BY MAT CLOUSER
BRANDON — A full slate of business was discussed on Monday night in Brandon, with topics ranging from the hot button to the relatively mundane.
On offer for the full house of townspeople in attendance was a presentation from the Brandon Free Public Library (BFPL) on their renovation process, the appointment of a seat on the Planning Commission, a discussion about a vacancy on the Developmental Review Board, the finer points of buying a used excavator for the highway department, and a robust public comment period which brought up issues surrounding diversity, race, and the board’s commitment to inclusivity.
Library Funding
BFPL board member Carol Fjeld spoke for several minutes outlining the myriad services provided to the town by BFPL, as well as the challenges the building faces and its need for a more than $2,000,000 renovation—of which a substantial amount has already been raised privately—
all of which led her to ask for a $100,000 allotment from the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, which are around $1,000,000 in total.
Fjeld also took a moment to publicly thank the community volunteers and the Brandon Police Department for their ongoing support to secure the library during and after the events of this past summer when a mentally ill member of the community made threats against one of the librarians and lead to the temporary closure of the library.
The board expressed its admiration for the library and its role in a healthy community. However, due to a recent change in how ARPA funds can be used. “I do want to thank you for bringing this to the board,” said Selectboard Chair Seth Hopkins.
“I don’t anticipate that the board is going to vote to obligate ARPA money tonight,” Hopkins continued, adding that because the new changes to ARPA appropriation have far fewer restrictions than they once did, the board is essentially re-starting the process of determining how to use those funds.
“I do feel like a good town deserves a good library,” Hopkins went on, pointing out that he was speaking as an individual rather than for the board at large. “I can see a lot of merit in the library being a candidate for some of this [money].”
Hopkins did point out that one potential way for BFPL to make themselves even more attractive as a potential ARPA fund recipient would be via finding some kind of fund matching grant where the town could put forth the $100,000 as a local match—another new way that ARPA funds can be used.
“If there are state grants that require a contribution that could turn $100,000 into $200,000… that’s usually the smartest way for Brandon to stretch the dollar.”
“Awesome,” responded Fjeld, adding that they would immediately take that information to their grant writer.
Vacant committee seats
The recent appointment of Ralph Ethier meant that he had to step down from his position on both the Planning Commission and the Developmental Review Board, and there were interested parties for both seats in attendance on Monday night.
After Ethier’s exit, the Planning Commission had two vacancies—one of which the board has been seeking to fill for some time, and public notice was declared weeks ago. Cecil Reniche-Smith, who recently threw her hat in the ring for the selectboard seat that went to Ethier—
and had been vetted by the board during that process—recently submitted a letter of interest to join the Planning Commission and was elected by a unanimous vote, along with a smattering of applause from those in the crowd.
The Developmental Review Board seat, however, had only recently become vacant and, as the selectboard had not had time to make a formal public notice, its decision was not to fill that seat until more time had been allowed for any potentially interested parties to come forward.
Excavator purchase
Town Manager Dave Atherton brought to the board’s attention that the town had been approached by a local contractor looking to sell them a used ’99 Case 9007B excavator for $45,000. The excavator was said to come with several attachments, rubber tracks, 1700 work hours, and was said to be in excellent condition due to the fastidious nature of its current owner.
Atherton said that a new machine without any attachments would run $107,000 and that the town was currently incurring excavator rental fees of about $12,000 just on the Town Farm Road project alone, adding that the town had several other projects for which an excavator would be needed.
After some deliberation about how best to assess the value of a used excavator—for which there is no Kelley Blue Book-type guidelines—the board decided that it trusted Mr. Atherton’s judgment, and a unanimous vote approved the purchase of the excavator with the funds to come out of the towns Local Option Tax dollars—of which there are currently more than $400,000 and are replenished at a rate of about $240,000 annually.
Public comments
The selectboard meeting held on Sept. 12 was rife with tension and accusation stemming from the process by which the all-white, all-male board elected another white man to its vacant seat despite having two qualified female candidates to choose from—a decision that further perpetuated feelings of exclusion among segments of Brandon’s female-identifying population, a population that accounts for nearly 55% of its residents.
Adding to the tension in that meeting had been the recent talk about Brandon’s efforts to work towards a commitment to equity and inclusivity—efforts that the town has taken to of their own volition, going so far as to become just the second town in Vermont to sign its Declaration of Inclusion, (in Jan. 2021) which reads:
The Town of Brandon condemns racism and welcomes all persons, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, age, or disability, and wants everyone to feel safe and welcome in our community.
