 and call to order this special meeting of the Burlington City Council. And first item on our agenda is the agenda. Councillor Stromberg may please have a motion on the agenda. And move to adopt the agenda. Okay, we have a motion. Is there a second to that? Seconded by Councillor Pine. Any discussion on our agenda? Seeing none, let's go to a vote. All those in favor of adopting our agenda, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That carries unanimously. Brings us to our next item, which is the public forum. I'm not seeing anyone as having signed up for the public forum. Let me just check one more thing potentially. Still not seeing anyone signed up for the public forum. Okay, so I'll go ahead and close the public forum for this item. Let's check one one, okay. Yep, not seeing anyone having signed up for the public forum. So I'm going to go ahead and close that for this item, and we will go on to our next item, which is the deliberative agenda, a resolution regarding the rescinding of the face covering requirement for vaccinated individuals. I don't know if Mayor Wine, oops, Mayor, I see the mayor is a attendee. I'll switch you over to a panelist mayor. Mayor, did you want to address the council or was someone else planning on introducing the resolution? Thank you, President Tracy. Sorry, I got, there's a power surge. I got booted off for a moment, but I got the same thing may have happened to Jordan's, who's trying to get back on as well. So thanks for the chance to kick things off. Let me start by thanking the council for convening on really short notice to have this discussion and hopefully take some kind of action tonight. I do have some brief remarks, and then I'll turn it over to Brian Lowe, who has a longer PowerPoint that he will walk the council through, kind of laying out why the administration is recommending action tonight to rescind the mask mandate that we put in place about a year ago. I want to just make sure that the public and all counselors are clear that there are now materials posted for this item. And I want to thank the city team that worked hard since the governor issued his change in state guidance along with Dr. Levine on Friday to pull together these recommendations and really lay out why we recommend the city taking action parallel with the state and with the federal guidance. And there's both a PowerPoint and a draft resolution that is there for the council to consider tonight. I want to just acknowledge we would like to get these materials out sooner. We have been doing our best with a shifting landscape and shifting circumstances here. And hopefully can answer any questions that the counselors have about these materials and about the situation more generally. Here are my thoughts. Burlington, from the very beginning of this pandemic, the city has led on a simple belief that in a global pandemic, local actions matter. And we have attempted for 14 months to ground those local actions in public health guidelines by following expert advice and grounding our decisions and data, including our innovative wastewater testing program. We want to stick to those principles here tonight. And we think being consistent setting out our actions and decision making that way has contributed to the outstanding performance that Burlingtonians have shown following the state and local guidance with incredible consistency and really sacrificing a great deal. And between that collaboration between the state, the city, Burlingtonians and Vermonters, we have kept this city and the state really one of the safest places to be throughout this pandemic. In order to do what we need to do and bring this pandemic to an end and launch an equitable recovery, we think the route to doing that is to continue to deserve the trust of our residents, organizations and businesses by issuing public health guidance that is firmly grounded in science. For many weeks now, expert analysis of national and global data really has shown that disease transmission in outdoor environments is exceedingly rare. And in any space fully vaccinated people, it is also exceedingly rare that there's either disease transition, that there's disease transmission among vaccinated people in indoor spaces. Further, it's really unmistakable now that the risk of serious illness to vaccinated people is almost zero. And this has been established now with clinical trials and now millions of vaccinations around the world. I thought, I saw an expert sum it up in the New York Times earlier today, vaccinated folks should, and this is hard for us given the way we've been thinking about COVID for the last 15 months. But at this point, vaccinated folks should think of COVID as like the risk of a mild flu that you're probably not gonna get. If you're fully vaccinated, that's what COVID is at this point. That could, you know, I know there's been a lot of focus on variants and the possibility of mutations that could change that risk in the future that remains a possibility, but that is not what we are currently facing. This is supported by our local experience here in Burlington. As our vaccination rates have increased over 2021, hospitalizations have declined to the point where as of Friday, we had had two days with zero hospitalizations for COVID at UVMC. And positivity rates have declined rapidly as well since the beginning of April. And we are now at seven day average with only three positives today. The seven day average has dropped to just over five. And that's in the entire county, the number of infections. It is true that many people have not had the opportunity yet to become fully vaccinated even if they wanted to do so. It is also the case that we are now in a place that has been more than two weeks since every Vermont are over 16 years old