced in the past so we're trying to get a more realistic number so that applies to both sand and gravel okay yeah it's similar with a lot of this material so doubling the amount used in certain situations doesn't impact what's needed in budget so far no we'll see at the end of the year what Alfred has to tell us about whether we use more than this year it all depends on the winter it's so unpredictable and on the county road of course we started using that other chemical the magic salt not the stuff I was going to say so we're set to use that on the roads and hopefully that will lessen the amount of sand that's needed so we're trying to be responsible and try to manage the budget as best we can okay thanks my next question is to do with a similar trend in salaries over on page 23 I understand there's a lot more administrators in new positions I understand the variance in those amounts the licers have gone from $14,500 which I assume is a year in which a reappraisal was done down to $76,991 down to $3,000 and back up to $12,000 for next year so are we anticipating another reappraisal next year is that the reason for that increase what we did last year is we have a reappraisal fund and we still have money left in that fund from when we did the reappraisal in 2015 and so we budgeted last year we budgeted $3,000 to be raised by taxes and the rest of the licers pay to come out of that reappraisal fund and so that's all used up so we need $12,000 well we still have money to reappraisal fund but we won't keep it there because we will have to be doing another reappraisal so we don't want to bring down that fund and our auditor did say we can pay one of the licers out of the reappraisal fund so we did that last year but we're not going to do it this year because the licers really want to keep that fund high so we don't have to ask you for more money when we come time for a reappraisal I understand and I apologize for these what they seem to be arcane points but I think it's good another similar question for the assistant town of Fleur and this is a trend in the opposite direction I just don't understand it from $35,598 $33,675 actual this is line 6117 to $15,000 budgeted for this year to $6,500 for next year so is the assistant town of Fleur just going to be working a lot less no assistant town of Fleur line 6117 line 6117 so some of the duties of the assistant town of Fleur are now being done by the select board administrator and therefore doesn't require as much hours and you'll notice that even the budgeted amount for the select board administrator is less than what we had budgeted last year so I think that overall you can see that we've tried to keep the costs down of those positions okay well and that's the next line that I have highlighted I mean I just have another point to make on that historically and this goes back to Eva and then some probably the town clerk was kind of a dual position they did everything and that being said and I think that's the case around the entire state that being said the clerk has certain positions or certain responsibilities that they need to perform and beyond that statutorily that they are not required to do these other jobs that the clerk and the assistant clerk have historically done in town so the jobs that are not statutorily required have been reassigned mostly to our select board administrator so but yet right in my statute I do understand that times are much more complicated with victims from the state etc and Denise I just want to say I don't think there was a time before Eva so overall if you look at total line 6100 the salaries are related and this is just a comment I guess on the time is from 163 163 to budget for next year a total in salaries of 221,000 so it's definitely much more expensive and I'm just keeping an eye as the heaven flow how big your indulgence I have one other question I'm sorry I have a question about page 24 line 6562 the conservation fund a year ago I was surprised to hear from the treasurer that the amount for which we had always voted and sometimes discussed and then voted the typical $4,000 amount was just inserted into the budget and my memory was and it might not be accurate because we just always voted for it and I just feel like the lack of process is what bothers me I'm in favor of land conservation I'm curious about what the balance is in the conservation fund and I see that once again it's just inserted into the budget it's not an article to be discussed and in fact the amount is still from $4,000 to $8,000 this year so I'm just wondering if there's some explanation for all of that so last year we took a number of items and put them in the budget one was the conservation commission one was the swim fund I think we also put the highway heavy equipment fund in the budget and it doesn't mean you can't discuss it I mean you're asking right now so it means that we ask for every year and we just put it in the budget to make fewer articles but it can still be discussed as we're discussing it today but it wasn't just conservation commission fund, it was other funds too I just have a problem with that it's hidden away and if you're not someone like me who couldn't sleep one night so went through it line by line most people are not going to notice it and I think it's more open and transparent put it in an article I understand the rationale I just don't agree with that thankfully I'm done thank you I see a lot of people either sitting or standing in the back and I just want to say there's probably interspersed in the first two or three rows 15 or 20 seats that are available unless you prefer to stand but there are seats available okay we are on article 4 is there further discussion are there further questions yes right over here wait for the mic please identify yourself Jack Barcel why you brought up a good point on the conservation commission why did they increase that so the conservation fund is something that ebbs and flows in terms of demand we had a demand on the fund a few years ago the Armstrong farm was conserved unless you probably know about that and as part of that conservation project we kept the farm viable and it's actually vegetable farm now organically operated and it's public access provided it's part of that conservation project a crew and a benefit to town residents overall beyond just conserving the farm that cost money so the farm the fund that depleted there we're anticipating further depletion of the fund hasn't yet been decided by the select board formally but we're anticipating depletion of the fund in some amount to fund a non-profits effort and to contribute to the overall pool of funds that are going to be accumulated through state grants possibly federal monies too I think toward the memorial hall that project and that property is an important property on number ten pond for those who don't know about it it's used pretty much every day by the summer by our residents and their friends or family members to go swimming and boat and stuff like that we see that the conservation commission sees that as an important project for the town and that's going to really hurt the fund in terms of remaining dollars so we need to start working to rebuild that fund because down the road I'm sure it will be something else that comes along five ten years from now so it will be the increase in amount we have a hand up right here my name is Larry I'm on the conservation commission and as this is a subject of discussion I would like to tell you that there's a little chair in the back of the room that has a whole lot of these little brochures they're slightly old brochures now but inside of them there is another fold out that on one side contains a list of all the transactions throughout its history that the conservation fund has been used for of what they are, where they are and how much was contributed by the town and then on the other side of it there's a nice little map that can show you where these things are this includes every transaction that the conservation fund has participated and up to this point it does not include anything about Memorial Hall because that's not a finalized decision yet but if the select board accepts the conservation commission's recommendation on this project the fund balance would be about four thousand dollars at the end of it including this money we hope wisely for the benefit of the town and that's sort of where we are now so if you're interested in the details I would encourage you to please since I folded them all up I'd like to see you take them there's a whole bunch of these little brochures with this insert in the back of the room thank you okay and up into the future there morning I'm not sure that I have a question or a complaint I'm just trying to understand something about the roads we have a budget and I see all the items on it and I'm not necessarily saying that wrong but what I'm noticing or what I'm reading in the newspapers and I hear everywhere else we know things are happening climate wise I'm wondering if there is any information training sessions discussion sessions where road crews are being discussing how to deal with the new situation because it appears to me there are times when things are done on the roads that don't make any sense and they're not done when it would appear that they do in other words I feel like the road crew may be operating in a 20th century mode when we need a 21st century mode I think we're all moving towards understanding how climate change is affecting us and it does affect the roads I mean one day it's 40 degrees and the next day it's 20 degrees and freezing rain or something weird like that the road crew works very hard they're up at hours of the day and night and we're all sleeping trying to keep up with the roads and sometimes there's questions about the road crew and the road crew he's more than happy to explain it to you he's explained things to me that I had no clue and when you listen to him and he explains it it makes sense and yes the road crew does take trainings they take trainings all the time when they can when they're not working on the roads through something about regional planning commission Vermont local roads program they maintain the roads and yes it is different so we put out a Q&A fact sheet which I had good feedback on people thought it was helpful so if there's more questions you know you know where to find me and you