By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—The Brandon Selectboard met for its regular session on Monday evening. After the usual opening business of approving the previous meeting’s minutes, Town Manager Seth Hopkins presented highlights from his submitted report. The full report is available in the August 28 Selectboard packet on the town website.
According to Mr. Hopkins, 245 notices were sent to property owners with more than $250 in delinquent taxes, letting them know that their properties would be sent to tax sale if the arrears were not cleared up in 30 days. Mr. Hopkins stated that a number of property owners did respond, many of whom worked out payment plans with the town that would allow them to pay off their arrears within a year. Total outstanding property taxes are $425,065 and total outstanding water/sewer fees are $346,344.
The town is continuing to work with FEMA to assess the damage caused by the flooding in July. Debris continues to be removed from Newton Road (which remains closed except to residents of the street). Bids for the removal of 3 houses acquired by the town through Flood Resilient Communities Fund have been received. (Later in the meeting, the Board unanimously approved the bid from Richard Reed & Son, Inc. for $120,000.) The town has also sought bids from contractors for the rebuilding of Newton Road and construction of flood-mitigations measures thereon. Those bids are due by September 5.
Mr. Hopkins reported that the town received $67,038 from the Local Options Tax for the second quarter of 2023 (April, May, June). According to Hopkins, the amount is typical for the second quarter.
Board member Brian Coolidge asked Mr. Hopkins about the condition of the tennis court at Estabrook Park as well as the condition of the bioswales along the residential portion of Park Street, all of which Mr. Coolidge felt had not been maintained well.
“Before we build anything else, like the connector between Brandon and Forestdale, we should make sure we can maintain what we have,” said Mr. Coolidge.
Mr. Hopkins referred the question about the tennis court to Deputy Town Manager Bill Moore, who said that the court was in “the wrong place,” given that the ground beneath it is unable to support the posts necessary to hold the net taut. Mr. Moore also noted that an alternative location within the park had been found for the court and the present paved surface could be turned into a skate park, a feature numerous residents have requested. The cost of moving the tennis court, according to Moore, would be $95,000. Resident Bruce Jenson, on Zoom, reminded the Board that the original grant that funded the creation of the park requires that any changes to the park be approved by the Department of the Interior and the Park Service. Mr. Hopkins assured the room that all necessary approvals would be obtained if the plan went forward. Attendees in the room expressed dismay over the way the court had been allowed to deteriorate.
As for the bioswales, Mr. Hopkins noted that there is only one crewmember in the Buildings and Grounds department right now and that the cost of maintaining the swales would have to be addressed in next year’s budget if the town were to continue maintaining them. Alternatively, he suggested that adjacent property owners on the street could “take ownership” of them and manage their upkeep.
Board member Cecil Reniche-Smith stated that she had essentially done as much with the swale that abuts her property on Pearl Street.
In a subsequent email, Mr. Hopkins stated that there was already a group of volunteers willing to take on the task. The Town would fund replacement plantings and would loan tools and equipment as needed.
“I believe this is a good way to build community and demonstrate pride in our hometown and appreciate very much the willingness of many hands to beautify two of our showcase avenues while also improving our sustainable treatment of stormwater,” wrote Mr. Hopkins.
Mr. Hopkins also mentioned during his report a meeting he had had with Police Chief Kachajian and two citizens regarding the way in which certain types of calls were handled by Brandon Police Department (BPD). Hopkins said that the discussion originated with a particular incident and that Chief Kachajian was hoping for guidance from the Selectboard as to the kind of policing the community wished to see from BPD. Ms. Reniche-Smith suggested perhaps a public forum would be an appropriate way to approach the issue.
Rec Department Director Bill Moore presented his report as well, the full text of which is available in the August 28 Selectboard packet on the town website. Of particular note was the profit to the Town of $2943 from the Brandon Carnival, which was co-sponsored by the Rec Department and the Brandon Area Toy Project. Board member Coolidge expressed concern about what he felt was a “conflict of interest” in the Toy Project’s involvement, since the Toy Project is run by the Assistant Director of the Rec Department. Mr. Coolidge felt that all the profits from the Carnival, since it was held on town property, should have gone to the Rec Department.
Mr. Moore responded that he had no problem with the arrangement and that it was the Toy Project that had brought the Carnival to Brandon. Moore also noted that the relationship was in the process of being formalized with a memorandum of understanding. Several members of the Board agreed that the Town should have a more formal policy regarding financial cooperation between the Town and nonprofits like the Toy Project.
