CALL TO ORDER—6:01 p.m. – Anne Beekman, Chair
On a motion by Tim Maciel the board approved the minutes of April 12, 2023.
On a motion by Deborah Stanford the board approved the Warrants of April 12, 2023 in the
amount of $843,957.90; April 26, 2023 in the amount of $1,310,582.83; and Payroll of April 21, 2023
in the amount of $576,979.59.
At the May 2 Selectboard meeting, the board endorsed a proposed schedule of information-gathering prior to deciding on Town EMS services in September.
The board thought they had a good plan, but what they presented turned out to be confusing to anyone trying to follow along. Sadly, in an effort to be extra open and transparent, the board ended up making things murkier.
The Official Path – Meetings and Correspondence
Town Manager John Potter presented the official EMS decision-making schedule, which gives time for public discussion on the topic at the second Selectboard meeting of each month. This is the official time for the public to come and weigh in on warned EMS agenda items. There will also be a public forum scheduled just prior to the board’s vote in September.
Municipal EMS potential revenues will be open for limited discussion at the next Brattleboro Selectboard meeting. The board begins their official EMS decision making process, which they continue to call a “Fire-EMS transition,” and will ask potential 3rd party EMS contractors to give the town information. They’ll also announce a new project website, a new taxpayer-sponsored and government-generated news program, and an email address!
The board will also discuss emergency housing, cemetery changes, and a new plan to fix the I-91 pile of rust… er,. bridge at Exit 1.
You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation, if the Chair doesn’t read your mind and forbid you from speaking on issues he doesn’t want discussed.
One of the greatest privileges working in health care is to be able to make the passage into death a little bit easier for people and their families. Nurses and doctors and other providers do their best to ease pain and provide comfort despite the fact that we know almost nothing about the process of dying.
Death is something that has mostly been dealt with in religious and philosophical realms. The fact that we can’t experience death and then come back to talk about it makes it difficult to know anything about the passage.
Of course, there is something of an exception to this when people have what are called near-death experiences surviving after cardiac arrest or remembering being brought to the brink under general anesthesia. The common thread is seeing a bright light and a long tunnel and having a feeling of complete calm. Beyond that we don’t know much, but a study done in 2014 at the University of Michigan with four patients opens a new window into the act of dying.
The Town of Brattleboro is pleased to announce the launch of its first-ever podcast, “Town Matters.” Hosted by Town Manager John Potter, this new series will provide listeners with brief updates about town government. The show aims to inform the public and encourage active participation in local affairs.
“Town Matters” will be published during the week between Selectboard meetings and provide a brief overview of the previous meeting along with a preview of the next one. As the show develops, staff hope to incorporate other updates from around town and feature guest hosts, all while delivering the news in under 10 minutes.
ONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES: Drainage work has begun across from Royal Road near to the Connecticut River. The northern MSE wall work continues with the placement of panels and panel straps and the southern MSE wall may begin as early as next week with related excavation and forming of the leveling pad. The gravel wetland construction continues and is awaiting the installation of a drainage structure in order to bring this work to completion.
On Thursday, May 11, the Utilities Division will be working on Kipling Road between the hours of 7:00 am and 4:00 pm. The Kipling Road will be closed between Black Mountain Road and Dickinson Road. Motorists should seek alternate routes.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Department of Public Works at 802-254-4255 or email Chris Severance at cseverance@brattleboro.org
The fourth installment of the 2022 Brattleboro Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes will be due by 5 p.m. on May 15, 2023. Payments made after May 15, 2023 wil have an additional 1% interest, as well as an 8% penalty added to the unpaid balance.
The Town of Brattleboro utility bills are also due by 5 p.m. on May 15, 2023. Payments made after May 15, 2023 will have an additional 1% interest, as well as an 8% penalty added to the unpaid balance.
The Windham Southeast Supervisory Union Board will meet at 6:00PM on Wednesday,
May 10, 2023 in the WRCC room 194 and remotely via Zoom.
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present contemporary folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Gorka, plus folk duo Lizzy Mandell and Barry Stockwell, at Next Stage on Sunday, June 4 at 7:00 pm.
John Gorka is perhaps the quintessential iconic singer/songwriter of the 1980’s folk scene. Hailing from New Jersey, he honed his craft and persona as a shy, wry and insightful singer/songwriter in the Greenwich Village “Fast Folk” and Boston music scenes. John got his start at Godfrey Daniels, a neighborhood coffeehouse in eastern Pennsylvania, which is one of the oldest and most venerable music institutions in the country. After releasing his first album with Minnesota-based Red House Records in 1987, he recorded five albums with Windham Hill’s Will Ackerman’s High Street Records between 1989 and 1996. Since then he has released five more solo albums on Red House, plus one with label-mates Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson under the name Red Horse. He continues to tour, playing festivals, theaters and clubs all over North America and Europe.
