Snow and ice will be removed from the parking lots in Brattleboro’s downtown area tonight, Feb. 27, 2025, after 11 p.m.
Vehicles parked in the downtown lots must be removed or they may be towed at the owner’s expense.
Oscar Heller will be a thoughtful member of the Brattleboro Selectboard, progressive in his values but mindful of the financial facts of life. I have served with Oscar for several years on the Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee (both of us have chaired in different years) and I know his abilities well. Heller is diligent and well-informed. He respects different opinions, listens well, and has an admirable ability to contribute to the development of reasoned decisions while maintaining group cohesion.
It is clear from this year’s Finance Committee work that Heller strongly believes in the necessity of multi-year financial planning and rigorous consideration of budgetary alternatives. He knows that nothing good can come from undisciplined spending.
On a Motion by Elie and seconded by Maggie the committee unanimously approved the draft for publication pending any comments from Frank Rucker, WSESD business manager.
Kristina referred the committee to the motion from the past meeting authorizing Maggie and Kristina to incorporate edits before releasing the report if Frank has minor changes. The committee agreed to let the motion stand, and Kristina agreed to hold an emergency meeting if any issues arise in the next few days which would require substantive rewrites.
The Town of Brattleboro is announcing the resignation of Brattleboro’s Assistant Town Manager, Patrick Moreland, who served in the role since August 2011. Moreland will be stepping down from the position on March 24, 2025, to pursue an opportunity leading DV Fiber as its new executive director.
During his career with the Town, Moreland worked with four town managers and served as interim town manager twice. He’s played a part in numerous initiatives, including routine projects like budget development and special projects such as the transition to municipal EMS services and the launch of the pay-as-you-throw system.
“I oversaw the expansion of curbside organics collection, which is really unique,” Moreland said, adding that the success of the program led to Windham Solid Waste Management District expanding its capacity to receive more organic materials.
IV. Overview of Governor Scott’s “Education Transformation Proposal: a proposed reform of Vermont’s current system of education and funding.”
Dan McArthur Rural School Alliance gave an overview of the Governor’s proposal for educational reforms and gave remarks on behalf of the rural school alliance.
Emilie Kornheiser also gave remarks regarding educational reform proposal and various funding mechanisms
II. Evaluate
– Assess Draft of statement re Students with Immigration Status [Mikaela and Shannon]
– Gender Freedom in Schools – Proposed new policy
F34 Transgender and Gender Creative Students Policy
On Wednesday, February 26, Green Mountain Power will be replacing a utility pole at the intersection of Clark Street and Estabrook Street. Clark Street will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It is advisable for residents to make the necessary arrangements and utilize the southern entrance of Clark Street for ingress and egress. Emergency services are aware of this closure and will implement a plan to continue to provide any services needed beyond this closure.
6:15 – 7:00 Town Plan 2026
• Review and approve community outreach plan for Community Conservations. Discuss topics that the Planning Commission would like to explore in these conversations.(cont.)
• Interactive activity using maps and photos to identify characteristics of development and uses that are desired in the discussed areas.
AGENDA
Call to Order
Review and Approve Minutes of previous meeting.
Review of Cases/Public Hearings to be reviewed under the Brattleboro Land Use Regulations as warned on October 12, 2015.
2025-2 Windham Windsor Housing Trust for the Ursula Dalem Life Estate; Residential Neighborhood 5400 District; request for Traditional Neighborhood Planned Unit Development Approval for a Traditional Neighborhood PUD with 70 housing units.
Below is some helpful information for the March 4th Town Meeting and WSESD School Board Director Elections.
Absentee Ballots
Absentee ballots for these elections were mailed by request. Please make sure to follow the instructions provided
with your ballot, including:
• Signing the certificate envelope and ensuring your ballot/s are inside the certificate envelope.
• Using a black pen to mark your ballot.
Snow and ice will be cleared from select streets in Brattleboro on Monday, February 24, 2025, starting at 10 p.m. The affected streets include: Western Avenue, from Exit 2 to Edward Heights
Greenleaf Street
Canal Street
Clark Avenue
South Main Street
I’ve known Isaac Evans-Frantz for several years and I am glad he is running for Select Board.
Isaac’s Brattleboro roots run deep. He was born in Brattleboro, grew up in a low-income family and graduated from BUHS before going on to college.
