Beginning on Monday, July 8, the Utilities Division will be replacing the sewer main on Greenhill Parkway and Strawberry Lane. Crews will be working between the hours of 6:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Residents will be able to access their driveways but on street parking will be limited during this project. The work is expected to take approximately six weeks to complete.
Every year, Americans are supposed to celebrate July 4th as the founding of a U.S.A. both free and enslaved. The fourth of July is a federal holiday.
On July 4, 1776, the population of the United States, then the Thirteen Colonies, was estimated to be about 2.5 million people. This population included both free individuals and enslaved people.
Out of this population, approximately 500,000 individuals were enslaved African Americans. The remaining population, roughly 2 million people, consisted of free individuals, which included various groups such as European settlers, Indigenous peoples, and a smaller number of free African Americans.
Summary
● Ruby McAdoo was approved as a member of the Putney Leadership Council.
● Frank Rucker spoke about the tax rate implication following the release of the Yield.
● The Board discussed ideas for preparing themselves for budget development and utilizing tools available by exploring documents from the IBRC, VSBA and the Vernon Board.
● July 9th will be the only Board Meeting scheduled for the month, recognizing there could be other meetings called (i.e. Executive Sessions)
● Looking ahead to next year related to the Panorama Survey, a committee was formed to work alongside Brin Tucker to review and consider questions included in the survey for 24- 25.
● The Board voted to rescind policy LSP2.
● The Board voted to rescind policy LSP12.
Superstructure work continues to advance toward Vermont as the contractor continues formwork for overhangs. Shear stud placement and grouting have been completed and rebar installation will continue in earnest beginning on Monday, July 8th after the holiday. Dewatering and treatment tanks that have been awaiting removal have been tentatively scheduled to be cleaned and taken away sometime next week.
PUTNEY – Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present country swing sextet The Sweetback Sisters at Next Stage on Friday, August 2 at 7:30 pm.
Centered around the charismatic, airtight harmonies of Emily Miller and Zara Bode, The Sweetback Sisters mix compelling originals and unexpected interpretations of country classics. Hints of jazz and ragtime flesh out the Sisters’ unique brand of classic country, as Miller, Bode, and their remarkably versatile band conjure up a singular blend of heart, humor, and virtuosic musicianship. Their rollicking music is as infectious as it is heartbreaking. Like the country artists they admire, the Sisters sing about traditional subjects of heartbreak, revenge, remorse, and staying strong in the face of relationships gone wrong, albeit with a contemporary sensibility.
After careful consultation with my cats and a mention to my family, I hereby throw my crown in the ring to become your next King.
I will be a youthful 60 years old when I ascend the thrown, so no worries there. My joints ache a bit and I need reading glasses but I can form complete sentences on my own that have some basis in truth.
One of the first things I plan to do, loyal subjects, is to make the White House a bit more fitting for a king. It needs a moat, for example, and perhaps an audio-animatronic dragon that spits fire and allows Taylor Swift to perform inside of it.
AGENDA
I. Call to Order
II. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items [6:00 to 6:10]
III. 1 V.S.A. §313 (a)(1)(F) confidential attorney-client communications made for the purpose of providing professional legal services to the body.
In observance of the July 4th holiday, all Town offices will be closed on Thursday, July 4, 2024, with the exception of emergency services.
Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Thursday, July 4, 2024. All other violations will be enforced.
The July 2, and July 16 Regular Selectboard Meetings have been cancelled due to the July 4th holiday.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will meet on July 9 and on July 23 for the month of July. They will return to their regular schedule (first and third Tuesdays) next month
July 1 Salisbury Steak w/Gravy & Onions
Mashed Potato
Green Beans w/Almonds
Apple Sauce Cake
June rainfall of 4.23″ compared to a NOAA average of 4.52″. Just a little below normal. The first 20 days of the month were quite dry then several days of heavier rainfall brought us to near normal. For the calendar year still well above at 28.55″ compared to the NOAA average of 22.13″. Any rainfall we were to receive today would be recorded/reported tomorrow at 7am, the start of a new month. All numbers are from my location in the SE corner of Brattleboro.
In the first televised presidential debate between JFK and Nixon- I’m not old enough to remember- the tide swung in favor of the more telegenic Kennedy, when Nixon’s candidacy went down awash in beads of face sweat and furtive glances.
In certain matters Americans are forgiving. Will Smith is back. Even Nixon was able to rise again. But in other matters we are an obstinate people. And irrational to boot. I don’t understand it, but have often observed the phenomena. Why are the optics of Jan 6th malleable? Why are Nazi’s back? The world can be mad and maddening, that fact goes back to antiquity.
Returning to the present moment. Biden’s debate performance is fixed in the collective mind, nothing can or will erase his frozen expression and underwater responses to softball opportunities. Leaving for now the conundrum of Biden’s opponent being a recidivist and deranged narcissist, the question becomes: are Americans willing to vote for a dead man over a return to Trumpian autocracy.
