Selectboard Meeting Notes – Peter Elwell’s Final Meeting, Mask Mandate Modified

peter elwell

It’s the final regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard for 2021, (if any meeting this year could be called “regular.”)

The board reconsidered the mask mandate, reviewed FY’23 matters, looked at annual audit results, considered financial reports, and bought some trucks and equipment repairs. More interesting to me, though, was that this was the last “regular” meeting for outgoing Town Manager Peter Elwell. That’s kind of where my thoughts are tonight, more than on budgets and such.

And, for that reason, I don’t plan to transcribe everything word for word tonight. Instead some thoughts…and a bit of the meeting.


The End of Restaurants as We Know Them?

Sadly, one of the sectors of the economy taking a major hit during the pandemic is the restaurant industry. Many places have gone out of business and those that remain are struggling to figuring out a way to create a new kind of business model that promotes financial viability.

When restaurants ramp down and close there are all kinds of ripple effects in the economy. People lose jobs and supporting industries, which include farmers, also feel the pinch. If one looked at the pandemic solely from an economic viewpoint that would mean that opening all public businesses would be the highest priority.