has been eligible to receive the vaccine and a Chittenden County basically leads the country as one of the top performing counties in the top forming state in getting vaccine out and into the arms of Chittenden County residents. Every day nearly a thousand more folks in Chittenden County reach the 14 day post vaccination mark. These vaccines work in a growing number of Chittenden County residents. A large and growing number of Chittenden County residents are vaccinated. So at the end of last week on Thursday of last week, the CDC guidance was updated to really reflect this clear consensus of scientists and experts that again, that vaccine transmission among the vaccinated is exceedingly rare either outdoors or indoors and that the public health risk to people who are vaccinated is very low and very different than what it was just a few months ago. And then on Friday, the governor followed and Commissioner Mark Levine followed suit and changed the state guidance to reflect this and that really leads us to this special meeting tonight because the governor has continued to leave it up to localities to make their own decisions about masking despite having taken this statewide action. I'm certainly sympathetic to the challenge of my colleagues here on the council of trying to make a decision with this rapidly shifting circumstances. I will share with you the reason why I am strongly in favor of lifting the masking requirements for vaccinated people at this time. And they really, and Brian will expand on each of these points but they really comes down to this. First of all, as a city government, we need to ground our decisions in guidance from agent levels of city government, sorry levels of the country's governance that have public health functions. We do not have an independent public health function. We have in many ways set up some public health abilities during this pandemic but we are really reliant on the state and federal governments for guidance to ground our decisions in when we are taking strong action that impacts the lives of many of our residents and businesses operating in this city. And from my perspective, the state and federal guidance has sort of taken away. The changes from last week mean that there is no longer justification that we can look to in the guidance from state and federal health departments for keeping our current mask mandate in place. Secondly, if we do not make a change, we will put many organizations in Burlington in the very challenging circumstance of having to enforce a local mandate that is very different than what state and federal experts, trusted state and federal experts are recommending. And I think that is a very tough position to put them in. Third, as Brian will go over, there is a lot of, there's a growing amount of evidence out there that having differential rules for vaccinated people versus unvaccinated people can be a significant motivating factor in encouraging vaccine hesitant individuals to take the action of not going out and signing up and getting vaccinated. A large percentage of the people unvaccinated today who are hesitant to get vaccinated today indicate in one way or another that rules that differentiate between vaccinated and unvaccinated people could play a significant factor in them getting vaccinated. So lifting the mandate is a little counterintuitive maybe, but there's an argument that is compelling to us that lifting the mandate actually will accelerate vaccinations from this point on and hasten the full vaccination of Chittenden County residents. I think with that, I will stop and just close for now at least and certainly engage again if we have this discussion tonight. But I have faith that the Burlington community will as we have done, follow the public health guidance that we issue here. And I urge the public to treat our hardworking businesses with respect and kindness as they continue to serve us through the challenges in the weeks and months ahead. Whether you are vaccinated or not, I encourage you to follow the rules of the businesses that you visit. And if we do take action to lift the mass mandate, businesses will still have that ability to have their own policies within their shops. If you are vaccinated, we please enjoy a return to community and public life. If you're not vaccinated, we have many opportunities for you to safely and easily get your vaccine and those opportunities are expanding by the day. The city will continue to put great effort into that expansion. And I urge all Burlingtonians and Chittenden County residents who have not yet gotten vaccinated to do so if you're able to. With that, President Tracy, I would like to turn this over to Brian Lowe. Sorry, that sounds great. Go ahead, C.I. Lowe. Thank you very much, Council President Tracy. I'm gonna share my screen here. And I think the hope here is to walk through quickly four things. And I understand there's a need to keep some of this short. I know the council has a number of things to deliberate here. Please feel free to stop me if you have questions on specific things. And if I rush through something, I'm happy to come back later to speak to it again. The presentation is supposed to be short. It's supposed to lay out for the council the current landscape in the county and the community from a data perspective. It's supposed to outline some of the reasons to consider lifting the mask mandate. And it's also intended to try and define or at least put some parameters around the risk in front of us here. So C.I. Lowe, if you could just, if folks could just hold questions to the end, it's hard for me to see everybody at the same time with this. So I'm happy to, once we go out of share mode, I'll entertain any questions folks have. Okay. That sounds good. Thank you, council