Selectboard Special Meeting Notes: The Town Review, Grant Rejections, & A Really Rural Discussion

The Brattleboro Selectboard held a special meeting Tuesday evening to talk of town operations, enterprise budgets and funds, and to learn more about proposed changes in Brattleboro’s Land Use Regulations. The board also learned of setbacks in funding for the repair of the Green Street retaining wall, and a small grant was applied for, in hopes of helping to create a West Brattleboro connecting trail.

Civil War Proclamation

Brattleboro Selectboard Chair David Gartenstein kicked off the board’s third weekly meeting in a row with a proclamation to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the conclusion of the Civil War, and Brattleboro’s participation therein. The American Legion will be holding a series of events, including lectures, presentations, discussions, and a banquet, all planned for Memorial Day weekend.

Comprehensive Review of Town Operations

Town Manager Peter Elwell gave the Brattleboro Selectboard an overview of the work he and town staff have been doing in regards to a Comprehensive Review of Town Operations, now known in shorthand as CRTO.

Elwell was to have given this overview at an earlier meeting but schedules ran late and he was unable to secure a formal go-ahead from the Selectboard to do the work. Despite that, work has continued on the project with the assumption that the board could pull the proverbial plug and change direction if they so desired. 

He began by saying that while there may be some opportunities to save money, the real goal of the process is better town government. Instead of looking at the budget as line items, Elwell explained that staff were encouraged to think in terms of programs run by the town.

In April, department heads identified areas of improvement and/or efficiencies to consider within their departments. The Town Manager’s office also took a look at operations that have Town wide or cross-department impact. Elwell has since been reviewing each list with department heads to revise the lists into a more final form, and brainstorm a bit.

Town staff will analyze and create a report for the board to review in July, he said. The report should outline what the Town does, how we do those things, how much each program costs, and how each might be improved.

The end result is a better understanding of Brattleboro’s priorities, which can then be used in long range financial planning and budgets. Elwell said the work was being done on an agressive schedule to be able to have information to guide FY17 budget decisions, and to be able to provide a 5 year forecast for implications of certain budget decisions.

He was reluctant to give out any specifics at this stage, but did provide some examples in the form of samples from a similar effort done recently in Palm Beach, Florida. In general, they present options for cost savings, the amount that could be saved, and a commentary on why the option was suggested.

“The intent is to not be so narrowly defined as to be constrained from things to look at,” said Elwell.

Gartenstein said that in addition to staff brainstorming for this, he felt board members should participate. Elwell assured him there would be time for that once they present the report in July.  “When we give it to you to review in the summer it can be a draft,,” he said. “It’s a living document.”

Elwell cautioned that big cost savings would be unlikely. “From a pure cost savings point of view, there is no more low hanging fruit in Brattleboro. You’ve been through this, almost annually, for some time in town.”

He also thanked the staff for their extra effort required to do this, as well as their regular jobs. “The essence of the process is really hard, creative thinking about how we function, while facing a heavy load of regular work. I appreciate it.”

Donna Macomber, John Allen, and David Gartenstein said they liked the work thus far. The board encouraged them to continue, with no change in direction required.

FY16 Utilities Budget

Brattleboro’s three enterprise fund budgets were given time for discussion Tuesday night. First up was the Utilities Fund budget, which most people think of in general as Water and Sewer.

Town Manager Peter Elwell gave a brief overview, telling the board that their planned increases in water and sewer rates had put the Town in a slightly better-than-expected position, based on their initial models and projections. Rather than a 2% increase in expenses, this year went up by only 1.6%. Rates will continue to go up for everyone, of course, but it puts repayment of our Wastewater Treatment  bonds in a slightly better-than-expected position, for now.

Brattleboro will be entering the second year of a second five-year water and sewer rate increase in FY2016.

Public Works Director Steve Barrett ran through upcoming Utilities expenses, including a new water tank needed at Black Mountain, work beginning on the Chestnut Hill reservoir, water main replacements, sewer and meter upgrades, and some new vehicles.

Odors from the Wastewater Treatment facility have become a problem since the project ended, he told the board. The DPW is planning on spending some money to solve the problem by trying new treatments, or a “large Febreeze,” were options, said Barrett. He said they were working with an “odor company” on the problem.

David Schoales asked about the water main replacement. “When the streets get paved, do you look at the water mains?”

Barrett said they try to get ahead of the paving schedule slightly, to prevent freshly paved areas from being torn up.

Schoales also asked about the big differences he saw between budgeted amounts, and actual costs. Barrett said they were almost all weather or fire-related. Hot weather meant more water, and chemicals and delivery services, etc., are used. Elwell agreed. “In most weather or fire situations, we’ll experience the rise and fall of a cluster of [utility fund] budget items.”

FY16 Parking Budget

Town Manager Elwell told the selectboard that the proposed FY16 Parking Budget shows an increase of less than 1%. It was primarily the result, he said, of the significant decrease in fuel oil costs.

David Gartenstein asked if parking meter rates would being going up. Elwell said that it wasn’t planned, “but if you want us to look into that…”

“No, no, no,” interjected Gartenstein. “I just wanted to make sure.”

The Parking Fund’s capital plan now includes $200,000 for infrastructure improvements.  Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland outlined some planned improvements for the board.

He said that the Brattleboro Transportation Center (ie, parking garage) is showing significant signs of rust in the stairwell and a maintenance plan is needed for the building. 

“That’s only 10 years old,” said John Allen, somewhat amazed. “That’s troubling. That’s awful.”

Moreland reports that the Municipal Center, Spring Street, Preston Lot,  Harmony Lot, and Harris Lot parking lots need paving improvements. The first two, he said, might be able to be redone as part of other projects.

