Welcome to the November 2024 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them. Scroll down the new comments for the latest.
As the budget process gets going, Town staff will ask the Brattleboro Selectboard to approve a $700,000 police substation at a special meeting on November 12. The board will also be asked to put the Esteyville Gazebo project out to bid, and will tinker with the Parking Ordinance.
You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
• Approve minutes from previous meetings
• Review of grant applications.
• Revise the Town Charter Commission Suggestion for Inclusion of the Human Services Review Committee.
Brattleboro, VT —Canal Street will be closed from South Main Street to Elm Street on Friday, November 8, 2024, due to ongoing emergency services operations and debris removal following the recent fire at 45 Canal Street. Demolition crews will be on-site throughout most of the day to safely clear the affected area.
Southbound traffic on Canal Street will be detoured via Flat & Elm Streets or South Main & Washington Streets. The northbound lane will be detoured down Elm St and onto Flat St, but drivers should anticipate periodic delays to accommodate trucks and equipment entering and exiting the site.
Agenda
I. Attend WSESD Finance meeting
II. Other business
III. Public comment
Agenda
1. Approval of Minutes
2. FY26 Budget Planning Timeline Discussion
Paving of the driveway entrance to 28 Vernon Street and some potholes in the parking lot is scheduled to take place one day next week as weather allows. Delays entering and exiting the lot may be encountered during this operation as the pavement must cool to a certain temperature for traffic to drive on it.
Installation of traffic signals and lighting at the new intersection of VT 142 and VT/NH 119 has been mostly completed with the exception of some solar power cells for the lights. This work will continue into next week. Coordination and timing of the signal with Brattleboro Department of Public Works and the Vermont Agency of Transportation signal operations will continue.
Sign crews will continue placing signs for the new bridge next week. The signs will be covered until the bridge is ready to open. This crew will be accessing shoulders along approach routes to the project in a mobile work zone with a uniformed traffic officer.
Reports of explosion and big fire on Canal Street. Internet out for many. Firefighters on scene.
In observance of Veterans’ Day, all Brattleboro Town Offices will be closed on Monday, November 11, 2024, with the exception of emergency services.
Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Monday, November 11. All other violations will be enforced.
Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on Monday, November 11, 2024.
The second installment of the 2024 Brattleboro Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes will be due by 5 p.m. on November 15, 2024. Payments made after November 15, 2024 will have an additional 1% interest added to the unpaid balance.
The Town of Brattleboro utility bills are also due by 5 p.m. on November 15, 2024. Payments made after November 15, 2024 will have an additional 1% interest, as well as an 8% penalty added to the unpaid balance.
Town of Guilford, Vermont — 2024 General Election — Local Unofficial Results
Guilford turned out: 1400 voted, of 1830 on the voter checklist.
State Senator (Guilford Totals Only) Windham 1 (Guilford Total Only) &
Guilford Justice of the Peace Contests
These are Unofficial Results provided as a convenience as the polls close. Official totals will be posted on the Town website shortly, and transmitted to the Vt Secretary of State
Good evening,
Please see attached for the “unofficial results” for Brattleboro’s General election. These are the results from the ballot tallies, not including write-in votes, and not including other towns’ results for the State and Federal races.
Thanks to the amazing poll workers and the American Legion who made today possible! The day was smooth and safe, with a lot of voters casting their ballots both early/absentee, and in-person today!
Thank you,
Hilary
The Brattleboro Selectboard discussed the “base budget” – a budget with no changes to services from current levels – at Tuesday’s Election Night meeting. As is, they said, it would be a 22% increase. Board members agreed it was a difficult budget, but none had any big ideas for getting the increase to a more manageable level.
Citizens attending had ideas – eliminate raises, cut Municipal Center hours to 32 hours a week for most employees, cut positions, and throw it all out and build up from what is truly necessary were suggested. Personnel costs, they noted, were the big numbers.
In a flashback to the era of Barb Sondag we heard the Town Manager ask the board to simply tell him what services they’d like to cut from the people of Brattleboro…
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 at 5:50pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room.
Summary
● The Board voted to have Superintendent Speno to engage in a process to review the notation of class rank on student transcripts.
AGENDA
I. Call to Order
DS called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm
DS read the hybrid meeting statement
DS amended the agenda to transition this meeting from an Executive Session to an Open Public Meeting.
DS requested acknowledgement of community parents that they recognize that their anonymity cannot be protected as this is an open public meeting.
Parents acknowledged verbally.
Nov. 4 BBQ Meatballs
Cabbage
Peas
Pudding
Video below….
We hear a lot of stories about people who were cheated out of their life savings or were scammed by so-called home improvement companies that collected money and never did the work. They all seem to have a sad ending. Well, I want to tell you a story with a happy ending.
My wife and I agreed to have our house painted and we found a person who had advertised himself on social media. He came to our house and he seemed very charming. From the start, my wife didn’t trust him. She kept saying she had a bad feeling about this guy, partly because he did not have any of the credentials of a businessman.
The Town of Brattleboro is announcing the retirement of Fire Chief Leonard Howard III, whose dedication to the Brattleboro Fire Department and the community it serves extends back to the 1980s. Chief Howard’s retirement becomes effective on Dec. 31, 2024.
“I’m proud to be in the fire service. It’s been the best job in the world,” said Chief Howard. “I’ve enjoyed helping people, and seeing my staff progress and be successful. I think they’re in a good place, and they have a good future ahead of them.”
Chief Howard joined the Brattleboro Fire Department in 1987 as a member of its call staff, a role in which he served for a decade. When he joined, Howard was among about 30 volunteers who helped support career firefighters during major events. Starting in 1988, days after graduating high school, Howard took a job at the Brattleboro Public Works’ Utilities Division.
Here are some excerpts from the Town Manager’s memo to the Brattleboro Selectboard regarding their enormous FY’26 budget. I’ve left out some of the tables mentioned to make it easier for me to format. Go view the full document to see them.
At the start, they anticipate a 14% increase in property taxes, but this does not yet include any solid waste disposal costs, which staff say may add another 5-8%.
Get yourself a drink so you can spit it out in amazement as you read the details.