president Stracie. So folks are probably familiar, state and CDC public health authorities have indicated that it's time to lift mask mandates for vaccinated people, not for those who are unvaccinated. Vermont is the most vaccinated state in the United States by a number of measures. Chittin County and Addison are some of the more vaccinated counties in the most vaccinated state. Chittin County is about 77% vaccinated as of last week. Burlington has generally followed the prevailing health guidelines during the pandemic with three notable exceptions. All three of these exceptions around masking, regulated bar hours and some rapid testing at the airport were done based on available data. And as the mayor noted, we don't have available data to drive toward a different decision than lifting the mask mandate here. A number of reasons why we're considering lifting the mask mandate include this point. We don't have data that would justify going against what the state and federal public health authorities are indicating. And without data to support that kind of intervention, it does risk eroding trust in the public health guidance. For example, a mandate can account for the fact that we probably have some businesses in which everyone is vaccinated. And so how do we account for that? On the second point, the mayor mentioned this as well. So I'll go over this somewhat briefly, but the CDC released a science brief that came along late Friday with its decision on Thursday to remove or to put out new guidance for those who are vaccinated that they don't need to wear masks. And that science brief includes references to polling that indicates that nearly half of unvaccinated respondents to these polls are interested or more interested in getting a vaccine if that acquiring a vaccination gives them the ability to do things that they wouldn't otherwise be like masks, masks are specifically called out in a number of these different studies. There's also an independent study connected by UCLA that reaches the same thing, the same conclusion. So another reason to consider lifting the mandate here is that it may create an incentive structure to encourage more people in our community who are on the fence to consider getting vaccinated. A third point is a point that the mayor made as well that putting this mask mandate or continuing to keep this mask mandate in place despite the CDC's guidance and the governor's orders that's a number of businesses in a very challenging position. I know we did hear some of that today from folks who essential workers who now have to enforce a mandate that is no longer being supported by the governor or the CDC. Here, I wanted to speak briefly to risks and try to define this risk. And so what I've done here, and I know the text is small please tell me if you want it larger. The risk that we're talking about is the risk that an unvaccinated person who is also infectious also transmits the virus to another unvaccinated person and also creates a bad health outcome in the community. And I think it's a good place to remind folks that the current guidance keeps the mask mandate in place for unvaccinated people in childcare and school settings for public transportation, including the airport in healthcare settings and in long-term care facilities. The current guidance also allows businesses and individuals to set their own standards. There's nothing prohibiting you as an individual from wearing a mask if you so choose. And businesses are also given discretion to put or keep mask requirements in place. The CDC also notes that if you are, if you have a positive test within 10 days you do need to continue to wear a mask as well even if you've been vaccinated. So what is the risk of being an unvaccinated person? And again, this is a series of continued probabilities. So the risk we're looking at is that all these things occur unvaccinated infectious transmission and a poor outcome. In Chittenden, you can see that the majority of people 30 and above, in fact, more than 80% of those 30 and above have been vaccinated. Those 18 to 29, it's a trailing metric, but that's also because that is the last group for which vaccinations opened. In Chittenden, the 16 to 17 year old group has signed up and gotten vaccinated. And these are numbers for at least the first dose of vaccine at a very high rate. That's not true across the state, but that is true in Chittenden. However, I also wanna call folks' attention to the fact that in Vermont, this is statewide data on the right-hand side of the slide, BIPOC, so Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color, Residents of Vermont are being vaccinated at significantly lower rates than the white, non-Hispanic Vermonters. And again, I know the numbers are small here, but for example, statewide, if you are black or African-American according to VDH data, the vaccination rate for at least the first dose is 52.7%. In Chittenden County, it's significantly higher. It's 59.8%. But again, it trails the overall county numbers. And when you break down the population by age, you see that the disparity is starkest for those who are 65-plus in the BIPOC community, where it's 80, relative to 86.7%. The disparity exists for those 16 to 64, but it's much closer, 56.6 to 57.9%. So if on the first point, you're looking at the odds of somebody being unvaccinated, you also have to consider what is the odds of that individual who is unvaccinated also being infectious, right? And in Burlington and Chittenden County, we've happily seen a kind of massive reduction in case load. In April, we had our all-time high, hopefully in the pandemic of 106 cases in one day in the county. Over the past week, we've seen just really low numbers. Today, three in an average across the last seven days of 