WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.210 --> 00:00:08.119 Town of Plainfield: Okay, this is the, we should take that. 2 00:00:08.390 --> 00:00:19.659 Town of Plainfield: 26th. The 26th of January. It's 5 o'clock, we're, opening the, Select Board meeting, and, 3 00:00:20.150 --> 00:00:35.200 Town of Plainfield: We are early because we are planning to go into executive session. Do we have a motion for that? Motion to enter executive session to discuss personnel per 1VSA section 313. Second. And all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. 4 00:00:35.750 --> 00:00:55.359 Town of Plainfield: Opposed? Pause. Pause recording. Send us a note. We don't want to have this in open session. We are now recording… we are now recording again, and I'm admitting our guests. Okay. We're coming out of, executive session and starting the regular meeting at 6.05, or 6.03. 5 00:00:55.360 --> 00:01:01.929 Town of Plainfield: There's no action taken, for the personnel issue. 6 00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:08.600 Town of Plainfield: So, I'll call the meeting to order at 6.03, and we'll, 7 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:15.090 Town of Plainfield: Where are we here? Any announcements? Nope, changes to agenda. 8 00:01:15.100 --> 00:01:31.330 Town of Plainfield: Changes to agenda. So I just had one thing. Yes. Down at the listing on the agenda, next meeting, it says Bond Vote Informational 2226. We have actually moved that to be on 29… 9 00:01:31.330 --> 00:01:40.010 Town of Plainfield: 2026, at 5.30 p.m, directly before our next regular Select Board meeting. Oh, okay. So I just wanted to note that, because it was, 10 00:01:40.100 --> 00:01:47.270 Town of Plainfield: wrong on the agenda that was shared with the public. Good, thank you. I'm sorry, the… 11 00:01:47.370 --> 00:01:56.819 Town of Plainfield: This is factually inaccurate. You say it's before the meeting on the 9th? Correct, at 5.30. Yeah, at 5.30, yep. Thank you for that. Yeah. Any other changes to the agenda? 12 00:01:58.590 --> 00:02:11.460 Town of Plainfield: Carol, you can stay, or you can… Well, I was just curious as a Zoom user is, but now I see that, like, somebody's trying to be anonymous. Yeah, we won't let them in. No, that's what I… We don't let them in. We have to, we have to know who's coming in. 13 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:20.089 Town of Plainfield: I know. Okay, any other changes to agenda? Any, announcements? 14 00:02:22.040 --> 00:02:34.390 Town of Plainfield: I have one, and that is that we've had an issue with public parking, and people not seeming to be aware, in spite of a lot of attention, that they can't park in 15 00:02:34.750 --> 00:02:47.619 Town of Plainfield: the Mill Street parking and so on, so we can clear the roads. I just want to remind people to use Facebook and Plainfield People, because that's all being updated, and that goes really for anything that's in town going on. 16 00:02:47.670 --> 00:03:07.950 Town of Plainfield: Facebook does a pretty good job of keeping up to date. We try hard. I'll say a neighbor got their car towed today, and is not on front porch Forum or Facebook. There are signs, as well. Yeah. That posted where all those parking spots are. There are signs about our snow policy. I think Dan went… 17 00:03:08.020 --> 00:03:24.209 Town of Plainfield: pretty… And there were people knocked doors in the community before the towing. There was a lot done to try to make sure, and I think of the 8 vehicles that were there at 8 AM, 5 moved in time, and 3 were towed. Yep. 18 00:03:24.480 --> 00:03:42.509 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, but we had to have the streets clean. Well, it's very… yeah, it's an accessibility issue. If we can't plow those spots, then if people try to park there later, they could slip and fall, or something else could happen. Well, he observed somebody do that. Yeah. And hit their head on the car, so… 19 00:03:42.510 --> 00:03:48.070 Town of Plainfield: Public comment. Anybody? Public comment? 20 00:03:48.350 --> 00:04:02.249 Town of Plainfield: There was someone prepped right in front of the sign in the notepad, like, the sign that said… Yeah, people have to read. Water and wastewater budget presentation. 21 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:05.529 Town of Plainfield: Oh, is Mary there? Do we have Mary on? 22 00:04:06.010 --> 00:04:17.079 Town of Plainfield: No. Oh, shoot. I gave her… I sent the stuff over to our house. We… The budget. Oh, shoot. Well, we need to… we need to deal with this, 23 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:38.369 Town of Plainfield: Unless she's a Zoom user? Maybe we should just postpone that discussion. Well, we can't postpone it, we have to put it on the ballot today. I'm just saying postpone it to later in the meeting, in case Mary comes on, in case there's questions that we have. 24 00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:44.010 Town of Plainfield: They have prepared their budget for wastewater and water. 25 00:04:46.910 --> 00:04:49.219 Town of Plainfield: I mean, what are you… what do you… what's the… 26 00:04:49.650 --> 00:04:53.930 Town of Plainfield: feeling of the board. I think we'd bump it later today, if possible. 27 00:04:54.110 --> 00:04:58.989 Town of Plainfield: Okay. Okay, we'll come back to this. 28 00:04:59.960 --> 00:05:11.290 Town of Plainfield: And then we'll make a decision whether someone's here or not. Same thing on finalizing articles for town meeting, we can't do that until… Oh, are you the Zoom user? Yeah. 29 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:31.669 Town of Plainfield: That's Mary. Okay, would you let the Zoom user in? Okay, sorry, Mary. Then we can do it right now. Is the door open downstairs? I think that it didn't shut all the way, is what Carol said. Okay, because I'm thinking Graham's usually here, and Eric's usually here. Okay, she's not. Thank you, Mary. Okay, thanks. 30 00:05:31.670 --> 00:05:34.679 Town of Plainfield: It's called Zoom User? Okay. 31 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:38.390 Town of Plainfield: Gosh, let me figure it out, I don't know. 32 00:05:38.930 --> 00:05:40.870 Town of Plainfield: Mary, are you there? 33 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:50.960 Town of Plainfield: There she is. There she is. Hi, Mary. There was a reason I stayed. You're on mute, Mary. Unmute. 34 00:05:50.960 --> 00:05:51.729 Zoom user: There we go. 35 00:05:51.950 --> 00:05:53.930 Town of Plainfield: There you go, thank you. 36 00:05:53.930 --> 00:05:58.439 Zoom user: I don't know how to put my name in. I've run into this before with the Select Board. 37 00:05:58.440 --> 00:06:02.339 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, we just don't want you to put porn on. 38 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:05.939 Zoom user: Yeah, well, I promise. Scouts on it. 39 00:06:05.940 --> 00:06:10.609 Town of Plainfield: Alright, so, thank you for their budgets. 40 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:28.559 Town of Plainfield: So I guess we could start with water. Is there anything that, that, that you were… had in discussion that's, changed a lot? I do remember one discussion about the, 41 00:06:28.780 --> 00:06:29.839 Town of Plainfield: Oh, wait 42 00:06:30.010 --> 00:06:37.280 Town of Plainfield: No, I guess I don't remember. Do you have any… do you have any, issues that stand out for us? 43 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:38.490 Zoom user: No. 44 00:06:38.730 --> 00:06:42.350 Zoom user: It's all what… I think when you were in there, it's all the same. 45 00:06:42.840 --> 00:06:44.030 Town of Plainfield: Okay. 46 00:06:46.270 --> 00:06:53.300 Town of Plainfield: I know there was a lot of back and forth while I was in the meeting… I was in two meetings, and the meeting on water was… 47 00:06:54.220 --> 00:07:04.360 Town of Plainfield: Similar to the wastewater, and we had a lot of discussions, or the board had a lot of discussions about what was needed, what projects were coming up, what, 48 00:07:04.900 --> 00:07:07.120 Town of Plainfield: And so on. 49 00:07:12.460 --> 00:07:13.830 Town of Plainfield: So. 50 00:07:13.830 --> 00:07:19.169 Zoom user: Yeah, the only big change from previous budgets is Goddard. 51 00:07:19.890 --> 00:07:22.279 Zoom user: Because we used to have this… 52 00:07:22.590 --> 00:07:39.619 Zoom user: packed, I'll say, with Goddard. And don't even ask me to say how we did it. It was 20% or something, but now we're using them just like their regular users. So we've added a bunch of, users. I think it's… 53 00:07:39.710 --> 00:07:45.999 Zoom user: 71 until they pay their impact fee, then it'll go up to 89, I believe. 