Brattleboro Senior Meals November 25 thru November 29
Nov. 25 Beef Tips
Mashed Potato
Broccoli & Cauliflower
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Brattleboro Human Services Committee Meeting Agenda
The Brattleboro Human Services Committee will meet on Monday, November 25, 2024 at 6:00pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center (230 Main Street, Room 212).
Brattleboro Thanksgiving Closings
In Observance of Thanksgiving all Town Offices will be closed on Thursday, November 28, 2024, and Friday, November 29, 2024, with the exception of emergency services.
Brooks Memorial Library will close at 6:00pm on Wednesday, November 27, 2024. They will be closed on Thursday, November 28, 2024 and open on Friday, November 29, 2024 from 10:00am to 6:00pm.
Families First Giving Tuesday Fundraiser Auction
Families First in Southern Vermont is a nonprofit organization that supports close to one hundred adults and youth with developmental disabilities to live their best lives. We recently bought and moved into the historic Bordertown Farm in Brattleboro. The campus now holds our programming, service coordination, nurses, administrative offices, and Banyan House, our residential program for DCF-engaged youth.
Unfortunately, the building flooded shortly after we moved in, damaging our programming spaces and offices and displacing us for months. We’re currently making repairs. While making these repairs, we discovered the need to upgrade our heating and cooling system. To help with these costs and support our ongoing programming needs, we’re holding a Giving Tuesday Auction Fundraiser that will end on Dec. 3rd, 2024.
Selectboard Meeting Notes – Contract With Casella Adds Costs- Staff Told To Cut Costs
After much discussion, the Brattleboro Selectboard chose the only serious solid waste option presented to them: to have a 5 year contract with Casella to haul trash, recycling and compost for the Town. This decision added a significant amount to the budget and to Brattleboro property taxes.
The board told Town staff that the budget was too large now that the costs of their decisions this year have been factored in and asked to see a version reduced by 10%. This punted any significant FY26 decision-making away from the board until mid December.
Just about everyone had complaints for the Windham and Windsor Housing Trust and their planned “Chalet” development of affordable housing units.
The Puppet Show
It’s quite clear that the incoming president intends to dismantle as many established institutions as he can. When you consider the people he has nominated for his cabinet it is impossible to find anyone who is even remotely qualified for the job. My first reaction was laughter, but when I gave it more thought I realized that we are witnessing the creation of a puppet government.
If you want to destroy existing government the best thing to do is to hire incompetent people to help run it. These people are so weak, in terms of character as well as qualification, that Trump will be able to have complete control over them. They are all sycophants and they have made it clear that they will do whatever their master requires of them. They all owe him big time.
Of all of the nominations, a few stand out as particularly dangerous. Matt Gaetz has been accused of inappropriate relationships with minors and of having a habit of drug abuse. The House Ethics Committee was investigating him but once Trump nominated him for Attorney General he quit the House and that ended the investigation.
WSESD Board Meeting Minutes November 12, 2024
Summary
● The Board reviewed and established the meeting dates between now and the end of the calendar year, making changes to the standard schedule as needed due to the holidays.
● The Board voted to include a report from the WSESU Board on the WSESD Board meeting agendas.
● Issues with the food service company was touched upon. As the food services falls under that WSESU jurisdiction, it will be discussed more at their meeting 11/13/24.
● The meeting dates for the Finance Committee were altered slightly as related to the budget development. They will occur at 5 pm on Tuesday 11/19/24, Monday 11/25/24 and Monday 12/2/24.
● The Board accepted, with regret, the resignation presented.
Israel’s Own Leaders Incite Anti-Semitism by Ordering Jewish Pilots to Murder Thousands of Children
Anti-Semitism has a long and tragic history, rooted in various cultural, economic, religious, and political factors, yet at the same time, anyone with half an education can reel off names of the inordinate number of renowned Jewish thinkers, philosophers, inventors, composers, physicians, artists, singers, musicians, educators, actors, movie producing moguls and comedians revered as seminal contributors to Western civilisation from Maimonides and Spinoza through Einstein and beyond. A student of human history cannot but be amazed at this impressively high proportion of beloved and respected household names being of Jewish descent. Sociologists tend to attribute this disproportionately high number of geniuses and great achieving stars in the firmament of human development in the West to the emphasis given to study and learning in Jewish religious observance, stressed as an obligatory search for moral intelligence.
Revised October 20, 2024 Brattleboro DRB Agenda
2024-84 BEEC & Earth Bridge Community Land Trust; Rural District; request for Site Plan & Local Act 250 Approval to construct a parking lot at 1219 Bonnyvale Road; Tax Map Parcel #100248.000 Continued from the meeting of October 16, 2024 Request to dismiss without prejudice.
2024-121 North Chair Brewing, LLC; Mixed Use District; request for Site Plan Approval to modify condition 16 of decision 201826 to allow outdoor consumption at 39 Frost Street; Tax Map Parcel #325045.000
Windham Southeast School District Finance Committee Meeting
The Budget Planning Timeline is a document used to help guide the building of the budgets. Previously, the document held the timeline for the three entities (WSESU, WSESD and VSD), but has been changed to outline the budget timeline for each entity independently. Dates are outlined, but are able to be changed as needed.
The Budget timeline gets developed starting with the Annual Meeting date (3/18/25). Dates are populated by working backwards from that date. Mr. Rucker reviewed the timeline, explaining how dates were determined for each of the steps along this process.
