Ward 2 NPA — Burlington, VT
Date: 2025-02-13
Time: 18:30

Meeting Agenda
Ward 2 Neighborhood Planning Assembly (NPA)
February 13th, 2025 | 6:30-8:30pm | All are welcome

 Join in person: ​
 Richard Kemp Center, 372 N Winooski No Community Dinner this month!
 Snacks, sweets, and coffee/tea will be available ​
 Join remotely: starting at 6:15pm and throughout the meeting.
 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85860854764



Facilitator: Marc Stannard​ Notetaker: Kason Hudman
 6:30 pm Introduction
 5 min Review and adopt/approve the agenda and previous minutes; introductions as time allows.

 6:35 pm Public Forum (2 minutes max per person)
 10 min Please state your full name, pronouns, street, and ward, and follow the NPA ground rules.

 Town Meeting Day Ballot Deep Dives - Each has a short presentation, then time for questions and
 discussion.

 6:45 pm Bond Votes
 50 min Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, Ashley Parker - Capital Program Director, Clerk/Treasurer’s Office,
 Megan Moir - Division Director for Water Resources, Dept. of Public Works
 General Obligation (GO) Bond and Water & Lake Bonds

 7:35 pm Burlington School District Budget
 25 min Polly Vanderputten (Ward 2) and Jean Waltz (Central)

 8:00 pm Charter Changes
 30 min Gene Bergman (Ward 2) and Melo Grant (Central)
 Ban guns where alcohol is sold; increasing time required to give rent increase notification;
 removing language to allow for easier changes in ward and district lines

 8:30 pm Raffle drawing + Adjourn!
 5 min Our next meeting is Thursday, March 13th and will be back at the ONE Community Center.



 Scan the QR code (or click here) to: Email us • Go to our website • Watch meeting
 recordings on CCTV's website • Connect with us on Facebook or Instagram • Request
 a time slot with CEDO’s request form • Get to all links related to this meeting



 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - February 13th, 2025 - Agenda - Page 1
Appendix to the Agenda
Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee
To contact the entire Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee, email ward2npa@googlegroups.com
Name Email Joined Term expiration

Lauren Ebersol lebersol27@gmail.com 2023 2027

Kason Hudson kasonhudman@gmail.com 2024 2028

Charlie Giannoni charliecpg@gmail.com 2024 2028

Marc Stannard Marc.Stannard@outlook.com 2024 2028

Vacancy

Vacancy

NPA Guiding Principles
 ●​ Operate through democratic principles and democratic procedures.
 ●​ Provide a safe and welcoming forum where residents can actively share their voices about issues that
 matter to them, and where they can learn from the voices of others.
 ●​ Cultivate involvement by a diverse spectrum of community members through active outreach and
 through eliminating barriers to participation.
 ●​ Operate in a manner that models respectful, inclusive, culturally, and economically aware practices.
 ●​ Be a fun, creative, and vital organization that provides value and benefit through the multitude of
 perspectives shared by those who participate.


Ward 2 NPA Ground Rules
 ●​ Meetings should have clearly defined agenda and roles.
 ●​ Honor time limits: A best effort must be made to start on time, follow the agenda, and finish on time.
 ●​ Listen to others: Make efforts to be an open-minded member of the group.
 ●​ Respect the agenda and the process: Try to remain focused on the issue at hand.
 ●​ Share your opinion respectfully: Speak out, but not over, others’ comments.
 ●​ Treat people how you would like to be treated: Be respectful of everyone, including guests.




