BRATTLEBORO — With respect to the question of whether the $100,000 appropriated by Representative Annual Town Meeting for sustainability purposes be spent on a position or activities, I have perhaps a hypothetical question as to how Brattleboro approaches issues such as the following, which might give insight to the answer.
On July 30, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a $440,000 grant to the town to make critical water infrastructure improvements needed to support commercial development.
The project, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act–designated Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $320,000 in local funds and is expected to help create nearly 200 jobs and generate $27.5 million in private investment.
Presumably, local Brattleboro town funds would be used to activate this grant.
The two objectives highlighted here are (1) job creation and (2) water infrastructure improvements.
Drawing on past experience, since these are federal funds, one cannot restrict the use of the funds for “local” jobs. However, in carefully wording RFPs, could one use the language “knowledge of local area,” or words to that effect, if justified, in the evaluation process to good effect?
With respect to infrastructure improvements, if federal rules are seen as lax, how might it be possible to ensure that “best practices” are followed, even if they exceed what the laws require, assuming they would be otherwise justified?
Who - or how - would issues like these be monitored prospectively? Would a dedicated coordinator be a necessity? Or is there another way?
A final note: When I tried vetting the idea for this letter on Main Street, people noted that our own water-sewer infrastructure poses problems, especially when drainage demands increase and that perhaps this very real concern becomes a sustainability need.