Community Development and Neighborhood Revitalization Committee — Burlington, VT
Date: 2025-08-20
Time: 18:30

Sharon Bushor Conference Room, 1st Floor, City Hall
 149 Church Street, Burlington
 Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 6:30 PM

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Meeting ID: 928 0344 1166
Passcode: 786487

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1. Agenda
 1.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda

2. Public Forum
 Subject 2.1. PUBLIC FORUM - Verbal Comments
 Meeting August 20, 2025 - CDNR Committee Meeting - Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 6:30 PM,
 Sharon Bushor Conference Room, 1st Floor, City Hall
 149 Church Street, Burlington
 Category 2. Public Forum
 Department


 Type

3. AgeWell (45 minutes)
 Subject 3.1. Communication from Burlington Aging Council
  Meeting August 20, 2025 - CDNR Committee Meeting - Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 6:30 PM,
 Sharon Bushor Conference Room, 1st Floor, City Hall
 149 Church Street, Burlington


  Category 3. AgeWell (45 minutes)

  Department Community & Economic Development Office (CEDO)


  Type

  Recommended Action

4. Syringe Litter Check-in (20 minutes)

5. Regional Programs Initial Discussion (20 minutes)

6. Scheduling Check-in and Adjournment
  Subject 6.1. Motion to adjourn
  Meeting August 20, 2025 - CDNR Committee Meeting - Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 6:30 PM,
 Sharon Bushor Conference Room, 1st Floor, City Hall
 149 Church Street, Burlington


  Category 6. Scheduling Check-in and Adjournment

  Department Council and Board


  Type

  Recommended Action

Sharon Bushor Conference Room, 1st Floor, City Hall
 149 Church Street, Burlington
 Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 6:30 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92803441166?pwd=eYAc7RbAcNc8fgxqv4IOuHJrH1QIpv.1

Meeting ID: 928 0344 1166
Passcode: 786487

---

One tap mobile
+16469313860,,92803441166#,,,,*786487# US
+19292056099,,92803441166#,,,,*786487# US (New York)

Join instructions
https://zoom.us/meetings/92803441166/invitations?signature=cDmZfWiBBUzd_lbC_8rN7pg7qp06TOdl
DS6Ajpepg0E




1. Agenda
 1.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda

2. Public Forum
 Subject 2.1. PUBLIC FORUM - Verbal Comments
 Meeting August 20, 2025 - CDNR Committee Meeting - Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 6:30 PM,
 Sharon Bushor Conference Room, 1st Floor, City Hall
 149 Church Street, Burlington
 Category 2. Public Forum
 Department


 Type

3. AgeWell (45 minutes)
 Subject 3.1. Communication from Burlington Aging Council




 Page 1 of 4
  Meeting August 20, 2025 - CDNR Committee Meeting - Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 6:30 PM,
 Sharon Bushor Conference Room, 1st Floor, City Hall
 149 Church Street, Burlington


  Category 3. AgeWell (45 minutes)

  Department Community & Economic Development Office (CEDO)


  Type

  Recommended Action

4. Syringe Litter Check-in (20 minutes)

5. Regional Programs Initial Discussion (20 minutes)

6. Scheduling Check-in and Adjournment
  Subject 6.1. Motion to adjourn
  Meeting August 20, 2025 - CDNR Committee Meeting - Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 6:30 PM,
 Sharon Bushor Conference Room, 1st Floor, City Hall
 149 Church Street, Burlington