Brattleboro Senior Meals November 18 thru November 22
Nov. 18 Pulled BBQ Chicken
Macaroni Salad w/Veggies
Broccoli Salad
Pudding
Windham Southeast Supervisory Union Board Meeting Agendas
The Windham Southeast School District Independent Budget Review Committee will meet Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 5:00PM at the BUHS Cusick Conference Room.
An Irish Christmas with John Doyle and Mick McAuley at Next Stage
Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music celebrate the season with an evening of traditional Irish, British Isles, and original holiday music by John Doyle and Mick McAuley on Thursday, December 19 at 7:00 pm at Next Stage.
Both natives of Ireland and each from musical families, John Doyle and Mick McAuley are true powerhouses in traditional Irish music. Their nearly telepathic musical connection began in the truly groundbreaking Irish-American band Solas. Both now have flourishing high-profile solo careers and periodically come together to brush off some Solas standards and lots of their individual material, played together, for these magical musical evenings. An Irish Christmas transports audiences to the quiet, small villages of rural Ireland through the songs, tunes, and stories most familiar to these two world-class artists.
Over the past four decades, instrumentalist, composer, producer, and singer/songwriter John Doyle has solidly established himself as one of the most versatile, creative, and prolific voices in folk and traditional Irish music. In 1994, John brought his brilliant and innovative guitar stylings to the nascent Irish super-group Solas, which soon took the folk and Celtic music worlds by storm. With Solas, he performed internationally to sold out audiences, and appeared on many television and radio programs, including NBC’s The Today Show, A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, E-Town, and World Cafe. As part of that critically acclaimed group, he also received three NAIRD awards and a Grammy nomination. In the years since going out on his own, John has recorded two solo albums and has become a highly sought-after accompanist and session player for the likes of Joan Baez, Eileen Ivers, Tim O’Brien, Linda Thompson, Seamus Egan, Alison Brown, and Kate Rusby.
Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting Agenda and Notes – November 19, 2024
At their Tuesday evening regular meeting, Brattleboro Selectboard will make a solid waste decision. The board will choose the number 2 option, suggested by Town staff, and the costs associated will be officially dumped into the FY26 budget under review.
Review of FY26 budget open house feedback and budget alternatives will discussed. The board will also hear about the West Brattleboro (Dalem’s) Chalet Project from the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust, will announce committee vacancies. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
Construction Update Brattleboro-Hinsdale Bridge – November 15, 2024
Crews have begun working on fence and guardrail along VT 142 and the new bridge and this work will continue into next week. While the installation of traffic signals and lights has been completed, it’s anticipated that crews will continue working on the installation of solar panels and coordinating the timing of the signals with the Town and State. Paving of the driveway entrance to 28 Vernon Street and some potholes in the parking lot was completed this past week.
Sign crews will continue placing signs for the new bridge next week. The signs will be covered until the bridge is ready to open. This crew will be accessing shoulders along approach routes to the project in a mobile work zone with a uniformed traffic officer.
Windham Southeast School District Finance Committee Meeting
Agenda
1. Approval of Minutes
2. FY26 Budget Planning – Elementary & District Wide Draft Proposal
Tara Cheney on “Here We Are”
TARA CHENEY has created HEART ROSE CLUB, a dynamic community space located in the majestic old Shriner’s Building. Tara has won many awards as a leader in our community – Check out this show and hear about the creative ways she’s strengthening our town, including dinner/dance events, yoga retreats and live music……..And in her other business, Vermont Roadworks!
Brattleboro Winter Parking Ban
The Brattleboro Parking Department would like to advise everyone that the winter parking ban will go into effect, starting Friday, November 15, 2024. Overnight parking is forbidden on all streets in the town of Brattleboro. Vehicles parked for longer than one (1) hour between 11:00pm and 07:00am may be ticketed and towed at the owner’s expense.
THIS BAN IS IN EFFECT EVEN IF THERE IS NO SNOW ON TOWN STREETS.
Opinion = Emotion | We Are Not Required To Have Opinions
As a person whose political views center around ways to foster peace, harmony, fairness, and nature, I’ve been struggling lately with all the things there are to feel terrible about in our difficult and unpeaceful world. I disapprove of so many things. I deplore, dislike, even despise a growing number of things, all of which fill me with dismay. In short, I’m mired in the D words.
As I was thinking this morning about yet another thing that makes me feel lousy, there came, out of the blue, this thought: I’m not required to have opinions. And I thought about this, because on the one hand, it’s true and I would probably be calmer if I didn’t; on the other hand, I would feel like an unfeeling creep not to have them. Shouldn’t I care? Shouldn’t I show that I care by forming opinions and stating them?
Reminder: District 9 (old 3) Forum
Expanding on a practice of the last several years, Bob Oeser and David Levenbach have planned to host two forums for District 9 (formerly District 3) residents, the first once the Town Manager has issued a budget proposal for consideration by the Selectboard and the second shortly before Representative Town Meeting after the Selectboard has approved a recommended budget and the other warned items are known.
Town Manager Potter discussed the Administration’s “base budget” proposal at the Nov 5 Selectboard meeting (a base budget involves no new services and no new staff positions but does include normal adjustments for inflation, contract obligations for unionized employees, capital expenditures for equipment and projects, and lesser things). Funding that proposal would necessitate a 14% increase in property taxes. This base budget did not include municipal expenses associated with the new waste management program, an issue still to be resolved, but the Selectboard told Administration that it wanted the most costly possible outcome (to the tune of $1.4 million) included in the base budget. That would mean potentially a 22% increase in property taxes.
