The live blogging of the Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting is now open. If you have something to say about today's Town Meeting, feel free to comment below. This is your spot for ongoing analysis and commentary, updates and whatnot.

You have various options if you want to view today's meeting. You can go to the Brattleboro Union High School and take a seat in the bleachers in the gymnasium for a live, in-person perspective. Or you can tune in BCTV's live coverage on Channel 8 all day. Likewise, you can check in with iBrattleboro throughout the day for comments and updates from whoever happens to be around.

If you're interested in keeping score, the following is a list of the 32 articles on the agenda for this year's Town Meeting.

Warning – Annual Town & Town School District Meeting

ANNUAL TOWN AND TOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT MEETING

March 6, 2007

The legal voters of the Town of Brattleboro and the Town School District of Brattleboro, are hereby notified and warned to meet at the polling places designated for the three districts in said Brattleboro, on Tuesday, the sixth of March, 2007, to act on the following articles:

ARTICLE 1 : To choose all Town officers, Town School District members and Brattleboro Union High School District directors required by law to be elected at the annual meeting. Also to be elected under this Article are Town Meeting members from the following districts: District #1: 15 members for three year terms and 1 member for a one year term; District #2: 14 members for three year terms, 3 members for 2 year terms, and 4 members for one year terms; District #3: 14 members for three year terms. Voting on this article is to be done by Australian ballot. For the above purposes, the polls will open at 9:00am and close at 7:00pm. The polling place will be as follows:

District #1 Brattleboro Union High School District #2 Gymnasium

District #3 Fairground Road

ANNUAL REPRESENTATIVE TOWN MEETING

March 24, 2007

The legal voters qualified to vote in Representative Town Meeting are hereby notified and warned to meet in the gymnasium of the Brattleboro Senior High School on Saturday, the twenty-fourth day of March, 2007, at 8:30am, to act on the following Articles:

ARTICLE 1 : To see what salaries the Town School District will pay its school board members.

ARTICLE 2: To see if the Town School District will authorize its Town School Directors to borrow money in anticipation of taxes.

ARTICLE 3 : To see if the Town School District will authorize the District to accept and expend categorical grants and aid received from the State of Vermont and the United States Government.

ARTICLE 4 To see if the Town School District will authorize the following capital improvements: The purchase of a telephone system for Academy School ($15,000); the replacement of hallway and classroom flooring and sub-floor at Academy School ($142,000); and the replacement and repair of the roofs at Academy, Esteyville, Oak Grove, and Canal Street Schools and the Powers House ($85,000), at an estimated cost not to exceed $242,000.00, and will authorize the issuance of notes in the aggregate principal amount of $242,000.00, at a rate of interest not to exceed 5% per annum and for a term not to exceed five (5) years, in order to pay to that extent the cost of said public capital improvements.

ARTICLE 5: To see how much money the Town School District will raise and appropriate to defray its expenses and liabilities.

ARTICLE 6 : To act on the Auditor’s report.

ARTICLE 7: To elect three trustees for the Brooks Memorial Library to serve three years (one trustee for consideration is Carol Greenberg, and the two remaining members will be announced at the meeting).

ARTICLE 8 : To elect two representatives to the Capital Grant Review Board for a term of one year from March 26, 2007. (One member for consideration is Richard Manson; the other is to be nominated from the floor.)

ARTICLE 9 : To see if the Town and Town School District will authorize its Selectboard and School Directors to employ a certified public accountant or public accountants.

ARTICLE 10 : To see if the Town will ratify, approve and confirm the Selectboard’s appointment of a Town Clerk and Town School District Clerk for a term of one year.

ARTICLE 11 : To see if the Town will ratify, approve and confirm the Selectboard’s appointment of a Town and Town School District Treasurer for a term of one year.

ARTICLE 12 : To see if the Town will ratify, approve and confirm the Selectboard’s appointment of a Town Attorney for a term of one year.

ARTICLE 13 : To see what salaries the Town will pay its officers for the year 2007-2008.

ARTICLE 14 : To see how much money the Town will raise, appropriate and expend to defray its expenses and liabilities.

ARTICLE 15 : To see if the Town will authorize its Selectboard to borrow money on its notes in anticipation of taxes and grants.

ARTICLE 16 : To see if the Town will raise and appropriate a sum not to exceed $7,500 to assist in funding Brattleboro’s Cities for Climate Protection campaign for Fiscal Year 2008 (July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008).

ARTICLE 17 : To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of $1,350 to support the work of the West River Watershed Alliance, a non profit organization composed principally of volunteers, in its efforts to ensure clean and healthy water through water quality monitoring in the West River and its tributaries.

