The Brattleboro Selectboard is seeking public input on how the Town should proceed with the proposed improvements to the Town’s fire stations and police station. The current condition of these facilities is unsafe and prevents the Fire Department and Police Department from being as effective as they can be in serving our community.
Brattleboro residents are asked to provide their opinions on the project by filling out a survey questionnaire by January 18. The results of the survey will be published on the Town’s website and the Selectboard will consider the results of the survey during the Selectboard meeting on Tuesday, January 19.
The questionnaire can be obtained by any of the following:
(1) Go to the “News” section on the Town’s website (www.brattleboro.org)
(2) Click the following Survey Monkey link – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CFSF6R5
(3) Contact the Town Manager’s Office at 802-251-8151 or via e-mail at townmanager@brattleboro.org
(4) Pick up a copy at Brooks Memorial Library or the Town Clerk’s Office.
Please return your completed questionnaire by January 18 in any of the following ways:
(1) Electronically through Survey Monkey, or
(2) Via e-mail to townmanager@brattleboro.org, or
(3) Bring or mail it to the Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office, 230 Main Street, Suite 208, Brattleboro, Vermont 05301.
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO
Town Manager’s Office
230 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
(802) 251-8151
FAX (802) 257-2322
You Don't Want It to Be TOO Easy...
As I mentioned earlier I knew we could count on the Selectboard to make this process as complicated as possible. Very few people are going to seek out this survey and then the board will complain bitterly that none of the people in town give them any input. Ridiculous.
Complicated?
I’m not sure what was seen to be complicated. I got to the survey very easily with just a click or two, and found it very easy to fill out and express my opinion. The options for hard copies seem quite straightforward as well.
The survey itself provided very detailed background information in order for one to make informed choices, and none of it seemed to me to be leading to preferred answers. Most of the questions themselves were clear-cut and with simple choices.
I would hope that the Selectboard makes full and fair use of this exercise in participatory democracy.
Would it not have been easier
Would it not have been easier for the SB to send out the survey via email as they discussed doing at the meeting? Then they would have been sure that people actually got it ( whether they responded or not is a different issue) and it wouldn’t have fallen to people to seek it out on their own. Especially since the time frame is so short to get the survey and review the results. I would be surprised if there were more than a token response to this survey.
Police-Fire Survey was clear and easy to complete
I agree that it was easy to get to the online survey and complete it in about 5 minutes. SurveyMonkey will tabulate the responses, which would be very time-consuming if done by hand. I look forward to hearing the results. It’s clear the SB wants to hear from the public on this important issue.
Least accurate
Survey Monkey will tabulate the results of the electronic survey- not of any paper surveys that people are able to apparently pick up and return in person or by mail. A real live person is going to be tallying those responses. I could go down and grab 2 dozen surveys and fill them out to tip the results a little. The most accurate way to do this would have been to email the surveys from the voter list or perhaps the property or tax lists and have everyone do the survey online. This has been made way more complicated than it needs to be and I’m sure that comes as no surprise to anyone who has lived here for awhile.
An Unreliable and Futile Exercise
I applaud the Selectboard’s effort here to gather substantial public input on this important decision. I think, however, that the results will be unreliable the way that this survey has been organized. What is to prevent non-residents of Brattleboro from voting? What is to prevent residents from voting multiple times, either from their own computers, from other computers or by enlisting other people to vote for their preferred PFF choices? This is why we have ballot elections. Electronic voting fraud aside, the formal voting process gives a reasonable degree of security of one jurisdictional citizen, one vote. There are people with substantial interests on both sides of this debate, how could they not be tempted to sway the results?
Checking Off the Boxes
I printed out the survey from Survey Monkey and finally had a chance to sit down with it last night.
Regarding the survey itself, it was a little hard to keep the options straight and I had to review several times to make sure I was looking at the right part of the project, but I persevered. The question I found the most daunting at first was the final one, but once I added up the dollar amounts of my choices, I was able to pick out the right combination of options at the end.
Turns out I chose all the least expensive options, although I looked at all of them and thought hard. Part of me really likes to lock in savings, even if it costs more money up front. But sometimes, I reasoned, I just don’t have the money to invest in future savings and find myself forced to take the less expensive short term option.
With regard to moving Police headquarters out to Putney Road, I had this weird idea that a police facility would be less vulnerable to attack if it were in a relatively hard to access area like downtown, rather than in a less densely populated area close to a wide open road, several highways, and an interstate… Like I said, why I was suddenly thinking along these lines, I don’t know. San Bernardino, maybe?
