The Selectboard had an unusually long meeting this week with some deep discussion over a number of sticky issues. Unsurprisingly, the board enacted their anti-graffiti ordinance, imposing $500 fines for any graffiti practitioner who happens to be caught in the act. Town Manager Barb Sondag proposed a revision to the Town Procurement Manual that would have given a price preference to local businesses in the bidding process for projects under $100,000. This proposal was soundly opposed by Finance Director John Leisenring and Selectboard Chair Dick DeGray, but a compromise appears to be in the works. However, the surprise of the meeting was the Selectboard's rather abrupt decision to disband the Peak Oil Task Force just as they had completed their start-up phase.
Dick DeGray made a few announcements at the start of the meeting, saying that he was "deeply saddened" by the news of Home Depot's departure. He was especially sorry about the 83 jobs that will be lost with the store's closure, and said he hoped that any new business occupying that space would hire as many local workers.
DeGray also gave a plug for the Finance Committee, which is shorthanded and could be "retired" for lack of members, DeGray said. He urged people to join, saying that as a past member of that body, he had found it to be very rewarding work. Persons interested in serving on the Town Finance Committee should contact Town Moderator Tim O'Connor to be appointed.
During Town Manager's remarks, Barb Sondag announced that most Town offices will now be open during lunch hour, from noon to 1 pm. She noted that this would better serve folks trying to run errands at midday. She also said that other changes would be coming in the next few weeks as the Town implements a new streamlined permit and licensing process. Selectperson Martha O'Connor was strongly in favor of the change to keep town offices open all day.
Sondag also announced that Town Committee appointment season is almost upon us. Finance Director John Leisenring will be putting out a list of vacancies for Town boards and committees such as the Planning Commission and the Development Review Board and interested persons are invited to submit letters of interest when the time comes.
During Public Participation, George Reed-Savery asked about the Pay As You Throw trash pickup plans for the town, noting that the board had said previously that there would be an education program for citizens and an attempt to increase recycling before implementing Pay As You Throw. Reed-Savery said that it was his understanding that the drop dead date for avoiding Pay As You Throw was six months from the date the ordinance was enacted, which was in March of this year. Sondag said that they hadn't done outreach but that Solid Waste Committee had been very busy planning for such a program when funding was obtained. She said that the six month time frame was recommended, but did not say whether the Town would insist on holding to that date.
As Liquor Commissioners, the Selectboard granted an outdoor liquor license to Fireworks Pizza on Main St and a one day entertainment license to Common Loaf Bakery for June 7.
The board then adjourned, only to reconstitute as Solid Waste Commissioners. In that role, they were informed that the RFQ for the new wastewater treatment plant has gone out and closes on May 21, 2008. She said that at that time, a review committee composed of Town staff, some engineers, as well as the new Wastewater Treatment Plant supervisor. She invited members of the Selectboard to join the committee. Both Rich Garant and John Allen volunteered.
The Peak Oil Task Force next made their way to the visitor's table. Barb Sondag gave the background report. The Task Force was formed in 2007 by the last Selectboard. Its first task was to research the concept of Peak Oil and decide if it was of genuine concern. The Task Force completed this step, submitting a report that said that in their opinion, peak oil was a real problem and that the Town should take steps to mitigate its impact on Brattleboro.
At the last Selectboard meeting, Task Force spokesperson Tim Stevenson made two requests of the the board. First, that they approve a resolution of support for the Peak Oil Task Force's findings, and second, that they provide direction and next steps for the group. The board at that time was reluctant to do either, but agreed to look at the resolution further. As for next steps, they suggested that the Task Force do that themselves and come back before the board.
Tim Stevenson gave the Task Force's opening statement, saying that the group wanted to pursue education initiatives and were concerned about the legality of their raising money or having a bank account of their own. He also said that a concern raised by the board about the group needing bylaws was not correct, and that they did not need bylaws under state law. Finally, he wanted clarification on the process of adding new members, which currently requires board approval.
Right away, it didn't look good for the Peak Oil Task Force. Dick DeGray said that first and foremost, the board needed to know "where we're going and what the Task Force will do?" He said emphatically that there was no money in either the 2008 or 2009 budgets to fund any Task Force activities. He said also that there was no board support for allowing the group to open a bank account, but that John Leisenring would address that issue.
Martha O'Connor brought up a plan created in 2003 by Paul Cameron of Cities for Climate Protection, saying that she thought that his plan was worth taking a closer look at. She said that she thought the board should meet with Cameron first and see what he was doing. "I'm not in favor of two or three groups on the same issues," she said.
Rich Garant said that he was not familiar with the Climate Action Report that O'Connor had referenced but that he thought that the Peak Oil Task Force could work with Paul Cameron, rather than making an "either/or" decision about keeping one or the other.
Tim Stevenson reiterated that the group was seeking direction from the town and needed help coming up with next steps.
Selectperson John Allen said that the question of next steps was the crux of the matter for him — "how do we decide which way to go," he asked. In his opinion, he said, the town has a lot on its plate already and can only concentrate on matters that were "critical."
Tim Stevenson seemed to catch on at this point, responding that if the board didn't support the mission of the Peak Oil Task Force, then that would "raise doubts about the continuation or dissolution of the Task Force."
Selectperson Jesse Corum laid it out. We have Cameron's Climate Action Plan, he said, which recommends a 10% carbon dioxide reduction by 2010. Sondag interjected that the Town has already exceeded that.
Corum then went on to say that in his view, a task force is limited in both scope and duration, and that this task force had already completed their job by doing the research and producing the report and briefing book. He recommended that the task force be disbanded. There is already a Post Oil Solutions group in town that meets twice a month, Corum said, suggesting that task force members join it instead.
