The Brattleboro Selectboard played hardball with West Brattleboro residents and the Planning Commission, dealing them a blow on impervious surfaces but allowing their prohibition on strip mall businesses to stand. At issue were two interim ordinances, enacted roughly two years ago, which are due to expire again. After having renewed them twice, some members of the board were clearly annoyed that permanent ordinances hadn’t been found.

Citizens from West Brattleboro were on hand to speak to the amount of effort and citizen input not to mention months of Planning Department and Commission time to craft these two interim ordinances. Selectboard members had lots of questions and as the hours lengthened, it was hard to tell what might happen. In the end, the board voted to lapse the Flood Hazard Ordinance, setting us back to the old regulations that don’t do as much to limit paving. But the Suburban Commercial Ordinance governing commercial development in West Bee squeaked by and will be in effect for another year.

In Solid Waste news, Jane Southworth of the Solid Waste Committee was on hand to propose more regulations and enforcements on violators of the Town’s new Solid Waste Ordinance. There were penalties for not doing your recycling right or putting inappropriate items (tvs, electronics, couches) on the curb. Apparently the trash hauler guys will be expected to refuse certain trash and issue stickers to violators.

And much more.

Preliminaries

Chair Jesse Corum announced that it was unnecessary to ask if the meeting had been warned because it was a regularly scheduled meeting taking place on a first or third Tuesday of the month. He went on to point out the seating arrangement which has changed slightly. It appears that audience chairs are now fanned to right and left with a wider aisle, and that the public seating extends further into the room closer to the Selectboard’s dais.

Corum said that the revamped arrangement allows the Town to accommodate more people in the room. He also said that thanks to BCTV, there are now speakers in the Hannah Cosman overflow room, so people sitting out there can at least hear what is going on.

Corum also offered condolences to Frank Dearborn, who passed away this week. Mr. Dearborn worked in Brattleboro Recreation and Parks for over 30 years and had been instrumental in the creation of Living Memorial Park.

Town Manager Barb Sondag, who was suffering from a bit of a cold, did not have remarks.

Dora reported that Windham Solid Waste had hosted a presentation by Carbon Harvest Energy on their plan to harvest the methane from the landfill to power greenhouses and fish hatcheries. Dora said this project really “has legs” and expected it to happen.

During citizen participation, Bob Audette of the Reformer announced that the $2 million in stimulus funds that the Town had applied for to do the RBC units had been approved.

Chestnut Hill Reservoir Revisited

As alert readers know, the town wants to decommission the Chestnut Hill Reservoir while most of the residents of Chestnut Hill don’t want them to. The Town says that the state says that the “dam” as they call it, is unsafe. The residents say it’s enough and that anyway, there’s hardly any water in it. They think the dam could be made safe at a far lower cost than “decommissioning” it and are afraid of what the town is going to do to their neighborhood in the name of public safety.

The latest wrinkle in this dispute is that the town wanted to hire an engineering firm, specifically Dubois and King, to do a $30,000 study of the reservoir and advise them on their options regarding rehabitation or decommissioning. Neighbors were leary. Said Bill McCarty of Chestnut Hill, “There seems to be a foregone conclusion that the reservoir will be decommissioned.”

But members of the Selectboard, including Dora Bouboulis, said they need the study in order to find out what the options are. Without it, said DeGray, there was nothing to go on but speculation. Jesse Corum cited a stack of state reports going back ten years declaring the reservoir to be a “high risk dam.”

Public Works Director Steve Barrett said that citizens would be engaged throughout the process but neighbors were concerned the process was being rushed. Said John Chard “I don’t want this done fast and on the cheap.” He said that the project needed to be done “nicely” as a courtesy to the town and the immediate neighbors. Others wondered why the Town was even considering a high-cost project such as this during a time of lean budgets.

Jesse Corum took the blame, saying he had nagged Sondag since he’d first joined the board to find a solution to the reservoir which he said was not used for anything and yet cost the town money each year to maintain. Fric Spruyt asked what those maintenance costs were and Sondag said she didn’t know. Another citizen said that in addition to not maintaining the fence around the perimeter of the reservoir, the town mowed it during the summer months.

There were concerns about Dubois and King who were just released from doing a wastewater treatment plant study because they still hadn’t finished it in three years. Steve Barrett said they had the low bid and the most experience with decommissioning dams, making them perfect for this project. He said that despite the issues on the other project, he recommended them.

Dick said that despite the fact that he “wasn’t in a spending mood,” he was in favor of paying for the study. John Allen said that the Town was “skating on thin ice” regarding liability and that the reservoir was “an accident waiting to happen.” He said that the public had been adequately informed and that this project had to go forward.