I’m really glad the town is asking our opinion and I think they’ll get good guidance if lots of people fill in the survey. The issue doesn’t seem that cut and dried to me — no one set of options is perfect. But if we all chime in, I think we’ll at least be able to get the lay of the land with regard to public opinion. I’m looking forward to seeing the results of this and other polls, should they come up with any.
Not bad
My only worry with the survey was that respondents can choose to endorse all the improvements and also vote in favor of the alternative plan. It isn’t either/or on the survey, and this might lead to misinterpretation.
Otherwise, I agree that it is nice to be asked to weigh in this way. More of these, with simpler language, could be quite useful to the board going forward.
It will also be fun to compare this to all the polls we’ve done over the years on similar questions.
Responses from Fire Chief Bucossi
I posed the following questions to Brattleboro Fire Chief Michael Bucossi and he gave the responses below.
Hi Bob,
All very good/legitimate questions and easy ones to answer from the Brattleboro issues though maybe a little involved but I will do my best to try and keep it short;
· We’re not the only Town facing fire station improvement issues; what has been learned, if anything, from other jurisdictions?
* “Fire trucks” (engines, ladders, rescue trucks, etc) have become bigger and heavier over the years for many reasons including safety features, what fire departments look for the truck to do, and community infrastructure, among other factors. As part of looking at the “fixes” from many different angles some of the alternatives investigated have been “raising the ceiling” for more height, lowering or digging out the floor(s) to gain height, or trying to widen door openings (alternatives other communities look at). These alternatives have all proven to be impractical or impossible due to existing building construction, lack of physical room, cost or a combination. Central Station is built on ledge with a partial basement. The floor over the partial basement holds a truck that weighs much more than it was designed for and has been repaired once already, a repair that is beginning to fail. Chesterfield, Newfane, Keene, Williston, Putney and South Burlington have all faced similar problems in the “recent” past and have all constructed new facilities. Greenfield and Hinsdale are presently proposing new stations. As far as lessons learned, I would say what I have heard most from Chiefs that have gone through it is not to throw good money at a bad situation. Fix it right the first time because you will end up paying out more in the long run if you try to piece meal it.
· Is it a viable alternative to refurbish older engines, with the considerable work around/ expertise and maybe self warranty required? Do we have the capability to do that?
*Brattleboro refurbished 2 engines back in the ‘80’s and in both circumstances, though the results “weren’t bad”, you were still putting $100,000+ into 20 year old trucks which sometimes doesn’t answer any of the problems. Additionally, trucks are built much differently today, workmanship is not as good, materials are not as good, etc. During this last budget preparation I declined a budget increase of $40,000 to do work on the body & frame of one of our trucks because I don’t think the truck is worth that money and it is good money being spent on a bad situation. It is important to remember that you can refurbish a 20 year old truck but there will still be 20 year old components in the truck. The cost outweighs the benefit. So, is it an alternative, but I do not feel it is a viable one.
· But are there unintended consequences to bigger fire engines? How can we avoid them?
*When we spec a truck for our needs we list the size water tank, hose bed size that we need to carry the needed hose, the size motor and right down to where the ladders are stored, how far the bumper(s) can stick out and how wide the mirrors can be. All of this goes into determining the size that the truck will be. They have to carry enough hose for us. They have to carry enough water for us. They have to carry enough tools for us as well as have enough seating for staff. Anything less does not serve the community effectively or efficiently and the tax payers get cheated.
· Mutual Aid into our Town ……. One final, unseen consequence of “stations that are too small”; when all of Brattleboro personnel and equipment are committed to an emergency we request “cover trucks”, other towns that bring their trucks to Brattleboro to answer other emergency calls. Many of the towns around us that we use to “cover” have trucks that will not fit into our stations. A good example, Hinsdale has the only ladder truck for miles that will fit into our station. That is because they have our old one…. Putney, Keene, Greenfield, Westminster all have ladders but they will not fit in. If they come into Brattleboro they need to leave their truck outside, is it fair to them to have their truck freeze up and split the water pump because they are here. Very recently a mutual aid cover truck was damaged trying to fit into Station 2. Does the time come when they say sorry, we can’t do this anymore? I realize we don’t build the stations for other towns but it is certainly an issue that needs to be considered.
Though this only scratches the surface I hope this helps and certainly encourage anyone with any questions to contact either Asst Chief Lynch or me.
Michael Bucossi
Fire Chief
Brattleboro Fire Department
103 Elliot Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
(802) 254-4831
http://www.brattleborofire.org