 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - February 13th, 2025 - Agenda - Page 2
Elected officials representing Ward 2
Mayor
Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak Progressive mayor@BurlingtonVT.gov


City Councilors
Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Melo Grant Progressive megrant@burlingtonvt.gov 802-310-0962
Ward 2 Gene Bergman Progressive gbergman@burlingtonvt.gov 802-598-3602


School Board Members

Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Jean Waltz jwaltz@bsdvt.org 802-355-7856

Ward 2 Polly Vanderputten pvanderputten@bsdvt.org 802-578-8653


Vermont State House Representatives
Chittenden-15 Troy Headrick Progressive/Democrat theadrick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228

Chittenden-15 Brian Cina Progressive/Democrat bcina@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228

Chittenden-16 Kate Logan Progressive/Democrat klogan@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228

Chittenden-16 Jill Krowinski Democrat jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228

Chittenden-17 Abigail Duke Democrat aduke@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228


Vermont State Senators

Chittenden-Central Tanya Vyhovsky Progressive/Democrat ltvyhovsky@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228

Chittenden-Central Martine Gulick Democrat mgulick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228

Chittenden-Central Philip Baruth Democrat/Progressive pbaruth@leg.state.vt.us (802) 503-5266




 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - February 13th, 2025 - Agenda - Page 3

Meeting Notes
Ward 2 Neighborhood Planning Assembly (NPA)
February 13th, 2025 | 6:30-8:30pm | All are welcome

 Join in person:
 Richard Kemp Center, 372 N Winooski No Community Dinner this month!
 Snacks, sweets, and coffee/tea will be available
 Join remotely: starting at 6:15pm and throughout the meeting.
 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85860854764




Facilitator: Marc Stannard Notetaker: Kason Hudman
 6:30 pm Introduction
 5 min Review and adopt/approve the agenda and previous minutes; introductions as time allows.

 6:35 pm Public Forum (2 minutes max per person)
 10 min Please state your full name, pronouns, street, and ward, and follow the NPA ground rules.
 - Lauren Ebersol mentions that ballots for the city elections should be mailed out this week.
 Please let Lauren know if you have any trouble receiving a ballot.
 - Cindy, Ward 7, announces that people should go to the Burlington Sea Caves if people
 haven’t been there yet.
 - Ward 2 Resident, mentions that there was a lot of trouble with the Integrated Arts
 Academy closure, mentions trouble with affordable housing in the Old North End, wants
 to know what city officials are doing to address the problem
 - Ward 2 Resident plugs the Richard Kemp Center, mentions that there are public events at
 the Richard Kemp Center including field trips to Washington DC and other things.
 Mentions that there are art events and other events at the center weekly. Jam sessions,
 conversations, planning sessions, etc.
 - Jess Hyman, Ward 2 Resident, mentions that there are hearts on the table for folks to
 write something they love about the Old North End or their community to be shared
 publicly. Also plugs the ONE Community Dinner that is typically shared prior to the Ward 2
 NPA and all the snacks shared today. Also plugs the CVOEO free tax service for income-
 eligible residents
 - Marc Stannard mentions an email from a resident named Andres about

 Town Meeting Day Ballot Deep Dives - Each has a short presentation, then time for questions and
 discussion.

 6:45 pm Bond Votes
 50 min Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, Ashley Parker - Capital Program Director, Clerk/Treasurer’s
 Office, Megan Moir - Division Director for Water Resources, Dept. of Public Works
 General Obligation (GO) Bond and Water & Lake Bonds
 - Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak, mentions that the ballots for the city election should go out in
 the mail this week. Elections for Ward 2 will happen at the ONE Community Center due to