During the public comment segment of the meeting, members of the Board noted that they had received almost universally negative feedback about the changes the Board had made in its previous meeting to the process used to record minutes. In the last meeting, it had been decided that minutes should emphasize the outcomes of motions and minimize the discussions leading to the votes on those motions. The idea was to streamline the written minutes so that outcomes could be found more quickly by someone scanning the minutes for a particular issue.
But there was significant pushback from the community against this change and a number of attendees in the room voiced their displeasure. It was said that the new process would make it difficult for people who are not tech savvy to access the full minutes, as it had been suggested that the video recordings should suffice. It was also said that it was important to record the comments of everyone who spoke at a meeting. In response to a suggestion by a Board member that The Reporter could also act to memorialize the meetings, this writer noted that the paper has space limitations and that the Board should not put itself in a position where it must deem some speech worthy of recording and some not.
Ultimately, the Board decided to reverse course and resume the practices it had previously used.
Brandon resident Susan Benedict recounted for the Board her experiences with excess water from July’s flooding at her home on River Street. Though her house did not suffer any water damage—she had previously installed French drains—she said that 3 FEMA agents had visited her house to alter her to what they felt was a potential problem. Ms. Benedict asked the Board to examine the situation.
“I hope you people are wrestling with it,” said Benedict. “This is just the beginning.”
Brandon resident Eileen Dolan, a longtime cancer survivor, had asked the Town for permission to hold a coin drop to raise money for the American Cancer Society in front of the Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 7 in downtown Brandon. The Board did not approve the request, citing fears of traffic and liability, but offered alternatives during activities, such as Harvest Fest or Town Hall events.
The Board appointed member Cecil Reniche-Smith as its voting delegate at the annual meeting of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns in South Burlington on September 26.
Board member Tim Guiles then presented a “Green Fleet” study on the Town’s efforts to reduce its carbon emissions through reduction in the use of fossil fuels by town vehicles and equipment. Mr. Guiles noted that Vermont had set a goal of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 and that an increase in the use of electric vehicles and equipment will be necessary to meet that goal.
According to the report, the Town has 4 main sources of carbon emissions: gas, diesel, propane, and #2 heating oil. Since 2017, only the amount of heating oil has decreased appreciably, which is generally attributable to the increased use of electric heat pumps in town buildings. The amount of gas used by police vehicles has increased largely because of an increase in the size of the police department. And the amount of diesel used by town equipment has increased because of the assumption by the Town of work that used to be contracted out.
In response to an assertion that the police union’s contract with the Town mandates that each officer have his or her own vehicle—it had been suggested by Mr. Guiles that the number of police vehicles could be reduced if only the on-duty officers had access to police cars—Mr. Hopkins said that the contract did not have such a stipulation.
“Some choices are going to be more expensive but are the right thing to do,” said Mr. Guiles in response to attendees who noted that the changes sought might be costly.
The full report can be found in the August 28 Selectboard packet on the town website.
The three members of the Trustees of Public Funds (TPF)—Tanner Romano, Laura Miner, and Courtney Satz—were present to initiate a public discussion with the Selectboard regarding the Town’s annual request for funding for mosquito control. The Trustees felt that, in the past, the Town had not provided sufficient information to justify their requests. In recent years, the lack of information had even cause the Trustees to deny the request altogether, though normally the Town does receive more than $10,000 per year from TPF for the Town’s contribution to the Otter Creek Insect Control District.
TPF manages a fund set up by Shirley Farr, a longtime Brandon resident who died in the 1950s. Her will left a trust to help fund projects and expenses not covered by taxes. Organizations can submit applications for funds, and the Trustees noted that the annual expense of the Town’s mosquito control took up a signification portion of what TPF had to disburse overall. The Trustees noted that the will does not specify that any money need go to mosquito control and that the language that the Town has relied on is not determinative.
“We want to understand the accounting,” said Mr. Romano. Mr. Hopkins noted that much of the information sought by the Trustees was available to the Town only through the Insect Control District, which is an independent entity. But the Board agreed that it would provide as much information about the true costs of the spraying program in the future.
The Trustees also suggested that perhaps the continuation of the program should be put to a town vote, since it had not been voted on since the 1970s and the Otter Creek district is one of only 2 remaining in the state that engage in chemical spraying.
In the final business of the evening, the Board approved a warrant in the amount of $1,191,951.48.
