Wards 1 & 8 NPA — Burlington, VT
Date: 2021-11-10
Time: 19:00

Wards 1 & 8 Neighborhood Planning Assembly (NPA)
 Agenda
 November 10, 2021
 In-person at Fletcher Free Library, 235 College Street
 Community Room (lower level)
 And Zoom online
 Please click the link below to join the webinar:
 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84036123619
 Or Telephone:
 Dial:US: +1 929 205 6099
 Webinar ID: 840 3612 3619
 International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcyOP2ULai
 YouTube Livestream: NPA Wards 1&8 Playlist, click on upcoming/next meeting:
 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLljLFn4BZd2Pa3H8l30gy_gZ3NL6orXcN
 Note: This is for live streaming purposes only. Ward residents should intend to participate via
 Zoom or in-person if they wish to speak or vote.

Facilitator: Hannah King Host: Ethan Fellows, CEDO Minutes: Tom Derenthal

6:30 - 6:45 p.m. Zoom line open to call in (see below if you have problems)

6:45 (Formal start to the meeting) Announcements & Introductions

6:50 Speak-out
 General Public
 Brief review of COTS project (278 Main) - Bob Duncan, Jonathan Farrell
 Request for crossing guards - DPW, Dan Hill

7:05 City Council Report and Questions/Answers

7:30 School Board Commissioners Report and Questions/Answers

7:40 December 7 Ballot Items, City Issues and Questions/Answers - Mayor Weinberger

8:00 Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee Update and Input - Richard Hillyard (Ward 1) & Anne
 Brena (Ward 8)

8:40 Localvore coupons gifts - giveaways to two attendees

8:45 Adjourn
  If you have any difficulties accessing the meeting before, during or after, please feel free to
 contact Jonathan Chapple-Sokol at (802.777.3521; leave a message if no answer) or
chapplesokol.npasc@gmail.com and he will walk you through the process, and troubleshoot any
 issues. Want to watch the meeting but not be in direct attendance? Watch on Channel 17
YouTube. You will be able to watch the livestream, without logging into the Zoom. And, if you’re
 unable to tune in during the
 Wednesday meeting you can access the recording there, too!
 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLljLFn4BZd2Pa3H8l30gy_gZ3NL6orXcN

 NPA Steering Committee
 Tom Derenthal (Ward 1) tomd.npa@gmail.com ,
 Carol Livingston (Ward 1) carol.livingston1951@gmail.com,
 Jonathan Chapple-Sokol (Ward 1) chapplesokol.npasc@gmail.com,
 Hannah King (Ward 8) kinghannah190@gmail.com
 Keith Pillsbury (Ward 8) kpillsbury7@gmail.com
Minutes to Wards 18 NPA Meeting
November 10, 2021

In-person at Fletcher Free Library, 235 College Street
Facilitator: Hannah King Host: Ethan Fellows, CEDO Minutes: Tom Derenthal

Agenda:
6:30 - 6:45 p.m. Zoom line open to call in (see below if you have problems)
6:45 (Formal start to the meeting) Announcements & Introductions
6:50 Speak-out - General Public
 - Brief review of COTS project (278 Main) - Bob Duncan, Jonathan Farrell
 - Request for crossing guards - DPW, Dan Hill
7:05 City Council Report and Questions/Answers
7:30 School Board Commissioners Report and Questions/Answers
7:40 December 7 Ballot Items, City Issues and Questions/Answers - Mayor Weinberger
8:00 Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee Update and Input - Richard Hillyard (W1) & Anne Brena (W8)
8:40 Localvore coupons gifts - giveaways to two attendees
8:45 Adjourn

The meeting started at 6:45 PM

Attender List:
Angie Chapple-Sokol
Ann Brenia
Bob Duncan
Caryn Long
Dave Cawley
Erhard Mahnke
Hannah King
Jack Hanson
Jane Stromberg
Johnathan Farrell
Jonathan Chapple-Sokol
??
Kathy Olwell
Keith Pillsbury
Richard Hillyard
Samantha Sheehan
Tom Derenthal
Zoraya Hightower

Speakout:
Bob Duncan: Bob provided a housing development proposal by COTS. This repeat of the same in October is to
meet meeting warning requirements. See the slides in the Oct minutes.