Kate O’Connor said that she often hears from people that the change machine at the parking garage isn’t working. Moreland said he’d look into it. She also asked about meters accepting credit cards.

Moreland said it would be a luxury at the moment, but “people like convenience items. Moving ahead, it would be great to develop a plan that showed increases of convenience.”

Allen asked how long it would be before the parking garage would be paid off. He was told seven years.

FY16 Solid Waste Fund

The board quickly acknowledged the new Solid Waste enterprise fund, but as nothing had changed since it was created a short while ago, there wasn’t much to discuss.

By way of review for those playing along at home, revenues in this fund are expected to be $941,500, from Pay As You Throw bag sales and a transfer from the General Fund. 

Green Street Retaining Wall

Brattleboro recently applied for grants funds for four projects: the Green Street retaining wall, the Elliot Street bridge, and two paving projects. The Town learned last week that none of the grants were granted.

Town Manager Elwell said he could understand some of the rejections, but seemed genuinely surprised by the state ignoring a request for help with an urgent safety issue. Nonetheless, he urged the board to “stay the course.”

One more grant, an “urgent needs grant,” was still out for consideration, said Elwell, and the town has been in touch very recently to let them know that the status had become that much more urgent with the other grant rejection.

Steve Barrett said that they have been continuing with the design work in anticipation of the funds becoming available, but that the wall has moved again, the crack has gotten larger, and there are new plans to remove materials from the area before they have a chance to fail and before the area is repaired.

Hannah O’Connell said that this would also allow for a closer look under the road, which will lead to better planning of the proposed fixes. She said that until they hear about the grant, though, they wouldn’t put the repair work out to bid, as the grant may stipulate a process it wants the town to follow.

David Schoales, noting that expected grant funds for other projects were no longer coming their way, too, asked what work wouldn’t get done, given the funding rejections.  Elwell said the Elliot Street bridge repair would be put off, being the least urgent.

Gartenstein noted, as he often does, that there remained a long list of other capital improvements on the town’s “urgent” list.

The plan for now is to remove material from the retaining wall area, continue with planning for repairs, and to see if the urgent needs grant is awarded.

$500 Tiny Grant for Pathway

The Brattleboro Selectboard approved a $500 Association of Vermont Conservation Commission (AVCC) Tiny Grant to help construct a trail from Greenleaf Street to Western Ave in West Brattleboro. This new, small hiking trail connects three neighborhoods using 17 acres of public and private lands.

If granted, the money will be used to create a side hill cut with two switchbacks.

New Land Use Regulations: Protecting Rural Character while Planning For Growth

Rod Francis and Sue Fillion of Brattleboro’s Planning Services Department gave the board the second of four planned updates on changes to Brattleboro’s Land Use Regulations. This Tuesday’s special meeting presentation covered Rural and Rural-Residential districts in town, mechanisms designed to respond to the presence of natural hazards and features, and options for subdivisions in rural Brattleboro.

Like their last presentation, Francis and Fillion took turns explaining features to the board.

Overall, the proposed Rural and Rural-Residential districts boundaries will change slightly to match roadways, mostly in an attempt to prevent single properties from straddling two districts. 

There will be lot size minimums. Rural districts will be one unit per three acres; Rural-Residential districts’ minimum will be one unit per one-and-a-half acres.

The Rural district is meant to maintain viable agriculture and wildlife corridors. Rural-Residential is similar, but allows for uses that relate indirectly to agriculture.

Francis said that they hoped to provide different modes of development with a combination of approaches. This introduced the topic of Planned Unit Developments (PUDs), which is currently a convoluted process akin to designing a new zoning district.

The proposed approach is a big change, in that the town will provide templates for PUDs in an effort to both control development as well as simplify the process for developers.

Fillion explained the first PUD template, the Conservation PUD.  In exchange for setting aside part of the property for conservation, developers will be able to calculate the number of lots based on the total size of the property, allowing for clustering and smaller lot sizes.

The other PUD template, she said, was a Rural Enterprise PUD. This could be used to add a farm stand to a farm, host tours, have a bed and breakfast, host conferences or wedding, have an education center, and other uses that are tied to the character of the rural property, but not agriculture per se. Nine acres, minimum, is required for this PUD, mostly to be sure there is a buffer between neighboring properties and the activity on the property.

A new formula will be used to calculate the “developable area” of a property. Add up your surface water, wetlands and borders, reparian areas, and slopes greater than 30%, then subtract all of this from your total number of acres. That gives you the developable area.

Developers will need to have a pre-application meeting with the Planning Services department to go over maps, calculations, and the design process, and during the Development Review process they will need to confirm they agree with the town’s information.

“It feels like a very different approach,” said David Gartenstein. “This will be front and center for developers. ‘It’s too restrictive,’ and so on. What’s your response?”

Francis said it was a bit of an education process, but the overall plan (for all districts) had places for bigger developments, and new flexibility. The new formula for calculating developable land is new to the town, but not new to developers. “When professionals assess carrying capacity, they do this math anyway.”

He added that there isn’t much flat land to build on, anyway. New developments in septic systems for steep slopes, however, would be reflected in the new regulations, allowing for a bit more flexibility building in those locations.

Other protections included in the proposed regulations include rules for protection of riparian buffers, use of steep slopes, stormwater management, and trying to move to green storm water treatments of rain gardens, impervious surfaces, and the like. “There are lots of uses for green storm water,” said Fillion.

Three other PUD templates will be discussed at upcoming meetings. 

Other

The Brattleboro Selectboard gave an appreciated shout-out to iBrattleboro. Thanks!