Tuesday night's Selectboard meeting was packed to overflow, with most of the assembled there to participate in the River Garden debate. Building A Better Brattleboro, which is trying to sell the River Garden, was there to ask the Selectboard to go with them to the State legislature to ask forgiveness on a $150,000 loan.
It was not, however, BABB's night. Public sentiment was strongly united on the one point that publicly reneging on a publicly-funded project was not a good idea. Nevertheless, debate raged for over two hours, during which one citizen even offered to pay the River Garden's $15,000 annual expenses himself to give BABB time to come up with a better idea.
Don Webster and a smiling Tom Franks were on hand to represent BABB. Their case, which may sound familiar to those who've been following this story, is that BABB has a dilemma and the town has to help them solve it. He stressed the need for compromise and tradeoffs, but said that BABB would provide "leadership" in finding a "solution" to the River Garden problem that would approach the spirit of the original grant requirements. He put it to the board bluntly, "Will the board support BABB in going to the State legislature for forgiveness of the loan?"
Webster then introduced Tony Elliott of the Windham Development Group, which is the firm negotiating to buy the River Garden. Elliott said that they heard local concern about bathrooms, and that public restrooms would be restored to the plan, provided BABB provide maintenance. He also noted that an additional 400 square feet of public space had been added in the back corner opposite the corridor and looking out over the river. The rest of the space of the north side of the corridor would be allocated to several retail stores in a sort of mini-mall.
"it's a design in motion," Elliott concluded. "We can't make all the people happy all the time but we can retain some of the public character while increasing economic activity to make the space viable." The board's final motion reflected the addition of new elements including deeded right-of-way to the bathrooms and the additional public space.
But for most members of the public, the issue was not which parts should be public but whether or not the whole building should be public space.
Larry Bloch kicked things off by playing a brief video from opening night at the River Garden in 2001. In the video, then BABB president Donna Simons made a dramatic and by all appearances heartfelt speech that it was "our River Garden, not just BABB's...This is the community's bulding." She specifically noted the use of public money to fund its construction. After the video, Larry Bloch made the point that BABB itself said it was a public building at the time of its inauguration, but now they say it's a private building.
BABB member Pal Borofsky then said that the River Garden was funded by contributions from private businesses, not public funds, and that it was never meant to be a public building. He was quickly rebutted by at least one private citizen who said that the deck was funded by the Class of '61, and that they were in no way a business. Dora Boubolis also mentioned that she's obtained the signatures of 25 downtown retail and food businesses on a petition to retain the River Garden as "a community center, with the implication that the business community was far from united on the issue.
Sarah Edwards became the first of a chorus of public officials cautioning the town about going back to the legislature to eliminate BABB's loan obligation. While she sang BABB's praises more than once, she concluded by saying that it might not be a good idea to go to the legislature "begging relief." She wondered still if a non-profit could be found or formed to take on the management of the River Garden.
Representatives of two non-traditional merchant groups were present also, the Winter Farmers Market and the Fair Trade Festival. Both were extremely dismayed by the loss of the River Garden space where both groups have held highly successful sales in the past several years. Both noted the lack of centralized public space, and what a loss the sale of the River Garden would be. "There's no better venue in town, " said one, "not so close to the 'heart of Brattleboro.'"
More than one person felt that the transfer of the River Garden would be a violation of the public trust. Most said that by any definition of the word 'public', the River Garden is a public space. It was pointed out that the funds for its construction were solicited on that assumption, that hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds were used, and that it has been used by the public as a public space (whenever possible) since it opened. Several people suggested a town-wide vote.
One thing's for sure — BABB is not very open to charity. John Wilmerding said that he had offered his non-profit and grant-writing experience to BABB a year and a half ago, in an effort to get the River Garden off the ground. According to Wilmerding, Tom Franks said "No, we don't do that." Later, Larry Bloch offered to pay the River Garden's expenses for a year to prevent them from rushing into a bad decision. Again, the gentlemen from BABB did not leap out of their seats accepting Bloch's offer.
The board, however, was interested in brass tacks. How much grant money were we talking about — was it just the $150,000 or could there be more? Tom Franks said that he had "oral" assurances that the other grants would be forgiven. Town finance director john Leisenring said to get it in writing.
Town lawyer Bob Fisher said that the Legislature might tack on conditions in order to forgive the loan. "The Legislature won't just erase $150,000 without some way to preserve public use," he said.
Town manager Jerry Remillard said that the River Garden had always been intended as a public space, and noted that the food kiosks were specifically designed to be moveable. He said that he was not in favor of going to the State for forgiveness of the loan.
Audrey then suggested that the board "have a discussion about the town taking ownership." She declared her own reservations about going to the State, especially when the town is already being 'reviewed' by the State Auditor for its handling of the Transportation Project funds.
Dick DeGray said that while the State may indeed add conditions to forgive the loan — then what? He suggested that the only option was "Option B" which he said would be outright sale of the building to a commercial interest with no public access at all. He stopped short of saying that the town should go to the Legislature with BABB, however. But he seemed frustrated. "Everything people are suggesting costs money," he said. "I don't want to pay for this space."
Board member Kevin Yager said that he agreeed with Dick, and did not want the town to have to assume any financial responsibility for the building. "As for a town wide vote," he said, "that's what you elected us for."
Senate Pro Tem Elect Peter Shumlin stood up to warn the Selectboard one final time of the folly of going to the Legislature on this. "We're not going to get this easily through the Legislature," he said. He advised them to slow down and have a conversation, "before you ask the Legislature to do something they aren't going to do." He characterised the current plan as a compromise that would make no one happy. "People aren't going to be happy with bathrooms and a corridor to a back porch if they've come to expect more," he concluded.
At this, the board seemed to run out of steam. DeGray moved to table the item until the next Selectboard meeting, rather than prolong what had now become a very lengthy, emotional and complex discussion. One would expect that the board will seek more clarification in the interim. But as one citizen put it, "If you choose to do this, it'll be over the objections of many people in this town."