utility

Selectboard Meeting Notes – Water & Sewer Rates Up, Parking Meters To Come Down But Rates Likely To Rise

by cgrotke | Town News
brattleboro selectboard june 4 2024

The first meeting of June for the Brattleboro Selectboard and they decided your Water & Sewer Rates are going up 5%. 

The board spent quite a bit of time, though, talking about raising your parking rates, too.  Remember the great meter system that the Town staff insisted be purchased a few years back? Fast forward a bit and now the Town staff wants to cut down every meter and replace them with a handful of credit card powered kiosks. They’d like to get rid of any coins or cash in the system. And Town staff suggested merely doubling current rates.

Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting Agenda and Notes – June 4, 2024

by cgrotke | Town News

Newly increased water rates will be adopted and the FY25 Parking Fund will be presented for approval at the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. Part of the discussion will be the adoption of a grant for downtown parking system improvements. A slightly more unusual part will be to choose between parking fund revenues of $654,500 or $1,029,500, which most likely means a decision about raising parking rates.

There will be a small affordable housing grant for BAAH, and an application for a grant to improve sidewalks and add a path to the backside of the Common. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – July 11, 2023

by cgrotke | Town News

The results of the Brattleboro Selectboard board retreat will be discussed at their next Tuesday meeting. Hint: they have established their five top goals of the year to be good transportation center parking, the town pool, the community safety plan, safety zones, and housing.

Tax rates and utility rates will be set, housing and land use will be discussed, and you can bring up any other items not on the agenda if the Chair allows under Public Participation.

Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting June 20, 2023 – Agenda and Notes

by cgrotke | Town News

Brattleboro employees will get raises and taxpayers will get a 5% reduction in water bills at the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard.

Parking and Utility budgets will be approved, the monthly EMS update will be given, and the public’s chance to weigh in at the 2nd meeting in June regarding EMS services will be on the agenda as well.  You might also be able to bring up other items not on the agenda.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – June 6, 2023

by cgrotke | Town News

At their first regular June meeting, the Brattleboro Selectboard will hire two outside security firms to patrol parts of downtown.

They will also discuss utility budgets, financial software, traffic safety, and committee vacancies.  You might be able to bring up other items not on the agenda if the Chair allows. 

Selectboard Meeting Notes – Brattleboro Acknowledges Executive Session Open Meeting Violations

by cgrotke | Town News
selectboard june 7 2022

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.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – June 7, 2022

by cgrotke | Town News

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.

Selectboard Meeting Notes – Water and Sewer Rate Increases, and Face Mask Review

by cgrotke | Town News
Brattleboro Selectboard Virtual Meeting

The Brattleboro Selectboard had a long discussion about their long discussion last week about face coverings. Is it too strict? Not stick enough? What about the children? They then moved on to a discussion of raising water and sewer rates to help pay for the new water filtration plant. Is 6% a year too much? Is 2% too low?

The final discussion was of the parking system, and how with no income and continued expenses, the budget doesn’t look so good. Should the Parking Fund remain an enterprise fund or be rolled back into the General Fund? And who has the best ceiling?

Arguments For Free Parking In Brattleboro

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

I’m going to argue for free parking in Brattleboro.

The main reason we have to pay for parking here and not in most other towns in Vermont is to pay for our parking meters, parking enforcement, and parking infrastructure. Other than helping to pay for parking lot paving and snow removal, this is a silly, unnecessary burden for locals and visitors, and could instead be money spent in downtown stores.

Selectboard Meeting Notes – Aggressive Panhandling, Skatepark Design Firm Hired, Francis Moves On

by cgrotke | Town News
sb-jun19

The biggest news of the Tuesday meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard came not from the agenda but introductory remarks. The Town manager announced that Planning Services Director Rod Francis was leaving Brattleboro in the next couple of weeks.

This was followed by an unscheduled but surprisingly active discussion of aggressive panhandling in the downtown area.

Beyond those matters, the skatepark hired a design firm and got some extra cash, contracts and grants were approved, the utility budget passed, a long resolution was adopted, and more.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – June 19, 2018

by cgrotke | Town News

It’s happening. At their next regular meeting, the Brattleboro Selectboard will hire a company to do the designs for the skatepark at Living Memorial Park.

The board will discuss repairs at the Waste Water Treatment Plant, discuss parking, talk about loans and grants, approve an annual contract with Rescue, Inc., and proceed with the loan for the new fire truck. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.