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just to clarify M president it would be items 11.1 through 11.7 thank you so much um and then 11.9 okay so um all in favor of approving 111 through 1 11.7 and 11.9 please raise your hand 5 motion passes unanimously now we will take 11.8 go ahead vice president k um I move approval of everything except for the contract of LZ and Smith uh and that we and that we direct Administration to talk to our um legal counsel Helia Ru to pull in services uh through his contract that may be necessary uh for the support that's being sought out in this item okay so I have a motion do I have a second second okay so I have a uh motion and a second is there any public comment seeing no public truste comment see no trusty comment all in favor of trusty K's motion to direct uh could I just make a comment could I just make just that a comment um uh sure so so one of the reasons we were asking for this is we're going to be going through a lot of uh appeals with HR um uh with the layoffs and so I actually did check in with with uh with our general counsel with uh Roo Ruiz regarding this uh and so we need the support my staff needs the support for the HR side of the house uh the other reason I was recommending the other one with realy uh was we've been working with the uh uh realy realy I keep on mispronouncing it realy advisers uh Lisa Gilmore and Paulo Hernandez whom uh expressed interest in working with Lozano and Smith who they've been working with uh and they've had good success in um you know just securing Revenue generating ideas for districts and so so it was really to work with them on that and also help the H HR side of the house and I did did run it through uh Council okay so um see no more trusty comment uh let's go for the vote all in favor 5.0 motion passes unanimously uh we follow okay close session the board reconvenes to public session adjournment of the public session no later than 10:30 p.m.
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We had some commitment from Ammeritas that on the vision side that our employees could get both glasses and contacts if they wanted. They've never followed through with that. So, our employees are disappointed because they kind of feel that we were lied to. Uh I don't know that it was a lie, but it certainly was a misrepresentation of of what we were going to get. Um and so I recommended to the committee and as a separate action uh in our meeting on Tuesday uh that we just move all of our vision and dental to asbait have it in one package um so that the only other thing that we have is our life insurance which is a separate a separate insurance policy and that we continue that with UNM and I can explain in a minute why that why that's a desirable thing but this puts everything else in terms of our employee insurance in one package and um uh in some ways makes it a little easier in our business office because we just send one premium check each month instead of having to write separate checks and and do some other things separately.
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I it looks like we think there were 12 of them there that went out for multiple questions. Um one of them it looks like Lavine went out for three different questions um to their voters. And so the trend the question was if you go out is it most likely that one passes or one fails or vice you know vice versa. And really the trend that we're seeing the last few years is either they both pass or they both fail. Um, so whatever the reason may be based on the the specific community's needs, you know, within those districts, you'll see and there's, you know, for example, I'm looking at Sierra Vista up there. They both both questions failed. 38% was the only approval rate on there. Um, the other districts that fail were Deer Valley, they had a bond and an M o override question, and then Higgley was went out for a 15% override and a bond.
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Uh before that I studied forestry and environmental science at the University of Vermont. Uh like Peter said um house street the circuit on house street is up for our regular maintenance pruning. Um uh our clearance around the wires uh is usually is 10 by 10 by 15 ft. that is 15 feet above the wires, 10 feet to the bottom of the very top wires on the pole, um, and 10 feet to the sides. Uh, but as Peter just alluded to, um, we, this pruning is intended to target smaller diameter growth. Uh, we, um, we don't have any intention of pruning, uh, established leaders, leaders of significant size, uh, unless the leaders, the limbs themselves happen to be dead. Um, and we do this to maintain a safe distance between the tree growth and the electrical wires, both for a worker safety um, standpoint for our line workers as well as reliability generally uh, in the town of Ashland as well as general public safety.
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so right now it's 7:55 uh let's say we're going to be an hour and a half I can ask for a 10-minute break oh yeah oh 10 minut so we will have a 10minute break before close session starts and so we will need that'll be 8:05 we will be back at let's say 10: okay hopefully really no I'm giving you Dr just in case okay just just in case yeah all right everybody 10 minutes for a break session is there anything Mr to to report out thank you uh mad board president item 12.4 on a motion by clerk fam seconded by vice president kto the board by unanimous vote approve resolution number 572 2425 resending the release of one classified management employee per Ed code 45117 and accepting the retirement of that employee effective September 30th 2025 for Ed code 5 4201b there are no more items to report from close session thank you the future board agenda items requests shall be submitted in writing please do according to board by board bylaw 9322 next meeting will be April 24th 2025 at 5:30 and the adjournment is at 9:48 good night folks
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Um so uh the committee the committee unanimously approved that recommendation that I made to them. So um uh recommendations for these were unanimous by that committee. Um and uh we had a long discussion about uh the carrier because um Asbait's carrier is Etna and several years ago the last time we were with Asbait with Etna which was in school year 1920 uh 201920 um there were issues with providers in this area. 1920 2020 20 2019 and 2020 that school year sorry the first year I was here. Yeah. 1920. 1920 I don't think I was here. Yeah. Well, I'm sorry. I was having problems with that. Yes. And I get that. I get that. It was the first year I was in in this position was and uh uh we were still with ASB at that time. I mean yes with ASB and they were with Etna.
