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.
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.
It was a really long Brattleboro Selectboard meeting with not much getting done! They heard about downtown safety issues, but took no action. They approved a mural design they couldn’t see. There will be more places to buy liquor. The preferred bridge design was selected. And then it was 10:30 pm with discussions of a woman right to choose and EMT issues, among other things, still awaiting ample discussion. They ended up postponing much of the agenda to a future meeting.
A packed agenda of important items awaits the Brattleboro Selectboard for their first regular meeting of July. It’s going to be a long meeting.
There will be new liquor licenses, Commonwealtth Dairy wants to nearly double its water and sewer use, rental housing fines will be set, and the board will choose a bridge design for Melrose. There will be a discussion of downtown safety and a new mural for High Street. The board will discuss a woman’s right to choose. There are emergency repairs to authorize.
The firefighters get a “recently concluded additional collective bargaining agreement,” and the Fire Chief would like the board to approve additional funds to meet requirements of becoming a paramedic-level service.
But wait, there’s more! There will be a first reading of a new ordinance regarding wastewater allocation approvals, there will be a new contract for the Interim Town manager, a new street name will be approved, and the FY23 tax rate will be set.
An Alternatives Presentation for replacement of Brattleboro BF 2000(28), Town Highway 2 (VT Route 9), Bridge 54 over the Whetstone Brook will be held on Tuesday, September 21, 2021, beginning at 6:15 PM in the Selectboard Meeting Room located in the Municipal Center at 230 Main Street, 2nd Floor Suite 212 in Brattleboro, VT. This is the bridge that is located on Western Avenue (VT Route 9) just west of the intersection with Melrose Street. The meeting will be held by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and the Town of Brattleboro.
The first “hybrid” meeting using a combination of in-person and zoom participants had no real technical issues to speak of, but many interesting details to discern.
Big news was the agreement being worked out with owners of the nearby Connecticut River dams. They will be changing their operations to create a more natural water flow, which is good news for the river banks, all sorts of critters, recreation, and even the company’s plans for the future.
New land use amendments were approved, as was a mural project. The board also heard of two new places in town to get drinks more easily – Retreat Farm and craft experiment at the River Garden.
At their first meeting in July, the Brattleboro Selectboard will make it easier to buy liquor downtown and at Retreat Farm with the granting of two new liquor licenses. They will also buy pick-up trucks, approve a new mural for a parking lot, contemplate repairs on the Elliot Street bridge, adopt new Land Use regulations, discuss their summer meeting schedule, review their goals, approve of dams, and more.
You can bring up other items not on the agenda during hybrid public participation.
Effective immediately, the Whetstone Pathway Bridge connecting the Whetstone Pathway and the Preston Lot on Flat Street is closed.
A section of the retaining wall beneath the Whetstone Pathway Bridge has failed. The Department of Public Works is working with engineers, contractors and the State’s Stream Alteration Engineer to develop a plan for repairing the retaining wall. The bridge will be closed until the repairs are made and the safety of the bridge is restored.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a virtual regular meeting on Tuesday to discuss COVID-19, manholes, electricians, finances, emergency management , roads and bridges, and library trustees. You can signal your intention to discuss something else during the public participation part of the agenda.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) will hold a public information meeting on Thursday, November 14, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Putney Fire Station, 21 Carl Snyder Drive, Putney. The purpose is to discuss a project that will replace the deck of the US Route 5 bridge in Putney Center at the intersection of Kimball Hill Road. Construction will start in Spring 2020.
The existing structure is a single span cast-in-place deck on rolled beams constructed in 1954. The bridge is owned and maintained by the State of Vermont. VTrans bridge inspectors have observed areas of heavy saturation, cracking, and evidence of significant concrete deterioration. VTrans engineers determined that the most cost effective and viable approach to address deterioration of the aging bridge deck is to replace it.
Starting on Monday, July 29, the Highway Division will begin installing new wooden deck boards on the Whetstone Path bridge. During this work, the bridge will be closed to pedestrians 7:00am to 2:30pm. The bridge will be reopened after 2:30.
This project is expected to take 5-7 working days to complete. Weather Permitting.
A new Brattleboro ordinance for Uber and Lyft types of vehicles for hire will get a First Reading at the next meeting of the Selectboard. There are also changes to parking in front of the Boys and Girls Club to be discussed.
The board will hear about changes to Brattleboro’s bus routes, the Fire Department will recieve an award, multiple dump trucks will be purchased, a bridge will be scheduled for repair, and odors shall be tested. You can also bring up other items or smells not already on the agenda during Public Participation.
INSPECTION OF NH ROUTE 119 BRIDGES IN HINSDALE, NH – BRATTLEBORO, VT
EXPECT TRAFFIC IMPACTS WITH LANE CLOSURES FROM JUNE 25 TO 29
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation announces in-depth inspections of the bridges carrying NH Route 119 over the Connecticut River between Hinsdale, New Hampshire and Brattleboro, Vermont are scheduled to begin Monday, June 25, 2018 and continue through Friday, June 29, 2018.
I-91
Northbound I-91 traffic has been relocated onto the southbound bridge. Traffic will remain reduced to one lane in each direction on I-91 until completion of the new bridge. The new bridge will be 104’ wide and is designed to carry all four lanes of traffic –two northbound and two southbound.
To reduce congestion on I-91, both Exit 3 on ramps will be closed on Sunday, February 26th from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM (I-91 will remain open). Traffic conditions on both I-91 and through the town will be monitored closely throughout the day. Should traffic congestion become an issue, the ramps may be re-opened until traffic conditions improve. This will be managed actively throughout the day until peak traffic volumes have passed.
