By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—On Monday evening, the Brandon Selectboard convened for its first meeting with new members Cecil Reniche-Smith and Jeff Haylon. Ms. Reniche-Smith had previously served on the Board in 2023-2024. Mr. Haylon is serving for the first time. The other members of the Board are Doug Bailey, Brian Coolidge, and Ralph Ethier. Mr. Ethier won re-election to the Board in last week’s election.
Reorganization
After being sworn in by Brandon Town Clerk Sue Gage, the Board began its reorganization for the new session, electing Mr. Bailey to another term as Chair, Ms. Reniche-Smith as Vice-Chair, and Mr. Haylon as Clerk, a position traditionally given to the newest member of the Board.
The Board also designated itself the Board of Liquor Control Commissioners, the Board of Health, the Board of Sewer Commissioners, the Housing Board of Review, and Local Cannabis Control Commissioners.
It kept for its official meetings the second and fourth Mondays of every month at 7 p.m. in the downstairs meeting room at the Brandon Town Hall.
The Board designated The Reporter as the town’s official newspaper of record and the Rutland Herald as its alternate.
It set as physical locations for the posting of warnings the Brandon Town Office, the Brandon Post Office on Conant Square, and the Junction Store in Forest Dale.
As Tree Warden, the Board reappointed Neil Silins. As Fence Viewers, the Board appointed Bob Kilpeck, Tracy Wyman, and Jon Wyman. As Inspector of lumber, shingles, and wood, the Board appointed Bob Kilpeck. As Weigher of Coal, the Board appointed Olya Hopkins. As Green-Up Day Coordinator, the Board appointed Jim Leary. As Representatives to the Otter Creek Watershed Insect Control District, the Board appointed Wayne Rausenberger and Kerry White, with Olya Hopkins as alternate. As Representative to the Rutland County Solid Waste District, the Board appointed Gabe McGuigan, with Tracy Wyman as alternate.
Selectboard remarks
The Selectboard begins every meeting with an opportunity for members of the Board to address the community. On Monday, Chair Doug Bailey thanked the citizens of Brandon for coming out to Town Meeting and for voting.
“Our job is to work within the budget and earn your trust,” he said. “Our #1 task is public safety. We need to get [the Police Department] properly staffed. We’re aware and working diligently.”
Mr. Bailey also informed the community that the town will be seeking over the next two years to replace its Highway Department garage, which he said was sinking and too small for the department’s large equipment. He said that the town would be looking at various ways to fund the project.
Warrant & Payroll
The Board unanimously approved a warrant in the amount of $80,783.93 to cover the town’s obligations and expenses.
The Board also discussed an expenditure for road salt and noted that the town has exhausted its supply and that no additional stocks of salt were available for purchase, even though the town was owed 100 additional tons that it had paid for. Town Manager Seth Hopkins said that the town had spread 952 tons of salt so far this season—in line with usual practice—and would rely on plowing and sanding if there were additional snowstorms this season. Moreover, Mr. Hopkins said that the shortage of salt was a statewide issue.
The Board also approved a new blanket payroll authorization for town employees. Mr. Bailey noted that two Board members could be designated to review and sign payroll every two weeks so that blanket authorizations wouldn’t be necessary. No further action was taken on that suggestion.
Town Manager report
Town Manager Hopkins presented his report to the Board, the full text of which is printed in this issue.
Mr. Hopkins thanked residents for coming out to vote and said the town was “well positioned” for the next fiscal year.
Hopkins also noted that there is an opening on the Energy Committee, as Jeff Haylon resigned in order to take a seat on the Selectboard. Anyone interested in joining the Energy Committee should contact Mr. Hopkins directly.
In response to a development over the weekend, Mr. Hopkins informed the Board that two of the clarifiers at the Wastewater Plant on Union Street had suffered extensive damage because of ice and were not functional. The specific issue was with the “curtains” that separate the sludge from the water. In two of the clarifiers, new curtains made of polystyrene plastic had broken. The previous curtains had been aluminum and had lasted significantly longer.
