Looking for a gift for someone who loves Brattleboro? There’s a new book celebrating all the various types of parades that have marched through town.
“Brattleboro On Parade” by Kevin O’Connor, featuring photos from the Brattleboro Historical Society is now available at most bookstores in town and at the BHS offices on the third floor of the Municipal Center. It is hot off the presses.
Snow and ice will be removed from the uncovered parking lots in Brattleboro’s downtown area starting around 12 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2025.
Vehicles parked in the downtown lots must be removed or they may be towed at the owner’s expense.
Despite the weather conditions, the Brattleboro Selectboard went forth with their first meeting of December. Being a very long meeting, I decided to jump in somewhere around the time of the discussion of health care changes and voting on RTM, which appeared on the agenda for roughly 8:15, which was actually more like 9pm.
The board covered the DPW, Rec & Parks, Library and DID budget requests. Interestingly, they decided to hold public hearing to gather important feedback from the public about declaring an emergency and making it more difficult for social service and charitable use organizations to exist. This will be at a special meeting of the selectboard to be held December 22nd, overseen by Mr. Potter.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will continue work on the FY27 budget at their first regular meeting in December. From the way it is scheduled, this could be a VERY long meeting. The agenda-setters have the final item beginning AFTER 10 PM, and we all know how good they are at estimating agenda starting times.
In addition to hearing from Rec & Parks, the Library, the downtown organization, and Public Works about their budgets for FY27, the board will take up the bigger items of a change of health care providers, a discussion of options for voting to end Representative Town meeting, a new potential zoning change to start controlling “social assistance or charitable services” through conditional use permits, a monthly budget update, and anything else the public wants to bring up during public participation.
Isaac Evans-Frantz made some good points about the parking system and downtown business at Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting. His points deserve underlining and emphasis because he latched on to some logical flaws of the current parking system, and hinted heavily that it might be really harming downtown business.
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Isaac began by asking why, if there was a deficit in the parking fund, would the board consider offering any free parking at all during holidays.
The first regular meeting of February for the Brattleboro Selectboard was mostly a series of quarterly reports, punctuated by questions about EMS billing and budgets. The board learned that the bad-sounding audit will not really be as bad-sounding as it sounds. Just wait. You’ll see.
Notable – parking revenues are down, the downtown safety plan is beginning to take shape, Golden Cross is having problems collecting revenue for us, and a few candidates came to use public participation to show that they are involved.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will begin the process of changing utility rates by having consultants come to explain the Utility Rate Study they are about to undertake.
The board will also hear quarterly updates from the police department, fire department, and finance office. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary continues their walking history tour of Brattleboro, Vermont, leading participants on a journey through time while supporting a worthy cause. The final dates for this unique fundraiser are on Saturdays, September 28, and October 26 at 11 am.
Led by knowledgeable local Rotarian guides, attendees will spend 90 minutes walking up Brattleboro’s Main Street, delving into its fascinating history from its early beginnings to its present-day charm.
Tours walk from one end of Main Street to the other (approximately 7/10 of a mile) with about 10 stops explaining Brattleboro’s history and culture. The tour will last approximately 1.5 hours and will go from Plaza Park (across from the Co-op) to the Brattleboro Common. Older kids are welcome, but the tour is designed for adults.
A divided Brattleboro Selectboard voted in favor of expanding an ordinance of acceptable behavior that criminalizes aspects of life for those who may be unhoused. The decision came despite pleas to have professionals review the changes.
The board then added hundreds of thousands of dollars to this year’s budget to fund additional downtown policing. They estimate $200 a year increases for most taxpayers to cover this expense. It was cheered on by a pro-policing faction that wanted big sticks and ass kicking, and criticized by those who were watching all their work for alternative community safety options go down the drain.
Finally, the board praised Turning Point for exceptional work with addiction and recovery, on a budget less than the annual cost of the new police expansion.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will learn at their next meeting that their downtown safety decisions come with a substantial price tag – the starting cost is close to $800,000 per year for additional downtown policing.