 Ward 2 NPA - February 13th, 2025 - Notes - Page 1
 the renovations at IAA. All residents are eligible to vote in Burlington City elections
 regardless of citizenship status
- Mulvaney-Stanak continues talking about the bonds, including the GO Bond, which will be
 for critical infrastructure maintenance, and the Lake & Water bonds, which will be for the
 Wastewater treatment plans and water infrastructure. She continues by mentioning that
 deferring maintenance will only make it more difficult to pay for these things in the future,
 pointing at the closure of Memorial Auditorium as an example of the consequences of
 differing maintenance. Mulvaney-Stanak also mentions that the bonds will help us meet
 our climate change goals and housing goals
- Ashley Parker, City Clerk’s Office, goes over the details of the General Obligation Bond. She
 mentions that the bond will be spread out over three years, to maximize the impact of the
 bond. This bond will help replace city fleet vehicles that are out of service, including fire
 trucks and ambulances. It will also help replace about 3 miles of sidewalks that are in poor
 or serious condition, streets that are in poor or serious condition, etc. It will also help
 Burlington pay for their share of the money for the Winooski Bridge replacement, as well
 as other transportation network safety fixes. The bond will also help with doing the
 deferred maintenance on City Buildings and parks.
- Ward 2 resident, asks how much of the money will go towards needs in the Old North End
 specifically
- Ashley answers, the city has put together a new Capital Planning Map which should show
 folks what the city is planning to do in every part of the city. You can also list suggestions
 on the map:https://bit.ly/BTVThrivesCapitalMap
- Ashley Parker continues with the tax impact of the GO Bond. The $20M bond would be
 repaid through a small increase in municipal property taxes starting in FY26. The city
 anticipates the increase to be as much as about $20/month increase for $900,000+
 properties. It will certainly not be more than that, but it could be less.
- Ward 2 resident asks, what is the specifics of the sidewalk plan? Will this pay for all 17
 miles of deferred maintenance? Ashley answers, no, the goal is about 3 miles per year.
- Ward 2 resident asks, if a sidewalk is $1M per mile, and a road is $1.2M per mile, why is a
 road not more expensive? City engineer answers, sidewalk is more precise work, plus
 when you work on a sidewalk there is more to consider than just the concrete
- Same Ward 2 resident asks, as we get new fleet vehicles, can we get them smaller or
 electric to fit into the smaller Burlington streets? Ashley Parker answers, yes, the city is
 always looking at options like that.
- Melo Grant mentions that she has had a lot of conversations with the fire chief about the
 fleet, and the market has been interesting recently. As it works now, when you place an
 order for a vehicle, you don’t usually receive it for about 4 years, but you do lock in the
 price. Vehicle prices are going up right now so locking in the lower price would be a good
 idea. Talk to Melo if you want to talk fleet.
- Megain Moir, Water Department, talks about the Water Bond. 50% of our infrastructure is
 scoring at a C- grade or worse. Burlington has a legal obligation to reduce our phosphorus
 impact, and we have an obligation to our workers at the Wastewater treatment plan to
 make things safer for them. Burlington’s emergency drinking water system was built in the

 Ward 2 NPA - February 13th, 2025 - Notes - Page 2
 19th century - these pumps are required for supplying water to the UVMMC and the rest
 of our high service area. Worst case scenario, residents’ water bill will increase 89% over a
 five-year time period. The city already has a ratepayer affordability program to ensure
 rates don’t go up too much for low-income residents.
 - Kason Hudman, Ward 2 resident, asks if the current federal grant freeze is impacting the
 potential grant money for water treatment. Megan answers, not that she has seen yet, but
 she is keeping an eye on it.
 - Melo Grant mentions that it is so important that people support the Water Bond due to
 the costs of deferring maintenance. Megan mentions that all the support the Water Bond
 receives will be used as leverage in the state house to apply for more statewide grant
 funding.
 - Ward 2 resident asks if the system fails, will we have to take out expensive loans to pay for
 it? Is it cheaper to do a bond now? Megan answers, yes, if the system fails it would be very
 expensive and potentially difficult to fix due to the unavailability of equipment. Doing the
 bond allows for us to fix things before any failures happen.

