For stories pertaining to the town of Brattleboro at large and its government.
On Tuesday, January 6, 2026, South Main Street will be closed between Oak Grove Avenue and Pine Street between the hours of 7:30am and 4:00pm. The closure is to complete repairs to a sewer main break that occurred on Monday.
Motorists should plan alternative routes during this time.
PAYT Bags, FY27 and a Town Policy on encampments are all planned for the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard – the first of the new year.
The occasional spot for noticing things in and around Brattleboro, such as:
nice to see ice skaters out on Retreat Meadows going for long skates, exploring the entire frozen area. Ice fishing, too.
The Town of Brattleboro and the Board of Trustees of Brooks Memorial Library today announced the retirement of Brooks Memorial Library Director Starr LaTronica following a decade of transformative service to Brattleboro. LaTronica plans to step down from her position on April 25, 2026.
“Starr’s commitment to community connection and innovation in Brattleboro has firmly established the library as a centerpiece of our town,” said Brattleboro Town Manager John Potter. “We are immensely grateful for her leadership and wish her a wonderful, book- filled retirement.”
LaTronica has had a distinguished career in library service. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1980, she worked as a children’s librarian at the Berkeley Public Library before relocating to upstate New York, where she held a prominent role as the Youth Services and Outreach Coordinator for the Four County Library System. She was also president of the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, and has served as a member of numerous book award committees.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center (230 Main Street, Room 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 deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.
The Brattleboro Parking Enforcement Office will be closed the week of Dec. 22, 2025, and will reopen at its new location at the ground level of the Transportation Center on Monday, Dec. 29.
During the parking office’s temporary closure, the public will not be able to make transactions at the window. Online payment for parking fees will still be available at Brattleboro.gov/parking.
Municipal Center will be open for regular hours on December 31st, 2025 (New Year’s Eve). The Town Clerk’s Office will be open until 5:00pm. The Town Manager’s office will be open until 12:00pm (noon) on December 31, 2025. The Finance offices will be closed on December 31st, 2025.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Monday, December 22, 2025, at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center (230 Main Street, Room 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 deaf and hard-of-hearing community members. The backup materials for this meeting will be available on the town website by the end of the day.
The Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office will be closed from Monday, December 22 to Monday, December 29, 2025. To get in touch with the office during that time, please email townmanager@brattleboro.gov.
A discussion of town-owned parcels of land was focused primarily on parcels that are vacant and have the potential to be built upon, be they parking lots or watersheds. The board asked the planning department to continue their investigation of land that might be sold, conserved, or developed.
Windham and Windsor Housing Trust closed out a grant, and the board heard from a number of departments about their FY27 budget requests.
The Town of Brattleboro has issued a precautionary Boil Water Notice for residents on Edward Heights and Lawton Drive following a water main break on the primary water line serving Edward Heights.
At this time, there is no indication that any cross-contamination has occurred. However, out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with State requirements, the Town is imposing this boil water notice until further notice to ensure public health and safety.
The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, December 16, 2025 at 5:00pm in the Brooks Memorial Library Community Room.
The Brattleboro Finance Committee will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, December 17, 2025 at 6:30pm in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will find out what land the Town owns might be suitable for housing during their next regular Tuesday meeting. They’ll also hear from many more departments about their budget request for FY27, and hold a quick close out hearing for a scattered site grant with WWHT.
You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
The Brattleboro Human Services Committee will meet on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at 6:30pm in the Planning Services Meeting Room (230 Main Street, Second Floor).
The Brattleboro Traffic Safety Committee will meet on Thursday, December 18th, 2025, at 8:00am in the Selectboard Meeting Room and over Zoom (230 Main Street, Rm. 212).
The Brattleboro Finance Committee will meet on Monday, December 8, 2025 in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room at 6:00pm.
Snow and ice will be removed from the uncovered parking lots in Brattleboro’s downtown area starting around 12 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2025.
Vehicles parked in the downtown lots must be removed or they may be towed at the owner’s expense.
Despite the weather conditions, the Brattleboro Selectboard went forth with their first meeting of December. Being a very long meeting, I decided to jump in somewhere around the time of the discussion of health care changes and voting on RTM, which appeared on the agenda for roughly 8:15, which was actually more like 9pm.
The board covered the DPW, Rec & Parks, Library and DID budget requests. Interestingly, they decided to hold public hearing to gather important feedback from the public about declaring an emergency and making it more difficult for social service and charitable use organizations to exist. This will be at a special meeting of the selectboard to be held December 22nd, overseen by Mr. Potter.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will continue work on the FY27 budget at their first regular meeting in December. From the way it is scheduled, this could be a VERY long meeting. The agenda-setters have the final item beginning AFTER 10 PM, and we all know how good they are at estimating agenda starting times.
In addition to hearing from Rec & Parks, the Library, the downtown organization, and Public Works about their budgets for FY27, the board will take up the bigger items of a change of health care providers, a discussion of options for voting to end Representative Town meeting, a new potential zoning change to start controlling “social assistance or charitable services” through conditional use permits, a monthly budget update, and anything else the public wants to bring up during public participation.
Now that the Brattleboro Selectboard has begun budget development for the next fiscal year, it’s time for a District 9 forum. Bob Oeser and David Levenbach are organizing this opportunity for district residents to come together to share information, ask questions about the budget and other Town affairs, and express preferences and concerns. We’ll meet at 6:30 pm on Monday 1 December in the third floor Community Room of the Brooks Memorial Library. For more information, contact fideladelphia@gmail.com, phone 413.559.1533.