5.4 cases. So in addition to very high vaccination rates, the prevalence rate is very, very low in Chittenden County. And that also is something to talk about from a wastewater perspective. The wastewater readings, again, are somewhat predictive of what is coming next. They tend to give us an indication of how many cases we have in the community before people feel symptoms, get tested and get those test results, right? So they have a three to seven day lead time on infection rates. And what's really exciting is that these wastewater readings continue to fall and fall rapidly. The y-axis here is logarithmic. So these are orders of magnitude change. So that what appears to be somewhat linear decline is really a very steep and sharp decline in the total viral prevalence in our city wastewater. We actually had our first non-detect on the east side of the city, which we've not had since before Halloween or before November 2nd. So very low case prevalence continued reason to believe that low case prevalence will continue. What about the transmission risk? The transmission risk for vaccinated individuals is considered very unlikely due to the effectiveness of these vaccines. There are some indications of vaccine breakthrough, but this quote unquote breakthrough is often not accompanied by symptoms or severe symptoms. So you have a very high efficacy rate, which is kind of efficacy here references clinical trials for these different vaccines. You also have a very high effectiveness rate in real world studies of how effective these vaccines are and their likelihood of reducing transmission substantially. The CDC has referenced two different pre-print studies, one from the UK, noting a substantial reduction in COVID-19 among household contacts. That was a study that looked both at Pfizer biotech vaccine but also the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not used in the United States. And the other is a fourfold reduction in viral load coming out of a study from Israel that I believe focused exclusively on Pfizer. And that viral load is a key driver of transmission. So that massive reduction is really significant. And again, if you're an unvaccinated person, you'd have to be also infectious, also not wearing a mask in violation of the governor's orders, also spend a sufficient duration of time in an indoor setting to transmit the virus and you'd have to do it to another unvaccinated person. When we look at potential outcomes, another thing to flag for counselors as they consider the path forward here is that despite the fact that in April, we had the highest caseloads that we've had as a county and community, we did not see a corresponding rise in hospitalizations that mirrored what happened in February. And the reason for that is that vaccines were more widely distributed based on an age banding structure that the state devised. And so you just did not, you saw high caseloads, but you didn't see terrible outcomes in large numbers because of those high caseloads. So another thing to consider here is you're evaluating the risk in front of you. It's not just about who's vaccinated and unvaccinated. It's also about who's infectious. It's also about the risk of actual transmission occurring. And then it's also what is the outcome of that transmission occurring. And I want to close here by just noting kind of the four main points that risk here is a dynamic variable. If we see something change in the city, if we see a sustained increase in cases over a period of say five to 10 days, that's something we would immediately flag for the mayor and for the council that perhaps we need to pursue a different course. We don't know what the future holds. And so that's something we'll continue to monitor. I do think that incentives matter and that's worth considering as a council that if lifting the mask mandate has creates an incentive structure for some people who are on the fence about vaccination to get vaccinated, that's a really important thing to consider. And the way the mandate is designed, it does give flexibility to businesses and it does require unvaccinated people and a whole host of areas to continue to wear masks. And the last part is just, I think it's vital that we keep doing everything we can to expand vaccine access in our community. There's gonna be a number of new clinics. Even this week, some at North Beach, some on Cherokee Marketplace, the BIPOC and LEP clinics that have been running since March and February, respectively and potentially others. And so I just think whatever you can do to help spread the word and help us or others bring vaccines to people and reduce those barriers to access, that is really the critical thing. Let me stop sharing here and thank you very much. Thank you very much, CIO Low. Why don't we go to counselor questions at this point before we go to the resolution itself? So are there any counselors who had questions for CIO Low? Counselor Pine, to be followed by Counselor Hansen. Thank you, President Tracy. Brian Low, if you could tell us, we looked at those age cohorts on the slide and could you just tell us what's the estimated date by which 80% of all age groups would be fully vaccinated? I actually do not know the estimated date by which we would get to 80%. I think it'd be a function both of the registration rate and then the time at which those people are vaccinated. So I don't know, it's tricky in Burlington, particularly because you have a large concentration of folks in that kind of 18 to 24 age range, some of whom are gonna stay in Burlington, some of whom are not, it'd be very hard for me to predict with confidence when you would hit that 80% mark. And did the University of Vermont in Champlain for the students who stayed on campus or even off campus, I guess, did