Brattleboro Selectboard Special Meeting Agenda April 25, 2024

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center (230 Main Street, Room 212) and over Zoom. Prior to the meeting at 5:30pm, the Board will convene and is expected to enter immediately into executive session to discuss contracts and real estate negotiations. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.”  ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members. The backup materials for this meeting will be available on the town Website Brattleboro.gov/Selectboard by the end of today.


WSESD Policy Warnings

Windham Southeast School District has read the following three policies at two regular meetings, and anticipates adopting them at the Board Meeting of July 25, 2023.

The policies are attached below; please post for a warning period of at least 10 days prior to the potential adoption date of 7/25/2023. 


Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting Agenda and Notes – April 20, 2021

A new “Fossil Fuel Free Facilities Fund” will be up for discussion at the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. The 5F is intended to set aside money each year to help cover costs to the Town of switching away from fossil fuels. The latest revision, by Sustainability Coordinator Stephen Dotson, sets out the purpose and operation of the new fund.

Planning Services Director Sue Fillion will join the meeting to provide an update on the Tri-Park Master Plan, the updated Local Emergency Management Plan will be adopted, the board will continue to discuss their goals for the new year, some financial matters will be dealth with, and more. You can always bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.


VT Governor Scott Extends State of Emergency

Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today signed an executive order to update and extend the State of Emergency in Vermont to July 15. The latest order reflects all current re-openings and eased restrictions, which have been underway since late April to account for the State’s low case counts and continued slow growth rate.

State data and modeling shows overall spread of COVID-19 continues to be limited, even as the state has seen an isolated outbreak with 84 related cases in the Winooski area.

Governor Scott also detailed how a robust testing and tracing program; better knowledge of the virus; greater public awareness of, and adherence to, preventive measures; health and safety requirements across sectors; and increased stock of critical healthcare supplies, the state is much better positioned to track, manage and box in outbreaks and slow spread, which is critical to managing this virus until there is a vaccine.


VT Governor Scott Extends State of Emergency; Updates Orders

Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today signed Addendum 14, a Be Smart, Stay Safe order to extend the State of Emergency to June 15 and update previous emergency orders to reflect re-openings and eased restrictions announced in recent weeks.

State data and modeling indicate the spread of COVID-19 continues to slow and Vermont now has one of the lowest 3-day and 7-day growth rates in the country. The Governor and Department of Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD, however, continue to caution that the state must also consider neighboring states where the virus is much more prevalent and outbreaks are still occurring.

“Vermonters have stepped up in a time of crisis, following guidance from the beginning to quickly slow the spread and keep our health care system from being overwhelmed. These efforts have saved hundreds and hundreds of lives and given us time to build the testing and tracing capacity we need to contain future outbreaks,” said Governor Scott. “The important thing to remember is that the smarter we are about our individual actions, and the more disciplined everyone can be during each step forward, the more steps we’ll be able to take to safely restart Vermont.”


Governor’s Executive Order: Declaration of State of Emergency in Response to COVID-19 and National Guard Call-Out

From the Governor’s office:

“WHEREAS, since December 2019, Vermont has been working in close collaboration with the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and with the United States Health and Human Services Agency to monitor and plan for the potential for an outbreak of respiratory illness due to a novel coronavirus (a disease now known as COVID-19), in the United States; and

WHEREAS, this rapidly evolving global situation required the Governor to direct the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) to activate the Health Operations Center in February 2020 when VDH began to monitor and later, test Vermonters who may have been exposed to COVID-19; and


Brattleboro Town Manager Statement on COVID-19 Rumors

I have been advised this morning that some rumors of significant COVID-19 impacts are circulating in Brattleboro.  Examples include “hospital staff have been instructed not to report to work” and “police officers are wearing masks whenever they are in public.”  These rumors are not true.  Please continue to monitor the situation on the Vermont Health Department’s website at https://www.healthvermont.gov/response/infectious-disease/2019-novel-coronavirus.  Please also continue to encourage members of the public to use that Health Department site as their source of reliable information about COVID-19 in Vermont.  The link to that site remains posted in the “News” section on the right side of the Town’s homepage.  The Health Department is updating the site at least daily and some days it is updated multiple times.


Some Thoughts On Climate Strike Day

Today there is a world Climate Strike. It is amazing, and amazing that it took this long.

As kids almost 50 years ago, we were already concerned about the environment. Earth Day got started, we read Ranger Rick and National Geographic World, and we knew that littering made an old Native American by the side of the road cry. We knew about animals going extinct from hunting and pollution. We used to plant trees on Arbor Day each June. We read the Lorax.


Declaration of Climate Emergency – Full Text and Comments

Here is the full text and comments of the proposed “Declaration of Climate Emergency” from Brattleboro Common Sense. The issue is on the agenda for the next meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard.

….

Whereas this article, to be known as the Declaration of Climate Emergency, is in accordance with a resolution promoted by the selectboard in 2003, and with resolutions on energy and climate change promoted by Brattleboro Common Sense through votes of the people in 2010, 2014, and of town representatives in 2018; and whereas the youth of Brattleboro are calling on today’s town leaders to formally acknowledge the truth of the emergency;