Town News

The next monthly meeting of the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will be held on Thursday, October 13^th at 6:00 PM at the Hayes Court Community Room on Garfield Drive.

After a review of the treasury report and recent chicken barbecue, members of the association will get and give updates on various topics including the status of the welcome letter initiative, the Neighborhoods Fund progress, and recent economic development which includes a report on BizUp and West B commercial spaces.

Notification of hearings to abutters, an ongoing issue, with be taken up at the Association’s meeting on November 10^th.

In observance of Columbus Day, all Town offices will be closed on Monday, October 10, 2016, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Sunday and Monday, October 9 and 10, 2016. All other violations will be enforced.

Given a chance to make a statement in favor of Native People’s Day, the Brattleboro Selectboard decided 3-2 that there may be some reasonable opposition to the idea in the community and felt it would be better to have signatures be collected to put the matter before voters or Representative Town Meeting members at a later date. Next Monday officially remains Columbus Day in Brattleboro.

The selectboard also heard much about long term plans for the town, from the review of town operations to financial plans, plans for downtown studies, police and fire facility plans, and more.

Brattleboro’s Town Manager Peter Elwell has graciously agreed to a series of three interviews about himself, towns in general, and the future of Brattleboro. In this first installment, we ask about growing up in Brattleboro, his time away from Brattleboro, and his return to his home town.

Tell us about growing up in Brattleboro…

I had a happy “normal” childhood. So happy that no matter where else I ever lived, Brattleboro was always “home.” There were dozens of kids in my neighborhood (including my 3 older sisters) and we had friends all over town. We rode our bikes everywhere. Although it was the 1970s, it had the feel of an earlier era. In the summers and on weekends, we would leave home in the morning and go out and about, usually with just the admonition to “be back by dark.”

We played a lot of sports, usually in synch with whatever professional sports season was active at that time and only rarely organized by adults. On summer evenings, we played “cops and robbers” (a large scale game of hide+seek played by teams) throughout all the yards (and some of the garages) in our neighborhood. I walked to Green Street School and rode the bus to the junior high (now BAMS) and BUHS.

Those of us who were growing up here at that time definitely had a sense that the Town was changing, becoming more diverse and more artsy, but we were mostly focused on the things any other kids in other settings would focus on … school, friends, music, sports, etc.

The Brattleboro Selectboard will be discussing things at their next regular meeting, They will discuss the Comprehensive Review of Town Operations. They will discuss the Long Range Financial Plan, the Windham Solid Waste District Assessment, the Police and Fire projects, and more.

They also might act to do a few things. They might proclaim Indigenous People’s Day. They will likely loan Cultural Intrigue $70,000, schedule a new process for evaluating Bittersweet Lane, and accept money for the planned dog park at Living Memorial Park.

You can attend, participate, and bring up other items not on the agenda. It’s at the Municipal Center on Tuesday, as usual.

The Brattleboro Energy Committee will meet on Monday, October 3, 2016 at 5:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

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

that long-time Brattleboro Energy Coordinator Paul Cameron has resigned as is moving to North Carolina to be closer to family.

His work on climate protection and energy issues for the town over the years has been substantial, and the Energy Committee frequently cites his participation as essential.  The small amount allocated by Representative Town Meeting each year toward his work has reaped significant savings in energy costs, helping to keep property taxes down and efficiency up.

On top of that, he’s a really nice guy, too.  Definitely will be missed.

The Brattleboro Conservation Commission will meet on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 at 5:15 PM in the Hanna Cosman Room at the Municipal Center.

Rita Johnson
Planning Clerk & E911 Coordinator
Town of Brattleboro
230 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
planning@brattleboro.org

The Brattleboro Citizen Police Communications Committee (CPCC) will meet on Monday, September 26, 2016 at 5:30pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center. NOTE the new location for this meeting only.

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

The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Human Services Review Committee is accepting applications for FY18 Human Services Funding. The Application, as well as Instructions and Guidelines, will be posted on the Brattleboro website – www.brattleboro.org. The deadline to submit applications to the Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office is Wednesday, October 12, 2016 at 12:00pm.