The board voted unanimously to hire the engineering firm to do the study on decommissioning the reservoir.

More Wastewater Treatment Plant Contracts

Gene Forbes of Hoyle & Tanner engineering firm congratulated the town on approving the $32.8 million wastewater treatment plant bond and presented the first of several contracts for design and construction of the wastewater treatment plant upgrade. The contract under consideration was was for $1,483,370 to Hoyle & Tanner for the final design phase which is expected to last another two years.

Forbes said that the RBC unit replacements was being fast-tracked to September to qualify for federal stimulus money. Some questioned if the project could be gotten underway that quickly. Forbes said that they “could get our end of it done” and gave assurances.

Dick DeGray asked about project oversight and asked when the board would decide on hiring a “Clerk of the Works” to keep an eye on construction. Sondag said that since construction didn’t begin until September, they would have time to make this decision later. There has been talk of letting Hoyle & Tanner oversee the project themselves.

The board voted 5-0 to approve the contract.

Monthly Financial Report

We’re going to skip the monthly financial report. It was delivered by Barb Sondag in Finance Director John Leisenring’s absence. She did a fine job.

Roads, Roofs, Storm Damage Reimbursement and More

Steve Barrett delivered the Annual Financial Plan for Town Highways which he says qualifies the town for state highway aid. This was approved 5-0.

In the discussion, it emerged that by prior agreement, the Town is slated to take over a mile and a half of road in HIgh Point Estates “executive housing” development. Barrett was asked how many homes had to be occupied before the Town had to start plowing and doing other maintenance. Barrett said that only three homes had to be occupied before the Town was obligated. DeGray said that that was a “big loop of plowing.” Barret agreed.

Next up was a paving contract for 976 feet of Meadowbrook Road which got a low bid of $76,410 from local contractors Lane Construction. The board approved it.

Recreation and Parks Director Carol Lalotte was present to talk about the Gibson-Aiken Center roof which has begun to leak and needs to be resurfaced. She got a bid of $42,000 from the only bidder, Shoreline Industrial in Saugus, Massachusetts. She said the company would apply a rubberized roof coat with a ten year guarantee. The board approved the contract.

But there’s more. The Town also received a FEMA grant to reimburse it for $10,000 in costs associated with the ice storm last December.

And finally, Fire Chief Bucossi returned for a second reading of a public safety ordinance that would enable the Fire Department to charge nominal fees for certain types of inspections. They already do these inspections in conjunction with the state but under the new ordinance, the state would stop doing them and the Town Fire Department would take on that responsibility. The fees are $40 for a home sale inspection and $25 for the annual inspection of a residential school.

West Brattleboro Planning Part One - The Flood Hazard Interim Ordinance

The Flood Hazard Interim Ordinance, first enacted two years ago, was an effort to put development restrictions in place to protect homes and businesses in the flood plain and downstream from the effects of a major flood of the Whetstone Brook. The ordinance was controversial from the start as it had language regarding paving — otherwise known as “impervious surfaces.” The ordinance placed temporary limits on paving and other impervious surfaces in the floodway as well as the flood plain, expanding the area of protection, though exceptions could be granted.

Planning Director Rod Francis, and Planning Commissioners Kevin Maloney and Gary Goodemote pleaded their case for granting a one year extension on the interim ordinance. They said that new information was coming from the state about dealing with a second kind of flooding caused by something called fluvial erosion. Rod Francis said this kind of flooding was much more common than inundation flooding which happens in other parts of the country. They felt a better ordinance could be crafted with this better information and wanted to wait for it to be available in the coming year.

Dick DeGray said that they had taken too much time already and said he would move to amend the extension to six months. John Allen then asked what would happen if the board just voted down the extension. Goodemote said it would revert to the old ordinance. Maloney said that the Commission had not been dillydallying — they really did have to wait for the Geomorphic Study on the Whetstone to be completed, which just happened in the last month. John Allen was not impressed, saying that everything had “come to a standstill” and that people’s property had to be considered. Allen felt that floods were unavoidable, act-of-god sorts of things that ordinances would not prevent. “Where does this ordinance get us,” he asked.

A number of West Brattleboro residents spoke to the issue, all but one in favor of extension. Valerie Stewart said that fluvial plains were often wetlands and that it was not a cost saving to risk a flood by developing in those areas. Michael Bosworth, who was involved throughout the planning process leading to the interim ordinance, asked what they would lose by letting this ordinance — and its limits on impervious surfaces — lapse.

In his answer, Rod Francis proved a weak advocate for the extension, saying that existing regulations on runoff reduction would protect the area from getting overpaved and that the main issue was the size of the parcels affected.