know how to contact Alfred okay okay up and back is the next one microphone's coming patient thank you hi I'm Stephanie Kaplan chair of the conservation commission and I just wanted to add a couple things to what Larry and John said first of all I want to make it clear there's an important distinction between the conservation commission and the conservation fund the fund is controlled by the select board it's not controlled by the conservation commission the conservation commission the conservation commission however makes the recommendation to the select board when somebody comes to once money from our fund they want to do a project they are supposed to come to the conservation commission explain the project explain how much money they want and why and then the conservation commission votes and decides what kind of recommendation to make to the select board how to spend from the fund and whether there should be any contingencies on donating the money and that's the process that's being followed as was mentioned from Memorial Hall where a non-profit group came to the conservation commission and asked for money to be donated and then the conservation commission to the select board is now deliberating on it and there have been two or three public meetings about this and there was not a big attendance after last summer's big meeting about Memorial Hall and what should happen to it and there was a lot a huge amount of public support for trying to preserve it for public use and that's what this non-profit association is now doing and the conservation commission felt that it's a very important project with many benefits for the town including protecting water quality in addition to recreation and historic use of the old building the select board I think is putting this I don't know if you're putting it on your next agenda to make a decision but we did as Larry mentioned we recommended a substantial amount of money because we think it's an important project and that would end up with the fund having very little in it and there are a lot of demands on it and I also wanted to mention that in addition to the benefit of having a farm down on the peak we got also a river corridor that was part of that so the entire length of the peak and the width of the former Armstrong farm is now protected with buffers on both sides so the farming all the agriculture can go right up and the banks will protect from the road and so we felt also that that was a really important project but anyway I just wanted to clarify the difference between the conservation commission and the fund which is controlled by the select board thank you okay I have a hand up over here Hi Barbara and Andrew just a quick question something that was really helpful I'm hearing you say that the funds will be expended the funds will be expended so how much is in the conservation fund and we're proposing to start ACAS if I understand so we had about I think $82,000 in it and then we put $30,000 toward the Armstrong farm so now we're down to $40,000 to $50,000 is the fund being expended or did that return to them? I think what Stephanie's referring to is the proposal for Memorial Hall okay further discussion right over here can you read man in the vest again I guess we're used to you I guess we're used to me too right just in terms of arts common on the roads I'm very frustrated with the roads too I'm also frustrated with the weather and we've learned to wash your electric co-op that conditions are changing no matter how well you prepare it's different we're having trees coming out of the right way outside the right way just coming up from the roots and I think Alfred has always been very open and anytime I call he appreciates when you call because there's a lot of roads in Calis and there are sometimes all experienced in the same weather conditions more I see of course it's one of them I appreciate an increase in the sand and gravel because it's going to be needed and we're going to continue to have very difficult road conditions from what we're used to thank you okay we are on article 4 are we ready for the question okay article 4 is shall the voters prove total highway and general fund expenditures at $1,525,150 of which $1,224,850 shall be raised by taxes and $1,335 by non-tax revenue all in favor of article 4 please say aye opposed the ayes have it passed article 4 article 5 shall the voters appropriate $27,132 for the Cali Public Library for its operating expenses we'll go over to Mr. Lyne again but this time it's not going to ask questions of course I only have 7 questions I would like to move article 5 okay do we have a second we moved in second would you like to say a word about it thank you I'm Craig Lyne and I'm the Calis representative on board of trustees at Cali Library and I just want to say at the outset that I'm keeping my promise from last year to not make any promises we are in fact asking for a slight increase this year we're asking for a slight per capita increase of all the 5 U32 district towns that support the library and that is going from $16 per capita to $17 and in Calis's case that means we're asking for an increase of $1,372 I apologize on the end of a bad head cold so the amount we're asking for this year $27,132 is still less than you voters approved 5 and 6 years ago so $800 less than that and what we're asking for overall is for Calis to contribute 3% of our operating budget about 50% of our $909,000 annual budget comes from the towns 5 U32 towns and Montpelier Montpelier by far pays the lion's share of the budget so even if we got all 5 towns today to vote for the increase that would result in approximately 10 to $11,000 in additional money so it's not a whole lot we're a very tightly funded non-profit and the board and the director scrutinize carefully all the expenses so I urge your support, thank you discussion questions, yes yes, my name is Gail Graham and I said I wouldn't address this again but here I am and we're talking about a lot of expenses to the town and I would just like to ask you to consider Article 9 and we'll address that later I'm just going to give you a little history on the Calacomber Library going back to 2001 in 2000 the appropriation was $1,500 it was in March of 2001 and I happened to be in attendance it's when they were asking for and received 11,066 and that was when the addition was being added to the library as I say I wasn't living here but I was a non-resident and I was going to address it but Stanley Klitsch got ahead of me and made comments and asked some questions that I was going to ask and wondering how long is this going to go on the following year in 2002 $2,100 was appropriated then in 2003 again was asked for 11,066 dollars to complete the payment and I will mention a quote that this was in the morning of the channel report in 2003 this is the final year for this request and then in 2004 was 9,675 in 2005 13,071 and I won't go the whole list but the amount that I compiled since 2001 until now it has amounted to $310,000 in 248 cents so you know I'm not saying we have a library but it's a lot of money for the John O'Callis thank you you have a hand up here over here my name is Andrea Sarota and I am a huge supporter of the library I think this amount of money that we're being asked to contribute is eminently fair and kind of a bargain to provide us with a wonderful community resource not just books but many, many, many other things thank you over in front and then we'll go to the back I agree with the my name is Erica Hellman I think another just maybe crass thing to consider is property values when you think about how few you know notable institutions there are in central Vermont like the Kellogg-Humber Library actually if it went away I think it would impact people's interest in living in this area it's an important place the other thing is it's one of the last places you were actually invited to go and spend time I was there working a couple weeks ago and I was just I was struck by that fact alone that I didn't have to spend any money while I was there and I could stay as long as I wanted I think that's inherently valuable and yeah they have remarkable speaking series I think it's not a lot to ask okay over here the blue I'm Sue Chalky and I was curious if you have great any data that could support the request of how many house residents use the library if you're upstanding with the surrounding towns and the types of resources books, movies, whatever people are going to the library for we'll give you the floor to give us information on that I do I have a lot of that information the library is open 55 hours a week the annual circulation overall is 271,323 items that are taken out there were 546 programs to which Eric alluded and those are attended by almost 10,000 people 11 public computers free wi-fi was used 968 times weekly the number of downloaded audio and e-books last year was 13,384 the statewide average of support for libraries is over $30 again we're asking for 17 the number of house residents an active library card it's 509 Calis residents borrowed 12,103 items last year plus the e-books which are not tallyed by town there's a self-serve book exchange at the adamant co-op and also at the east Calis store Calis receives story time programs from the children's in 85 free books were distributed to students during those programs every hand over here thank you pat fanny from adamant robert I'd like to address the way that the money is raised more than anything else I guess to me charities non-profit should be given to because you want to not because 50% plus one have said that you have to I just I got a real problem with that I mean it doesn't matter where there's a calic hybrid library or any other charities that are listed in the morning I if I don't want to get to that and something my neighbor says well in you know their way it's worth you know you should get to it it's almost like something to reach you in my pocket and take you in my mouth and I don't like that there's a hand over here and then we'll get back there hand over this side thank you and I'd like to just thank for his service on behalf of the calic and at the risk of sounding decisions like the conservation committee this this item could potentially be a candidate to go right in the budget now we're going to go over to this side of the library Mr. Lily good morning people first of all I want to tell