News and information sections, from near to far
Tonight at our regular meeting, the Town Finance Committee voted unanimously to request that the municipality (Brattleboro Town Government) discover and sum up the total amount of public (tax) monies spent to originally create, and to continue since then to maintain, the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, from the time of its inception until the current time.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 5:30pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 4:00pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.
The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 4:30pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
BRATTLEBORO, VT — Strolling of the Heifers, which operated under the non-profit umbrella of Building a Better Brattleboro when it presented its first parade and festival in 2002, is developing a proposal to assume responsibility for the Robert H. River Garden from BaBB.
While details of the proposal are still being worked out and a formal proposal has not yet been submitted, the Stroll’s priority for the River Garden will be to maintain the building as a community resource, according to Orly Munzing, founder and executive director of the organization.
Wine and beer at galleries and bookstore events will have to wait until Vermont offers up definitions of galleries and bookstores. So sayeth the Selectboard.
Brattleboro’s Police-Fire Facility Project oversight committee has been formed, a new skating rink compressor will be purchased, and Brattleboro has begun the first of what may be many solar energy projects.
The new Selectboard got off to a good start, with a new commitment from the Chair to hear all viewpoints. The new seating arrangement is, from left to right, Schneck, Schoales, Gartenstein, Sondag, O’Connor, and Allen. Longtime Selectboard watchers can make of it what they may.
The following dates have been scheduled for Brattleboro’s curbside Spring Leaf Collection. Whereas in the past leaf pickup was determined by scheduled day of rubbish pickup, all locations will be picked up each Friday:
Leaf Pick Up Date
ALL RESIDENTS Friday, April 12, 2013
ALL RESIDENTS Friday, April 26, 2013
Dear friends and correspondents on iBrattleboro,
Hopefully you will have seen some of my earlier posts in support of keeping the River Garden as a public space. I am working with a group of people now who share the intention of putting together a new, independent non-profit entity, to run the River Garden for the benefit of the people of Brattleboro and the surrounding areas.
I wish to thank those of you who voted at Representative Town Meeting for the eleventh-hour successful resolution I introduced, in which RTM strongly urges BaBB to keep the River Garden open to the public by choosing an organizational plan that will allow for that.
Finalists have been selected in the 2013 Strolling of the Heifers Vermont Business Plan Competition, which offers a total of $60,000 in prizes.
The 14 finalists, chosen by a statewide panel of judges, were chosen on the basis of business prospectuses submitted during the first phase of the contest. They will now prepare detailed business plans and will make presentations at the final judging session on June 5.
The competition is a collaboration of Strolling of the Heifers, a Brattleboro-based local foods advocacy organization, and Vermont Technical College, with additional partnership contributions by Vermont Small Business Development Center, Southern Vermont Community Action, and Vermont Interactive Television.
At the first meeting of the new Brattleboro Selectboard, the board will again take up the issue of a new state law allowing beer and wine at gallery events. They’ll also discuss a proposal to purchase solar energy from ISA Solar and Green Lantern Capital from a site to be determined.
They will also hear from new owners of Elliot Street Fish, Chips and More, appoint members to the Police Fire Facility Project oversight committee, consider skating rink repairs, set board goals, and review their rules of conduct. All this and more, and you can watch on TV or attend in person.
The Brattleboro Energy Committee will meet on Monday, April 1, 2013 at 5:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
On a Saturday morning at 6:45 a.m. there was a loud and persistent knock at my front door. It was a police officer, who was there to serve a no trespass order which had been filed maliciously as retaliation by an irresponsible individual whom I had had to evict from a property I own. (He has been caretaking the property rent free, and it is not his residence.)
When I came to the door to find out who was banging so loud, there was a tense moment during which I felt threatened not knowing who it could be, and tense because the officer did not know whether he was about to be confronted by a dangerous person.
A day of changes in Brattleboro.
Andrea Livermore has just announced that she will be resigning from Building a Better Brattleboro effective April 12, 2013. She says she may serve in a part time capacity through the fiscal year to provide for a smooth transition.
She says:
Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast, March 15, 2013, Gibson-Aiken Center – Brattleboro VT
Presenter: Tad Montgomery – ecological engineer, principal of and member of the Home Energy Challenge and PACE sub-committees of the Brattleboro Town Energy Committee.
Tad began by asking the audience of about 25 people whether they had done energy efficiency retrofits on their houses since 2007. About ? had. He noted that statewide it is 5.6%, or about 1% per year. At that rate it will take 100 years to get to the 20%-30% goal the state has set for itself by 2020.
Saturday, March 30, 2013, marks the final week for the 7th season of the Winter Farmers’ Market.
It is also the 6th Annual CSA Fair hosted at Post Oil Solutions’ Winter Farmers’ Market. A variety of CSA(Community Supported Agriculture) Farms will join our regular market line-up to offer information about their farming operations and their CSA share options.
Tis over.
With recent discussion here about how to keep local dollars in Brattleboro, I’m hoping someone here in Brattleboro might read about this exciting option and run with it! Apparently this program incents residents to shop locally at participating businesses who provide % credit for purchases (via a card), which is then applied to the purchaser’s property tax bill (renters receive a yearly rebate check instead.) The program is a win-win — local businesses get increased patronage, residents are rewarded for shopping locally, and as I understand it, the decrease in town revenue from the property tax credit is directly offset by the increase in taxes paid by healthy, thriving local businesses.
The Brattleboro Citizen Police Communications Committee (CPCC) will meet on Monday, March 25, 2013 at 5:30pm at the Brooks Memorial Library in the community room.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
Below you’ll find a handy guide to the Town’s half of the Town Meeting Articles (the Schools half I couldn’t find; if you have it add it in the comments).
Brattleboro’s Representative Town Meeting is Saturday at the high school on Fairground Road. BCTV will be there covering the events of the day, and we’ll be streaming their signal here so you can observe and make comments from the proverbial peanut gallery.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special organizational meeting on Monday, March 25, 2013 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.
I was saddened to hear that ADIVASI will be closing it’s beautiful store on Flat Street. It hs always been a favorite place of mine to pick up an unusual gift or a beautiful tablecloth while supporting independent artisans. This is a huge loss for our town. I wish the family well.
