Dear Neighbors,

The current City Council has two additional meetings scheduled, with the next one taking place on Monday, March 11. The meeting will begin at 6:15pm and you are welcome to attend in-person at City Hall or via Zoom at: https://zoom.us/j/99037642421.

At the beginning of our meeting, we will receive an update on the City's plans to celebrate the total solar eclipse on April 8. On the Council's consent agenda, we will also be taking action to open up opportunities for more food trucks to apply for special 24-hour licenses to sell food throughout the city during the eclipse.

Public forum will take place at 7:30pm. Those wishing to participate may sign up in person at City Hall or, if participating virtually, use this form: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/citycouncil/publicforum.

After public forum, the Council will turn to its deliberative agenda, including the following items:

--> MEMORIAL BLOCK and SOUTH END INNOVATION DISTRICT – the Council will be asked to approve pre-development agreements for the South End Innovation District along Lakeside Avenue and the Memorial Block along Main Street. These agreements are preliminary steps for both the City and private developers to more fully explore the feasibility of developing these areas to include more housing, among other amenities. Once these feasibility studies are complete, the next Mayor's administration and the City Council will need to approve any next steps towards development.

--> INCLUSIONARY ZONING – the Council will consider a resolution that would ask the Planning Commission to consider updates to our current inclusionary zoning ordinances to further promote the development of truly affordable housing.

--> CHAMPLAIN PARKWAY – we will receive an update from the Department of Public Works on the current state of the Champlain Parkway and any plans to open the soon-to-be completed segment in the coming months. The Council will be asked to approve contract amendments to fully complete this segment. DPW has informed the Council that it intends on seeking City Council approval this spring to construct the second and final segment, which will connect the Parkway to the interstate.

--> STORMWATER and SEWER OVERFLOW – the City Council will take action to accept significant federal grant monies designed to improve our stormwater infrastructure and abate sewer overflow.

As always, I welcome your questions and feedback on any agenda item, as well as any other Burlington issues. I am grateful to our community for electing me to serve a second term on our City Council. Thank you to Lena Greenberg for a great campaign. Thanks as well to my City Council seatmate, Joan Shannon, for stepping up to lead our City. I am glad Joan and I will continue to serve together on the City Council, and I congratulate our Mayor-Elect, Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, on her win. I look forward to our actively working to collaborate on building a better Burlington and finding new ways to engage our community in future initiatives.

Best regards,

Ben Traverse
City Councilor, Ward 5
btraverse@burligntonvt.gov
(802) 357-2055

May 20, 2024, 6 to 7:30 PM

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

May 23, 6 PM to 9 PM, May 24, 2024