54 00:07:46.210 --> 00:08:01.490 Town of Plainfield: I thought I heard 94 the other day. That's for the wastewater. That's wastewater. Okay, 89, I remember that. And so they're now being treated like everyone else in town. Yes. And that was… that's a good move. I think that, to me, that makes a lot of sense. 55 00:08:01.490 --> 00:08:10.440 Zoom user: And it actually made our water not go… we were expecting it to go up because we lost so many, you know, at the flood, and with Green Mountain Ice to… 56 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:12.739 Zoom user: Took 7 of their… 57 00:08:13.230 --> 00:08:16.869 Town of Plainfield: 8, allocations away. 58 00:08:17.140 --> 00:08:18.849 Zoom user: 3 units away. 59 00:08:18.960 --> 00:08:21.509 Zoom user: So, we're expecting to… 60 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:30.210 Zoom user: have to make our rates really high, but it turned out we didn't. It's about the same increase as we've done every year. 61 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:49.819 Town of Plainfield: And don't you think, Mary, we might have lost a teeny bit with the wastewater, but it'll probably be more fair to them, but yeah, we gained a lot in the water. A lot. Good, yeah, well, that sounded like a sweetheart deal with Goddard when they were Goddard. Yeah. And I think it was very proper to change it. They're undercharging on the water. Yep. 62 00:08:49.880 --> 00:08:56.340 Town of Plainfield: Yep. Dan? Hey, Mary, Dan here, the, 63 00:08:56.580 --> 00:09:01.309 Town of Plainfield: The salaries for the plant operator and the assistant operator. 64 00:09:01.410 --> 00:09:12.699 Town of Plainfield: the increases in their salaries, what's that based on? Because I know we were using what the personnel policy says, which is 2.7%, for all the other employees, and this looks like higher than that. 65 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:22.790 Zoom user: Yeah. They just, got… they have to now have another… I don't even know what the words are. 66 00:09:22.940 --> 00:09:23.670 Zoom user: But… 67 00:09:24.800 --> 00:09:36.530 Zoom user: they now have to do distribution, so they have to take more classes, and they have… they're, like, a higher level now, and so we gave them just a $2 raise for that. 68 00:09:36.530 --> 00:09:48.160 Town of Plainfield: That was a certification they had to train for, is that what I understood? Yes, yes. And so, that certification justified that bump, that $2 million bump. Mary, would you like me to add a little more clarification. 69 00:09:48.160 --> 00:09:49.429 Zoom user: Yes, I would. 70 00:09:49.670 --> 00:10:01.260 Town of Plainfield: So, and also the assistant operator had several, he had a step increase last year, which I don't think was totally accounted for in last year's budget, so I had to add more this year, and he also, 71 00:10:01.260 --> 00:10:10.329 Town of Plainfield: Completed some other certification, so he got another raise in the year, and now, yeah, they're getting the $2 plus the, 72 00:10:10.650 --> 00:10:19.979 Town of Plainfield: on top of that, the cost of living. So, and we try to allow a little bit for overtime. It's a tougher calculation, but… Yeah. 73 00:10:20.250 --> 00:10:37.420 Town of Plainfield: But that's why. Okay. I just want to make sure, because every other employee is getting the 2.7, unless they're getting a step, which some people are, so I just want to make sure it's clear. Yep. But, yeah, I guess the other thing is… 74 00:10:37.420 --> 00:10:56.869 Town of Plainfield: is… it's just good to know as an explanation. I know when the road crew, the latest road crew person got a new certification, we bumped up their salary, but that was part of an understanding. Is there, like, a schedule, Mary, of, like, if there's other certifications that might be on the horizon? 75 00:10:56.910 --> 00:11:02.929 Town of Plainfield: Or is this just… I'm just curious, because, you know, there's probably lots of things they can train on. Yeah, no. 76 00:11:02.930 --> 00:11:05.640 Zoom user: That's something that the state 77 00:11:05.990 --> 00:11:11.379 Zoom user: Yeah, it's nothing that's predicted, it's something that the state just added. 78 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:14.590 Town of Plainfield: So, so you, yeah, you can't plan for that, then, if it's… 79 00:11:14.920 --> 00:11:20.310 Town of Plainfield: State… state requirement. Okay. And I'll tell ya… 80 00:11:20.310 --> 00:11:24.530 Zoom user: I know we pay our guys pretty well, but the reason why 81 00:11:24.690 --> 00:11:28.599 Zoom user: is… I guess some of you have been around, but… 82 00:11:29.050 --> 00:11:47.969 Zoom user: We would get, operators, we'd train them, and then they'd go make much more money someplace else. And so we finally decided we did not want to be somebody's training ground. So we made the decision to bring them up to industry standards. 83 00:11:48.190 --> 00:11:55.809 Zoom user: So, that's why they're… Pretty up there, but… Plus, we've got… 84 00:11:56.070 --> 00:11:57.840 Town of Plainfield: Tristan's excellent. 85 00:11:58.300 --> 00:12:03.490 Zoom user: As you guys might know, so we really don't want to lose him. 86 00:12:05.160 --> 00:12:17.240 Town of Plainfield: No, these are all reasonable things, yes, Peter? Mary, just to follow up on what Dan was saying with the cost of living, our personnel policy is very specific as to the standard for 87 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:31.150 Town of Plainfield: COLA, and that, is spelled out, if you look back in the compensation section, it tracks the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So, generally in December, when the Select Board starts its budget hearings. 88 00:12:31.150 --> 00:12:36.209 Town of Plainfield: We get the November figure, and that's what we use, so we should probably plan to. 89 00:12:36.210 --> 00:12:43.139 Zoom user: coordinate with you next year on that, around that time, so that we're using the same amount. Yeah. 90 00:12:43.140 --> 00:12:50.759 Town of Plainfield: And similarly, if you look at the compensation language, it talks about exactly what you were just saying, which is that 91 00:12:50.760 --> 00:13:10.330 Town of Plainfield: Periodically, and it doesn't have a specific timetable, we're to look, you know, no less than every 3 years, we're to look and see, are we keeping up with the market? Yeah. Because, exactly, we don't want to be the training ground and lose people to other places, and so, that's an appropriate thing to do. Yeah. 92 00:13:10.330 --> 00:13:16.330 Zoom user: Yeah, I think we do try to give the raises… The same as the town. 93 00:13:16.510 --> 00:13:17.280 Town of Plainfield: Yes. 94 00:13:17.790 --> 00:13:21.939 Zoom user: It's just the special things that come in that… 95 00:13:22.410 --> 00:13:26.179 Zoom user: Maybe bump it up more than what the town gives. 96 00:13:26.340 --> 00:13:31.950 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, Carol's thought on this, I think. But also, even if we've over-budgeted. 97 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:35.000 Town of Plainfield: We're not just going to pay them 98 00:13:35.550 --> 00:13:44.299 Town of Plainfield: what the budget says. They get… they get paid per hour. Right, right. And Josh and I thought it was 3… 3.1. 99 00:13:44.400 --> 00:14:09.319 Town of Plainfield: So, but even if we've budgeted a little too much, they won't get paid that. It'll go back in… Yeah. Well, the same thing. I think his placeholder length number was 3.1 when he gave us the budget, not knowing what… Right. Because we didn't have the standard yet, so… And I also had to come up with something. Yeah, it turned out to be 2.7, but like you say, the budget is allowing for the amount of money the taxpayers agree to, and if we don't 100 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:12.019 Town of Plainfield: spend it, that's great. Right. 101 00:14:12.670 --> 00:14:16.279 Town of Plainfield: Okay, any other questions on… 102 00:14:16.280 --> 00:14:34.749 Town of Plainfield: I mean, I get a very broad question, very basic question, excuse me, this is obvious. I'm looking at the water and wastewater budgets in front of me, and they're different budgets, but the plant operator, assistant operator, assistant clerk, treasurer, town clerk, treasurer, are all identical. Yes, it's half each. 103 00:14:35.770 --> 00:14:46.610 Town of Plainfield: half each. I pay them… half of the year we pay out of water, and half of the year we pay out of wastewater. Okay. So the salaries, too. Your salary and theirs? 104 00:14:46.610 --> 00:15:03.440 Town of Plainfield: So, we're right about that? Okay. So, shouldn't the amounts on each be half? It should be, isn't it? No, it isn't. It is half. I think they're… They are half. One makes 806, right, it should be 86 and 60-something? Yeah, it should be half and half. 105 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:09.909 Town of Plainfield: Well, I think it is, I think they're just… Okay. Thank you for clarifying. Yep. So that was done, yeah. 106 00:15:12.660 --> 00:15:23.530 Town of Plainfield: Yes, sorry. So, Mary, looking at the warning for town meeting, we need to warn two articles. 