  Category 6. Scheduling Check-in and Adjournment

  Department Council and Board


  Type

  Recommended Action




 Page 2 of 4
To: Burlington City Council, Community Development & Neighborhood Revitalization
 Committee (Evan Litwin, Chair, Carter Neubieser, Allie Schachter)
From: Burlington Aging Council (Former Members) Symphorien Sikyala, Congolese
 Community, Molly Dugan, Cathedral Square, Jane Catton, Age Well, Kelly Stoddard
 Poor, AARP-VT, Andrea Viets, Heineberg Community Senior Center, Alison Miley,
 Howard Center, Barbara Shaw-Dorso, Resident, Charles J Messing, Resident, Glenn
 McRae, Resident
Date: August 6, 2025
RE: Implementation of the Age Strong Burlington Priority Measures
 We were gratified by the action taken by City Council on May 19th to pass a
resolution to Adopt the Burlington Aging Council Age Strong Burlington Plan. As noted in
the resolution:
 • The Age-Strong Burlington Plan is the basis for forming appropriate creative
 and innovative approaches to address challenges, and the City Council
 accepts the report for further consideration and action,
 • The CDNR Committee give due consideration to identify and recommend to
 City Council clear action steps to move appropriate recommendations to
 action beginning with the renewal of a Burlington Council on Aging populated
 by an appropriate set of members to develop and further these
 recommendations for the benefit of the city, supported by the many city
 partners who participated in the development of the plan.
 We understand that there was a robust overview discussion at the CDNR June
meeting, but no follow-up discussion or action at the July meeting. We believe that you are
next scheduled to meet on August 20th. We hope that the Plan is on the agenda and that
there is an opportunity for the CDNR committee to formulate a series of specific
recommendations for immediate implementation to bring back to City Council for
consideration and start to initiate specific critical actions that are crucial to the health and
well-being of the City.
 We respect the fact that the City is facing significant financial challenges, though we
were deeply disappointed to see the elimination of staff and programs that provided the
very limited services the City had in place to address the well-being of our older residents.
It is more important than ever to ensure that there is an active voice embedded in City
government to speak to the needs and wishes of our older citizens (some 12% of the city
population). While the plan is far-reaching and aspirational, it was purposefully designed to
offer a set of no or very low-cost measures that would lay the foundation for long-term
action in support of this growing population. Some of those measures that we urge you to
take up and promptly advance includes:
 • Formalize BAC as a City commission. Re-establish BAC membership with an
 "implementation" oriented membership. The commission should support
 CDNR and be staffed by an appropriate city staff person.


 1


 Page 3 of 4
 • Request that key City Departments designate a lead contact available to
 coordinate and connect with the BAC (e.g., Planning (data); Library; DPW
 (Plan BTV); Parks and Recreation; REIB; Public Safety; Advisory Council on
 Accessibility).
 • Request quarterly reporting from City Departments to BAC / CDNR on
 programs and policies, in place and in development, related to the Age
 Strong Burlington Priorities.
 • Create a schedule for an annual set of resolutions aligned with BAC priority
 action areas in line with state and national events and awareness
 campaigns. Work with City Partners to identify appropriate events and dates
 and provide input into resolutions.
These four steps would provide a foundation to assist CDNR to make substantial future
progress. The goals remain the same, but the need is more acute, and opportunities can be
lost through inaction. BAC sustaining goals:
 1. to elevate the contributions of older adults in Burlington;
 2. to raise issues facing older adults in Burlington and the organizations that serve
 them;
 3. to make policy recommendations to the Mayor and City Council to address gaps,
 needs, and opportunities that impact older adults in Burlington;
 4. to ensure that the voices of older adults in Burlington are at the forefront of City
 policy.
We appreciate your focus and attention to moving the Age Strong Burlington Plan forward
and stand ready to support the committee in its deliberations and actions.




