By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—In a brief special meeting on Monday evening, the Brandon Selectboard approved the ballot for Town Meeting in March. The vote to approve the ballot was 4 to 1, with Brian Coolidge the sole nay vote. The Board also approved the ballot question regarding the $500,000 bond to cover the proposed town-owned solar array. The vote on the bond question was 3 to 2, with Tracy Wyman and Brian Coolidge voting against it.
The ballot includes the candidates for the Selectboard seats in contention this year. Board Chair Tracy Wyman is completing his 3-year term and has chosen not to seek re-election. Seeking his seat are Doug Bailey and David Snow.
The one-year seats now occupied by Cecil-Reniche Smith and Heather Nelson (who was appointed to replace Seth Hopkins earlier this year) are also on the ballot. Ms. Reniche-Smith has chosen not to run for re-election, while Ms. Nelson will appear on the ballot to retain her seat. Also running for those 2 one-year seats are David Atherton, Ralph Ethier, Ray Marcoux, and Aida Nielsen.
The Board also approved a new blanket payroll authorization to reflect the promotion of Jeremy Disorda to Highway Foreman upon the retirement of Shawn Erickson, who steps down this week. Mr. Disorda’s hourly compensation will rise from $30 to $33.
And the Board approved a purchase order in the amount of $15,895 to cover the cost of new guardrails on Wood Lane, Marshall Phillips Road, Carver Street, and Wheeler Road. The new guardrails are being installed by Lafayette Highway Specialties of Essex Junction. The cost of the guardrails will be partially offset by an insurance settlement for damage sustained to the bridge on Carver Street when a truck smashed into the guardrail. Work is anticipated to be completed by June 30.
After the Selectboard finished its work for the evening, the Board adjourned and Cecil Reniche-Smith opened a hearing on the draft of the Town Plan, which has been under revision by the Planning Commission for the last 16 months. Ms. Reniche-Smith is Chair of that committee in addition to her position on the Selectboard.
The Planning Commission has held other public meetings and hearing in order to collect feedback on its draft. By statute, the Town Plan must be updated every 8 years. Without a statutorily current Town Plan, Brandon could be ineligible for certain grants and programs at the state level.
The Town Plan is not binding. Instead, it sets forth an aspirational series of long- and short-term goals for the town in various categories (e.g., housing, childcare, recreation, etc.) The full text of the Plan is available on the town website, at the Town Office, and at the Brandon Library.
Some of the feedback received from attendees involved small factual corrections that did not impact the larger picture. However, some attendees critiqued the Plan on substantive grounds.
Vicki Disorda, for example, took issue with the Plan’s treatment of disabled and low-income members of the community. Ms. Disorda felt that the Plan did not address the needs of these community members strongly enough. An ongoing issue in Brandon is the lack of a laundromat, after the only such facility closed a few years ago.
“Mahatma Ghandi said, ‘The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated,’” said Ms. Disorda. “I say the greatness of a town can be judged by how its poorest citizens are treated.”
Another attendee, Annie Stratton, voiced concern that the town was not doing enough to plan for the effects of climate change. A professional hydrogeologist, Ms. Stratton advised that much of the flood-risk data that towns like Brandon rely on is outdated. She suggested that the Commission include in the Plan a citizen-based committee that would collaborate with the town to assess Brandon’s specific flood risks.
Karen Rhodes directed to the Commission and the Selectboard a critique of the town’s borrowing practices, which Ms. Rhodes felt were excessive. Instead of borrowing, she suggested that the town find ways to save money.
According to Ms. Reniche-Smith, the Planning Commission does not foresee the need for additional hearings, as there will not likely be any “substantive” changes to the Plan based on the feedback received at Monday’s hearing. The next step will be to incorporate the edits from the hearing and submit the plan for the Selectboard’s approval at the Board’s next meeting, which will take place on Monday, February 12.