ARTICLE 18 : To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of $2,000 to assist in funding the Windham County Humane Society, a non profit organization, in helping to defray the costs of caring for homeless, unwanted, abused and neglected animals.

ARTICLE 19 : To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of $92,761 from the Representative Reserve Fund to offset expenses in the Fiscal Year 2008 General Fund budget.

ARTICLE 20 : To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum of money approved by the Selectboard as the downtown organization’s appropriation through special assessments on properties within the Downtown Improvement District (as approved by Town Meeting March 19, 2005 and as delineated in the town Ordinance entitled “Municipal Act to Establish and Regulate the Downtown Improvement District”) to be used for capital and operating costs of projects of the Town’s duly designated downtown organization.

ARTICLE 21 : To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of $82,110 to support human service programs and facilities to be allocated to the providing services to the residents of Brattleboro to be allocated in the following manner: AIDS Project of Southern Vermont - $1,900; ALANA Community Organization - $3,515; Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro – $9,025; Brattleboro Area Drop-in Center - $3,500; Brattleboro Area Hospice - $2,090; Brattleboro Housing Authority/Summer Food Program - $3,800; Brattleboro Pastoral Counseling Center - $1,000; .Brattleboro Senior Meals - $5,700; Clark/Canal Community Organization - $4,275; Council on Aging for Southeastern VT, Inc. - $3,325; The Gathering Place - $2,850; Green Mountain RSVP - $1,000; Health Care & Rehabilitation

Services/Community Walk-in Clinic - $8,075; KidsPLAYce - $3,000; Maple Leaf Farm - $835; Morningside Emergency Shelter - $1,275; PACT - $3,325; Phoenix House - $2,850; Prevent Child Abuse VT - $750; Southeastern Vermont Community Action - $2,375; VT Assn. for Blind, & Visually Impaired - $680; VT Center for Independent Living - $1,290; Windham Child Care - $2,850;Windham County Reads - $1,425; Youth Services - $11,400.

ARTICLE 22: To see if the Town will raise and appropriate $5,000 to Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) to assist Brattleboro in responding to the emergency needs of the community and providing all available and applicable services.

ARTICLE 23: To see if the Town will authorize the sale of the 15+/- acre “Boyd Wood Lot” owned by the TOB on Halladay Brook Road.

ARTICLE 24 : To see if the Town will authorize a change in the basis for valuing business personal property from the present system of using depreciation schedules and a 10% residual or salvage value to the fair market value method, with an exemption of the first $2,500 of value of the personal property.

ARTICLE 25 : To see if the Town shall apply to the taxpayers’ property tax installments pro rata amounts allocated to current year property taxes under the State of Vermont’s Homestead Property Tax Income Sensitivity Program, in accordance with 32 V.S.A. § 6066a(f)(1).

ARTICLE 26 : To see if the Town will create a special assessment district, to be known as the “Mountain Home Park Special Benefit Assessment Tax District” pursuant to Article VI, Section 3(b) of the Brattleboro Town Charter and Chapter 87 of Title 24, Vermont Statutes Annotated, for the purpose of financing the capital costs of replacing water and sewer lines and renovating the associated pump station at the Mountain Home and Deepwood Mobile Home Parks, and to apportion the special assessment based on the grand list value of real properties within the designated “Mountain Home Park Special Benefit Assessment Tax District.”

ARTICLE 27 : To see if the Town of Brattleboro will authorize the following capital improvement: the construction of a replacement sewer system and appurtenances necessary to connect two hundred seventy six (276) mobile homes in Mountain Home Park to the Town’s public sewage disposal system. The Town of Brattleboro intends to borrow the funds necessary for the above capital improvements through the Vermont Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Pollution Control State Revolving Loan Fund (Title 24, Chapter 120), as administered by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, and said loan being subject to and secured by an "Agreement for Joint Development, Easements and Construction Management for Water and Sewer Line Project" among The Housing Foundation, Inc., Tri-Park Cooperative Housing Corporation, and the Town of Brattleboro. The estimated cost of said capital improvements is $3,523,419. The bonds to be authorized shall be in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $3,523,419 bearing interest at not to exceed five (5%) percent per annum, and payable over a term not to exceed twenty (20) years. SAID BONDS SHALL BE PAID EXCLUSIVELY FROM REVENUES RAISED

WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN HOME PARK SPECIAL

BENEFIT ASSESSMENT DISTRICT.

The vote on the foregoing proposition shall be by Australian ballot as required by law. The Article to be voted upon will be as follows:

"Shall bonds of the Town of Brattleboro in an amount not to exceed $3,523,419 bearing interest at a rate not to exceed 5%, and payable over a term not to exceed twenty (20) years, payable exclusively from revenue within the Mountain Home Park Special Benefit Assessment District, be issued for the purpose of constructing collection and transmission mains and appurtenances necessary to connect the Mountain Home Park to the Town’s public sewage treatment system?”