 2


 Page 4 of 4

CITY OF BURLINGTON, VERMONT
 CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT &
 NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION COMMITTEE
 c/o Community & Economic Development Office
 City Hall, Room 32 • 149 Church Street • Burlington, VT 05401
 802-865-7144 VOX • 802-865-7024 FAX • www.burlingtonvt.gov/cedo




Councilor Evan Litwin (EL), Chair, Ward 7
Councilor Carter Neubieser (CN), Ward 1
Councilor Allie Schachter (AS), East District

 CDNR Committee Meeting
 Wednesday, August 20th, 2025
 6:30 – 8:30 PM
 Sharon Bushor Conference Room, 1st Floor – City Hall

Committee members: Evan Litwin (EL), Allie Schachter (AS)
City Staff: Christine Curtis, CEDO
Other Attendees: Erin Jacobson, Mayor’s Office; Andrea Viets, Heineberg Community Senior
Center; Glenn Mcraig, Burlington Aging Council; Jenny, Board of Health; Barbara Shaw-Dorso,
Burlington Aging Council; Charlie Messing, Burlington Aging Council; Zachary Cummings;
Theresa Vassina


 Draft Minutes

Meeting Started at 6:37 PM

 1. Amend agenda item #3 from “AgeWell” to “Age Strong Burlington”
 MOTION by Councilor Schachter, SECOND by Councilor Litwin, to approve
the amendment and adopt the agenda
VOTING: unanimous; motion carries.

 2. Public Forum
 • Andrea spoke
 • Barbara spoke
 • Charlie spoke

 3. Age Strong Burlington
 The programs and services of the City of Burlington are accessible to people with disabilities.
 For accessibility information, call 865-7144. For questions about the meeting,
 contact Christine Curtis at ccurtis@burlingtonvt.gov
 • Focused on discussions about aging services in Burlington, including
 program transitions and the future of the Aging Council, with emphasis
 on supporting the growing older adult population and establishing new
 committee structures. The group addressed various operational matters
 including transportation coverage, staffing needs, and accessibility
 issues at senior centers, while also exploring ways to gather stakeholder
 feedback and improve data collection systems.
 • Erin Jacobson: Check with HR Director about posting the adult
 programmer position.
 • Parks Department: Share their proposal for adult programming with the
 Mayor and then with CDNR committee when ready.
 • CDNR committee: Make the Aging Council work a quarterly agenda item
 while finding a permanent home for it.
 • Erin Jacobson: Discuss with the Mayor about where the Aging Council
 work could permanently live within city departments.
 • Erin Jacobson and Andrea: Revisit the MOU about the shared van
 between Heineberg and the City.
 • Councillor Schachter: Follow up with Glenn about proclamations and
 resolutions aligned with the Aging Council's priority areas.

4. Syringe Litter Check-in
 • Focused on the distribution of public health boxes and the need for a
 protocol to ensure proper maintenance and placement, particularly in
 areas with substance use disorder and homelessness. Emphasized the
 importance of engaging stakeholders like the Board of Health and
 Howard Center to address these issues collaboratively. The group also
 discussed concerns about the Clark Street neighborhood, highlighting
 the need for dialogue with the Mayor's office to address public pressure
 points and support community members.
 • Theresa: Find out where the $150,000 allocated by the legislature for
 statewide sharps disposal options is and how to access it.
 • Theresa: Continue developing the framework for Project SHINE including
 training protocols and MOUs with SSPs.
 • Theresa: Share the prototype with the team for feedback.
 • Team: Review the prototype and provide feedback by the end of next
 week.
 • Team: Meet again in two weeks to finalize the feature design.
 • Theresa: Pull together a budget for syringe cleanup supplies.

5. Regional Programs Initial Discussion
  • Discussed the need to establish a structured process for regional
 programs funding, similar to the Housing Trust Fund model, to ensure
 transparency, equity, and consistency. Suggested using a low-barrier
 application process and an advisory board to review applications, aiming
 to have a system in place by the end of the year. The mayor's office
 would work with CDNR to develop this process. Additionally, the
 committee would explore creating a fund to support businesses
 impacted by construction, a task that was already on CEDO’s radar.
  • CDNR committee: Develop a process for regional programs funding by
 October/December.
  • Councilor Litwin: Reach out to Kara about information on the ARPA
 grants model for regional programs funding.


6. Scheduling Check-in and Adjournment
 • ADJOURN at 8:38 p.m. by Councilor Litwin with no objection