Budget season continues for the Brattleboro Selectboard at their next regular meeting which, by the way, will be the first to be held at Central Fire Station. For this meeting, the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance will offer up their proposed budget and workplan for FY23, SeVEDS will do the same, and the board will take a deeper look into equipment replacement, capital projects, and planning for major improvements to Living Memorial Park.
You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
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The Brattleboro Selectboard will meet on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, at 6:15pm over Zoom. The Municipal Center (230 Main Street) will be open to the public with limited seating spaced six feet apart and face coverings will be required. The public is encouraged to participate in the meeting over Zoom. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.” ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.
Jessica Sticklor (she/her)
Executive Assistant
Town of Brattleboro
230 Main Street, Suite 208
Brattleboro, VT 05301
(802) 251 – 8115
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BRATTLEBORO SELECTBOARD
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2021
SELECTBOARD MEETING ROOM + ZOOM
REGULAR MEETING – 6:15PM
AGENDA
NOTE: The public is encouraged to attend and participate in this meeting using Zoom,
but also can attend and participate in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center.
The Selectboard and Town Manager will participate in this meeting via Zoom
from their shared location at the Central Fire Station.
If you join the meeting from your computer, tablet, or smartphone, please use this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86067892659
The “Meeting ID” for this meeting is:
860 6789 2659
Passcode: 12261753
You also can call in using your telephone
by dialing any of these toll-free numbers in the United States:
833-548-0282
877-853-5247
888-788-0099
833-548-0276
or you can access a list of non-toll-free numbers
for locations around the world using this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/u/k2Hdbk6mA
The meeting also will be carried live on BCTV:
On Cable TV: Channel 1085 or Channel 10
Streaming Online: https://www.brattleborotv.org/channel-10-stream
Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/brattleborotv
1. CONVENE REGULAR MEETING
2. APPROVE MINUTES –November 2
3. CHAIR’S REMARKS
4. MANAGER’S COMMENTS
5. SELECTBOARD COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
6. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
7. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Monthly Financial Report
B. Wastewater Treatment Facilities – Ratify Emergency Purchase of Parts for Press Repair
C. Crosby Street Washout Repair – Award Bid
D. Pay-as-You-Throw Garbage Bags – Extend Contract for Purchase of Bags for Sale
E. VOREC Grant – Authorize Application
8. NEW BUSINESS
A. Downtown Brattleboro Alliance (DBA) Proposed FY23 Budget + Workplan
B. Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) FY23 Budget Request
C. FY23 Proposed Budget –
(i) Equipment Replacement
(ii) Capital Projects
(iii) Looking Ahead to Major Improvements at Living Memorial Park
9. CORRESPONDENCE/FYI
A. Warrants and Department Reports
10. MEETINGS
See Town Calendar
11. ADJOURNMENT
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MEMORANDUM
To: Selectboard
From: Peter B. Elwell, Town Manager
Re: Administrative Report
Date: November 12, 2021
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The following will summarize the proposed motions for the Selectboard meeting on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, beginning at 6:15pm. The Selectboard members and Town staff will participate
in this meeting on Zoom and the public is strongly encouraged to attend and participate on Zoom. People who choose to attend the meeting in-person may do so in the Selectboard Meeting Room
at the Municipal Center, where everyone will be required to wear a face covering and adhere to social distancing.
Join the meeting from a computer, tablet, or smartphone, using this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86067892659
The “Meeting ID” for this meeting is:
860 6789 2659
Passcode: 12261753
You also can call in using your telephone
by dialing any of these toll-free numbers in the United States:
833-548-0282
877-853-5247
888-788-0099
833-548-0276
or you can access a list of non-toll-free numbers
for locations around the world using this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/u/k2Hdbk6mA
The meeting will be carried live on BCTV:
On Cable TV: Channel 1085 or Channel 10
Streaming Online: https://www.brattleborotv.org/channel-10-stream
Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/brattleborotv/
7. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Monthly Financial Report
B. Wastewater Treatment Facilities – Ratify Emergency Purchase of Parts for Press Repair
C. Crosby Street Washout Repair – Bid Award
D. Pay-as-You-Throw Garbage Bags – Extend Contract for Purchase of Bags for Sale
E. VOREC Grant – Authorize Application
The Board is asked to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented.
The Monthly Financial Report through October (33% of FY22) is included in the Selectboard’s backup materials for this meeting, along with a summary memorandum dated November 4, 2021, from Accountant Kim Ellison. There is no cause for concern in this month’s report and no action is required on this item.
