April 20, 2023

Rep. McCarthy- Vermont Dispatch, S139

-Very excited caucus is talking about this issue, reliable 911/public safety services are really important

-Vermont has a “patchwork system”

-Complex layers of entities that do dispatch 

-In some communities, multiple entities dispatch different services, use different software and tech, the tech might be owned out of state, etc

-Trying to create standards around interoperability of systems, an expanded E911 board, and a new funding mechanism all in one fell swoop

-When the bill got into the Senate money committees before crossover, it hit a brick wall

-Many communities don’t currently pay for dispatch and get it free from the state police

-However, state police does not want to have to provide dispatch services, and have wanted out for years

-Current Senate status: wants to fund a consultant/study

-Evaluation of current technology, 

-Who owns current technology

-What is needed in order to bring it up to standard?

-Only have another year (by end of 2024) to spend the federal portion of the $20 million that has been “fenced off” for a few budget cycles.

-This funding could stand up new regional dispatch centers, equipment, staffing, making interoperability standards 

-Rutland and Addison as two potential regional pilots

-The Senate is sending 139 back to Gov Ops committee to work on funding mechanisms, budget language, dealing with the funding deadline. 

-Parallels between dispatch discussion and EMS discussion happening at state level. 

-Hoping that EMS study and funding for consultant could overlap with potential dispatch work?

-Question: $800k of funding was allocated for the E911 board to renew their current software agreement that runs the 911 calling system. Are we throwing 800k away if we extend our current software, given the place to potentially create a state system?

-Answer: No, because E911 and dispatch, though related, are different re: the technology involved. You can place an E911 call and get someone to answer the call, but dispatch deals with who they hand that call off to (fire, police, ambulance, etc).

Gwynn Zakov, VLCT - S139

-Trying to address some of the issues with S139 identified by VLCT from the town/municipality perspective

-S139 bill is a huge proposal, conversations around funding are complex

-One suggestion was to fund this through a local property tax

-VLCT’s biggest concern: the state has said it sees emergency service as state service. However, it was ultimately proposed that it should be paid for on the local level.

-Control and oversight would not be local- would bed through the state. 

-Similar to the current education property tax model. 

-That being said, the current proposal on the table is not through the funding mechanism described above. 

-Two largest issues: how to modernize Vermont’s current system, and how to pay for it

-Last summer, a committee analyzing this issue struggled to develop other funding models. 

-State controls a lot of funding, 

-There is nothing at the local or county level besides property tax to make this work. 

-Another issue is finite resources- the $11 million of state general funding is currently sitting and waiting. 

-a lot of communities are for grants/funding and had money pulled back on them 

-There is also $9 million in federal congressional money from Sen. Leahy. 

-This was appropriated to DPS to support Vermont’s transition to a regional communication network. 

-Very narrow boundaries for this particular pot of funding

-Unsure that modernizing EMS can be tied into this $9mil

-More flexibility in the state general fund money 

-In finance and gov ops committees, EMS was not brought up in the discussions on dispatch system

-Once the plug is pulled on the free dispatching that towns are receiving from state police, they will have to contract out with someone else. 

-Towns will have to prepare their local budgets to pick up the cost of these services. 

Drew Hazelton

-Dispatch and EMS are tied together in many ways.

-Current EMS and dispatch were designed in 1960. 

-The technology that exists for these services in the rest of the country is missing from VT. 

-We still rely on telephone trees. When dealing with large-scale crises (i.e mass shooting), our dispatch centers can’t operate well enough to deal with that in a timely way, would have to rely on phone tree model

-Long power outages cause radio tower failure

-Dispatch system is “fragile and outdated”

-Our current model- someone calls 911, someone answers and puts the call in one of three buckets: EMS, police, or fire.

-Some people need assistance but not ambulance. 

-More modern EMS systems can triage these calls

-Federal program ET3 prioritizes calls using questioning protocols so that ambulances don’t get dispatched unnecessarily, but Vermont cannot participate in this program. 

-As a result, we’re asking more of our volunteers than we need to, sending them to calls they don’t need to respond to, and sending people to overcrowded emergency rooms when they don’t need to go  

-This all starts with our inability to respond to and appropriately triage. 

-Causes EMS burnout, emergency room overcrowding, increased costs, etc

-Question: Does this problem show up in other ways? I.e, EMS responding to medical calls, but there’s concern that law enforcement might also be needed for the safety of EMS personnel 

Answer: This is a huge concern! We have law enforcement availability challenges statewide staffing issues. There is also a communications barrier, where our current patchwork system of dispatch results in confusion for officers and EMS personnel.

Nick Bennette, VMBA: H.467

-House bill 467 actually covers three short bills that were part of the larger rural omnibus 

-Outdoor recreation represents over 4% of our state GDP, and has a huge impact in our rural communities

-H.467 covers stewardship, accessibility, and funding for VOREC community grants

-Thinking about the best way to support and fund this VT’s outdoor rec infrastructure? 

-Long term thinking- in the last 5-10 years, VT’s outdoor rec assets have seen usage double or triple 

-Repairing what’s broken, i.e the Burrows Trail up Camel’s Hump, which costs $350k per mile to bring up to code

-Currently, the committee is thinking about the scale of the problem and how to tie together the three smaller components within this bill. 

-How do we pay for it and invest in it? 

-Working on the budget and language through this summer, and realistically hoping to pass something next year. 

Question: What’s the overlay on Slate Valley? 

Answer: Slate Valley is a great example of private landowners working to create public access trails. Slate Valley is a big landowner who wants to provide public access for recreation AND will pay for Act 250 permits, which is not always the case. Typically, it’s smaller landowners who have trails that extend through their community and overlap with their land- we work to create access agreements (usually 10 year) to meet their level of interest/commitment. 

Vermont Trail System:

-Working to figure out if theres a benefit that can be offered to private landowners who work to create public access areas

-Designates trails as a public benefit municipal project, which has the same Act 250 regulations as a municipality

-In Vermont’s current system, if your trails open to public, you’re part of VTS 

-Currently working towards making a higher threshold to be part of VTS

-Best management practices

-Maintenance, construction, accessibility. 

-Making VTS a “gold standard” that is linked to benefits. Not just rewarding people to build trails anywhere. 

-Green Mountain Rec Fund could help with this. Hiring in the next two weeks, part time person to fill this role.

-Near-term goal is funding, technical assistance. 

Housing Update: Representative Simms

-The House has taken up S100, which has been a priority for all of us from the beginning. 

-Really grateful that caucus leadership connected with the Speaker earlier this week, shared the letter from caucus members. 

-Draft language for an amendment which includes things that caucus had identified and things that were in H.111 (the omnibus bill). 

-Monique sent both out

-It has been shared with the Speaker as well. 

-Working on identifying witnesses for coming weeks- smaller scale developers, people “on the ground”

-Diversity of perspectives needed to inform this conversation going forward 

-Need to move quickly on this bill. Testimony will go into next week. 

-Other components on housing conversation 

-Renter rights, eviction diversion 

-Homelessness

-Utilities

-Lead paint

-Lead paint update

-There is currently a rule in place that states that landlords must be licensed and insured to do lead paint remediation. 

-License is unobtainable

-Cannot change this policy because it is an EPA program, any changes need their approval 

-Long term and complex change to make

-Working on requiring the Dept of Health to do an emergency rule allowing landlords to do their own paint remediation work.