--- title: "Stamford Select Board — August 20, 2026" date: 2026-08-20 session: regular speaker_labels: 1 cluster(s) named from the roll call and that meeting's chair in the minutes, 1 named from roster attendance, 4 of 6 clusters unnamed voice_ids: {"SPEAKER_01":3,"SPEAKER_02":5,"SPEAKER_03":4,"SPEAKER_04":8,"SPEAKER_05":2,"SPEAKER_06":1} duration_min: 76 audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-_vS-YQXkHfr91rIMAU2_5eFxDCfoTmG/view?usp=sharing audio_source: town drive minutes: https://townofstamfordvermont.org/mediaItems/Sbd%20Minutes%208-20-26.pdf minutes_pending: false present: [Nancy L. Bushika, Michael G. Denault, Kurt Gamari, Jedidiah Gramlin] absent: [John Dunn] transcribed: 2026-09-04 (faster-whisper large-v3, CUDA; names corrected per data/name_fixes.json) diarization: pyannote/speaker-diarization-3.1 (automated; cluster labels may over-split a single voice; unattributed paragraphs have no reliable speaker) --- # Stamford Select Board — August 20, 2026 **Session:** Regular · **Duration:** 76 min · [Audio](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-_vS-YQXkHfr91rIMAU2_5eFxDCfoTmG/view?usp=sharing) · [Minutes](https://townofstamfordvermont.org/mediaItems/Sbd%20Minutes%208-20-26.pdf) **Present:** Nancy L. Bushika, Michael G. Denault, Kurt Gamari, Jedidiah Gramlin **Absent:** John Dunn --- I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Welcome to a meeting of the Stamford Select Board. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** If you have a matter to discuss that is not included on the agenda, you may do so by addressing the chairperson and stating your name and address. You'll notice that all our meetings are recorded, and this is to aid with the summarization of the minutes. Visitors are welcome, and we allow five minutes of comments per visitor, and 15 minutes per topic. Discussions will be held in a calm and civilized manner, and respectful of others. Select board members present are Michael G. Denault, Nancy Bushika, Jed Gramlin, and Kurt Gamari. Will there be any adding of items or removing items from tonight's agenda? Most additional correspondence is committed. Will there be any adjustments to the agenda, such as changing the order of the items? Will there be... Review and sign errors in remission form above the tax rate? Would that make sense, or are we okay? Yeah. **Speaker 1:** Okay. That's however you want to do it. If you want to move it up, that's fine. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Yeah. Okay. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** And Jed is recording tonight's meeting for his YouTube video. Hearing the visitors. Yeah. I do. I'll try to... **Speaker 2:** I have several topics, so you guys can kind of decide if you want to put me on... I mean, the agenda for the next one, some are zoning-related, some are not. So should I go through them all? **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Sure. **Speaker 2:** Okay. **Speaker 3:** Well, yeah, go through them all. **Speaker 2:** Okay. I'll go through them all within five minutes. Okay. And you guys can pick and choose. So regarding zoning, and this is something that I'll need your input in, I have been doing a lot of kind of finding out. And catching up on people that are placing sheds, doing decks, probably seven of my last eight zoning permits. They are zero, they're $15 per instance. I had to get the Methodist Church, take down their deck, move it to the other side. So it's a lot of work. Are these the no-fee permits? These are the no-fee permits. Like, I'll find somebody and put a shed. You know what? They ran a shed on their property, no-fee permits. Decks are going up. And so what I would like to propose is just, when something like this happens, I think it would fare to have a fee. Because if they put up a building, they didn't get a permit. This here, it's... **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** So they don't have to pay a fee, but what's the $15 filing fee? I don't know. It's a recording. **Speaker 2:** It's a recording fee. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** I thought we waived that. What did we waive? **Speaker 4:** For farms. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Something was waived, I thought. **Speaker 2:** So it'd be like a fine, right? A fine. Exactly. A fine placed on something they should have come in. Because it clearly says in our bylaws, even if it's under 300 square feet, you still have to notify me. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Is there any structure? **Speaker 2:** No, because everybody has to come in. And they have to comply with setbacks. So I know it's an accessory to the, it's an accessory use or an accessory to the building, and it has to comply to setbacks. So if they put it smack in the middle of the yard and they have a chicken coop. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Right. But I'm just saying is this, in order to, the $15 fee, in order to collect that, there's no minimals. So a guy can, even if their setbacks are correct, then we just drop it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then the guy can just drive by and say, well, we know that's not, the setback's fine, so we won't say anything. And then the guy that we know the setback's not fine, we won't say something to him, we make him pay 15. **Speaker 2:** If, okay, the reason for filing it, my understanding is for tax purposes. So we have a record of it. So my. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** So you get taxed on all sheds? Except for the value of the property. If it's over so many square feet, I think. 100 square feet. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Yeah. That's what my question is. Yeah. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I, I. I know that the, I know we've gone a long ways with this. It's better, but it's still not perfect, right? Oh God, no. No. So I, you know, I know, and that, the reason why I'm asking is there are, you know, many, many people that build small structures. Right. And the small ones are like chicken, chicken coops, dog coops, and the kids, you know, camp and stuff like that. Swing sets. I mean, how do we go about saying, right, I'm driving by and I see a guy that's got a shed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely a shed. You know, they bought from sheds and stuff, so. That's what this one was. And we say, hey, you didn't get a permit. You got to go get a permit. 15 bucks. Yep. So it's on record. So we do that. **Speaker 2:** Because I get the cost. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** But when we go by and we don't, if we see one that's smaller, we don't say anything. That's where I'm going. Oh, I say, I say something. I go. **Speaker 5:** Yeah, but not for like a chicken coop or a dog coop, you probably don't. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** That's what I'm saying. We need to have a shed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. **Speaker 5:** Yeah. **Speaker 2:** Yeah. **Speaker 5:** Yeah. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Yeah. We don't have a permit for a chicken coop. You act, but you didn't. You didn't go and tell her she did it on her own. **Speaker 2:** No. That's what I'm saying. There's a lot of them. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I'm sure we drive by and not do anything about it. And that's what I'm saying. We shouldn't go back to those laws and look at it and say, something this big, as long as your setbacks are okay, you know, you shouldn't have to. Yeah, I don't know. We shouldn't have to. That's up to you guys. Yeah. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** We shouldn't. That's up to you. So that's the first thing. Second thing is we're going to. Yeah. We're going to have to. We're going to have to. Yeah. Yeah. Why are we telling people that if they're putting $100 on a permit, or whatever they are now, $100-something, and if they don't get one that's double, but we're not doing it to these people. Well, because it's really not a fee. **Speaker 5:** It's just a file. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** It's just a recording fee. Right. It's not a permit fee. Then we can call her fine because you're taking the time to do that. Yes. And she's not getting paid for it. There's nothing in her pay schedule for that. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Right. **Speaker 6:** Right. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Right. Right. Right. Right. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Right. Right. Right. Right. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Right. **Speaker 7:** Right. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** There's nothing in it. Right. Right. That's all, that's up to you guys. **Speaker 2:** Yeah, we should definitely revisit that. And if you want to have it be involved in an executive session or whatever. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I would like to get back all of the numbers, you know, for the next meeting, email all of the fees and so on, and the bylaws, and whatever they have, and look at it, so we can say, this is where there's a problem and kind of clean it up a little bit. **Speaker 2:** Yeah. We'll talk about that in the next meeting because I have questions on a couple of other feet. We can... Okay. Okay. Thank you. **Speaker 8:** Going for a municipal water supply grant? **Speaker 2:** Okay. It was mentioned by Dave Saldo at the ZBA meeting that this gravel bank could jeopardize the big grant that we're all going for. Okay. I didn't think so. I looked and looked and looked and I didn't see anything in minutes. **Speaker 8:** Okay. Conservation Commission has been researching water sources for a little bit of time now. **Speaker 9:** Right. **Speaker 2:** But he actually said that town is looking at a large municipal... **Speaker 9:** Not that they have the power to do it. **Speaker 8:** They can research it and bring back information, but they don't have the power to do it yet. **Speaker 2:** Well, this was actually in the minutes of the ZBA. That's... **Speaker 8:** Yeah, I know. The gravel bank's been a hot topic with the ZBA. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** I'm sure we have to go to Townsville for a while. Yeah. We're going to vote too on that after we have figures. Okay. And that's... It's huge. **Speaker 6:** Huge. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I mean, the gravel bank has been here for... **Speaker 10:** How long has that been alive? **Speaker 8:** I haven't been following it completely, but just a chatter I heard. I guess there's some members that have issues or questions. Right. Maybe not so much issues. About the gravel bank, it's been there forever? It's not been there forever. It's only been there since like 2010. The new gravel bank. Joe... Where Joe lives? Yep. **Speaker 2:** And there was Bob Barlow. Bob Barlow. Bob Barlow. Bob Barlow. Bob Barlow. **Speaker 2:** Bob Barlow. **Speaker 8:** Bob Barlow. Bob Barlow. Bob Barlow. **Speaker 2:** Bob Barlow. Bob Barlow. Bob Barlow. But there was Bob Barlow. Yeah. I haunted up here when I was a kid at 12-years-old. So it was and then it wasn't, because that was going to be a development. Right. He had that. Right. But it's been a gravel bank for... Sorry. I didn't know that. Okay. A while. **Speaker 8:** Okay. I didn't even realize that's where Bob's gravel bank was. I knew he had one. Okay. **Speaker 2:** Green Mountain Power. They've got their big project going on on the power lines. They'll be reaching out to both the planning committee and the Ministry to all those that and the select board to detail timeline what's going on I would like to love to have it in there that we have that discussion with them about the roads and the reclamation of any damage that they do and it's built into every budget so **Speaker 11:** if we could maybe have that they're gonna be doing they're gonna have a lay **Speaker 2:** down area but that's for the other project no this is a new project they're going to use them again for one because it's they're actually going to have a containment yard they'll have a building kind of a place of operation there lay down here it's going to be a lay down yard but they're also going to put up a shed probably it's porta potty things like that so it's going to be considered a commercial permit temporary but it might be two years barking dogs the the the the I'm asking you guys is farm dogs generally are exempt from any nuisance noise or whatever I get calls for everything and somebody doesn't want to reach out to Luke I recently I was crazy dogs just incessantly barking but they're in the back of their property in a tunnel so they're not actively patrolling and protecting livestock so it's more of a select board thing I'm going to make a complaint but the complaint can't go to the jobs officer because they're his dogs so you guys will be fine yeah Luke doesn't even live there and yeah they're kind of Are they registered as farm dogs? Yes they are. 40 or Aussies. A car goes by they bark. People go by. They bark. They bark. They bark. If they are all stressed out they can bark. If they are all stressed out they can bark. That's the don't do. Who are you? **Speaker 8:** Who are you? Me? The Australians, they don't want to be kennels. **Speaker 9:** They don't want to be kennels. **Speaker 8:** They want to run free and hurt animals. I'm not even sure if that's the process. Well, I don't know. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I don't know. He has one that runs. Sometimes they're in a kennel. They're a day. They're in a kennel. **Speaker 2:** In the last, a lot of ATV and motocross track. How many have you rode in and out before? EPOs. Call them. **Speaker 2:** Okay. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Are they on the trails or just all over the place? **Speaker 2:** County Road. They just go the line by. They go up over the hill and they're doing wheelies all the way. Three of them? Somebody said they were from Powell? **Speaker 8:** They're all third through the whole town. They're not just up there. **Speaker 12:** The other night, what night was it? **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Saturday night or something? How many went down through **Speaker 7:** the center of town? Talk to the wardens. They said they have a no change policy. They have a no change policy? If it's a kid, he takes off. It's not easy. There was three dirt bikes at Billmont's **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** the other day getting gas. They were all dirt bikes. I said, what are you guys doing? Riding up there on Dirt Road. You know who I am? I said, I'm the sheriff up here. I said, I'll meet at you up there. You are? I said, yeah. I'm going to turn around and I don't want to see you up there because I'm going up there next. Scared me. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** There was a warden up on the top of County Road and he said that when the side bike went up to him, he turned the lights on and I turned around and flew away. Took away. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** They are patrol. They catch me, but I don't take off. Sir, you been drinking? My cooler's got lemonade in it. **Speaker 2:** Ice water. This is just some of the dog laws for our dogs. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Okay. That's it for Hearing the Visitors. Reading and approval of records and orders of minutes of August 6th. Can I have a motion to accept them? Second. All in favor? Bills. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Two complaints from people just recently since I've been back and about a person working **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** or building a house on a property and I don't know what road it was. I can't pronounce it. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I know. But apparently the guy, I don't know if they got a permit or not. One person had complained and said they didn't see a key. But I don't know. I didn't go up there. But the complaint was that they're burying the debris that they're taking off or using up there. They're taking the whipping stuff off and throwing it in the ground. **Speaker 2:** So they're doing a renovation? **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Yeah. They have dirt and they put it over the trash. Is it on the Stamford side? You don't know. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I don't know. I wasn't up there. They said it's like regular mailboxes turn in that first row I guess before the mailbox. But I don't know. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I don't know. And another complaint you said? No, it was the same person. Two different people complained about the same guy and that. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I did say call the whatever the head of the Apple Mall to go in and check it. They have like a Yeah, something like that. They have like a board of directors or something. Because I know they got their own rules too. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I wasn't sure if we I asked Nancy if we give them a permit **Speaker 2:** and we do. **Speaker 5:** If the interior, no. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** No, no. It's on the outside. **Speaker 2:** If you could get the street name **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** because I get lost up there when I start talking. I couldn't pronounce any of the names. I tried that and I still did. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** A bunch of favorites. That's the first one on the left before the mailboxes. I think that's only one more. Is that Stamford? I'm not sure. That is Reedboro. That might be another problem. The people that lived there complained about it. He didn't say if it was in Stamford or not. They just tell me. I don't know. Same reason why the dog people call you instead of Luke and the same thing with me. They call me, I'm like, call them. They don't want their name on the cast. They don't want anybody. So I'll try to find out the address. They had a big wedding there. Cheapest wedding I had. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Highway update. **Speaker 13:** Yeah. **Speaker 14:** We had one last week. A little bit swept. In a couple weeks sweeper today. I don't have a firm date. They're just going to call me and pick a date. **Speaker 14:** There's not much loose stuff this year like some years. Yeah, I think it rolled in pretty good. The weather cooperated. It was dry. We're working on the shoulders of Wilshire Road and wrapped up here pretty quick. So that took a few days. We're waiting for cars. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** What's wrong with the 2019 **Speaker 13:** Freightliner? **Speaker 14:** We had to put a radiator in it. Clutch fan. Water pump. And how about the Ram? **Speaker 13:** The Ram's **Speaker 14:** the tie rods and that too. Where do you go for parts? **Speaker 14:** They're not close. Unfortunately with the Ram it seems like a lot of it you have to get factory. We did. **Speaker 14:** All of the repairs were done in the house. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Thank you. Big savings. How about the East Road culvert? When do you think they're going to start that? **Speaker 14:** I'm thinking it's going to be next year at this point. The weather and what's coming up and the culvert deadline. I think he was having a hard time getting them called. It's mid-summer. I confirmed that with him early but I'm guessing it's going to be next summer. Which doesn't hurt my feelings. We've been pretty busy here. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** And how about wasn't Jim Henderson coming down for? **Speaker 14:** At some point. He's got to do our the grant aid. He's also got to do the inventory for the hydraulically connected roads. He goes around and inspects. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** I know he's working on it. **Speaker 14:** Anything else? I want to bring it up but the tennis court. You've asked him a few times to talk about taking it down. **Speaker 13:** We had a visitor this week. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Go ahead. **Speaker 14:** You can both talk about it. The easiest way is to get some dumpsters down there and spill dumpsters. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** It's really sad. Seed Savers were good. All good ho. Then they're all done and we're stuck cleaning up the mess. I think anybody else that wants to use town property we should have them put some money up front here to pay for our guys cleaning it up **Speaker 15:** because it seems like they just don't clean up. **Speaker 8:** What was the visit? Was it an inspection? Yeah. **Speaker 1:** The state showed up and said we got a grant about 50 years ago **Speaker 8:** for the tennis court and he was here to inspect it. Yeah. It's late. 1974. And I kind of told him **Speaker 1:** it wasn't being used and we had converted it to some gardens and the gardens weren't worked on too much this past summer and he said that's fine he would mark it as obsolete and wanted to talk to me about a whole lot of new grants that were going to be available if we wanted to resurface it and make it a tennis court again. He hasn't sent me his report yet. Was it part of the school inspection? No. It was an actual guy from the tennis courts the Parks and Recreation Department where we got the grant from the state. And all he did was a tennis court. Yeah. He said every 5 to 10 years they should have an inspecting They were never never It's got to be new. 47 years. Well you got to bet. Oh my. Don't say that. What word is that? I thought it was gifted by Ben. I know. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Maybe he paid a match. The soccer field was That's what the tennis court was too. No, the tennis court was a grant because we had to keep it up so much and the town sealed it and strengthened it for a few years and then when nobody was using it after so many years I remember researching how long we have to keep the tennis court and I think they told me at that time that this 30 year life span was really good. So then it went **Speaker 15:** I mean tennis went away **Speaker 8:** like 3 years after the grant right? **Speaker 14:** So what are you planning to do? I'd like to see what the report says but I mean I'm looking for your input I guess too. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Well you know what mine is **Speaker 13:** Get rid of it. **Speaker 14:** It's very unsightly. Start hauling everything out **Speaker 14:** out of the truck and it'd be nice to just **Speaker 16:** get a dumpster. **Speaker 14:** Can you bury the concrete? Can I what? Can you bury the concrete? I mean I was planning **Speaker 13:** just covering over it. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** The only thing I think that somebody wanted was the shed. **Speaker 14:** I mean you can leave that there. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Maybe not anymore though. **Speaker 14:** You can leave it there or it can go in the dumpster. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Now they've been to inspect if we leave it there. I suppose if somebody wants it get it out before you put it in the dumpster. **Speaker 8:** Put it free. The fence is that all? How far down is it? **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** The fence too **Speaker 13:** because it's wrecked in several spots. **Speaker 14:** Make it invisible. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Keep the blueberries though. **Speaker 14:** I mean I can't say when we get to it. I don't drive. If you guys want to make that a priority I'll come down. It's going to have to be driving. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Can we drive out here with a dumpster or a loaded dumpster? Is there a septic somewhere? Yeah, I mean **Speaker 14:** We have to go down by the fence line Do you guys keep that aside? **Speaker 8:** I mean I don't know. Can we drive across where the ball field is? I think so. I don't know. The seat savers used to drive **Speaker 14:** the left. Somebody with a roll-up truck is probably not going to want to go between the backstop and the brush. I don't know. I haven't been down there a lot so I don't know what that's like. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Well let's wait for this letter to come. See what the letter says. **Speaker 8:** Just kidding. I mean there used to be fairs down there all the years ago. Horse trailers and things of that nature. **Speaker 14:** Interesting. I mean I don't know if I can put the fence in the same with the wood. I don't know if they tag it right there or not. Well I heard demo you don't comment that but I put everything you can imagine in there. They gave you a list of stuff you can't put in. What about a skate park for the kids? You still have to reseal it, **Speaker 8:** repave it. It's really cracked up. It's bad. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** It's atrium and hazard. Linda would probably need liability insurance **Speaker 8:** for a skate park. He wants to get no grants though. **Speaker 1:** He had a lot of options and things like that would be on the table but it's a 50-50 match. So we come up with half **Speaker 17:** and they'll pay it down. **Speaker 2:** I would have said we were just going to roll it down. Green space. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Make it invisible. They don't even use that anymore. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Anything else Dave? Recycling. Review transfer station charges. **Speaker 14:** I made a phone call last week and they were focusing it back. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Is there any way we can put cameras up there or game cameras because **Speaker 14:** Nobody's throwing this stuff away illegally as far as I know. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** One of the attendants did say that the tire appeared overnight. It wasn't there in the morning or that night. Was it in the dumpster though? **Speaker 14:** I think it was outside. Well that's not good. They charge us for something in the dumpster. Or they just threw it outside the plant. He said it was there. Somebody put a camera there. At least I didn't have to pick it up. It's usually up at my camp. I'm glad it's not right there now. Maybe somebody did dump it off and somebody just brought it down because I've had that work. I pretty much told people if you've got the dump and bring it down **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** go ahead. I know the attendants are very conscientious with what comes in and they try to **Speaker 16:** do everything responsibly. **Speaker 14:** No, I don't think they're an issue at all. This was just a matter of I think we got charged for something. And if they're starting to charge that type of stuff in the dumpsters it's new to me. I mean shingles are not. That's part of the same day. Right. **Speaker 14:** Well could you make another call and hopefully we can get back to you? You know it might be something we want to look at. If they're going to start charging more for that type of stuff **Speaker 18:** we're going to have to go up on a fee. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I guess that's what I was mentioning. You know if we don't, remember when we did go up on a fee the percentage was big. The numbers weren't big. Is it a service or is it a fee thing? **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Well. **Speaker 1:** We've had to report on a quarterly basis all the trash we take in and how it's disposed and Dave and I have to do this every quarter. They've changed our reporting period to once a year. I don't know why. So I think we've got to finish out this year but then it's just going to be every January. We probably don't have the resources to go through it. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** 50 years is crazy. Yeah. **Speaker 1:** I think it's right in our certification that we have to file this so I think they're going to make an amendment right to our certifications. I don't think we'll have to do anything with that. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** It's going to be easier for you guys or I don't know if it's easy or hard or you just have to pull four? Sure. We'll be down next year. Okay. We're going to move on to discussion, review and sign errors in omission form. **Speaker 19:** They added in this value. **Speaker 1:** It should have been $58,800 and it was put in at $588,000 which was a nice number for a grant list but definitely an error. So we just want to sign there on the right hand side. Can I have a motion to sign the errors in omission form? **Speaker 19:** Motion to sign. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Second. Second. **Speaker 8:** Second. All in favor? Aye. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** If it wasn't picked up, Lori would have billed for $588,000 and then we would have been short. Not good. Our next is setting the tax rate based on the new calculations. Yeah. The new grant list. **Speaker 1:** So you should have that newspaper in front of you. I just went right through the challenge board article **Speaker 1:** and it looks like this. Thank you. Our town budget, article three, the cemetery budget, the library budget, the fire department budget and then on the right, the three social service payments that we make. I subtract what we anticipate receiving in funds and we're using 25% of the town's fund balance. So the town needs $1,988.25. And then for the highway, highway expenses, I anticipated paying maybe four payments of the highway paving loan. We're hoping to get that this month and be able to start paying on it in September. I've subtracted the highway receipts. Dave does not have a highway fund balance to use so the highway amount, $744,772.36. So then in the middle, we just divide the amount of the grant list and come up with the tax rate. On the bottom, it shows the new residential rates. Do you not have it? Do you want another copy? No. That's okay. **Speaker 1:** So if you look at the boxes on the bottom, you can see the proposed 2026 non-residential rate and a comparison. We have the 2025s **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** right below it. So last year, the town rate was .5558 and this year it's .6371. That's combined all the articles, everything, and the highway. Last year, it was .5558. The homestead rate went up. Am I looking right? From .96 to .99. Oh, this is the school? Yeah. .9915. Last year's school. Last year's school. Last year's school. Last year's school. She emailed it to us, so maybe you don't have it. Or was it in the box? I did bring it on, but just didn't know. Yes, I filed it very well. .6603. For homestead rate **Speaker 1:** for school? Oh, school. No, I'm giving you the whole thing. The school residential rate, .9915. That's this year's. Last year's, it was .9666. **Speaker 2:** That's for homestead? **Speaker 1:** That's for the homestead. Yeah, maybe I should add school in there so you don't know. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** You didn't have your third guy on the highway, right? No. It started in . Yeah, so it wasn't on the budget at all. Do you have a percentage of what it went up? Yeah, 8.5%. 8.5%? Yep. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** For town, highway, and school? For everything. Yeah. Homestead went up 8.5%. Non-homestead went up 3.5%. So, **Speaker 2:** just this comparison, if you have these numbers, so last year, what was the percent increase that we went to town meeting? I think that was around I don't have last year's. It went up a little less. I think that was around 6 or 7 last year, wasn't it? **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I think. We don't have it in front of us, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't that. It's never, I've never seen it go over 10. And I'm pretty sure last year was a little higher. 6 or 7%. **Speaker 20:** This is a little higher, **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** but we got a third guy now. That's what I'd call it. That's $100,000 right there. You know, you don't cut the money. But you look at these numbers and you look at other towns our size, and we're still pretty, we're very conservative. Especially when you're comparing other towns to the non-towns. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Can I have a motion to accept the tax rate as calculated? **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Motion. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** All in favor? Okay, November general election, Laurie. We can start with this election, how it went. This election went well. I had plenty of counters. I was home by 9.30, 10 o'clock, **Speaker 1:** which was nice. We did our reporting, and it went well. It was not a ton of people, but it was kind of steady all day. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** The counters, though, it was different. For us, counters, it was a whole different process that Laurie had to research before. You did see the booklet I printed out by mistake on elections. But the counting was very confusing. We had a lot of questions, and a lot of the clerks had it too. A lot of questions. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Yeah, why make it easy? How many people voted? **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Okay, November elections. **Speaker 1:** I did call the Mannington Sheriff's office last time for the last meeting. Cindy Lamour had come, and they were not able to cancel school that day because it's not a presidential election, so they were hoping we could hire a sheriff. I left a message. She said somebody will get back to me in the next couple of weeks. From past experience, especially with us not having a contract, they won't commit to it. Right, **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** because they have contracts with other people, like the Markey's and all that. **Speaker 1:** But even when we had a contract, they said, look, if there's a big accident, if there's something going on, and our troopers need to be there, they need to be there. And even with the contract, they would not commit to have someone here. So my hopes are not very high. **Speaker 8:** What do other towns do that are in the same situation? Are there other towns in the same situation as far as the building being intentional? Most towns have their own town hall. **Speaker 1:** I mean, us and the Rees Grove School were the only ones in southern Vermont that had a combination building. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Didn't one year when we had the sheriff, he was here, but the kids still ate lunch in the rooms? **Speaker 1:** I think there was one election recently where we had hoped for a sheriff and he couldn't come, or maybe came and didn't stay. But they just had lunch, like, eaten in the classrooms, so none of the kids went to the gym, and that's how they handled it. Is the door between the school and the gym, **Speaker 8:** is that locked? Is that secure? Let's see, **Speaker 1:** when there's an election, it remains open all day, **Speaker 8:** the red door. **Speaker 1:** What about the door from the gym to the hall? Oh yeah, that is locked. **Speaker 8:** That locks? **Speaker 1:** I don't know if they keep it locked **Speaker 8:** during school hours. Is it mandatory to have the sheriff, **Speaker 1:** or not? It's an option, they'd like us to. **Speaker 14:** Do we get in here, out of possibility? And do we get in this room instead of **Speaker 2:** in there, out of possibility? They can't just sign in there **Speaker 1:** and go in here, go out there? The only hard part about that is if I have attorneys and title searchers that are here doing research, it's really hard for me to have an election going, and they don't make appointments, they just come when they come. I think too, **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** it would be difficult going in that door and going out this door, especially in the winter, if it's snowing, then you'd have to keep this open too. **Speaker 14:** It's November, right? **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** November, yeah. **Speaker 14:** I think it's too crowded. **Speaker 2:** If the school is mandating that someone be there, shouldn't it be their responsibility to step up to the plate and make sure? Why is it our responsibility always? I've brought it up a million times. I'm not a big believer in hiring them at all. I'm not either. If it's voluntary and we choose not to, then have the kids somewhere else. Put a bar across the door. It's been like this for **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** what, 14 years now? Banging heads with each other. Every time they need something extra, they come and they want us to **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** pay for it. The sign says school. Why did they put any money into it? We've got to get bushes cut. We've got to pay for them. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** They want a playground. We've got to pay for it. It's just non-stop. It's I don't know. It's our tax money. I understand that. Money comes from us no matter how you look at it. This is an opinion. It's not the board's opinion. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Why? What are we doing this for? It's just to make you say you want to feel warm and cozy inside. It does nothing. Zero. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Okay, we'll wait to see if Laurie hears something from the sheriff, follow up on it **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I can sit out there and do this exact same thing and be just as efficient. The sheriff does carry a firearm and he can shoot a guy that's a bad guy if he comes in shooting. But if a guy comes in with a high-powered AR-15 the sheriff's not going to win either. It's just the way it is. It's ludicrous that we talk about this safety all the time. It's not safe. It's ludicrous. It's the way you live in a free country. That's what happens. You want unfreedom? Then you put bars **Speaker 20:** on everything. Right? Buy and go to the next store. Put your select or town meeting next door. It's $400,000, $450,000. **Speaker 8:** There you go. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** The thing is, I've said this a million times, you can have anything you want this time. You can have public water and sewer. You can have a seven-man highway department. You know, police department. All that. It costs money. It's as simple as that. You can only have that or you can only go up this bunch on percentage instead of Then they won't even try to bring someone in to throat it down **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** and they complain. Same people complain about the same things. You never get around that. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Okay, moving on. **Speaker 1:** Shrug removable quote. Okay. Your warrant, if you'll sign the warrant to allow me to send out tax bills and collect money on your behalf. No, we're not signing that. **Speaker 21:** We did set the rates. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Can we be exempt? **Speaker 1:** Anybody on the list here? Would that be nice? Do you need a motion for that **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** or can you just sign it? I have a motion. **Speaker 20:** Sign the warrant for Lori to collect taxes. Motion. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** All in favor? Aye. Shrugs. **Speaker 1:** So I received a quote from Alpha Arbor to take down the shrugs that are over there and falling for $600. Did anybody contact Alpha Arbor? I don't know where it came from. He just emailed it to me. Maybe listen to the minutes? Maybe. We talked about the shrugs with Nate. Nice. Okay. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** It's a town business. Keep it on file. I like that. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Just hold on to it. Keep it on file so we know. **Speaker 14:** We talked about the shrugs for $150. Are we going to do it? This doesn't include the other side, right? We've got to change. This is not including the other side? Right. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** That's just this side. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** But, the school might be taking those down. They're still working on it. Have I talked to the guy? **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I thought they tried. Too close to the bone. Yeah, they're junk. Right to the root. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** They're lovely. It's a safety reason, too. They're safety again. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** You should have heard them over on this side. Well, the shrubs made it so nobody could look in the window. But then on the other hand, a guy might hide in the shrubs somewhere. Jump in them shrubs. They're junipers. They're not nice to sit in. Yeah, they're going to get quite the rash. I'm like, this is unbelievable. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I'm going to wait and see what the school, **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** because they're working on it. So just put that on hold? Put it on hold and see what the school, because I know they're working on it. **Speaker 8:** Those were good for torture back in the day. You could throw one of your buddies in. Exactly. I'm not joking. And they're ready. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I've done both ends of the spectrum on that. Yeah, that's what happened. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** I broke it. Delinquent dog update. **Speaker 1:** So I licensed three dogs just today. I got a phone call that another was coming with two more dogs that didn't show up, unless they've just shown up recently. So we're down to doing nine people and 16 dogs. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** We're doing all the same processes, right? Finding them. Okay. Just keep doing the same thing. They want to sit there and get fined for, **Speaker 6:** what is it, 14 bucks? **Speaker 7:** 14 bucks. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Taking a $50 fine for $14. **Speaker 7:** Can you follow up with Luke **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** and say, we want this list down by next week? Just keep going through the process. As people are coming in, something would take them off the list. Keep going through the process. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Okay. New business. Talk about the tennis court inspection. I just wondered, I should have added about the power lines, but Deb spoke about this. Lori sent us all the requests from New England Power. They want to have a lay down yard at Potlin Lumber. And they give you state permits. Did you get a copy of this? No. Oh yeah, I'll give you a copy. They are getting state permits to go over the roads, and it seems like they're following everything. Do they have a permit? No, they haven't yet. And this is for the line that's from Harriman Station in Reedsboro down toward Yankee Atomic. That way. So I just don't understand the lay down yard. It's the effort, but I'm not in the region here. I think he said they're accessing the yard through the Maltese. Yeah, they're coming right through. They're supposed to go all the way over to the side, too. I know they're going to, but I'm thinking this one is just for **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** that line that's going down through Muntin Bridge. He's renting it, where they put the mats down. It's like a retirement for him. Just put those down and pay them **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** every month. That's the income tax. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** It's not my problem. Request. You weren't here last meeting, but we should... **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** I know the short meeting is quiet. **Speaker 7:** We should get **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** on the... Well, in six years we are going to have to do another reappraisal. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** 2030. 2030. Because I'm not going to be here. My term's up in two. You're not Jeff. Jeff will be running the show. She said it's six years, so that's four years. Right, 2030. Well, we're on the six year schedule. Every six years we're going to have to reappraise. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** So now we're doing... **Speaker 7:** 100 grand. **Speaker 6:** Never get your money back. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** If we stay with the NMRAC program, we have her for an assessor right now, and they did our last reappraisal. If we ask them to do the reappraisal, get on their schedule, and they reappraise in 2030, then we will be out 2036, then we will have to go to the state. And at that time there might be reappraisal districts. I don't know how many towns will be in the district. Don't know that yet. So NMRAC will be out. **Speaker 2:** They won't be doing it? **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** If the state takes over... We don't know that. We don't know who's going to be doing the district. Or I don't know that yet. So maybe it's better to go with what we know with reappraisal **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** with NMRAC. We don't have a choice. We didn't have anyone else. Nobody bid it. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** And right now we have them as our assessor. So it seems like we should go with them. So Lori gave us a draft of the proposal. I want to go over it. Lori highlighted some spots there that she thought. On the first page, the paragraph about purpose and objective. Lori, documentation from the last 2005? Or it should be 24? **Speaker 1:** Oh, yes. Okay. And the 2009 **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** land schedule. We don't need that either **Speaker 19:** because the 2024 **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** took care of it all, right? Okay. I think so. **Speaker 1:** Because they had to... We had 2005 and then we updated the land schedule in 2009. Now we just have one. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Yeah. I think just take that right out of the land schedule there because they know it. Then she updated the residence census, updated the taxable real estate in Stamford. I didn't have anything on the second page. On the third page, she's just been an assessor and an assessor clerk. And this was the same request for proposal that we used maybe six or seven years ago when we sent it out for bids. **Speaker 1:** Like Nemrick is our reappraisal contractor and Nemrick is our assessor. I don't know if we need to have it here. They'll work with the assessor. When we were first bidding this out before, we weren't sure if we were going to have the same contractor. So we added all that in and we may not need that. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** No, I think keep it because what if Nemrick doesn't want to be our yearly assessor? I can't see anybody else doing it. And the utilities were done separately. We had to see anything in here about the utilities and the power lines, but I think that was a separate I'll have to find out about that. I'll have to I can call Stacy on that. Something in there **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** about that. Page six. Bullet down. Town will be responsible for expenses and salaries of the town assessor and or assessor clerk. I think we've got to keep town assessor in there. We're still responsible for that. **Speaker 1:** But not under the reappraisal contract. We pay the town assessor separately. Yeah, okay. But if you guys want to leave it in, don't worry. **Speaker 1:** I guess I'd look at those are two separate positions entirely. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Whether the town assessor works with Nemrick or not or helps him out. I see that. And the last bullet down says documentation from the last 2024 reappraisal. Okay. When do we want this due? October 1st? Is that enough time? A month. Is that our next meeting? Yeah, October 1st is your first **Speaker 1:** meeting in October. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Sure. I'm sure he knows what you did last year and he's just going to **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Right, that's how you're going to get it. and percentage, 8% out. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** You'll be lucky to think. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** I think last year the final came in at $72,000. Yeah. Say $75,000. For just them, not the assessor clerk. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** So every time someone grieves to that guy though, we have to pay him to do that **Speaker 6:** also? **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Or did that come out of the original bid? The court case came out of our pocket. Right, I'm saying when a town resident grieves, it sits down with the assessor. That's theirs. They eat that? But when it goes to the Board of Civil Authority, that's extra. But the grieving is prior to that. But I think this is **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Board of Civil Authority too. I think so. **Speaker 22:** So then it just **Speaker 1:** if it goes on to the court, when did I read that? **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** No, when we went to the court, we got a lawyer that we had to pay. That was ours, yeah. Any taxes you ever make. Gotta do it. Look on page 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8. The contractor will be responsible for defense. But I think when paying the billing part of it, definitely this was in the last one. I don't know. So we could sign in with a bill for that lawyer? And wait until he sends the bill. Well they didn't go to the State Board and went to the court. Like they're responsible for the defense of that. But I think when we actually signed the money prior to that, they may have had an hourly rate for stuff above it. And this was in the last one? Yeah. Yeah, I didn't change that. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Okay, I want to find out about the utilities, if they have to be included in here, who does that. Otherwise, good with this and see what **Speaker 20:** happens? On the taxes, we do homesteads. Why do we have to **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** do it every year? And then people forget, their accountants make mistakes. **Speaker 1:** I mean, it should be **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** if I did move, leave me alone. They tried that for a year or two, and then they changed their mind. Why? **Speaker 2:** Can I ask a question before you return? I didn't get the highway rate. So I have the homestead, and I have the school. But is the homestead rate inclusive of the highway, **Speaker 1:** or we have to add one more? We have a town, a municipal, and then a school on top of it. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Okay, so what was the highway rate? 0.9915. So the total homestead rate including the school is 1.6518. So the highway must be? The highway is 0.4295. 0.0295? 0.4295. Did you get it together? I don't know. I know. We've got a bunch of these. Yep. So the 0.9915 does not include the highway. That is just school. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** 0.9915 is just school. The entire residential is 0.6371. Yes. **Speaker 4:** So do I need to add **Speaker 2:** also into that the highway? Yes. And that is? **Speaker 1:** 0.4295. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Hold on. Where do you get the 6.6? The town rate and the highway rate. That is right. So you are not going to add it again. So if you add the town rate of 0.2308. Wait, wait, wait. 0.2308. The total is 1.6518. And then plus 0.4295. Those two equal the 0.6603. I have two of them. I don't know why. Okay. Yeah. That is right. You stole it right out of your box. Do you agree? **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Laura, do you agree with the rates? Adds up right? Oh, I thought your paper I didn't add them up yet. I was writing them down. No, you kept saying 6. You already added them. That is why. I don't like them. That is like when you go to the grocery store. Is the amount okay? No. What a stupid question. Are you guys happy with the increase? Oh, yeah. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Give me more. The health insurance guy comes in. Good news. It only went up 8% this year. Oh, my God. Party only. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Anything else under new bills? **Speaker 12:** Just to mention that **Speaker 8:** there is going to be a state water resource protection specialist at the planning board meeting on Monday night. 6 o'clock. Laura Ranker. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** And that is with conservation commission? No, that is with the planning board. We would love to see you guys **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** come along. What night is it? **Speaker 8:** Monday. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Powerpoint presentation. **Speaker 8:** 6 o'clock. And open to questions. Talk about where potential water resources are. The way I understand it. **Speaker 23:** That is my understanding too. **Speaker 2:** Anybody else? **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Coming down there. Big man. Big man. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Anything else under new business from you guys? Okay. We have all seen the sign. There is a house for sale next door to the school and town office. Do we want to even think about that **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** at the price of $450,000? You do not have to worry about the tax right now. I know. **Speaker 8:** It is the same acreage as the church. We still need well and septic to develop it any further. Of course, this is probably three times the price that the church was. We did not buy the church. I did not know if anybody wanted **Speaker 8:** We got beat up on the church. I mean, in an ideal world, it would be a prime property, but I just do not think it is affordable. **Speaker 2:** We could move the town garage here. We could have everything all in one space. That adds all to the $450,000. You have to reconstruct the town garage. You have to have well and septic. You cannot have people with a garage next door to a school. What about the safety? A wrench might pop all over. He is welded outside. Keeps his smell. It seems like there are **Speaker 8:** a bunch of houses popping up for sale. Yes, it costs money up here. **Michael G. Denault (inferred):** Who ever thought you would have $1,000 houses? Not one, but many. There are all those houses I cannot get. Anything else? We are just going to leave it? I do not know how we go there. I do not see how we can afford a 50-year loan. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** We have a fire truck. We have a truck. We have paving. We are pretty well stretched. In that is not all the paving loan. What else have we deferred? Yes. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** One of the paving loans is for next year. For repaying. The truck payment is not in there. $131,000 from our land sale is not in there. The truck payment is not in there **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** because that is not for next year. It looks good and everything but it would be a very nice idea. Yes. But if somebody would like to put the bill and donate it to the town it would be nice. **Speaker 8:** If there is anywhere to throw up a couple of structures in the village that is probably the place. **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** Behind there? **Speaker 8:** Within the village itself. There is not much room anywhere outside of the river corridor. How many acres? I think they have four and a half maybe. So you could really is it one acre in town or two? Two. We are talking. There is debate. It is all up for debate but it is going to be years or probably a couple of years anyway before anything is finalized. For what the zoning bylaws? There is all kinds of conversation going on. You put six, seven, eight people in a room and then it is all in your opinion. On it goes. Isn't it worth working on the Town Plan? Kind of worked on both simultaneously. **Speaker 8:** I guess they kind of went back to the I thought they had like money for the Town Plan. They are mostly working on the Plan. They wanted to discuss districts **Speaker 8:** at the last meeting just because that kind of ties in with the Town Plan. You have to know where your districts are at in order to write a Town Plan. **Speaker 2:** kind of both go together yeah we kind of bleed into the bylaws here and there but for the most **Speaker 4:** part i think we're speaking so um how did the survey come out what was the consensus of the **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** survey well we had what 58 or 60 respondents out of probably 300 mail yeah i guess basically keep **Speaker 2:** it the way it is same people have voted i think that everybody's leaning towards you know the main thing they want to do is preserve the resources that was like number one that's the **Speaker 23:** resources character of the time character of the town yeah yeah no municipal waters the same way **Speaker 8:** they've been answered for the last 50 years so if i buy an editor i can't put up a shoot range a shooting range so **Speaker 20:** that's just a way no that's just put it on your property down there no that's a school **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** okay um anything else new business no we're good we're good motion yes we didn't have that we missed me we missed you for that so i can't get second the crowds are down in the summer topics **Nancy L. Bushika (Chair):** you know basically it's gotta be uh it's gotta be working it's gotta be working yeah **Speaker 8:** can i have a couple more signatures yeah there's gonna be a lot of people here i don't think i don't i think it'll be the same people they're always there but you know i when i i told her when i talked to her that you know sometimes you get so