Selectboard Special Meeting

JOHNSON SELECTBOARD MEETING MINUTES JOHNSON MUNICIPAL BUILDING MONDAY, JULY 2, 2025 Present: Selectboard members: Mike Dunham, Peter Hammond, Adrienne Parker, Eben Patch Others: Rosemary Audibert, Susan Tinker, Mike Mignone Absent: Duncan Hastings Note: All votes taken are unanimous unless otherwise noted. 1. Call Meeting to Order Eben called the meeting to order at 6:00. 2. Consider Additions or Adjustments to the Agenda No changes to the agenda were needed. 3. Public Comment Mike Mignone gave an update on his grocery store. Getting a generator that can power the whole store is less important to him now that he felt it was on the day of the power outage. He realized he can put that off and get a smaller generator along with an alarm system that will alert him of a power failure so expensive product can be moved to chest freezers. Air conditioning is important to keep product fresh and reduce strain on refrigeration equipment but he thinks there are other things he can do to alleviate heat for now. The Agency of Transportation has agreed to let him pave the lot and change some contours. He has until December 31, 2026 to complete that project. AOT agreed he can block off access to 100C. There will be a curb where the 100C entrance is now. Paving the lot opens up the opportunity to use more vendors for deliveries. He will be able to paint parking lines and fit more people in the lot. Mike said by October 31 he will have $46K to put toward purchase of the building. He needs to come up with another $34K to be able to put 20% down. He is trying to work with banks to be able to put less than that down. For the security of the store, he thinks it is important for the person running the store to own the building. The business is profitable and is paying all bills on time. All equipment loans are paid off. Financially he is in a good position to pay off any future loans and the loans he already has. He is looking for some more capital to meet some of his needs. He will discuss this further at the next meeting. He would like to open his books fully to the town. It may be irresponsible to borrow money to make large improvements to a building he doesn’t own. The fiscally responsible thing to do would be to acquire the building as soon as possible. 4. Setting the Tax Rate for FY26 Rosemary said based on the municipal grand list and the budget passed by voters, the municipal tax rate would be .9446. That would raise $2,300,751.88. Adjustments for Waterman Lodge school tax and veterans’ exemptions add $13,633.68 to the amount to be raised, bringing the total municipal tax rate needed to .9502. Mike moved to set the municipal tax rate for FY26 to .9502 and the motion was seconded and passed. 5. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 6:15. Minutes submitted by Donna Griffiths