Tuesday night's Selectboard meeting was marathon-length and action packed as always, but the agenda item of interest — public nudity and its discontents — was almost anticlimactic. Coming midway through the five and a half hour meeting, most of the steam had gone out of the crowd by the time it was discussed, and while a few, mostly non Brattleboro residents, argued for decency and against moral decay, the rest of the citizens seemed firmly in favor of tolerance. In the end, the Board opted to let the matter rest for now, with a vow to revisit it should public nudity again become a problem. But with an agenda that ran from A to P, there wasn't time to linger. Let's see what else they talked about.
The meeting began with board chair Steve Steidle announcing the test usage of a projection system so people watching the meeting on BCTV could see the handouts. He is asking for feedback on this system.
Both Greg Worden and Audrey Garfield reported back from the Windham Regional committee on energy for the Southern Vermont area. Apparently the area is starting to reach the limits of available power, making brownouts and blackouts a near certainty if additional sources aren't brought on line. Currently the group is holding meetings to discuss alternative solutions, including a meeting on September 14 at the Quality Inn to which the public is invited.
The first big presentation was from Brattleboro Memorial Hospital for their amended PUD zoning application. This is all part of the hospital's ongoing effort to expand their outpatient services, which involves the construction of a new outpatient building and adjoining parking lot. The amended PUD folds Thompson House into the project for purposes of zoning, and establishes limits on development including what parts of the property can be developed as well as 'standards' for height and setback. Citizens had a lot of questions, including neighbors' concerns about traffic and aesthetics as well as the allotment and zoning of green space. Several residents mentioned a master plan including a parking garage, but a hospital spokesman said that the cost of a garage was prohibitively high, and that garages aren't any better looking than parking lots. Recognizing that any development project at the hospital would still require Development Review Board approval, the Selectboard voted 3-2 to approve the PUD, with Garfield and DeGray opposed.
Next up was a lengthy presentation and discussion of a proposed assisted living facility across from Tri Park Trailer Park in West Brattleboro. One aspect of this project is that the site is essentially in (or very close to) a flood plain. One of the project planners explained, however, that the building is being located as far from the Whetstone Brook as possible to minimize flooding. He also said that although one road leading to the complex might be impassable during flood conditions, there was another road that could be used to evacuate elderly tenants and that they plan to widen that road if the project goes forward.
Flooding aside, what is proposed is an apartment complex of 30 600-square-foot apartments specifically designed for disabled and frail elderly people. Along with an apartment, which would be priced for low and moderate income people, there will be a package of services including housekeeping and meals.
The Selectboard approved a new mural for Harmony Lot, which will be designed and implemented under the direction of Youth Services working with local delinquent youth. The plan is to find a local artist to design the mural and then create it on a 60-foot wall along the back of Harmony Lot. A target date of October 21 has been set for painting, and the public is invited to help color in the mural.
Brattleboro's arts Festival 05301 is coming soon, running the entire month of October. This year the town will be treated to a wide array of arts programs, events, and performances as well as 'Art On A Stick,' --fancifully decorated parking meters.
The nudity discussion followed with public opinion divided. Opponents of nudity cited damage to the psyches and sensibilities of children and grandparents as a reason to ban the practice. Another man went so far as to equate all nudity with lewdness, and threatened the Selectboard with 'judgment' if they failed to enact an ordinance. Harmony denizen Adhi Narayana took issue with the lewdness charge, categorizing the kind of nudity that took place in Harmony Lot as celebratory rather than deliberately provocative. Ian Bigelow, also from Harmony, said that in his opinion, the acts in question had been an innocent expression of freedom, but that it's over now and it would be good if we all forgot about it. After several other citizens had their say, pro or con, the Board members each made mild statements and the decision was made to table the matter for now.
There was an exodus after the nudity discussion, which included this not-so-intrepid reporter. I watched the rest of the meeting from the relative comfort of my living room. We pick up with interfund transfers.
The town uses interfund transfers all the time to cover routine payments such as payroll as well as payments made to cover reimbursable project expenses such as those associated with the Multi Modal project and Union Station. Audrey Garfield proposed a motion that would have required board approval of all interfund transfers that remain unreimbursed for more than one month (known as interfund loans) as well as all 'advanced' transfers for reimbursable expenses. In addition, she moved that the board be notified of all permanent fund transfers.
Finance director John Leisenring and Steve Steidle both felt that this was an excessive amount of oversight. Steidle made it clear that he didn't want the Board to have to approve every payment that went out. However, Garfield continued to push her proposal with support from Dick DeGray, citing ongoing overspending on the Transportation project as demonstration of the need for such oversight, at least in the short term. Nevertheless, her motion was defeated 3-2. John Leisenring promised to deliver reports on interfund transfers in a timely fashion but stressed that it was accounting, not reporting, that was key.
Skipping ahead to Union Station, Jerry Remillard reported that the town would need to borrow $117,000 to cover cash flow on the project through February of 2007. Audrey Garfield asked how much the town was currently owed in grant reimbursements for money already spent. Remillard said that the town is awaiting $406,369.06 in reimbursements at this time. Garfield then asked how the town could be thinking of borrowing more money when they're short of money now and don't know when these reimbursements will be coming. "We should put this project on hold — we're maxing out our credit cards here," she said.
Jerry Remillard repeated what has become his standard line on the subject, which is that the board had a choice to either borrow the money or kill the project. "If we miss the February bidding deadline, we've effectively killed the project," he said. Bob Fisher said that ending the project would involve repaying at least some of the grant money.
But project manager Tom Appel said that in his opinion, it wasn't that black and white and that the project could be delayed without actually killing it. He suggested playing it by ear for now, borrowing enough to meet immediate needs, and waiting for results of the federal audit. So the Selectboard voted 4-1 to authorize borrowing of $50,000. At that, Appel immediately asked for an amendment to the approved motion: "You authorized no money for Bob [Stevens] and I." The Board agreed that it would be ok for the two contractors to submit invoices and Appel agreed to be patient in awaiting payment on them, even offering to assume risk for work he was doing now in the event funding did not materialize.
But there's more. Fire Chief Dave Emery is now on a committee to come up with a pandemic flu "continuity of government" plan. He was looking for a Selectboard member to join the committee, but they were all booked and no one could be enticed into joining. He also announced that the town has received $14,000 in grant funding to buy emergency radio equipment including high band pagers for firefighters. In response to questions about sirens, he said that additional emergency sirens would come out of next year's grant because up until now, funding restrictions had made it hard to get a grant to pay for sirens.
Dick DeGray, for his part, was all over the 1% Room & Meals tax and seems to have gotten it on the agenda for the next Selectboard meeting. He said that he would like input from more people than just hotel operators and restaurateurs who, he said, were going to be against it for obvious reasons. His motion succeeded 3-2.
Audrey then tried to get her 'pay as you throw' proposal on the agenda. This plan would make local citizens pay for trash disposal based on how much trash they have. She said it would provide the town with an additional $250,000. Jerry Remillard said it might be more like $100,000. Garfield said, "Well that's our paving budget." After considerable discussion about whether or not the Rules allow agenda items to be added this way, and after Fisher confirmed that the Chair and Vice Chair still had the final word on the agenda, her motion was approved 5-0.
And so ended this week's Selectboard Meeting, at 11:59 PM, just a minute shy of the witching hour and not a minute too soon. With public nudity behind us, we are left to imagine what new crisis will surface at the next meeting of the Bratleboro Selectboard.