The information session regarding human services funding is scheduled on Thursday, September 29, 2016 at 7:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center. Applicants are encouraged to attend. For more information regarding the application process, contact Jan Anderson in the Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office at 802-251-8151.

The Windham Regional Career Center at Brattleboro Union High School is pleased to announce their Community Education and Training Programs for this fall. Betsy Gentile, Workforce Development Manager and Adult Education Coordinator has coordinated 15 community education and training programs to meet the needs of area employers and their employees as well as providing personal and professional enrichment opportunities for all community members.

Perhaps the biggest news revealed at the regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard had almost nothing to do with any board decision. A bus company has decided to start a daily route from downtown Brattleboro to and from Boston starting October 1.

The board did handle some meaty topics themselves, of course. They had healthy discussion of  accessibility features of the new police station, a lesson on business development activities, a decision to spend $30,000 on pedestrian safety and work safety into future budgets, another decision to reconsider their decision regarding Bittersweet Lane, a scolding for the public for not paying attention, and more. 

The annual Columbus Day weekend Chicken BBQ will be sponsored by the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) on Saturday, October 8^th, starting at 11 a.m. and lasting until gone. The event will be held in front of the First Congregational Church on Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. There will also be a bake sale (and maybe more) sponsored by the Church.

The half barbecued chicken, which uses a barbecue sauce recipe from the Guilford Fair Fireman’s BBQ, will be available with a pickle for $7. Watch for an updated announcement soon, and meanwhile get October 8^th on your calendar!

Proceeds from the BBQ help the West Brattleboro Association with its many activities for the community!  

Residents of Bittersweet Lane have asked the Brattleboro Selectboard to reconsider their recent decision regarding road reclassification. The board denied the request for the Town to take over the private road.

The Welcome Center may be getting a pump station, the Traffic Safety Committee would like more time to study the need for additional flashing pedestrian crossing lights, Blanche Moyse may get a road named after her, and there are many grants and financial reports to consider.

Attend and offer your two cents. You can always bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.

The Brattleboro Citizens Police Communications Committee (CPCC) will hold a special meeting on Monday, September 12, 2016 at 5:30pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center. NOTE the new location for this meeting.

The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 7:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Strates Shows, Inc. is a traveling carnival midway company based in Orlando, Florida. It provides amusement rides, games and concessions for local, county and state fairs throughout the United States. Strates transports their personnel and equipment by train during its annual seven-month season. The equipment train, nearly a mile long, comprises 61 rail cars and 34 trucks plus all sorts of rides and equipment, and they were all in Brattleboro, today. There is a second, passenger train for the personnel.

They just finished up at the Champlain Valley Fair in Essex Junction and were en-route to their next gig at the Lee Regional Fair in Sanford, NC.

Brattleboro Fire Department computers were unintentionally encrypted and virtually “held hostage” by nefarious no-gooders, somewhere, demanding a ransom to unlock the impacted systems. The town did not give in to their demands, and the locked files are instead being re-created by staff.

Plans for the new police station were presented and approved, the Black Mountain sewer settlement began to be settled, public hearings lacked public participation, and more.

Are you a Brattleboro resident interested in the natural environment? Do you have special natural resource knowledge that you are interested in sharing? Are you concerned that invasive species are threatening the health of our environment? If so, the Brattleboro Conservation Commission needs you!

The Conservation Commission responsibilities include raising public awareness about the Town’s natural resources, guiding development in sensitive areas, and encouraging community participation and stewardship regarding town conservation issues.

The first installment of the 2016 Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes will be due on September 15th, 2016. Payments made after September 15th, 2016 will have an additional 1% interest added to the unpaid balance.

Payments can be mailed to the Town of Brattleboro, 230 Main Street, Suite 111, Brattleboro VT 05301. An official postmark of September 15th, 2016 will be considered as an on time payment. Please include the quarterly payment stub to ensure your payment is applied properly. Electronic Bank Checks must be received in the office by the due date. Electronic Bank Checks dated for the due date, but received after the due date will not be considered an on time payment.