Dear Neighbors,

Before I get to the Council meeting preview, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, the voters of Ward 6, for re-electing me to serve another term on the City Council. I take seriously the confidence and trust you have placed in me and the honor you have bestowed upon me.

I grew up in Burlington and attended Burlington schools: Champlain Elementary, Edmunds Middle and Burlington High School. My husband, Mark and I have three children, two of whom attend school in Burlington with our oldest now in college in Washington. Burlington is our home and I am proud to represent you on the City Council. I greatly appreciate your vote and look forward to serving your needs and those of our City.

This coming Monday, the City Council will convene its first of two regular meetings for the month of March.

We will hold a very brief Local Control Commission meeting at 7pm where we will be voting to approve several first class liquor licenses. Following this meeting, we will convene our Council meeting in Contois Auditorium in City Hall.

We will begin our meeting with a presentation from City Market. This is an annual presentation and it's always most informative. We have three resolutions on our agenda. The first is relating to the Climate Action Plan and Open Space Protection Plan. The second is on a Neighborhood Development Area that relates to infill development within walking distance of our downtown.

Our last resolution authorizes the appointment of two City Councilors to serve on a cost cutting committee to review and discuss the Burlington School District budget. I am co-sponsoring this resolution. This past Tuesday, the voters of Burlington clearly expressed that we need to address the unsustainable trajectory of our School budget. (There will be an amendment on the Council floor to expand the number of Councilors from two to three.) This committee will be made up of Councilors, School Board members and financial managers from the City and the Schools.

We will then have council committee reports, comments from councilors and the Mayor. Please keep in mind that you are welcome to come to a council meeting and speak to the Council on any subject you wish during our Public Forum which begins at 7:30pm.

Our last agenda item will be an Executive Session on a downtown real estate transaction and a briefing on Burlington Telecom.

In addition to our Council meeting, we will also hold a meeting of the Board of Civil Authority to vote on the appointment of Assistant Election Officials. We will also have a Council meeting with the Mayor presiding to appoint a Parks and Recreation Commissioner due to a resignation.

Clickable agenda items can be found on the City's website: http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CityCouncil/Agendas-and-Minutes---DMS-Documents/City-Council/201[...]da/

Please keep in mind that at all Council meetings are televised live on Channel 317 on Burlington Telecom.

As always, I welcome your questions and concerns. Please email or give me a call over the weekend or on Monday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

All my best,
Karen

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