Town News

A delegation of teen leaders and counselors from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota are traveling to Brattleboro to join a mixed-age group of locals for a multi-cultural ‘Gathering in Gratitude’ workshop led by drama therapist and musician Luz Elena Morey, director of the Brattleboro-based Mahalo Art Center.

The eight Oglala Lakota teens and two counselors will participate in the week-long intensive, a nature-based creative exploration of the concept of gratitude that culminates in a unique brand of performance art where each cast member’s contribution is woven into a modern, mythical pageant described by past audience members as “a feast for the soul.”

A call for artists and RFP for Phase III of the Our Town Grant will be at the top of the Tuesday agenda for the Brattleboro Selectboard. The Town Arts Committee may also be re-sized.

The Main Street Sidewalk project is getting underway, new police equipemnt will be purchased, and discussions of ponds, cable, dogs, finances, farmlands, FY16 union employee raises, DPW purchases, and more.

You can bring up other items during public participation if they aren’t otherwise on the agenda.

The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, June 17, 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 meet on Tuesday, June 9, 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 meet on Tuesday, June 9, 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 Brattleboro ADA Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, June 12, 2015 at 10:00am at Marlboro College Graduate Center in the VCIL conference room.

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 Hayes Court Community Room on Garfield Drive on Thursday, June 11^th at 6:00 PM. After a review of the treasury the group will revisit their recent successful Chicken Barbecue a couple of weekends ago. They will also discuss details regarding the joint mixer on Thursday, July 16^th with the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce, scheduled again this year at the New England House

The Brattleboro Arts Committee will hold a special meeting on Friday, June 5, 2015 at 9:30am in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center. It is anticipated that the Committee will take recess in the morning and reconvene the meeting at 1:00pm.

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

Issues of planning dominated the regular Tuesday meeting of the Selectboard. The Our Town Arts grant took a step forward, new design and building standards were presented, an EPA grant was awarded to the Planning Services department, and a revised Town Plan was approved.

The Town also bought a car, signed a letter of agreement with Entergy, and learned that Pay As You Throw has been planned well and is coming soon.

Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast Invitation    

Having a “Brattleboro Solar Summer”?

The next Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast is planned for Friday, June 19, 2015 at the Gibson Aiken Center, downstairs, hosted by Senior Meals. Doors open at 7:30am.

The Brattleboro VFW Post #1034 will be closed Sunday, May 31st due to construction.

The Brattleboro Energy Committee will meet on Monday, June 1, 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

At the next meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard, a regular meeting of the board on Tuesday at the Municipal Center, an upodate on Pay As You Throw, a proposal for the Our Town arts grant, and the fourth presentation on new land use regulations will all be given ample time for discussion.

The board will also buy a utility vehicle, hold a second hearing on changes to the Town Plan, and more. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.

Rick Santorum has indicated that he is (still) interested in becoming the president.

“I am proud to stand among you, and for you, the American workers who have sacrificed so much, to announce that I am running for president of the United States.”

The Brattleboro Selectboard heard the third of four presentations by the Planning Services department regarding new and major changes to Brattleboro’s land use regulations and development process.

This Tuesday’s topic was the new, streamlined Planned Unit Development process, in which developers give up some freedom in exchange for quicker, more certain approval. No developers were at the meeting to offer any opinions, but the board predicted that they would make any objections known before the new rules and regs are adopted. That is, soon.

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.