Don I'm going across the road this morning she said I smell like coming out there then Donny tells me she's going to retire she wants to retire before her head gets red but I do want to thank Sharon for running for slack order last year Sharon came over here and she wanted me to sign a petition and I said Sharon don't want to push me around Sharon says that's not my style so I thought right then I didn't say it to her but I'm going to say it to her now poor gentleman but anyway I got that out of my system and I do know that I was watching CNN the other day and I was talking about the about the libraries and one library I think was in the middle of St. Martin College 90,000 libraries books that are put in the stories because people aren't using them anymore on account of the smartphone you can ask Sarah about any questions you want to know don't laugh it's true it's true and you know I'm out in New York getting my son's wife and he's got a smartphone and you guys said I asked him what's the name of this lake and how deep it is and how long it is and she had all the answers just like that that's the way it is folks that's the way it is today so I asked Sarah a question and they say this she says this I mean she gave me the answer in three seconds that's how it goes I'm not in favor of giving the library money I'm not in favor of that I think the smartphone is taking things over I want to make a motion that this library probably will go through but I don't know if I do it now or later but I want to make a motion I want to give $7,000 from the library to bad women full circle who didn't know what it was it's circle today do I make it now or do I wait I don't want to miss it out on this well they are I'd say we have a social service article on the warning and you could try to add it at that time I can't make a motion do you catch that do you just motion I think that you can make a motion to reduce spending in this article and you'll have to wait until the next art until we get to the social service article to add it there okay are you moving to reduce the expenditure by $7,000 okay do we have a second to this amendment seconded that we reduce this article by $7,000 we're open for discussion on that item now we're on the amendment can I finish what I was going to say you can finish yes what I want to say is this 2014 I found out that 156 women were battered in Washington I'm sorry this is not remained article 5 I'm going to let him finish his statement he'll be succinct and then we'll move back to article 5 so my question will be whether to reduce the amount $7,000 I found out in 2014 that 146 women in Washington did couldn't go home didn't want to go home I donate money to battle women myself I do I did it this year I do it every year from the library I want to take it away from the library and give it to battle women now I just read in my apartment to a woman that was battered she was telling me that and I said I did money to battle women she says thank you because you helped me get an attorney you helped me pay for my attorney thank you we have a hand up in the middle and you have the microphone next thank you hello you I feel like I have to preface this now by saying that I'm not getting money to support any battered women as a matter of fact in speaking out in pro library I think that he had that situation many social issues is education and opportunity and thinking and learning how to we'll just have an opportunity the whole budget for the library, I'm a big user, I'm also a big user of the branch at the Adam and Co-op, which is terrific. There's also the blister, they have a lunch where they have materials, and I just, I kind of can't believe we're discussing this, and if you think a smartphone makes you think, think again, because it doesn't, it doesn't. That's not thought. Information is not digested in learning how to live into this world, and I feel like I really want to be serious about getting people to stay here and bring them business, and thriving in the future. We need these kinds of free places that give all people an opportunity, and we need to read, read, read, and support librarians. Okay, we're going to go over to this side now, and then we'll come to the far side now. Well, under Mr. Lilly's concept of Siri does everything, and I, by the way, left off Alexa. We can take that a little further, and why not close all the schools, because we really wouldn't need teachers. We could just Siri and Alexa all information, everywhere. I suspect we might not need town officers, because we could ask Siri for all the questions. And you have a farm, so you can just ask Siri how to, you know, milk cows and get rid of the cowshed. This is the most funny thing I've heard, I mean, a long time, to use Siri forever. Thank you. I'm going to have a hard time. I will now end it. I'm actually a little lower. First of all, the suggestion that we communally advocate that Siri replace a library is, you may, and I agree with everything Janet Bobaroba said. The other thing is, is that library hours across the state are being reduced horribly, sometimes just a few hours a week. The Kellogg Hubbard Library, if nothing else, helps compensate for that in all its programs. So, I think it's just how we define ourselves as a culture, as much as a budget concern. Okay, we're going to go back to this side in the grandstand. This is Mercedes, and we're on Jack Hill Road. And let's not take it to extremes. I mean, I do support libraries, but it's not the extreme that you're going to ask everything to your phone. But I think the sense of being able to access the information and still read the same books, it's just not taking away all the money because we certainly want to keep the library and serve it, but just adapt to different priorities. Maybe take slight changes, just so we still have a library. We still have all the resources and a place to go, but maybe we'll just adapt it because we still have the computers to access all the information at the library that will be for people that don't have the cell phones, let's say, to access that information. So, let's not take it to extremes. It's just we use it a little to be able to place it on other things that might be needed as well. Thank you. I have a point of order. I'm sorry, point of information rather. Yes, your point of information. I have a legal question and I don't know if the town attorney is here or someone who could make a ruling on this, but I'm not clear as to whether or not it's legal to reduce the amount from the floor because then we're into a non-worn amount of money. So it's my general understanding that either the amount is passed or not passed as it is written in the morning. My understanding of that, and then we're going to go to this, having a question called, is that when articles on the floor are presented for floor action, they can be amended and this article can be reduced. It's not just an up or down question. So I'm going to proceed now with somebody's asked to call the question on the amendment that's not debatable. It means we stop debate and then we'll vote on the question, the amendment question, which would reduce the amount by $7,000. So all those in favor of ending debate on the amendment, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? No. The ayes have it and we will end the debate. All those in favor of amending the article so that it would provide to the Kellogg would then read, shall the voters appropriate $20,132 for the Kellogg Public Library for its operating expenses. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed? No. The noes have it and the amendment has failed. We're back on the main question, which is shall the voters appropriate $27,132 for the Kellogg Public Library for its operating expenses. Are you ready for the question? Yes. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed? No. The ayes have it, article five passes. Article six is shall the voters appropriate $49,000 for the operation and maintenance of town cemeteries. Somebody want to move this article. It's been moved. We have a second. And seconded. And we'll ask one of the cemetery commissioners to speak to it. Hello. Good morning. I'm Fletcher Dean. I'm on the cemetery commission. So this article, this amount of money used to be voted every year under the select court budget that we were just informed that a statute requires that it be separate. I just wanted to refer you to the report on the cemetery commission in terms of what we've been doing regarding maintenance and beyond to bring some of the cemeteries up to a standard that we would find more acceptable than they were in a few years back. So the amount of that report is on page 36, by the way. And the amount that we're requesting in the budget is the same that we've had. It's been rather funded now. This is the third year for $49,000. If you look on page 26, you'll see online 6,600, the cemetery breakdown.  