Two members of the Brattleboro Selectboard voiced opposition to moving the police station to Black Mountain Road at Tuesday night’s meeting. It was just one item in a packed agenda that included a range of issues, from trash collection to green undertakers.
The board is wrestling with whether to apply some excess funds toward tax savings now, save it for another year, or split it up. A Survey Monkey questionnaire regarding police and fire facility options is in development, soon to be filled out by you. Utilities must get out of the way for bridge work, committee members were appointed, and two locations in town were leased out.
Preliminaries
Chair David Gartenstein noted that they faced a long agenda, and wished everyone a happy new year.
Town Manager Peter Elwell wasn’t as brief. He explained the reasoning behind the timing of downtown plowing and snow removal, and pledged to do the removal in as quickly as possible. Part of the delay this time around was due to the storm, some to the overtime costs of snow removal over a holiday weekend. John Allen, who has plowed for 25 years, said it was one of the “worst three inch storms I can remember.”
Elwell said that the town was sending a threatening letter to the bonding company and construction company signaling the town’s dissatisfaction with the unfinished, overdue work on the gravity sewer line. Their contract will be terminated if certain issues aren’t immediately remedied.
There were no significant selectboard comments, committee reports, or public participation.
Downtown Brattleboro Alliance Work Plan, Budget, Town Meeting Article
Progress has been made toward understanding the source of some carryover funds from the previous year, but more review is required and the board was unable to take up this item. It has been deferred one week.
Solid Waste Contract With Triple T and Garbage Pick-up
As discussed at previous meetings, Brattleboro has been considering reducing garbage collection to every other week. This could save the town close to $100,000 a year. Recycling and compost would continue to be collected every week.
The new schedule would begin in July, allowing for ample time for schedules to be developed and publicized.
The board officially endorsed this idea Tuesday night by giving the Town Manager authority to make the necessary changes to the Triple T collection contract. Also, the contract will be extended for another five years.
Brattleboro, say town staff, is in a position take this step due to the success of our recycling and compost programs. We’ve reduced the average tonnage taken to the dump from 1030 tons to 472 tons per month, noted David Gartenstein.
Kate O’Connor and John Allen were reassured that the the town could return to every week pickup in the future, if circumstances change.
In the new contract, Brattleboro has the option of switching to single stream recycling (everything goes in one container) if it so chooses.
Curbside organics pickup is also contemplated in later years of the contract.
FY17 Budget Issues – Line Items, Fund Balance
Town Manager Elwell recently responded to specific line item questions posed by David Schoales regarding utilities and energy use. All questions were deemed answered.
In doing a review of the numbers, an additional $3,000 of savings was identified – in the telephone expense line item. This will result in a tax savings of .03 cents.
No one quibbled with the savings.
…
As for the question of applying “excess” fund balance to offset expenses, the board had a few questions to grapple with Tuesday night. At issue was $268,450 of funds over and above what is recommended to keep in reserve for emergencies. Should it all be spent in the coming year or the year after? Should it be split between the two years instead? Should it be spent at all?
The questions become important when tax projections over multiple years include costs of the police and fire facilities projects being factored in. For example, if Town Meeting Representatives decide to do the two fire station improvements and move the police to Black Mountain Road, taxes could go up by 8.7 cents over two years.
For number-lovers, here’s how applying the fund balance excess plays out for the coming year:
The FY17 budget, after recent adjustments for garbage collection savings, reduction of heating oil costs, and other shavings and savings, shows an increase over last year of $344,918, or 2.98 cents or 2.6%.
If all of the $268,450 excess is applied, taxes will increase by only $76,468. This is an increase of .66 cents or .6%.
If half of the excess is used, taxes go up by $210,693. This would be 1.82 cents of 1.6%.
John Allen was in favor of spending it all now, and felt more surplus would materialize as it had in years past. David Schoales agreed and pointed to what he saw as potential “favorable changes” coming, such as savings in energy costs and retirement of some older bonds.
Donna Macomber wanted to save it all for FY18, but thought she’d lose that battle. She suggested splitting it between the two years.
Kate O’Connor was conflicted, and had trouble articulating to the others her concerns and questions about saving the fund balance for later.
David Gartenstein recognized that questions remained and opted to take the time to make sure all information is available within the deadlines allotted. The board will decide how to use the fund balance at a future meeting.
Police and Fire Facility Projects – Questionnaire, Impact of Moving From Downtown
A questionnaire has been drafted by David Gartenstein with input from fellow board members and town staff. It asks about public opinion on the three facilities that the town would like to build, and includes some minimal-work alternatives that suggest later work would be required if chosen. The draft questions also ask whether the work should all be done at once, or in phases.