107 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:39.320 Town of Plainfield: And the language from last year says, shall the town approve, and it has a dollar for the operation of the water department for the following year to be paid for by the ratepayers, and then the same thing for the wastewater. What are the two numbers 108 00:15:39.550 --> 00:15:44.239 Town of Plainfield: That we should be… approving here? . 109 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:47.220 Zoom user: Carl, I just want to say, what was it that… 110 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:54.909 Zoom user: we frequently leave out that you wrote down and I didn't. Remember Tim was saying every time 111 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:58.259 Zoom user: When they go… when they stand up to… to… 112 00:15:58.390 --> 00:16:03.069 Town of Plainfield: do that article. There's something that's supposed to be said. Do you know, Carol? 113 00:16:03.280 --> 00:16:06.599 Town of Plainfield: It is included. It is included. 114 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:07.540 Zoom user: Right? 115 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:12.150 Zoom user: It's paid by the ratepayers, and Peter just mentioned… Yeah, I just wanted… 116 00:16:12.150 --> 00:16:27.399 Town of Plainfield: That was in last year, too. And by the way, I told Water Sewer, they may have forgotten, I added, extra pay to assistant clerk, Assistant Treasurer, so that if they do demand more of me, I'm gonna put a little more on them. 117 00:16:27.650 --> 00:16:29.209 Town of Plainfield: I patted it a little bit. 118 00:16:29.210 --> 00:16:32.259 Zoom user: We wanted to give you a raise, but we couldn't. 119 00:16:33.730 --> 00:16:34.669 Zoom user: It goes. 120 00:16:34.670 --> 00:16:42.539 Town of Plainfield: Well, it's good news that you've negotiated with the new owners of Goddard, because that's a big help. 121 00:16:42.540 --> 00:16:45.719 Zoom user: Yep. Okay, so, what you were asking… 122 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:57.779 Town of Plainfield: So the, yeah, the language has to say it's paid for by the ratepayers. It does. And it did last year, too. Good job thinking of that. But that was the issue we spoke about. 123 00:16:58.350 --> 00:17:14.229 Zoom user: So, the number that you're looking for, I believe, is $3,000… no, 3… I'm horrible at numbers, guy. $311,874. Or is it… yeah, is that. 124 00:17:14.230 --> 00:17:16.510 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, so that's the water. That's for water. 125 00:17:16.510 --> 00:17:17.290 Zoom user: water. 126 00:17:17.290 --> 00:17:23.090 Town of Plainfield: And now go and make sure it matches the expenses, because… It does, I check. Okay, thank you. Yeah. 127 00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:30.770 Zoom user: And then for wastewater, It's $392,055. 128 00:17:31.360 --> 00:17:34.249 Town of Plainfield: Yep. Okay. And did you check the… 129 00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:54.230 Town of Plainfield: Yep, they both… they're both the same. I could have made a mistake today. No, no, you don't make mistakes. Oh, I do. See, this last column isn't… doesn't have a heading on it. Supposed 26 minutes. Well, yeah, and some of the formatting's off, and I was fighting with it today, the printer will fix it. Well, thank you for getting this. 130 00:17:54.230 --> 00:17:56.810 Town of Plainfield: to us. I know it just came to you Friday, so… 131 00:18:00.210 --> 00:18:07.730 Zoom user: Yeah, and I'm glad Carol's there tonight, because all the numbers people have left, and I'm just not. So… 132 00:18:09.290 --> 00:18:15.840 Town of Plainfield: Wow, there's nobody here. I think the snow has kept everybody away, except for on Zoom. Yep. 133 00:18:16.320 --> 00:18:18.930 Town of Plainfield: But we're still getting things done, that's good. 134 00:18:19.410 --> 00:18:27.730 Town of Plainfield: Okay, you have any other questions about water, and then wastewater? Sounds like we're looking at both. 135 00:18:39.810 --> 00:18:47.189 Zoom user: So you'll know, because most people think there is, there's not meters on wastewater, it just kind of goes along with water. 136 00:18:47.780 --> 00:18:49.849 Zoom user: So, that's not metered. 137 00:18:50.060 --> 00:18:56.775 Town of Plainfield: you can measure the water going in, but it's harder to measure anything coming out, so… Yeah. 138 00:19:01.280 --> 00:19:07.159 Town of Plainfield: And what is the status of the meter reading? There's supposed to be a meter reading happening soon? Is that correct? 139 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:09.470 Zoom user: Cheryl can answer that one. 140 00:19:09.470 --> 00:19:10.520 Town of Plainfield: Carol, can you say that? 141 00:19:11.430 --> 00:19:12.710 Zoom user: Take it away. 142 00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:17.390 Zoom user: Well, basically, they didn't do it. 143 00:19:17.390 --> 00:19:23.600 Town of Plainfield: They didn't do it, and I said a while ago, you're just gonna do a base reading, because I don't think you're getting the meters done. 144 00:19:23.890 --> 00:19:24.760 Town of Plainfield: End. 145 00:19:26.040 --> 00:19:40.589 Town of Plainfield: Then I realized that I should have been sending them something in order to read the meters. It popped in my head, and I said, weren't you… didn't you need something from me? And then they came in the office and said, well, we're not gonna read the meters, we're gonna do a base reading. 146 00:19:40.620 --> 00:19:53.769 Town of Plainfield: Which immediately turned into a thing. I had more work to do, and I'm gonna have more follow-up work to do. And it's also, I can't make… Nemrek had to set it up for me, now I can't make adjustments that I need to make, so I'm gonna have to do, like. 147 00:19:53.810 --> 00:19:58.070 Town of Plainfield: hand… hand-do some separate bills. So again, like. 148 00:19:58.850 --> 00:20:01.279 Town of Plainfield: So, so, so that we understand. 149 00:20:01.370 --> 00:20:13.070 Town of Plainfield: Is there one reading a year? Two readings a year? Two readings a year? And that's what inspires the bills? Yep, but now I just have to do a base reading, but later on, work it in… What do you mean base reading? 150 00:20:13.130 --> 00:20:29.039 Town of Plainfield: just everybody gets billed minimum, but it, like, it's a whole thing, and so now I… so now they have to go out and do an interim reading, so then I'll have to get that entered in, and then… They talked about changing the system, and is it the NEMREP system that's changing it? 151 00:20:29.040 --> 00:20:30.870 Zoom user: We would love to. 152 00:20:30.870 --> 00:20:36.559 Town of Plainfield: We switched to a different meter reader company, which is fine, but they… 153 00:20:37.040 --> 00:20:38.940 Town of Plainfield: I think the good thing go out and read me? 154 00:20:39.860 --> 00:20:43.319 Town of Plainfield: Whose job was it to read the meters? Water Sewer Boys. 155 00:20:44.060 --> 00:20:45.490 Zoom user: Tristan… been… 156 00:20:45.860 --> 00:20:56.160 Zoom user: I don't know why they didn't do it. I mean, Tristan's excellent, but there's a few things that he hasn't done, like the report, which he was supposed to be doing, so I'm gonna be writing that. 157 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:07.090 Town of Plainfield: With two full-time operators, they… they… it should be run more like a, like a wastewater district, like, there should be more paperwork that… 158 00:21:07.290 --> 00:21:13.259 Town of Plainfield: they have time to do. I mean, it seems like that has the capacity to change the budget dramatically. 159 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:17.730 Town of Plainfield: It seems like that's… could be missing a lot of revenue, no? 160 00:21:18.850 --> 00:21:19.620 Zoom user: Yes. 161 00:21:19.620 --> 00:21:20.300 Town of Plainfield: Well… 162 00:21:20.300 --> 00:21:22.819 Zoom user: How this works, the… oh, sorry, Kira. 163 00:21:23.090 --> 00:21:24.510 Zoom user: The base… 164 00:21:24.510 --> 00:21:25.100 Town of Plainfield: Yes. 165 00:21:25.100 --> 00:21:26.040 Zoom user: is what… 166 00:21:26.190 --> 00:21:41.479 Zoom user: we give them… we give everybody 30,000 gallons every 6 months, so that's the base. What we charge when they do the reading is if they go over that, then we charge overage, and that's where some of our money comes from. 167 00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:51.710 Zoom user: So it's not a big number. And so what proportion of the water users in town go above the 30,000 gallons? 