But we used to vote in this meeting for some special projects that would help bring the cemeteries back into better repair. And we were advised by the select court to roll it all into one. So that's why it's now $49,000. But that line used to be on $69,89. And you'll see it's a cemetery special project for $14,000. So for this coming year it's zero. And now if you look back up to 6,600, and it's $49,000. So that's about it. If anybody has any questions, we'll have you entertained. Okay, we're open for discussion on this article and your questions or comments. There's a hand up on the right side. Back. It's called MULA, Lightning Network. I don't know if maybe this doesn't fit together, but I'm reading the Cemetery Endowment report. Okay. I can't figure that out. You know, there's a line that says $43,000 in 12-page 54. I'm Roy Falk, trustee of public funds. And it is true that the cemetery endowment is $142,000 and that it's been growing at a pretty good pace since we changed the investment strategy from investing in bank CDs to a more broad-based endowment strategy, where we hope it will keep up with the pace of inflation and that we would have more funds in the endowment eventually so that we could contribute in a meaningful way to the cemetery expenses, and that's our goal. So the question is, should we deplete the endowment now and fund some of the current expenses, or should we continue to try to build it to a larger size and then develop a spending strategy on an annual basis? And we've talked to the select board about that, public meetings about it, and that's our current strategy. So ultimately we hope to be able to contribute very meaningfully to cemetery fund expenses, but we think it's too early to do it at this point. We could do it. Okay. Galvin? First I'll speak as the treasurer, then I'll speak as me. So I think our investment strategy for cemetery funds, we have talked about getting it up to $200,000 before we start thinking about how to use some of that interest. That's correct, Ron, right? About $200,000? Yeah. Okay, now speaking as Donna Fitch, I'd like to make an observation and a suggestion about the cemetery budget. I grew up next to Robinson Cemetery. I love the cemeteries. I will be buried in Robinson Cemetery. But things have changed. In 2015, the cemetery budget was $28,535, and now it's up to $49,000. And a lot has changed since Don Singleton Sr. cared for the cemeteries and could hire young people in the summers. Now our cemetery workers are considered employees and we're paying workers compensation, liability insurance, unemployment, and then we have payroll and related human resource requirements. And it is expensive to have these cemetery workers. Middlesex spends $6,900 on their cemeteries. Berlin spends $10,000. Marshfield spends $8,600. Plainfield spends $33,320. And Worcester spends almost $10,000. So I'd like to make two suggestions. One is that the cemetery commissioners ask for bids, a moment of cost for a contractor to do our cemeteries. I know that's getting away from tradition and hiring wrong workers. But I think it would be interesting to compare it at the cost. And also I think there should be a capital plan so that we know what expenses are upcoming. So when there are special projects, we can budget, pay for it, and the taxpayers know what it is. Okay, we're on Article 6. Yes, something that... I have something to give them. They have cemetery commissioners. Over the past two years, we are making an offer. And we're all getting the cemetery up to five so there's no maintenance on them. Think about something more. We've got three cemeteries right now. But have we ran it close? And changed things on it? Anglers? Hold the microphone closer. Hold the microphone closer. Okay. We have three cemeteries right now. Which are non-maintenance for the morn. We have the short cemetery on George Road. We have the angler cemetery. And we also have another one in my business. I already said this a lot, right? And the other one is... What's the other one? Robin? Well, no, we started in 2013, Washington too. We lost 20% of the cemeteries. And on 2014, we put together 80% and washed that at the robberies and cemeteries. And so that just needs to fence right now, sometime. We're going to use a chain link because we already have the... Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm not a public speaker. Yeah, what do you have? We have the three cemeteries, which is all set up and ready to go. We have the James Cemetery, which will be doing this spring. And that's going to be Granite Post and Cain Lake. Granite Post and Cain Lake Sun. And then we're trying to get a price to Washington Sun. And pressure washing the stones over at Old Fairview and New Fairview. And also, we've been getting a real high price there, but I looked back on some of what I was washing, and we found out it cost about $14 for a first stone. There's 990 cents. 990 is talking to that place there. And we were originally getting our money from the select board, which was... And we were getting an analysis on a medical cemetery commission, which is actually a separate part of the town here. We do our own stuff and we're not really reporting to the select board, but I don't know. I think that's good. Well, except it needs to be. There are always many here that you're talking about. We're trying to get it out there, so let's make that around about $30,000 a year. And that's happening. Thank you. Thank you. And we'll pass the microphone over to Stephanie Kaplan. And then I'll ask again if we're ready for the question, but we may not. Hi, my name is Stephanie Kaplan. I live on Jack Henry Road. I wanted to support what John was saying. That is, I don't think it's fair to compare the current budget of the cemetery community in the past. For a couple reasons. For one, there was a lot of deferred maintenance. And I think, as John said, if you go around town and you look at the cemeteries, and if you knew what they looked like five years ago, some of those cemeteries are really beautiful. They have done a lot before. They clean stones. They straighten stones. They added fencing. Some of it's been beautifully painted. They've done a lot. And in the past, up until maybe five years ago, Robinson Cemetery was in great shape. It was taken care of beautifully. But the rest of the cemeteries in town were neglected. And they're not being neglected anymore. And I think it's really important. The cemeteries in Calais are public space. We don't have a lot of public spaces. I live in Jack Hill Road. I had an 87-year-old neighbor who lived there the whole life. She is so happy about the state of the cemeteries. She is just beside herself. Because the cemeteries are being taken care of. It's very, very important to her. She used to take care of the cemetery on Jack Hill Road. And she's just thrilled. And I think it's an important thing to keep doing. And I hope that we can continue expanding the money that we need to. Thank you. Okay, we have a hand on this side now. Up on the grandstand. I'm Mary Alice Prophet. I'm one of your neighbors at Jack Hill Road. I just wanted to say that I grew up with a mother who was the head of the cemetery committee where I grew up in Georgia. And I'm just a huge lover of family history and ancestry. And I want to say how wonderful the cemeteries are and how much value they have even for people who are younger who are moving to the area. And I totally agree about Bessie and all of our neighbors. You know just how important these areas are to the town. But I do want to support Donna's statement and what she said about looking for areas in our budgets where we can be more competitive. Even if it means breaking with the past in terms of tradition. Just to be pragmatic, because if you look around the room at the age of the most of the people in this room right now and you think about the future of this town, I just turned 38. I am working really hard this year to be able to try to come up with my budget to be able to pay my taxes and be a responsible citizen of Calis. I'm not going to be taking this money out of a retirement fund where I maybe was working in New York City or Manhattan in other areas and moving here in retirement that money. I'm trying to live and raise my children in this community and think about how to pay these bills. And while I think it's really important that we, you know, stay with tradition when it comes to supporting a lot of the ways that we have done things, looking for outside contractors in ways to pitch many here and there. For example, on maintenance with the cemetery in the summer is a fantastic idea. And if we can look for ways to think about how to creatively do more of that and be a little more competitive and bring in outside labor and save money here and there, it's just going to show people that are younger that they might be able to be able to move to this community and have a future here where most of the people that I talk to who are more my age who come to visit me, for example, would never be able to consider moving to this area and putting their children and cows on the tree because it's too expensive to live here. And I hope that if you understand that, you know, you could just, we have to break with tradition on some small things in order to be practical. And so I just, I don't know if that makes any sense or if that's worth staying out loud, but I just want to grow my two cents in there and say that I let the way down is thinking. Thank you. Avery, did you hand up in the middle here? Hi, Jan Olson. I'm going to make a facetious comment and then I'm going to call the question. My thought is that you're spending $21,000 or more for cemeteries is much more than you're spending $12,000 for the listeners who maintain their grand list. And that's my facetious comment to think about it in terms of just priority of how we spend our money. Now I'll call the question. The question's been called, that's not debatable, although it's a favor of ending the date on this article. Please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, we're going to the question, which is, shall the voters appropriate $49,000 from the operation maintenance of the town cemeteries? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? No. Motion carries. We've passed article six. At this point, I'm going to follow our own tradition. I'm sorry I didn't announce this at the beginning, but our state representative Janet Ansel has arrived and we'll have her come to the podium and give us a brief report. So, good morning. I must admit that when I drove up here, I go to Marshall first, and when I go to Plainfield, my other two towns, and I come to Calis. And as I drove up, it was clear that this was a huge trap because there is no parking. It's practically down to room 14. So that's great. I do have a little bit of a report from Montpelier, but first of all, I want to break with my usual tradition and do something that, well, I think be a surprise for somebody here, which is to read and present a resolution honoring Donna Fitch for her outstanding municipal public service in the town of Calis. Whereas Donna Fitch has resided in Calis since her birth, graduated from the University of Vermont and cares deeply about her hometown, and whereas her professional career included employment as the operations manager at Emmys Naturals and as director of corporate communication and national life, and whereas while working in this position, she developed an expertise in administration, data management, fundraising, and public relations, fields of endeavor that proved invaluable for her leadership roles in Calis municipal government. And whereas in 1997, Donna Fitch stood successfully for a seat on the Calis Select Board, introducing her to all aspects of town government, including the conduct of elections as a member of the Board of Civil Authority, and