Town Manager Elwell told the board that the quickest and cost effective manner to get this to people in town was to use Survey Monkey for those who use the internet, and have paper copies available for those who do not. Elwell hoped the media would help get the word out and encouraged people to fill out a survey.
David Gartenstein suggested using the email list of Town Meeting Representatives to further publicize the survey. In addition, he suggested using an email list compiled by Moss Kahler for another purpose (composting) to be “borrowed” for additional publicity.
Elwell cautioned against sending the survey link to a partial audience. He preferred the more general approach of using the media to reach the community as a whole.
Most of the board wanted real names to be attached to the surveys, but Elwell cautioned it could have a chilling effect on participation.
John Allen didn’t see much value in doing the survey at all.
David Schoales thought people could be identified by numbers, but wasn’t sure how it was done.
Lousie Zak suggested the results be published, and the reasons for the survey be clearly stated.
….
The discussion of impacts of moving the police station to Black Mountain Road, away from downtown, was brief but interesting. Both Kate O’Connor and David Gartenstein voiced their opposition to moving the police station to Black Mountain Road.
Gartenstein said he saw the need for the two fire station projects as currently envisioned, but questioned the need for doing more than a $2.1 million alternative that meets many needs. He felt a total project cost for all three of closer to $10 million was the prudent approach.
“I agree 100%,” said O’Connor.
Macomber wanted to wait until the questionnaires came back before weighing in.
Schoales said previous concerns about the Municipal Center being an historic building would rise again, it was “obvious” that the municipal center is a bad arrangement for efficient operations, and that putting off work now would only result in more costs later on.
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Peter Elwell had a few words about the fate of the Municipal Center, saying that there were many options available if the police move out, including reorganizing office space and leasing out space. He and the other agreed that a decision on the police station would inform future plans, so the issue will be revisited.
Experienced Good Lease Renewal
The Brattleboro Selectboard approved renewal of a lease for space at the Transportation Center (parking garage). Experienced Goods will continue to occupy the space for another three years. After that, though, they may be looking for bigger digs and an additional 3,000 square feet.
The town is raising their rent 3% in the new agreement.
Brattleboro Cemetery Committee Report
The Brattleboro Cemetery Committee gave as report to the selectboard which focused heavily on cemetery regulations, and possible changes to local ordinances for the near future.
Desired changes include Committee by-law edits, the addition of an area designated for burial of indigent residents, establishing a new space for cremated remains, rules relating to disinterment or relocation, size and number of monuments, and allowances for solar powered eternal flames.
One new idea the committee would like to investigate is that of “green burials.” Brattleboro has the state’s only certified green undertaker, and a burial space dedicated for no caskets, toxic embalming chemicals, or headstones, is perceived as a possibly popular option. One audience member, Sharon, said she thought it was a good idea to pursue.
Marshall Wheelock warned the board for the third year in a row about roof damage to the mausoleum. (There’s now a placeholder of $15,000 in the FY18 budget to fix it.)
Jackie Stromberg, a resident living adjacent Morningside cemetery, wanted the board to do something about vandalism. The unlocked gates at night, she told them, allow young people to drive in for purposes unrelated to honoring the dead. Gartenstein said they’d look into the issue and follow up.
Energy Committee Annual Report
The Energy Committee – Bob Reuter, Paul Cameron, and Michael Bosworth representing – gave the selectboard an annual report on their work.
Bosworth gave overviews of committee vacancies, their mission, goals, and state goals. He showed charts showing that large initial savings in many areas has more recently leveled off. In some case, such as heating and electricity, costs have risen in recent years.
Cameron talked about current projects, such as the soon-to-be-completed energy audits of town buildings, possible wood heat conversion of some town buildings, increases in solar use in town, and a new fast charger for electric vehicles coming at no cost to the town.
As for recommendations, the committee would like the board to follow the suggestions found in the energy audit results, to implement life cycle cost analysis for all town projects, to purchase additional net metering credits, and to investigate methane generator net metering at the solid waste facility.
Cameron said Brattleboro is a model for other communities, and has made great progress over the last decade.
Climate Protection FY17 Budget Request
Each year, Paul Cameron, the town Energy Coordinator, asks for $10,000 in an annual budget request. The money is used to assist with yearly funding of Brattleboro Climate Protection.
Mr. Cameron typically saves the town more than this amount, and Town Meeting Representatives generally support this expense.
Again this year his request will be an article for Town Meeting Representatives to consider.
FY17 Budget Human Services Funding
Also each year, Town Meeting Representatives are asked to approve $120,000 of Human Services support spending. This year will be no different, and the Human Services Review Committee’s suggested allocations to town organizations will be an article for Representative Town Meeting to consider.
This year, 25 organizations applied, asking for $167,550. Priority was granted to agencies that provide food, shelter, or other basic needs, or serve vulnerable populations.