The Windham County Heat Fund is strong and thriving as we move into the 20th year of the non-profit’s life at the beginning of the next heating season. That might seem like good news, but when Daryl Pilsbury and I started the organization we thought it would only be needed for a few years. We had no clue how much people were suffering at the lower end of the economic scale and we were under the delusion that the cost of heating fuel was the most important factor putting pressure on needy people and families.
We have been given a glimpse into the complexity of people’s lives and the pictures are not pretty. The heat fund has been a godsend to many people who might have suffered through a winter living in one room with the thermostat at 50 degrees. Then there are the families who really can’t make ends meet at the end of the month but somehow find a way to pay rent and buy food but they have to put heating fuel at the bottom of the list.
Then there are those people who thought they were doing well until they got a diagnosis of cancer. They often lose their jobs and their health insurance. When the got their diagnosis they thought their lives couldn’t get any worse.. Then they found out they couldn’t pay for treatment and they couldn’t pay their rent. Imagine what it’s like for a person who has an aggressive cancer eating away at them, or a severe chronic illness to have to live on the streets. It happens; and more often than you might think.
F1 Student Conduct and Discipline – Review with BUHS Admin Cassie Damkoehler, assistant principal at BUHS, reviewed F1 with the committee. The following changes were made:
● In the Due Process section on page 4:
o The intro and bullet 1: stay the same.
o Bullet 2 becomes: “students’ right to a fair hearing before being suspended for up to ten days.”
Plan A was when the Libertarians nominated me back in April to be their U.S. Senate candidate, but then they threatened to sue me for expressing my freedom of speech. They accused me of “spam” when I posted Facebook news about other Libertarian candidates for U.S. Senator in other states. How is that “spam”? I was learning about the Libertarian views and wanted to share what I was reading. Any of them could have told me on Facebook they didn’t enjoy the posts I shared, but they did not. Any of them could have blocked me, but they did not.
At some point I got around to reading all of their Rules, which I had not previously found on their website, because they are not posted in a way you could find them. Reading their Rules shocked me, so I contacted a Libertarian candidate in another state who said there was no way they could have those Rules in his state Libertarian party. I questioned their Rules on line and was then attacked by the Libertarians who threatened to sue me. For what? After they kicked me out, and rescinded my nomination, I watched the Libertarian national party convention online and saw that lots of members question the rules. Hmph!
2024-62 Stephanie Abrams; Residential Neighborhood 3600 District; request for Waiver of Dimensional Standards Approval to construct 10’ tall fence at 117 Pine Street; Tax Map Parcel #00325467.000
2024-71 David Timmons & Robin Bitters; Residential Neighborhood 5400 District; request for Waiver of Dimensional Standards Approval to construct a 41′ x 42′ 2-story home, located in part in the front yard setback in keeping with the character of the neighborhood and in response to site conditions at 101 Chestnut Hill; Tax Map Parcel #00265205.000
The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series presents five-piece band Bombay Rickey, on Saturday, July 27 at 6:00 pm at New England Center for Circus Arts, 10 Town Crier Drive, in Brattleboro.
“[Bombay Rickey is] easily one of the most adventurous and daring artists we’ve worked with – how many ensembles are fronted by an opera singer and can count cumbia, spaghetti-Western, and Bollywood as influences?” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “I saw them in New York in January, and they made my jaw drop on the floor. I’m over-the-moon excited to present them to our Vermont community.”
Praised as “a true treat for the adventurous ear” (TimeOut NY), Bombay Rickey is a five-piece band with a unique sound evocative of 1960s movie soundscapes. The group plays both covers and original music that borrow equally from the worlds of surf rock, cumbia, spaghetti-Western, and Bollywood, balanced out with soaring operatic vocals.
Work continues to progress toward the Vermont abutment on the remaining overhang formwork, placing shear studs into girders, grouting deck panels, and placing rebar. Grouting of deck panels in Vermont will take place on Monday, July 1st, with the concrete delivered to a pump truck located beneath the bridge in the Barrows & Fisher’s property.
The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series presents the rising star of Mexican electronic folk, Pahua, and experimental Latin Tropical band Meridian Brothers, on Saturday, July 20 at 6:00 pm at Cooper Field, 41 Sand Hill Rd, in Putney.
“Electronic beats mix with Mexican soul in Pahua. Cumbia meets psychedelic rock in The Meridien Brothers. This double bill is one for the ages,” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “Pahua’s artistry bridges many divides and is for anyone interested in how music marches forward with electronics, ethnic flavor, and mastery. The Meridien Brothers are for anyone who seeks out new sonic adventures while still wanting to tear up the dance floor.”
Pahua is the project of Mexican singer, composer, producer and DJ Paulina Sotomayor; a blend of electronica and folklore that represents a very deep part of its creator: femininity, nature, inner strength and self-discovery.
On Thursday, June 27, 2024, a contractor hired by the Town of Brattleboro will be painting road markings on many of the roads throughout town. The contractor will be painting 4” white fog lines and 4” double yellow lines. The work will begin at 9:00pm Thursday night, continuing through the morning hours of Friday June 28, 2024. Traffic will be restricted and motorists are reminded to use caution as road paint could still be wet.
