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Brattleboro’s new town manager, Peter Elwell, was front and center for his first official meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. He was quiet for most of the meeting, but had a few strong words about dipping into the Unassigned Fund Balance for non-emergencies.

The future of the Committee of the Future was called into question by the director of Planning Services, a first public hearing was held on a series of proposed changes to the Town Charter, the skatepark committee has a new location to study for feasibility, and a wide array of budget matters were deferred for action at a special meeting of the Selectboard scheduled for January 29th at 5:15 pm.

Five different vendors of alcohol will ask for special event permits for a single night of samples, at the next regular Tuesday meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard.

The board will consider a contract and loan to finish off the Black Mountain Gravity Sewer line, consider more items for inclusion on the Representative Town Meeting warning, will hear of revisions to plans for locating the skatepark, and will again offer time for the public to speak to issues of the FY16 budget before it is approved by the board.

Brattleboro’s new Town Manager may also make an appearance, being the first day on the job.

Brattleboro’s municipal budget, and how to pay for it, was the focus of the first regular meeting of the selectboard in 2015. Very few decisions were made – that’s being saved for their next meeting – but issues were discussed in detail and a few Town Meeting Representatives even joined in the debate.

Property taxes appear to be going up, the 1% Local Option Sales tax may or may not be re-voted, a decision on the Futures Committee has been put off until the future, and the town has a long list of necessary improvements to do.

Board members held differing views on when the public and representatives should be consulted via votes or discussions, and which issues should be reconsidered. 

The Brattleboro Selectboard will discuss tax increases resulting from revised FY16 budget number at their first regular meeting of 2015. The increases come from the board’s recent decision to again try to get taxpayers to pay for the full Police-Fire facilities project. Money discussions will also include tapping the unassigned fund balance, necessary improvements required at the Municipal Center, and trying once again to pass a 1% local options sales tax.

The Wastewater Treatment Plant project might be completed in 2015. The board will receive an update on the project, learn more about the Windham Solid Waste Management District FY16 budget, and discuss charter change amendments that shift some deadlines, allow early ballots to be counted mechanically, and create a Futures Committee for Representative Town Meeting members.

You can participate, and bring up other items not already on the agenda during Public Participation if you so choose. Watch on BCTV, and read about it here after the meeting.

The Brattleboro Selectboard snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Tuesday’s long, final regular meeting of the year. With a vote of 3-2, the board threw away their carefully-crafted and quite palatable FY16 budget that featured no cuts to services and no significant tax increase.

Instead, the split decision was to endorse going forward with all three Police and Fire facilites immediately, and to ask for a new budget that would include payments to do the full scope of work, potentially adding a significant amount to property taxes.  This sends the board back into budget meetings, and the spectre of service cuts and tax increases is now again on the horizon.

In other news,  a list of capital improvements that were to be added back in to the budget had to be sidelined, Brattleboro pays a somewhat arbitrary rate for solid waste removal, the board endorsed the use of the higher-priced bag system for PAYT, and a new union is recognized for town employees.

Sorry for the delay. I had this almost finished last night and the power went out.

The Brattleboro Selectboard will receive their first official report on possible police facility locations at their final regular meeting of the year. You can attend in person at the Municipal Center, or watch on BCTV.

If you do, you can join talk of additions to the FY16 budget in the form of capital improvements and expenses, a discussion of the Windham Solid Waste District budget, a continued debate on a motion to incorporate life cycle costs considerations for town capital projects, an update from the Pay As You Throw Committee, a request by the Stroll for a permit for their June parade, and wishing a happy retirement to a long-time children’s librarian.

All this and more. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during Public Participation.