To accommodate an event at the new Amtrak train station downtown, the Town will temporarily close Bridge Street and Depot Street tomorrow. The closures will begin at 10:30 a.m., and both streets are expected to reopen by 2:00 p.m. Volunteers will be stationed at the closures and will allow local traffic through for those traveling to or from properties located on Bridge Street or Depot Street.
Your water bill will go up, your sewer bills will go up, the town is buying a $73k car for the fire department, there will be a bit of free parking near the holidays, and a new sculpture park is being preliminarily proposed for the area near BMAC and he Amtrak station. All this and more at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will approve new FY26 budgets for water, sewer and parking rate at their next regular meeting. The parking budget includes options for the possibility of some free parking in December, or perhaps not. It’s up to the board to decide.
They will also buy a new fire car, plan a retreat, and hear about plans to improve the Depot Street area of town. You can bring up other items on the agenda during public participation.
The Brattleboro Selectboard held one of their longer meetings in some time. The public was active! Complaints about downtown crime, lack of action on climate change, and open meetings kept the board busy until after 10:30pm.
Of note, the Town acknowledged their violation of open meeting protocols and adopted a new two-part process to make sure it won’t happen again. This wasn’t enough for most people, who wanted a more detailed accounting of the EMS decision making process.
The board changed RTM districts to conform with state updates, adopted Utility and Parking budgets, and poured luke-warm water on a suggestion to bring back the electric trolley.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will emerge from another Executive Session to do something that isn’t done very often – update the boundaries of the voting districts in town, which will change representation at Representative Town meeting. This update is to conform with adjustments recently made by the state.
The board will also take up the Utility Fund, Parking Fund Budget, raises, and the Depot Street parking lot project. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
On Wednesday, March 17, Utilities Crews will be working in the junction of lower Main Street and Canal Street. The work will begin at 9:00 pm and continue through approximately 6:00 am Thursday morning, March 18. Traffic will be restricted in that area during the scheduled time while the Utilities Division works to repair a water main leak.
Motorists should plan to use alternate routes during this time period.
