What Do Advance Care Directives Have To Do With Being a Local Citizen? (Citizens’ Breakfast Notes)

Please see the notes of the March 20th Breakfast below. 

Also, note this week:  

  • The next meeting place for “Coffee with a Cop” will be at the Brattleboro Food Co-op, 2 Main St., on Thursday, April 2, from 8 to 10 a.m. Residents are invited to stop by and learn more about what the department is doing in Brattleboro’s neighborhoods. Officers Ryan Washburn and Adam Pelock are scheduled to attend. Those with questions in advance may reach them at 802-257-7950.

I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project Update: Week of March 29

New Text Alert System

A new text alert system for the Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project makes it possible to receive text notifications of:

• Interstate ramp closings,

• Closings of I-91,

• Closings of VT Route 30 (but not single lane closings of Rt 30), and

• Any other situations regarding time sensitive project-related traffic issues.

People can sign up for this service by texting 313131 with the keyword “I91Brat”, or by using the signup widget on the project website www.i91brattleborobridge.com.


Pay-As-You-Throw Information Coming Soon!

We’re just about ready to put a town-wide mailing out on the new PAYT program  — which will start June 29th.  The guide will have a ton of information about all aspects of the residential waste stream — Pay-As-You-Throw; curbside compost; recycling; hazardous waste, leaf and yard debris and bulky waste.  Also included will be dates of four public meetings to inform our residents about PAYT and two curbside cart distribution days.


Brattleboro Dog and Wolf-Hybrid Licenses Due

Brattleboro dog and wolf-hybrid licenses are due on or before April 1. Vermont dogs and wolf-hybrids 6 months of age and older must be licensed on or before April 1. For dogs not previously licensed in Brattleboro, a first-time license must be obtained in person from the Town Clerk’s office. Licenses being renewed may be processed in the Town Clerk’s office, through the mail or online at www.brattleboro.org.

Vaccination against rabies is required by Vermont Statutes before licensing. A current vaccination means:


$10,000 Reward: Who Killed Eugene Narrett?

A $10,000 reward is now being offered in the fatal hit-and-run of Eugene Narrett, a 64 year old father who was killed Friday, December 6, 2013 around 7pm while crossing Western Avenue near Union Street in Brattleboro, Vermont. Eugene was an artist. He was showing his paintings at Gallery Walk, when his life ended in the blink of an eye. The driver who hit him was going so fast, police say Eugene was knocked right out of his shoes. He died from his injuries at the scene.


Notes From the Senate – Week 10

One of the things I love about chairing Senate Government Operations is that the subject matter is very diverse – municipal issues, elections, the structure of government, regulation of the professions, and just about anything else. This last week the Senate voted on a bill, S.66, that addresses the needs of the deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing. It was one of the many diverse issues before our committee.

While many realize that is has been an issue in Vermont for a long time, the closure of Austine School and the Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing brought it to the forefront. Over the past few weeks, our committee took testimony from state agencies, educators, spokespeople for the Deaf community, parents of deaf children and members of the Deaf community.


Brattleboro Time Trade Listings – Week of March 22

Brattleboro Time Trade: 

Exchanging services, creating connections, strengthening communities, one hour at a time.

See below for more exciting Upcoming Events and learn what Time Trade can do for you!

How Time Trade Works: You do something for someone and earn time credits for your “bank,” which you can then put towards someone else doing something for you! It’s that simple – and amazing!

This week’s fabulous listings, brought to you from a sunny evening:

OFFERS (i.e. things people could do for you):

Baby Avocado Tree
Proofreader/Editor At Your Service
Pressure Treated 2 x 4s Available


Bringing Back The Montreal Train

The Vermont Rail Action Network reported in their newsletter Thursday that there’s been some movement in the effort to bring back the train from Vermont to Montreal.  According to Christopher Parker, executive director of VRAN, Vermont was granted a “pre-clearance customs agreement” that, if approved, will help to ensure that customs delays don’t happen at the border.  Given that there is currently no train, this recent development might seem to be putting the cart before the horse, but perhaps it’s just a sign of things to come.

According to Parker, Senator Leahy was instrumental in making this happen, as he serves on both the Judiciary Committee (which has jurisdiction over Customs & Border Patrol) and the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. Obtaining this pre-clearance agreement required that the Secretary of Homeland Security as well as the Canadian Minister of Public Safety meet in Washington to sign it.  It’s not a done deal though — both the US Congress and the Canadian Parliament have to approve it before it comes into effect.


Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting 2015

Welcome. It’s a lovely March 21st, 2015. It’s grey, cold, and snowing. Town Meeting Representatives have made their way to the south end of town for the annual Representative Town Meeting.

We’ll be doing ongoing updates throughout the day. As they begin, Moderator Lawrin Crispe is going through rules and some announcements, including a moment of silence for Dick Guthrie and Jesse Corum.

Schools goes first. We’ll have more for you soon.

(Apologies in advance for typing errors and spelling mistakes.)


WBA Plans March 26th Meeting with Brattleboro Police on Home Break-In Issue

On Thursday, March 26th, the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) is hosting a discussion with the Brattleboro Police Department about recent property break-ins. It will be held at 7:00 PM, in the Hayes Court Community Room on Garfield Drive.

All residents are invited to pose questions to the police and get pointers on how best to avoid future break-ins. This will also be an opportunity for neighbors to suggest ideas to other neighbors and/or to ask questions of or get clarifications from the Police Department. It is important to understand that the police in attendance will not be able to report on any ongoing investigations other than in very general terms.


Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Warning and Expected Budget Motion

In preparation for Brattleboro’s Representative Town Meeting, here is the officially warned agenda for said meeting. The amounts in Article 23 has been changing, and the text of the currently expected motion is also included below.

Each year the schedule alternates, and this year the schools will have the first items up for discussion and vote.

You can watch on BCTV. As per the poll results, you can also tune in here for a live blog of the day’s events. The meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. We’ll get going here shortly thereafter, once the opening ceremonies and reminder of rules is out of the way.


I-91 Exit 3 Closed Sunday

This Sunday, the project team will close both the northbound and southbound Exit 3 on-ramps to reduce congestion on I-91 Southbound caused by merging traffic. Because of highway logistics, we need to close both northbound and southbound on-ramps. Local southbound traffic will be rerouted to Route 5 south to Exit 2 or 1, and local northbound traffic will be rerouted to Route 5 north to Exit 4. Sheriff officers will assist in directing traffic. The on-ramps at Exit 3 will be closed from approximately noon to 7:00 pm.


Brattleboro Selectboard Special Meeting

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Monday, March 23, 2015 at 5:15pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

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


Selectboard Meeting Notes: Retaining Green Street

How best to repair the Green Street retaining wall was a big topic for the Brattleboro Selectboard at their regular Tuesday meeting. Some intriguing options led to strong opinions before consensus was reached.

The board also did some planning to learn about planning, resulting in scheduling a series of meetings to highlight the changes coming to Brattleboro’s land use regulations. Some new energy efficiency efforts are now underway, departmental staffing level reviews have been replaced by a comprehensive staffing review, appointees were appointed, and more.


8th Annual CSA Fair 3/28 at Final Winter Farmers’ Market of the Season

Saturday, March 28, 2015, marks the final week for the 9th season of the Winter Farmers’ Market.

It is also the 8th Annual CSA Fair hosted at Post Oil Solutions’ Winter Farmers’ Market.  We expect to have close to a dozen CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) represented along with our regular market vendor line-up, and a special guest from New Leaf CSA!

Take this opportunity to do your CSA research and pick your farmer for 2015! You will find farms with weekly CSA shares for vegetables, fruit, flowers and more.  Some offer deliveries to central pick-up locations while many invite you to visit their farms each week and get to know their operation.  Some farms even invite you into their fields to lend a hand in picking the weeks harvest.  So join a CSA.  It’s a great way to support local agriculture and the local economy!


Notes from the Senate – Firearms

This week the Judiciary Committee on which I serve passed out a couple bills but one was major, had a lot of emotion and controversy and misinformation, took a lot of time and in the end I believe we had a good bill. At the beginning of the session, S.31 was introduced. Rather than amend and pass it, the decision of Chair Sears was to create a committee bill that contained essential parts of the bill. There are three main components.


Brattleboro Time Trade Listings – Week of March 15

Brattleboro Time Trade:

Exchanging services, creating connections, strengthening communities, one hour at a time.

See below for more exciting Upcoming Events and learn what Time Trade is all about!

This week’s fabulous listings, brought to you from a new week!:

OFFERS (i.e. things people could do for you):

Child Care Offer
Swahili Lessons
Photography
Organizing, Administration, Coordinating Events