AGENDA
I. CALL TO ORDER – 6:00 p.m. – Kelly Young, Board Chair
Review of Agenda
II. STUDENT MATTERS (5-10 Minutes)
III. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
A. Update on CIP Development with multi-year goals moving forward
At BCS we’re shouting hallelujah, You can imagine, with the overwhelmong selectboard lawsuits against our homeless shelter it’s great to have this good news. It’s been ten years. Brattleboro is the first city — the only city in America that gives its young people a voice as voters and as elected officials. This may stem the tide of youth moving out of town. We were just talking with Addie Lentzner of the Vermont Youth Lobby. We’re thinking about a state-wide campaign. If we proceed BCS will advocate for full voting membership on school boards.
Young Brattleboro students have a great range of options for political expression. On one hand the student member of the school board is formal but tokenized and not allowed to vote. On the other hand Rio and other Youth Vote workers also disrupted the selectboard and the Heifer Parade to declare a climate emergency. The Youth Vote amendment creates the best option, both formal and powerful, if the young voters choose to own their power.
The Brattleboro Selectboard approves union and non-union pay raises and contracts for town employees at Tuesday’s meeting, they will talk finances and financial software, and they will approve enterprise fund budgets and a rate decrease for those who use water.
I’ll skip that stuff and give you a kitten update, then join the board for their discussion of EMS after 7 pm.
Though the selectboard knew the motel funding would end, they did no planning. Instead now they are talking about thinking about proposing something.
BCS has promoted emergency homeless shelters in RVs and campers since last summer. We’ve been saying to the selectboard basically, “We have started a decentralized homeless shelter. It’s a simple solution to the homeless crisis, but it doesn’t fit any current permitting process. Can you help? ”. They said nothing. In February they began prosecuting us. Now the news says they are proposing the same thing and calling it “dispersed camping”.
1. Convene Meeting
2. Utility Grievance Hearing Deliberative Session
3. 10am Utility Grievance Hearing
The Brattleboro Selectboard will meet on June 20 at 5 p.m. (rather than the usual start time of 6:15 p.m.) in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center, 230 Main Street, and on Zoom.
BCTV Channel 1079 Weekly Listing for 6/19/23
Monday, June 19, 2023
5:00 am Brattleboro Housing Partnerships Board – BHP Bd Mtg 5/22/23
5:45 am Windham Central Supervisory Union – WCSU Bd and Exec. Comm. Mtg 5/31/23
7:00 am Brattleboro Planning Commission – Brattleboro PC Mtg 6/5/23
8:30 am West River Education District – WRED Bd Mtg 6/12/23
June 19 CLOSED FOR JUNETEENTH
June 20 Beef Stew w/Biscuit
Yellow Squash
Green Beans w/Onions
Orange
Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present folk/roots/Americana trio Rainbow Girls at Next Stage on Wednesday, July 26 at 7:00 pm. Pete Muller & the Kindred Souls open.
Rainbow Girls are an eclectic folk trio hailing from the golden countryside just north of California’s Bay Area. Vanessa May, Erin Chapin, and Caitlin Gowdey seamlessly combine soul-touching harmonies, varitextured instrumentals, and poignant lyrical content into a beautiful sonic tapestry. Throughout their performance, voices are paired with an ever-changing amalgamation of acoustic and slide guitar, keys, upright bass, harmonica, and an array of vocal techniques creating an engaging and emotionally moving live show.
The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series presents klezmer re-groove ensemble Klezperanto!, on Saturday, July 22 at 6:00 pm at West River Park, 333 VT-30, in Brattleboro, VT.
“Klezmer and dancing go hand-in-hand, and Klezperanto delivers on that promise,” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “The Boston-based Klezmer all-star lineup includes members of the Klezmer Conservatory Band – they know this idiom. With Klezperanto, they expand its power and impact, and we’re excited to bring that energy to the region.”
Klezperanto! presents Eastern European melodies as you’ve never heard them before, from Bogota to the Black Sea. With solid klezmer roots, spectacular technical virtuosity, and a wry sense of humor, Ilene Stahl and an all-star line-up of Boston’s best musicians re-groove traditional klezmer and Mediterranean melodies, celebrate the golden age of Colombian big bands, rip up Romanian surf tunes, slay a few standards, and blow past every posted limit to bring you irresistible dance music from everywhere except your cousin’s friend’s bar mitzvah. Klezperanto’s fans know: It’s No Hora Show!
Next Stage Arts presents The Feeble Fantastical, a Vermont Suitcase Company production, at Next Stage Arts on Friday, July 21 at 7:00 pm.
“Theater is embedded into the fabric of this community, and The Vermont Suitcase Company is one of the threads of that tapestry,” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “Partnering with them to bring theater to our community is exactly the type of collaberation we envision as we create a thriving, cultural ecosystem in the region.”
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.
The contractor will continue to work on installing new drainage systems as well as removing existing pipes and structures. Backfill of this work has begun on the southern end of VT 142 and progresses north. This fill placement is the beginning of the embankment work needed to raise the road to meet the new bridge alignment. Work on the southern MSE wall continues this week with panel placement and related backfill. Abutment A’s backwall is still in the process of being formed up with rebar being placed.
On Friday, June 16, the Highway Division will be working on Elm Street near intersection with Canal Street. The work is scheduled between the hours of 11:00am – 2:00pm. During this project, the road will be reduced to one lane with alternating traffic. Motorists should seek alternate routes.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Department of Public Works at 802-254-4255 or email Darren Pacheco at dpacheco@brattleboro.org.
In observance of Juneteenth, all Brattleboro Town offices will be closed on Monday, June 19, 2023, with the exception of emergency services.
Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Sunday, June 18 and Monday, June 19, 2023. All other violations will be enforced.
Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on Sunday, June 18 and Monday, June 19, 2023.
I have been trying to understand why so many people seem to believe all of the lies and inaccurate statements that surround Trump and his loyal band of criminals. The only conclusion I could come to is that I don’t have an explanation for this kind of thinking and that it is impossible to explain this mindset in rational terms.
But I have not been satisfied with my conclusions, so I tried to approach this bizarre situation from a different angle. I am now starting to realize that we may be experiencing the largest wave of mental illness that has ever developed in this country.
“Rewarding the Curious” is what Epsilon Spires is all about – and Jamie Mohr is finding ways to bring the arts and science together in ways we never imagined……Tune in to hear about some of her adventures!
Everyone in Brattleboro was on the public radio station that is in Vermont today. Well, maybe not everyone, but lots of people. More than usual!
Everyone in Brattleboro was on the public radio station that is in Vermont today. Well, maybe not everyone, but lots of people. More than usual!
The discussion was about the hiring of security firms to help patrol parts of downtown. The Town Manager, Police Chief, Librarian and others asked and answered questions during Vermont Edition on VP(R). Town officials seemed optimistic; members of public not so sure.
1. Minutes – March 16 and April 20, 2023
2. Public Participation
3. Monthly Report on Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Traffic Incidents– For April and May
4. Monthly Report on Traffic Data Collection – For April and May
5. Safety Action Requests
(a) Parking/Crosswalk Concerns near the Harmony Lot – David Erickson
(b) Increase in Traffic on Spruce and Sycamore Streets – Nancy Wohl
Announcements
DS: Subcommittees are being asked to review their mission statements.
Committee agreed to DS suggestion to put this on hold for now.
DS announced that people have come forward with requests for new policies. Michelle Green is bringing forward a district school choice policy request and a staff member is bringing forward one on gender freedom. These are on hold for now. Drafts will be circulated to everyone.
