News and information sections, from near to far
In observance of Presidents’ Day, all Brattleboro Town offices will be closed on Monday, February 20, 2023, with the exception of emergency services.
Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Sunday and Monday, February 19 and February 20. All other violations will be enforced.
Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on Monday, February 20, 2020 as well.
Find attached an early notice for the evaluation of floodplain impacts for the Mountain Home Buyout project. The purpose of the 8 step process is to evaluate floodplain impacts from proposed projects and consider alternatives that would better protect floodplains and public and personal health and safety. This project will develop 26 home sites in Mountain Home Park. The sites will be developed with bulk purchased mobile homes. Twenty six households living in floodways and areas of deep flooding will be relocated to the new sites. Homes, roads, utilities, and foundations for the discontinued sites will be removed and the area will be placed under a conservation easement. More details can be found on the Planning Department page at Brattleboro.org, see “Mountain Home Park Buyouts” in the right sidebar. Please submit comments or questions to this email, Brian Bannon, Zoning Administrator
The Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro is hosting a “Meet The Candidates” Forum to talk about the important issues facing our town. The event will be on February 16 from 6:00-7:30pm. Each candidate will answer questions on a variety of topics affecting Brattleboro and share their vision on how to move Brattleboro forward. The public will also have the opportunity to ask questions. All candidates have been invited. The event will be moderated.
The Club is hosting this event to highlight public and youth engagement in the political process. All Brattleboro residents and interested parties – voters and youth – are invited to attend this Forum. The Club is actively involved in the town, collaborating with many organizations, and continually working to improve downtown and beyond. The Club welcomes the candidates and looks forward to a robust discussion. ASL interpreter available.
Hi all. It’s a selectboard meeting night and usually I’d willingly volunteer to sit through the 3-4 hour thing and type up everything everyone has to say. It’s a bit hard for me to do tonight, though. I’m tired, slightly injured, and would rather tell you about a dream I had about the selectboard. It’s a good one!
I’m tired because I just got back from a weekend in Buffalo, cleaning out the family home of 80+ years. It was built by my grandparents, was the first place I was taken after being born, the site of many a Christmas and visit, as well as family weddings, births, Thanksgiving dinners and more.
The third installment of the 2022 Brattleboro Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes will be due on February 15, 2023. Payments made after February 15, 2023 will have an additional 1% interest added to the unpaid balance.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center at 230 Main Street. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Selectboard is expected to enter immediately into executive session to discuss contracts and labor relations agreements with employees. The public may also participate in the meeting over Zoom. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.” ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.
6:10- 7:25 Other Proposed Changes in Land Use Regulatory Language
Discuss draft land use amendment language for:
• Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Resources Review Criteria
• Accessory Commercial Units
• Miscellaneous staff recommendations
The Town of Brattleboro would like to remind everyone that the snow emergency ban is in effect.
Snow and ice will be removed from the streets in the downtown area this evening.
Parked vehicles in the downtown district must be removed by 11:00pm or they will be towed at the owner’s expense.
The Brattleboro RTM Human Services Committee will meet on Monday, January 30, 2023 at 11:30am over Zoom.
The Brattleboro RTM Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at 6:15pm at the Brattleboro Co-op Community Room.
The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 4:15pm in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room at the Municipal Center (230 Main Street).
The Brattleboro Charter Revision Commission has been formed and work is getting underway to look at, poke at, discuss, debate and suggest revisions to the Brattleboro Charter.
Here are five revisions I think are worth considering:
The Brattleboro Citizens Police Communications Committee will meet on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 5:00pm at the Brooks Memorial Library.
D. New Business (5:30 – 6:55)
1. Discussion: Report out on Site Visit to Pleasant Valley Reservoir (5:30 – 5:45)
2. Discussion: Request from Public for Commission’s Input re: Invasives Management Day (5:45 – 6:00)
3. Presentation: Marie Caduto & Ryan O’Donnell: Whetstone Brook E. coli, 2022 water quality monitoring
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 5:30pm and is expected to enter immediately into executive session to discuss contracts and labor relations agreements with employees. The Selectboard will reconvene the business part of the meeting at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center at 230 Main Street. The public may also participate in the meeting over Zoom. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.” ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.
Vermont Governor Phil Scott gave his FY24 Budget Address. In it, he explained the enormous cash infusion coming our way from the Federal government, and what he thought would be the best way to handle all the money.
A full transcript of Governor Scott’s address is included below:
“Mr. President, Madam Speaker, Mr. Pro Tem, members of the General Assembly, and fellow Vermonters:
Two weeks ago, I asked that we focus on the fundamentals in order to seize upon the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity we have before us.
The Brattleboro Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 6:15pm at the Brattleboro Co-op.
The Brattleboro Human Services Committee will meet on Monday, January 30, 2023 at 11:30am over Zoom.
The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 5:00pm at the Brooks Memorial Library.
As we have had little snowfall this winter and there are storms predicted in the coming days, the Department of Public Works would like to remind everyone that the winter parking ban is in effect.
*Overnight parking is forbidden on all streets in the town of Brattleboro.
Public restrooms were a major topic of discussion for the board at the regular Tuesday meeting. Nothing, of course, was decided. The board also allowed the Assessors ask Representative Town Meeting Representatives to agree to a town-wide re-appraisal of taxable properties.
There were financial and EMS updates, and a discussion of further revising meeting agenda formats to reflect anticipated times of agenda items. (Good luck with that… says this reporter.)
The Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office will be emailing out a poll to Representative Town Meeting Members regarding their interest in Town provided childcare for RTM. This email will come from executive assistant Jessica Sticklor (email address: jsticklor@brattleboro.org). Please be on the lookout for this email and please return the poll as soon as possible, especially if you are interested in Town provided childcare for RTM.
The Brattleboro Town Clerk’s office would like to notify the public that on January 24, 2023, our land records system will be down for maintenance, both on-site and remote. This will impact all recording and land records searching capabilities through the system. We will be back up and running on Wednesday, January 25, 2023. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please reach out with any questions – 802-251-8157 or townclerk@brattleboro.org
We took some time to ask Brattleboro’s new Town Manager, John Potter, a few questions about his return to New England and thoughts about the town and his new job.
….
Welcome to Brattleboro! It’s always fun to catalog initial impressions. When you look around Brattleboro, what do you see and how does it look to you?
The last time I was in Brattleboro before interviewing for the Town Manager position was around thirty years ago when I came to town to buy a couple of draft horses for a woodlot operation I was running in Massachusetts. When returning this winter, the town looks very similar to what I remembered from years ago — a classic Vermont river town with kind and welcoming people who really care about their community.
