BY STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—The Brandon Selectboard on Monday night made a formal offer to Seth Hopkins to assume the role of town manager at a salary of $75,000. Mr. Hopkins now officially occupies the position. Bill Moore, who had been acting as interim town manager since Dave Atherton’s resignation in January, will continue in town management in a still-unspecified role that will expand his duties beyond the positions he will continue to hold as economic development officer and director of Brandon Rec.
The board must now replace Mr. Hopkins in two capacities: as a member and, more specifically, as chair.
The board announced, after executive session, that it will seek letters of interest from anyone who would like to be considered for Mr. Hopkins’s now-vacant seat. Letters will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 5. All applicants must also submit an “appointments cover sheet,” which can be found in the Resources section of the Town of Brandon website. Both the cover sheet and the letter of intent should be submitted to the town manager (manager@townofbrandon.com) by the May 5 deadline.
The board will warn a special meeting for 6 p.m. on Monday, May 8 to discuss and potentially interview applicants. Anyone who submitted an application for the seat must attend this meeting. After any and all interviews are conducted, the board will deliberate in executive session and then publicly vote for the applicant they will appoint to the seat. The selected applicant will be sworn in and will join the board for the regular meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. that evening.
Once the new member has been seated, the board will choose its officers in regular session. Mr. Hopkins was chair of the board for many years. It is not clear who will succeed him in the position. The chair presides over meetings and is generally responsible for the smooth operation of the board. The five board members will decide among themselves who will replace Mr. Hopkins as chair and who will be vice-chair (currently Tracy Wyman) and secretary (currently Brian Coolidge).
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The regular meeting on Monday began with the usual adoption of the agenda and approval of the previous meetings’ minutes. Interim Town Manager Bill Moore gave a brief report:
- The Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade monthly meeting was held on Thursday, April 20. The site is being prepped for the summer shutdown. Naylor & Breen will return in late summer to restart the project.
- Spring clean-up continued around town, including turning on the water fountains.
- A flashing pedestrian light will be installed at the crosswalk that goes from Bar Harbor bank to the Congregational Church at the top of Center Street. Attendees raised questions about replacing the “pedestrian crossing” sandwich boards that used to warn drivers to stop at crosswalks.
- Archery will return to Estabrook Park in May.
- The Brandon Fire Department will offer “Safety Day” at its volunteer-recruitment day on May 13th.
During the public-comment segment that following the town manager’s report:
Green-Up Day Coordinator Jim Leary reminded the community about the event on Saturday, May 6. Anyone interested in helping clean up trash along Brandon’s roadsides can participate. Please see Mr. Leary’s piece in this week’s issue of The Reporter for more details.
Brent Buehler, a member of the citizens advisory committee that assisted the board in selecting the new town manager, expressed concern that the creation of a new “assistant town manager” position for Bill Moore was unnecessary and “out of left field.” The board countered that no title or duties have yet been specified for Mr. Moore and that the position had been created to take advantage of the complementary skill sets the two men possess. The board also asserted that no additional money would be needed for compensation beyond what had already been budgeted for the town manager and Mr. Moore’s current positions.
Concerns were also voiced that the new position had not been advertised, to allow others to apply for it. The board replied that it was not a new position so much as a reallocation of duties between two town employees.
Devon Fuller, a former member of the board and current President of the Downtown Brandon Alliance, congratulated both Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Moore on their new positions and thanked Mr. Moore for his work as interim town manager, to applause from the room.
Steven Jupiter, President of the Brandon Museum (and author of this article), then presented a proposal to the board for a digital-scanning project at the historic cemetery next to the Congregational Church. The Archaeology Department at Castleton University would use laser technology to scan all 800 headstones in the cemetery and create precise 3-D digital files to preserve in perpetuity all the surface details, including inscriptions, in their current condition. The project has a quoted cost of $3,500 to $4,000, which would include the preparation, scanning, and processing of each stone and digital file.
Dennis Reisenweaver, member of the town Historic Preservation Committee, questioned both the utility and cost of the project, stating that photographs of the stones are available on findagrave.com and that the cost seemed excessive. He also questioned why the project had not been submitted first to his committee before submission to the full board.
After discussion in which other attendees expressed interest in and support for the project, the board voted to grant permission for the Museum to proceed with the project while seeking funding elsewhere.
The board voted to renew its Public Works Mutual Aid agreement with neighboring towns. The program allows towns to borrow needed equipment from participating municipalities. Interim Town Manager Bill Moore stated that he wasn’t aware of any instance in which Brandon had borrowed or loaned equipment, but the board maintained the importance of the program for emergency preparedness.
Bill Moore, on behalf of the Rec Department, presented a request from the Friends of the Town Hall for matching funds to replace the floor of the main room at the Town Hall at a total cost of $54,000, of which the Friends would contribute 1/3, grants would provide 1/3, and 1/3 would be sought from the town. The current maple wood floor would be replaced by sturdier hickory.
Questions were raised as to the cost and necessity of replacing the entire floor. Board member Tim Guiles asked whether sanding and/or refinishing would be sufficient to maintain the floor in usable condition. Mr. Moore stated that refinishing would simply kick the can down the road for a few years.
The board ultimately voted to take no action and encourage the Friends to seek other sources of funding, though it did leave open the possibility of using ARPA funds.
The board voted to maintain its enrollment in the VTrans Grants in Aid program and to adopt the updated policies of the Vermont Community Development Program. Both decisions keep Brandon eligible for grant monies for public projects through those entities.
As its last public business before executive session, the board approved a warrant for $275,280.83 for bills, debts, and expenses incurred since the previous warrant.
As the public session came to a close, Tree Warden Neil Silins stated that he was formulating a 50-year plan for an “urban forest canopy” in Brandon, to avoid having bare streets as older trees die off.
