Dear Neighbors,

This Monday, the City Council will convene its second of three meetings for the month of January. The Council meeting will begin at 7pm in Contois Auditorium in City Hall. Prior to the Council meeting, the Council will hold a work session on Council rules and procedures. The work session will include an update on new public records case law.

We will begin our Council meeting at 7pm with a presentation from Chief Steven Locke, our fire chief, on lessons learned from the Torrey Hall fire.

There are eight items on our deliberative agenda. The first two are proposed ordinance changes related to quality of life issues. The first agenda item will repeal those quality of life ordinances which have been deemed unconstitutional. These include ordinances pertaining to aggressive panhandling, soliciting contributions for charities and hitchhiking, among others. The second ordinance change relates to public urination and outdoor alcohol consumption in the downtown core. We are also voting on two other ordinance changes. One relates to plumbing rules and the other to our retirement system. These changes are mostly housekeeping and updates to remain current with recent union agreements.

We have four resolutions on our agenda. The first is a resolution that offers recommendations on homelessness after significant work by the Public Safety Committee of the Council. The recommendations include increasing the capacity of the low-barrier shelter with increased City funding, support for standardizing process between service agencies, reviewing and adopting the City’s encampment removal procedures, increasing public restrooms in the downtown, possible additional funding for the Street Outreach program and increasing opportunities for those experiencing homelessness to be more connected with the community.

Our next resolution relates to the City Council’s process and decision regarding the City’s option of having a carried interest in Burlington Telecom with the new owner. As per the Letter of Intent and the Asset Purchase Agreement, the City has the option to take its share of the proceeds from the sale and investing them in BT. This resolution asks for a report on our options and a timeline for community engagement and the Council’s vote on this issue.

We will then be voting on an advisory ballot question that will ask the voter whether the City should assess a local tax to fund perpetually affordable housing in Burlington. Essentially, the tax would enact a 1% sales tax on housing units that sell for $500,000 or greater with all proceeds to go to benefit the City’s Housing Trust Fund.

You may access the Council agenda at http://www.boarddocs.com/vt/burlingtonvt/Board.nsf/Public Please note that all Council meetings are televised live on BT Channel 317 and streamed live to your computer or phone. Please go to youtube and type in “Burlington City Council meetings” and the live stream will come up.

As always, I welcome your questions and concerns.

My best,
Karen

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