Jonathan Chapple-Sokol [speaking for Jared Wood]
 - Jared recommended spending $15M of the bond capital on the high school. There is a clear need. [this
 is in response to the survey].
Richard Hillyard [speaking for Himself and Jared Wood]
 - Jared was unhappy with the Mayor’s last North Ave news column. Why does the city feel it needed to
 spend ~$850K in recruitment and incentives for BPD officers?

City Council Report:
Jane Stromberg
– Council has established an adhoc committee to review this year’s re-assessment and make recommendations
 for the next one. Focus will be on equity and pressure on low income households. Feedback to Council
 expected in Jan 2022.
– Re-assessment: There is ongoing discussion how to correct and/or fix the last 2021 reappraisal
– Council allocated $1.3M - to help some pay outstanding electric bills [from the COVID period]
– Postponed the Police Chief search by 6 months.
– COVID cases are going up – be careful
– Area food shelves are struggling to meet demand – please donate
Jack Hanson
– Council voted to increase police staffing to 79, excluding officers at the airport
– Updated sex work ordinance – this decriminalized sex work at the local level.
– Equity department – Created a strategic roadmap to reduce racism and inequities
– Sears lane encampment – Mayor chose to break up encampment. Council is looking for stable housing for
 those deposed.
– Resolution: Transportation Demand Management – A study on what a city wide system would look like for
 existing employers and institutions. More than parking lots and free parking. – did pass.
Zoraya Hightower
– Short term rentals – Position is that we will allow people to rent within their own homes if the owner is in the
 same building. Decisions about tenants or those in officially affordable housing exercising offering a short term
 is TBD. Considering tying the number of short term rentals to the number of affordable units [in the same
 building].
– Police Cap – The old cap was 97, reduced to 66 and increased to 79.
– CNA recommendations – 150 recommendations in the CNA report. Public safety committee to work on
 implementation.

Questions / comments::
Caryn Long – Police chief recruiting – The news cited a need to raise the pay to get a good candidate, but cities
comparable to ours pay what we're offering. Why do we feel we’re competing with towns much larger than ours?
Zoraya: Mayor called an emergency meeting to discuss, but comparisons were thin. Council asked for more data
to determine what we need to do to be competitive. Jane: We expected many great candidates, but got few. Jane
wants to keep the process open and keep applications coming in. Jack:Comparable analysis was incomplete.
Would prefer to get someone who has experience leading transformative change.

Keith – AIR BNB – some owners are out of state, property managers are not in Burlington. What is Burlington
doing to negotiate with UVM to invest in housing. Note: UVM is accepting more students, Jack / Zoraya: Council is
pushing to have UVM house more students. This was addressed in a recent executive session.

Ann Brenia: Police Chief search. Is the position considered desirable? Has the Mayor already expressed interest
in a professional recruiter? Zoraya: We have not done the analysis what the salary should be and have a
conversation about it. Burlington will be a uniquely difficult place for a new chief. Jack: The analysis was thin, and
we're in an OK place with compensation. No compelling argument to raise the salary. The current in house pool
are versed in the old way of policing. Need a transformative person to lead through the desired changes.
Tom D. - How long can btv go without a police chief before we do damage to the police or city?
Jane: We've already gone a long time, ~6 months already. The city deserves a solution. We should not wait
another 6 months. Jack: We should be working hard to recruit. The mayor picks department heads, and council’s
role… Zoraya: BPD are comfortable with the acting chief [because of his tenure on with BPD]. So there’s not likely
much harm to date. That said, the quicker there’s a new chief, the better.

School Board: Kathy Orwell
– Decision to build on Institute road.. Don't think 100% of tech center and high school build cost will pass on the
 ballot. Plan to ask donors for money
– Signed Superintendent for another 3 years.
– Pupil weight study in legislature: BTV is part of a coalition that has been underfunded for some time.
 Legislature paid $100K for study, now are considering pulling poverty and other things [ESL…] out of the
 weights and funding through another mechanism.

