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 will meet on Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
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BRATTLEBORO SELECTBOARD
TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2015
REGULAR MEETING – 6:15PM
AGENDA
1. CONVENE REGULAR MEETING
2. APPROVE MINUTES – December 16
3. CHAIR’S REMARKS
4. MANAGER’S COMMENTS
5. SELECTBOARD COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
6. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
7. LIQUOR COMMISSIONERS – None
8. WATER AND SEWER COMMISSIONERS
A. Reimbursement Resolution – Black Mountain Gravity Line, Finance Department
B. Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) – Update, Department of Public Works
9. UNFINISHED BUSINESS – None
10. NEW BUSINESS
A. FY16 Budget – Discussion
B. Police-Fire Facilities Project – Discussion
C. Unassigned Fund Balance – Discussion
D. Municipal Center Life Safety Improvements – Town Manager’s Office
E. Representative Town Meeting Article – Human Services Funding
F. Local Option Sales Tax – Discussion
G. Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) Budget – Discussion
H. Representative Town Meeting Article – Amendment to Charter, Addendum A, Acts of 1959, No. 302, Section 4a
I. Representative Town Meeting Article – Amendment to Charter, Article II, Section 3
J. Representative Town Meeting Article – Representative Town Meeting Ad Hoc Futures Committee
K. Committee and Board Vacancies – Announce Vacancies
L. Appointment of Peter Elwell as Town Manager effective January 20, 2015
11. CORRESPONDENCE/FYI
A. Warrants
12. MEETINGS
See enclosed Town Calendar
13. ADJOURNMENT
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TO: Selectboard December 30, 2014
FROM: Patrick Moreland, Interim Town Manager
SUBJECT: Administrative Report
The following will summarize the proposed motions for those items on the Agenda for the Tuesday, January 6, 2015 Selectboard Meeting. The meeting will begin at 6:15pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.
7. LIQUOR COMMISSIONERS – None
8. WATER AND SEWER COMMISSIONERS
A. Reimbursement Resolution – Black Mountain Gravity Line, Finance Department. The town intends to apply for a loan from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation for funds to complete the Black Mountain Gravity Line, one of the component projects of the overall wastewater improvement project. There are certain costs that the Town will incur ahead of receiving a disbursement, and the resolution states our intention to pay ourselves back from the future loan proceeds. A resolution stating this intention is required by Section 1.150-2 of the Treasury Regulation.
POTENTIAL MOTION: TO ADOPT THE DECLARATION OF OFFICIAL INTENT TO REIMBURSE EXPENDITURES FROM PROCEEDS OF INDEBTEDNESS AS PRESENTED.
B. Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) – Update, Department of Public Works. The Brattleboro Wastewater Treatment Plant project, which included an upgrade to the existing treatment plant and improvements to three of the Town’s sewage pumping stations is with the exception of the Black Mountain Gravity Feed sewer line, complete and in good working order. The Black Mountain project is expected to begin in the spring of 2015, and be completed by June, 2015. The Town received bond authorization for the project totaling $32.8 Million, and it appears now that the project can be completed without the need to borrow the full amount.
POTENTIAL MOTION: NONE
9. UNFINISHED BUSINESS – None
10. NEW BUSINESS
A. FY16 Budget – Discussion. The FY16 budget has been restructured to include those changes requested by the Board on 12-30-14.
POTENTIAL MOTION: NONE
B. Police-Fire Facilities Project – Discussion
POTENTIAL MOTION: NONE
C. Unassigned Fund Balance – Discussion
POTENTIAL MOTION: NONE
D. Municipal Center Life Safety Improvements – Town Manager’s Office. A building inspection conducted earlier this year by the Vermont Division of Fire Safety identified a series of life safety issues that were in need of immediate attention. The Town was issued an order by the state, and a remediation plan and budget has been developed. There is some limited flexibility in how the project is implemented. The least expensive approach would be to complete all of the work at once. However, the division has acknowledged that a phased approach that involved immediate upgrades to the fire panel and alarm system, followed by a complete sprinkler system in FY16, and the remainder of the egress improvements and penetration sealing to be completed in FY17 could also be acceptable. Steve Horton, who has served Brattleboro as the owner’s project manager for the Police-Fire Facilities project, will be present to assist in a discussion.
POTENTIAL MOTION: NONE
E. Representative Town Meeting Article – Human Services Funding. Correspondence from the Human Services Funding Review Committee is included in the supporting documents.