168 00:21:52.570 --> 00:21:53.690 Zoom user: I don't know. 169 00:21:54.090 --> 00:21:54.980 Zoom user: Do you know, Kira? 170 00:21:55.420 --> 00:22:04.440 Town of Plainfield: Not off the top of my head, it's kind of gone out of my head, but that would be a very good water chief operator question. 171 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:20.590 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, I wish we had that answer, because we're trying to get this approved tonight. Well, we don't approve the budget, we only put it on the ballot. No, the budget… the budget is… it's not going to change… 172 00:22:21.040 --> 00:22:40.700 Town of Plainfield: the budget, because everyone is still paying the base fee. It's just that you would… There might be extra income. There would be more… there would be more coming, and that would be this year's budget, actually, that these assessments will be coming into. But yes, it is a loss of revenue. It is. Okay. And it's a loss of revenue because it won't work on me, in a sense. I mean… 173 00:22:41.150 --> 00:23:00.970 Town of Plainfield: Peter? Mary, can I ask a question about the Commission itself? Sure. According to our town charter, it's 3 members, and they're for, 3-year terms. Yours was up last year, and I hope we renewed you. 174 00:23:01.750 --> 00:23:07.400 Zoom user: It's usually renewed automatically, to tell you the truth, but, well, I don't know, because… 175 00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:26.129 Town of Plainfield: It must be done by act of the Select Board. The… I would have told them to appoint you, Marian. Yeah, we… We just didn't know. We may… we may have, we just don't recall. Josh's term is up this year, and then Scott's the year after that. 176 00:23:27.980 --> 00:23:41.490 Town of Plainfield: As a general question, I mean, because of the open meeting laws, two commissioners can't actually talk to each other outside of a publicly warned meeting about anything to do with the Commission. 177 00:23:41.490 --> 00:23:44.789 Zoom user: Other than trying to create the budget. 178 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:48.770 Zoom user: I mean, not the budget, sorry, the agenda. 179 00:23:49.300 --> 00:23:56.430 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, right, they can create the agenda, right, and share information, but you can't discuss anything. Right, right. 180 00:23:56.430 --> 00:24:13.660 Town of Plainfield: We found, by the expanding of the select board from 3 to 5, that it really created the opportunity for us to create task forces, where two people could go off and work on an issue and then come back to the full board, you know, with suggestions and solutions and whatnot. 181 00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:25.119 Town of Plainfield: Do you think the Wastewater Water Commission could, benefit from the same thing, an expansion to 5? But we couldn't even get 3. We went on 2. Yeah, but… How many years. 182 00:24:25.490 --> 00:24:30.480 Zoom user: Let me say this. I don't think we're gonna have, like… like, you guys need… 183 00:24:31.260 --> 00:24:35.790 Zoom user: Whatever you just said, the, like, work task forces, or whatever. 184 00:24:36.070 --> 00:24:40.999 Zoom user: But where we're running into an issue, and I think I wrote this to you guys, is… 185 00:24:41.410 --> 00:24:44.890 Zoom user: I don't know if Josh is gonna come back. Do we know? We don't. 186 00:24:45.170 --> 00:24:50.689 Zoom user: So, right now, there's just, Scott and myself. 187 00:24:50.860 --> 00:25:00.659 Zoom user: Which is a quorum. But, if anything comes up, as you guys know, I wrote this to you, if anything comes up to have to do with Tristan. 188 00:25:02.210 --> 00:25:05.540 Zoom user: Or what was the other thing I said? I don't know, but, 189 00:25:05.650 --> 00:25:09.640 Zoom user: You know, that would leave just me, because he has to recuse himself. 190 00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:21.959 Zoom user: So, until we know what's going on with Josh, that's why I was asking if somebody could just be, like, a emergency stand-in for a vote if we need it. 191 00:25:22.660 --> 00:25:29.500 Zoom user: I'm not saying… and I don't know that this would ever happen, but you never know. I'm just one of those people that like to prepare for the… 192 00:25:30.040 --> 00:25:31.230 Zoom user: possibilities. 193 00:25:31.230 --> 00:25:37.890 Town of Plainfield: Well, this is the reason the five-person possibility would address that. Right. 194 00:25:37.890 --> 00:26:01.759 Town of Plainfield: somebody could drop out of the picture, and you'd still have a court. That's likely going to be multiple years away. And it's going to be a long time, so the question is… It'll take a charter change through the legislature to do that. Which is probably 2 years. But, Mary, I did send a legal request into the League of Cities and Towns with a number of these options, like, could we appoint an interim person? Could it be a select board person? 195 00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:13.399 Town of Plainfield: Does it have to be a resident of the town of Plainfield, which it appears that it does by the charter? And I didn't… I didn't get the legal, response back from them yet, but we are… 196 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:24.319 Zoom user: The reason I thought it could be the select board is because, basically, if we fail, it… you're the… the water wastewater now is you guys' baby. 197 00:26:25.040 --> 00:26:25.710 Zoom user: This slip. 198 00:26:25.710 --> 00:26:34.930 Town of Plainfield: I believe that's correct. The Select Board essentially delegates, according to the Charter, all of this to the Water and Wastewater Commission. 199 00:26:34.930 --> 00:26:43.610 Zoom user: Right, right. So I figured maybe the Select Board could be a stand-in if needed, but I don't know. Legalities, I have no clue. 200 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:52.259 Town of Plainfield: I think the question today is, do we… assuming the league says it's okay, should we start the process? 201 00:26:52.560 --> 00:26:55.409 Town of Plainfield: And I recognize you haven't found people. 202 00:26:55.610 --> 00:27:01.589 Town of Plainfield: For 3 people on the board, but that's not to say we couldn't have 5 positions open. 203 00:27:01.720 --> 00:27:05.800 Town of Plainfield: And then search for members. 204 00:27:06.330 --> 00:27:06.910 Town of Plainfield: Down the road. 205 00:27:06.910 --> 00:27:17.209 Zoom user: What do we do if one person isn't there and you have to vote? I mean, usually we all get along and we just work it out, but what… with 4 people, we could be… 206 00:27:17.950 --> 00:27:19.020 Zoom user: A draw. 207 00:27:19.550 --> 00:27:21.349 Town of Plainfield: Well, you can be a drawer, too. 208 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:23.100 Zoom user: True. 209 00:27:23.100 --> 00:27:28.869 Town of Plainfield: Right? Very true. We'll just be… hope you keep working together. 210 00:27:28.870 --> 00:27:34.509 Zoom user: Yeah, well, I was just wondering if you guys have run into that, because I was thinking about that, too, not too long ago. 211 00:27:34.510 --> 00:27:48.169 Town of Plainfield: Maybe we needed five, but… Mary, if at any time you draw, like, with your three, if one person's out, then there's no action. You have to have a majority. Right. And so, you would have to wait till the third person came, or one of the two people would have to change their mind. 212 00:27:48.170 --> 00:27:48.850 Zoom user: Yeah. 213 00:27:48.970 --> 00:27:53.519 Zoom user: We usually, like I said, we agree, but we add two more people, who knows? 214 00:27:54.450 --> 00:27:56.449 Town of Plainfield: I'm okay with it, if we wanna… 215 00:27:56.450 --> 00:27:59.549 Zoom user: I'd have to… wouldn't we have to vote on it? 216 00:27:59.810 --> 00:28:06.630 Town of Plainfield: Yes, as a town, we'd have to vote on it next year at this point. It would be next year's town meeting. Well, I mean, would… 217 00:28:06.630 --> 00:28:13.940 Zoom user: Well, no, I guess you guys would have to vote on it, not us, right? We'd just have to tell you, yes, we think it's a good idea. No. 218 00:28:13.940 --> 00:28:25.740 Town of Plainfield: No, the town… the town would have to… if we… if… to go… in order to get to 5, the legislature would have to pass a charter change for the town of Plainfield, which the voters would have to adopt. 219 00:28:25.740 --> 00:28:26.770 Zoom user: Oh, right. 220 00:28:26.770 --> 00:28:39.099 Town of Plainfield: Because it's not just a town chart. It would take a year, and it would kick in the following year. It's just like we did for changing the elected to appointed town clerk and treasurer. It took 2 years to fully implement. 