In a memorandum dated November 5, 2021, Dan Tyler, Superintendent of Highways and Utilities, asks the Selectboard to ratify the purchase of parts needed to repair Rotary Sludge Press #2 at the Wastewater Treatment Facilities. The rotary sludge presses are responsible for dewatering sludge and septage prior to disposal. The presses are important to the processing of received septage which generates approximately $250,000 a year in revenue. The necessary parts cost $20,289.25. The purchase was made from Fournier Industries, the manufacturer of the press. Wastewater Treatment Facilities staff will provide the labor for the repairs. If it approves this item on the Consent Agenda, the Selectboard will have acted as the Town’s Water and Sewer Commissioners to ratify the $20,289.25 purchase from Fournier Industries of replacement parts for Rotary Sludge Press #2.
In a memorandum dated November 4, 2021, Dan Tyler, Superintendent of Highways and Utilities, asks the Selectboard to award the Crosby Street Washout Repair contract to Bellco Excavating, for a total amount of $58,000. A section of the embankment between Crosby Street and the Whetstone Brook suffered erosion damage during a severe rainstorm on July 17, 2021. Crosby Street has been closed off to through traffic since the storm. The contractor is prepared to make the repairs this fall, allowing the street to be reopened to traffic and normal winter maintenance procedures. This repair was included in the areas of damage assessed by VTrans for state storm damage funds. It is expected that the funds, once released, will be used as reimbursement for at least part of the cost of this repair. If it approves this item on the Consent Agenda, the Selectboard will have awarded the contract for repair of the Crosby Street washout to Bellco Excavating in the total amount of $58,000.
In a memorandum dated November 8, 2021, Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland asks the Selectboard to authorize the Town Manager to execute a five-year contract renewal with Waste Zero for Pay-As-You-Throw program services. Waste Zero makes the custom Pay-As-You-Throw bags (from recycled materials) and manages the entire retail vendor relationship. Staff recommends a five-year contract renewal. A price increase of 10% in the initial year reflects a recent significant increase in the cost of resin, a key commodity in making the bags. This will result in an estimated $3,000
first-year cost increase to the Town and no increase to Brattleboro residents. The price for the remainder of the contract will be determined by the year-over-year increase in the Consumer Price Index for the Northeast. If it approves this item on the Consent Agenda, the Selectboard will have authorized the Town Manager to execute a five-year contract renewal with Waste Zero for Pay-As-You-Throw services.
In a memorandum dated November 9, 2021, Sustainability Coordinator Stephen Dotson requests Selectboard approval to apply for an $87,000 Vermont Outdoor Recreation Communities grant from the Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation to pay for picnic tables, culverts, and other drainage improvements to trails, new kiosks and signs, stone stairs to popular swimming holes, as well as a marketing campaign led by the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance. If it approves this item on the Consent Agenda, the Selectboard will have authorized the application for this grant.
POTENTIAL MOTION: TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA, AS PRESENTED.
8. NEW BUSINESS
A. Downtown Brattleboro Alliance (DBA) Proposed FY23 Budget + Workplan Representatives of the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance (DBA) will present the DBA’s annual budget and workplan, and will ask the Selectboard to include the standard annual item on the warning for the 2022 Representative Town Meeting to authorize the collection of an assessment on properties in the Downtown District in the total amount of $80,000.
POTENTIAL MOTION: TO PLACE AN ITEM ON THE WARNING FOR THE 2022 REPRESENTATIVE TOWN MEETING TO AUTHORIZE THE COLLECTION OF AN ASSESSMENT ON PROPERTIES IN THE DOWNTOWN DISTRICT IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $80,000.
B. Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) FY23 Budget Request Representatives of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) will present BDCC’s annual request for a Town funding contribution to the Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS). The Selectboard’s backup materials include a letter dated July 12, 2021, in which BDCC Executive Director Adam Grinold asks the Selectboard to include $36,147 for SeVEDS in the Town’s FY23 General Fund budget. The Town’s past practice on this matter has been to include an item on the warning for Representative Town Meeting to decide whether to make such a contribution from Program Income (not through the General Fund budget).
POTENTIAL MOTION: TO PLACE AN ITEM ON THE WARNING FOR THE 2022 REPRESENTATIVE TOWN MEETING TO ALLOCATE $36,147 OF PROGRAM INCOME TO SEVEDS IN FY23.
C. FY23 Proposed Budget –
(i) Equipment Replacement
(ii) Capital Projects
(iii) Looking Ahead to Major Improvements at Living Memorial Park
Town Manager Elwell will discuss capital equipment and capital projects, as set forth in staff’s proposed FY23 Budget, in the 5-year capital projects plan and in the 25-year capital equipment replacement plan. Recreation and Parks Director Carol Lolatte and Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland will discuss planning for major capital improvements at Living Memorial Park. As described in their memorandum dated November 2, 2021, it is anticipated that plans for these improvements will be refined during the next year and that financing for those improvements will be an item on the warning for the 2023 Representative Town Meeting.
NO ACTION IS REQUIRED ON THIS MATTER.
