Town News

Strates Shows, Inc. is a traveling carnival midway company based in Orlando, Florida. It provides amusement rides, games and concessions for local, county and state fairs throughout the United States. Strates transports their personnel and equipment by train during its annual seven-month season. The equipment train, nearly a mile long, comprises 61 rail cars and 34 trucks plus all sorts of rides and equipment, and they were all in Brattleboro, today. There is a second, passenger train for the personnel.

They just finished up at the Champlain Valley Fair in Essex Junction and were en-route to their next gig at the Lee Regional Fair in Sanford, NC.

Brattleboro Fire Department computers were unintentionally encrypted and virtually “held hostage” by nefarious no-gooders, somewhere, demanding a ransom to unlock the impacted systems. The town did not give in to their demands, and the locked files are instead being re-created by staff.

Plans for the new police station were presented and approved, the Black Mountain sewer settlement began to be settled, public hearings lacked public participation, and more.

Are you a Brattleboro resident interested in the natural environment? Do you have special natural resource knowledge that you are interested in sharing? Are you concerned that invasive species are threatening the health of our environment? If so, the Brattleboro Conservation Commission needs you!

The Conservation Commission responsibilities include raising public awareness about the Town’s natural resources, guiding development in sensitive areas, and encouraging community participation and stewardship regarding town conservation issues.

The first installment of the 2016 Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes will be due on September 15th, 2016. Payments made after September 15th, 2016 will have an additional 1% interest added to the unpaid balance.

Payments can be mailed to the Town of Brattleboro, 230 Main Street, Suite 111, Brattleboro VT 05301. An official postmark of September 15th, 2016 will be considered as an on time payment. Please include the quarterly payment stub to ensure your payment is applied properly. Electronic Bank Checks must be received in the office by the due date. Electronic Bank Checks dated for the due date, but received after the due date will not be considered an on time payment.

The next monthly meeting of the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will be held on Thursday, September
15^th at 6:00 PM in the Community Room at Hayes Court on Garfield Drive.

After a review of the treasury report  there will be an update on several agenda items and information on the upcoming BizUp event to be held on September 27^th at the ‘new’ New England Country Deli Market out on Marlboro Road.

A final decision will be made on whether to hold a Chicken BBQ over the Columbus Day weekend.  The event is usually held on a Saturday morning – going through till the chicken and fixin’s are gone (usually in the early afternoon). It is held in front of the First Congregational Church on Western Avenue.  

Who are these people? Why are they meeting?

Ahh, that’s right. It’s the Brattleboro Selectboard, and they return for a regular meeting after a nice summer break of a few weeks to take on issues such as plans for the new police station, changes to ordinances, appointing people to committees, and writing a check for just over half a million dollars to finish of the gravity sewer at Black Mountain Road in accordance with the legal settlement.

You can attend and comment, or bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.

The Brattleboro ADA Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, September 9, 2016, at 10:00am in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center. NOTE THE CHANGE IN LOCATION FOR THIS AND FUTURE MEETINGS.

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

Time for another edition of Noticed Around Brattleboro, where you are invited to note things you have noticed in your neck of the woods. Small things, perhaps. Anything, really. Here are a few to get things started.

– The new Elliot Street bridge is completed and looks good.

– There are new talking crosswalk buttons downtown at some intersections. (I’ll guess that these will be disliked by most. They kind of bark at you, in contrast to the tweeting sounds we’re used to. I pressed the button and it yelled “Wait!”)

– Western Ave paving is getting underway from Havilands to I-91.

In observance of Labor Day, all Town offices will be closed on Monday, September 5, 2016, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Sunday, September 4, and Monday, September 5. All other violations will be enforced.

Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on Sunday, September 4, and Monday, September 5.

The Town of Brattleboro is pleased to announce that construction work on the Elliot Street bridge crossing the Whetstone Brook was completed on schedule on Friday, August 26, 2016, and that this bridge has fully reopened for motor vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic.

A range of State of Vermont, Town of Brattleboro, and private personnel were vital to the successful and timely completion of this project. The leadership of Vermont Secretary of Transportation Chris Cole is particularly noteworthy, as is his Agency’s innovative program that gives priority to expedited bridge deck replacements projects. Also instrumental were the efforts of Vermont Agency of Transportation Project Manager Jennifer Fitch, who spent significant time and effort managing and overseeing the planning and implementation of this project from her home office in Montpelier, VTrans resident engineer Chad Greenwood, and local VTrans District 2 staff.

