By a vote of 111 Yes to 27 No, Brattleboro Town Meeting Representatives have decided to move the police station to Black Mountain Road.
This approves the concept. At their regular Representative Town Meeting later this month, representatives will vote on the budget that contains this option. That budget, and other business, remains to be approved.
Well
That just makes for a perfect week of Stanley Steamers, doesn’t it.
Sinkholes
Did I forget to mention the sinkholes on Black Mountain Road?
Where there’s one sinkhole there may be others…probably should hire the United States Geological Survey agency to study the road and landscape to see if there are any other natural hazards that threatens the land stability.
What is it about a town referendum don't the Reps understand?
What is it about a town referendum don’t the Reps understand?
Referenda
The last town-wide referendum was on the budget.
Sounds like we need another one on the vote to move the police station to BM Rd.
Did folks see Spoon Agave’s contribution during the event Sat. on BCTV? He very eloquently said that we are about to spend $14 million on something that will yield no substantive benefit or improvement to the town.
I would add my own critique that the SurveyMonkey poll that the selectboard and town manager based the choices on was a farce. A 12 year-old could have hacked that vote and swung it. Why wasn’t something added to the primary and town offices ballot, a straw poll of the different options?
There was ballot question - discussed
Original discussions of the Selectboard included a question on the ballot for voters to offer a non-binding opinion.
Dec 17, iBrattleboro: “Gartenstein suggested a schedule that would finalize a warning by the end of January, hold an informational meeting in February, allow a non-binding vote on the March 1st ballot, hold a special Representative Town meeting to discuss the facilities and bonding, then a regular Representative Town Meeting to do the regular yearly business.”
It was dropped from the schedule. No explanation that I can recall, though they did have a discussion about how much public input was enough at one point, but not directly on this question.
Police move to Black Mountain Rd
Saying that the town will gain no significant improvement after spending 14 million dollars on improvements to our public safety infrastructure is hard for me to see. The problems with the current buildings are real.
As a Town Meeting Rep I voted (absentee, due to a longstanding professional commitment out of town) against this proposal. I heard many people questioning the following:
– Moving police out of the town center
– The town becoming a landlord of a newly acquired building
– Taking the Reformer building off of the tax rolls
– Maintenance and management costs of the new building
In addition I heard many folks saying: As soon as the police relocate we still need to correct the health and safety issues at the Town Hall before we try to put tenants in there. I continue to believe that a scaled down version of the 2013 police proposal at the Town Hall would have been a better option.
I did my diligence in talking to as many people as possible leading up to the vote. I was surprised that only 22 reps voted against the proposal. The referendum option is still open. As usual, political action comes with a price – you’ve got to organize.
Andy
Senseless in MHO
I hadn’t heard about this vote until today, 3/15. On the surface it doesn’t make an once of sense to me to move BPD to the outskirts of town, but that’s just instinctive reaction. I would love to see the list of pros and cons of such a move, and how they were reconciled among town leaders.
Information and input WAS sought
As a town meeting rep I made I considerable effort to educate myself about this issue. The town made a tremendous effort to inform and solicit input from all residents of Brattleboro. In addition to the survey (which apparently some find inadequate) there were three open meetings that were publicly announced in the paper and also, I believe, postcards or some other form of direct outreach to all registered voters in Brattleboro. These meetings offered a lengthy explanation, along with photos and illustrations, of the various proposals on the table. These meetings were held on different days (weekdays and weekends) at various times and in the elementary schools. Also, there continue to be vacancies for town meeting reps.
I voted "yes"
As a town meeting representative I voted “yes” on moving the police station and here is why:
First, there was indeed considerable effort to inform and solicit input from residents of Brattleboro about all the options. I have gone out of my way to gather as much information as possible so I could make an informed decision on how to vote. I can tell you that the number of hours the police AND fire departments have put into outreach to educate anyone who is willing to listen about the state of their facilities is enormous. They can’t go door to door. The Reformer has done an extremely thorough job covering this story. BCTV records public meetings. I also live in West Brattleboro and the West Brattleboro Association hosted a Q&A for District 1 about a week before town meeting. There was a lengthy discussion at that meeting too, unfortunately most in attendance were town meeting reps so we were not able to hear from constituents.
Second, based on the information that was not only shared by the police department but also the committee that studied the options at great length I decided that the Black Mountain property best meets the needs of the police department. The police department serves the town…why would we not give them the best facility we can so they are best able to do their job? The cost between fixing and adding onto the existing building or buying and renovating the Black Mountain property are essentially the same. Anyone who has seen, or even heard, about the current conditions at the police department cannot possibly say that nothing needs to be done. So, if the town is going to invest $14 million why would we not invest it in the property that meets ALL the needs of the police department?
Because that property is not downtown…it is 2.8 miles outside of downtown. In my opinion the benefits of Black Mountain outweigh the arguments against moving it out of downtown. Here are the top three: Accessibility for people without a car. VERY FEW residents walk into the police station to conduct business or access services. Do we keep the police station downtown, in an inadequate facility, for this reason? There is a concern that out of public scrutiny the police will…honestly I don’t know what but there is a concern that they will not feel as accountable. Does anyone watch them now? No, they are buried deep within the bowels of the Municipal Building. Additionally, any concerns I have had about police activities in the past were actions that did not take place IN the police station but when they were out responding to a situation. The final main argument is that moving the police station will change the culture of downtown. I don’t know when I have ever heard anyone describe the police station as an integral part of the downtown culture until this proposal. For me this is not a priority over providing the police department with a modern, safe, efficient space in which to perform the vital duties that they provide.
If anyone would like additional information about the proposed new facility or why I voted for it please do not hesitate to reply.
Your Answer
You ask “why would we not give them the best facility we can so they are best able to do their job?”
Because we cannot afford it.