221 00:28:39.100 --> 00:28:40.080 Zoom user: Okay. 222 00:28:40.860 --> 00:28:43.420 Zoom user: Yeah, I mean, I'm not opposed to it, that's for sure. 223 00:28:43.420 --> 00:28:51.599 Town of Plainfield: In the meantime, you know, can we appoint somebody interim? Yeah, there has to be a vacancy. Yeah. We don't have a vacancy right now. Well, we might in 5 weeks. 224 00:28:51.600 --> 00:29:09.310 Town of Plainfield: No, no, I understand that, but I'm saying, Josh would have to officially step down for us to have a vacancy to put someone into. Right. We can't create a… we can't appoint a fourth person. Right. There'd have to be a vacancy, and then we could appoint immediately into the vacancy. Could you have a… 225 00:29:09.310 --> 00:29:10.509 Zoom user: sub, though. 226 00:29:10.510 --> 00:29:12.169 Town of Plainfield: No, not understood. 227 00:29:12.170 --> 00:29:13.050 Zoom user: messed up. 228 00:29:13.050 --> 00:29:20.369 Town of Plainfield: No, there's no… there's no subs allowed for it. It's a three-person body appointed by the Select Board. Period. Okay. 229 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:29.639 Town of Plainfield: So we just have to have a vacancy. That vacancy could only be open for 5 weeks, but we'd have to have someone step down, to then appoint somebody. Yep. 230 00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:30.300 Zoom user: Okay. 231 00:29:31.670 --> 00:29:32.300 Town of Plainfield: We can… 232 00:29:32.300 --> 00:29:34.050 Zoom user: Find anybody, let's hope. 233 00:29:39.600 --> 00:29:41.169 Town of Plainfield: We should add… 234 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:48.310 Town of Plainfield: that to the list of vacancies. Well, we don't technically have any vacancies. There is an opportunity, there will be an appointment in March. 235 00:29:48.310 --> 00:30:07.110 Town of Plainfield: Yep. Dan? That's what Carl's for. If there's… what? He's not on the system. Can't be, he's not on the system. He's gonna move. Exactly. I mean, are there next steps toward the possibility of moving from a 3- to 5-person water wastewater board? 236 00:30:07.750 --> 00:30:17.939 Town of Plainfield: I think not right now. That's what's gonna take a year and a half. Yeah. Yeah. So, is the… is the move then to get it at town meeting? 237 00:30:18.060 --> 00:30:20.850 Town of Plainfield: In 2027? Yeah. 238 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:24.260 Town of Plainfield: That would be the goal. That would be the goal, yeah. Okay. 239 00:30:25.310 --> 00:30:29.590 Zoom user: Man, if I'm still on… Commission at 2027. 240 00:30:29.590 --> 00:30:35.369 Town of Plainfield: Hang in there, Mary. Well, your churn goes from 2024 through 2027. 241 00:30:35.370 --> 00:30:36.610 Zoom user: Yes, but I've been on. 242 00:30:36.610 --> 00:30:41.460 Town of Plainfield: Since 2004. 2025, 2023. 243 00:30:41.460 --> 00:30:43.439 Zoom user: I've been on here for forever. 244 00:30:43.630 --> 00:30:59.699 Town of Plainfield: Yeah. Okay, so, any other questions about these? Should we have a motion to… Well, so we have to do all the articles. We don't have to approve a book. Oh, okay, okay. So I think we just move to the next agenda item. I just spent, while we're here, writing out all the articles, I think. 245 00:30:59.700 --> 00:31:13.089 Town of Plainfield: Wow, great. Based on last year's… I'm just taking the language from last year and changing the numbers and not doing all the reserve funds we did last year. Okay. So… So, we're all set with water, wastewater. Thank you, Mary. Thank you, Mary. We're all set. Thank you, Carol. 246 00:31:13.090 --> 00:31:14.120 Zoom user: You're welcome. 247 00:31:14.120 --> 00:31:15.450 Town of Plainfield: Input. 248 00:31:15.450 --> 00:31:15.850 Zoom user: Aye. 249 00:31:15.850 --> 00:31:33.669 Town of Plainfield: So, to remind us all, last week, we voted the paving bond not to exceed $250,000 as Article 1, and the water bond for School Street not to exceed $750,000 as Article 2. And those are already… the warnings, we approved all of that. 250 00:31:33.830 --> 00:31:52.580 Town of Plainfield: So, we need to add articles using the same format as last year. Article 3 would then be to elect all necessary officers for the ensuing year, moderator, select board, auditor, collector affiliate taxes, cemetery commissioner, Lister, and school director. 251 00:31:52.700 --> 00:31:57.920 Town of Plainfield: Article 4 would then be to hear reports of town officers and act on the same. 252 00:31:58.520 --> 00:32:03.000 Town of Plainfield: Article 5 would be, shall the town vote to raise appropriate… 253 00:32:03.670 --> 00:32:21.739 Town of Plainfield: Fund… appropriate… I have to look at the language there. Vote to raise, appropriate, and expend, sorry, raise, appropriate, and expend the sum of $6,833.06 for the support of Rural Community Transport Transportation Incorporated to provide services to residents of the Town of Plainfield. 254 00:32:22.180 --> 00:32:41.100 Town of Plainfield: which we saw this number before, we talked about this a few weeks ago. Article 6, shall the Town of Plainfield appropriate the sum of $1,499 to Green Mountain Transit as its share of the 2025 year cost of commuter bus service along Route 2 with service into Montpelier. 255 00:32:41.100 --> 00:32:50.559 Town of Plainfield: This appropriation funds a portion of the total cost of the service, which will also be supported by appropriations from other towns, state, and federal funds, and passenger fares. 256 00:32:50.980 --> 00:33:14.720 Town of Plainfield: Article 7 would be, shall the town voters authorize the expenditures of the following not-for-profit service agencies as recommended by the appointed Social Concerns Committee? Those were, Good Beginnings, $400, Good Samaritan Haven, $1,250, Neighbors in Action, $250, Onion River Food Shelf, $1,000. 257 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:20.269 Town of Plainfield: Our house, $100. People's Health and Wellness, $1,000. 258 00:33:20.270 --> 00:33:31.510 Town of Plainfield: Twin Field Together Mentor, $250. Twin Valley Senior Center, $4,650. Vermont Center for Independent Living, $175. 259 00:33:31.510 --> 00:33:40.879 Town of Plainfield: Washington County diversion of $400 for a grand total of $16,550. That's in the budget. 260 00:33:41.250 --> 00:33:56.179 Town of Plainfield: Article 8, shall the town voters authorize an appropriation of $56,000 to the Cutler Memorial Library to pay for the librarian, a library assistant, and the purchase of materials and services, including those to make the library accessible to the community. 261 00:33:56.960 --> 00:34:10.779 Town of Plainfield: Article 9 is the, approval of $311,874 for the operation of the Water Department for the period of July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2027, to be paid by the ratepayers of the system. 262 00:34:11.190 --> 00:34:25.820 Town of Plainfield: Article 10 is, shall the town approve $392,055 for the operation of the Wastewater Department for the period of July 1st, 2026 to June 30, 2027, to be paid for by the ratepayers of the system? 263 00:34:25.820 --> 00:34:50.330 Town of Plainfield: And then the last article, Article 11, Shall the Town approve total fund expenditures of $1,842,047.44 to pay for administrative operations, fire and rescue department, and highway department of the Town of Plainfield for the period of July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2027, of which $1,326,787 264 00:34:50.330 --> 00:34:58.309 Town of Plainfield: shall be raised by taxes, and $515,260 by non-tax revenue. 265 00:34:59.150 --> 00:35:23.210 Town of Plainfield: So those would be our 11 articles, two we've already voted on. Okay. We need two more articles. What's that? We need, shall the Town of Plainfield authorize the Select Board to apply any surplus from the current fiscal year to reduce taxes in the next fiscal year? Standard boilerplate. Yep. Yep. And I would point out that our budget this year takes advantage of that. 266 00:35:23.210 --> 00:35:38.549 Town of Plainfield: And then we need the dates for the collection of taxes. Shall the town vote to accept the provisions of public statutes related to collection of taxes by the town treasurer, and vote to collect municipal taxes 30 days for mailing and not prior to? 267 00:35:38.550 --> 00:35:48.989 Town of Plainfield: And then there should be an August payment, a November payment, and a September, and a February payment. I'm looking at the calendar. And I don't know if Ram gave those to us or not. 268 00:35:49.170 --> 00:36:08.629 Town of Plainfield: What do you have put it in here? I don't see anything. No, we're gonna have to pay attention, because there's a primary in August, and I don't want it that same name. Yeah, the primary's the 12th or something, or whatever that Tuesday is. The 11th. I don't want taxes on the 12th, so it would probably… so it would have to be the 19th of August. 