News and information sections, from near to far
The Brattleboro Trustees of Public Funds will meet on Monday, April 24, 2023 at 4:30pm in the Hana Cosman Meeting Room at the Municipal Center (230 Main Street).
The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 5:00pm in the Brooks Memorial Library Community Meeting Room.
The Brattleboro RTM Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 6:00pm in the Brooks Memorial Library Meeting Room.
The Brattleboro Charter Review Commission will meet on Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center at 230 Main Street.
The contractor has completed covering the retaining wall on the west side of VT 142. On the east side of VT 142, work on the mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall is ongoing with the placement of leveling pads. Panels and panel straps may begin to be placed later in the week. Excavation for the gravel wetland has also begun.
Pile driving operations will continue at Pier 2 next week with intermittent pounding of the diesel pile hammer anticipated from 7 AM – 7 PM.
The Brattleboro Selectboard approved bike and pedestrian plan that, when implemented, will create a network of sidewalks and bike lanes throughout the town.
The board debated possible changes to budget meeting times, considering a return to the days when budgets would be held on off-days at odd times rather than regular Tuesday evenings. They also approved a one year extension for Golden Cross ambulance service.
Next week, crews will be finalizing the work on Walnut Street near the intersection with Terrace Street. Repairs will be made on Tuesday, April 18, beginning at 7:00 am and continuing through the afternoon on Friday, April 21. The road will be closed from 71 Walnut Street through the intersection with Terrace Street. Motorists are encouraged to seek alternate routes.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will approve a one year extension with Golden Cross for ambulance services at their next regular meeting, putting in place a new contract that extends well beyond the EMS service decision the board plans to make in less than six months.
They’ll approve rules of conduct, plan a board retreat, adopt new parking rules, endorse a bike and walking plan, and consider changing the way the budget is prepared. They will also most certainly crow about winning a major award.
After four rounds in a March Madness-style tournament against 15 other North American cities, Brattleboro, VT won the title Strongest Town in North America. The results of the contest will be officially published later today (Friday, April 14). It was a very close race against the other finalist town, Saranac Lake, NY.
A representative from the community will receive an award on behalf of the city at the Strong Towns National Gathering, a conference of city-builders focused on improving transportation safety, municipal budgeting, housing opportunity, and more, at the end of May. Brattleboro will also be the subject of a professionally produced documentary video about building community prosperity from the bottom-up, to be released later this spring.
1. Minutes – March 16, 2023
2. Public Participation
3. Monthly Report on Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Traffic Incidents– For March
4. Monthly Report on Traffic Data Collection – For March
5. Safety Action Requests
(a) Speed Concerns along Guilford Street – Kim Effron
TRAFFIC IMPACT: Alternating, one-way traffic patterns with flaggers will continue to be in place on Vermont Route 142 from the intersection of Royal Road north toward the intersection with Vermont Route 119. No impacts are anticipated to the intersection of VT 142 and VT 119 and access to 28 Vernon Street will be maintained.
Motorists are reminded that a scheduled closure of VT 142 for 90 days is planned for after Memorial Day. The location of the closure will be north of the intersection of Royal Road and continue to 28 Vernon Street with access to both being maintained for the duration.
After three rounds of voting, you helped Brattleboro get to the championship round! Voting in this final round ends on Thursday, April 13 at 1:00 pm. Please lend your support to Brattleboro by voting at:
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/4/10/strongest-town-2023-championship-round.
The Public Works Highway Division will be repainting the lines in the Harmony and High Grove Parking Lots this weekend, Saturday, April 15 and Sunday, April 16. Crews will work from 6:00 am to approximately 1:00 pm both days and plan to complete a portion of each parking lot each day.
Please have all vehicles removed from the WEST side of each lot by 6:00 am on Saturday.
Please have all vehicles removed from the EAST side of each lot by 6:00 am on Sunday.
