Brattleboro Budget Passes at Special Representative Town Meeting
The revised budget was passed as presented at a special Representative Town Meeting Tuesday.
110 in favor, four opposed to the new version.
News and information sections, from near to far
The revised budget was passed as presented at a special Representative Town Meeting Tuesday.
110 in favor, four opposed to the new version.
Pursuant to title 32, Vermont Statutes Annotated, section 4111(g), “A person who feels aggrieved by the action of the Listers and desires to be heard by them, shall, on or before the day of the grievance meeting, file with them his or her objections in writing and may appear at such grievance meeting in person or by his or her agents or attorneys. Upon the hearing of such grievance the parties thereto may submit such documentary or sworn evidence as shall be pertinent thereto.”
The Town of Brattleboro Abstract Grand List will be lodged May 27, 2025.
The Brattleboro Charter Revision Commission will meet on Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room.
6:15 – 6:30 Public Proposal
Discuss staff recommendation on a request to amend the Town Plan to expand the West Brattleboro Village Center designated area.
6:30 – 7:40 Town Plan 2026
In observance of Memorial Day, all Brattleboro Town offices will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2025, with the exception of emergency services.
Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Monday, May 26, 2025. All other violations will be enforced.
The Brattleboro Selectboard heard a number of updates and reports at their second regular meeting of May. They learned how a grant was used to help with housing, how a group would like to expand passenger rail service in the region, how Green Mountain Power is burying some of the most problematic electrical circuits, and more.
More, of course, included hearing that utility rates would be increasing.
Review of Cases/Public Hearings to be reviewed under the Brattleboro Land Use Regulations as warned on October 12, 2015.
2025-32 Tarmy Properties, LLC; Service Center District; request for Site Plan Approval to construct a 120’ x 150’ dry storage warehouse by 983 Putney Road; Tax Map Parcel #70724.120
Sketch Plan Review.
2025-33 Brattleboro School District; Residential Neighborhood 3600 District; Sketch Plan Review to construct an eleven bay parking lot at 112 Canal Street; Tax Map Parcel #325158.000
The Utilities Division will be repairing a sewer line on Church Street on Wednesday, May 21. Church Street will be closed from 8:30am to 2:00pm for this repair. There will be no parking on Church Street during this time and motorists should plan alternative routes.
Old Business
1. Discuss form of annual town meeting.
The report of the RTM Finance Committee for the May 27 Special Representative Town Meeting is posted on the Town’s website.
Go to: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rO3ELZP6e8HewXSf4CmYVbYtCaximdvL/view
The Finance Committee met weekly while the Selectboard was working on the revised budget and then held four meetings in May to prepare the report.
The Brattleboro Special Representative Town Meeting Budget Report is ready. Paper copies can be found at the Brooks Memorial Library. You can also find the Report on the RTM page of the Town Website. The link is below.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will have a regular meeting on Tuesday and will hear lots of updates and reports – on expanding rail service to Connecticut, electric company projects, state legislation, FY25 budget numbers, and the results of a Utility Rate Study to see if Brattleboro customers are paying the right amount.
You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation if the Chair anticipates what you are about to say is germane.
On Wednesday May 14th, the Brattleboro Highway Division will replace a failed culvert on Pleasant Valley Rd near house number 137. Please be advised there will be a full road closure from 8:00am – 12:00pm. 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.
Here’s the announcement from the Vermont Association of Broadcasters of new state funds for community radio. This means that Brattleboro’s WVEW will be able to apply for these new funds eventually.
….
“VT Community Radio Network,
I have news that is too good to wait until our monthly ZOOM meeting May 15th. Without further ado…
the state legislature committed $150,000 to the Vermont Community Radio grant program!!!
I cannot express enough just how significant and incredible this is for so many reasons:
All are welcome to join District 8 Chair Gary Stroud for an important community discussion about the Town Budget and how it will impact Property Taxes and Town Resources.
This meeting is a chance for Brattleboro residents—especially those in District 8, represented by Rep. Mollie Burke—to learn about and share their views on the newly revised Town Budget coming before the Representative Town Meeting at the end of Tuesday May 27th 2025.
The Brattleboro Selectboard had a regular meeting and approved of more changes to the recently-changed parking system. Zones will get new names, there will be new signs and stickers, rates and times will change, and more. This will make it easier for everyone, the Town assures us.
There are big beautiful plans by locals in Brattleboro for the old Hinsdale bridges, but they are owned primarily by New Hampshire and that side of the river isn’t too keen on maintaining them in the long term. It will take might private efforts to make something happen at this juncture, but a “balanced” letter will be sent to the NH DOT, with or without support from Hinsdale.
And Kate O’Connor is again director of the Chamber of Commerce.
It has been a while, but the Brattleboro Selectboard will again hold a regular meeting to discuss items other than the FY26 budget. Instead they will examine more changes to the parking system, new murals and events, get an update on the Housing Plan, and hire a financial services company for a year to help ill in for the Finance Director.
The board will also have a discussion about the old bridges sitting in the Connecticut River and come up with a list of requests for the state of New Hampshire to consider. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
The Brattleboro Finance Committee will meet on Monday, May 5, 2025 at 6:00pm in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room.
The Brattleboro Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 6:00pm in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room.
The Brattleboro Selectboard held a May Day meeting to discuss and pass their new budget, which takes the overall municipal tax increase down from 12.1% to 10.8%, shaving 1.3% from the budget rejected by Representative Town Meeting.
The public, those allowed to speak, weren’t very impressed.
Chair McLoughlin began by apologizing for being rude to young people at the previous board meeting. Later on, she shut down the meeting with gavel banging and demands for an adult to stop speaking about something she said could not be tolerated- a discussion of Rescue Inc correcting the record.
Town Manager John Potter did what the Brattleboro Selectboard asked and has revised the FY26 budget with an additional $317k in savings. Here’s his memo to the board explaining the cuts he made on their behalf.
And yes, there are un-chill cuts to the Library.