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And again, these are just the order that the questions were on the on the pamphlet. Um then in 2023, similar for the most part, they either both passed or they both failed. There were a couple districts in there that um it was just the bond that passed, but the override um I'm sorry, the bond that failed. The override did pass for Mesa and then also the property um question for Fountain Hills passed. And so um the next slide, same thing. You can kind of look at the trend. The next few were uh 2022, 21, and 20. you're starting to see more, it looks like trending, more districts. In 2020, there were only six districts that went out with multiple questions. Um, so you're seeing more districts, you know, going out with putting multiple questions on the ballot. But really, I don't, you know, kind of collect your thoughts, what your thoughts are, but really, we started in 2020, there were six districts that had multiple questions, and now that doubled up to 12 of them in 2024.
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Um, if we do not prune these wire, if we do not prune these trees and they grow up into the wires, they can catch on fire. That's very dramatic and definitely not something we want to be seeing happen. Um, uh, yeah, I think that's about it. Sorry, Matt. Can you just go over again? Just It's really just from my understanding. It's 10 feet to the sides of the wire. Is that right? Yeah. The very top wires on the pole. So, there's a whole bunch of pole. There's a whole bunch of wires on the pole. Okay. Um, it's the ones at the very tippy top of the pole that we are pruning around. So, the ones at the top, you do 10 ft to the side, so horizontally, and then 15 feet down and 15 feet up. Uh, 10 feet down and and 15 feet up.
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Um uh and there were there were issues that our folks had of concerns with um with providers in in the area. Uh we had um both Asbait and Kai Ross make presentations in the in the spring of 20 for school year 2020 2021. Um and basically they came in with about the same rates. The differences uh that that pushed the recommendation to Kyros at the time were a couple of things. One was the displeasure with Asbait's uh list of providers. The second was that um they that Mayo Clinic was not one of the uh providers for ASBA at the time. Um and there was a third reason and then right now I can't think what the third reason was but those were the two big ones. So when I met with the committee on Tuesday, uh to me the two elephants in the room were the price and would Asbait have the services and the providers that our employees would need.
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But you see the passing rate whether both questions pass. 75% of those both questions passed in 2024. Um and at least one of did at least one of the questions pass was that last column there. Um if so you may not have had a 100% success rate but did at least one of your questions um pass. And so that's the trend on there. So um interesting information. So I I appreciate Steel was able to gather this information for us. Um and so they trend they they they capture all the trend and and look at that data every time um elections are completed to see kind of where school district trends are happening. Welcome. Okay. So and we can certainly discuss along the way um if you have questions on that. Otherwise we can just discuss as a group as we open it up for committee conversation.
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10 feet down. 10 feet down from the top wire or 10 feet down from the bottom wire. 10 feet down from the top wire. Um, and this distance is uh an industry standard for the Northeast. um that takes into account the average growth rate of your average uh New England tree species over the course of four years uh which is our site which is our cycle. Uh and one thing I did forget to mention is that um this is our this is just maintenance pruning. Uh this is the same spec the same specifications the same work that we did four years ago and four years ago before that etc. Um in that sense there is no new work being proposed. Um we are maintain we are uh maintaining the clearance that has been already established. Okay. And so there's nothing in particular that um you've scoped it out.
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Um and uh they have vastly increased uh Etna Etna has vastly increased their uh coverage in our area. Um and uh and to verify that after uh after the decision was made on Tuesday, of course, my team went away and talked to the people that they represent and had questions. several employees said um okay I'm currently with and named a doctor or named a a facility or you know a medical practice and said um uh you know is this is this in the provider list uh is Mayo Clinic so Mayo Clinic is now in the provider list and in fact every single question that we've had from our employees about their current providers those folks are on the list so Etna has stepped up in terms of increasing providers ers uh in the area, there's not been a no at all in terms of uh of the questions that we've had from our current employees.
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The next item that was requested was reviewing, uh, bond tax rate estimates based off of a couple different scenarios. So, um, as you recall at the previous, uh, bond election, it was a $127 million request that was put out there. And so, um, some of the request was, well, what if we brought that down below the hund00 million mark? What does that do on the tax rate? So, and then also if you extend it to be repaid within 15 years rather than pushing it out to 20 years, what impact does that have as well? So, I pulled a couple um scenarios again, reached out to Seuss, so I appreciate all their work on helping gather this information, but you see on there a $90 million bond um over 20 years. you see that impact and and we pre I apologize it's very small to see on there but the column that you'll want to take a look at is um really this column the third to the end it's it says new combined uh amount.
