everyone i'm going to convene this regular meeting of the city council would city councillors please take their seats city councillors please take your seats to convene this regular meeting of the seek council tonight at seven twelve or would you all please join with me and stand in reciting the pledge of allegiance gender point seventeen a resolution on reclassification of the chief of staff mayoral communications and project ordinator and administrative court nater positions in the mayor's office from the board of finance add three point one eight to to the consented gender i don't three point one eight which is the communication from michael trombley regarding the seventy five maple street proposed rezoning with the action to waive it accept it and place it on file add to the consent to gender i don't three point nineteen the resolution on finalisation and availability of annual city on it for f way eighteen from the board of finance with the action to waive it and adopt project final report november twenty eighth note the sponsor title change and written materials for agenda item four point zero six the resolution for the march fifth twenty one thousand nine hundred city meeting amendments to charter fire from the public hearing regarding proposed amendments to burlington comprehensive development ordinance per comprehensive plan or total remove from the agenda item four point eleven the ordinance c form district five boundaries a number eight hundred eight per the comprehensive plan or amend the motion for agenda item four point thirteen ordinance comprehensive development ordinance density calculations hundred dash over five planning department planning commission ordinance committee to quote to quote to suspend the rules waive all requirements for first and second readings and referral to the ordinance committee increase in maximum tax rate for general city purposes authorized board of finance note revised version of this agenda items specifically the resolution itself and written a terrell's persio anderson thank you cancer no del second by cancer bush or any discussion on the agenda cancer mason thank you president right i would like to make an additional about that but was did make to the long list of amendments that would be to amend from the agenda item four point one two which deals again with ca one thousand two expectations will take that up at a subsequent meeting consideration four point zero nine is not removed but the public hearing is removed it's just the agenda amendments here we have a second from cancer bush are all those in favor of the agenda as amended police say i opposed we have our agenda and number two is a public forum that is normally for a time certain of seven thirty but it's pretty clear with the number of people that have signed up that we will go way past seven thirty so we're going to start it early tonight and it will be because of the number of people speaking it will be two minutes rather than three minutes rather than normal three minutes and just to start out with we know that there is an issue that many people are going to be speaking on tonight that there is a lot of passion around and we will listen attentively up here to your comments and remarks and all that we ask is that you get comments that you make certainly show all of the passion that you want but we do ask that the comments be made respectfully please don't call out city councillors or the mayor if you want to make comments they should go through the council president and not be personalized to different councillors or the mayor but otherwise tell us whatever you want to tell us  so we will kick this off and not that everybody is speaking in public for me speaking about the parks issue but i'm sure most are so we'll kick this off with erica r yes about this really but really close to go get my name is erica bundy reddick and i'm here tonight to introduce myself as a new candidate for the north district seat of city council so i just wanted to say hello and thank you for your service and i look forward to getting to know all of you moving forward and all of you who are especially in my district i'd like to hear what you have to say and what you're concerned about so i can make sure that the new north and represented well on the council and that's it thank you very much m this is the public hearings later on chara changes this is a charter change which is that the id we have a public hearing on d id but you can speak on it now if you choose to that's fine i just wanted to say that the appreciate all the hard work and effort people have done to think carefully about the future of burlington and in particular i'm speaking in favor of amending the downtown improvement district for the following customers and people i know in burlington residents and otherwise all know and appreciate that burlington is much more diverse and rich than a four block shopping district and what excites me about the expansion of the d id is that valuable resources will be continued to be applied to the marketplace but will be extended to the many dozens of important blocks that provide the character and the special nature of burlington and i think it's time to do that and that's what i'd say thank you mr wheeler appreciate that janet patterson is up next to be followed by shereen hart good evening miss patterson welcome i'm janet patterson i'm a long time resident of burlington i think i know most of you and the council and i'm a taxpayer i just want to say that i've been appreciating all the work that's been done in city hall park but i don't agree with some of it so what i'm suggesting that we do is we have this vote and make it possible for everybody to vote in burlington and make a decision as to whether we want what's planned when we went to new plan i walk through the park i've been part of gathering and making sure that people so way the right things as part of recycling composting and so on so i've been part of the park for a long time i really feel that we need to have it very local we don't need food we need bathrooms and walks and benches so i would vote for back benches and bathrooms and just to make sure that we have the right to vote bring that as a ballot issue is very important to me and thank you for all your work thank you ms patterson and the one thing i did not announce is there is a time system in front of you of course when the middle light goes off your time is starting to wind down you probably have two and half minute and a minute and when the red light goes off you need to conclude your remarks and it's important to note that everybody follows by the two minutes so shereen heart is up next to be followed by wayne sen evening with higher welcome i'm here personally and on behalf of the burlington business association and forgive me for reading as part of our work advocating advocating for burlington's economic value we know how important it is that burlington ensures that its residents and