For stories pertaining to the town of Brattleboro at large and its government.
The Brattleboro Energy Committee will meet on Monday, April 4, 2016 at 5:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
The Brattleboro ADA Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, April 8, 2016 at 11:15am at the Marlboro College Graduate Center in the VCIL conference room. PLEASE NOTE – This meeting will not begin at the usual time, the meeting will instead begin at 11:15am.
Town Clerk Annette Cappy presided over the swearing in of two out of three newly-elected Brattleboro Selectboard candidates – David Gartenstein and Kate O’Connor.
The newly sworn-in board members, along with John Allen, chose officers for the coming year. They are the same as last year: David Gartenstein will Chair, Kate O’Connor will be Vice Chair, and David Schoales will be Clerk.
David Schoales was not in attendance. Neither was Dick DeGray. There was no explanation for anyone’s absence.
Two school buildings stay warm with local, renewable heat from wood
BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT: The Academy and Esteyville school buildings in Brattleboro are the first public buildings to participate in the Windham Wood Heat Initiative by switching from fossil fuels to locally sourced wood pellets to heat their buildings. Academy School’s switch will reduce the school’s oil use by 15,000 gallons and generate $50,000 a year in positive economic impact for southern Vermont’s economy. Esteyville will cut oil consumption by 1,100 gallons and contribute $3,700 a year to the economy.
“We’ve got a quiet system providing an even heat and it’s been keeping our building warm,” said Andy Paciulli, principal of the 355-student elementary school. “A bonus is that many of our students are learning about the importance of reducing our carbon footprint and decreasing our use of non-renewable resources. Heating with wood pellets has helped to deliver that lesson to our young learners. I expect we’ll realize the cost savings which should be significant for us and the taxpayer.”
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special organizational meeting on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 5:30pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center. A revised agenda and an administrative report are attached .
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special organizational meeting on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 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 Citizen Police Communications Committee (CPCC) will meet on Monday, March 28, 2016 at the Brooks Memorial Library in the community room.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
In a stealth vote in the final moments of Representative Town Meeting today, fairly new RTM member Dylan Mackinnon of District Two proposed the following non-binding resolution:
“I move that the town change, in reference to the second Monday in October, as Indigenous People’s Day in place of Columbus Day.”
K. Daims attempted an amendment to have the Selectboard bring this proposal to a town-wide resolution, but the amendment was defeated 28 to 43. The proposal passed overwhelmingly, though the exact vote was obscured by a vast WHOOSH! of indigenous spirits flooding the room with silent whoops and hollars.
Brattleboro is restructuring the way town employees are compensated for health care. A new program to fill the gaps of higher deductibles might end up saving taxpayers $30,000 a year while continuing to provide a solid level of coverage for employees.
The decision of the recent special Representative Town Meeting to move the police station to Black Mountain Road has been incorporated into the budget to be presented at the regular Representative Town Meeting, Bradley House might be renovated and expanded if a new package of grants is approved, the town will buy new police cars, and Donna Macomber had a final regular meeting with the board.
Strolling of the Heifers and SEON — the Sustainable Energy Outreach Network — are partnering to present a workshop to explore collaborative opportunities between businesses in the farm, food, green building and green technology sectors.
The meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 29 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, 157 Main Street, in Brattleboro.
The event is the second workshop in the Windham Grows series — the first was “Tech Salad,” which brought together farm, food and technology entrepreneurs on March 3.
Like Tech Salad, the March 29 event will be facilitated by Nadav Malin, president of Building Green, Inc., a Brattleboro consultancy that gathers, organizes and publishes information about green building technologies for building industry professional and policy makers.”
By a vote of 111 Yes to 27 No, Brattleboro Town Meeting Representatives have decided to move the police station to Black Mountain Road.
