Ward 6 NPA — Burlington, VT
Date: 2025-11-06
Time: 18:30

Ward 6 NPA Meeting Agenda
Thursday, November 6, 2025
Location: Department of Public Works, 645 Pine Street

Or on zoom: https://zoom.us/j/81027856568
Zoom Webinar ID: 810 2785 6568

6:00 Community Dinner – join us for great (free!) food and a chance to connect with your neighbors

6:30 Call to Order, Announcements, Public Forum
6:40 Church Street Marketplace updates, Samantha McGinnis, Director
7:00 Fletcher Free Library updates, Mary Danko, Library Director
7:20 Community Safety Updates, Shawn Burke, Interim Chief of Police
7:45 City Council, Councilors Becca Brown McKnight and Buddy Singh
8:15 NPA Business: Call for new Steering Committee Members and Ward 6 representative to the City’s
CDBG Board
8:30 Adjourn

What is the NPA?
Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (NPAs) are grassroots, neighborhood organizations that were
established in each of Burlington's wards to encourage resident participation in City government.
Working as neighborhood advocacy groups, Neighborhood Planning Assemblies help improve
communication between the residents of Burlington and City government through regular meetings
scheduled in each Ward. For more information, click here.

What is involved in being on the Ward 6 NPA Steering Committee?
The Steering Committee is responsible for managing the affairs of the NPA, which includes organizing,
publicizing, and overseeing regular and special NPA meetings; sharing information about the NPA with
neighbors and the wider community; monitoring community developments and City policy to identify
issues relevant to the neighborhood and inviting speakers to present at the NPA; and overseeing the
NPA’s budget from the City. We typically meet once each month to plan the following month’s meeting,
and then have various tasks to follow up on (such as contacting speakers, arranging for food, etc.).

What is involved in being on the CDBG Advisory Board?
Attending 3 evening meetings between January and March 2026, to make recommendations about how
to spend between $400,000 to $600,000 to reduce poverty in the City. Responsibilities include attending
all training sessions and Board meetings, reading and rating grant applications, developing a balanced
budget in coordination with the other Board members, reporting back to the body you represent, and
having fun and meeting new folks from our community. The total time commitment is 8 hours of meeting
time, plus time to read and rate the applications, estimated to be another 8-12 hours over the two-
month period.

Ward 6 NPA Meeting Agenda
Thursday, November 5, 2025
Location: Department of Public Works, 645 Pine Street


6:30 Announcements:
 • Steering Committee Members present: Nancy Harkins, Mills Forni, Dale Azaria;
 o Anita Rapone on zoom
 • Not able to broadcast right now, but will add that when we can
 • Greg Epler Wood, presented a petition to City Council
 o Got 65 signatures on the petition
 o Appreciation to Becca Brown McKnight, who helped him on the issue of speeding on
 South Union Street, which has had a significant increase in speeding and traffic over the
 last few years (since construction projects started). She wrote to Chapin Spencer (DPW)
 o Chapin brought in Traffic Calming people, but there’s a long list of projects in the queue.
 o But South Union is soon to be paved, so that may bump them up.
 o If anyone wants to add their name to the petition, and they live on South Union or an
 adjoining street, they should contact Greg
 • Alan Matson, Ward Clerk
 o No election this month
 o Next election will be in March (Town Meeting Day)
 o People who have worked on elections will hear from Alan later this month
 o Elections will likely be in the Elementary School, as the last one was
 o If anyone would like to work, talk to Alan
6:45 Samantha McGinnis, Church Street Marketplace Director
 • Director since July, working for Church Street Marketplace for 5 years
 • Santa Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting, Fri Nov 28
 • Festive Fridays, through December, 4-8 pm
 • Window Decorating Contest, Dec 5-14
 • Santa visiting
 • Free Hot Chocolate
 • And more!
 • Marketing and advertising to remind folks to come downtown and shop
 • Question: Can you do anything about all of the vacant storefronts?
 o In the past, have partnered with Fletcher Library, Frog Hollow
 o Looking for a space for Santa to move into, and she’s hearing that many of the vacant
 spaces are leased as of 12/1
 • Winter Market at New BCA Space on Pine Street, another one at City Hall (instead of doing it in
 City Hall Park as last year)
 • Celebrate Burlington: First Quarter tends to be very slow for downtown businesses, trying to
 encourage activities
 • New Winter Lights are coming
 • Main Street will be open as of noon on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and fully open through
 April when construction will pick up again. Two way traffic and parking.
 • Vacancy Rate is about 10%, which is higher than we’d like, but there’s still a lot of interest
 • Foliage Season was strong