visitors have access to safe inviting public spaces the plan for the revitalization of city hall park shows that our community is making the effort to provide just this type of space in our downtown after extensive public input and several design changes to better meet the desires of community members the current plan provides city hall park with a real future as a community featuring healthy trees grass spaces for services and park visitors an open area for community members to meet and environmental features that will support our communities values on environmental sustainability this plan was voted on to move forward by coun eleven to one nearly eight years it eight months ago it feels like eight years it is time it is time to move this forward on behalf of the two hundred plus members of the burlington business association we support this existing plan for the park it will serve to improve vibrancy supporting our local businesses and bringing more people to own town the current plan will create a public space that residents visitors and downtown workers can enjoy it is vital that burlington supports efforts to revitalize the park  the same way we have for the northern waterfront and bike path the time is now to bring this positive change to downtown burlington as such on behalf of the b b a board and all its member businesses we urge the council to move forward with the current plan to revitalize city hall park in the most expeditious manner thank you thank you ms hired wayne sandhill is up next to be followed by charlie messing good evening mr sendhil and welcome good evening and i hope you'll also excuse me for reading since i write better than i speak over thirty three hundred for winton voters thirty three hundred have signed their names to the advisory question on city hall park that you're considering tonight that's a truly huge number of people to sign a petition it's with disappointment that i have heard that the mayor and some of you may refuse to place the advisory question on the ballot as it is worded and signed off on by so many voters i really hope that you'll reconsider i know the project has taken much time and much money has been spent on the plan so far but i'd ask you to recall the you waterfront  transit center project it's over two million dollars and several years had been spent on that before there was a public outcry and the mayor mayor claude bell and the city council reconsidered that plan the end result though delayed was a much better project as with that project what's at stake with the four million dollars city hall plan will be with us for decades we need to get it right and to have a plan that the majority of the community stands behind that's what will learn from the advisory question in just five weeks if you put it on the ballot as a retired city planner  past chair of the burlington planning commission i know not to expect a perfect process or a perfect plan but at last year's d rb hearing nearly two hundred people spoke out against it and now thirty three hundred residents are asking to weigh in through the advisory question process the petition before you is like the flashing red lights and warning bells at a railroad crossing when a train is approaching it's asking you to stop and to listen they give us your send charlie messing to be followed by kathleen ryan good evening mr messing and we're glad you're feeling better tonight one two one two ok i guess i just want to be audible mayor weinberger counsellors and everyone else great a lot of people here ok i've been to every park planning meeting and public court sessions since two thousand and fourteen at the public input sessions or share rats the design team handed out questionnaires about what changes were most important we split into groups we got about ten minutes to discuss ideas we were rushed and humor they classified our ideas to fit the questionnaires they collected our ideas on big pads then passed out little round colored stickers we got ten each for each set of six options represented by drawn boxes we applied the stickers to the boxes which represented more trees or accessibility or more activities peace and quiet as had tried we gave them more input and each time the revision was presented the through nearly legible charts and powerpoint presentations we noticed the plan had changed very little i have here the original plan from three years ago and the latest design from last summer after the ad hoc committee you may see similarities  lot of similarities seconds there are a lot of people here who feel strongly on both sides of this issue a lot of people and they feel strongly to have the people vote or not no more voting let's go on i think this is absolute proof why we need to let the people vote in march thank you thank you mr messing kathleen ryan is up next to be followed by treated as an inconvenient truth city hall park is the center of the define and the defining feature and the namesake of a national register historic district the city has awarded that designation w three it encompasses the park and twenty three surrounding buildings the essex essence of the park's historic design is the formal aerial walkways leading to the strong central focal point of the decorative fountain which is visible from three entries this layout has a been essentially the same since for one hundred fifty years despite the current state of disrepair the park evill lot of other industries that have it if you wear clothes you're wearing child slave labor if you have electronics if you have sugar and if you have chocolate tonight i'll just talk about chocolate please please as  new holiday coming up valentine's day if you're going to buy chocolate and you don't need chocolate you really don't please make it fair trade chocolate and let's support making the world failure for everybody especially the children thank you very much thank you ms win i believe i got the last name wrong as dan daniel you're passing ok it's to be followed by a lizard with curtis good evening ms bates welcome good evening kirk thank you very much packed and anyway i want to thank everyone i have gone to over the past three years about city hall park as well as all of the citizens who have participated in this for to say that people are people and sometimes we change our minds after long conversations yesterday with a friend of mine who had a sister who was a quieter politique and another friend who has a disabled child both are being from our community i have come to realize that my feelings on the park have changed i am proud of our efforts on saving more trees but i know with a better understanding of the widening of walkways and an intersection with the found for children with disabilities and families that i have a new respect for the space that they need to navigate and it's  more and it's more than most people thought in size as i really look at the plan for city hall park i can see that we are all getting something out of this