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BRATTLEBORO - The Selectboard is still hearing from residents who are opposed to the proposed skatepark at the Crowell Lot.
At Tuesday's Selectboard meeting, Andy Davis and Wendy Creager both asked the board to open up public hearings on the plan.
While the Brattleboro School Board and the Selectboard both debated the plan in open session over the past few years, there were never public site hearings held, Davis and Creager both said.
Davis pointed out that fundraising is less than halfway complete and a final plan has not yet been approved.
Opposition in the neighborhoods surrounding the park is growing, Davis said, and he said the property owners want at least a public forum to air their concerns and get answers.
He said it does not make sense to move ahead with a project as large, and as potentially contentious, without gathering input from the people who are likely to be most affected by it.
Selectboard member Dora Bouboulis agreed, saying that she was still waiting for a public information session on the park.
Davis and Creager both spoke during the public comment period of Tuesday's meeting and Selectboard Chairman Dick DeGray did not respond to their comments.
The board did set a vote for the $14.1-million bond for upgrades to the police and fire stations.
Town meeting representatives will vote on the bond on Oct. 20, and two public information sessions were scheduled for Oct. 3 and
The town meeting reps also will vote on a proposed 1 percent local option tax which the Selectboard says will help pay for the police-fire project.
The board also got an update on the waste water plant project.
Public Works Director Steve Barrett said that while the town is starting to test the components, it will probably be the spring before the new system is fully operational and the town would be able to accept outside contracts for the new plant.
The Brattleboro Energy Committee presented awards to Landmark College and to New Chapter for this year's Way To Go Commuter Challenge which asks businesses to help their employees reduce vehicle use.
The board postponed discussion on two pending policies.
Debate on the Paint the Pavement Project policy, and the proposed Debt Service and Fund Balance guidelines, were both put off until the Oct. 2 meeting to give the board time to look over the documents and propose changes.
Arts Committee member Kate Anderson asked the board to include the committee's public art guidelines into the new Paint the Pavement Project policy.
The Brooks Memorial Library Board of Trustees gave the Selectboard an update, following the Selectboard's new policy of hearing from various boards and committees during its meetings.
Board Vice President Elizabeth Wohl said the library surveyed about 400 patrons and found the library was a treasured and appreciated resource.
Wohl said users are still commenting on the cuts that slashed library hours a few years ago, though she said she understood that the board was doing its best with a tight budget.
She said a Dummerston woman recently left the library a substantial gift after she died and Wohl said the library was going to try to publicize the options that people have in leaving gifts to the library in their estates.
The board accepted grants for a dry hydrant on Ames Hill, for training fire department employees on releasing information and for the Energy Committee to coordinate the Go VT program.
Robert Clements was re-appointed to the Tree Advisory Committee and David Cadran was named as an alternate on the Development Review Board.
Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reformer.com or at 802-254-2311 ext. 279.