whereas Donna Fitch's 14 years as a Select Board member prepared her well for her election in 2001 to the combined posts of Calis Town Court and Treasurer, and whereas Donna Fitch and her architect husband, John McCulloch, somewhere here, were leaders in the 2004 design and construction of the current town office and more recently have actively supported historic preservation projects at the Calis Town Hall, Memorial Hall, the Old West Church, and the Maple Corner Community Center, and whereas her trove of old Calis photographs entertains the town's residents and reminds them of their shared history. And whereas town meeting day today, 2018, marks the conclusion of Donna Fitch's tenure in town office, but I'm glad to tell you that she intends to remain active in the community, now therefore be a result of the Senate and House of Representatives that the General Assembly honors Donna Fitch for outstanding municipal public service in the town of Calis. And the note is that the Secretary of State is directed to send a copy. I'm personally delivering it instead. So there you go. I don't know if you were here when I acknowledged my grandmother, Mildred Bullock, and my parents and my grandfather, but Janet also had my grandmother as a teacher. People asked me who my first teacher was, Mrs. Bullock. I didn't even know if I knew her name was Mildred, but I didn't tell her I was probably in high school. But yes, wonderful tradition. And I think I attended her parents' wedding. I'm quite sure I did, if you'll wish to. I don't return to do it. Yeah, I think we both did. So thank you. That was the fun part of my report. I'm not sure the rest of it's not too bad either. I'll try not to take too much time and see if there's some time for questions. As people probably know, I've been spending most of my time as Chair of Ways Means Committee working on property tax reform. And also, not as well known, but of pretty significant issues of work we've been doing on income tax reform. Remember, the federal tax changes really have a big impact on our income, our Vermont income tax code, which would have resulted in an additional $30 million of revenue raised that we've been meant to raise and that would have come necessarily from the people we wanted to get it from. So we voted out a big combination of income tax and property tax bill. There's lots of details in it. It is complicated for some weird reason. I love doing this stuff, and so if you have questions, I probably can answer them. I won't go through all the details. But the basic crust of the bill is that it would be better particularly for low and middle income from honors and that the tax code, both on the property side and on income side, will be slightly more progressive than it is currently. Not a lot, but a little bit. And so there's a lot of complicated changes that underlie that. One that might be of interest to people looking at all the white hair in the room is the fact that we're exempting more social security benefits than is currently exempt, but that will be an improvement for people who are receiving social security, either disability, social security, or whatever it is, over 65 times social security. That's the upright word for it. And we're also increasing the earning income tax credit slightly, which is a program that Vermont has been very sort of leading edge on, which is a real benefit for working families. And so there's a whole lot of other changes that could go into way more detail than you want to hear, but it's a pretty significant effort. It's gone out of our committee. It's gone to the Education Committee. It needs to go then to the Corporations Committee. Then it goes to the House floor. Then it goes to the Senate. If it passes the House, which I suspect it will, goes to three committees in the Senate. Then it goes to the Governor. So it has a long way to go, but the big work is getting it out of the initial committee and that's what we've done. It does reduce reliance on the property tax, not as much as I hoped, but another 60 million, which is raised through a surcharge, is going in to reduce property tax rates. So relative to what was projected for fiscal 19, every town will be at or below those projected rates with this change. So that's the towns that won't have a reduction of the really high-standing towns. They tend to be pretty small towns. They tend to be tuition towns, but most part. So it's an average of about a 10% reduction statewide in Homestead property taxes. We've been doing an awful lot of other stuff, and I'm happy to take questions. I also know there's a lot of business that the town has to do, so I'll let the moderator decide how much time there is for questions. We'll do a couple of three questions. So it looks like Doug Lowley has a question. Doug Lowley, I'm a dairy farmer, as you all know. Now I've been talking to you for years and years. I'm blue in the face about property tax, dairy farmers. You know that farmers in the state of Denmark are going out of business to fight on the bankruptcy. You know that as a farmer in the other side of Newport, St. Alton's, 800 cows, he just filed bankruptcy this week. We lost a big herd right now in the other side of Montpelier, a scripted farm. They went out of business. We lost a herd. They have Williamson, 186 doctors. They went out of business. We just lost a herd of 86 cows up in Lancaster. We're losing herds all around the state. Now, the commissioner of agriculture was on TV and everybody saw this, talked about a good man herinating in the barn. Well, how many guys own the cattle barn that has herinating in the barn? I don't know. Well, anyway, he did not mention one thing about agriculture, the place of milk. You know what the place of milk is, Janet, right now? I don't know. I know it's low. Well, it's $14.25 for a hundred pounds of milk, Janet. And that's before they take Holland, pumping my milk out of my tank, stock charge, operation management, diesel tax, milk promotion and doom. There's nothing left for me. I'm telling you right now.  We can't operate like this anymore. We've got to take money out of other things to pay the grain bills. No chance. We'll not pay the grain bill today. I'm telling you that, Janet. So why isn't the government, why isn't somebody talking about agriculture? Come on. This state would be nothing without agriculture. And everybody looks around to think about it. You've got to have an agriculture to live. Does anybody realize that? Unique agriculture. Thank you. Thank you. There are people who are talking about agriculture. The House Ag Committee is actually working hard on a lot of these issues. It's not the committee that I sit on, and so it's not an issue that I'm familiar with. The one part of it that we do work on in our committee, and I know you and I have had discussions about this in the past, is the current use program. And that's designed particularly for forest land and for ag land to try to keep them in operation. And I realize that that's a program that I know you do not want to have it because of the lane requirement. Some of us are actually changing the issue. But your comments are absolutely right. I know that it's a huge challenge. For all kinds of agriculture, not just area and estate. We're going to keep moving along. Thank you, Doug. So Scott, we'll get to the floor next. Maybe another question, and then we'll have a long one. Scott Massage from East Dallas. Jen and I really want to thank you for your hard work on this year. Trying to straighten out the mess that a few are creating because towns more and more and more are being asked to pay for statewide jobs with our property taxes. And it's just not right. You really tried very hard to straighten that out. I hope you keep working with us. Thank you. Thank you. That actually is one of the things that we're working very hard on is to try to separate the education fund and the general fund and make sure that those general fund costs don't end up being supported by property taxpayers. And we won't get all the way there, but we're going to get a long way there. I'm pretty confident about that much as I'm confident about anything. Okay, we have one more question. We're ready to move on. Okay, thank you, Jen. Thank you very much. We are on Article 7. Shall the voters appropriate the indicated sums as requested by the following organizations in Calis and Central Vermont and the Central Vermont area as follows. And then there's a list of, I believe, 25 organizations. The total is $24,304. I'm going to say a couple things about this just as information. This is a couple thousand dollars less than last year's request because last year the select board had added the capital request from the Adamant Community Club and that's not back here again. I'm told all the amounts are the same except for the Montclair Senior Center. And we used to have, some people might ask, what does the committee recommend? We used to have a committee in town that would review these articles, but after a number of years in which the town didn't follow the committee's advice, they stopped convening. So, when somebody likes to move, article seven. Can move and second it. Discussion. Yes, over here. Start. Let's get her mic, please. Hi, Pandy, I'm here. I was just curious why the Montclair Senior Center went up. If anybody knows that, that's all. We have a hand up over here, Rick. Okay, Rick Winston might be rich, right up to Rick. The request last year was $3,200. But the Senior Center shared 24 more people this year than last year. So the funding request is up, but the request per participant is $17 less than it was last year. I think what's not really obvious is the number of programs at the Senior Center that are not necessarily class-related, that people... You can see how many people sign up for the classes, but nobody keeps track of the people who come to public events and who take advantage of the meal program they are. And I've been associated with the Senior Center for about ten years now. It's just a terrific organization and it's a lively, I-of-activity and I hope you have supported it. Yes, in front here. Mr. Bernstein. I'm trying to change this whole thing, but I would like to make an upper amendment to this that raises the Vermont Center for Independent Living for $15 to $800. VCIL, which is the initials they go by, is a disability organization that has pretty much staff with people