BY STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—The Brandon Selectboard assembled for a public meeting on Monday evening to discuss and set goals for Town Manager Seth Hopkins and Deputy Town Manager Bill Moore. The meeting was designed as a “workshop,” in which ideas were exchanged and debated in a conversational style rather than as formal proposals and motions. The meeting was initiated at Mr. Hopkins request, as a way for the Board to “measure performance against expectations” when assessing Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Moore in their new roles.
The meeting began with an enumeration by Board member Tim Guiles of several areas in which the town should set clear goals as part of a “10-year plan.” As Mr. Guiles put it, “The Selectboard chooses the destination, the Town Manager takes us there.”
The areas that Mr. Guiles singled out as needing specific goals included the following:
- Heavy equipment, such as trucks, machinery, and cars (including police vehicles)
- Roads, sewer, and water
- Parking and transportation
- Parks and recreation
- Online resources (e.g., online tax payments)
- Energy
- Municipal vs. independent services (e.g., Rescue, Fire, Library)
- Elections/voting
- Affordable housing
Board member Cecil Reniche-Smith reminded the Board that the Brandon Planning Commission, of which she is also a member, is currently revamping and updating the Town Plan, as required every 8 years by law, and that many of these issues will be addressed therein and that the Board will have to approve the plan.
Mr. Hopkins then drew the Board back to his original purpose, which was to lay out a series of concrete goals specific to the town management team that the Board could use as a metric by which to measure the team’s success over the coming year.
Mr. Hopkins’s own management plan, which he presented to the Board, separated his goals into three categories: staff, community, and policy. Below are highlights from each category.
In staff:
- Reactivate the town’s Diversity Committee, which originally consisted of Town Clerk Susan Gage, the Town Manager, and Bill Moore (now Deputy Town Manager). The Board suggested that a Board member be added to the Committee as well. The goal here would be “to deliver on the board’s vision in its declaration.”
- Plan and recruit for three key retirements: Highway Foreman Shawn Erickson (January 2024), Office Administrator Elaine Smith (May 2024), and Chief Wastewater Operator Steve Cijka (November 2024).
- Improve communication among town management and town staff and among the various departments at the Town Office in order to streamline processes for town residents.
In community:
- Restructure the Recreation Department. Plans there include the implementation of a commissioner system for youth sports and a scholarship fund to allow access to all families regardless of income. Ideas included making the Rec Department a ballot appropriation at Town Meeting and asking surrounding towns to do the same.
- Work with the Fire District No. 1 to resolve any ongoing issues with water and sewer metering. There have been issues with meter accuracy in the past.
In policy:
- Draft a social media policy for town employees.
- Facilitate the completion of a wastewater capacity study by Elaine Smith. The purpose of the study is to determine the water and sewage capacity of every property in Brandon in order to determine the feasibility and benefit of capacity-based billing for water and sewer. Right now, billing is a combination of flat fee and actual usage.
- Organize the Brandon ordinances, policies, and procedures. Judy Kilpeck is currently volunteering on this project.
- Develop a capital plan for multi-year budgeting.
- Draft and execute a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Brandon Area Toy Project to clarify which aspects of joint endeavors are the responsibility of which entity and how any revenue will be shared.
- Pursue grant opportunities and suggest funding sources for the town’s match on any grants they apply for. Mr. Moore emphasized here that the Board should not approve any applications for which it is not prepared to provide the required match.