POTENTIAL MOTION: TO ADD THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE TO THE 2015 REPRESENTATIVE TOWN MEETING WARNING, “TO SEE IF THE TOWN WILL RAISE AND APPROPRIATE THE SUM OF $120,000 TO SUPPORT HUMAN SERVICE PROGRAMS AND FACILITIES FOR THE RESIDENTS OF BRATTLEBORO TO BE ALLOCATED AMONG SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER: AIDS PROJECT OF SOUTHERN VERMONT – $2,000; AMERICAN RED CROSS – VT AND NH UPPER VALLEY REGION – $4,000; BOYS & GIRLS CLUB – $13,220; BRATTLEBORO AREA ADULT DAY (GATHERING PLACE) – $2,000; BRATTLEBORO AREA DROP-IN CENTER – $9,600; BRATTLEBORO AREA HOSPICE – $1,700; BRATTLEBORO SENIOR MEALS – $7,000; FAMILY GARDEN – $2,000; GREEN MOUNTAIN RSVP – $700; HEALTH CARE & REHABILITATION SERVICES (HCRS) – $2,000; KIDSPLAYCE – $3,500; MEETING WATERS-YMCA – $5,000; MORNINGSIDE HOUSE – $9,000; PHOENIX HOUSE RISE – $3,000; PREVENT CHILD ABUSE VERMONT – $1,000; SENIOR SOLUTIONS – $2,800; SOUTHEASTERN VERMONT COMMUNITY ACTION, INC. (SEVCA) – $9,000; TURNING POINT – $6,500; VERMONT ADULT LEARNING – $700; VERMONT ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED – $680; VERMONT CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING – $1,600; VISITING NURSE & HOSPICE OF VT & NH – $10,000; WINDHAM CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION – $5,500; WINDHAM COUNTY SAFE PLACE CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER AND SOUTHEASTERN UNIT FOR SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS – $1,500; BRATTLEBORO TOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT (C/O WINDHAM SOUTHEAST SUPERVISORY UNION) SUMMER LUNCH PROGRAM – $6,000; YOUTH SERVICES – BIG BROTHERS/BIG SISTERS – $10,000.”
F. Local Option Sales Tax – Discussion. The local option sales tax is one of two optional revenue streams that municipalities are authorized by the State to collect; the other being the local rooms and meals tax already adopted by Brattleboro. Representative Town Meeting has defeated the measure in 2009, 2012 and most recently in 2014, however a town wide advisory-only vote on the 3-3-14 ballot passed 439 to 402. The sales tax has many exemptions, and a detailed list of exemptions is included along with a brief explanation of the program prepared by Finance Director John O’Connor.
POTENTIAL MOTION: TBD
G. Windham Solid Waste Management District Budget – Discussion. Brattleboro is a member of the Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD). The district has a proposed FY16 budget showing a deficit of $517,532 to be made up by municipal assessments. The assessments are apportioned based on population, and Brattleboro with 32.16% of the population in the district will have an assessment of $166,462 should the budget pass. Due to the location of the district’s facility on Old Ferry Road in Brattleboro, a portion (8%) of the property assessment is returned to Brattleboro in the form of a PILOT payment. The district delivers a series of services that include: materials recycling; the distribution and collection of recycling containers; a solid waste transfer station with an active swap shop for working items; household hazardous waste collection; and an additional cost center in administration, which yields a State approved Solid Waste Management Plan, a statutory requirement of all towns in Vermont.
POTENTIAL MOTION: NONE
H. Representative Town Meeting Article – Amendment to Charter, Addendum A, Acts of 1959, No. 302, Section 4a. Town Clerk Annette Cappy is requesting the Board add an article to the warning for the 2015 Representative Town Meeting. The change would eliminate the seven week deadline for incumbents and make the six week deadline applicable to both new candidates and incumbents.
POTENTIAL MOTION: TO ADD THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE TO THE 2015 REPRESENTATIVE TOWN MEETING WARNING, “TO SEE IF THE TOWN SHALL PASS A RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE BRATTLEBORO TOWN CHARTER ADDENDUM A, ACTS OF 1959, NO. 302, SECTION 4a TO CHANGE THE DEADLINE FOR INCUMBENT TOWN MEETING MEMBERS TO SUBMIT THEIR NOTICE OF INTENT TO HAVE THEIR NAME PLACED ON THE BALLOT AS PRESENTED”.
I. Representative Town Meeting Article – Amendment to Charter, Article II, Section 3. Town Clerk Annette Cappy is requesting the Board add an article to the warning for the 2015 Representative Town Meeting. The change would allow for mechanical tabulation of the ballots from citizens that use early voting.
POTENTIAL MOTION: TO ADD THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE TO THE 2015 REPRESENTATIVE TOWN MEETING WARNING, “TO SEE IF THE TOWN SHALL PASS A RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE BRATTLEBORO TOWN CHARTER ARTICLE II, SECTION 3 TO ALLOW MECHANICAL TABULATION OF BALLOTS FROM CITIZENS THAT USE EARLY VOTING AS PRESENTED.”
J. Representative Town Meeting Article – Representative Town Meeting Ad Hoc Futures Committee. Spoon Agave, a member of the Representative Town Meeting Ad Hoc Futures Committee, is requesting that the Board add an article to the warning for the 2015 Representative Town Meeting.
POTENTIAL MOTION: TO ADD THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE TO THE 2015 REPRESENTATIVE TOWN MEETING WARNING, “TO SEE IF THE TOWN WILL VOTE TO ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE OF REPRESENTATIVE TOWN MEETING TO BE KNOWN AS THE COMMITTEE OF THE FUTURE”.
K. Committee and Board Vacancies – Announce Vacancies. The Board is asked to announce vacancies to various Town committees and boards. It is suggested that applications be submitted to the Town Manager’s office by January 29, and that appointments be made at the February 3, 2015 Selectboard meeting.
POTENTIAL MOTION: NONE
L. Appointment of Peter Elwell as Town Manager effective January 20, 2015
POTENTIAL MOTION: TBD