with disabilities and it's a peer advocacy statewide group. That amount hasn't been changed, I would think, in at least ten years. And, you know, I am going to talk to them, but when you're in that type of organization, you're doing more focused towards doing the work of working with people than you are trying to get money from town. It's very hard to get the effort to do, so it's not a large amount and I know all these organizations are pretty worthwhile, but I would hope you would support that. Thank you. That's a motion. We have a second. We amend the article to increase the line for Vermont Center for Independent Living up to $800. Are you ready for that question? If so, all those in favor of the amendment, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it, even amend the article. Further discussion? Yes. In the middle here. Gail Brown, may I address the Montpelier Senior Center? You may. I'm all in favor of the Montpelier Senior Center. I want to get that clear, but also I'm just wondering how many people in Calis now go to the Montpelier Senior Center because we have a very active Senior Center and a 20 valley Senior Center so I'm just curious. Maybe you had an answer to that question. Yes. The figures are that officially the 66 people in Calis were shared. It doesn't account for the people who come just to events at the Senior Center. So, that is almost 10% of the people age 50 or older in Calis. I know that Twin Valley is also doing some great work. It's a lot easier for people in Calis to go over to Twin Valley as it is for people in Adam and Maple Corner to go to Montpelier. I am Fletcher Gein from Calis. I used to be on this committee that reviewed all of these requests and I was and I'm also a member of the Montpelier Senior Center. I thoroughly support their activities. I don't know about this budget, why it's going up 33% in their request but it's a great organization and they do offer many, many, many, many programs and classes that I think the Twin Valley Senior Center probably just doesn't have the opportunity to do and they also have a much larger population base to pull from. But I was always surprised when I read these requests for funding. Some of them would justify how many residents in Calis use their organization and I always just thought it was interesting that where they came up with the money. Now I know for years we used to try to take money from some organization and give it to the Woodbury Calis food shelf because we all feel like people shouldn't go hungry but we were constantly told that that's all they wanted and there are other organizations that might serve just one person in Calis and they may have asked for $600 another organization that asked for $300 and they would serve many, many people in Calis. So some of it seemed kind of arbitrary to me and I never did you know, I never did really figure out why or how they came up with these initial requests but the requests would stay the same year after year because so it's sort of like shoot for the moon and then you may get it and some organizations may just be very careful and ask for only what they need and others may be getting getting quite a bit not that they're unworthy of that money but I just wanted to put that into perspective. You can run the question yes. The question's been called. Go ahead. Do you know how to stand up before? I'll get my phone to you. I want to make a amendment to the circle. Yeah. Better, I like it better better. Like I said, it was 146 women in Washington County were bad and then I want you to remember that where we were reporting. So I want to make an amendment to that $700 I think it is. I want to make $7,000. Now I can make that $7,000. That's crazy. Thank you. I think we're a second. Seconded to increase the amount awarded to circle from $700 to $7,000. Your further discussion on this amendment. All those in favor of the amendment we say I, those opposed. No. Those appear to have it. Those do have it and the amendment is defeated. Excuse me. I think he asked for too much. Wait, this is such a substantial increase in my passcode. Okay. We have a hand up over here. Yes. Microphone's on its way. We're North Palace and I would like to see more money allocated to our youth. Washington County Circus Bureau gets $500. Do the elderly away the youth down? As we have so many buildings wonderful historic buildings in Dallas it seems like we should get some senior programs going here to cut down on the carbon footprint of driving to Twin Valley or Montpelier and make use of the buildings we have and give more to our youth there's very much in need of our support in these times and all times. Are you making a motion? Yes. What's the motion? Willing to raise the youth maybe take from the elderly some and put on the youth a couple thousand at least to start with right now is something we need to work toward really giving so much more to our youth and making programs available to our youth right here in Dallas that helped them grow closer to the land and become wonderful people. So if I'm understanding your movement to increase it to $2,000 Yes. I don't think we should add a bunch of money without subtracting some somewhere potentially and I do feel that as I said last year we got shot down. We have Vermont Home Health and Hospice Yes, there's a need for these things and the Twin Valley Senior Center and the Montpelier Senior Center and I'm sure that there's more in here but I only see the one thing Washington County Youth Service Bureau back in the dollars for our youth I had myself as a youth went to them to find work and I also hired some youth from them to help me with some work so people should be aware if you need some help with anything around the house you can always hire you through Washington County Youth Service Bureau So let's give them more money so that we can help our youth Okay, we have a motion to increase that allocation by $1,500 to $2,000 Is there a second? The motion dies without a second Are you ready for the main question? I think people seem to think there was a second. No If somebody is seconding the motion I'll back here Okay Motion has been seconded Thank you I can't see you when you're behind the grandstand Close question All those in favor of the amendment which will increase the allocation of the Washington County Youth Service Bureau from $500 to $2,000 Please say aye Aye Those opposed No The no's do have it and the amendment failed Are you ready for the main question? Yeah Can I make that motion down to $4,000 Get lower Get lower What do you find out? Don't tell me what How about $4,000? We'll find out Is there a second? I can't believe I'm ashamed of you not to be able to vote for that You can vote $27,000 to the library but you won't give money to that Excuse me Do we have a second to increase the allocation to circle to $4,000? It's been moved and seconded the amendment to increase the circle allocation to $4,000 All those in favor Aye Those opposed I'm going to need a division I can't figure that out If you're in favor of this motion you'll need to raise your card and hold it up You have some counters You've got to come up front People in the back Can't see you You've got to come up front This is poor If you want to spend more money you're voting yes here I'm going to be clear Who's counting? Pick a side Are you standing on that side? Hold your card up We're counting On this side put your arms down Stay here Okay If you're opposed to increasing this appropriation put your cards up I think we can now determine that the eyes had it You have amended the motion Are you now ready for the main question which you have increased was $24,300 $4 With two amendments you've added $3,685 Are you ready for that question? Paul Thank you guys, I'm Paul Hammond I guess echoing what Fletcher had to say a little while ago it's frustrating to me I don't know if it's better women than you but not knowing exactly what went into the request from these organizations is frustrating as Fletcher said are they just timid asking for more than they really needed we don't know that I think it's frustrating as it probably was to sit on that committee it wasn't a bad idea because generally when we have questions like that they have the answers and before you appoint me to the committee as people are retired I always answer no, I'm not retired I just don't go to meetings anymore but it wouldn't be a bad idea to rekindle that because as Paul wants to vote against the use of better women it's just very tough to make these decisions in an accurate way In response to that it was hard to find people to serve it was like a committee of maybe one or two and the other part of this is a lot of these amounts, especially the smaller ones are to gain leverage for these groups when they were applying for grants and such that's what I've learned over the years that's what a lot of this is about so if somebody, if people want to volunteer I've got a pad of paper right here if something wasn't volunteer to head up this committee Paul Doug Doug we've had several volunteers I'm going to see if we're ready for the main question which is for Article 7 the total amount now is I believe $27,989 because of the two amendments adding $3,300 for Circle and $385 that's a different amount are you ready for the question just a brief statement speaking from the perspective of non-profits who applied for can I wait for the microphone please Hi there, it's John Robbins and I was the former development director at the Center for Month Council on Aging and I'd just like to make a few comments speaking from the non-profits perspective as to why some of these are the way they are or why they have been stagnant for so many years Mr. Monterey you initially made the comment which is very accurate that applying for time funding is time consuming it's difficult and frankly most non-profits in this area are stretched their resources are stretched and we'd rather provide services to in that case some of the seniors who we've preferred to keep living in their homes living the life that they choose that said from the CDC right perspective we did try to make justifications as to the amounts of requests but very often the process of submitting an increase requests to level the requests between all of the different tons that one serves is very very difficult and it has to be done very strategically by these non-profits so just