Then it was time to vote. Dick DeGray made his motion to reduce the extension to six months. The board voted it down, 3-2 with Dora, Corum and O’Connor against. But when the vote to extend the ordinance by a year was held, O’Connor again voted no and the motion failed. Hence, the Flood Hazard Interim Ordinance will lapse. The Planning Commission will have to try again to pass a permanent ordinance at a later date.

West Brattleboro Planning Part Two - Suburban Commercial Zoning

The Suburban Commercial Zoning Ordinance (Interim) may sound benign but it contains one very controversial feature — limts on what kinds of businesses can be located along the corridor from Sunset Lake Road to Creamery Bridge.

The interim ordinance, in accordance with the wishes of the majority of West Brattleboro citizens involved in the planning process, disallowed new drive-through restaurants, motels, gas stations and service stations, shopping centers and other enterprises commonly associated with chain store strip malls. This language was hard won and took months to get through the Planning Commission. As Valerie Stewart said, “We worked hard on this and what we wanted was a village feel, not a strip.”

Stewart McDermott said that he too strongly favored the extension to give them time to finish the permanent ordinance. He and Dora also cited the amount of work that had gone into writing the ordinance, by Town and volunteer planners including members of the West Brattleboro Association.

John Allen said that as a born Vermonter, he was not in favor of restricting development. He wondered how many people he could annoy at 9:45 in the evening.

They voted 2-3 to defeat Dick DeGray’s amendment to reduce the extension to six months. Then they voted 3-2 to extend it for a year. Martha O’Connor and John Allen voted against. Hands went up all around the room.

Solid Waste Penalties and Enforcements

Jane Southworth and Peter Cooper of the Solid Waste Committee presented the latest plan on enforcement of the new solid waste ordinance and penalties for violators. They also want to deal with illegal dumping both in prevention and potential prosecution of violators.

Under their plan to enforce mandatory townwide recycling, trash haulers would be given lists of appropriate recycing and if items not on the list were placed in bins, the bin would not be picked up and a sticker would be affixed to the offending bin. It was not specified if the haulers would write the name of the offending non-recyclable on the sticker. The same would be true for bulk trash such as tvs, furniture and the like. These too would be (as they are now) left on the curb except they would have a sticker on them.

As for illegal dumping, they would like to install a mechanism for the public to report illegal dumping. Jesse Corum asked who would receive these dumping reports. Southworth said that she didn’t know but that she assumed Brenda in Finance would do it since she handles recycling bins.

Police, she said, should monitor known dumping sites and if possible, we could “paw through them and find out who did it.” Then, she said, enforcement efforts could be brought against those people so identified. She also wanted to install No Dumping signs at hotspots around town.

Her final proposal had to do with “enforcement and education” or possibly, “enforcement education.” In either case, she could see that the board was tired. She suggested that they come back another night when the board had had time to digest their proposal.

Allen said “it’s all common sense things.” He thought it was sad that an ordinance was needed.

Dora said, “I have issues with this. I’m going to come to one of your meetings.” Jane announced that Windham Solid Waste would do residential composting if people brought it to them.

Dora continued, “The trouble with this is that it’s all punitive.” We need to find a West Brattleboro recycling place, she offered as an example. Sondag said that truck access was necessary and that it needed to be on public land.

Town Energy Committee

Paul Cameron wanted to start a Town Energy Committee to look at energy issues, get grants, and other tasks. The Selectboard questioned the size of the committee. Cameron was suggesting 8-10. He said it was a hot topic but was happy to accept 6-8 people. The board said that if they got at least five letters of interest from Brattleboro residents they would constitute the committee.

State Rep Sarah Edwards said that she strongly supported the committee and would apply to it.

The go ahead to try to form a Town Energy Committee was given.

Taxis, Dogs, and Dances

Martin Beninson got his taxi permit, post haste.

Dog warrants were issued — for bad dogs who don’t have licenses and up to date rabies shots. Noted media personality Gorty Baldwin had one of the warranted dogs. Barb Sondag, who was tired, quipped “We’ve never killed a dog yet but you never know.”

Chase Street got their sidewalk closing for a street party on April 8, 2009. Corum noted that the vote was 5-0 with one yawn.

The Morris Dancers got their permit and will be all over town this Saturday from 1-3 pm.

Road Trips

Once again, our Selectboard will be taking to the road to visit Senators and plead the Town’s case for more stimulus. They plan to hit up the federal delegation as well as state reps.

Last but not least, 32 identical letters were sent to the Town asking that bus service be extended to the new Walmart seven miles away in Hinsdale, when and if that happens. Sondag said that people were just going on record that they wanted bus service to Walmart and that coincidentally, reps from New Hampshire would be meeting with the board soon, to discuss extending our local bus service into their state.