Dear Ward 6 neighbors,

The next City Council meeting will be tomorrow, Monday, May 15, beginning at 6:30pm.

You are welcome to attend in person at Contois Auditorium OR Remotely via ZOOM or 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. Public forum will begin at 7:15pm.

Our agenda tomorrow evening includes two key deliberative items:

• ECLIPSE 2024 – On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will come over the Americas. Our city of Burlington will be along the central line of the eclipse, experiencing three 14 minutes and sixteen seconds of totality, thus making Burlington one of the premier cities in North America, and certainly in New England. The last time there was a total eclipse visible in Northern New England was in 1932. This resolution sets up a process for all aspects of City government to work together on this unique event to showcase our city as we welcome many thousands to witness this once-in-several-generations remarkable event next year.

• PROCESS FOR UPDATING SHELTERING ON PUBLIC LANDS POLICY GIVEN THE RISE IN HOMELESSNESS AND THE END OF THE MOTEL VOUCHER PROGRAM – In focusing on the pressing community issues of homelessness and sheltering on public lands, this resolution asks the Mayor's Office to support updates to the current Outreach and Removal Policy, asks CEDO to provide a Council committee, Community Development and Neighborhood Revitalization (CDNR), with research and community and city staff engagement on best practices and potential pathways to take to improve the status quo on the current sheltering on public lands policy, camping options when shelter capacity has been reached, including but not limited to sanctioned camping; and storage and bathroom access. CDNR would obtain feedback from relevant stakeholders, including the State of Vermont, and report back on the discussion of best practices and potential pathways as well as recommended actions to the City Council on August 14, 2023. The Administration and the City Council will work with our state legislative delegation to find additional funding to assist Burlington and other municipalities to find resources to alleviate the full cost of supporting the unhoused on city services.

We will also have a presentation from the Board of Health prior to the deliberative agenda when the Board will present its work over the past year and plans for the coming twelve months.

I encourage you to review these and other agenda items 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 Mother's Day weekend.

My best,
Karen

May 18, 2024, 9 AM to 12 PM

May 18, 2024, 9 to 10 AM

May 22, 6 PM to 9 PM, May 23, 2024