Board of Health — Burlington, VT
Date: 2026-01-14
Time: 18:00

Wednesday, January 14, 2026, 6:00 PM, 645 Pine Street Conference Room OR
 REMOTELY via ZOOM

6:00 pm,Main Conference Room, 645 Pine Street OR Remotely via ZOOM:
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1. Agenda
 1.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda

2. Introductions of new and existing Board Members/staff

3. Public Forum
 Subject 3.1. Verbal Comments
 Meeting January 14, 2026 - January 2026 Board of Health - Wednesday, January 14, 2026, 6:00
 PM, 645 Pine Street Conference Room OR REMOTELY via ZOOM
 Category 3. Public Forum
 Department Council and Board


 Type

4. Substance Abuse and Safe Syringe Disposal

5. Health Equity

6. Housing inspection update from Bill Ward

7. Chair Report

8. Public Outreach / Communications

9. Adjournment
 Subject 9.1. Motion to adjourn
 Meeting January 14, 2026 - January 2026 Board of Health - Wednesday, January 14, 2026, 6:00
 PM, 645 Pine Street Conference Room OR REMOTELY via ZOOM


 Category 9. Adjournment

January 21, 2026 BOH draft minutes
Board members participating: Chair Celia Bird, Jane Seymour Jenny Tomczak, Bianka Cimrin, Dr.
Kate Tracy, and Health Officer Bill Ward

Board Chair Celia Bird called the meeting to order at 605 p.m.

Agenda
Jenny made a motion to amend the agenda to add the approval of November and December
minutes. 2nd by Bianka. Unanimous in favor.
Jane made a motion to add within the chair report, a discussion about next steps for the public
raised issue of water fluoridation. 2nd by Bianka
Jenny made a motion to approve the amended agenda. 2nd by Bianka.
Vote was unanimous in favor.

Draft minutes
November
 Jane made a motion to approve the minutes
 Jenny seconded the motion. Unanimous vote in favor.
December
Celia noted that the minutes should be amended because the chair report reflected all of the
comments being credited to her when she remembered it as more of a group discussion about
the City Council selection process. Bill agreed that he would review the video and rephrase the
minutes to reflect the discussion rather than only comments by the Chair.
Jenny made a motion to approve the amended minutes.
Bianka seconded the motion. Unanimous vote in favor.


Board Member introductions
Board members and staff introduced themselves to new member, Dr. Kate Tracy and she
shared her background and interests in participating as a board member.

Public Forum
There were no members of the public present.

Substance Abuse and Syringe Disposal
Jenny noted that she ended up not doing a front porch forum because she found the survey we
would have highlighted was ending a few days after our last BOH meeting.
Celia said she had not received any updated requests about the Overdose Prevention Center.
Celia suggested that Bill work on getting an updated heat map of found syringe litter.
Health Equity
Celia will reach out soon to the King Street Youth Center
Bianka suggested we explore new methods to have our messages available in translated format
in order to reach more Burlington residents. Celia suggested having someone from REIB
department be invited to a board meeting to coordinate our work on this. Bill will make initial
outreach on behalf of the board.

Housing Inspection Progress and Challenges
Bill discussed the Mayor’s plan for DPI to focus on Burlington’s Problem Properties. We are in
the midst of a housing crisis so these include Burlington’s vacant properties and
distressed/underutilized properties with special attention on properties having the most
negative impact on the neighborhood and the downtown core. Bill is now hosting department
heads for a monthly staff meeting to share updates and coordinate work across departments
on problem properties.

Chair Report
Celia brought up the topic of fluoridation in order to determine what board members thought
should be the next steps. Jane gave a summary of the previous public forum statements and
news articles that were shared with the board. She asked if the board members were
interested in having the item on a future agenda in order to have a vote on any next steps. The
board members agreed that Jane should create a specific agenda item for the next meeting.

Celia said she had connected with the Mayor’s Chief of Staff Jennifer Zakaras about heating and
cooling centers. Celia will coordinate with Bill and Jennifer about having city representatives
come to a future BOH meeting to discuss the policy and operation of the centers.

The board revisited the selection process for new board members and the importance of
working with City Council prior to the process. Jane made a motion to have the chair begin
outreach to the President of the City Council on this process. Kate seconded the motion
Unanimous Vote in favor.

Jenny made a motion to continue past the 2 hour meeting deadline to finish the agenda.
Seconded by Bianka. Unanimous vote in favor.

Emerging Issues/Public outreach
The group agreed they should have a winter safety public outreach message focusing on carbon
monoxide awareness and pedestrian safety.
The board discussed possible meeting dates in February and proposed the 11th at 5:30 pm. Bill
will send out notices and reserve a meeting room.

 Adjournment
Kate made a motion to adjourn the meeting. 2nd by Bianka. Unanimous in favor. The meeting
was adjourned by Celia at 8:16 p.m.