News & Information

Town Clerk Annette Cappy presided over the swearing in of two out of three newly-elected Brattleboro Selectboard candidates – David Gartenstein and Kate O’Connor.

The newly sworn-in board members, along with John Allen, chose officers for the coming year. They are the same as last year: David Gartenstein will Chair, Kate O’Connor will be Vice Chair, and David Schoales will be Clerk.

David Schoales was not in attendance. Neither was Dick DeGray. There was no explanation for anyone’s absence.

Two school buildings stay warm with local, renewable heat from wood

BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT: The Academy and Esteyville school buildings in Brattleboro are the first public buildings to participate in the Windham Wood Heat Initiative by switching from fossil fuels to locally sourced wood pellets to heat their buildings. Academy School’s switch will reduce the school’s oil use by 15,000 gallons and generate $50,000 a year in positive economic impact for southern Vermont’s economy. Esteyville will cut oil consumption by 1,100 gallons and contribute $3,700 a year to the economy.

“We’ve got a quiet system providing an even heat and it’s been keeping our building warm,” said Andy Paciulli, principal of the 355-student elementary school.  “A bonus is that many of our students are learning about the importance of reducing our carbon footprint and decreasing our use of non-renewable resources. Heating with wood pellets has helped to deliver that lesson to our young learners. I expect we’ll realize the cost savings which should be significant for us and the taxpayer.”

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special organizational meeting on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 5:30pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center. A revised agenda and an administrative report are attached .

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special organizational meeting on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 5:30pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The Brattleboro Citizen Police Communications Committee (CPCC) will meet on Monday, March 28, 2016 at the Brooks Memorial Library in the community room.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

In a stealth vote in the final moments of Representative Town Meeting today, fairly new RTM member Dylan Mackinnon of District Two proposed the following non-binding resolution:

“I move that the town change, in reference to the second Monday in October, as Indigenous People’s Day in place of Columbus Day.”

K. Daims attempted an amendment to have the Selectboard bring this proposal to a town-wide resolution, but the amendment was defeated 28 to 43.  The proposal passed overwhelmingly, though the exact vote was obscured by a vast WHOOSH! of indigenous spirits flooding the room with silent whoops and hollars.

Brattleboro is restructuring the way town employees are compensated for health care. A new program to fill the gaps of higher deductibles might end up saving taxpayers $30,000 a year while continuing to provide a solid level of coverage for employees.

The decision of the recent special Representative Town Meeting to move the police station to Black Mountain Road has been incorporated into the budget to be presented at the regular Representative Town Meeting, Bradley House might be renovated and expanded if a new package of grants is approved, the town will buy new police cars, and Donna Macomber had a final regular meeting with the board. 

Strolling of the Heifers and SEON — the Sustainable Energy Outreach Network — are partnering to present a workshop to explore collaborative opportunities between businesses in the farm, food, green building and green technology sectors.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 29 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, 157 Main Street, in Brattleboro.

The event is the second workshop in the Windham Grows series — the first was “Tech Salad,” which brought together farm, food and technology entrepreneurs on March 3.

Like Tech Salad, the March 29 event will be facilitated by Nadav Malin, president of Building Green, Inc., a Brattleboro consultancy that gathers, organizes and publishes information about green building technologies for building industry professional and policy makers.” 

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.

The Brattleboro Selectboard will incorporate the decision of Town Meeting Representatives into their annual budget suggestion at their next meeting on Tuesday at the Municipal Center, adjusting levels of anticipated debt service payments for facility projects depending on the outcome of the vote.

The police will get police cars, the substation at Cotton Mill Hill may be upgraded, and Bradley House might be expanded and improved. They’ll also revise the town’s health insurance program for employees. You can participate in person or watch on TV, and you are free to bring up other items that aren’t on the agenda during Public Participation.