This approves the concept. At their regular Representative Town Meeting later this month, representatives will vote on the budget that contains this option. That budget, and other business, remains to be approved.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will incorporate the decision of Town Meeting Representatives into their annual budget suggestion at their next meeting on Tuesday at the Municipal Center, adjusting levels of anticipated debt service payments for facility projects depending on the outcome of the vote.
The police will get police cars, the substation at Cotton Mill Hill may be upgraded, and Bradley House might be expanded and improved. They’ll also revise the town’s health insurance program for employees. You can participate in person or watch on TV, and you are free to bring up other items that aren’t on the agenda during Public Participation.
The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, at 8:00am in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
The Brattleboro Traffic Safety Committee will meet on Thursday, March 17, 2016, at 4:00pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
Richard DeGray will once again bring his special grace to the Brattleboro Selectboard. The Brattleboro Reformer reports a hand count of ballots has flipped the election results, giving DeGray one additional vote and diminishing Avery Schwenk’s count by 8. http://www.reformer.com/ci_29622449/brattleboro-recount-select-board-flips-results
Previously it was reported that Schwenk had won by a single vote: 1,505 to 1,504. The new count is 1,505 for DeGray to 1,497 for Schenk: A virtual landside for the popular former Selectboard Chair.
I just read on the Reformer Facebook page that Dick Degray won the election. He won an additional vote and Avery Schwenk lost 8 votes. It will be interesting to hear more about the process.
The Brattleboro Selectboard received a detailed report on why our downtown traffic system is just about the best it can possibly be, as is. In discussing the lack of major opportunities for improvements, the name Malfunction Junction returned as shorthand for the intersection causing problems up and down Main Street.
The board also learned about the best path forward toward addressing issues related to being a hub town in Vermont, which is to form a coalition with other hub towns, such as Bennington, St. Johnsbury, and Springfield, to put pressure on the state to create new sources of revenue.
A trailer was bought, committees have new members, and the town now offers larger loans to help businesses.
Town Manager’s Office teammates Peter Ewell, Patrick Moreland and Jan Anderson take a few moments to discuss the different ways area residents can get involved with Town Meeting–whether it’s participating in the annual town meeting, attending this year’s special Town Meeting on the Police-Fire Upgrade, prepping yourself with the pre-town meeting info sessions, attending the regular selectboard meetings throughout the year, or watching all of it on BCTV. .
The next monthly meeting of the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will be held on Thursday, March 10th at 6:00 PM in the Hayes Court Community Room on Garfield Drive (just west of the W Bratt PO). After a review of the treasury report, the WBA will discuss the status of the welcome signs and other pending issues.
A feature of this month’s meeting is the WBA hosting of District 1 Town Meeting representatives at 7:00 that evening. This is a chance for area residents to engage in an informal Q&A regarding the warrants for the upcoming March 12th Special Town Meeting which will specifically address the proposed police/fire facilities upgrade, and to engage them in a discussion about the March 19th Annual Representative Town Meeting. This part of the meeting will be facilitated by West Brattleboro’s own Orion Barber.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will receive a report regarding downtown traffic lights and traffic flow at their next Tuesday meeting. They will also receive a final report from the Regional Economic Hub Committee and act on that committee’s recommendation to dissolve.
The board will assist local businesses via new policies and procedures for the Small Business Assistance program, and will places fines and fees on local businesses for failing to get a business license in a timely manner.
You can participate by attending in person, or watch on BCTV. Read about the meeting the next day.
The Brattleboro Energy Committee will meet on Monday, March 7, 2016 at 5:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 7:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
The section of Black Mountain Road that is between Kipling Road and Dickenson Road is closed and will remain closed until further notice. That section was damaged during last night’s storm and the damage worsened significantly this morning. State and Town personnel are assessing the extent of the damage and will develop a plan for addressing it. In the meantime, all Black Mountain Road traffic will use Kipling Road and Dickenson Road as a short detour around the closed area.
While the very heavy rain and wind last night kept Fire Department and DPW crews busy throughout the night, all other damage to public infrastructure was minor.