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There's nothing uh Peter I said there's there's no tree actual trees coming down. So there's nothing in particular that's out of that's unusual in this uh maintenance this year. No. And uh if there's if there's a large leader for some reason that I think should be pruned, that would be something I would go to Peter um and work with the town uh to see if that's something we could get permission for or not. Um as well as any removals, but at the moment there are no uh tree removals being planned for House Street. Okay. And just a note, you know, Matt um Matt myself, I don't know if you were with me out that day, but Becca Solomon, our tree warden, you know, we do meet on site, you know, we walk take a look around obviously and and if there was something to come up, if a major leader did have to come off, if there was a tree that was identified as a as a hazard, Matt's obviously going to reach out to myself, she's going to reach out to Becca Solomon, the tree the tree coordinator, uh the tree warden, and to start that conversation.
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Um so um uh so it's fairly easy for me to recommend to you that we contract with Asbait uh for our medical, pharmacy, vision, and dental insurance uh for our school year 2526. Now Caroline, did we get a quote from our current Yes. And it was tw a 20% increase. A 20% increase. Okay. Yeah, it was a 20% increase. Okay. Thank you. And that's that's and that's a good question, Barb. That that's what led the committee to say, can we at least hear what Aspate has to say? Uh and we and we stuck with the two because they we are members of these two trusts. Yeah. Okay. Um uh you know, as a district, we're a member of ASBA, so we're a member of ASBAT, which is their insurance trust. We are also members of the Arizona Risk Retention Trust which pays all of our liability insurance and all of those things.
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So you'll see the tax rate impact that adding on a $90 million bond um would have on the tax rate. So ultimately the the the goal would be you don't want again your community to see a spike in their tax rates, right? So the very far right column you'll see where our estimated tax rate is um if we combined and layered on a new bond. Um the fourth column in or I'm sorry it's really hard to explain the one that says existing bonds. So you started with projected limited bond assessed value. The next column over which is the next uh one highlighted there says ex existing bonds. As you recall we've mentioned our current bonds they are going to be paid off at the end of fiscal year 2028. So you see the tax rate currently associated with those. Um it's an 83 cent tax rate.
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Does anyone have any questions? Um, I do have a question. I I think I couldn't find our last um decision, but I was happy to see. So, we we did I remember us batting around that ANC300. So, that should be in our decision. They actually applied stating that. But, um, one of the things I'm pretty sure we had in a condition previously was notice. So I think what kind of notice is going to the people and what their plan is for that notice for the people that live along that route. Yes. Okay. Uh so normally we have an automated um letter notification system uh that's currently down for maintenance. Uh so instead of automated letters being sent out through the postal service, we are actually handd delivering uh pruning fires, laying out the um uh what our intentions are and letting people know that we will be in the neighborhood.
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Uh and our workers comp. Um and so we're a member of that. So Kyros is the insurance wing of that trust. So we're members of both of these uh you know both of these agencies. And um and that makes it pretty easy for us to to make the comparisons and make the decisions u because then we don't need a broker. we don't have to go out and search on our own. Um, saves us a lot of time and energy and probably a lot of cost, too. Any other questions? Can I have a motion to approve um our carrier, a new carrier? I make a motion we approve Asbait as the new carrier for the medical pharmacy vision and dental insurance for the school year 2526. I'll second the motion. All those in favor? I Melinda Saskki. I Charlene Diaz. I Fred Rushton. I Barb Zarziki.
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Then it's going to be 75 cents, 61 cent, and then 29 cent. Does everyone see where that piece is at? Okay. So really the the concept is then if you layer on these additional bonds to the very far right is where once you layer them on what will that do to the tax rate to both now that you've combined your existing ones that you're going to pay off and you layer on the new ones. And so there you see really it it's it holds pretty steady until starting fiscal year it looks like 2030 is once the previous ones are fully paid off now it really significantly drops from 73 cents down to 15 cents and and so forth. So that was one scenario. Just wanted to to point that out. Um really the average annual tax rate you see down there in the bottom once you um cumulatively look at all those years it's a 17 cent tax rate.
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And there is a call back number um to call um and if anybody uh if anyone calls that number and the uh the general Eversource customer service rep is unable to answer your questions about the work being done, they forward that uh they forward your contact information to me directly and then I will usually arrange a meeting uh to take a look at the trees. You know, I said that our clearance is 10 x 10 x 15. Um, as long as folks are generally reasonable about the fact that some pruning has to take place, uh, for general safety and reliability, um, I'm very happy to have some come come to some sort of compromise, um, where everyone is as as happy as possible. Um, as far as how far in advance people get the notice, that's a hard question to answer. Uh, these circuits can be quite large.
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