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Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda & Notes – July 6, 2021

by cgrotke | Town News

At their first meeting in July, the Brattleboro Selectboard will make it easier to buy liquor downtown and at Retreat Farm with the granting of two new liquor licenses. They will also buy pick-up trucks, approve a new mural for a parking lot, contemplate repairs on the Elliot Street bridge, adopt new Land Use regulations, discuss their summer meeting schedule, review their goals, approve of dams, and more.

You can bring up other items not on the agenda during hybrid public participation.

Annie Guion of Windham County Humane Society To Retire

by cgrotke | Pets

Annie Guion has announced her retirement from the Windham County Humane Society. Here’s the letter:

Dear Friends,

After 14 years of the best work of my life and my most fun and fulfilling job to date, it is time for me to move on to the next adventure. My partner is retiring and we are planning to pursue some long-held dreams and check some items off the bucket list. I love the Windham County Humane Society (WCHS) and in order to ensure a smooth transition, I will be staying through the end of 2021.

New Map Shows Broadband (Lack of) Availability

by cgrotke | Sci-Tech

The NTIA has released a new map showing indicators of broadband need. It takes several data sources, combines them, and then shows how different parts of the country compare.

It’s a fascinating map, showing where people in the US are getting fast internet speeds (big cities, Silicon Valley, and a few places here and there), and how the rest of us are doing.

For Windham County the numbers are like this:

Noticed Around Brattleboro – Summer 2021

by cgrotke | Town News

It’s the summer 2021 edition of “Noticed Around Brattleboro” – your seasonal catch-all for little things not worthy of a full story but certainly worthy of making note of for the history books.

• Exit 2 I-91 bridge work is ongoing. Looks like a new surface for the upper level.

• Hermit Thrush Brewery has a sign up where Silver Moon used to be.

Selectboard Meeting Notes – The Final Zoom, Financing, and Web Site Information Gathering

by cgrotke | Town News
Brattleboro Selectboard june 15 21

The Brattleboro Selectboard held their final Zoom meeting Tuesday night. Their next meeting, July 6, will be in person (with a hybrid mix) at the Municipal Center in the Selectboard Meeting Room. The Governor says it must be so.

Water shutoff will resume, in November. The board also approved of a financing plan for the water treatment plant on quite favorable financial terms, Tri-Park finances were re-financed, a process for gathering information for a new town website was presented, and committee members were appointed.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – June 15, 2021

by cgrotke | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard will be discussing water and sewer finances, including paying for the new water treatment plant, at their next regular meeting. They’ll also consider reinstating water shutoffs for delinquent accounts and Tri-Park loan refinancing.

There will also be COVID matters, committee members, and a process for creating an RFP for a new town website. You can bring up other matters not on the agenda during public participation.

Selectboard Meeting Notes – Police Hours Change, Mask Mandate To Expire, Water Treatment Plant Contract Approved

by cgrotke | Town News
Brattleboro Selectboard june 1

The Brattleboro Selectboard approved a plan to let Brattleboro Police switch from an understaffed three shift system to a two shift system that will reduce hours and stress. Brattleboro will go without patrol staff for certain hours of the week.

The water treatment plant is going ahead with approval of a firm to build the new plant, despite a bad reference and previous bad town experiences with the company. The local mask mandate will be lifted on Friday. And State Senator Becca Balint described the huge piles of money coming to Vermont in the near future.

Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting Agenda and Notes – June 1, 2021

by cgrotke | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard will take up matters relating to COVID at their next regular meeting. State Senator Becca Balint will give an update on ARPA and other funding sources, the board will discuss what to do about the mask order in town, they’ll talk about in-person meeting possibilities. and whether to continue deferring Small Business Loans.

Hiring a firm to help find Brattleboro a new Town Manager is up for discussion, as will approving a nearly $12 million big to build a new water treatment plant. You can bring up other items not on the agenda, and/or ask for your $12 million, during public participation.

Vermont Re-Making Jurassic Park – You Can Be A Part Of It

by cgrotke | Creative

There’s a project in Vermont this summer to re-create the film Jurassic Park, and you can be a part of it.

Crowdsourced Cinema VT is looking for Vermont filmmakers, videographers, artists, animators, musicians, and more to volunteer to re-make a scene from the dinosaur park movie. It’s a state-wide project and regional collaboration among media access centers.

Thoughts On The Ski Jump Sculpture

by cgrotke | Op/Ed
ski jump statue

The Town of Brattleboro has been given a gift of a metal ski-jumper-shaped object that lights up. It will be placed near Wells Fountain during the winter season. The selectboard accepted the gift at their most recent meeting.

The gift is in celebration of 100 years of Harris Hill, a truly unique part of the Brattleboro landscape. Creating a sculpture to celebrate is a good idea. And a free gift of a sculpture is a great thing.

The presentation to the selectboard left me with some questions, though.

Town of Brattleboro Mask Order Still In Effect

by cgrotke | Town News

The Brattleboro Town Manager’s COVID-19 update today says the following:

“WEARING FACE COVERINGS REQUIRED 

At its meetings on May 19 and May 26, 2020, the Selectboard adopted the following resolution. The resolution was reviewed and reaffirmed at the Selectboard meeting on June 16. On May 13, 2021, the United States Government issued new guidance that says fully vaccinated people can safely choose not to wear face coverings indoors or outdoors. Today, Governor Scott reiterated that guidance to Vermonters. The updated guidance states that “fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” The Town of Brattleboro’s face covering order remains in effect at this time. Moreover, it is important to remember that many people are not yet fully vaccinated so individual businesses may choose to continue to require face coverings on their premises even after government-issued face covering orders have been rescinded. “

Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting Agenda and Notes – May 18, 2021

by cgrotke | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard will continue to review FY22 proposed budgets for the Parking and Utilities Funds at their next regular meeting. Either or both may be adopted.

The board will also buy two new dump trucks, discuss placement of a ski jumper sculpture on Main Street during winter months, figure out details of dependent care reimbursement for themselves, and consider buying a summer sidewalk tractor.  You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.

When Should I Stop Updating COVID Regional Dashboards?

by cgrotke | Health

Are the daily summaries still useful to you? The numbers are going down in general, but they aren’t at zero and new variants are making their way through the system. When should I stop summarizing the data?

I was thinking that perhaps if we hit zero cases in Vermont for 5 days in a row, that could be a signal to call it quits. But NH still has a pretty high transmission rate (around 3%), and MA isn’t at zero yet, either though their numbers have impressively declined.

What say ye? Let me know what you’d like…

ARPA Tree Fund Suggestion

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

Brattleboro will soon be going through a public process to determine how to spend over $3 million in ARPA funding. The selectboard will be setting up a process for gathering ideas and suggestions, evaluating them, and deciding what to do. They will be looking for items that give the greatest long-term benefit to Brattleboro.

As the Lorax would say, “I’d like to speak for the trees.”

I’m not sure what the right amount is, but for argument’s sake I’d like to suggest $100k be spent on shade trees.  Few things would give longer-lasting benefits to the town.