The Brattleboro Energy Committee will meet on Monday, August 29, 2016, at 5:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center. NOTE: The committee will NOT meet on its normal Monday schedule in September due to the Labor Day Holiday.

The Brattleboro Arts Committee will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, August 30, 2016 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 Town of Brattleboro is reminding all residents that the draft Comprehensive Review of Town Operations (CRTO) document is posted on the Town’s website and that everyone is welcome to provide input. The deadline for submitting comments and suggested changes is Friday, September 9. The revised draft will be considered at the Selectboard meeting on September 20 or October 4.

The draft CRTO contains an introductory letter from Town Manager Peter Elwell and 50 separate “action items” in categories ranging from “Already Accomplished” and “in Progress” to short term (0-2 years), medium term (2-5 years), and long term (more than 5 years) timeframes for implementation. The draft document was created by the Town’s management team after it completed a thorough review of all Town services and support functions. The 50 action items represent small and large scale changes that staff is proposing to improve the community and/or save taxpayers money
.

The Brattleboro Citizen Police Communications Committee (CPCC) will meet on Monday, August 22, 2016 at 5:30pm at the Brooks Memorial Library in the Community Room.

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

Central Fire Station plans have been approved. The Brattleboro Selectboard took a look at a series of architectural and mechanical drawings provided by the project team, had no objections, and gave the architect a green light to continue.

The board announced decisions in three matters they have been considering regarding three streets in town, Brattleboro has a new Assistant Fire Chief, many municipal projects are underway, the Library will soon be renovated, DeGray ‘s request for immediate blinky lights was slowed somewhat, the Stone Church gets semi-belated approval for a liquor license, and more.

Throughout the meeting were small victories for pedestrians, from preserved access to possibilites of new funds for safer crossings.

The 2016 General Election polling place will be moving to a different location.  Voting on Election Day, November 8^th, will take place at VFW Carl Dessaint Post 1034 on Black Mountain Road.  The Brattleboro Board of Civil Authority, which has jurisdiction over polling places reluctantly made this decision earlier this year.  “We considered a number of factors including accessibility, traffic congestion, cost, and parking before selecting the VFW for our polling place, “ according to Elliott Greenblott, Chairman of the Board of Civil Authority.

The Presidential Election voting was held at Brattleboro Union High School but a combination of factors including the rental fee charged by the school, limited parking, traffic congestion, and the fact that school is in session combined to make the location less attractive.  “BUHS is a fine site in itself,” said Greenblott, “but it has been challenging in recent elections.  The heavy volume of traffic, limited parking, school activity, and cost are big concerns. Many have asked me why we have to pay to use ‘our’ high school.  The reality is that BUHS is a separate political unit owned by the member towns of the high school district, not Brattleboro alone.”

The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center. NOTE THE CHANGE IN THE REGULAR MEETING DAY FOR THIS MONTH ONLY.

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

Central Fire Station’s plans will be presented and reviewed at the next Brattleboro Selectboard meeeting at the Municipal Center on Main Street.

The Stone Church is applying for a liquor permit, road re-classifications (if any) will be announced for three sites in town, there will be a discussion of push button crosswalk lights, ordinances will begin the amendment process, and other projects will get underway.

You can bring up other matters not on the agenda during public participation.

The 2016 Real Estate and Personal Property Tax Bills were mailed on August 8, 2016. The first quarter payment will be due on September 15th, 2016 by 5:00 PM. Payments made after September 15th, 2016 will have an additional 1% interest added to the unpaid balance.

Utility bills are due on August 15th, 2016 by 5:00 PM. Payments made after August 15th, 2016 will have an additional 1% interest, as well as an 8% penalty added to the unpaid balance.

The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday, August 9, 2016 at 7:00pm at 9 Southern Avenue. NOTE the change in location for this meeting only.

The Brattleboro Police-Fire Facilities Building Committee will meet on Wednesday, August 10, 2016 at 4:00pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Ouch. The Brattleboro Selectboard settled a lawsuit with Kingsbury Construction Co. at their meeting on Thursday night. Brattleboro won’t owe the $1.5 million, but the settlement payouts will add over $800,000 to the cost of work done at Black Mountain Road for the gravity fed sewer line to be complete.

Assistant Fire Chief Peter Lynch is taking a new job, tax rates were set, good news on Police and Fire project bond financing was reported, committee appointments were made, and Brattleboro’s new Comprehensive Review of Town Operations is officially debuted and open for public comment.