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Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – August 16, 2016

by cgrotke | Town News

Central Fire Station’s plans will be presented and reviewed at the next Brattleboro Selectboard meeeting at the Municipal Center on Main Street.

The Stone Church is applying for a liquor permit, road re-classifications (if any) will be announced for three sites in town, there will be a discussion of push button crosswalk lights, ordinances will begin the amendment process, and other projects will get underway.

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

Rutland Herald Sold

by cgrotke | Media

The Rutland Herald and the Times-Argus newspapers are being sold, ending years of local ownership. Here is their announcement:

…..

The Mitchell family announced late Wednesday night they have entered into an agreement to sell the The Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, as well as affiliated print and online publications, to a company headed by Maine-based publishing entrepreneur Reade Brower and printing and marketing executive Chip Harris.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

A Presidential Candidate – Evan McMullin, Jill Stein, Gary Johnson

by cgrotke | Politics

There are choices beyond Trump and Clinton.

Evan McMullin says  “I humbly offer myself as a leader who can give millions of disaffected Americans a conservative choice for president.”

“I am running with the only national party that does not take corporate funding,”  says Jill Stein.

“I do believe that crony capitalism is alive and well. It’s Democrats and Republicans that contribute to that. I’d like to be that choice that is not going to succumb to that,” says Gary Johnson

Weekend Creativity Series – Making a Kaleidoscope

by cgrotke | Creative

I have a bunch of optical toys around, but I haven’t made any since I was a kid.

There are many ways to make a kaleidoscope. Some are quite fancy, made of metal or wood, with fine pieces of colored glass and precise mirrors. Others are quite simple, letting the user turn anything they look at into interesting patterns.

Selectboard Meeting Notes – A Bitter $800,000 Pill To Swallow

by cgrotke | Town News

Ouch. The Brattleboro Selectboard settled a lawsuit with Kingsbury Construction Co. at their meeting on Thursday night. Brattleboro won’t owe the $1.5 million, but the settlement payouts will add over $800,000 to the cost of work done at Black Mountain Road for the gravity fed sewer line to be complete.

Assistant Fire Chief Peter Lynch is taking a new job, tax rates were set, good news on Police and Fire project bond financing was reported, committee appointments were made, and Brattleboro’s new Comprehensive Review of Town Operations is officially debuted and open for public comment.

Brattleboro’s Comprehensive Review of Town Operations – Draft

by cgrotke | Town Plan

One of the major tasks Peter Elwell announced when he took the job as Town Manager was a Comprehensive Review of Town Operations. It’s a top to bottom look at everything Brattleboro does coupled with an attempt to organize a new to-do list for the town. Added to this is some analysis of where we are doing well and where we might be coming up short. It has been a project that has had the involvement of town staff of every department.

The draft version of the document is completed and will be presented to the Selectboard Thursday night for their review and comments. In fact, the document is to be considered a “living document” so that it can be changed an updated as need be as times change. What you see here is the starting point, subject to change. That also means that you can have a role in shaping Brattleboro’s future by reading it and letting the Selectboard or Town Manager’s office know what you think.

Below you’ll find the full draft version (minus the table of contents, unnecessary here). The introduction is a letter from Mr. Elwell explaining the project and the process. He also points out some of the major lessons learned thus far in the course of creating the document.

Hate Motivated Assault in Brattleboro

by cgrotke | Police & Fire

Police report and details sent to us this morning:

“HATE MOTIVATED ASSAULT
August 2, 2016

Mariam J. Belarj, 20, of Medford, New York
OFFICER VINTON

On 7/31/16 at approximately 2107hrs, Brattleboro Officers responded to Elliot St. for a report of an assault. Upon arrival they discovered two victims. A male was attacked randomly and struck repeatedly with a beer bottle, and a female passerby was attacked because she was black. The suspects, a male and female, shouted racial slurs as they assaulted the female.

The suspects fled down Elliot St. after the assault. The victims were treated for non life-threatening injuries. Vermont State Police and the Windham County Sheriff’s Department assisted Brattleboro PD in searching for the suspects. VSP deployed their K9 Unit.

Weekend Creativity Series – Building The Wall

by cgrotke | Creative

It is essential that all good citizens being to learn wall-making skills. Wall-making will be a growth industry in the coming years, from the wall to keep Americans out of Mexico, to the walls we will certainly need to keep us out of Canada and New Hampshire as well.

Who better to teach us these essential American skills than a foreigner! And let’s learn the Traditional Irish Dry Stone Wall method of putting the stones together.

Where’s The Rain? Moderate Drought in Southern Vermont

by cgrotke | Nature

I’ve been wondering where the rain is, and did a bit of research.

According to the United States Drought Monitor, Brattleboro and Windham County are officially considered to be in Moderate Drought, with about 85% of Vermont being categorized as Abnormally Dry.