7:00 Mary Danko, Fletcher Free Library
 • Echoes Samatha’s comments that thinks seem to be turning around downtown.
 • Wants to promote everyone getting library cards. If you don’t have one, come to the library with
 any proof of residency. And talk to your friends and neighbors about the benefits of having a
 library card.
 • There are two parts to the library: the physical space downtown (which is having some important
 exterior construction work done). We have books, computers, DVDs, book discussion kits, library
 of things (cake pans, metal detector, and more). And then there’s the online library for e-books,
 audio books, newspapers and magazines, and more. Access to databases, including grant
 opportunities, old periodicals, and more. Programming: book discussions, language programs,
 yoga for kids, storyhour,
 • We’re part of a consortium with other libraries in the state
 • Nonfiction Comic Fest is on November 15
 • Library is open to all, but people need to meet behavior standards. Talk to people, be clear about
 expectations.
 o Security. They used to have a contract for security but switched to hiring directly. That
 allows the security staff to be better connected to the library, the staff, the space, etc.
 They think it’s working much better.
 o Also, Howard Street Liaison is on site 5 days/week. He’s plugged in to services
 • She hasn’t heard about any significant efforts to ban books in Vermont. But there is also a
 concern about “soft censorship,”
 • Moving towards renovations for the interior: more meeting rooms, more bathrooms, a more
 flexible youth space. They have a capital campaign committee (in silent phase right now). Also
 looking at grants. City Council signed an MOU for this project earlier this week.

7:20 Chief Sean Burke, Burlington Police Department
 • Interim Chief since March.
 • We only have 59 sworn officers, but we also have community police officers (traffic, animal
 control, noise issues), community support liaisons (social service providers in the field), strong
 connection with Howard Street Outreach Team (which was developed by the Church Street
 Mktplace). We still need more officers, but we’re developing approaches that enable us to use
 the officers we have more effectively.
 • Street Outreach Team is primary responder for mental health issues
 • Community Support Liaison is primary responder for overdose issues
 • Police will go to these calls, but can leave once it’s safe and the non-sworn staff can continue
 • Too new of a system to draw conclusions
 • When an employee is not occupied elsewhere, they’re expected to be downtown (Marketplace,
 City Hall Park, etc.)
 • A lot of things that people see that feel like disorder are not necessarily a violation of the law.
 • Some changes at the hospital, where they are holding more people who might be a threat to
 themselves and others.
 • Special Docket to address the criminal court backlog. This is starting to make a difference.
 • Also, getting better connection to services for folks who are pre-trial
 • Working on recruitment and retention. There’s a lack of people who have the experience to be
 supervisors.
 • State Law Enforcement support (Governor offered assistance). State Police will be on Church St
 Mktplace. They are not responsible for making arrests. Intended to make people feel safe and be
 able to enjoy themselves. Also getting help from Dept to Liquor Control (downtown) to ensure
 that bars are following the rule (minors and over-service). And from DMV for safety on 127,
 where there are too many crashes.
 • Data shows violent crime is down, gunfire is down.
 • Recruitment and retention: there are generational changes that are affecting this all over the
 country. We offer good salary and benefits. But we need better relationship with the community
 (in order to attract candidates). We had some poor marketing choices in the past, need to move
 past that. Applications are up about 10%, but still not enough.
 • We can’t arrest our way out of an unhoused crisis. We can’t arrest our way out of a mental health
 crisis.

8:10 City Council Update, Buddy Singh and Becca Brown McKnight
 • DPW put out an RFP about recycling (for a contract instead of public works doing it). Only got one
 bid.
 • Syringe Litter Report
 • New Director of the Parks Department was voted in last week.
 • Potential Charter Change Ballot items (for March)
 o Debt Authorization
 o Enshrining Office of Racial Equity Inclusion and Belonging in the City Charter
8:30 NPA Business
 • We need new Steering Committee Members
 • And we have an opening for a representative to the City’s CDBG Allocation Committee