7:35 pm Burlington School District Budget
25 min Polly Vanderputten (Ward 2) and Jean Waltz (Central)
 - Jean reads the actual ballot question. She mentions that although the ballot question
 mentions an increase, it is actually a 4% property tax decrease. It is, on average, an annual
 decrease of $234 in property taxes.
 - Ben, Ward 2 resident, asks how the overall amount decreased when the amount per
 student actually increases. Jean answers, because the amount allocated by the state per
 student has changed due to advocacy and work from the school board.
 - Patrick, Ward 2 resident, asks if the money is going down due to a decrease in enrollment.
 Jean mentions that a decrease in enrollment would actually mean less money from the
 state, so that is not the cause. Polly adds that there have been some financial restructuring
 based on enrollment, but Burlington is also projected to increase enrollment in the coming
 years.
 - Ward 2 resident, asks about the new proposal from the state restructuring education,
 especially now that the state is giving equitable funding. Jean answers, it is worrying that
 Act 127 is potentially on the chopping block since that made state funding equitable. She
 mentions that much of what the state is proposing is bunk.
 - Melo Grant mentions that Governor Scott doesn’t like Burlington. Burlingtonians should
 advocate for equity at the statehouse.
 - Jean adds that much of what the Governor is proposing is conceptual and is not really an
 actionable plan at this point. But if it becomes an actionable plan, Jean will reach out to
 Melo first to ensure advocacy against it.
 - Ben, Ward 2 Resident, asks if the Governors current proposed plan includes a change in
 the weighting previously mentioned, Jean says yes, it would scrap the new weighting that
 Burlington has benefitted from.
 - Polly mentions that how the current school board relates to the “concepts” coming out
 from the Governor is in a bit of limbo, but the school board is mostly dedicated to passing
 the current budget and getting through the current year.

 Ward 2 NPA - February 13th, 2025 - Notes - Page 3
8:00 pm Charter Changes
30 min Gene Bergman (Ward 2) and Melo Grant (Central)
 Ban guns where alcohol is sold; increasing time required to give rent increase notification;
 removing language to allow for easier changes in ward and district lines
 - Melo talks about the charter change to ban guns where alcohol is sold. It would be helpful
 to bar-owners since they would have some enforcement mechanism to remove guns from
 alcohol serving areas. Gene mentions that the ballot item is identical to the question that
 was asked and passed in 2014, and a reaffirmation from the city will let the legislators
 know that it is important. Guns and alcohol don’t mix.
 - Melo talks about the redistricting charter change. This charter change will give the city the
 power to do their own redistricting without approval from the legislature. Gene adds that
 this will make the lives of everybody in Burlington easier, since it will give us more
 autonomy over decisions that affect only ourselves.
 - Melo talks about the charter change regarding the rent increase notification. This will give
 tenants more time before any rent increase. Gene adds that this will again give Burlington
 more local power.
 - Melo again reminds everybody that the ballots have been mailed and should arrive this
 week. Also reminds everybody that all residents can vote in city elections, regardless of
 citizenship status.
 - Charlie, Ward 2 resident, mentions that mail-in ballots can be corrected. If you vote early
 enough, city hall might contact you to correct any mistakes on your ballot. If you vote in
 person, you can correct it right there because they will catch it.
 - Patrick, Ward 2 resident, says “meow” (referring to the proposed ordinance regarding cat
 leashing/licensing)
 - Melo laughs, mentions that the ordinance is impractical and Gene mentions that he is not
 supportive of doing anything that is performative.
 - Ward 2 resident, asks about the cat ordinance again, mentions that the solution might be
 just public education about being a responsible pet owner. Melo agrees.
 - Jess Hyman, Ward 2 resident, mentions that if the rental charter change passes, she would
 like to see incentivized education for landlords to provide them with the information they
 need to ensure they know what their rights and responsibilities are. She thinks the same
 thing should be there for tenants as well. She is concerned that the charter change leaves
 room for different rental notification timelines for “vulnerable populations”, which
 requires more specific education for tenants. She is passionate about increased education
 for tenants. Melo says that she agrees, and that more educational opportunities in general
 would be good during this turbulent time. Gene mentions that know-your-rights trainings
 are things that city councilors can do more of in general, and the charter change would
 allow city council to look at the city housing code in more depth.

8:30 pm Raffle drawing + Adjourn!
5 min Our next meeting is Thursday, March 13th and will be back at the ONE Community Center.
  - No raffle this month, but there are to-go containers for all the food!



 Ward 2 NPA - February 13th, 2025 - Notes - Page 4
Scan the QR code (or click here) to: Email us • Go to our website • Watch meeting
recordings on CCTV's website • Connect with us on Facebook or Instagram • Request
a time slot with CEDO’s request form • Get to all links related to this meeting




 Ward 2 NPA - February 13th, 2025 - Notes - Page 5