His at times challenging upbringing gives him the experience to understand those in town who can’t afford huge increases in local property taxes. So I admire the way he has shown a light on the way the current Select Board has stonewalled the RTM Finance Committee and its recommendations. I know he will bring a more responsible fiscal outlook to the board.
Feb. 24 Mac & Cheese
Stewed Tomatoes
Cauliflower & Broccoli
Apple Slices
On Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. the Windham County Heat Fund will hold a benefit concert in conjunction with the Vermont Jazz Center. It is 20 years since we started the fund and the need never diminishes. This concert is not so much of a celebration but more of a lamentation of the fact that the fund still needs to exist. On a hopeful note, we do not rely on any government funding for our efforts and that means our money is local and it stays local.
This has been an unusual year for the fund. Although it is still February our statistics put us at the end of the season, meaning we are very low on funds because about 100 individuals and families have been provided with $48,850 in fuel while we have received $45,503 from individual donors, local businesses, churches and grantees. The surplus we had at the end of last year has made a big difference.
The Brattleboro Human Services Committee will meet on Monday, February 24, 2025 at 6:30pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room and over Zoom.
The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 at 5:00pm in the Brooks Memorial Library Meeting Room.
The Brattleboro Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, February 26 and Thursday, February 27, 2025 at 6:15pm in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room.
The Brattleboro Charter Revision Commission will meet on Thursday, February 27, 2025 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room and over Zoom.
A colleague on the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) Finance Committee and I undertook a comparative analysis of the funds Brattleboro’s Human Services Committee had to allocate and similar spending by our adjoining towns and Putney and also such spending by eight towns, four just larger and four just smaller than Brattleboro in population. Data were collected in all cases for the current fiscal year.
Because all Brattleboro voters will have the unusual opportunity to express their preferences so as to advise RTM which will set a sum for social services spending in the next fiscal year, I wish to share what we found.
Brattleboro provides human service organizations with more money ($367,810) than is allocated in the 13 comparison towns. Rutland is close, at $342,243, and this is more than double what any of the other towns spend for the purpose. Brattleboro also has the highest percentage of general fund dollars set aside for social service organizations—2%. Our nearest rivals are Dummerston and Rutland (1.2% and 1.3%, respectively). Restricting attention to our neighbors, Brattleboro’s social service spending per capita is over $34; on a per capita basis, Putney comes in at $16.27 and Guilford at $11.27; the other three are below $10 per capita.
Snow and ice will be cleared from select parking lots and streets in downtown Brattleboro on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, after 11 p.m.
The affected streets include: Canal Street, Elliot Street, Flat Street, Green Street, Elm Street, Church Street, School Street, and High Street. Snow will also be removed from the High Grove and Municipal Center lots.
Vehicles parked along the streets or in the parking lots listed above must be removed or they may be towed at the owner’s expense.
VTrans came back to the Brattleboro Selectboard, granting their wish to pay less for the bridge on Western Avenue. The board was happy, but wouldn’t sign the documentation quite yet. And there is also the matter of VTrans not being able to build the bridge or even put the bridge project on their construction schedule yet. Maybe by 2027 or 2030? No one knew what the future might bring. It will be a great bridge someday, though.
There was some debate over the Town Manager’s interpretation of the audit findings. He saw proof of a solid financial situation going forward; others weren’t so sure since the document didn’t make such a characterization and hadn’t taken into account decisions made last fall, after the audit was finished.
Brooks Memorial Library gets a new roof and a new rooftop solar system, and taxpayers get a video about reducing property taxes.
Snow and ice will be cleared from parking lots and streets in downtown Brattleboro on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, after 11 p.m.
The affected streets include: Canal Street, Main Street, High Street, Flat Street, Elliot Street, Grove Street, Harris Place, Walnut Street, Park Place, South Main, Green Street, Church Street, Elm Street, School Street, Oak Street, Putney Road, and Chapin Street.
Vehicles parked along the streets listed above or in downtown parking lots must be removed or they may be towed at the owner’s expense.
There comes a time when your web site starts looking a bit old and out-of-date and it needs a refresh. This is true even if you do web design and development for a living.
Our old site was starting to be an embarrassment. We had let it go while as we did work for others to get their sites looking nice. Eventually it came time for a MuseArts site re-do.
We developed a plan based on what we wanted: to simplify, to continue to demonstrate what we can do, and to add some fun and animation to the site.