Comments / Questions:
Jonathan – What can we do to help? Kathy: Reach out to our state representatives and the legislature committee
to get the weights for ELS+ included.
– Act 60 was originally one of the most equitable funding mechanisms, but moneys are distributed unequally.
 Poor districts cannot fix buildings…

December 7 Ballot Items, City Issues and Questions/Answers - Mayor Weinberger

The Mayor presented the case for 2 ballot items. The first is a $40M general obligation bond that will continue
infrastructure investment in a variety of city projects. The impact to the homeowner of a median priced home
would be ~$13 per month. This bond will leverage other State and Federal revenue sources. See the Mayor’s
presentation for details. The second is for a BED revenue bond to further the City’s net zero energy objectives.
The impact to BED rates will be minimal in the first 5 years and expected to be in the range of 1% in years beyond
5. The details can be found in the Mayor’s presentation.

Questions / Comments:
Tom D.: Where do we stand against a reasonable borrowing limit for the City. Mayor: The target for the city’s
borrowing is a max of 1.75%. This bond is consistent with this borrowing. Moody’s is comfortable with this.
A $300M [tomd guestimate] school and tech center paid with bonds will exceed that limit. However the school cost
is TBD and the school district needs to define their costs and options.

Caryn Long: High school is a priority over other projects… and should be completed ASAP. The cost of borrowing
is on top of increases from the reassessment. The reassessment is driving families out. Mayor: We do pay too
much in property taxes. But the City’s budget has been restrained. School taxes have increased dramatically.
Burlington doesn't build sufficient new housing, which has the effect of increasing valuations and thus taxes.

Erhard Mahnke: Can any of the Federal infrastructure or “Build Back Better” funds be used for some of the items
on the list? Mayor: We expect and are assuming some of the Federal funds will be used. Burlington has some
shovel-ready projects that positions us well to compete for additional funds.

Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee Update and Input - Richard Hillyard (W1) & Anne Brena (W8)
Upcoming meetings include 2 public meetings [Nov 17 and Dec 6] plus a public survey. New boundaries will not
be on the March 2022 ballot, but a vote is now expected in Nov 2022.
Keith Pillsbury presented comprehensive statistics that describe register voters and turnout across Burlington’s
wards. W8 has consistently fewer registered voters and consistently fewer votes in elections going back to 2015.
Comments / Questions:
The City Attorney estimates that if new boundaries are voter approved in Nov 2022 and confirmed by the
legislature and governor in the 2023 session, the first town meeting day using the new boundaries will be in March
2024. The presentation accompanies these minutes.


Localvore coupons gifts - giveaways to two attendees
This month’s Localvore raffle winners are Angie Chapple-Sokol and Kathy Olwell. Congratulations!

The meeting ended at 8:45 PM
 Date of Registered Average of Number of Average % of voters % of voters
 Election Voters: Registered votes cast in Number of casting casting
 Ward 8 Voters in Ward 8 votes cast in ballots in ballots in
 Ward 1-7 Wards 1-7 Ward 8 Wards 1-7
 March 3, 3396 3971 325 1077 9.5% 27%
 2015
 March 1, 3523 4147 442 1717 12.5% 41%
 2016
 August 9, 3454 4250 285 1159 8.25% 27.2%
 2016
 November 3596 4494 848 2611 23.5% 58%
 8, 2016
 March 7, 3580 4527 141 942 4% 20.8%
 2017
 March 6, 4281 4676 896 1595 21% 34%
 2018
 August 14, 4429 4764 188 3567 4.2% 74.8%
 2018
 November 5113 5129 1388 2487 27% 48.5%
 6, 2018
 March 5, 4997 5061 479 1090 9.5% 21.5%
 2019
 March 3, 4073 4523 1075 2017 26% 44.5%
 2020
 August 11, 4074 4608 295 1543 7.2% 44.5%
 2020
 November 3909 4729 1126 3035 29% 64%
 3, 2020
 March 2, 4010 4792 837 1962 21.5% 41%
 2021




Election data from the city clerk/treasurer’s website