they undertake vaccination clinics that you know of? I know that both administrations have been encouraging their students to get vaccinated. I know that there was a vaccination clinic at UVM on UVM's campus. I think it was about a week ago. I'm not certain of the precise date, but in that general timeframe, that was very well attended. There were I think 612 doses administered at that clinic relatively quickly. And so that's part of the reason why the state and the city and Walgreens are going to be bringing vaccination clinics to North Beach and to a tertiary marketplace this week with an eye towards what can we do to reduce barriers, particularly for that age group. And I'm not trying to dodge the question like the reason I don't know is that I don't know what the registration rate is for that 18 to 29 year old group. Now, okay, that's helpful. The, I think the hardest part for myself and perhaps other counselors is, So I was hoping to get to some questions now and then get into the resolution in a little bit. Oh, this is a question. Okay, okay. Yeah, yeah. Is that we have a sizable chunk of retail workers and folks who are on the frontline restaurants and retail establishments who haven't yet been fully vaccinated. And so I think the hesitation here, I'd like you to speak to that fact that we are facing a population that is at risk and that what do we say and what do we do to minimize that risk by taking this action? It just strikes me that that's what's we're faced with tonight. I think it's a great question. I mean, the way I think about it is just sharing my screen very briefly again is just this question. It's there are a variety of factors you have to consider when you weigh what is the risk in that setting? What is the risk that it is an unvaccinated person who's engaging in the retail store contrary to the governor's orders and not wearing a mask? What is the risk that that person is infectious, right? Cause it's both a function of vaccination rates but also prevalence of the virus in our community. And then it's the kind of unique circumstance around what is the interaction itself and what is the true risk even if all three of those variables occur to the person who is potentially exposed to COVID. And I don't pretend that it's not, I mean, it is not an easy decision but I think that is the risk that you are weighing here. All four of those things would have to happen. Okay. And lastly, can you speak to the fact that we aren't an island or not an island and people are coming and going all the time? And so can you speak to the, I guess, the level of protection or efficacy of this approach when in fact people are coming to visit and we don't know what their vaccination status is. And so is there just a certain amount of accepting that with an influx of summer visitors we still believe that the vaccination rates will hold and so therefore that equation is still roughly the same even though we're adding people who are coming from elsewhere. If I understand your question correctly or please tell me if I misunderstand it, I interpret your question to mean that what basis do we have to think that those coming to the state who may be coming from a less vaccinated area and potentially therefore are more likely to be unvaccinated are going to ignore the requirements that are in place in Vermont and therefore potentially put people at risk? Yeah. I think it's a great question. It's a hard one for me to discuss empirically. I think the things that I would point to are that the state for an extended period of time has had until very recently had quarantine and testing requirements in place for those coming across the state. It's very hard for me to evaluate those requirements except that it does seem that many people did comply with them because you didn't see huge numbers of outbreaks traced back to folks coming across state lines violating quarantine. There were certainly some examples but it wasn't wholesale. And so that's how I would answer that question. Okay, thanks. That's it. Great. I have Councilor Hanson to be followed by Councilor Paul. Great, thanks. So for the data by age cohort of vaccination, is there data on full vaccination or there's only data on first shot, first dose? The data I have is first dose. I believe there is for both. I don't have it right in my fingertips here and I don't know it well enough to quote it. We can certainly try and find that during the meeting if that's helpful. Okay. And then for the wastewater readings, was there a reason that that started in November? Were we not conducting them before that? We started in August. I kind of truncated the X axis there just to focus on the more recent history. There was a period of a couple of weeks where we didn't take readings in October but we basically, we started in August. And so really pre-Halloween, there was not very much in the way of viral RNA in the city's wastewater. And if you remember back to kind of September, October, there wasn't a lot of cases in the city at that point. It really was early November that we saw a significant increase in caseload that really has been sustained until relatively recently. Okay. All right. Thanks. Councilor Paul. Thanks very much. So, we haven't had a lot of time as this meeting was called very quickly to really absorb everything and get all the information I think that we'd like to get. And over the, in the last, I guess it was probably hour or so, I've gotten an email from one local organization, a large local organization that they are going to require that masks continue to be worn until the 7th of June. And the reason that they give is that, and then the email that I received which many people probably received, it said, however, there is a large segment of our membership who has