The awaited Option Agreement to lock-in a chance to purchase a property at 62 Black Mountain Road has materialized and will be signed (if there is no objection) at the Brattleboro Selectboard’s next meeting. No property is bought, but some money is spent.

Brattleboro Land Use regulations may or may not be adopted, and may or may not be sent back to the Planning Commission for further work. It all depends on if the board is satisfied that any changes to the current draft are minor edits. One of the changes requested, though, isn’t minor. We’ll see how this gets resolved.

Also on the agenda, tax stabilization agreements for local farms, a report on town energy consumption, and more. Attend in person or watch on BCTV, and read about it here after the meeting.

The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Human Services Committee will meet on Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 6:30pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room. It is anticipated that the Committee will enter into executive session at 6:30pm to discuss records exempt from access to public records.

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

The Brattleboro Traffic Safety Committee meeting previously scheduled on November 19 has been CANCELLED. The next meeting is scheduled on Thursday, December 17 at 8:00am.

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

One of the more spirited and specific discussions of the proposed Land Use Regulations occurred Tuesday evening, the result being a board unable to approve the regulations until further consideration.  Remaining issues include clarity of wording regarding signs and whether a new district boundary should be in the middle of the road or not.

The board also received an overview of the proposed budget for next year, where they learned that the starting point for discussions is a budget that increases 4.7%, which translates to an increase to property owners of $43.21 for each $100,000 of property value.  This, of course, before adding in any costs for funding Police and Fire facilities, if approved.

It’s early in the process and there are areas ripe for discussion before final rates are set, but there isn’t much proverbial wiggle room.

We at BML are very excited and proud to have Starr LaTronica as our new Library Director beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016. LaTronica was recruited through an extensive search process by a committee that included the Brattleboro Town Manager and representatives of the public, the library Board of Trustees, and the staff. She will succeed the retiring current Library Director, Jerry Carbone.

LaTronica, youth services/outreach manager, Four County Library System, Binghamton, N.Y., is the president of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). LaTronica received her MLS in 1980 from University of California, Berkeley, and has been an ALSC member for more than 27 years.

In observance of Veterans’ Day, all Brattleboro town offices will be closed on Wednesday, November 11, 2015, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Wednesday, November 11. All other violations will be enforced.

Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on Wednesday, November 11, 2015.

The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Human Services Review Committee will meet on Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 6:30pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

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

The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 7:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

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

The Brattleboro ADA Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, November 13, 2015 at 10:00am at Marlboro College Graduate Center in the VCIL conference room.

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

The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, November 11, 2015, at 4:00pm at Brattleboro Savings & Loan (221 Main Street) in the meeting room. NOTE the change in location for this meeting.

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

The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, November 10, 2015, at 4:00pm at the Latchis Theatre (50 Main Street) in the main theatre. NOTE the change in location for this meeting.

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

The next monthly meeting of the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will be preceded by a potluck supper held at the home of Tom and Cecile French, 123 Juniper Ridge Road, on Thursday, November 12, at 5:30 PM. Members of the WBA and guests including West B residents and business owners are invited to bring something to share with their neighbors and join in the meeting afterward.

After a review of the treasury report and updates on the status of welcome signs and the outdoor cinema initiative, the WBA will talk about having their annual Holiday Party in December.

Initiating a West B Welcoming Letter will also be on the agenda in addition to discussion about whether to and, if so, how to seek new money to support the Neighborhoods Fund.

The Brattleboro Selectboard will be holding a big party Tuesday night. Just kidding. They will be holding a special meeting to begin discussion of the FY17 Budget, and to quite possibly adopt new Land Use Regulations for the Town of Brattleboro, an event that last occured in the 1980s. So perhaps there will be a party of some sort.

You are encouraged, invited, summoned, requested, asked, appealled for, solicited, incited, provoked and generally called forth into attending this meeting and expressing your views on these and other matters.

A few atypical work items were undertaken by the Brattleboro Selectboard at Tuesday’s meeting. These are things that boards do, but just not that often. 

The board bought and sold property, announced a new library director, held a close-out hearing on a Brooks House grant that got a bit heated, and contemplated long-term strategies for staffing and economic development. Plans for public meetings on the Police-Fire project’s latest form were also set, and more.