The plastic curtains had been installed as part of the recent upgrades at the plant and had been recommended by the engineers and contractors overseeing the project. Mr. Hopkins said that he believed the parts were still under warranty.
Town Clerk Sue Gage and Mr. Haylon suggested that Mr. Hopkins let other towns that might be purchasing these new curtains know about Brandon’s experience.
Budget Committee member Barry Varian asked for an update on the town’s plans to deal with the resignations at the Police Department. Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Bailey both said that their likely approach would be to offer better compensation and bonuses and to recruit certified officers who would not need to attend the Police Academy. Please see the article on the Police Department in this week’s issue for more details.
Community Development
Deputy Town Manager Bill Moore delivered his Community Development report to the Board, noting that the Town Hall had several events in the coming weeks:
- Brandon Idol on Friday, 3/14 at 7 p.m.
- The Worm Dogs on 3/21 at 7 p.m.
- Kennedy Park on 3/22
- The Electric Bears on 3/29
Baseball registration with Brandon Rec will open on March 27.
Mr. Moore also stated that the town is close to finalizing the purchase of land on Seminary Hill on which sits a portion of the Brandon Dog Park. The town is spending $25K on the parcel, of which $12,500 was obtained through a grant and $12,500 was taken from funds that the town received years ago from the sale of the Town Farm.
“No taxpayer funds were used here,” Mr. Moore said in response to criticisms from an attendee who questioned whether the town could have used land it already owned at Estabrook Park. Mr. Moore explained that the necessary fencing alone at Estabrook would’ve cost approximately $20K while the town was able to reuse some older fencing and enclose Seminary Hill for approximately $5K.
Mr. Moore also explained that the town should have retained this particular parcel when it sold off the old Brandon High School decades ago.
“We’re righting an historic wrong,” he said, adding in response to another question that he had no new information about the group seeking to rehab the high-school building.
Road posting
The Board approved the town’s annual list of roads to be posted during mud season, when weight limits are imposed in order to preserve dirt roads softened by melting snow and ice. The full list is available in the Selectboard packet for 3/10 on the town’s website.
Ethics complaint
The Board acknowledged that it had received a complaint against two elected town officials and that “on its face,” it appeared to allege a violation of the state’s new code of ethics. Ms. Reniche-Smith, who initially spoke for the Board, said that the complaint alleged a “misuse of position” but did not provide more details, though she did say that the complaint did not involve any members of the Selectboard.
The Board did not want to disclose the specifics of the allegation before it had a chance to evaluate the claims because the allegations themselves would make clear who the officials were. Ms. Reniche-Smith and Mr. Bailey both said that it would not be fair to reveal who the officials were unless the allegation was found to be credible.
The Board said it would evaluate the allegations in an executive session and reveal the outcome of the investigation in open session if it believed a violation had occurred.
Because the executive session in which the allegation is discussed would have to be warned, the Board was not able to evaluate the complaint on Monday. Instead, it will likely warn an executive session on the complaint for its next meeting.
Public Comment
An attendee noted that the one-vote margin in last week’s approval of the OV school budget meant that a recount and a revote were both possible under Vermont law. She stated that a recount would be undertaken if the town clerks in all of OV’s constituent towns (Brandon, Pittsford, Goshen, Sudbury, Leicester, and Whiting) received signed letters by Friday, March 14 requesting that it be done.
She also noted that a revote could be done if 5% of the district’s voters sign a petition within 30 days of the original vote. She said that petitions were available at the Brandon Post Office, the liquor store, and at the Junction Store.
Town Clerk Sue Gage said that a revote would likely cost $4,000, which would be billed to the school. And if the revote rejected the proposed budget, another vote for $4K would need to be done after the budget was revised.
An attendee asked that in its discussions about the Brandon Police Department that the officers be treated as human beings rather than as “widgets” that could be shifted around at the Board’s discretion. He also suggested that some members of the Selectboard had overstepped their authority and tried to interfere in the operations of the Police Department. BPD Chief David Kachajian said in a phone conversation on Tuesday that he was not aware of any such interference and would not have allowed it.