an observation from the non-profit perspective I'm so glad you brought that up because that is what we found non-profit ask for $200 but they had to jump through groups and they did a very very easy in Calis if they aren't raising the amount they're requesting most of us know all of these non-profits and we've had a very easy and so many non-profits responded saying they really appreciated us doing that recurring that funding at a stable level is much easier asking for an increase to reflect the amount of services that are being delivered is much more difficult than non-profits and we have a hand up over here again I still feel with all the resources we have in this town that we need to get senior programs going here in Calis we need to get more community based we have a strong beautiful community here we need to have our elderly tended to right here we have all kinds of problems but we have a lot of resources we have a lot of people we have a lot of great ideas and so many things that we can share with our elderly and I am number one I'm keeping elderly in their home definitely I had to help a woman stay in her home I certainly want to stay in my home so I think that's very important work but I'd like to see it come into Calis more where we're using these buildings from taxes and all these buildings that we are working so hard to keep in good shape so that we can use them let's move toward creating programs here in Calis for the elderly so that we can move away from giving so much money outside of our community and help our youth at the same time we need to develop youth programs programs for everyone and I know that that is in the works people have been asked what kind of things we need to see at the town hall and let's just keep moving forward in a positive way and try to be more Calis community based with our funding thank you we are on article 7 we've amended the article twice to total $27,989 are you ready for the question? yes if so all those in favor if we say aye those opposed the ayes have it and article 7 is passed the next chunk of articles are around tax well no we have article 8 shall the voters exempt from taxation real property of the adamant community adamant cooperative ink for a period of 5 years pursuant to 32 vsa subsection 3840 would somebody like to move this article? it's been moved and seconded discussion I'm Scott Thompson can you hear me? Scott Thompson I live in greater adamant and I'm asking that we actually extend the property tax exempt status of the adamant cooperative which has been running for at least 10 years now I remember back in 2008 Janet McLeod at least my superior came to town meeting on this question smiled, said a few words that I don't even remember everybody said oh yeah, what a great idea and that was that since it's me and not her I think maybe I need to justify it a little bit more particularly with Artie over there why is it fair to give adamant co-op property tax exemption and basically what I would have to underscore is first of all that the owners of the adamant co-op are property tax payers in both Calis and East Montpelier the adamant co-op itself is a store and some of you work there a number of you volunteer there so a lot of you go there from time to time to check it out see what it's all about do the cookouts participate in discussions that go on there this is essentially the community center aspect of the co-op that we're highlighting as value for the town in addition that adamant co-op is part of what creates a vibrant village in the core that raises property values in adamant because people think it's a desirable place to live instead of a black fly infested bottom line so I think the town gets good value from this exemption because without it the adamant co-op is unlikely to be able to survive very much we have a hand up over here John Russell how much what would be the tax that's sort of the question the value of that property is $123,200 taxes last year would have been $2,925 the call to question that's not debatable those in favor of ending debate please say aye those opposed so the question is article 8 shall the voters exempt from taxation real property of the adamant co-operative ink for a period of 5 years pursuant to 32 VSA subsection 3840 all those in favor please say aye those opposed the ayes have it and to pass article 8 article 9 shall the voters as a select board to borrow an amount not to exceed $200,000 for term not to exceed 5 years for continued renovation at the callous town hall somebody like to move this article so moved we have a second we moved a second somebody want to speak to it I'll speak first and then we can continue from there this is a municipal building and it belongs to all of us now and future generations as was noted before municipal government is expanding and the reporting requirements the amount of people it takes to do the jobs that used to be done by yes in the old days one person we are no longer in those old days we need more space for municipal services in the town office which would be pre up the town office for additional there's three listers there's the link with tax collector there's an auditor we need year round meeting space last year at the town office there were 86 meetings and generally we are not in compliance with fire and safety codes by having more people in there than what the capacity allows for this renovation would alleviate the burden on the town office for the meetings and free up space in the town hall for storage more community space we've already pretty much done phase one with 2013 and 2017 we spent about $98,000 $53,000 roughly of which was grants some have asked about use of the school for meetings and we've tried that we've done that the school is a great place don't get me wrong but there is just so much more security that is required staff have to stay until a meeting is done which in some cases might be 10 or 11 o'clock at night the technology here is different than what is at the town office so there's an abundant number of reasons that were asking for your support to renovate the town hall the amount of money that we're asking for would you pay back over 5 years so that's all I have to say on this unless somebody has questions about municipal use we haven't had enough over a year hi, Artie Phyllis what's going on aside from the use of the municipal purposes for this building which are certainly justified what I want to talk about is what we used to do at the blue line we haven't heard or no longer doing plays shows that aren't anymore for safety reasons this building would provide an accessible safe place for us to do plays shows we had a music event last year in the fall just to kind of kick off things and show what it could be used for and it went really well and we raised some money another is if there's anyone who thinks that the committee that's running is in charge of this hasn't done due diligence to find out how much money can be used and it's best possible way they have done everything possible they've done those e-mail chains and they go on forever and it's just they're really doing a good job of trying to get every angle on how to raise money clear thing is once this is up and running if it is and you go for it and hopefully do they will provide an income instead of just being at cost of the town once we get this initial payment there's going to be we don't know the fee schedule yet if there's going to be a fee schedule and how it's going to work there's going to be some sort of fees that will hopefully pay for electricity and mowing and so other things like that so it's not just going to be a drag on the community for money-wise it will hopefully once it's going to pay for itself and generate income Are you ready for the question? No we have our hand up in the middle I was a little bit concerned about the budget at first but I wanted to thank you for all the hard work and the video because it was amazing to attend the meeting you went over the whole budget and where it was being spent and then the grand loans and all that financial aspect of it and thank you so much for making it available and I do agree and I do think that it's an investment for our community so hopefully we'll pass this question Can we get your name? The last name? Okay B.I.N.O.M. Right over here This is Graham L. Graham I want to agree with everything that Denise has said so far as the reason that we need to continue maintaining the town hall as some of you know I was on the task course a couple of years ago and we spent a lot of time including doing my surveys which many of you responded to as well as holding meetings in various locations and our bottom line was number one trying to find out the majority of the people who wanted to keep the town hall building and the majority response was yes we want to keep and maintain the town hall because if the majority hadn't wanted that then where would we go from there and we really do need the town hall at number one yes I was born and raised here I had some meetings there when I was very young but also we do need more space and particularly as Denise said holding any meetings at the town hall particularly like board meetings and other meetings and have a lot of attendance is almost impossible I'll have to admit it turns me off from attending meetings because it's so crowded and so we do really need the building and so I hope that everyone see the benefit of it and it's for the town and it's ours thank you we had a hand up in front but we haven't spoken yet today I'm Betsy Perra I fully support the idea of renovating the town hall and recognize the need and multi-use is available for the space I'm curious I think this may very well pass and I sure hope but where will the money come from if you expect to pay it off in five years what was the question about the income is detailed here so yeah we have this there's what we're asking the taxpayers yeah and so on the back of the sheet you'll see the impact on the tax rate is two cents and if your property is valued at $200,000 for example you would pay $47 in your taxes over five years for those years for a year yes right here MacArthur Morris what happens if we don't get the $50,000 grant and the project continue and will we just keep trying for grants we're bound and determined to get grants Donna may have more information she's been kind of doing the budget piece of it well I think