The trend started in late June and has remained steady through July. The last time we were this dry in Vermont was June of 2015.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agendas and Notes – August 4 and 5, 2016

by cgrotke | Town News

Brattleboro’s first Comprehensive Review of Town Operations will be presented for approval at the next not-so-regularly scheduled meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard.

Property tax rates will be set for FY17, grants will be discussed, appointments to committees will be made, and more. Watch on BCTV or attend in person and participate. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.

There is also a special meeting scheduled to hold a deliberative session the next day.

Missing Cat – Birdie

by cgrotke | Pets

Keep an eye out for an old, black cat in the Cedar Street, Forest Square, Chestnut Hill area.

Birdie wandered off a few days ago and hasn’t been seen since. She’s quite old, very quiet, and polite, and likes to sleep under bushes or in a warm sunny spot. Last seen in the Water Lane area.

If you have a garage, shed, or cellar door that you opened for a while this week, consider opening it back up and taking a look. She may have wandered in.

Selectboard Meeting Notes – Cappy Retiring, Station Plans Approved, Finances Lookin’ Good

by cgrotke | Town News

Town Clerk Annette Cappy is retiring! Oh, dear. Oh, my.

Plans for Central Fire Station were discussed and approved by the Brattleboro Selectboard at their regular Tuesday meeting at the Municipal Center on Tuesday. Finances are looking good on many fronts, a big Caribbean food and culture festival was given permission to take place, the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance told the board what they’ve been up to recently, a new highway arts project got permission to find out if the project was feasible, and more.

Weekend Creativity Series: Shapes of Stories

by cgrotke | Creative

I was reminded this week of a somewhat famous lecture by author Kurt Vonnegut on the shapes of stories. He creates graphs showing how stories can be plotted into diagrams, and that despite a diversity of tales out there, most stories follow some very simple story arcs.

Since giving his lecture, others have done similar analysis and studies of well-known and popular stories and their data basically backs up Vonnegut’s propositions. About six story arcs account for the majority of stories told.

Can you tell a tale using one of the common patterns? What happens if you break the pattern?

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – July 19, 2016

by cgrotke | Town News

The future of the Municipal Center is just one of many issues the Brattleboro Selectboard will take up at their next regular meeting.

Central Fire Station plans will be reviewed, the board will get a preliminary look at the 2016 year end financial report, they will hear about downtown activities, and consider an arts project for highways. All this and more. You can attend in person, participate, and bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.

Which Four Year Show To Watch?

by cgrotke | Politics

Summer is a time for TV execs to preview fall programming. So it is in politics, too. Conventions are previews for presidencies. What shall we watch for four years? Let’s look at the choices.

Bernie Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton today, marking the official end of his campaign to become President and the beginning of his more-powerful-than-this-time-last-year campaign for major changes. This leaves us a Coke-Pepsi type of choice. Sorry, we’re out of root beer.

Clinton has been laying somewhat low, presumably preparing for the convention and general campaign. It’s certainly hers to lose. She’s got more money, she’s been through the election cycle many times before and has the connections and “ground game” to pull it off. The Clinton network has reach and power.

Weekend Creativity Series – Whittling

by cgrotke | Creative

Summer is a great time for sitting outside with a piece of wood and a small knife, carving away at a leisurely pace and passing time.

It’s also not that difficult to make something useful, ornamental, or both. A few simple tips and tricks are all you’ll need to get going.

1855 Account of Nearby Balloon Ascent

by cgrotke | History

Vermont Phoenix, July 7th, 1855  “BALLOON ASCENT.—Mons Gustave Reynard, an experienced aeronaut, ascended in a balloon from Springfield on the 4th. The Springfield Republican says:

“The wind was high, and when the cords were loosed, the balloon with its daring aeronaut shot upward like a rocket. It rapidly rose and swept away to the east of north and in a very few minutes was lost behind a large bank of white clouds. When at an estimated height of four thousand feet, the aeronaut detached his parachute, an umbrella-like structure, to which was attached a live white cat in net work and basket. This came slowly and safely down, but was wafted so far north by the wind that it only reached the earth in Chicopee Falls. Pussy was very badly frightened, net unhurt.

Brattleboro Sprouting AirBnB Options

by cgrotke | Business

One of the things I learned over the weekend is that Brattleboro is home to quite a few AirBnB rentals. If you haven’t heard of it, it is an online service to connect people with spare rooms and houses with vacation rental seekers, and to facilitate payments.

The first one I learned of when my sister was booking a stay. “Is this near you?” as she showed me a photo of the house directly opposite ours. She made her reservation. (Other family members followed up with other rentals about town.)

Doing a quick search for a trip to Brattleboro this coming weekend shows at least 7 locations in town, with an average $95 a night fee for services provided.