As a town, we formally condemn all discrimination in all of its forms, commit to fair and equal treatment of everyone in our community, and will strive to ensure all of our actions, policies, and operating procedures reflect this commitment.
The Town of Brandon has and will continue to be a place where individuals can live freely and express their opinions.
Brandon resident Claire Astone, who was among the most vocal at the Sept. 12 meeting, was on hand Monday to seek some clarification as to the exact nature and purpose of the Declaration of Inclusion. Specifically, Astone hoped to clarify whether the document was one of practice or policy, stating that she felt the document lacked “teeth.”
“I’m wondering if you all have talked about [any] further purposes for these words of inclusion,” she said. “Because the language here just says this is a nice idea—we agree with it—but it doesn’t talk about how you’re going to implement it—what might change and what might be looked at by the selectboard.”
“The board’s direction on implementing it was to form a committee,” said Mr. Hopkins, “which was made up of Bill Moore, Dave Atherton, and Sue Gage to develop additional implementation initiatives regarding the diversity statement,” adding that it was the board’s intention that the committee would eventually draft some materials for the board to consider.”
Selectboard member Tim Guiles spoke up to say, “This Declaration of Inclusion is a declaration—it’s not a policy. It doesn’t prescribe anything.” Guiles then read sections of the Declaration, pointing out that the language is something that the board all agrees to and supports, despite its lack of an ability to produce any specific, actionable result.
“What is the value of a [document] that seems to have no teeth to implement it to make social change and bring about equity in a town like Brandon?” asked Astone.
“Well, it was a declaration, Claire,” said Hopkins. “It’s like the Declaration of Independence, right? It’s a statement, after which occurs—and so that action that occurs will occur when the diversity committee brings some material for the selectboard to consider.”
“Well, I hope you all will take some serious time to look at Brandon and how you operate and see what other communities are doing that might help move Brandon forward and really actualize being inclusive,” said Astone.
Dave Atherton spoke on behalf of the committee, pointing out that Bill Moore and Sue Gage have been the driving forces behind the work they’ve done thus far, mentioning that they had recently become a part of a Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) cohort that deals with inclusivity and he thought would be critical in informing how Brandon would decide to move forward. “We’re hoping that whatever we can obtain there… that we can bring it back to Brandon and make it work,” he said.”
Guiles, who had expressed interest in joining the committee but was not chosen for it, spoke up to ask when or if the committee would be holding meetings—meetings that the committee says are currently on hold pending direction from the VLCT.
“I certainly think it’s clear that we have some work to do,” said Bill Moore, adding that as a member of the community and as a member of the DEI committee, he found it alarming to read a quote from Mr. Guiles in a Rutland Herald article from Sept. 21 about the Sept 12. selectboard meeting in which Mr. Guiles was quoted as saying:
I’d like to say, thank you, Ralph [Ethier], for being willing to be on the select board. I think that getting lost in this conversation is that you’re very qualified to do a good job despite the fact that you’re a white man.
“I was flabbergasted that you would even say this at all,” said Moore. “Do you want to provide any clarification on what you meant by that? It’s really stark and weird to read that, and out of context, it certainly pops as something that could be construed as offensive and certainly not sensitive.”
“The part of the discussion that was relevant at the time,” said Guiles, “was that there were comments in the room about he shouldn’t have been appointed because he was a man, and I think I was referring to that in my comment—and so yes that was relevant at the time.”
“But with the white man piece?” asked Moore, adding that he was trying to give Mr. Guiles a chance to clarify what he felt might have been a “glib and off the cuff” statement that was a poor representation of Brandon as a community.
“The white man was including the other form of otherness—and so, yes, it wouldn’t have been the quote that I would have chosen to come away from that discussion. Agreed.”
In other business, the board:
- Heard from Town Manager Dave Atherton’s report, stating that the Newton Road Pump Station had been rebuilt and should come with substantial energy savings and that heavy rains over the past week had caused some slight delays on the Arnold creek culvert project.
- Heard from Jack Schneider on the Rutland Regional Planning Commission’s (RRPC) report, in which Brandon was commended for being one of the first adopters of the aforementioned inclusion statement and reported that the RRPC was in good financial shape.
- Reviewed the financial costs of several ongoing and upcoming projects, such as the Arnold District culvert ($393,935); the Union Street sidewalk project ($594,811); Town Farm Road rebuild phase one ($120,00); the new salt shed at DPW ($160,00), the stormwater project at NE Woodcraft ($292,000); the Newton Road pump station ($250,00); and an unknown cost for a new DPW garage.
