Parks Commission — Burlington, VT
Date: 2026-01-22
Time: 16:30

City Council - Parks, Arts and Culture Committee

 Thursday, January 22, 2026, 4:30 PM, 645 Pine St., Front Conference Room

MEETING TO BE HELD IN PERSON AT 645 PINE ST FRONT CONFERENCE ROOM AND VIA ZOOM
When: Jan 22, 2026 04:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: PACC meeting
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1. Call to Order
  Subject 1.1. Call to Order
  Meeting January 22, 2026 - Parks, Arts and Culture Committee Meeting - Thursday, January 22,
 2026, 4:30 PM, 645 Pine St., Front Conference Room
  Category 1. Call to Order
  Department


  Type

2. Approve Agenda & Minutes
  2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda
  2.2. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes

3. Public Forum
  Subject 3.1. PUBLIC FORUM - Verbal Comments
  Meeting January 22, 2026 - Parks, Arts and Culture Committee Meeting - Thursday, January 22,
 2026, 4:30 PM, 645 Pine St., Front Conference Room
  Category 3. Public Forum
  Department


  Type
4. Agenda
  Subject 4.1. PlanBTV 2050 Comprehensive Plan Update
  Meeting January 22, 2026 - Parks, Arts and Culture Committee Meeting - Thursday, January 22,
 2026, 4:30 PM, 645 Pine St., Front Conference Room


  Category 4. Agenda

  Department Parks, Recreation, & Waterfront


  Type

  Recommended Action

  Subject 4.2. BCA Downtown Festivals and Events Update
  Meeting January 22, 2026 - Parks, Arts and Culture Committee Meeting - Thursday, January 22,
 2026, 4:30 PM, 645 Pine St., Front Conference Room


  Category 4. Agenda

  Department Parks, Recreation, & Waterfront


  Type

  Recommended Action

5. Adjournment
  Subject 5.1. Motion to adjourn
  Meeting January 22, 2026 - Parks, Arts and Culture Committee Meeting - Thursday, January 22,
 2026, 4:30 PM, 645 Pine St., Front Conference Room


  Category 5. Adjournment

  Department Council and Board


  Type

  Recommended Action

6. Informational and Non-Discrimination Statements

 The City of Burlington will not tolerate unlawful harassment or discrimination on the basis of political or religious
 affiliation, race, color, national origin, place of birth, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity,
 marital status, veteran status, disability, HIV positive status, crime victim status or genetic information. The City
 is also committed to providing proper access to services, facilities and employment opportunities. The programs
 and services of the City of Burlington are accessible to people with disabilities. Individuals who require special
 arrangements, auxiliary aid, service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to
 participate in a program, service, or activity of the City of Burlington, should contact the office of the Title II
 Burlington ADA Coordinator at 802-865-7000 as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled
 event.

CITY OF BURLINGTON Councilor Carter Neubieser, Chair, Ward 1
PARKS, ARTS & CULTURE COMMITTEE Councilor Joe Kane, Ward 3
 Councilor Allie Schachter, East District

 Staff: Holli Bushnell, Office Assistant
 Lakeview Cemetery
 hbushnell@burlingtonvt.gov
Minutes
Parks, Arts & Culture Committee Meeting
Thursday, January 22, 2026, 4:30pm
MEETING CONDUCTED IN PERSON AT 645 PINE ST, FRONT CONFERENCE ROOM, AND VIA ZOOM

Attendance:
Committee Members: Chair Carter Neubieser, Councilor Joe Kane, Councilor Allie Schachter

City Staff: Sophie Sauve – BPRW, Doreen Kraft - BCA

Meeting called to order at 4:33 pm by Chair Carter Neubieser

Approval of Agenda
Allie Schachter moved to approve the agenda, Joe Kane seconded, and all were in favor.

Approval of Draft Minutes from 10/23/2025
Schachter moved to approve the minutes, Kane seconded, all were in favor

Public Forum

Public forum was opened at 4:34pm. As no one was present or wished to speak public forum was also
closed at 4:34pm

PlanBTV 2050 Comprehensive Plan Update –

Sophie Sauve explained that PlanBTV 2050 is going to be ramping up soon. It encompasses 4 plans – the
municipal plan, transportation, BPRW, and an economic development plan for the city. They combining
forces for a number of reasons including transparency between departments and a concern for public
fatigue concerning the projects. Currently, they are in the process of engaging a consultant. Once a
consultant has been selected they will go before the project advisory committee (PAC) as well as begin
the public comment process. They are open to different strategies of engaging community members
who typically are hard to reach using regular tactics. There are lots of strategies on the board, but
nothing has been solidified yet. The plan needs to be adopted by March 2027.

Schachter shared that she’s happy to hear they’re working with trusted community voices. Wanted to
share that the school district has a good amount of translation services and is a good way of getting
messages out to the community. There is a newsletter that goes out from Schachter’s school that might
be a good place to share information. Sauve was very enthusiastic about this possibility.

