The Police and Fire facility projects will be guided by the same team as before. The project manager, architects, and construction management company were all approved for contract signing.
Brattleboro received grants ranging from $240 to $1 million, the All State Music Festival has been cleared for a parade next year, and our financial questionnaires and checklists are in good order.
Preliminaries
Chair David Gartenstein said the Secretary of the Agency of Transportation was in town and had both good and bad news for the town. The bad news is rather obvious – the I-91 bridge project is not quite ready for regular use, and won’t be until a year from now. The good news is that the state sees that the project has been rough on us, and has granted us $200,000 for road work.
He said that Western Ave from the exit to Chestnut Hill would get a shim coat, and Upper Dummerston Road would be paved.
Gartenstein reported that while the Windham Solid Waste District was planning to change what materials are accepted for recycling, town policies have not changed and recycling in Brattleboro remains as is.
Town Manager Peter Elwell had no preliminary comments. David Schoales noted the presence of the BUHS band director Steve Rice, and praised his work. “He’s the man,” he said.
No public participation, and also no sign of Dick DeGray or John Allen.
Police and Fire Facilities Project Discussion
Steve Horton, Northeast Collaborative Architects, and DEW Construction Corp. were re-engaged by the Brattleboro Selectboard to do the work on the new emergency facilities.
Horton’s contract will not exceed $105,000, at a rate of $100 per hour. Northeast Collaborative Architects’ contract will not exceed $507,800. DEW Construction will receive $235,300 for pre-construction and construction phase services.
Town Manager Elwell endorsed all three re-hires, subject to the Town Attorney approving their contracts. “The fees tonight are appropriate fees in line with what’s expected,” said Elwell.
David Schoales asked that the contract review by the Town Attorney take into account recent issues with assigning responsibility for problems with the Waste Water Treatment Plant project. Elwell said he would ask for such a review, but cautioned that the best constructed contracts will not prevent all complicated situations from arising.
Kate O’Connor asked about the work schedule. Elwell said that after the contracts were signed, a timeline will be developed, the committee will meet, and a schedule should be ready in May.
David Gartenstein asked Steve Horton about the fees, and how they were determined.
Horton replied that his fee was simply 1% of the estimated total cost, for a year of project management. DEW’s rate is 2% of the total costs, which Horton deemed competitive.
The architect’s fee was harder to explain, with Horton and Elwell differing somewhat in how the rate was calculated, but both confident that the roughly 8-10% rate was also competitive,
The Police-Fire Facilities Building Committee is still accepting applications to fill the single vacancy. Letters of interest are accepted until April 28. The committee will reconvene for the first time on April 27 at 4pm in the Selectboard meeting room.
Gartenstein encouraged members of the public to participate in the facilities projects at meetings. “It is very likely we’ll discuss this every meeting going forward. I encourage anyone and everyone to come to meetings and ask questions,” he said. “This is a fully transparent project and process and we want all to participate.”
All-State Music Festival Parade Permit
The Vermont All State Music Festival might be coming to Brattleboro on Wednesday May 10, 2017. That’s right, 2017. Festival hosts are getting in line early, however, to ask for a parade permit.
The parade request comes via Steve Rice, band director at BUHS. He informed the board that Brattleboro has a chance to serve as the host community for the 2017 Vermont All State Music Festival. Over 400 of the state’s top high school musicians would convene and perform, music educators and families would attend, and the festival would kick off with a parade.
The parade would use the same route as Strolling of the Heifers, staging on Flat Street and ending at the Common.
The hour-long parade would be held in the early evening. It would be followed by days of rehearsals and performances by jazz bands, orchestras, and choral groups.
With selectboard approval, Rice felt he could commit to hosting the event.
“Do kids stay with other kids?” asked Kate O’Connor.
“We need to find suitable host family homes to house all students,” said Rice. O’Connor pledged support of the Chamber of Commerce, her day job, in providing information for parents and teachers about places to stay, eat, and shop.
The Town Manager was asked by the board to continue working with the organization on the event.
“It’s a great way to showcase the community,” said David Gartenstein.
Monthly Finance Report with John O’Connor
John O’Connor was not at the meeting, so Town Manager Elwell summarized his report.
With 75% of the fiscal year completed in March, the General Fund expenditures stand at 72.1% of what was budgeted.
Elwell noted that this number is pro-rated (in the reports) due to big payments that skew the monthly figures, and that as the fiscal year end approaches, the discrepancies between actual and pro-rated figures vanish.
(We stick with the non-pro-rated here.)
The Utilities Fund expenses are at 74% and Parking Fund expenditures are at 63.3% of their annual budgets.
