The Brattleboro Selectboard organized themselves with the assistance of Brattleboro’s Town Clerk, swearing in members, electing a new Chair, Vice-Chair, and Clerk.
Daniel Quipp is the new Chair, Liz McCloughlin is Vice Chair, and Richard Davis is the Clerk.
A place to make note of little things you see in and around Brattleboro, such as:
New bigger stronger electric poles going in along Rt 30 between the Retreat farm area and the bakery.
Work taking apart the motel in West B continues.
Potholes! Some are so big the Rec & Parks Department will begin maintaining them as swimming pools.
Now that Spring is here, we can talk freely. We didn’t seem to get very much snow this winter. Felt pretty warm, too. Is the end of snow near?
This is very much like the weather used to be in the mid-Atlantic. When I was in DC in the late 80’s and early 90’s, it would get cold, but there was barely any snow. A half an inch would surprise people and shut things down. We got much more slush, and that would freeze into ruts because there wasn’t a good plow system in place.
I just went through the process of buying a used car from a local dealership – twice! I thought I’d share what happened in case you are considering getting yourself something new or used to drive.
The Realization
Last summer I came to a point in the proverbial road where a choice had to be made – spend some money fixing up my older car, or look for something newer. Both options had pros and cons.
Here’s the March 2024 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them. Scroll down the new comments for the latest.
VT, NH and MA do weekly updates, near the end of the week, so we update on Fridays usually. All three have changed their dashboards since the start, so it is now tough to easily compare how things have changed. Variant updates are every two weeks.
The Brattleboro Selectboard has decided to have a tiny meeting on Vermont’s Town Meeting Day. While everyone else will be looking over vote totals and analyzing candidate and issue wins and losses, the board will discuss upcoming legislation at the state level this season, public safety, and committees. They will likely squeeze in reactions to local election news as well.
You can bring up other items, if this Chair allows, during Public Participation.
The Brattleboro Selectboard set EMS rates and policies, settling on a $1400 cost for a ride in their new ambulance service. Your insurance will pay for most of it, and if you get a bill you can ignore it completely or enter into a payment plan or pay it all at once. It is compassionate, they agreed.
The Town will embark on a search for a new waste management partner, someone who will listen and be responsive, and perhaps take long walks or watch movies together.
iBrattleboro.com has turned 21. That means the site can now drink in most states.
Brattleboro’s experiment in citizen journalism continues, and from my perspective there has been a bit of an uptick in use of the site over the last year. Many seemed distracted by social media for a while, but people are returning and we’re seeing a bit more writing again. It’s heartening. Thanks!
A few reminders of iBrattleboro’s history, for those new to the area.
This is for the weather geeks.
The weather map on the iBrattleboro.com weather page has been updated and you now have access to nearly 40 different animated, real-time overlays, including:
weather radar
satellite view
solar power
wind
rain/thunder
Just a quick housekeeping note. When tagging you stories, you are tagging them for this site and not that other social media site you might be thinking of, whatever that is.
No hashtag is necessary here, just a comma!
The big item for the Brattleboro Selectboard at their next regular meeting will be setting the billing and collection policies for the Town’s new EMS service. The board is setting the rates to be charged and what to do if someone doesn’t pay, among other things.
Also, the Water Treatment Plant’s engineering costs are over-budget and will cost an additional $303k. ARPA funds will be used to cover staff salaries, bids will be accepted for trash collection in town, motions will be assigned for reading at Representative Town Meeting, and you can bring up other items not on the agenda, perhaps, during public participation.
A possibly short meeting with potentially interesting topics ahead was actually not so short due to technical difficulties, but it certainly was interesting. A respite from budgets, for sure.
Sustainability, food security, downtown safety, bridge fixing, and more were all discussed. Some with slide presentations!
Here’s the February 2024 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them. Scroll down the new comments for the latest.
VT, NH and MA do weekly updates, near the end of the week, so we update on Fridays usually. All three have changed their dashboards since the start, so it is now tough to easily compare how things have changed. Variant updates are every two weeks.
Flood Plain Restoration is more expensive than originally thought. By hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s part of what the Brattleboro Selectboard will hear at the first regular meeting of February 2024.
The board will also create a new road for the Town to take care of, hear updates on town safety, sustainability, food, farms, and vacant buildings. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation, if the Chair allows.
Here’s a little project I did to celebrate Mickey Mouse, and a handful of songs, entering the public domain in 2024.
I like to animate, and it was hard to resist playing with this early character.
The Brattleboro Selectboard heard a request from two organizations for an $80,000 a year part time position (and some data collection) and decided to double it. They gave them $160,000 and two years for a “proof of concept” showing that this investment attracts new businesses to Brattleboro.
The board went on to discuss their ARPA plans and FY25 budgets.
At their next regular meeting , the Brattleboro Selectboard will approve budgets for FY25 to send along to Representative Town Meeting, including their plans to use what remains of ARPA funds.
The board will also hear from the Downtown Alliance and Chamber of Commerce (two of several organizations that foster economic growth, attract new business, and enhance the overall economic well-being of the community) for new funding to pay for someone to “foster economic growth, attract new business, and enhance the overall economic well-being of the community.”
You can bring up other items not on the agenda, if the Chair allows, during Public Participation.
Here’s the January 2024 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them. Scroll down the new comments for the latest.
VT, NH and MA do weekly updates, near the end of the week, so we update on Fridays usually. All three have changed their dashboards since the start, so it is now tough to easily compare how things have changed. Variant updates are every two weeks.
The contractor has begun to advance structural steel across Pier 2 to the temporary shoring towers. This work will continue into next week. De-watering at Pier 1 site encountered several challenges last week and additional work has taken place to remediate the situation this week. The saturated conditions of the site and soil conditions have necessitated that the cofferdam be tighter in order to allow less water infiltration so the de-watering system will not be overwhelmed by the volume. The contractor has installed vertical forms at all four corners of the cofferdam and anticipates placing concrete today in order to achieve a better seal. The contractor will attempt de-watering again next week once the concrete has set up. Once a dry excavation can be maintained, the contractor will begin to install the 80 foot rebar cages in the 9 pier piles which may begin as early as next week. Footing formwork and re-bar installation may begin next week as well, overlapping with the pile operations.
Brattleboro’s Dick DeGray was mentioned in the State of the State address today during a section about volunteering for his years of downtown flower care. The governor pondered DeGray’s retirement, asking the question: “So, the question is, who’s going to water the flowers?”
Here’s the full press release:
