Selectboard Meeting Notes: Nothing Ado About Much

The Brattleboro Selectboard had a non-controversial, almost-dull meeting Tuesday night. If you are looking for fireworks, there are none to report.

Interesting things were accomplished, however. Things you need to know about. Things that will change the way of life as we know it in this town. A major sidewalk renovation will be underway later this year, there are new zoning regulations being developed, and Representative Town Meeting informational meetings for Town Representatives are being planned.

There was no decision regarding opposing the Charter change questions, other than to prepare informational materials, in case the board decides to send a statement.

Preliminaries

Chair David Gartenstein had a few announcements to kick off one of the shorter Selectboard meetings of their year. 

He encouraged participation at presentations regarding Brattleboro’s proposed new zoning ordinances, and said they center around a core question: what is the balance between imposing strict guidelines and allowing for flexibility of land use. Planning presentations are scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at different locations about town.

Gartenstein said that there would be a special February 12 meeting with the sole topic being the new solid waste disposal system in town and issues surrounding Pay As You Throw. “The process will move quickly. If you have concerns, come out and talk to us February 12th.”

Also noted was a correspondence from the Rutland Selectboard, asking for support of closer regulation of solar panels in the state. Gartenstein reminded all that as things currently stand, the town has no way to weigh in on solar developments. He said that they also received communication from Efficiency Vermont asking the board to take a stand against such measures as proposed by Rutland. 

“Be careful in the snow,” he added, before handing it over to Town Manager Peter Elwell.

Elwell wanted everyone watching to know that the the Department of Public Works would be doing snow clearing Tuesday night, so if you read this Wednesday, you might want to see if you got towed.

The rest of the board had no comments and committee reports, and no members of the public participated during Public Participation.

Liquor Commissioners

The Brattleboro Selectboard, acting as Liquor Commissioners, approved a special event permit for Hermit Thrush Brewery to serve and sell samples at the Harris Hill Ski Jump on February 14 and 15. Hermit Thrush’s Avery Schwenk said they’d have three of their own brews, and that things were going well at their brewery.

Three more special event permits for an event scheduled for the River Garden were approved. Whetstone Station, Flag Hill, and Zero Gravity Craft Brewing join the other five already approved for the festival on February 13.

Town Manager Peter Elwell said they were explicitly told to keep track of attendance and not to exceed the fire limit of 378 at the River Garden.

Certificate of Highway Mileage

The Brattleboro Selectboard approved the 2015 Certificate of Highway Mileage. The certificate is sent along to the Vermont Agency for Transportation and helps determine Brattleboro’s share of state aid.

“No scenic highways in town?” asked David Schoales.  “We should build some…”

Trivia buffs should note that we have 107.515 miles of highway in town.

VT Alert

The Fire Department’s Chief Bucossi told the Brattleboro Selectboard about a new emergency notification system, called VT Alert, that will be in action as of June 1 of this year. This will replace the Code Red system previously provided by Vermont Yankee to alert people of emergencies.

VT Alert is an “all hazards alert and notification web-based portal,” ie, a web site. You can sign up for a range of alerts, and manage your account, at www.vtalert.gov

Bucossi said it allowed for people to request emergency notifications by text, email or phone, for Brattleboro and other towns, as well as statewide messages. He said local announcements would be kept to a minimum, so people don’t tire of them. “You won’t get many.”

Current subscribers to the Code Red system will need to sign up again to receive the VT Alert alerts. Privacy rules prevent the old data from being transferred.

One aspect of the new system will be that alerts can be sent to cell towers, and therefore to all cell phones, in the area.

The program will be promoted throughout the spring to get as many people using it as possible. Look for press releases, news interviews, brochures and other materials to come your way.

Grant Amendment for Radio Repeater

By amending the Town’s 2014 RERP Grant, the Brattleboro Selectboard is now able to receive funds to purchase and own radio equipment, and lease it to the West River Radio Club, a group of shortwave radio operators that relay information during emergencies. They provide redundant communications capability.

Patrick Moreland said that the state had asked Brattleboro to help obtain the equipment. The Club will do the installation and ongoing maintenance.

The Motorola XPR 8400 repeater with associated hardware and cables will cost $13,125.

Highway Safety Program Grant

Brattleboro Police received $5,000 as a 2015 Equipment Grant from the VT Department of Public Safety. The money can be used to purchase items from a pre-approved list.

Police Chief Fitzgerald told the board that the money is awarded if the town participates in state-sponsored police events. “If you participate in four of their events, they give you the incentive. We did all four holiday events,” he said.

The list of approved purchases contains items such as breath testers, officer video cameras, speed monitoring devices, traffic cones, tire deflation devices, flashlights, cameras, and other highway safety equipment. Brattleboro plans to get  a DUI sign package to alert drivers of an upcoming checkpoint, reflective gloves, and a doppler radar gun.

Fitzgerald said the department now had a trained DUI checkpoint supervisor and was working on training someone in accident reconstruction.

David Gartenstein asked about the department’s new detectives.

The Police Chief said that they were not yet public knowledge. Until now, of course. He said they had two people interested in being Brattleboro detectives.

Downtown Transportation Fund Grant Application

The Department of Public Works was approved to submit a $50,000 grant to the Agency of Commerce and Community Development to supplement funding for the Main Street Sidewalk Project, a long-planned renovation of downtown sidewalks.

The project has been on the to-do list since 2009, and will involve replacing sidewalks from Walnut Street to the bridge on the east side Main Street. This grant will help pay for the stretch between Elliot and the Kyle Gilbert Memorial bridge.

The grant requires a $50,000 match, which will come from a combination of $47,500 in capital set aside from a previous, expired grant for this project, and $2,500 from the sidewalk allowance in the Capital fund.

John Allen asked if seven years of planning was a bit much for a sidewalk.

Steve Barrett said that it had been a challenge to negotiate the right of way easements with every property owner of a building that touches the sidewalk, and that working out the plan for utilities and street lights had taken time, but the result would be “better sidewalks and a better downtown.”

Tad Montgomery asked them to give some details of the planned improvements.

O’Connell said they would be replacing the worst sections of sidewalk, replacing trees, adding planters and “sitting cubes,” laying underground conduit for future use, and replacing the street lights (not traffic lights). Barrett added that they would also be adding ADA ramps, and eliminating many of the old access doors to underground storage for merchants.

Barrett said the sidewalk would have a brick inlay on one side to make the sidewalks look more attractive.

Both Barrett and Kate O’Connor mentioned a meeting between the DPW and downtown merchants earlier in the day, in which the sidewalk project was explained and a snow removal discussion occurred.

Committee Appointments

The Brattleboro Selectboard filled vacancies in town committees at Tuesday’s meeting. Interviews for the DRB and Planning Commission were held prior to this meeting.

Uncontested appointments were as follows: Drew Adam to the Conservation Committee; Tim Kipp and Lee Madden as Fence Viewers; Christopher Grotke, as Inspector of Lumber, Shingles & Wood; Kristina Aldrich to the Recreation & Parks Board.

When it came time for the board to choose from more than enough applicants, the decisions were as follows: W. Todd Murchison to the Development Review Board, with J. Eric, George, and Maya Hasegawa as alternates, and J. Eric Annis (til 6/17), Katharine Manthei Audlin (til 6/16), and Rachel Zamore (til 6/15) to the Planning Commission.

There are still vacancies, so ask at the Town Manager’s office where you can be of service.

Selectboard Authority To Express Board Position On Charter Change Articles

Bob Fisher, Brattleboro’s Town Attorney, provided Town Manager Peter Elwell with a memo expressing his interpretation of the question of whether and how the Selectboard can express their official views on articles coming before Representative Town Meeting.

Tuesday night, Elwell told the board that town staff were ready and able to deliver a message if the Selectboard so decided.

Elwell said the memo said “it is appropriate to take a position on ballot questions, and lawful to spend a reasonable amount to get the word out.”

Elwell said that if the board wanted to get a message out, they should be ready to do so on February 12th, about the time early voting begins. In addition to free media from press releases to all news organizations in town, the board could opt to mail something to every home at a cost of about $2600, he told the board.

“I think it would be useful to have any positions about charter amendments put in writing to be reviewed for discussion purposes,” suggested David Gartenstein.  “It would be more useful to have them written up for consideration, then decide on taking a position.”

“Huh?” inquired Kate O’Connor.

Gartenstein said the wording could be ready for review before the 12th, and “we can discuss it on the12th, and vote if we want to take these positions.  We haven’t yet gone point by point through our concerns and the impact on town government.

David Schoales said he might not be available on the 12th. And Donna Macomber might also be absent.

“All three of you will have to agree,” cautioned Schoales.

Gartenstein promised to get them materials in time so they could communicate their positions.

Informational Town Meeting Scheduled

The Informational Town Meeting will be held on a day, soon, probably Tuesday the 10th, but maybe Wednesday, March 11 at Academy School. Doors open at 6:00pm, Caucuses 6:30pm, Meeting 7:00pm.

The confusion was triggered by David Schoales being unavailable on the 11th. To move a meeting requires making sure space is available, something that would require the light of day tomorrow to find out.

The board decided to tentatively pencil in Tuesday the 11th at Academy School (or the High School), and would make the announcement official once they had secured a meeting space.