Brandon SB talks paths, ethics, and Carver St.

By STEVEN JUPITER

BRANDON—The Brandon Selectboard convened for its regular meeting on Monday evening.

Town Manager report

Town Manager Seth Hopkins presented his report to the Board. 

Mr. Hopkins noted that the annual Town Report was at the printer and would be mailed to all households with registered voters. A digital copy will be available on the town website as well.

He also noted that the OVUU School District had chosen this year not to include its annual report in the Brandon report. Instead, OVUU will issue its own report. This means that Brandon will bear the total expense for the mailing of the reports. 

Later in the meeting, Board member Brian Coolidge said he was “disappointed” in the District’s decision not to join reports. Board member Tim Guiles responded that the District felt that its needs were better served by a separate report and that the District should not “be vilified” for its decision.

Mr. Hopkins informed the public that the Sanderson Bridge on Pearl Street had been damaged yet again last week by a truck that was too big to cross the bridge safely. The bridge was deemed safe for use and the damage will be worked into the repair schedule with the earlier incidents. The driver of the vehicle in this incident was not known. The town’s insurance will cover the cost of the repair.

Mr. Coolidge asked whether the Water District had paid its share of the cost of the new water fountains for the Brandon Dog Park. Deputy Town Manager Bill Moore replied that it had not but that town management would press it to do so.

Walking path

Mike Bailey of SolarFest was present to discuss plans to establish a connecting path between downtown Brandon and Estabrook Park through lands mostly owned by SolarFest. The renewable-energy organization sought a letter of support from the Board for a $50K grant for the project. The grant would require no match from the town.

The path would cut through the fields on the west side of Route 7 starting at the florist, going behind the medical center, and ending on Steinberg Road. The owners of the land between Steinberg and Estabrook have pledged to build a road to connect Steinberg and the park, said Mr. Bailey. 

Mr. Bailey also said that SolarFest would maintain the path at no cost to the town. In a later email, Mr. Hopkins stated that the path would be on private property and would not be the responsibility of the town if SolarFest were ever to leave Brandon.

The Board voted unanimously to provide the letter of support. The Rutland Regional Planning Commission and the Downtown Brandon Alliance had already supplied letters of support for the project.

Carver Street

Board Chair Doug Bailey recounted the discussion about illegal dumping on Carver Street that he and fellow Board member Ralph Ethier had with the Pittsford Selectboard at the Pittsford Board’s meeting the previous Wednesday. Please see this week’s article on the Pittsford Selectboard for details of that discussion.

An attendee in Brandon expressed concern that some at the Pittsford meeting believed that Brandon had overspent on the disposal of construction debris that had been dumped in Otter Creek off Carver Street. Mr. Bailey and Mr. Hopkins replied that those at the Pittsford meeting had not known the amount of the material extracted from the Creek.

Mr. Bailey and Board member Heather Nelson also discussed the possibility of blocking certain spots along the roadway to remove access to locations that seem to be favored for dumping.

An attendee stated that the problem was likely to get worse with the departure of 4 officers from the Brandon Police Department, which made police presence on Carver more difficult.

Deputy Town Manager Bill Moore stated that all abutting landowners that he and Mr. Hopkins had contacted had been in favor of controlling access to the roadway.

Other options, such as cameras, were discussed again but no action was taken.

Otter Creek Communications Union District

The Board unanimously reappointed Peter Werner as Brandon’s representative to the Otter Creek Communications Union District (OCCUD) and Bill Moore as alternate representative. Both will serve for one year.

OCCUD is tasked with providing access to broadband internet service to underserved rural areas of the Otter Creek area.

Public comment

During the Public Comment portion of the meeting, Board member Brian Coolidge revisited the decision the Board had made at its previous meeting to appoint the entire Selectboard as the designated receiver of ethics complaints in Brandon. Mr. Coolidge stated that it might be better to have Brandon’s State Representative, Todd Nielsen, in that position, since reporting complaints about ethics violations to the Board could raise conflicts of interest.

Mr. Hopkins stated that the designated receiver must be an officer or employee of the town. An attendee said that she had spoken with the Executive Director of the Vermont State Ethics Commission, who had assured her that ethics complaints could be relayed to a State Representative.

Cecil Reniche-Smith, who had been on the Selectboard and had worked for years as an attorney representing municipalities, said that ethics complaints could be relayed to people other than the designated receiver but that the town still had to have a designated receiver who was a town officer or employee.

Mr. Guiles supported Mr. Hopkins’ and Ms. Reniche-Smith’s interpretations of the law.

No further action was taken.

Another attendee asked the Board whether it would be possible for the town to rethink its approval of retail cannabis sales because of the number of such operations currently in Brandon. Mr. Hopkins replied that because town voters approved these operations through a ballot vote on Town Meeting Day, any repeal of the approval would have to be done the same way. Town Clerk Susan Gage, who was in attendance, said that to put the question on the ballot would require the signatures of at least 5% of all registered Brandon voters.

Board member Heather Nelson reminded the community that Narcan and Fentanyl test strips were available at no cost at the Town Offices and the Brandon Library.

Mr. Moore reminded the community that a public presentation on the proposed FY26 town budget would be held on Thursday, January 30 at 7 p.m. at the Brandon Town Hall.

Warrant

The Board approved a warrant in the amount of $104,244.57 to cover its obligations and expenses.

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