Dear Neighbors,
This coming Monday, the City Council will convene its first of two scheduled meeting for the month of December.
• You are welcome to attend the Council meeting in person at Contois Auditorium OR Remotely via ZOOM at the following link: https://zoom.us/j/97298074094
• You can also join us via Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLljLFn4BZd2PwCge7lNoKug676jIf_iUA
• You can sign up for public forum via this link: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/citycouncil/publicforum or in person by completing a sign-up form inside Contois.
We will begin our meeting at 5:30pm with a work session on South End planning and zoning. This is a preliminary discussion and will involve no Council action. We will then have an update on District Energy. This is a project that has been decades in the making, taking energy that would take waste heat from the McNeil Generating Station and use this resource to provide thermal energy and have an impactful reduction in natural gas emissions and significant energy savings.
After public forum which will begin at 7:30pm, we have two item on our deliberative agenda, as follows:
We will have a report on the thermal Charter Change relating to decarbonizing all buildings in Burlington by 2030.
The last item on our deliberative item in a resolution on redistricting. After forming an AdHoc committee of citizens to gauge community priorities, and many public forums, three work sessions and a great deal of engagement on this issue, we are now at the last possible Council meeting to vote on a redistricting map.
By way of background, we must vote on new boundaries because Ward 1 has grown in population and must lose residents to stay within the 10% deviation from the smallest to the largest ward. We voted in October to continue with an 8 ward 12 councilor configuration. This was done to due to Wards 2 and 3 wanting to continue to be separate from the New North End.
Ward 8, who has had an unhealthy balance of on campus students to longer-term residents, would like to see their balance of constituents more fairly balanced. To that end, Wards 1, 6 and 8 must assume some of the on campus UVM and Champlain student population. There are a number of maps that attempt to do that. I have maintained that Ward 6 must assume the Redstone campus which has been home to Ward 6 for all but the last few years since the last redistricting. I do want to honor Ward 8's desire to see much greater balance and this will require all neighboring wards to work together to fairly accommodate that need.
I would encourage you to check out our agenda on board docs at 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 are having a wonderful weekend.
My best,
Karen
Jun 29, 2024, 9 AM to 2 PM
Community Ballroom DanceJun 29, 2024, 7 to 9 PM
Try Ultimate Frisbee!Jun 30, 2024, 4 to 6 PM