as a community i hope people who are not in favor of this d esign will rethink this and have the courage to say so for the children in wheelchairs who need a cool place to play and water to splash around in let us all build this park sooner rather than later to me these kids are more important than anything else even the trees thank you thank you ms bates elizabeth curtis is up next three followed by travis rare evening and welcome thank you hello i live in ward three on blodgett street and i don't have a particular opinion on the park but i do have a particular opinion about how we decide these things in america mostly we like to quantify problems we like to get a number i had a historic tree removed and it was only done after i could prove to the city that the historic tree had raised my driveway and sidewalk by eighteen inches and and eaten nineteen measurable inches out of my driveway and  s t a couldn't get in we met all those standards so i'm open to other peoples numbers as well but i also question how do you quantify the ineffable the lunches the books read the quiet sitting and we have a way for that we ask each and every person who has had that experience to think about it and look at their ballot and assign a number it can be one for yes it can be two for no it can or vice versa and there will be a winner and there will be a loser but everyone will know that they have won or lost in an open fair and quantified competition thank you and songe good evening welcome it's fryer but that's ok i probably scribbled it so i'm not here to debate the merits of the new plan i don't think that's what we're supposed to be debating here at this point it's whether citizen should have a say it's a question of the democratic process as far as i understand where debating so regardless i think  was of what anyone thinks about the new plan i think everyone should be for putting the question on the ballot because it's just better democratic process to get everyone's opinion good evening john vice chair of the parks recreation waterfront commission the commission has unanimously supported the existing city hall park plan  voted to approve several months ago by an eleven to one margin we are most appreciative of the thoughtfulness that you have given to this important city project as you know this  on for four or five years the past two years or so there have been multiple forums and public hearings and each one the department has listened and made changes in adjustments to the initial design you've supported that lengthy process as her commission because we both understand how important public input is to a project like this one and we both understand the importance of preserving the often time consuming process and democracy of making a decision we listen as you have and when the time comes for a vote you are elected officials and representatives will make a well informed decision because you've given residents an opportunity to weigh in and you've been given the critical information from the design team the commission is most grateful that you have been patient and trusted the process even after you voted to live under one to approve a plan you left the door open for additional feedback and that information came back to department and still more changes were made to the plan equally important you have understood that our city hall park is foremost a civic square which is serve burling tony and over one hundred fifty years it is a place for community and people to gather relax and host of a variety of activities it is an active functioning urban space thank you for your patience and wisdom and letting this process play itself we've got a great design you've done your job well thank you mr signage lynn martin to be followed by richard hell the evening ms martin welcome good evening good evening you've all seen me here before and have heard my position which is now reflected in the good work of don and monique i'm here to beg you to listen to the thousands of residents who sign the petition put the ballot question they support as currently written on the march ballot it was approved in advance by blackburn submitted to her t forestall the type of high jinks now being floated by some council members we pride ourselves for living in a democracy but over the past few years input from the residents of this city have been shelled far too often if not pushed into the empty hole that now graces the center of our downtown we don't want our government to be another version of trump a light democracy is fragile and i am begging you again please stand with the people short before a few talks of one point eight million and it appears that the latest proposal that may or may not be before you tonight will get down to about five hundred thousand which will i'm guessing that that could save a million dollars in spend for two thousand and nineteen two thousand and twenty i'm not saying the design is good with the design is bad but thirty three hundred people  between traffic safety issues being identified in the city and traffic enforcement being implemented i'd prioritize one hundred thousand dollars in speed radar signs or similar devices that we could put in sensitive  safety identified areas around the city i doubt two hundred fifty thousand for recruits in the next day in a seven hundred fifty new jobs in the redevelopment of burnet in town center over and above the thousand plus that have left one hundred thousand to monitor the relationship with brookfield so that we don't have to be embarrassed by the softball exhibition last tuesday and finally seven seconds finally surely the city has a responsibility to what vies the net financial parks recreation and waterfront commission where i've had the pleasure to serve for the last three years i'm not here to speak on behalf of my colleagues although as john mentioned we have all expressed our unanimous support for the plan in its current iteration  like many other speakers here tonight i appreciate your hard work and your commitment to this project and i appreciate the passion of everyone on both sides because in the end we want the same thing which is a beautiful functional and welcoming park that works for all burling tony and anyone who's visiting but like many other people i encourage you to move ahead with this project we've delayed and delayed and delayed i don't think anyone can argue that the park doesn't need updates as someone mentioned earlier the sidewalks are too narrow there's patches of dirt everywhere  rather than keeping the park green we need to make it green because in the summer though it is beautiful trees are dying grass is dying and i look forward to moving forward with this project as as planned and seeing new growth new flowers as as we've planned i've been trying to keep up with with with all of the different things that people have been saying about the park and as i mentioned i really appreciate the passion of everyone but one thing i will say