Craig Stead of the Task Force proposed steps forward that included a survey of town employees for energy data and a committment to go after the "low hanging fruit" for energy savings.
Barb Sondag, balked at that proposal, saying that the lengthy Honeywell project had probably gotten most of the low hanging fruit already and that she had concerns about further demands on department heads' time. Sondag said that she felt the task force was contributing to a duplication of efforts and wanted the Town to take a time out to consider a plan, rather than proceed willy nilly — although she stopped short of calling for the dissolution of the task force.
There was continued discussion about whether or not the task force could be combined in some way with Cameron's Cities for Climate Protection efforts, which DeGray supported. Former Selectperson Dora Bouboulis was also in favor of Dick's idea to create a new energy committee to work with Cameron.
Citizen Spoon Agave was concerned that by disbanding the task force without some plan to continue to address the issues, the Town would simply drop the issue. Sondag assured him that the Town is very concerned about energy costs too and will continue to address the problem on many fronts including efficiency improvements, the Capital Improvement Plan, and the District Energy project.
The Selectboard ultimately voted to disband the Peak Oil Task Force by a vote of 3-2, with Garant and DeGray against. However, Dick DeGray indicated that he would have Paul Cameron at the next meeting to discuss creating a new citizen's committee to address energy issues.
[At this point in writing the meeting notes, I learned that my fellow citizen journalist Steven K-Brooks had also written notes. So, in the interest of being as non-duplicative as possible, I'm going to skip large swathes of the rest of the meeting.]
Town Manager Barb Sondag worked up a revision to the Town Procurement Manual that she proposed might increase the number of local businesses chosen to do Town projects. Her proposal applied to projects under $100,000 and created a "cushion" that would allow a local business to be selected even if their bid was slightly higher than the non-local bidder's. For projects under $20,000, the cushion would be 5%, falling to 3% for projects between $20,000 and $100,000.
Sondag noted that the proposal created a conflict between attaining the goal of using more local businesses and the Town's "fiduciary responsibility" to keep taxpayers' costs low, saying that she was interested in hearing the discussion. She also said that she knew John Leisenring had an opinion on the matter.
Leisenring made his objections forthwith, saying that he was against giving price preferences to local businesses, out of concern that it would deter non-local contractors from bidding, which could lead to local businesses feeling free to raise their prices in the absence of competition. He said that in two recent contracts, the companies were not local to Brattleboro but they were located in Vermont. He did not want to limit the town's options in its selection of bids.
Selectperson Rich Garant said that he felt it was important for the town to contract with local businesses. The Town has great buying power, he said, stressing the importance of buying local and keeping dollars circulating in our own community.
DeGray stated his own opposition, saying that the town has too many expenses to be able to give price preference to local businesses. He too cited fiduciary responsibility. Thanks, he said, "but I won't support this."
O'Connor, Allen and Corum were all in agreement that price preferences were a bad idea, again due to fiduciary responsibility. However, Corum offered the suggestion that the ability to choose a local but slightly higher bidder be made an option, if not a requirement. Leisenring was non-committal, saying that while the Town had on occasion selected a second-lowest bid, their preference was to take the lowest bid.
Dora Bouboulis suggested to no one in particular that the proposal be tabled while the language was worked out. She then said that fiduciary responsibility, while important, was too limited a criteria and that the Selectboard should be looking to improve the overall economic health of the town. Contracting with local companies, she said, was an important way to improve the local economy.
Martha then agreed to withdraw her motion, and Barb joked that she would have Leisenring write up his policy revision for next time.
Next up was the Graffiti Ordinance, which was read to us out loud by Barb Sondag. Her verbal dexterity and getting through the list of possible graffiti application methods and devices was nothing short of virtuosic. John Allen remarked upon completion that it sounded like it was written by a lawyer. "I think you covered everything possible," he said.
The short of it is: posting anything anywhere that isn't your own property without express permission of the property owner is now a civil offense, and will cost you $500 if you are caught (and don't clean up the graffiti or other offending affixation).
Rich Garant inquired as to whether the posting of a flyer on a light post would constitute graffiti. Town Lawyer Bob Fisher said that it would and that it was a criminal offense as well, although the criminal penalty is lower than the civil.
Dora said that in her opinion, this was just another unenforceable ordinance. "If the police could catch them," she said, "they wouldn't be doing it." She also worried that it was discriminatory against low income people who would be forced to do community service in lieu of a fine, while the children of more affluent parents would simply have the fine paid for them.
She said that graffiti is the kind of nuisance crime that goes up when the economy goes down. She suggested that it was a deeper problem than simply kids painting on walls for fun. Dora also asked if the Town used the money from the fines, which are public funds, to clean up graffiti on private property. This was last question was not addressed.
Andrea Livermore of Building A Better Brattleboro said that while she agreed with Dora that graffiti reflected larger societal problems, that she did support the ordinance. "We need to send a message," she said, "that we don't tolerate graffiti." Her concern was that graffiti makes a town look run down, and that getting it cleaned up fast was important.
Sondag spoke briefly about graffiti removal methods, saying that the most effective and environmentally friendly method of removing graffiti was with baking soda (wouldn't Heloise be happy). So the Town is saving up to buy a $2000 device that uses baking soda to safely scrub walls.
At that, the board approved the graffiti ordinance by a vote of 4-1 with Garant voting against because he said it was more punitive than necessary.
And we'll leave it there this time. For details on other parts of the meeting not covered here, see SK-B's story here: http://www.ibrattleboro.com/article.php/20080506203528654