If in favor of this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: Yes

If opposed to this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: No

ARTICLE 28 : To see if the Town of Brattleboro will authorize the following capital improvement: the construction of water mains and appurtenances necessary to connect two hundred seventy six (276) mobile homes in Mountain Home Park to the Town’s public drinking water supply system and necessary improvements to existing pump stations. The Town of Brattleboro intends to borrow the funds necessary for the above capital improvements through the Vermont Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (Title 24, Chapter 120), as administered by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, said loan being subject to and secured by an "Agreement for Joint Development, Easements and Construction Management for Water and Sewer Line Project" among The Housing Foundation, Inc., Tri-Park Cooperative Housing Corporation, and the Town of Brattleboro. The estimated cost of said capital improvements is $4,203,893. The bonds to be authorized shall be in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $4,203,893 bearing interest at a rate of not to exceed five (5%) percent per annum, and payable over a term not to exceed twenty (20) years. SAID BONDS SHALL BE PAID EXCLUSIVELY FROM REVENUES RAISED WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN HOME PARK SPECIAL

BENEFIT ASSESSMENT TAX DISTRICT.

The vote on the foregoing proposition shall be by Australian ballot as required by law. The Article to be voted upon will be as follows:

"Shall bonds of the Town of Brattleboro in an amount not to exceed $4,203,893, bearing interest at a rate not to exceed 5%, payable exclusively from revenue within the Mountain Home Park Special Benefit Assessment District, be issued for the purpose of constructing water mains and

appurtenances necessary to connect the Mountain Home Park to the Town’s public drinking water supply system?”

If in favor of this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: Yes

If opposed to this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: No

ARTICLE 29 : To see if the Town will authorize the following Capital Improvement. The purchase of one Fire Engine (pumper) for the Fire Department, at an estimated cost not to exceed $320,000, and will authorize the issuance of bonds or notes in the aggregate principal amount of $320,000, at a rate of interest not to exceed five percentum (5%) per annum and for a term not to exceed ten (10) years, in order to pay to that extent the cost of said public improvement. The vote on the foregoing article will be by Australian ballot as required by law. The question to be voted upon will be as follows:

“Shall bonds or notes of the Town of Brattleboro, in the amount not to exceed $320,000 bearing interest at a rate not to exceed 5%, for a term not to exceed ten years, be issued for the purpose of purchasing one Fire Engine (pumper) for the Fire Department?” If in favor of this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: Yes

If opposed to this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: No

ARTICLE 30 : To see if the Town will authorize the following Capital Improvement. The replacement of one fuel tank at the Municipal Center, at an estimated cost not to exceed $35,000, and will authorize the issuance of bonds or notes in the aggregate principal amount of $35,000, at a rate of interest not to exceed five percentum (5%) per annum and for a term not to exceed ten (10) years, in order to pay to that extent the cost of said public improvement. The vote on the foregoing article will be by Australian ballot as required by law. The question to be voted upon will be as follows:

“Shall bonds or notes of the Town of Brattleboro, in the amount not to exceed $35,000 bearing interest at a rate not to exceed 5%, for a term not to exceed ten years, be issued for the purpose of replacing one fuel tank at the Municipal Center?”

If in favor of this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: Yes

If opposed to this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: No

ARTICLE 31 : To see if the Town will authorize the following Capital Improvement. The repair of the cornice at the Gibson Aiken Center, at an estimated cost not to exceed $175,000, and will authorize the issuance of bonds or notes in the aggregate principal amount of $175,000, at a rate of interest not to exceed five percentum (5%) per annum and for a term not to exceed ten (10) years, in order to pay to that extent the cost of said public improvement. The vote on the foregoing article will be by Australian ballot as required by law. The question to be voted upon will be as follows:

“Shall bonds or notes of the Town of Brattleboro, in the amount not to exceed $175,000 bearing interest at a rate not to exceed 5%, for a term not to exceed ten years, be issued for the purpose of repairing the cornice at the Gibson Aiken Center?”

If in favor of this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: Yes

If opposed to this bond issue,

make a cross (x) in this square: No

ARTICLE 32 : To transact any other business that may lawfully come before the meeting.

Brattleboro Selectboard Brattleboro Town School Directors Stephen Steidle, Chair Russell Janis, Chair Richard DeGray, Vice Chair Margaret Atkinson, Vice Chair Greg Worden Lorie Cartwright

Audrey Garfield Shela Linton

Kevin Yager, Clerk Jacqueline Fellows, Clerk
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Town Meeting Docs