Solid Waste Fund revenues are at 73.7% and expenses are at 71.4% of annual budgets, with a reminder that March bag revenues and collection costs are recorded a month later.
Brattleboro has loaned out just over $4.1 million, with just over $300,000 available to grant or loan.
Brattleboro has 48 active grants, and three more in the works.
Despite reporting no one other than staff in attendance, Gartenstein asked if any members of the public had questions or comments. There were none.
Financial Management Questionnaire
Each year, the Brattleboro Selectboard reviews an annual Financial Management Questionnaire prepared by the Town Treasurer. It is a one page document that has questions such as “Have you deposited town monies anywhere other than a town account?” (No) and “Has a signature stamp ever been used for any town account?” (Yes).
This was supplemented by an additional checklist of internal controls for the board to review. Provided by the auditors, it goes into a bit more detail but is similar. “Does the town use purchase orders?” (Yes) and so on. Elwell said that it was a good sign that the new auditors were using a more detailed checklist than what had been used in the past.
Kate O’Connor saw that the checkbox for “Had there been any thefts?” had been checked in the affirmative. Gartenstein said the Gibson-Aiken Center had a break-in. Elwell said it was good in that it was not employee theft.
The board accepted, reviewed, and approved of the two checklists.
Million Dollar VCDP Grant for G.S. Precision Project
You may recall that the Town of Brattleboro is assisting the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation with a project to retain and expand G.S. Precision at the Exit 1 Industrial Park.
As part of that assistance, a grant from the Vermont Community Development Program community block grant was applied for, and the board learned Tuesday that the million dollar grant was approved. They subsequently approve of sub-granting the money to the BDDC project.
David Gartenstein asked if the town was compensated for any of the work of administering the grant. Patrick Moreland said that in this case, the town’s contribution was in-kind, and was helpful in securing the funds.
Gartenstein noted that it counted as contributing to economic development in Brattleboro, with 31 initial new jobs and a possibility of 100 in five years.
Bonnyvale Road Retaining Wall Grant
Brattleboro’s Department of Public Works is applying for a Structures Grant from the Vermont Agency of Transportation in the amount of $175,000. If granted, the money will be used toward replacing the failing Bonnyvale Road retaining wall.
DPW’s Hannah O’Connell said the town had success with this type of grant in the past, and if it comes through it would be a substantial amount toward the $261,000 total for the project.
Better Back Roads Grants
The DPW was approved for applying for two Better Back Roads grants from the Vermont Agency of Transportation. One of the grants is a $40,000 request to supplement the funding for replacing the Bonnyvale Road retaining wall. Retaining walls happen to be a new category for grant applicants this year.
Gartenstein asked about upcoming DPW projects at Green Meadow and Cottage Street, and the paving schedule for this season. O’Connell said that both streets were sewer projects that would involve fixing the roads, and that the paving schedule was coming along. She said the list may include South Street, Thayer Ridge Road, a section of Bonnyvale Road, Black Mountain Road, Green Hill parkway and other smaller areas.
The other grant is for $8,000 toward a townwide pavement study, as a step toward transitioning to a pavement management program.
O’Connell said that the DPW would be using a company that provides an overlay for Maps Online that will show the condition of all roads in town, from intersection to intersection, rated and with suggestions for maintenance.. This will provide the department with real data on road conditions, as well as training to do road ratings after the software is in operation.
VTrans Annual Financial Plan
The Department of Public Works prepares an annual financial plan for town highways. The board approves it, and it is sent to the state of Vermont. “Routine and standard,” said Hannah O’Connell.
The plan shows the mileage of Class 1, 2, and 3 roads in town, and estimates of the costs to maintain for the year.
Quick quiz: Take a guess how much it costs. Correct! $1,364.387.
In the plan, Brattleboro pledges that taxpayers will contribute at least $300 per mile toward the cost.
LSTA Loan Courier Pilot Program Grant
The Brattleboro Selectboard approved of accepting $240 from the LSTA Loan Courier Pilot Program Grant to support the sharing of information among Vermont public libraries. It might be the smallest grant approved in the last decade.
The program is a one-year pilot program using Green Mountain Messenger to deliver interlibrary loan requests to 74 libraries in the state.
The funding is federal, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Small & Inspiring Grant for Dog Park Fencing
The Vermont Community Foundation finds the idea of dog park fencing to be both small and inspiring, and have granted Brattleboro $1,000 toward the purchase and installation of fencing for the new dog park at Living Memorial Park from their Small and Inspiring Grant Program.
“Is it true we are working with a planner for the dog park and skate park?” asked Gartenstein.
Yes, said Elwell.
…
The meeting ended at 7:38, making it a small (and inspiring?) meeting.