269 00:36:10.450 --> 00:36:12.130 Town of Plainfield: August 19th. 270 00:36:12.980 --> 00:36:21.359 Town of Plainfield: And then we have the general in the state in November, not general state. Yeah. So you want to say August 19th? 271 00:36:21.380 --> 00:36:36.710 Town of Plainfield: Doesn't that sound good, if the primaries… Yeah, 2026. Yes. Okay. And then what would the… Is that a Wednesday? Yep. Yes, it's always a Wednesday. And then the February, or excuse me, the November date… So, the 2nd would be the election, so… 272 00:36:37.020 --> 00:36:47.670 Town of Plainfield: Could be the 11th or the 18th. Right, we had the 19th last year, so the 18th is probably… I think the 18th, because you're going to run into, Veterans Day and all that. Okay, so that's good. 273 00:36:47.690 --> 00:37:03.049 Town of Plainfield: the 18th, 2026, and then the February date is February 11th this year. What would be the corresponding? So we could do the 10th, right? February 10th, 2027. Okay. That's correct. Alright, and then, actually, so we added Charlotte Town, authorized for surplus. 274 00:37:03.050 --> 00:37:11.849 Town of Plainfield: We just added those dates, and then the, I guess, the last article is always to transact other non-binding business, which is always an article. 275 00:37:11.850 --> 00:37:18.350 Town of Plainfield: So I'm adding Article 14, which is, 5 articles shorter than last year. Oh! 276 00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:21.939 Town of Plainfield: Because we did all those reserve funds last year. Yeah. 277 00:37:22.730 --> 00:37:23.640 Town of Plainfield: So… 278 00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:45.009 Town of Plainfield: I'm glad you're here, Kara. Yeah. That wasn't my job, I'm just kidding. Dan, that was the longest motion I've ever heard in my life, but I'll second it. Oh yeah, he'd be a good moderator without a microphone, his voice. Motion to add articles to the election, as follows. 279 00:37:45.130 --> 00:37:51.849 Town of Plainfield: How can it be 2027 coming up next year? Seems weird to me. 280 00:37:52.720 --> 00:37:59.589 Town of Plainfield: I just barely have gotten used to writing 2026. 281 00:37:59.710 --> 00:38:02.689 Town of Plainfield: Motion. You ready for the flying cars? 282 00:38:03.220 --> 00:38:21.909 Town of Plainfield: Okay, we have a motion and second. Is there any discussion? More discussion? Would you repeat that, please? Yes. Kidding! Okay, all those in favor, say aye. Starting with Article 1, could you repeat that, please? Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Patty? Is Patty an aye, or is Patty with us? Patty? 283 00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:28.460 Town of Plainfield: She's on. She's muted. Yeah. Okay. So that's gonna be a 401. 401. 284 00:38:29.170 --> 00:38:33.710 Town of Plainfield: There we go. Five, okay. 5-0, okay. Great. 285 00:38:33.970 --> 00:38:38.170 Town of Plainfield: Alright, good. 286 00:38:38.600 --> 00:38:55.359 Town of Plainfield: So we have our… we have what, Bram needs so far, right? Yeah, I hope so. I will share this with him, and I always show these notes. Okay. All right. I'm trying to think if there's anything else that we're forgetting. 287 00:38:57.130 --> 00:39:05.210 Town of Plainfield: Town clerk's report, I don't… See him, so we will have none. I think there's nothing official. 288 00:39:06.350 --> 00:39:13.030 Town of Plainfield: But we do have our grant administrator here. Hello! We would love to have a report. 289 00:39:13.870 --> 00:39:22.369 Karen Hatcher: Great, hello all. Alright, so I provided a written report ahead of the meeting, hopefully y'all got it. 290 00:39:22.370 --> 00:39:22.740 Town of Plainfield: Thank you. 291 00:39:22.740 --> 00:39:36.250 Karen Hatcher: Yeah, just a few, updates, and then I'll take any questions. Just to let you know that, on the FEMA side of things, there's a lot of movement, with our projects, and a lot of updates to our numbers. 292 00:39:36.250 --> 00:39:42.930 Karen Hatcher: So you can see that, from the last report, where we were at 1.2 million, we're up to 1.3 million. 293 00:39:42.940 --> 00:39:46.709 Karen Hatcher: And a number of these projects are now pending awards, so… 294 00:39:46.770 --> 00:39:50.330 Karen Hatcher: Things are moving along pretty quickly, 295 00:39:50.430 --> 00:39:58.919 Karen Hatcher: So, that's a good thing, we'll start to see money, and we like that, and more money than we were estimating, so very good. 296 00:39:58.920 --> 00:39:59.780 Patti Jamele: Good. 297 00:40:00.070 --> 00:40:03.529 Karen Hatcher: That's all good. It's all good. It's all good. 298 00:40:03.530 --> 00:40:04.050 Patti Jamele: Right. 299 00:40:04.550 --> 00:40:06.760 Town of Plainfield: Alrighty. Can I ask a question? 300 00:40:06.760 --> 00:40:07.100 Karen Hatcher: Yeah. 301 00:40:07.560 --> 00:40:13.160 Town of Plainfield: So… I feel that state FEMA people are really… 302 00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:20.909 Town of Plainfield: working hard to help us. Are they… are they getting real information, do you feel, from the feds? 303 00:40:20.910 --> 00:40:30.279 Karen Hatcher: Well, we have a really good team working with us right now, so, our PDMG is a guy by the name of Bill Doyle, and he's working closely with Lisa 304 00:40:30.350 --> 00:40:38.110 Karen Hatcher: I think her last name is Schefflert, from the state, FEMA team, at VEM. 305 00:40:38.170 --> 00:40:52.459 Karen Hatcher: And our consultants, so this, this, small team is pretty, efficient and working really well together right now. So, you know, we're… 306 00:40:52.630 --> 00:40:56.450 Karen Hatcher: It all feels pretty seamless, and 307 00:40:56.550 --> 00:41:11.470 Karen Hatcher: Not a lot of bumps, so I like that a lot. This is the… probably the first time in… in the almost year and a half that we've been doing this that it's felt this easy. But easy, like, is a relative. 308 00:41:11.470 --> 00:41:15.519 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, great, that's terrific news. Yeah. 309 00:41:16.070 --> 00:41:21.989 Karen Hatcher: So, so that's the, on the FEMA side. And then, no… 310 00:41:22.040 --> 00:41:25.930 Town of Plainfield: No additional word on the buyouts yet. We're still where we were. 311 00:41:28.360 --> 00:41:35.950 Karen Hatcher: And, Peter's been working with, you all know what's going on with V-Trans and Federal Highway, so, 312 00:41:36.180 --> 00:41:48.359 Karen Hatcher: There is some money that's, coming in. Jamie and I worked on, making some corrections to one of the requests for reimbursement, in Josh's absence, and we got that in, and… 313 00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:58.230 Karen Hatcher: So, we do know that the VTRANS is processing all of those reimbursement requests, which amount to the $850,000 that we expect. 314 00:41:58.430 --> 00:42:02.790 Karen Hatcher: So we'll start to see some of that money rolling in as well. 315 00:42:03.430 --> 00:42:04.740 Town of Plainfield: Great. 316 00:42:06.040 --> 00:42:14.499 Karen Hatcher: There was a meeting… On the BRIC grant for the… the… let me just think about this. 317 00:42:15.050 --> 00:42:21.069 Karen Hatcher: No. Wait a minute. There are lots of meetings going on all the time. 318 00:42:21.520 --> 00:42:26.230 Karen Hatcher: The… I just want to make sure I put this in the right place. 319 00:42:27.110 --> 00:42:32.310 Karen Hatcher: Because this was… Gosh, was this the Batchelder Dam? Hang on. 320 00:42:32.850 --> 00:42:33.680 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, there was a… 321 00:42:33.680 --> 00:42:34.140 Karen Hatcher: Yeah? 322 00:42:34.140 --> 00:42:36.040 Town of Plainfield: Lack of heading in there, but yeah. 323 00:42:36.040 --> 00:42:40.580 Karen Hatcher: Yeah, this is… this is Karen Hatcher making a mistake. Wait a minute, hang on. Yeah, this 324 00:42:40.900 --> 00:42:43.609 Karen Hatcher: Did the, the update? 325 00:42:44.150 --> 00:42:55.720 Karen Hatcher: See, there's two places where SLR Consulting is working with VEM on our behalf. One is on the study of the Great Brook, and the other one is on the removal of the Batchelder Dam. 326 00:42:55.790 --> 00:43:10.930 Karen Hatcher: Oh, okay. And, and both of those things are, in play, but there is some, you know, in the one case where the… with the BRIC, grant, with the Great Brook Study, that… those dollars are at the state. 327 00:43:11.110 --> 00:43:30.660 Karen Hatcher: And in hand, and, and the dollars that we're expecting, for the old batch elder dam removal, that's with what my notes say, status timeline sent to FEMA 1222 on my report to you. So, I will correct this so you have… 328 00:43:30.810 --> 00:43:35.990 Karen Hatcher: the accurate information in front of you, and I apologize, there's just a lot of moving parts. 329 00:43:36.980 --> 00:43:39.060 Town of Plainfield: I'm confused. Okay, go ahead, Peter. 