Town News

BRATTLEBORO, VT – Before a crowd of roughly 100 people gathered in the Brooks House atrium on Friday morning, Morningside Shelter and the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center publicly announced that they are merging to form a single organization under a new name: Groundworks Collaborative.

The Boards of Directors formally agreed to the merger at a joint board meeting on Tuesday, May 19. The organization will be fully functional under the new name as of the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, 2015; at that time Groundworks Collaborative will step into FY ’16 with a nearly $1 million budget. No staffing changes are planned at this time, as the organization is focused on maintaining all services currently provided by the two former organizations. However, growth is on the horizon for the new organization, which is currently finalizing its strategic plan for the next three years.

It’s ironic that a grant with the gentle, nostalgia-inspiring name “Our Town” could have triggered such dissension among its administrators, but after Tuesday night’s Selectboard meeting, there can be no doubt.  Long simmering issues over the administration of the NEA grant came to the fore during that meeting when past and present members of the grant management team spoke out about the process by which the grant project had been carried out.  

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, May 26, 2015, 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 Town of Brattleboro is looking for citizens to serve on the following committees and boards:

Agricultural Advisory Board
ADA Advisory Committee
Arts Committee
Brattleboro Housing Authority
Citizens Police Communications Committee (CPCC)
Conservation Commission
Development Review Board

Oh, yes. Budgets were approved, contracts were signed, and money was granted, but the big discussion at Tuesday’s meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard was about town arts. 

The discussion of a National Endowment for the Arts grant resembled an improvised performance piece at times, as the board learned of the status of the “Our Town” grant through a series of tension-filled monologues, criticisms, and accusations. Numerous views and opinions were expressed, and there was only a sliver of agreement among the players. Nothing was resolved, but many questions were posed, and decisions are required soon.

It was a long meeting, so settle in and get comfortable.

On Memorial Day (Monday, May 25), both the Northbound and Southbound Exit 3 on-ramps will be closed from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM to reduce congestion on I-91 Southbound caused by merging traffic. Because of highway logistics, we need to close both northbound and southbound on-ramps. Local southbound traffic will be rerouted to Route 5 South to Exit 1, and local northbound traffic will be rerouted to Route 5 North to Exit 4. Sheriff officers will assist in directing traffic.

In observance of Memorial Day, all Brattleboro town offices will be closed on Monday, May 25, 2015, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Sunday, May 24 and Monday, May 25, 2015. All other violations, including extended parking, will be enforced.

You can play chess with human chess pieces, on a very large board. But the players don’t get much exercise, since it’s a pretty slow game.

Not so with human foosball. Strolling of the Heifers is looking for teams of 6 players each to compete in its first-ever human foosball tournament. Excitement and action is guaranteed.

The tournament will take place on the Retreat ground during the Slow Living Expo on Saturday, June 6, following the Strolling of the Heifers Parade.

For their fourth weekly meeting in a row, the Brattleboro Selectboard plans to formally adopt the enterprise fund budgets discussed at their previous week’s meeting. The annual contract with Rescue, Inc., a conversation with the Arts Committee, a Town Plan public hearing, and approval of grants will also be topics of conversation and/or action.

You can participate in person at the Municipal Center, and bring up items that aren’t on the agenda during the scheduled public participation portion of the program.

The Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 4:30pm 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 hold a special meeting on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 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

The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 9:00am at the Creamery Bridge on Western Avenue.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

On May 23^rd, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will host another of its popular Chicken Barbecues. The event will be held once again in the front of the First Congregational Church on Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. The Barbecue will feature half chickens, baked beans, and coleslaw, available from 11:00 a.m. until sold out.

The fourth installment of the 2014 Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes will be due on May 15, 2015 by 5:00 PM. Payments made after May 15, 2015 will have an additional 1% interest, as well as an 8% penalty added to the unpaid balance.

The utility billing is also due on May 15, 2015 by 5:00 PM. Payments made after May 15, 2015 will have an additional 1% interest, as well as an 8% penalty added to the unpaid balance.

The Brattleboro Selectboard held a special meeting Tuesday evening to talk of town operations, enterprise budgets and funds, and to learn more about proposed changes in Brattleboro’s Land Use Regulations. The board also learned of setbacks in funding for the repair of the Green Street retaining wall, and a small grant was applied for, in hopes of helping to create a West Brattleboro connecting trail.

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 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, May 12, 2015 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will hold a special meeting on Monday, May 11, 2015 at 2:00pm on the Brattleboro Common at the gazebo.

The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 7:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The next monthly meeting of the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will be held at the New England House
on Thursday, May 14^th at 6:00 PM. After a review of the treasury the group will finalize details for their successful annual Chicken Barbecue, this year on Saturday, May 23^rd. They will also discuss having a joint mixer in July with the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce again this year.

In addition, the WBA will tackle organization issues such as next steps toward making the group officially non-profit, along with capacity issues.  (Having enough people to take on all the tasks!)

Brattleboro’s new, proposed district boundaries were presented and discussed at the regular meeting of the Selectboard. The presentation was an introduction to new land use regulations the town hopes to adopt later this year.  It is a big, important change for the town, and the board was sad that no one was there to report on it, or even attend. No one!

Also at the meeting, Selectboard goals were approved, distillers will be featured at a Heifer’s event in June, police officers were sworn in to new positions, the ADA Committee is restructured, and more.

Read on for more. And don’t tell the Selectboard! They don’t seem to know we do this.