ROCKINGHAM, Vt. – At the Oct. 20 meeting of the Rockingham Selectboard, Town Manager Aaron Patt updated the board on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements in the downtown area, which he reported were 95% complete.
The traffic-calming curb bump-out at the Flat Iron building is nearing completion, and the post office bump-out is currently being upgraded. A January accident damaged the bump-out at the Hotel Windham and took out a tree, and there was some debate about whether the town should replace the tree.
Highway Supervisor Glen Shreiter told the board that the department had decided not to replace the tree because it blocked the nearby streetlight. Since the plan is to rebrick the area to install ADA plates at both crosswalks, Shreiter proposed removing the tree well and tree stump, then leaving the spot flat.
Elijah Zimmer was in attendance at the meeting representing the Bellows Falls Downtown Development Alliance and the downtown design committee. Zimmer said the intent of the design committee’s original idea was to replace the 30-year-old tree with some type of greenery that wouldn’t disturb underground infrastructure, such as a planter box. Zimmer and others expressed concern that the downtown area would continue to lose greenery and features that contribute to the town’s character.
Schreiter said the ADA work had to be completed before April 22, 2027, when the Downtown Transportation grant expires, and that any tree planting would have to wait until spring.
On the meeting’s agenda were several funding request items. The board listened to a presentation from the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC), a nonprofit organization that creates investment opportunities for people and businesses in southern Vermont. Laura Sibilia, director of regional economic development for BDCC, reported that the organization was talking to many local selectboards, reviewing the work it had accomplished during the prior year, and requesting an appropriation of $3 per resident from each town it serves.
The board also had a lengthy discussion regarding the social service appropriation policy, ultimately voting to shorten the length of time between the board’s review of social service agencies receiving funding from every five years to every three. This decision was made to address agencies that may no longer need the funding or may have discontinued the service they were previously providing the town.
Finally, the board reviewed its recent retreat and discussed a proposed adjustment to its meeting structure. Board member John Dunbar proposed dedicating one monthly meeting to business, and the other to a deep-dive strategy. The board’s consensus was to adopt that approach of alternating business and strategy meetings, as well as agreeing to aim for 90-minute meetings, excluding executive sessions, and to focus the first strategy session on the 2027 budget.
The Rockingham Selectboard meets on the first and thirds Tuesdays of each month, at 6 p.m., in the Rockingham Town Hall Lower Theater.