yet to have the opportunity to become fully vaccinated. A significant number of members of this organization are in the 16 to 29 age bracket one of the last to have access to the vaccine. It was only April 19th that the group became eligible including many frontline staff. For those receiving the Moderna vaccine, they would be on track to be fully vaccinated by June 7th. And I'm just wondering if you have any response to that? I'm happy to respond to that. I think a couple of points. The second dose and first dose question is, I think central maybe to some of what the council should consider tonight. When the US approved Pfizer and Moderna, it did so under these kind of three week and four week dosage intervals. Those dosage intervals were established for the speed of the study, not to determine the most effective dosing requirements. The first dose is the critical dose. It is the dose that really makes a huge difference in health outcomes. That second dose is an important booster dose. But as we learn more and study this more, it appears that potentially, that second dose could probably be extended out even further than three weeks and be more effective. There's studies in the UK and in Israel that look at and a number of countries are also taking note in changing those dosing requirements. So I hear very much what the organization in question is saying and doing. But I think when you look at, if the goal is to reduce the risk of severe outcomes, the first dose is what we should be focused on. Well, I think in the case of, you know, again, I mean, it's a long email, but I think in the case of this particular organization, they are trying to be true to their core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility and have those appear to be their guiding principles in terms of why they feel June 7th is a better date than potentially doing it sooner or potentially doing it later. I mean, you know, there are organizations that could possibly say we're not doing it until July. This organization is saying the 7th of June. I'm also wondering, and I realize this is all anecdotal, but do you, given the fact that you have been so incredibly dialed into this issue, do you know of other organizations in Burlington that have come out with any sort of guidance since Friday when the governor had his press conference? I think it was on Friday. Maybe it was Thursday. No, I think it was Friday. Yes. I think a number of organizations, a number of businesses in town have elected to continue their mask mandate. And I think that's what this is designed to allow for. Is it supposed to give organizations flexibility to do what they think is best while also following the best data and science that we have access to? Okay, all right. Thank you, President Tracy. Okay, thank you, Councilor Powell. I appreciate that. Are there any other counselors wishing to Councilor Hightower? Can folks hear me? Yep. Now you put yourself on mute again. Okay, sorry. Do I have to be on mute on both my phone and the computer maybe? Okay, great. So yeah, I just have one question, which is the part about the encouraging other vaccinations. I just hadn't heard that, like encouraging folks to get vaccinated. So I'm wondering how much of that incentive was seen for things where you don't have to prove that you have a vaccination, where it's just a casual, like has that proven to be the case with things like this where nobody's actually asking you to prove that you've been vaccinated? A great question. I can tell you that the study, I don't think looked at the particular context that we have here. The CDC study and the UCLA study look at what would encourage people to get vaccinated? What are the kind of highest incentives to increase vaccination rates? And removing the mask mandate is one of those for vaccinated people, right? If you're unvaccinated, 48% of respondents in that particular study indicated that they'd be much more likely to get vaccinated if that was changed. These studies don't look at the particular Vermont context though, Councilor Hightower. So I would acknowledge that here. But I think what we should be doing from a public health perspective is trying to create incentives for people to get vaccinated. I think that's what really matters the most here. And I think that's what the CDC and state are trying to do. Thank you. Okay, any further questions? Councilor James, go ahead. Thank you. A quick comment and also two quick questions. And so if you can keep it to questions now and then we'll go to comments on the resolution once the motion's been made. Yeah, it's part of this. What I want to know is not about the resolution. So Brian, thank you again for doing this. One aspect that was not very clear and we also know that schools soon will resume, school will stop. And there was not a clear indication about childcare, not childcare, but summer camp and summer programs. Can we be more explicit to explain that those masks are required in those settings? I believe we can verify this, but I believe that masks are required in childcare settings going forward and in school settings through the end of the year. I believe your specific question is about summer camps, or at least I'm interpreting it to mean summer camps. I think that is also true of summer camps. The state guidance, I think it explicitly calls out summer camps in some of the detail that they provide as areas that need to continue to wear masks. Okay. And what the city will continue on doing after this resolution? We know that mask is no longer, but what will you continue to do, such as the wastewater treatment testing? Well, the wastewater, so the wastewater testing has a kind of surveillance monitoring function. And I think it's going to be very important through the fall. So