the issue doesn't go away we actually have hired somebody through a grant to help us get grants we met with her once and we're meeting her again and so we have somebody who's going to help us get grants and the problem doesn't go away if we don't get funding we still have a crowded office we still have a town hall that needs to have a foundation so we'll get the money sent out use the microphone please it's also not really handicap accessible at this point the lift that's in there doesn't work and even if it did it is not totally compliant so the idea is to make it more handicap accessible now this is a building that's been around since 1866 or 86 it's history and we should keep that moving forward for future generations for the youth that live in Calis okay we have a hand up here and let's see whether right in the middle maybe a microphone Rick Keene from Arden Rowan you know I really support this project because I'm the big front bar Aaron is here to lead for it and it was kind of the misreading today things like that man caught these turning to our thoughts that bring people together and it really begins to pull it gives us that data and we also draw people into other tasks that we believe in this here in the conversations there's like the cemetery commission there's a huge amount of volunteer attention out there we've got a great example of how effective that could be what we saw in that could never cover that great expense is what all the volunteers and the community put into that and the dinners and all of these great benefits come out of that because that group of people are used to being together and they work together on other projects that are indirect but really significant benefits and have these little incubators around them so I fully support renovatables and keeping this part of our marriage keeping it used and keeping people in the space and building on that building on that sense of community what are should it be right over there is it on and I like to speak in favor of this appropriation there are many reasons to support it town support in the past the amount of money that the town has already put into the preservation of the town hall it's a historic value it's on the register national register of historic sites and Gale and others have alluded to the space problem in the town office unfortunately or fortunately I guess depending on your point of view town government has become much more complex than it was a number of years ago and there are so many there are more town employees there are more commissions and boards in town meeting there are all kinds of problems with space in the present town office and in issues of this sort I like to look at alternatives and studying them and decide which one is better it seems to me that it boils down to two alternatives one is that we can put money into renovating or enlarging I should say the town office space I have no idea what that would cost I'm not a builder but I cannot imagine that the necessary space could be provided for less than $50,000 and we're asking for $200,000 for something that will renovate and preserve the town hall and at the same time it will alleviate the space problem at the town office building and it seems to me it would be financially foolish to put $100,000 or $150,000 or whatever it might be into the town office and let the town hall deteriorate and obviously it's got some severe problems I think you can see from the photographs that some of the foundation work that's been done is merely a sort of a band aid so I hope that you will support this the question's been called which means it takes two thirds to and debate all those in favor of ending the debate on this article please say aye those opposed and we're on the question the question is shall the voters authorize the select board to borrow an amount not to exceed $200,000 for term not to exceed five years for continued renovation of the callous town hall please say aye those opposed and article nine please article ten shall the voters authorize payment of property taxes in two equal installments with the first installment due on or before 4 p.m. 30 days after the tax skills are mailed but not earlier than August 1, 2018 and the second installment due on or before 4 p.m. on November 15, 2018 somebody like to move this article do we have a second been moved and seconded would you like to discuss this all those in favor of article 10 please say aye okay must be getting close to lunch those opposed article 10 passes article 11 shall each property tax installment payment be made by delivery by 4 p.m. on or before the due date or U.S. Postal Service Postmark made on or before the due date would somebody like to move this article it's been moved do we have a second it's been seconded is there discussion or are you ready to vote all those in favor of article 11 please say aye those opposed article 11 passes article 12 shall interest in the amount of half percent per month or fraction thereof be charged from the due date of each property tax installment somebody like to move this article it's been moved do we have a second it's been moved and seconded are you ready for the question all those in favor of article 12 which says shall interest in the amount of half percent per month or fraction thereof be charged from the due date of each property tax installment please say aye those opposed the ayes have it article 12 is passed article 13 shall the town allow a grace period of 14 days after the due date of the second property tax installment and during which no delinquent tax penalty shall be charged we have a second been moved and seconded and we have a hand up for some discussion okay because we just passed article 11 where we say it's due at 4 o'clock and then now they're saying there's no penalty does this include the first payment because if you don't pay the first payment and you don't pay your two weeks after the second payment then you can pay the whole thing then if you don't pay the penalty you're about to get an answer but we've been doing this for a number of years yes we have been doing this for a number of years and it's a two week grace period after both payments and it's really really helpful to both myself and the delinquent tax collector if somebody you know forgets to put it in the mail or other dons or something well it doesn't become delinquent until after the second payment right yeah there's a two week grace period when you interest so for the first payment if you're late after the two weeks you're paying interest so after November 15 you get a two week grace period for both interest and penalty because the penalty doesn't come in until the second payment is late you're welcome are you ready for the question the question is shall the town allow a grace period of 14 days after the due date of the second property tax installment payment the delinquent tax penalty shall be charged all in favor please say aye aye those opposed I will remind you there's a great lunch that you get to buy as soon as we recess or adjourn article 14 shall the delinquent tax penalty be set at 4.5% of the total amount of the delinquent tax would somebody like to move this article and do we have a second moved and seconded did anybody want to speak to this one seeing no hands all those in favor of article 14 shall the delinquent tax penalty be set at 4.5% of the total amount of the delinquent tax in favor say aye aye those opposed say nay the ayes appear to have it they do have it and article 14 is passed article 15 shall the town compensate for the collector of delinquent taxes by a salary determined by the select board in lieu of compensation by the delinquent tax penalty would somebody like to move this article moved do we have a second and it's been seconded is there discussion there's a hand up over here from the former delinquent or soon to retire the delinquent tax collector thank you but I encourage you to support this what we have done in Calis is lower the penalties so that it's less punitive for people who are delinquent but what it also means is it doesn't bring in enough money to pay someone to do the job so it's really better that this move to a salary I also wanted to just take one moment to thank you for having had the opportunity to do this I talk to people all the time who say oh what a thankless job what a thankless job it's not people are going through such problems when they become delinquent most of us are one job loss or one health crisis away from being delinquent Calis is a very expensive place to live I'm glad that Janet and other people are working at trying to find ways to get us off such reliance on the property tax but I'm going to miss my people I call them my peeps we have great relationships I would say 99% of people are great and when they're not it's only because they're under such terrible stress because where are they going to come up with this amount of money so I wish great success to the next person who does this I do just want to ask you to think about one thing and that is that we are accountless now shifting some other cost of doing this work to the people who pay on time people have different opinions about that it's probably a better way to go but it is going to increase the burden on the rest of the people because the collector is no longer paid by the penalty because we've reduced that penalty I think it's a good decision and I encourage you to move forward with it and also to support this article thank you we have a hand up right next to you so you've got the court any what is the suggested salary it seems to me kind of hard to vote for a salary when we have no idea what that salary might be and also to mention the fact that the risk property tax abatement if you can't pay your taxes I appreciate that this town works hard to keep people in their homes it's a shame to pay your own mortgage and then lose your house to a tax sale because you can't pay the taxes as you get older you need to help keep people in civilized abatement and you need to do everything you can to help them but I really want to know what a suggested salary is for this tax collector so just to be to clarify Tammy's question it was a good question Tammy page 23 member 6108 the select short has budgeted $10,000 for f.y19 for the collector billing for taxes the fee that you just voted on of 4.5% of the penalty that will still go to the town and will help