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Selectboard Meeting Notes – EMS: Municipal Revenue Projections

selectboard may 16 2023

A combative public greeted the selectboard to kick off their Tuesday night meeting. The quick version: downtown is unsafe and your website sucks.

After that was out of the way, the board was treated to a discussion of I-91 exit 1 bridge repairs next spring and summer, emergency housing plans, and about EMS transition items such as potential municipal revenue, the RFI process, and a new project-related website.


Gregorio Uribe to Perform at Cooper Field as Part of the Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series

The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series is thrilled to announce that acclaimed singer-songwriter and accordionist, Gregorio Uribe, will be performing live at Cooper Field on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at 6:00pm. The event promises an evening filled with unforgettable music and a celebration of cultural diversity.

Gregorio Uribe, known for his passionate performances and musical versatility, has captivated audiences around the world. From prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden to the streets of Tierra del Fuego, his talent knows no bounds. Uribe has collaborated with renowned artists across various genres, including Rubén Blades, Carlos Vives, Paquito D’Rivera, and Martina Camargo, to name just a few.


Surviving in the Rough Handbook (a work-in-progress)

Surviving in the Rough Handbook:

For those living unhoused in Vermont who either have been or are due to evicted from the motel/hotel program or have otherwise have already been abandoned to the streets, woods or elsewhere with nowhere else to call home.

A living, work-in-progress, document anonymously co-written by various peers (those with lived experience, knowledge and insights, because we have been there and have done that).

In solidarity. Don’t give up!!!


Dosa Kitchen’s Ninth Season Starts

Dosa Kitchen food truck has started its ninth season! This year we are located on the beautiful Winston Prouty campus at 209 Austine Drive, Thomas Hall, in Brattleboro. Our hours are Friday, Saturday, Sunday (and holiday Mondays) 11:30-3:30. Our food truck is right outside our new dosa batter factory, with a small factory store to pick up dosa batter, other products, and dosa merch. The store has the same hours as the food truck. We hope to see you there!


Terrace, Tyler and Walnut Streets Road Closure For Repairs

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 16, Utilities crews will be repairing a leaky valve at the 3-way intersection of Terrace, Tyler and Walnut Streets.  During this repair, the road will be closed at the intersection.  Motorists are encouraged to seek alternate routes.  

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Department of Public Works at 802-254-4255 or email Chris Severance cseverance@brattleboro.org


Gordon Hayward on “Here We Are”

A premiere garden designer, Gordon’s books and writings on horticulture illuminate and inspire, while his own gardens, which he’s created with his wife Mary, are jewels of elegant beauty and delight.


Windham Southeast Supervisory School Board Board Minutes – May 10

CALL TO ORDER—6:01 p.m. – Anne Beekman, Chair

On a motion by Tim Maciel the board approved the minutes of April 12, 2023.

On a motion by Deborah Stanford the board approved the Warrants of April 12, 2023 in the
amount of $843,957.90; April 26, 2023 in the amount of $1,310,582.83; and Payroll of April 21, 2023
in the amount of $576,979.59.


Brattleboro EMS – An Open Public Process Made Murky

At the May 2 Selectboard meeting, the board endorsed a proposed schedule of information-gathering prior to deciding on Town EMS services in September.

The board thought they had a good plan, but what they presented turned out to be confusing to anyone trying to follow along.  Sadly, in an effort to be extra open and transparent, the board ended up making things murkier.

The Official Path – Meetings and Correspondence

Town Manager John Potter presented the official EMS decision-making schedule, which gives time for public discussion on the topic at the second Selectboard meeting of each month. This is the official time for the public to come and weigh in on warned EMS agenda items.  There will also be a public forum scheduled just prior to the board’s vote in September.


Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – May 16, 2023

Municipal EMS potential revenues will be open for limited discussion at the next Brattleboro Selectboard meeting.  The board begins their official EMS decision making process, which they continue to call a “Fire-EMS transition,” and will ask potential 3rd party EMS contractors to give the town information. They’ll also announce a new project website, a new taxpayer-sponsored and government-generated news program, and an email address!

The board will also discuss emergency housing, cemetery changes, and a new plan to fix the I-91 pile of rust… er,. bridge at Exit 1.

You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation, if the Chair doesn’t read your mind and forbid you from speaking on issues he doesn’t want discussed. 


A New Revelation About Dying

One of the greatest privileges working in health care is to be able to make the passage into death a little bit easier for people and their families. Nurses and doctors and other providers do their best to ease pain and provide comfort despite the fact that we know almost nothing about the process of dying.

Death is something that has mostly been dealt with in religious and philosophical realms. The fact that we can’t experience death and then come back to talk about it makes it difficult to know anything about the passage.

Of course, there is something of an exception to this when people have what are called near-death experiences surviving after cardiac arrest or remembering being brought to the brink under general anesthesia. The common thread is seeing a bright light and a long tunnel and having a feeling of complete calm. Beyond that we don’t know much, but a study done in 2014 at the University of Michigan with four patients opens a new window into the act of dying.


Town of Brattleboro Launches Podcast, “Town Matters”

The Town of Brattleboro is pleased to announce the launch of its first-ever podcast, “Town Matters.” Hosted by Town Manager John Potter, this new series will provide listeners with brief updates about town government. The show aims to inform the public and encourage active participation in local affairs.

“Town Matters” will be published during the week between Selectboard meetings and provide a brief overview of the previous meeting along with a preview of the next one. As the show develops, staff hope to incorporate other updates from around town and feature guest hosts, all while delivering the news in under 10 minutes.


Brattleboro-Hinsdale Bridge Construction Update May 11

ONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES: Drainage work has begun across from Royal Road near to the Connecticut River. The northern MSE wall work continues with the placement of panels and panel straps and the southern MSE wall may begin as early as next week with related excavation and forming of the leveling pad. The gravel wetland construction continues and is awaiting the installation of a drainage structure in order to bring this work to completion.


Kipling Road Utility Work

On Thursday, May 11, the Utilities Division will be working on Kipling Road between the hours of 7:00 am and 4:00 pm.  The Kipling Road will be closed between Black Mountain Road and Dickinson Road.  Motorists should seek alternate routes.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Department of Public Works at 802-254-4255 or email Chris Severance at cseverance@brattleboro.org


Brattleboro Taxes and Utilities Due May 15, 2023

The fourth installment of the 2022 Brattleboro Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes will be due by 5 p.m. on May 15, 2023. Payments made after May 15, 2023 wil have an additional 1% interest, as well as an 8% penalty added to the unpaid balance.

The Town of Brattleboro utility bills are also due by 5 p.m. on May 15, 2023. Payments made after May 15, 2023 will have an additional 1% interest, as well as an 8% penalty added to the unpaid balance.


John Gorka plus Lizzy Mandell & Barry Stockwell at Next Stage

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present contemporary folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Gorka, plus folk duo Lizzy Mandell and Barry Stockwell, at Next Stage on Sunday, June 4 at 7:00 pm.

John Gorka is perhaps the quintessential iconic singer/songwriter of the 1980’s folk scene. Hailing from New Jersey, he honed his craft and persona as a shy, wry and insightful singer/songwriter in the Greenwich Village “Fast Folk” and Boston music scenes. John got his start at Godfrey Daniels, a neighborhood coffeehouse in eastern Pennsylvania, which is one of the oldest and most venerable music institutions in the country. After releasing his first album with Minnesota-based Red House Records in 1987, he recorded five albums with Windham Hill’s Will Ackerman’s High Street Records between 1989 and 1996. Since then he has released five more solo albums on Red House, plus one with label-mates Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson under the name Red Horse. He continues to tour, playing festivals, theaters and clubs all over North America and Europe.