Dear Neighbors,
This coming Monday, the City Council will convene its second of two regular meetings for the month of December.
Please click this link us to join via zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85022216600
or by phone 1 929 205 6099 Webinar ID: 850 2221 6600
You can also join us via Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLljLFn4BZd2PwCge7lNoKug676jIf_iUA
To participate in Public Forum in person you can sign up at the meeting or participate via ZOOM via this link: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/citycouncil/publicforum
Our meeting will begin at 7pm. Following public forum and any climate emergency reports, we will move to our deliberative agenda which includes:
• A presentation from our public health team on Overdose Prevention Sites. This presentation on a full and functional assessment on bringing a site to Burlington is part of a resolution the Council unanimously passed in 2020. As the number of overdoses has risen dramatically through the pandemic and the trend we had worked to reverse has taken a turn indicating the critical need to pursue all harm reduction, New York City became the first city in the nation to host a site last month. In the first few weeks of its opening, it has saved several dozen lives, people who would have overdosed and not been revived. These sites are an opportunity not only to humanely save lives but also to assist in a person's recovery from substance use disorder. It is hoped that with community input, Burlington can join other cities pursuing establishing a site and continuing to be on the cutting edge in fighting this crisis.
• Our next item is a resolution regarding the National Opioid settlement. The city must elect to opt into the settlement or do as some states have done and pursue settlement on their own.
• The third and fourth agenda items relate to changes to our Comprehensive Development Ordinance and to Chapter 18 of our Code, Minimum Housing Standards as they relate to Short-term Rentals (STRs). (These are the '2nd reading' of these changes so we will vote to enact them at Monday's meeting.) These amendments include:
a. Amending definitions to define "short-term rental," "lodging", and 'special residential use".
b. Establishing standards for the number and type of STRs permitted in a building, and when the host is required to be the owner/occupant of the property.
c. Establishing minimum life safety standards for STRs, and requirements for annual rental
registration.
• We will close our meeting with three resolutions.
a. One is regarding the hiring of a chief of police for our Police Department.
b.. We are voting on a request for an additional $750,000 of ARPA funds to provide relief for the property tax lag.
c. The last resolution would approve a 30 day extension of the current mask mandate with the current vaccine exemption that is already in place.
I encourage you to use the following link to finding all these agenda items and supporting documents: http://www.boarddocs.com/vt/burlingtonvt/Board.nsf/Public
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 have a wonderful weekend. A few flakes have fallen as I write this preview - the beauty of a weekend snowfall to come in just a few hours. I hope you enjoy our first snowfall and please be careful shoveling, plowing, and on the roads.
My best,
Karen
Oct 5, 2024, 10 to 11 AM
Happy Hounds & Happy Humans (Hscc Education Seminar)Oct 5, 2024, 10 to 11 AM
Arch — Mount Philo State ParkOct 11, 2024, 5 PM