330 00:43:39.060 --> 00:43:39.940 Karen Hatcher: Go, Peter. 331 00:43:40.390 --> 00:43:55.799 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, Karen, so in looking at your report, there's the page that's titled, BRIC Grant for H&H Study of the Great Brook, and then it looks like there was a headline missing before the Bachelor Dam, some were down there. Yep. To talk about the BRIC study. 332 00:43:55.800 --> 00:44:12.989 Town of Plainfield: You just said that the money was in hand, but your report here says there's no guarantee that this was sent off to FEMA, there's a requirement that it be signed off by Secretary Noem, and that there hasn't been any of these grants signed anywhere in the country. 333 00:44:12.990 --> 00:44:29.899 Town of Plainfield: For a while, which leads me to believe that this is basically on hold while we move ahead full-tilt boogie with Federal Highways and VTRANS on the replacement of those projects. And so. 334 00:44:29.900 --> 00:44:35.349 Town of Plainfield: It doesn't sound like we're gonna have any advice from these river people in time 335 00:44:36.050 --> 00:44:41.390 Town of Plainfield: We need to get to preliminary engineering by the end of October. 336 00:44:41.390 --> 00:44:44.880 Karen Hatcher: Unfortunately, I think you're right. 337 00:44:45.140 --> 00:44:48.319 Karen Hatcher: And I don't know that there's anything we can do about it. 338 00:44:48.640 --> 00:44:50.410 Karen Hatcher: So… 339 00:44:50.420 --> 00:44:54.759 Town of Plainfield: I'm just staying in touch with the folks who are managing the grants. 340 00:44:55.090 --> 00:45:09.909 Karen Hatcher: To get updates from them. And I can check back in with Steve Libby on the BRIC grant to see if there's been any movement. But the problem, as we know, is that Secretary Noem is, needing to sign off on anything that's over 341 00:45:09.930 --> 00:45:17.499 Karen Hatcher: Whatever that number is, $10,000, and so there's a huge backlog at DHS right now. 342 00:45:17.840 --> 00:45:22.819 Karen Hatcher: So… I don't know what's gonna happen. No crystal ball here. 343 00:45:23.780 --> 00:45:27.289 Town of Plainfield: Okay. Okay, but that's good to know about, though. 344 00:45:27.290 --> 00:45:35.229 Karen Hatcher: Yeah, but we're just, you know, we're staying in touch with the folks at the state who are staying in touch with the feds, and when there's movement, we'll know. 345 00:45:35.860 --> 00:45:41.829 Town of Plainfield: So, on the dam, is that the one you said has been sent off and this money is in hand? 346 00:45:42.090 --> 00:45:45.670 Karen Hatcher: No, no, I thought… no, and actually. 347 00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:48.479 Town of Plainfield: And I'm really sorry for the confusion on this. 348 00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:55.750 Karen Hatcher: The BRIC grant with the Great Brook Study, those dollars are at the state, and that is, 349 00:45:56.130 --> 00:46:08.779 Karen Hatcher: Those were funds from previous BRIC grant, it was a remaining balance for a study that didn't happen, it got applied, so it was, like, I think from 2021 or 2022. So, I believe 350 00:46:08.830 --> 00:46:17.889 Karen Hatcher: that we have a better chance of the Great Brook Study proceeding, than we do with the Batchelder Dam being removed. 351 00:46:18.230 --> 00:46:22.369 Karen Hatcher: But let me check, and let me get you an update on that, and I apologize. 352 00:46:22.780 --> 00:46:24.790 Town of Plainfield: Yes. Okay, thank you. Thank you. 353 00:46:24.790 --> 00:46:25.670 Karen Hatcher: Okay. 354 00:46:26.340 --> 00:46:28.450 Town of Plainfield: Alright, and… 355 00:46:29.400 --> 00:46:45.000 Karen Hatcher: some movement with the Emergency Watershed Grant, to say that, and I copied you on an email today to the property owners who were affected. We're working with Brian Voigt at, the Regional Planning Commission to help us 356 00:46:45.130 --> 00:46:52.420 Karen Hatcher: he put… helping… he's helping us put an RFP out for engineering so that we can start to, 357 00:46:52.520 --> 00:47:05.840 Karen Hatcher: So that we can continue to move the whole process along, once we have, some clear land and no snow to get the engineering done, and the design work done, and the actual costs. 358 00:47:05.960 --> 00:47:22.759 Karen Hatcher: put together. All of that, as I said to you in the email, is 100% covered in the grant, those expenses. So even if those projects don't go forward, we still have really valuable information about what might be needed in the future on those sites. 359 00:47:22.790 --> 00:47:34.259 Karen Hatcher: But the plan is, once we have the design work done and the costing, we will meet with the, property owners and review what the options are, for going forward. 360 00:47:34.490 --> 00:47:44.779 Karen Hatcher: And the town needs to be represented at those meetings as well, because, the town is the sponsor, if you will, of the grant, and ultimately. 361 00:47:45.150 --> 00:47:48.150 Karen Hatcher: Does have the responsibility for making sure that the… 362 00:47:48.520 --> 00:47:52.509 Karen Hatcher: If the banks need to be, you know, shored up, that they are. 363 00:47:53.890 --> 00:48:04.120 Karen Hatcher: So, anyway, more… more on that as we go, but that… that's just gone out, and there will be… I will be coming, Brian and I will be coming to the board on, March 9th. 364 00:48:04.240 --> 00:48:12.730 Karen Hatcher: Hopefully with a contract recommendation, for an engineering firm to do the work and to have the board approve and sign it. 365 00:48:15.050 --> 00:48:16.120 Town of Plainfield: Great, thank you. 366 00:48:16.120 --> 00:48:21.719 Karen Hatcher: Alrighty. And I think… That really is… 367 00:48:22.710 --> 00:48:25.080 Karen Hatcher: All I have for you tonight. 368 00:48:26.330 --> 00:48:27.760 Town of Plainfield: Thank you, Karen. 369 00:48:27.760 --> 00:48:28.380 Karen Hatcher: You're welcome. 370 00:48:28.380 --> 00:48:29.360 Town of Plainfield: Okay. 371 00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:32.189 Town of Plainfield: Great, thank you. 372 00:48:32.190 --> 00:48:32.550 Karen Hatcher: Welcome. 373 00:48:40.750 --> 00:48:44.600 Town of Plainfield: Okay, finalized town meeting details. Do we… 374 00:48:44.850 --> 00:48:47.010 Town of Plainfield: We kind of did that, didn't we? 375 00:48:48.080 --> 00:49:01.880 Town of Plainfield: I think so. What was the idea that? I think that was your suggestion, whether that go in there, you know? Oh, I was… yeah, but I was thinking about the election details. It's… I mean, I think these next two items are the same. I was just gonna do the notice. I don't know if there's… 376 00:49:01.970 --> 00:49:16.809 Town of Plainfield: Any update on the Child Care for Town Meeting Day, since we have a time when we're talking? I don't know if Patty or Francis Rose have? I don't believe anyone has filled out the survey. I did post it on Plainfield People. Oh, thank you. 377 00:49:16.810 --> 00:49:41.749 Town of Plainfield: And I got a lot of thumbs-up emojis, but I don't know if anybody clicked on the link. Did you figure out a way to block off the one room? No, no, they're gonna go to the… they're gonna be a Cutler. Oh, wonderful. Yeah, yeah, because there's books, and there's toys, and yeah. Yeah, so the idea is that there'll be a Cutler, that there'll be childcare available at Cutler Library, the person who drops off the child has to be the person to pick them up. That's fantastic. 378 00:49:41.750 --> 00:49:57.820 Town of Plainfield: two adults from Twinfield and three teenagers from Twinfield. Yeah, the two adults are registered, or… Yeah. Yeah, they're like the babysitting instructor. Yeah, the students are in some kind of training program. Right. So we tried to do it one year, and… 379 00:49:57.820 --> 00:50:07.200 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, no, we've talked to the folks at the Cutler. We're not gonna do it down there. Yep. Yeah, so that way there's no noise issue or other issues. Patty, go ahead. 380 00:50:07.200 --> 00:50:13.450 Patti Jamele: Okay, no, Carol, I just wanted to say that, like, the teenagers that are gonna do it are from the babysitting club. 381 00:50:14.700 --> 00:50:18.300 Patti Jamele: Yeah, and two results. Nikki, Arbok and Maureen… 382 00:50:18.430 --> 00:50:22.549 Patti Jamele: Disco, I think, renamed this. They're all really excited about it, about doing it. 383 00:50:22.550 --> 00:50:25.969 Town of Plainfield: I'm so happy it's at the Cutler, because that's a great space pet. 384 00:50:25.970 --> 00:50:27.050 Patti Jamele: Yeah, yeah. 385 00:50:27.270 --> 00:50:29.889 Town of Plainfield: Yeah, that was a nice job, Patty. I want to go. 386 00:50:30.200 --> 00:50:30.590 Patti Jamele: I said, yeah! 387 00:50:30.590 --> 00:50:35.139 Town of Plainfield: Francis, right? 