The board will get an update on programs and news from Turning Point, and would like to again spend from the Community Safety Fund – this time to help pay for an “acceptable community conduct” campaign. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
The Brattleboro Selectboard voted in favor of many suggestions by Police Chief Norma Hardy at their regular Tuesday meeting: using community safety funds to purchase surveillance cameras, plus authorizing a move forward on un-budgeted hiring of three more officers, hiring two unarmed police staff, and one police data technician. They also will move ahead with locating a police satellite office downtown.
This came after a presentation on police data that showed that the majority of police calls in town were not for crimes, and many incidents with police involve a handful of known actors.
Amy’s Cafe & Bakery is our Main St. go-to for all things delightful and delicious. Tune in and hear Amy’s stories of early restaurant days in town, how the pandemic brought her new focus and her perspective of the downtown culture.
A lot of people in Brattleboro are agonizing over how to make our downtown safer. There has been no lack of suggestions. I have done a little bit of research into how other communities deal with similar problems and, once again, there are no simple solutions.
Yet, I am beginning to think that we need to use a tool that has been rejected by most communities as being too cruel. That is having police and the court system lock people up who are breaking the law, no matter what level they are operating on.
Safety has a price and the Brattleboro Selectboard will begin to hear some of the new costs for downtown safety at their next regular meeting. Brattleboro Police will request hiring of additional staff and officers plus the creation of a parking garage satellite office for police use. It is part of their downtown safety action plan. They will also discuss their HEAT mapping and how this impacts deploying resources to problem areas.
Esteyville bandstand plans will be discussed. The result of the public input is that people want the bandstand, but not way up in the air as it currently sits. The selectboard will also set a plan for this year’s budget process. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
It’s more than the creaky floors that give Brown & Roberts it’s character – Lyle Howe talks about our iconic Hardware Store and the interesting life that brought him there.
The last Brattleboro Walking History tours of the season will be held this Friday, October 27 at 4 pm (NOT 10/28 at 11 am as advertised on the calendar) AND next Saturday, November 4 at 11 am.
Designed as a fundraiser, volunteers from the Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club have created a walking history tour of downtown Brattleboro. With the help of the Brattleboro Historical Society and the Brattleboro Words Project, Sunrise Rotary volunteers pooled their collective knowledge to put together a great introduction to Brattleboro, Vermont’s illustrious history.
Brattleboro is undergoing a major shift, with many long-running and well-known entities exiting stage left, and some new projects are bubbling up. Here are just a few examples:
– Sam’s closing.
– MT Bank closing.
– Josh Davis leaving Groundworks.
– Cor Trowbridge leaving BCTV.
– Lee Bradford leaving Co-op.
Can anyone confirm? 🙁
Designed as a fundraiser, volunteers from the Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club have created a walking history tour of downtown Brattleboro. With the help of the Brattleboro Historical Society and the Brattleboro Words Project, Sunrise Rotary volunteers pooled their collective knowledge to put together a great introduction to Brattleboro, Vermont’s illustrious history.
Tours will be scheduled on a rolling basis for select Saturdays at 11 am for the fall. The fall tours will take place Saturdays, September 16, October 14 & 28, and November 4.
Well, well, well. The Brattleboro Selectboard has decided at the last moment that it would be good for them to explain to the public all the secret EMS BFD Rescue relationship information they have known about, information the public has asked them about for over a year and half and the board has remained steadily tight-lipped about. Until now.
Former Chair Liz McLoughlin cracked and said she wouldn’t let Rescue, Inc. control the narrative anymore, and that she wanted a meeting to reveal everything the board knows that the public has been kept in the dark about by her and her fellow board members. Chair Ian Goodnow warned the board that the town attorney told them they should not discuss these secrets with the public, but they voted to hold a special meeting anyway. The plan is to let the public know all the reasons that Rescue and BFD don’t get along.
This throws the public forum and decision-making meeting dates into question.
