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Conjuring visions of budgets past, the Brattleboro Selectboard discussed pay As You Throw and the 1% local sales tax as possible revenue-raisers for the town. This was in reaction to Tuesday evening’s dire forecasts for the FY15 budget and associated taxes that property owners will likely encounter.

ASL interpreters gave an account of the meeting to the hearing impaired for the first time, both the Planning Services and Library department reports were presented to the board, Strand Avenue will eventually be repaired, and the cost for using a tower on Wantastiquet jumps from $10 to $12,000 per year. And, of course, much more.

Two departmental reports are scheduled for the first September meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. Planning Services’s Rod Francis and Brooks Memorial Library’s Jerry Carbone will update the board and the public about their respective departments and answer the question of what they would do with a 5% increase or decrease in their budgets.

ASL interpreters will begin translating each meeting beginning Tuesaday evening. This will allow even more members of the public to find out about repairs to Williams Street and the Cooke Road Bridge, preliminary budget discussions, the communications tower on Wantastiquet, the Town Manager search, and more.

You can attend in person at the Municipal Center or watch on BCTV via cable or stream, or read about it here the next day. Feel free to bring up other items not on the agenda during Public Participation.

Some news from Tuesday night’s Selectboard meeting wasn’t mentioned at all during the meeting. In the written departmental report from the Brattleboro Police to the Selectboard were listed two items that neither the Police nor the Selectboard spoke about during the presentation to the board: powerful software to gather and evaluate intelligence of potential criminal activity, and live, remote access to private video systems in town.

From the Finance Director we learned that delinquent taxes increased by $100,000 in 2013. The Police Fire Project gained a Construction Management firm, the swimming pool will get some much-needed attention, and angels will begin appearing around Brattleboro in September.

Read on for full details.

The Waste Water Treatment Plant is substantially complete. So the Brattleboro Selectboard will hear at their next regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting at the Municipal Center on Main Street. The pump stations still need a bit of work, but work the main facility is at the finish line.

Also on the agenda: the Police Fire Facility Project committee will make a recommendation for “construction management services,” we’ll learn of plans to fix the swimming pool at Living memorial Park, the board will hear about a new public art project, there will be a report from the Brattleboro Police Department, the board will accept and approve some grants, and they will create a PACE district in Brattleboro by adopting a resolution that allows VEIC to manage the program.

All this and more at Tuesday’s meeting. You can watch on BCTV, on TV or online, and read all about it here the day after.

The Brattleboro Selectboard had no problems guiding the town at their first regular meeting without an official Town Manager at the helm. They even did it without their Chair, too.

The board navigated concerns about downtown sidewalks, skateboarders, and homeless people in the parks. They heard an update on the SeVEDS program and gave them a second check for $25,000. They received an overview of the Town Clerk’s office, and debated skating rink compressor options once again. 

The board discussed becoming another online news source for Brattleboro, and how best to prepare to hire locally for municipal projects with big budgets.

Brattleboro will return to the discussion of skating rink repairs at the next regular Tuesday meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. A grant for $100,000 will be accepted and applied to the cost, and a contractor to do the repairs will be chosen.

The board will hear from Town Clerk Annette Cappy about her department, will accept grants and grant permits, and may get to their long-scheduled discussions of local hiring and the town website.

You can bring up anything else not on the agenda during Public Participation. Attend in person at the Municipal Center on Main Street or watch on BCTV, and get the full report here the next day.

Tuesday night’s meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard was the final regular Selectboard meeting for outgoing Town Manager Barb Sondag. Former Chair Dick Degray appeared during Public Participation to offer her a sincere, heartfelt send off. A public thank you and farewell is scheduled for later this week.

Residents of Strand Avenue came to request that the road and retaining wall repair project on their street be temporarily halted to enable a discussion of closing the street to vehicles. They were told it had been decided long ago to allow cars to go through, but that recent project mishaps would be straightened out.

The Selectboard voted to form a citizen committee to research long-term ice rink options, the board heard about the Recreation and Parks department, and they worked on granting of permits, permitting of grants, public hearings, and more.

At their next Tuesday meeting, the Brattleboro Selectboard will begin to spend big money on the Police-Fire Facility project with an $800,000 contract for architectural services and $290,000 for property on Church Street on the agenda. 

The board will also form a committee to look at skating rink options, discuss the town website as well as local hiring, hire Lane Construction ofNorthfield, MA for paving, regulate food carts, and more. You can bring up other matters not on the agenda during public participation. Watch on BCTV or attend in person, and read all about it here afterwards.