For stories pertaining to the town of Brattleboro at large and its government.
The Brattleboro Traffic Safety Committee will meet on Tuesday, June 18, 2020 at 8:00am via GoToMeeting. In keeping with Governor Scott’s “Stay Home – Stay Safe” order, this meeting will be held with no physical location using GoToMeeting. A copy of the agenda is attached and it contains information about how to access the meeting remotely.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
TODAY’S NEW INFORMATION + IMPORTANT REMINDER
• Police Chief Michael Fitzgerald will hold a community forum on The Common on Wednesday, June 17, at 5:30pm, to discuss policing in Brattleboro and beyond. If this forum can’t be held on June 17 because of rain, then it will be held the next evening on Thursday, June 18, at 5:30.
• Brooks Memorial Library is providing limited delivery service of materials to Brattleboro residents who are unable to come to the library, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, noon-1pm.
The United Way of Windham County ceases all 2020 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) services. In spite of the newly relaxed restrictions on businesses and social distancing and the new tax filing deadline of July 15, 2020, United Way of Windham County will not be able to reengage its VITA programming. For alternative methods of preparing your 2019 income taxes you can visit these online services: https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free and https://www.myfreetaxes.com/.
TODAY’S NEW INFORMATION + IMPORTANT REMINDER
• Reminder: A second State-organized food distribution will be held in Brattleboro tomorrow, June 11, from 10am to 2pm. This time, you must pre-register to be able to receive food. (This helps the organizers better plan for both the amount of food to distribute and the safety and efficiency of the distribution process.) Appointments are clustered every 15 minutes. As with last time, no personally identifying or financial questions will be asked. Please use this link to register: https://humanresources.vermont.gov/food-help.
• On June 15, the softball fields at Living Memorial Park and West River Park will reopen for team practices. Use is limited to one team at a time and a maximum of 25 people. No games or scrimmages. A list of other limitations on this use has been distributed by the Recreation and Parks Department to the organizers of local softball leagues.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will meet on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, at 6:15pm. It is anticipated that the Board will enter Executive Session at that time. In keeping with Governor Scott’s “Stay Home – Stay Safe” order, this meeting will be held with no physical location using GoToMeeting. The attached agenda contains information about how to access the meeting remotely.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
The Brattleboro Selectboard held another virtual meeting Tuesday night. Utility rates are set to rise, the General Fund end-of-year looks pretty good, the FY21 Parking and Solid Waste budgets were discussed, preliminary options for holding Representative Town Meeting were presented, and dogs were warned of their illegality. Read on for the details.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will approve their own budget for the first time, due to a special act of the Vermont legislature to bypass Town Meeting Representatives this year in an effort to get the budget approved prior to the new fiscal year on July 1. The board will also discuss options for convening a Representative Town Meeting at some point.
Water and sewer rates will be raised, downtown parklets for businesses will be purchased, the Solid Waste Fund will be discussed and might be folded into the General Fund, another COVID-19 update will be given, and even more will happen during this packed agenda. Prediction: watch as Selectboard members mention that they hate the dog warrant language again this year! “It’s the owners, not the animals…” You can bring up other items and animals not on the agenda during Public Participation. Just don’t ask your questions in the chat room of the virtual meeting.
WHAT IS NEW TODAY
Two big announcements today!
From the Recreation and Parks Department:
The Living Memorial Park Swimming Pool and Rotary Water Playground will be opening for the season on Saturday, June 20th, 2020, at 1pm. Space will be limited to 25 patrons and staff inside the gated area at any one time. Daily reservations may be made by calling the pool at 802-254-6700. Priority will be given to Brattleboro Residents.
Due to COVID-19, the pool schedule, fees, and procedures have been updated for the Summer of 2020:
The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Thursday, June 4, 2020, at 5:00pm. In keeping with Governor Scott’s “Stay Home – Stay Safe” order, this meeting will be held with no physical location using GoToMeeting. A copy of the agenda is attached and it contains information about how to access the meeting remotely.
The Brattleboro Citizen Police Communications Committee (CPCC) will meet on Monday, June 1, 2020, at 5:30pm. In keeping with Governor Scott’s “Stay Home – Stay Safe” order, this meeting will be held with no physical location using GoToMeeting. A copy of the agenda is attached and it contains information about how to access the meeting remotely.
At its meeting last night, the Brattleboro Selectboard reaffirmed and slightly modified its Emergency Order requiring that face coverings be worn by all employees, customers, and visitors in any store, office, or other indoor setting where business is conducted.
The modification clarified that children under 5 “are not required” to wear face coverings. The original order stated that masks “should not be placed on” children under 5. The remainder of the order is unchanged and it continues to apply equally to businesses, non-profit organizations, and governmental facilities anywhere in Brattleboro.