The committee reported that needs continue to outpace resources, and not enough support is coming from public and private sources. Some organizations reported significant negative impact from the closing of VY.
Fire Department Radio Tower Leases
Vermont ETV, also known as Vermont PBS, will be allowed to lease space for ten years on the Fire Department’s downtown, 70-foot radio tower. The initial cost to them will be a $1000 option fee to secure the space, then $6,000 per year to use it. They’ll also get access to the town’s fiber connectivity, and hope all this effort will improve their signals in the area.
Elliot Street Bridge Utility Relocation
As part of the reconstruction of the Elliot Street bridge, utility equipment will need to be relocated.The Brattleboro Selectboard approved a relocation order Tuesday evening, mandating the relocation of equipment by the Fire Department, Green Mountain Power, FairPoint, and Comcast.
Committee Appointments
The board made several committee appointments.
T. Namaya will be joining the Arts Committee, Mary McLoughlin will join the Energy Committee, and Ken McCaffrey will join the Citizen Police Communication Committee.
January Meeting Schedules
The board scheduled a final special meeting for this month on January 25th at 5:30 p.m.
Other
Michael Bosworth has resigned from the Regional Economic Hub Study Group, saying in a letter that the work of the committee is currently getting lost among other town priorities by town staff, and not getting the attention or effort it deserves to be effective.
Warning about Email List Re-Use
Using other email lists for a purpose other than originally intended should raise a legal red flag. I’d caution heavily against using an email list gathered for one purpose to send information unrelated to that original purpose. I’d worry about bumping up against the anti-SPAM laws on the books, and would worry about potential lawsuits. (If I recall correctly, it’s against the law, though it may just be etiquette.)
That said, I like this attempt to reach out online via surveys and polls, and Survey Monkey has a number of ways to do things to protect against double voting and such. One way is to have people sign up with their email address to participate.
For example, the town could begin right now and start building up an official email list to survey residents about any issues. Town Clerk could manage it and check it against voter rolls.
As someone who has done hundreds of polls in town, I can say that using “numbers” from computers (IP addresses) in this town severely limits responses. Many large groups share an IP address (the hospital), and even in a home multiple people may be sharing a single IP. It’s not a definitive marker. Best way is to require registration, but then that limits participation as well.
No method is perfect, but worries about over-voting are usually not necessary. Most people play by the rules most of the time, and when they don’t it is pretty obvious.
Incidentally, once we get to about 35 or so votes on any poll, the percentages are pretty much locked in and don’t change significantly. The “winner” usually remains in the top position from then on…
If you really want to know what people think, let them write-in options, or at least allow a vote for “none of the above.”
I would say that this is a perfect example of the need for a Tech Committee in this town. We’ may be a model town for energy issues, but we are almost dark ages when it comes to the internet. We could have registered users voting on secure surveys and polls year round, via their municipal and inexpensive high speed connections.
And yes, Survey Monkey is a web site. : )
Names will be named
Chris, why is it important to have residents who participate in the police/fire survey be identified? I would think that would be a deterrent for many people to answer the survey. Is there a legal reason for this? Or just curiosity?
No good reason
I don’t see any reason to identify people. Names don’t go on ballots. (I think some board members have a distaste for anonymity in general, but reasons for allowing privacy outweigh those concerns, in my view.)
The issue I’d be concerned with is limiting the responses to Brattleboro voters. I think an email list tied to voter rolls is the best approach. let everyone OPT IN to a new email list, and check them off as they go.
Emails can then be sent with random number code to keep everyone accounted for and private at the same time.
(Next week, as an experiment, I could set our poll to require registered users to participate. We could watch and see if the number of responses drop. I bet it would, dramatically.)
Well, I'm assuming they want
Well, I’m assuming they want a bigger response than they get with their “community” meetings so it would be in their interest to make it as easy as possible for people to participate in the survey. I agree with you that using mailing lists that have been generated for other uses is a slippery slope. I’m not sure it’s technically illegal but it certainly falls into a grey area ethically. I’m surprised that route is even being considered when they have mailing lists connected to voter registration. I have little doubt that this whole process will turn out to be as complicated as possible. Seems to be the lay of land here.
Rainy day profit
Isn’t it funny how government never wants to part with the “extra” or profit it has made off of it’s citizens but has no problem expecting you to deplete any of your savings to feed it’s appetite.
Finally
Things ARE looking up though. It’s kinda refreshing to see Socialists on here finally feeling the pinch of out of control taxation.
Not quite right
Actually, they are trying to figure out how to apply the excess to lower taxes (ie, return it), and not keep it.
The question is whether it is better to do it this year, next year, or split it over two years.
High taxes have been complained of since the site began in 2003. : )