Dear Neighbors,

Last Tuesday, January 19, at 7pm, the Council had its second meeting in January. We had a public hearing on the Charter changes that will be on the Town Meeting Day ballot and then heard from CCTV about their budget request to the City of Burlington (it was a level-funded request).

One of the highlights of the meeting was the unanimous approval of a $16.6 million FAA grant for the design and construction of an expansion to the existing terminal building at the Airport. The primary purpose of this project is to consolidate the two (2) existing Security Screening Checkpoints located at the North and South ends of the existing terminal. This is truly an exciting project 10 years in the making. This was followed by our unanimous approval of the MOU between Winooski, South Burlington and our City regarding the Airport, the culmination of a few years of collaborative work between the three cities to focus finding common ground to work together for the benefit of Burlington's asset and our neighboring cities that are impacted by the airport.

We finalized the City's annual audit and voted unanimously to place a question on the March ballot to allow for the retail sales of cannabis beginning in late 2022, which includes an equitable arrangement to benefit from this market by those most harmed by the War on Drugs.

This Monday, the Council will hold its third and final meeting for the month of January.
You can watch and participate in the meeting via zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81139678772 by phone: (312) 626-6799, Webinar ID: 811 3967 8772 or on BT Channel 317
or on via CCTV link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLljLFn4BZd2PwCge7lNoKug676jIf_iUA You can participate in public forum beginning at 7:30 through this link https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/citycouncil/publicforum

We will begin our evening with a presentation on the Burlington School Budget. The City Council get this budget update every year at this time. We do not vote on the School's budget. and if there is a budget increase, the School Department has the ability to take that request directly to the voters. The budget summary cites that "real effort was made to control spending and impact on taxpayers through $1million in operational reductions that will not impact students or programs and $360,000 in additional and carefully considered reductions to minimize impact on students, $4.175 million of surplus dedicated to immediate relief and State support for BHS Downtown fit-up. Although budget increase is 3.5%, surplus funds have reduced the need for an increase from the taxpayer supported Education Fund to 1%. However, factors outside of BSD's control result in a tax rate increase of 6.88%."

Following this presentation and the approval of two entertainment permits for Spot at Hula on Lakeside Avenue, the Council will hold a second public hearing on the Charter changes that will be on the Town Meeting Day ballot.

Following this public hearing, we have six items on our deliberative agenda:

Our first item is a resolution to approval the "short form" language for the Town Meeting Day ballot. The full Charter language will be available in every voting booth and online should you vote by mail. (We will vote on a resolution on our consent agenda to have ballots mailed to every registered voter for the Town Meeting Day election.)

As we move forward with the exciting project of bringing Amtrak to Burlington and relocating the bike path, there are a number of easements that must be granted to make this happen. The Council will be voting on these easements so underdrains, rail signals and electrical connections can be constructed.

We have two remaining resolutions on our deliberative agenda.

One is a public safety continuity plan that, among other points, would increase the sworn police staffing level from 78 to 84, would authorize the Police Department to hire 4 community service officers with up to 10 in FY22, would create 3 community support liaison positions and would create a reserve fund of $150,000 to in part fund these liaison positions. There is a lot to this resolution; I would encourage you to read it at:

https://go.boarddocs.com/vt/burlingtonvt/Board.nsf/files/BXGUEW7032DE/$file/Police%20-%20App[...]%20

Our last item is a resolution that if approved would ask the voters in March an advisory question regarding the number of police officers in Burlington.

As always, I welcome your questions, concerns, and comments, so please be in touch. Your voice matters and I am grateful for your input. I hope you enjoy a good weekend. Our January food distribution event is tomorrow. Thank you to the many generous neighbors volunteering their time and resources to make these events happen.

My best,
Karen

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