The Brattleboro Selectboard had a long discussion about their long discussion last week about face coverings. Is it too strict? Not stick enough? What about the children? They then moved on to a discussion of raising water and sewer rates to help pay for the new water filtration plant. Is 6% a year too much? Is 2% too low?
The final discussion was of the parking system, and how with no income and continued expenses, the budget doesn’t look so good. Should the Parking Fund remain an enterprise fund or be rolled back into the General Fund? And who has the best ceiling?
The Town of Brattleboro announces the filing of the 2020 Abstract Grand List. Applications to schedule a grievance hearing are available at the Assessor’s Office by appointment or online at www.Brattleboro.org on the Assessor’s page. Applications for a hearing must be received in the Assessor’s office by 5:00pm on June 9, 2020. The Brattleboro Board of Listers will hold grievance hearings via GoToMeeting starting Tuesday, June 9. See the attached Warning for instructions on how to access GoToMeeting.
WHAT IS NEW TODAY
• Free Wi-Fi at the Library:
Brooks Memorial Library is providing limited outdoor tables and chairs for wi-fi access along the Main St. area of the library (weather permitting). Tables will be positioned in accordance with social distancing requirements for café seating. All users are requested to wear masks, use hand sanitizer, and notify staff upon leaving so that tables and chairs can be disinfected between users.
• At its meeting tonight at 6:15pm on GoToMeeting, the Selectboard will hear additional public comment on the emergency order requiring face coverings to be worn in all indoor locations where the public is invited to transact business. At this meeting, the Selectboard also will give preliminary consideration to staff proposals on the Parking Fund budget, the Utilities Fund budget, and Utilities Fund rate increases.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, May 26, 2020, at 6:15pm. In keeping with Governor Scott’s “Stay Home – Stay Safe” order, this meeting will be held with no physical location using GoToMeeting. The attached agenda contains information about how to access the meeting remotely. ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.
WHAT IS NEW TODAY
• The Brattleboro Selectboard issued an Emergency Order at its meeting last night requiring that face coverings be worn by all employees, customers, and visitors in any store, office, or other indoor setting where business is conducted. This requirement is effective immediately and applies equally to businesses, non-profit organizations, and governmental facilities anywhere in Brattleboro.
The Selectboard made this decision after a lengthy discussion that included substantial public input on the GoToMeeting platform where Selectboard meetings are currently being held without any specific physical location due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Here is the full text of the resolution that the Selectboard adopted to issue this order:
The Brattleboro Selectboard issued an Emergency Order at its meeting last night requiring that face coverings be worn by all employees, customers, and visitors in any store, office, or other indoor setting where business is conducted. This requirement is effective immediately and applies equally to businesses, non-profit organizations, and governmental facilities anywhere in Brattleboro. The Selectboard made this decision after a lengthy discussion that included substantial public input on the GoToMeeting platform where Selectboard meetings are currently being held without any specific physical location due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Here is the full text of the resolution that the Selectboard adopted to issue this order:
Be it resolved by the Selectboard of the Town of Brattleboro, Vermont, as follows:
The Brattleboro Selectboard passed a resolution at their Tuesday meeting requiring face coverings to be worn by customers and employees in all retail establishments. It was part of an expanded discussion of COVID-19 and business issues.
Many agenda items relating to Utility and Parking budgets were postponed to a special meeting next week.
The Brattleboro Traffic Safety Committee will meet on Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 8:00am. In keeping with Governor Scott’s “Stay Home – Stay Safe” order, this meeting will be held with no physical location using GoToMeeting. A copy of the agenda is attached and it contains information about how to access the meeting remotely.
The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Friday, May 22, 2020 at 1:30pm. In keeping with Governor Scott’s “Stay Home – Stay Safe” order, this meeting will be held with no physical location using GoToMeeting. A copy of the agenda is attached and it contains information about how to access the meeting remotely.
The Town of Brattleboro Water Department’s annual Consumer Confidence Report/Water Quality Report for 2019 is now available. This report can be viewed on-line at https://www.brattleboro.org/ccreport or printed copies are available at the Brattleboro Municipal Center in the Town Manager’s Office or Town Clerk’s Office or at the Department of Public Works, Brooks Memorial Library, Tri Park CO–OP Office, and the Guilford Country Store. Questions about this report can be addressed to the Department of Public Works at 254-4255
WHAT IS NEW TODAY
• The Recreation and Parks Department has received many questions about the usage of Town parks facilities by people from outside of Brattleboro. Recreation officials all over Vermont have received many similar questions. In the Governor’s “Stay Home – Stay Safe” addendum issued on Friday, May 15, he clarified earlier instructions regarding limits on day travel to Vermont from out of state.
