Accident This Evening on 119 & Old Brattleboro Road

My partner witnessed an accident on Brattleboro Road- 119 and Old Brattleboro Road this evening at twilight. If he hadn’t slowed down he would have been involved. But he saw a car driving really fast down Old Brattleboro Road and that made him cautious. Then he heard the impact and then… 

We don’t know if everyone survived the accident. One car was on it’s roof and partly up a tree. I hope it was not a terrible as it looked. 

Robyn Flatley


Brattleboro Christmas Holiday Schedule

In observance of the Christmas holiday, all Brattleboro Town offices will close at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, December 24, and will be closed all day Thursday, December 25, 2014, with the exception of emergency services. The offices will resume normal hours on Friday, December 26.

Brooks Memorial Library will close at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, December 24 and will be closed on Thursday, December 25. It will resume normal hours on Friday, December 26.


Milking the Moment: Dairy Cow Takes Center Stage in Brattleboro Savings & Loan’s Holiday Marketing

When photographer Kelly Fletcher set out to capture images in and around Brattleboro, Vt., to help promote Brattleboro Savings & Loan’s new Local Rewards checking account, she expected beautiful New England vistas and great personal moments of people enjoying their community.

Indeed, the project brought her to various locations in Brattleboro, from eateries to retail establishments to rooftops, where she captured scenic panoramas. But Fletcher’s favorite stop was Miller Farm, an organic milk farm in Vernon, Vt., with 160 cows-in-residence owned and operated by Pete and Angela Miller, Art and Judy Miller, and Keith and Tina Franklin and their families.


I-91 Northbound To Close Thursday Night

The team completed a portion of the necessary pothole repair work on Monday night, however additional work is needed to complete the repairs in advance of the increased travel expected over the holidays. I-91 Northbound between Exits 2 and 3 will be closed on Thursday night, December 18th between 8:00 pm and 6:00 am to finish the repairs on the bridge deck.


Selectboard Meeting Notes: FY16 Budget Tossed; Taxpayers To Be Asked To Pay For Full Plan F

The Brattleboro Selectboard snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Tuesday’s long, final regular meeting of the year. With a vote of 3-2, the board threw away their carefully-crafted and quite palatable FY16 budget that featured no cuts to services and no significant tax increase.

Instead, the split decision was to endorse going forward with all three Police and Fire facilites immediately, and to ask for a new budget that would include payments to do the full scope of work, potentially adding a significant amount to property taxes.  This sends the board back into budget meetings, and the spectre of service cuts and tax increases is now again on the horizon.

In other news,  a list of capital improvements that were to be added back in to the budget had to be sidelined, Brattleboro pays a somewhat arbitrary rate for solid waste removal, the board endorsed the use of the higher-priced bag system for PAYT, and a new union is recognized for town employees.

Sorry for the delay. I had this almost finished last night and the power went out.


Brattleboro Savings & Loan Launches Local Rewards Program

New checking account option benefits customers and area businesses

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – A dinner on the house, a bag of groceries, a frame for a new art print, or a gift basket brimming with Vermont-made products are just a few of the extras Brattleboro Savings & Loan customers could receive from BSL’s new Local Rewards program.

Local Rewards checking account holders who meet three qualifiers – 20 or more debit card transactions, use of electronic statements, and at least one direct deposit or withdrawal – will now benefit from up to a 1.25% annual percentage yield (APY), and also be entered to win gift cards from a variety of local vendors.


Brattleboro Time Trade – Week of December 14

Brattleboro Time Trade:

Exchanging services, creating connections, strengthening communities, one hour at a time.

See below for exciting Upcoming Events and learn what Time Trade is all about!

This week’s fabulous listings, brought to you from holiday card mania:

OFFERS:

Install a Toilet
Lonely and Want to Chat?
Chinese Translating
Backgammon


Bridge of the Year

Roads & Bridges’ Top 10 Bridge awards, created in 2000, recognize the top projects in North America. Each year, nominations are submitted to the R&B editorial staff, which determines the Top 10 list based on project challenges, impact to region and scope of work.

In 2014 the top bridge chosen by Roads and Bridges is the I-91 bridge in Brattleboro over the West River.

You can read the article here on Roads and Bridge’s web site.