Neubieser suggested an “NPA roadshow” taking presentations to each NPA to share what’s coming in
the new plan. Sauve also saw the value of this idea.

BCA Downtown Festivals and Events Update –
CITY OF BURLINGTON Councilor Carter Neubieser, Chair, Ward 1
PARKS, ARTS & CULTURE COMMITTEE Councilor Joe Kane, Ward 3
 Councilor Allie Schachter, East District

 Staff: Holli Bushnell, Office Assistant
 Lakeview Cemetery
 hbushnell@burlingtonvt.gov
Doreen Kraft shared that what BCA has started to do is look at their whole organization, especially the
events division due to it’s large amount of growth in the last few years. They’ve taken over the
management of Contois, opened a new space on Pine St, and has been providing programing for City
Hall Park without the promised funding from the state. They’ve undertaken the funding for CHP events,
but it’s getting increasingly difficult due to the ongoing issues within the park.

Last year they initially planned to cancel Festival of Fools, but with community fundraising they were
able to put on a one-day block party. They intend to do the same thing this year, moving it to a two day
festival. There will be more buskers and performance spaces, small local partners, and hoping to bring
folks back from two years ago. This model is what they’re planning to do with all their events. We can
still have quality, but we can’t afford the breadth of the way we used to do things. The city’s
contribution is shrinking in terms of the contribution to these spaces. At the same time they’re going to
non-profits and community organizations and asking if they are able to step up and be involved in
existing events. They’re listening to ideas from these groups as well.

The thing to remember with this particular circumstance is that the city is not able to provide funds for
events. They can help with logistics, permitting, and other aspects, but there are no funds available for
these potential projects. The goal is to create magic, making these smaller events seem just as large and
significant with less city financial contribution. Some things they city is haven’t to put the pause button
on, but they will be coming back (albeit somewhat different).

Kraft shared that she would be willing to share budget plans for the future. She is happy to note that
they have made significant budgetary cuts while maintaining the integrity of the events they produce.

Neubieser expressed appreciation for the information Kraft provided. He asked if BCA could provide
quarterly updates regarding their events and financials. Kraft was in favor of this. He was also curious
about how BCA is triaging/prioritizing events going forward. He also had concerns about international
tourism in terms of the current posturing our federal government is doing, particularly with Canada.

Kraft shared that she feels we need to think differently about international tourism. We’re seeing a
much higher percentage of tri-state and in-state tourism in the last few years (although there are no
official demographics). Sometimes there is real, raw data, other times it’s looking more at traffic
information, etc… The cuts that they made are based on the data they’ve observed (example – CHP is
very quiet in August, day time events aren’t well attended when it’s extremely hot, etc…). Kraft tries to
be at these events to observe and make decisions. She does not feel that Canadians will be returning
any time soon. They made up 23-28% of our economy, and while we can’t give up on that market share,
we do need to pivot to the in-state/tri-state model. We have a lot of things that draw people here. We
need to focus on those things, stop talking about what’s not working and start talking about what is. We
have to change our own messaging of our own people, change our own self-marketing.

We are not alone in our issues as well. We need to learn from other cities. Reach out to other
communities to see how they’ve succeeded. The hard part is making time to do that work.
CITY OF BURLINGTON Councilor Carter Neubieser, Chair, Ward 1
PARKS, ARTS & CULTURE COMMITTEE Councilor Joe Kane, Ward 3
 Councilor Allie Schachter, East District

 Staff: Holli Bushnell, Office Assistant
 Lakeview Cemetery
 hbushnell@burlingtonvt.gov
Schachter shared that seeing events downtown completely changes her experience of being downtown.
The work that BCA does really makes a difference in the feel of the city. Is happy to hear the work that
Kraft has been doing to make more happen with less. She appreciates their creative pivots. She shared
that she’s sometimes unsure on how to promote these events. How do we get the word out and own
the narrative about what’s going on here. Appreciates the concerns about Canadian tourism and knows
that we’ve taken a huge hit. Appreciates the transition to a more regional focus, and encouraged an
even tighter focus on the area we market to, specifically in Chittenden County. Would love to discuss
further and get an idea on how councilors can help. Kraft liked the idea of coming together at a PACC
meeting with ideas. She also feels that it’s important to feature activities that aren’t events. She’s also
conscious of the downtown focus, but knows there are other centers in the community that could be
featured. We have so many cool amenities and secrete things that you only know about if you’re a
local. How can we translate that to transient visitors?

Kraft then shared a presentation from Highlight. They sold 4,500 tickets, which was their goal, and they
were able to keep costs to participants relatively low, with only a small increase. There were events
throughout the city, both inside and outside, fireworks, s’mores, acrobatics, dance parties, and much
more. One of the things that was gifted to Highlight was the Fluffy Bus. It has been a big hit in the past
and they graciously decided to do the event as a gift to the city. Everything was extremely well
attended.

Neubieser thanked Kraft for her presentation and work

Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned. The next meeting to be held on 02/26/2026 at 4:30pm at 645 Pine St and
via Zoom.