I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project Update: Week of January 17

I-91

To reduce congestion on I-91, both Exit 3 on ramps will be closed on Monday, January 18, (Martin Luther King’s Birthday) from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. I-91 will remain open.

Northbound I-91 traffic has been relocated onto the southbound bridge. Traffic will remain reduced to one lane in each direction on I-91 until completion of the new bridge. The new bridge will be 104’ wide and is designed to carry all four lanes of traffic –two northbound and two southbound.

Route 30

The speed limit on Route 30 near the work zone has been reduced to 40 mph. Project-related truck activity on Route 30 will continue. Route 30 may be reduced to a single lane intermittently, with flaggers regulating traffic within the work zone.


Brattleboro Selectboard Special Meeting Notes: Paying the Piper

The special meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard examined the cost of borrowing for proposed Police and Fire facility options, life cycle cost comparisons, how and when to apply the excess fund balance, and preliminary Police and Fire facilities survey results.

It’s increasingly looking like two full fire stations and a Black Mountain police station will be presented to voters, but no decision has been officially made as of yet, and more meetings are scheduled before those decisions are cast in stone.


Brattleboro Closures on Martin Luther King Day

In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, all Brattleboro Town offices will be closed on Monday, January 18, 2016, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Monday, January 18. All other violations will be enforced.


Brattleboro Time Trade Listings – Week of January 10

Brattleboro Time Trade:   Exchanging services, creating connections, strengthening communities, one hour at a time.  See below for more exciting Upcoming Events and learn what Time Trade can do for you!

How Time Trade Works: You do something for someone and earn time credits for your “bank,” which you can then put towards someone else doing something for you! It’s that simple – and amazing!

This week’s fabulous listings, brought to you from a sparkly zone:

OFFERS (i.e. things people could do for you):

Genealogical Research
Assistance Applying for Social Security Disability Insurance
Genealogy Tutoring/Mentoring


Brattleboro Selectboard Special Meeting Agenda – January 12

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

ASL interpreters will be available for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.

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


Brattleboro Committee Meeting Warnings and Agendas

The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 8:00am in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center. NOTE the change in time.

The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 7:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.


What’s Up, West B? BizUp! That’s What’s Up!

On Wednesday, January 13, at 6:30pm, the Community Development Action Team of the West Brattleboro Association will host the first ever BizUp West B! This will take place in the center conference room at 55 Marlboro Road.  (The building with Central Appliance on one corner.)

Connect, Collaborate and Innovate! BizUp events intend to connect our talented local business owners and organizational leaders with one another, providing the possibility of sharing resources, supporting collaboration and sparking innovation.


Brattleboro Police-Fire Facilities Project Survey

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.


Selectboard Meeting Notes – Whether to Tap Excess Funds Now or Later

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.


More Downtown Brattleboro Snow Removal

The Town of Brattleboro would like to remind everyone that the snow emergency ban is in effect.

Snow and ice will be removed from the streets in the downtown area this evening.

Parked vehicles in the downtown district must be removed by 10:30pm or they will be towed at the owner’s expense.

If vehicles are going to remain in Town overnight they should park in the Brattleboro Transportation Center. If you use the Transportation Center, do not park in a Reserved Permit space without a permit. Pay and Display is in effect after 9:00 a.m.


Brattleboro Design Review Committee Forming

The Brattleboro Selectboard recently established the new Design Review Committee. Attached is a press release with information about the committee and how to apply to become a member.

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

….


Stroll Hosts Non-Profit Showcase During Gallery Walk

During Gallery Walk on Friday, January 8 (5:30-8:30 p.m.), Strolling of the Heifers invites the public to meet representatives of more than two dozen area non-profits at the River Garden in downtown Brattleboro.

At the event, which is called “Get the Word Out,” visitors can learn about what the organizations do, how to obtain services from them, how to participate in their programs, and how to volunteer. In addition, VT Dinners a startup company making frozen meals using locally grown ingredients, will offer tastings of their products, and the Brattleboro Women’s Chorus will entertain.

The Stroll’s art gallery, Gallery at the Garden, will be open as well, with a re-installation of the exhibit “Windham Grows,” which consists of photographic works by John Nopper and Jeffrey Lewis, depicting past winners of the Windham Regional Business Planning Competition sponsored by Strolling of the Heifers and Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, along with interviews with the subjects by Elizabeth Stoumen.


Downtown Brattleboro Snow Removal

The Town of Brattleboro would like to remind everyone that the snow emergency ban is in effect.

Snow and ice will be removed from the streets in the downtown area this evening.

Parked vehicles in the downtown district must be removed by 10:30pm or they will be towed at the owner’s expense.


Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting Agenda and Notes – January 5, 2016

Welcome to a new year of Brattleboro Selectboard meetings.

On Tuesday, to kick off 2016, the Brattleboro Selectboard will contemplate whether moving the police station to Black Mountain Road, away from the center of town and out of the municipal center, is a good idea or not. If you have views, you may want to attend and share them.

The board will also take up remaining issues with the FY17 budget proposal and discuss potential use of the fund balance (our “reserve”). There will be ordinary business related to articles on the Representative Town Meeting agenda. Cemetery and Energy Committees will give annual reports, new committee appointments will be made, and more.

Watch on BCTV and read about it here after the meeting.


Brattleboro Committee Meetings and Agendas

The Brattleboro Energy Committee will meet on Monday, January 4, 2016 at 5:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

The Brattleboro Regional Economic Hub Study Group will meet on Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 6:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

The Brattleboro ADA Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, January 8, 2016 at 10:00am at the Marlboro College Graduate Center in the VCIL conference room.

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


Error Code 200 – Flagging New York City

I tried to order a final gift online on Monday and my BS&L card was rejected by the web site. The site told me to re-enter my info, so I did, and it gave me the same error.

I had been doing this quite easily for the last few weeks, with items of similar prices, so I knew it wasn’t my card. I assumed the web site had errors.

So, while I liked the price and location of the original store in New York, I went to a different site in a different location and it worked. I ordered my item without a problem from a different place in Tennessee.

Unfortunately, after ordering, that store owner called me to tell me he was out of stock and didn’t expect a replacement until September.


G.S. Precision Breaks Ground on Expansion in Brattleboro

BRATTLEBORO – Governor Peter Shumlin, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, U.S. Congressman Peter Welch, and local officials joined Norm Schneeberger, President and CEO of G.S. Precision, to break ground on a $17 million expansion that will bring 100 new jobs to Brattleboro in the next few years. The event capped nearly eight months of work by G.S. Precision, Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA), and the Town of Brattleboro to ensure that the company expanded its business in Brattleboro and not elsewhere.

“This project has been a team effort to combine federal, state, and local resources to retain and create great jobs in Brattleboro,” said Governor Shumlin. “This is the kind of public-private partnership that will help ensure Windham County’s economic future.”