388 00:50:36.230 --> 00:50:47.389 Town of Plainfield: Okay, election details. So what is this about? So we have a notice that's gonna go out everywhere. I can link it in the notes, it goes into the minutes, but I'm happy to read it. It just is for folks 389 00:50:47.390 --> 00:51:01.370 Town of Plainfield: to know the information about the election. So, Election Day is March 3rd, 2026. Polls open at 9am and close at 7pm. In-person voting will take place exclusively at the Plainfield Town Hall Opera House, 18 High Street. 390 00:51:01.370 --> 00:51:07.719 Town of Plainfield: The voter checklist will be posted at the clerk's office by January 31st, 2026. 391 00:51:07.720 --> 00:51:18.340 Town of Plainfield: If your name is not on the checklist and you want to vote, you'll need to register going to vote.vermont.gov. Note, in Vermont, you may register on Election Day at the polling place. 392 00:51:18.750 --> 00:51:23.510 Town of Plainfield: The auditor's meeting, will be held on February 6th. 393 00:51:23.610 --> 00:51:34.010 Town of Plainfield: The place and time is still being determined, but look for more information on that. The informational meeting regarding both bond votes. 394 00:51:34.010 --> 00:51:50.390 Town of Plainfield: will be held on, as we said earlier, Monday, February 9th at 5.30pm at the Plainfield Town Hall Opera House, and that will be directly before our regularly scheduled Select Board meeting. Ballots will be available by Wednesday, February 11th. 395 00:51:50.500 --> 00:52:02.020 Town of Plainfield: Note, voters are encouraged to apply online, as February 11th is Tax Collection Day. Voters seeking in-office ballots should visit municipal Building after Friday, February 13th, if possible. 396 00:52:02.020 --> 00:52:19.629 Town of Plainfield: So that they actually have time to help you. And you can apply and get them sent to you, or come in and, and vote in person, all the way up until Election Day. Registering to vote, you can register at any time, vermont.vermont. vote.vermont.gov. 397 00:52:20.250 --> 00:52:30.479 Town of Plainfield: Can I talk? We will be closed the day before the election, so you cannot come get a ballot that day. Got it. So you can't vote on Monday, March 2nd, but you can vote… So we appear setting up. 398 00:52:30.620 --> 00:52:32.440 Town of Plainfield: The other days leading up. 399 00:52:32.520 --> 00:52:53.789 Town of Plainfield: Absentee voting options, you may vote in the town clerk's office until Friday, February 27th at 4pm. You must take your ballots out of the clerk's office. If you use mail, it must be received by the clerk office prior to March 3rd. If you are hand delivering to the clerk's office, it must be in the dropbox before 4pm on March 2nd. 400 00:52:54.360 --> 00:53:04.019 Town of Plainfield: You can also cast your vote at the polling place before 7pm on election day. Note, we cannot issue your ballot to a spouse, child, parent, or any other person other than you. 401 00:53:04.290 --> 00:53:19.439 Town of Plainfield: Have a ballot mailed to you, and mail or deliver it back to the clerk's office before Election Day, as you see previous paragraph. If you're experiencing illness or disability before Election Day, you can ask the town clerk to have two justices to the piece bring a ballot to you at your home. 402 00:53:19.440 --> 00:53:20.110 Patti Jamele: Wow. 403 00:53:20.110 --> 00:53:34.520 Town of Plainfield: We'll wait while you mark your ballot, and then we'll collect the ballot and deliver them back to the town office. They are not allowed to leave the ballot. To ensure availability of the service, please arrange with us as early as possible. For help or information, you can call the Secretary of State's office. 404 00:53:34.520 --> 00:53:42.190 Town of Plainfield: But also, you can call the town office, especially if you want to have Justice of the Peace come to your home before Election Day. Peter. 405 00:53:42.190 --> 00:53:55.329 Town of Plainfield: Last election, we did… I was one of two justices who did go to delivery, and the party insisted that we leave the ballot for them and their husband, who was not present, and 406 00:53:55.330 --> 00:54:05.219 Town of Plainfield: That is not allowed. And it happened the previous time, too. Yeah, yeah, that was not allowed, we cannot do that. Yeah, you definitely can't leave a ballot for someone who's not there. 407 00:54:05.230 --> 00:54:24.500 Town of Plainfield: No. I mean, you can't, you know, you must vote, and then it gets sealed, and we… the two JPs bring it home. We're gonna have to stick with that, because people have really been putting us on it. Well, I mean, it's state law, we have to follow election law. All that sounds good to you, what you just read? Perfect. Fantastic, thank you, Dan. 408 00:54:24.980 --> 00:54:33.289 Town of Plainfield: And that is in the notes, it'll also be, I'm sure, on the website if it's not already… Right. …and around, it's just the notice to voters. 409 00:54:33.570 --> 00:54:40.350 Town of Plainfield: Yep. Next item, we have a auditor position where you need to appoint. 410 00:54:41.250 --> 00:54:46.959 Town of Plainfield: I would make a motion to appoint Karen Jones as Town Auditor. Second. 411 00:54:47.220 --> 00:54:48.640 Town of Plainfield: Any discussion? 412 00:54:48.780 --> 00:54:52.820 Town of Plainfield: All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. 413 00:54:53.150 --> 00:54:55.379 Town of Plainfield: Thank you, Patty. Opposed? 414 00:54:55.460 --> 00:54:58.540 Patti Jamele: And so we have five, yeah, eyes. 415 00:54:58.710 --> 00:55:08.830 Town of Plainfield: And, okay. Mr. Chairman, can I make a motion to approve minutes from January 19th, 2026 Special Select Board meeting? Yes, please. Thank you. Second. 416 00:55:09.780 --> 00:55:12.250 Town of Plainfield: All those in favor of that say aye. 417 00:55:12.250 --> 00:55:12.860 Patti Jamele: Bye. 418 00:55:12.860 --> 00:55:25.709 Town of Plainfield: Opposed? Mr. Sharon, can I make a motion to approve accounts payable for January 25th, 2026, and payroll for January 23rd, 2026? 419 00:55:27.780 --> 00:55:41.640 Town of Plainfield: Those dates, in case they're not in… they weren't on the agenda, I got them from the warrants that we signed. Thank you. I was wondering where they came from. I think Patty just seconded. Seconded? Okay. Moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? 420 00:55:42.290 --> 00:55:45.460 Town of Plainfield: Okay, we are meeting. 421 00:55:46.140 --> 00:55:53.829 Town of Plainfield: Our next date for a select board meeting is 2-9-26. As we said, we're going to be meeting 5-30. 422 00:55:53.950 --> 00:56:00.420 Town of Plainfield: to, before the meeting, but our standard meeting will be starting at 6. 423 00:56:01.150 --> 00:56:16.379 Town of Plainfield: Peter? I will not be at the informational, and I don't know what part of the full meeting I will be able to attend. Because you're getting into the heavy season. If I can join by Zoom, I will. Okay. 424 00:56:16.380 --> 00:56:33.980 Town of Plainfield: Thank you for letting us know. If I may, put the rewind button to, childcare at town meeting, I was able to access the form. We have no responses as of yet, to republish. I also recognize that I'm delinquent in filling it out, because 425 00:56:34.030 --> 00:56:52.529 Town of Plainfield: I would like childcare at town meeting. I mean, my guess is we're not gonna know how many kids until much closer to Election Day itself. That's probably true, nevertheless. If I publish it to the forum again, if somebody else could, repeat it on to Facebook, that'd be great. Yeah. 426 00:56:52.530 --> 00:56:56.370 Patti Jamele: Does anybody have any other… I like to take it in. 427 00:56:56.800 --> 00:57:09.459 Town of Plainfield: I missed that, Patty. Anywhere else we can post it? I wonder if we could get physical copies. It's at the library. Post it at the library. Oh, yeah, good idea. Post it at the… yeah. Post it at the co-op. And maybe here. Or maybe at the school, too. Oh, it wouldn't be here, yeah. 428 00:57:09.640 --> 00:57:21.289 Town of Plainfield: Post office? I don't know if there's anywhere to post to the school, or I have this… asked them if they would send it out to the… to the school email list or something? Oh, the school email list, that's a good idea. I'm guessing there's a school email list? There is. I'm not a parent, so I don't know 429 00:57:22.010 --> 00:57:23.950 Town of Plainfield: Okay, thank you. 430 00:57:24.210 --> 00:57:27.030 Town of Plainfield: I don't know these things anymore. 431 00:57:28.610 --> 00:57:32.260 Town of Plainfield: Mr. Chairman, can I make a motion to adjourn at 6.59 PM? 432 00:57:33.420 --> 00:57:41.309 Town of Plainfield: Second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? 433 00:57:41.540 --> 00:57:48.860 Town of Plainfield: Your fastest meeting you ever? Thank you ever! Bye! Bye, everybody. Thank you.