News and information sections, from near to far
The Brattleboro Selectboard’s Organizational Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 6:15pm, in the Selectboard Meeting Room (230 Main Street, RM 212) and over Zoom. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.” Closed captioning will be available for the deaf and hard of hearing.
AGENDA
I. Convene, quorum check
II. Approve Minutes of February, 2023 Meeting
III. Welcome & Introductions/Check-in [10 mins]
IV. Purpose and Priorities [40 mins]
A place to make note of little things you see in and around Brattleboro, such as:
New bigger stronger electric poles going in along Rt 30 between the Retreat farm area and the bakery.
Work taking apart the motel in West B continues.
Potholes! Some are so big the Rec & Parks Department will begin maintaining them as swimming pools.
I just went through the process of buying a used car from a local dealership – twice! I thought I’d share what happened in case you are considering getting yourself something new or used to drive.
The Realization
Last summer I came to a point in the proverbial road where a choice had to be made – spend some money fixing up my older car, or look for something newer. Both options had pros and cons.
1. Minutes – February 15, 2024
2. Public Participation
3. Monthly Report on Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Traffic Incidents– For February
4. Safety Action Requests
On Tuesday March 19th the Brattleboro Highway Division will replace a failed culvert on Upper Dummerston road, near House #1111. Crews will start at 7:30 am with alternating one lane traffic while they prep the area. At 10:00am this section of road will be closed to traffic, as they install the new culvert pipe. A full closure is expected from 10:00am to 1:00pm. After the full closure, residents should expect alternating traffic for the remainder of the day. Residents should plan accordingly and seek alternate routes. Emergency services are aware of this closure and will implement a plan to continue to provide any services needed beyond this closure.
BRATTLEBORO—The Board of Directors of Groundworks Collaborative has announced that Libby Bennett, formerly the agency’s Director of Development & Communications, has accepted the offer to lead the organization as its new Executive Director.
Bennett has been on staff with the agency since joining the Morningside Shelter team in 2012. Previously, she served as an intern for the organization in 2011 while completing practicum work toward her master’s degree in non-profit management from the SIT Graduate Institute.
Bennett points back to volunteering for overnight shifts at Brattleboro’s Seasonal Overflow Shelter in 2010/2011 as her earliest interaction with the agency—inspired to volunteer after hearing a presentation from the founder of Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center, Melinda Bussino.
A workgroup of members of the Brattleboro Planning Commission and Conservation Commission will meet on Friday, March 15 at 9:00 am in the Planning Department meeting room. They are meeting to discuss comments for the Town of Brattleboro to submit to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding the relicensing of the Vernon Dam.
Brattleboro Residents of District 3/9 are invited to attend the third annual District 3 forum where we will hear your questions and concerns in advance of Brattleboro’s Representative Town Meeting. The forum, organized by Robert Oeser and David Levenbach, will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, 161 Western Avenue, at 3 pm on Sunday March 17. For more information, write fideladelphia@gmail.com or call 413.559.1533.
The Brattleboro Selectboard has decided to have a tiny meeting on Vermont’s Town Meeting Day. While everyone else will be looking over vote totals and analyzing candidate and issue wins and losses, the board will discuss upcoming legislation at the state level this season, public safety, and committees. They will likely squeeze in reactions to local election news as well.
You can bring up other items, if this Chair allows, during Public Participation.
Agenda Items
• Approve Minutes
• Public Participation
• Tree Inventory
• Library Spruce
I am Jaki Reis and I am running for Select board here in Brattleboro. You may know me from the 22 years that I’ve lived and worked downtown. Maybe we met at Brown and Roberts, or at the Chamber or the River Gallery School, or at the Latchis Theater. I have been close to so many who know me as their neighbor, friend, and fellow volunteer.
I have gained a rich understanding of how we all live and the concerns and complaints that we all share. Like most of you, I love this town a great deal, and I’m happy to have a chance to contribute to the Select board in doing its job.
The Brattleboro Town Clerk’s office will be closed all day on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in order to run the Town Meeting elections, which will be held at the American Legion from 7am-7pm. The Town Clerk’s office will also be closed to the public on the morning of Wednesday, March 6. On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the Town Clerk’s office will reopen at noon (12:00pm).
DPW will continue inspecting and reporting the conditions of Brattleboro’s gravel roads during mud season as we did last year.
The updated report will not be sent daily as in past years. Starting in the coming days, you will see a sign at the beginning of each gravel road. The sign will have a color-coded section that indicates the current condition of the road and QR code that will take you directly to Maps-on-line for the conditions of all roads. Instead of waiting for all of the roads to be checked to report each road be entered immediately which should speed up the reporting significantly. Attached is a press release explaining the new procedure.
The Town of Brattleboro’s harrassing Kurt Daims for doing what he could to shelter homeless people closely parallels something that happened nearly 4 decades ago.
Thirty-eight years ago, the Town of Brattleboro gave a homeless shelter run by Faith Ministries a December 25 deadline to close.
The Christmas deadline — a public relations blunder — was dramatic enough to garner national attention, but the real issue was articulated in a press release in which Wally & Emily White said the following:
The Utilities Division of Public Works will be performing an emergency sewer main repair in the area of 735 Western Avenue on Tuesday, February 27. The work is scheduled to begin at 8:30 am and will require alternating one lane traffic with flaggers. Motorists should expect delays in the area and seek alternate routes.
6:15– 7:00 Bike Parking Standards
Planning Commission votes on whether to pursue short-term bike parking standards, long-term bike parking standards, rack performance standards, site design guidelines, and potentially other related elements.
7:00 – 7:40 Certified Local Government
Review of Certified Local Government(CLG) ordinance and proposed change to Historic Resource Overlay Purpose (Section 252.A) for potential recommendation to the Selectboard to pursue CLG.
(And that’s not the worst of it. The judge hinted he could raise it to $170,000.)
On February 14 the Town asked VT Superior Court for a judgement of $72K against a local nonprofit for placing RVs that were used as emergency homeless shelters on private land in Brattleboro.
The Town has effectively evicted the RV shelter, though homeless people are now sheltering in the house of the non-profit Brattleboro Common Sense, which started the shelter in late 2022. The non-profit claims the Town has started to harass them for that. The group spokesman, Kurt Daims, says “We have a good safe project here. See the work we’ve been doing for sixteen years.
The Brattleboro Police Department’s Animal Control Officer will be holding a Rabies Clinic on Saturday, March 16 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Brattleboro Police Station located at 62 Black Mountain Road, Brattleboro, VT 05301.
Registration is not required for this event. This event is open for Brattleboro residents and non-Brattleboro residents.
In addition to the rabies clinic, there will be a variety of services available, including: Rabies Clinic: The rabies clinic is for cats and dogs. The rabies vaccine costs $15 per animal and will be a cash-only service. The rabies vaccine will be the only vaccine available during this clinic.
The Brattleboro RTM Finance Committee will meet on Monday, February 26, 2024 at 6:30pm in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room (230 Main Street, Rm 211) and on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 6:30pm in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room (230 Main Street, Rm 211).
The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 5:00pm in the Brooks Memorial Library Community Room (224 Main Street).