1. Call to Order
2. Review of Development Proposals
a. Tom Bodett; Urban Center District; Downtown Historic District; request by applicant to revisit proposed façade treatment at 22-26 High Street; Tax Map Parcel 00275431.000, revised in response to State historic review feedback, previously recommended for approval by DRC in November of 2022.
3. Review and Approve Minutes of March 8 th, 2022
The Brattleboro Parking Department would like to announce the lifting of the winter parking ban. Starting tomorrow night, April 12, 2023, at midnight, overnight parking will be allowed on all streets EXCEPT in the downtown area. The following streets are never available for overnight parking:
Main Street
High Street
Tomorrow, April 12, beginning at 7:00 am, the Utilities Division will be working at the intersection of Oak Grove Avenue and Allen Street performing emergency repairs to a sewer line. Oak Grove Avenue will be closed at the intersection with Allen Street from 7:00 am through approximately 2:00 pm. Motorist should seek alternate routes.
It was Brattleboro vs. Saranac Lake in the final round of the Strongest Town competition, held in a Zoom forum on Monday afternoon.
Brattleboro Planning Director Sue Fillion had her ‘I Love Brattleboro’ shirt on as she explained the Town of Brattleboro to Mike Pasternock and Rachel (?) from Strongest Towns. They asked about nature and seasons, arts and culture, housing, attracting young talent, being kid in summer, and other issues. There were also questions from the audience.
In the wake of the tragic loss of our coworker, Leah, Groundworks Collaborative has received a truly remarkable outpouring of support from our community, our organizational partners, and our state government. In order to allow our wider community to appropriately respond to this loss, Groundworks will be collaborating with its many community partners to cover the services it provides. This collaboration will allow Groundworks’ clients to continue to receive the services they need, while Groundworks’ staff take the time they need to grieve, assess, begin to heal, and return to work.
“It is clear that our entire staff needs a pause in order to come together to grieve, work together toward healing, and figure out our way forward,” said Executive Director Josh Davis.
Utilities Division crews will start Spring Flushing of the Town water mains on Friday, April 21 and continue through Friday, May 5. Occasional daytime flushing will continue throughout the week of May 5th through 12th.
Customers are asked to check the flushing schedule closely as flushing may cause water discoloration, low water pressure and in some areas, intervals of no water. Users who experience a short period of discolored water or air in the water lines after flushing is complete should run the cold water for a few minutes to clear the lines.
Hello, Brattleboro. Last evening I attended my first meeting as a member of the Brattleboro Selectboard. As has been discussed in various forums recently, openness of the Selectboard proceedings and the active solicitation of input from members of the community will be of paramount concern for the Board and the town administration in the coming year.
As one part of this process, beginning next week on April 12 and for the next six weeks, I will station myself in one of the meeting rooms on the mezzanine level of Brooks Memorial Library each Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. During this time, everyone is invited to come for conversation on pretty much any topic having to do with the town and its government.
As the Town of Brattleboro continues to explore the future of Emergency Medical Services there is discussion happening in the State Assembly.
On March 22, 2023, beginning at 10:00 am, the Vermont House Health Care Committee took testimony on H. 263. [1] The recording of that over one and a half hour session is available for review on YouTube. [2] I highly recommend listening to the testimony. One of the details of the bill provides for the creation of a Regional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Coordination Study Committee. [3] Overall the testimony itself provides excellent context for further discussion.
New Brattleboro Selectboard members Peter Case and Franz Reichsman attended their first regular meeting since swearing-in. They were treated to discussions of rules and goals, the Windham Regional Commission, Representative Town Meeting, hazard mitigation, and more.
Town Manager John Potter suggested the board have a retreat to discuss short-term and longer-term goals and budgets, to which the board readily agreed.
Chair Ian Goodnow had an unusally rough night. He was 40 minutes past his usual 8 pm break time as he explained to the board his new goals for keeping the meeting on schedule. This included his new desire to limit public comments to just two minutes per person, per agenda item.
