BDCC and SeVEDS have released a draft version of the 2018 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Below you’ll find the full text of what is being suggested for improvements to this part of the state. It is currently a draft, and you can get involved to help improve it.
Note some of issues relate to having a regional community web site with a calendar and such. Too bad we don’t have one of those around here!
The Brattleboro Selectboard cancelled a few possible contentious items on the agenda (the Harmony Lot mural and the Health Code violation) but still got an earful from a couple concerned that blinking safety lights on Western Ave are unnecessary and lower the value of their home. The Wessel Baffle might prove to be the solution.
Town Manager Elwell gave the board an overview of the coming budget request from Town staff. Of note: the expected 4% health insurance increase is actually more like 17%. Ouch. Call a doctor. Police cars are being uplifted, a new solar project is being considered, and more.
There are citizen complaints about the new flashing lights on Western Avenue near Cedar Street, and the Brattleboro Selectboard will hear them at their next regular meeting.
The Town has complaints, too, against a property owner on Oak Street. The Town Arts Committee has concerns about the bookshelf mural in Harmony Lot, the FY20 budget overview will be presented, and a solar array might be coming to a parking garage near you.
You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
One of the casualties of our move away from Cedar Street is that we can no longer provide you with the full report on Brattleboro halloween costumes as we’ve done before. I’m not happy about it. I loved the yearly lists of creative output by our younger residents.
It’s going to be up to you as individuals to make note of the costumes this year, and here’s your space to do it. If you see anything wild or wonderful, let us all know.
Longtime friend Joe Crompton passed away under the full moon.
You know Joe if you shopped at the Co-op. He was the sausage-making meat expert in the butcher area.
You know Joe if you worked at the Co-op. He kept a constant eye on management and was a leading advocate for the union. He spent many a year trying to get better situations for employees, which paid off in recent years with a succesful union vote.
I’ll be live-blogging the meeting again, so follow along and feel free to ask questions. They’ll be getting started soon, and I’ll be adding regular updates in the comments below.
I thought it was just us. All summer long, mildew seemed to be taking hold all over the house. As we packed boxes and got furniture ready to be moved, we wiped mildew off off just about everything.
We did have incredibly high humidity all summer long, and some tropical days for sure. But this seemed a bit extreme. It was as if you’d wipe mildew off a surface and it would start right back.
Brian Bannon sent along the following PDF drawing of the proposed plans for the ski jump at Living Memorial Park. It features a new wooden inrun trestle (the jump) and an altered hill profile (landing).
Much of the work is to prepare the hill, including installing silt fences to help with erosion, clearing the hillside, stripping the topsoil, re-grading, and re-seeding. The structure ends near the ballfield, and the bleachers will be moved.
Parking rates are set to go up after the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. They’ll also be repealing the begging ordinance that caught the recent attention of the ACLU.
Brattleboro will buy sand and salt, get some bulletproof vest upgrades, and the board will review their goals as well as bulky item trash pickup. You can bring up other matters during public participation.
A place to record your little observations about Brattleboro, such as….
New paint for a store across from the Latchis
More big, old trees taken down on Oak Street.
You may have heard rumors and yes, they are true. Lise and Chris have moved up river to Williamsville.
One might ask, and it is a reasonable question, why did we depart the town we love?
Many reasons, but the main one is that we could not find a good place to live within our budget within town limits. The places for sale in Brattleboro this summer were either gorgeous and expensive, or near-dumps.
An interesting item in the DRB agenda – fixing up an old ski jump at Living Memorial Park:
“2018-153 Todd Einig for Harris Hill, Inc. for Town of Brattleboro Recreation and Parks Department; Waterfront District; request for Site Plan, steep slope, and Local Act 250 approval to repair an existing 17 meter ski jump at Memorial Park which has been out of use for 20+ years
Tonight’s meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard is being live blogged here as it happens. For fun!
The Brattleboro Selectboard will begin to repeal an Anti-Panhandling ordinance at their next regular meeting at the Municipal Center. They’ll take up the issue of Youth Voting, raise parking rates, and spend $260,000 on a new parking system. Tri-Park will get a master plan, a grant for disc golf will be approved, and will schedule the meetings for review of the FY20 budget.
You can, as always, bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation, or join the discussion of items that are on the agenda. It’s up to you.
At their next regular meeting, the Brattleboro Selectboard will take some early steps toward work on the next Hinsdale Bridge. The new bridge begins with relocation of some utility lines near the project and some signing of agreements, at least as far as Vermont is concerned. NH is building it.
Vehicles for hire will again be on the agenda. New vehicles will be purchased, financial reports will be heard, litigation with Retreat Farm will be resolved, Hermit Thrush will get a break on loan payments due to their product recall, bulky waste collection will be discussed, and more. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
They aren’t happening here, but a hurricane in the mid-Atlantic and a series of explosions near Andover are causing nightmares for many other people, including much of my family.
My aunt and uncle live in North Andover. They’re fine, Aunt Nancy reports, but had to evacuate. She said they are one town over, safe, but are worried about friends. They were having trouble reaching friends and neighbors last night.
I’ve had an opportunity to drive around a bit more than usual, and one thing that pretty clear: there are a lot of dead animals on the road right now.
Skunks and squirrels seem to be the primary victims. They are all over, but also concentrated in some places. There’s a spot on Putney Rd where quite a few have failed to make it all the way across. There’s a place along Rt 30 near the bridge that also seems to have a bit of a pileup.
This morning I got a very official looking email from “Susan Walker” , who claims to be from the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce. The subject: “2018 Updated Business License.”
The message says “Please see attached for the new business License to carry out your daily business activities,failure to get new license will result in penalty on your business,thanks.” and is followed by “Susan Walker,” the Chamber’s mailing address, and the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce logo.
I’m curious. If the Democrats are against the the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, why didn’t they just walk out of the hearing and deny the Republicans a quorum? Sticking around enables the proceedings to continue.
Seems like they shouted for a few moments at the start, then fell right into line, leaving all disruption to regular folks getting arrested every hour.
The parking garage, a.k.a. the Brattleboro Transportation Center, had center stage at Tuesday’s meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. Is it safe? Is it energy efficient? Is it bright enough? Should we add a permanent art project? How big is that ceiling? Is there something we can do instead of paying half a million for reflective paint? These are the issues of the day.
There was quite a bit of public discussion throughout, new energy projects were approved, and the vehicle for hire ordinance is on hold. But really, it was mostly about the parking garage.