Designed as a fundraiser, volunteers from the Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club have created a walking history tour of downtown Brattleboro. With the help of the Brattleboro Historical Society and the Brattleboro Words Project, Sunrise Rotary volunteers pooled their collective knowledge to put together a great introduction to Brattleboro, Vermont’s illustrious history.
Tours will be scheduled on a rolling basis for select Saturdays at 11 am in summer and fall 2023. The first tours will take place Saturdays, May 13, June 3 and June 24.
Tours walk from one end of Main Street to the other (approximately 7/10 of a mile) with about 10 stops explaining Brattleboro’s history and culture. The tour will last approximately 1.5 hours and will go from Plaza Park (across from the Co-op) to the Brattleboro Common. Kids are welcome, but the tour is designed for adults.
On Wednesday, May 10, Green Mountain Power will be working at the intersection of Elm Street and Lynde Place. Elm Street and Lynde Place will be closed at that time. The work is scheduled between the hours of 7:30 am and 3:30pm. Motorists should seek alternate routes.
The rain date for this work will be Monday, May 15.
A notion presented itself when walking on the narrow bends of the West River Trail. I’m writing it and putting it out there to help me see if it’s valid. Since the path funnels everyone onto its slender and shared byway, I was wondering about people’s concept of consideration for others.
The gist of it is, society can be divided into four types of people:
1)People without dogs
2)Those who have dogs but let them go unleashed
3)Those who walk their dogs leashed, but with so much slack in the line they may as well be a mime holding an imaginary rope
4)Those who respectfully use the leash to keep their dog in control and within a proximity to themselves.
Celebrate Asian American Heritage Month with us! On Friday, May 12, the Brattleboro Literary Festival’s A Literary Cocktail Hour will present award-winning author Kathryn Ma and her book The Chinese Groove. This event is online and free…you can register at https://bit.ly/LitCocktail30
One of their 12 Books to Read Right Now, the New York Times says of The Chinese Groove: “A comedic take on the trials of immigration, Ma’s latest novel follows a Chinese man who is woefully unprepared for his move to America…” Eighteen-year-old Shelley, born into a much-despised branch of the Zheng family in Yunnan Province and living in the shadow of his widowed father’s grief, dreams of bigger things. Buoyed by an exuberant heart and his cousin Deng’s tall tales about the United States, Shelley heads to San Francisco to claim his destiny, confident that any hurdles will be easily overcome by the awesome powers of the “Chinese groove,” a belief in the unspoken bonds between countrymen that transcend time and borders.
May 9th! Moscow Celebrates Victory Over Nazi Germany’s Most Massive and Genocidal Invasion in History, but with incomprehensibly little or no public condemnation of American corporations having earlier heavily rearmed Hitler’s Nazi Germany as British and French armies stood down in cooperation and in violation of the Versailles Treaty’s prohibition of German rearmament.
1. Call to Order
2. Review and Approve Minutes of April 12, 2022
3. Administrative Matters and Old Business
A. Discussion: Planning Dept. & Planning Commission’s Bylaw Modernization Grant work to date
B. Discussion: DRC’s Priorities for Potential Future Text Changes to Brattleboro Land Use & Development Regulations §252 – Historic Resource Overlay District
Next Stage Arts is proud to announce that Kiran Ahluwalia will perform at The Putney Inn on June 2, 2023, as part of the Bandwagon Summer Series. The event will start at 6:00 pm, and tickets are available for $20 in advance or $25 at the gate. Children under 12 can attend for free. The show is also included in the Bandwagon Series Pass.
“Indian vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia is doing something revolutionary inside the medium of Indian music – giving it a modern take while presenting the power and vibrancy of thousands. of years of tradition, ” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “Kiran’s band is a who’s who of jazz and world music luminaries. The audience that sees this show won’t soon forget it. The virtuosity and depth of musical knowledge will be impressive.”
May 8 Turkey Meatloaf
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Zucchini
Garlic Bread
Pineapple
Here’s the May 2023 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them. It could be ending soon. Scroll down the new comments for the latest.
6:10 – 6:25 Bylaw Modernization and other Land Use regulation amendments
Review and Approve as the final draft for a planned June 5 Planning Commission Public Hearing
6:25 – 6:30 Bylaw Amendment Report
Review and Approve the report that needs be submitted to the VT Dept. of Housing and Community Development and Windham Regional Commission
