For stories pertaining to the town of Brattleboro at large and its government.
Summer 2024 has begun with hot weather and big thunderstorms, and we start another seasonal post for you to add to at any time when you hear something or see something interesting. No need to write any more than a sentence. This is for anyone who doesn’t feel up to a full story about something.
To start:
• NECCA has the circus tent up at the entryway. A sure sign of summer.
The Highway Division will be replacing the sidewalk on the south side of Fairground Road between Canal Street and Atwood Street. The project is slated to start on Monday, June 24, 2024 and is expected to take approximately three weeks to complete. Crews will be working weekdays, between 7:00am and 5:00pm. During the project motorists should expect lane restrictions and delays in the area. Please seek alternate routes.
A Juneteenth eve Selectboard meeting stated late and went long. The board raised parking rates – 44% by one member of the public’s estimates – and voted to end free downtown parking on Sundays. They also voted to make it easier and quicker to raise rates in the future.
Winston-Prouty campus housing was discussed as was public feedback on trash, recycling and compost.
Due to the heat advisory issued for this week, Casella Waste Systems will begin picking up trash, compost and recycling earlier than normal. Please attempt to have your items curbside by 5:00am. If your items are missed, please call Belinda at Brattleboro Public Works, 802 254-4255 or email blashway@brattleboro.gov.
In observance of Juneteenth, all Brattleboro Town offices will be closed on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, with the exception of emergency services.
Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. All other violations will be enforced.
Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
Hot temperatures combined with high humidity are forecasted to occur Tuesday through Thursday, with the most oppressive conditions on Wednesday and Thursday. There is a great potential for this heat wave to continue into Friday and Saturday. The National Weather Service is predicting temperatures in the upper 90s and a heat index over 100. Please stay safe, and check on your family, the elderly, and neighbors.
The following locations in town can be utilized for cooling sites:
The Brattleboro Selectboard will raise your parking fees at their next regular meeting. How much they go up will be the primary discussion.
They’ll also hear about some projects that received grants, get an update on Winston-Prouty housing, and begin wading into the solid waste discussion of what to do about trash, recycling, and compost. Specifically, they will be discussing the results of their public feedback. You can also bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
The Brattleboro Traffic Safety Committee will meet on Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 8:00am in the Selectboard Meeting Room and over Zoom.
The Brattleboro Charter Revision Commission will meet on Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room and over Zoom.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 12:00pm at Holton Hall at the Winston Prouty Center (4th Floor, 209 Austine Drive) to conduct their annual Selectboard Retreat. This meeting will be carried by BCTV after the conclusion. The backup materials for this meeting will be available on the town Website Brattleboro.gov/Selectboard by the end of today.
On Monday, June 10, the Highway Division will be replacing a failed culvert on Goodenough Road. The closure will be near 42 Goodenough Road. Residents and Emergency Services can access address numbers 82 and greater via Akley Road. Please plan accordingly and avoid the area if possible.
BRATTLEBORO – The Town of Brattleboro welcomes the community to participate in an interactive session to review the conceptual design options for the proposed improvements to the pool and aquatics facilities at Living Memorial Park, and share input on those options. It will provide the opportunity to review the results and outcomes of prior public input sessions held during the summer and fall of 2023 and will be led by the Town’s contracted design consultant team.
The first meeting of June for the Brattleboro Selectboard and they decided your Water & Sewer Rates are going up 5%.
The board spent quite a bit of time, though, talking about raising your parking rates, too. Remember the great meter system that the Town staff insisted be purchased a few years back? Fast forward a bit and now the Town staff wants to cut down every meter and replace them with a handful of credit card powered kiosks. They’d like to get rid of any coins or cash in the system. And Town staff suggested merely doubling current rates.
Newly increased water rates will be adopted and the FY25 Parking Fund will be presented for approval at the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. Part of the discussion will be the adoption of a grant for downtown parking system improvements. A slightly more unusual part will be to choose between parking fund revenues of $654,500 or $1,029,500, which most likely means a decision about raising parking rates.
There will be a small affordable housing grant for BAAH, and an application for a grant to improve sidewalks and add a path to the backside of the Common. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
Agenda Items
• Approve Minutes
• Public Participation
• Town Plan
• Donation of Poplars and Birches (Copied below)
On Monday June 3, the Transportation Center will have a partial closure of the third-floor deck from 07:00am to 2:00pm to allow for construction. This affects all parking spaces on the Flat Street side and area of the west stairwell on the third-floor deck. Motorists should plan on using alternate parking during the closure.
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 Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at 5:00pm at the Brooks Memorial Library and over Zoon.
Jessica Sticklor (she/her/hers)
Executive Assistant
Town of Brattleboro
In observance of Memorial Day, all Brattleboro Town offices will be closed on Monday, May 27, 2024, with the exception of emergency services.
Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Sunday, May 26 and Monday, May 27, 2024. All other violations will be enforced.
Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on Sunday, May 26 and Monday, May 27, 2024.
The Brattleboro Selectboard had a first reading of a new ordinance regarding vacant buildings around town. If a building is vacant for 180 days, it must get a permit, and the cost of the permit doubles each year. Will it finally put some pressure on the empty Home Depot building? Not as written. It will be exempt.
In a discussion about possible municipally-owned properties that could be candidates for new housing developments, Liz McLoughlin mentioned a confidential plan that might include both the Municipal Center and the High Grove parking lot. She didn’t explain further.
And, your water rates will go up 5% rather than 1% this October.
The Town of Brattleboro is looking for citizens to serve on the following committees and boards:
ADA Committee
Arts Committee
Brattleboro Housing Partnerships
Cemetery Committee
Citizen Police Communications Committee (CPCC)
Conservation Commission