Roads and Bridges also made a site visit earlier in the year and produced a video that you can watch here.


WBA Names Daleys Community Leaders Of Year At Annual Holiday Party

The West Brattleboro Association (WBA) announced the Community Leader of the Year recipients during its annual Holiday Party on Thursday, December 11, at The New England House. The winners of this 4th annual award are Bill and Judy Daley, owners of the Vermont Country Deli as well as the associated, brand new Market next door.

After living for ten years in Central Vermont, the Daleys came to Brattleboro to purchase the ever-popular delicatessen in 2007. Bill grew up in Cleveland and met Judy, who grew up in Brattleboro, at Miami University (Ohio). She is the daughter of Sylvia and (the late) John Hunter who was president of the Vermont National Bank. Since buying the deli seven years ago, together the Daleys have made it thrive even more, adding many features including a quick-stop facility with extra parking next door.  The new market is in the process of becoming an official Vermont Ambassador Welcome Center, and will be adding an ATM in January. Both Bill and Judy work full time in their Deli.


Important Changes Coming to Zoning and Subdivision Regulations

There are significant changes coming to the Brattleboro Zoning Bylaw and Subdivision Regulations. The changes will have significant impacts on property owners, land development patterns and Grand List values.

If such matters interest you, please get involved early. As time passes so does the ability to participate. Raising concerns after the ship has sailed is a fruitless tradition.

Meetings will held on the following dates:


Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – December 14, 2014

The Brattleboro Selectboard will receive their first official report on possible police facility locations at their final regular meeting of the year. You can attend in person at the Municipal Center, or watch on BCTV.

If you do, you can join talk of additions to the FY16 budget in the form of capital improvements and expenses, a discussion of the Windham Solid Waste District budget, a continued debate on a motion to incorporate life cycle costs considerations for town capital projects, an update from the Pay As You Throw Committee, a request by the Stroll for a permit for their June parade, and wishing a happy retirement to a long-time children’s librarian.

All this and more. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during Public Participation.


I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project Update: Week of December 14

NOTE: Upcoming night closure of I-91 Northbound between Exits 2 and 3 to re-address pothole problems. This work is weather dependent. It is tentatively scheduled for Monday night, December 15th between 8:00 pm and 6:00 am. The actual closure date will be communicated to stakeholders at least 48 hours in advance, after the team is able to confirm forecasted weather conditions are acceptable for work to proceed.

I-91

Northbound I-91 traffic has been relocated onto the southbound bridge. Traffic will remain reduced to one lane in each direction on I-91 until completion of the new bridge. The new bridge will be 104’ wide and is designed to carry all four lanes of traffic –two northbound and two southbound.


Brattleboro Pay-As-You-Throw Advisory Committee/Working Group Meeting Agenda

The Brattleboro Pay-As-You-Throw Committee (PAYT) will meet on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.  The Committee will then meet jointly with the Selectboard starting at 6:15pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100


Brattleboro Police-Fire Facilities Building Committee Meeting Agenda

The Brattleboro Police-Fire Facilities Building Committee will hold a joint meeting with the Selectboard on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 starting at 6:15pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

Police-Fire Facilities Building Committee
Tuesday, December 16, 2014 – 6:15pm
Joint Meeting with Selectboard
Selectboard Meeting Room, Municipal Center
Agenda


Fairpoint Internet Outage

Fairpoint’s high-speed interent service seems to be offline for Vermont and New Hampshiire.

As we rely on it (I’m away from the world HQ at the moment), updates to the site and answers to emails will be minmal, if at all, until they sort things out.

I wonder where Fairpoint could find a bunch of talented, knowledgeable technicians to help them bring this back online more quickly? Hmmm…


Brattleboro Core Arts Project Update

We welcome you to a meeting to discuss the findings of the second track of the CoreArts project (conducted last Winter). The meeting will take place at noon on December 15, at the Marlboro College Graduate Center.

CoreArts conducted four moderated Panel Discussions: 1) Cluster v. District v. Hub? Who’s in, Who’s out? Concepts of Boundaries and Gates 2) Arts/Culture and community: What’s the economic model? 3) Exploring Brattleboro’s Cultural Landscape: Past, Present, and Future, 4) Cooperation and Collaboration: Lessons from the field.