we have an understanding of what is happening in our community and we have time to prepare for that. If we start to see a rise in viral RNA, for example, in the wastewater, we would want to know that ahead of time and be able to react to it. I could see a future where if that occurs, a mask mandate is restored by the city council, new testing, et cetera is set up. But I think the wastewater is a surveillance tool that would continue. I don't think that there's anything before the council here that would change city posture other than removing the mask mandate. And I think that it's removing the mask, I think this is a crucial point. It's removing the mask mandate for vaccinated people and giving businesses the ability to do as they see fit. So it works for one organization and might be consistent with one organization's values, may not work for another organization that may be a fully vaccinated organization. And that's, I think the flexibility that we're asking the council for here. Yep. And lastly, thank you so much for all you that you have done about this deadly virus and who would be now the point person when you leave soon? Hopefully it's not as critical by the time I go, councilor Jay. I think the mayor has a number of plans in mind, but it's not now for me to share. All right, thank you so much. Any other counselors with questions? Councilor Barlow, go ahead. Yes, thank you, President Tracy. Building on a question that councilor Pine and what councilor Jen just alluded to, I'm wondering what will the city do to communicate and reinforce this policy change? And like, for instance, would it be paired with a mandate for signage? Or would there be a public relations campaign, an ongoing public relations campaign to make sure that visitors or people that hadn't been vaccinated were continually sort of reminded? Hey, thank you, councilor Barlow. Great question. There is actually guidance specific in the governor's order that we are required to begin to update our signage, alerting people if they're unvaccinated when they come into a public facility or a business that they need to continue to wear a mask. So there will be an updated set of signage across the city. So councilor Barlow. Okay, any other counselors with questions? Okay, seeing none, let's go to the resolution. Is anyone prepared to offer a motion on the resolution? Is anyone prepared to offer a motion on the resolution? Is anyone prepared to offer a motion on the resolution? Councilor Carpenter. I'll move the resolution. Okay, councilor Carpenter has moved. The resolution is there a second, seconded by councilor Jang. Councilor Carpenter, did you want the floor back? No, I don't want to move the floor back. Okay, so we have a motion and a second on the resolution. It is now on the floor, and the floor is open for councilor Comments. Councilor Hightower. Great. I can never be able to hear me. I'm, yeah, I'm not convinced. I don't, like, first of all, I'm not convinced that this will be actually a huge boost to getting more folks vaccinated. The fact that it doesn't imply to unvaccinate people doesn't make me feel better just because nobody will actually have a way of telling who is who. The 18 to 29 year old being in the 49% and not having received their first, not having received their second dose yet, much less having that vaccination kind of timeline is, I think, the largest concern, the fact that I was in kind of two priority categories, both by age and by bypox status, and I haven't been fully vaccinated yet. I've got my second dose, but I don't have that time period yet. I just think we're brushing this. The last thing I'll say is national standards. I mean, last I saw was that, you know, like Dr. Fauci estimated that it was between 70 and 85% of folks need to be vaccinated for sure, herd immunity. And while I think it's really exciting that it looks like Vermont is gonna get there based on how many people have gotten their first dosage, we're not there yet. And so I don't understand why we're exposing people who haven't even had the chance to be fully vaccinated yet and a lot of chances to people who may or may not have been vaccinated. I just, I don't feel like that is leading with our values. Actually, one more thing, one more argument as well. I think that I don't understand the argument that it's awkward for businesses to have to follow this rule when statewide it's not a rule, but then saying, oh, but they have the option to do it. I think it's so much more awkward for business to try to stand on their own and try to lead with their values and make sure that folks have the chance to be fully, their employees have the chance to be fully vaccinated before being exposed to people. Then it is for us to do it as a city. And so I feel like we can't be like, oh, we're giving this as the opportunity to do that when we're not willing to take that stance as a city. And I don't wanna cut off too much discussion on this, but I do wanna make a movement to table this until June 7th, until our council meeting on that date. I think that is a more appropriate timeline for a lot of the folks who want to be vaccinated, to be vaccinated, including the workers who are employed at some of the retail businesses that we're talking about. So Councilor Hightower, a motion to delay to a time certain is a motion to postpone. Is that what you're intending to do? Yeah, thank you, I look forward to that. Great, so we have a motion on the table to postpone until our June 7th meeting, is there a second? Seconded by Councilor Freeman. Councilor Hightower, did you want the floor back after that? No, I think I laid out my argument. I'm happy to hear the discussion. Okay, so we now have a motion to postpone on the table. Are there comments on the motion to postpone? Councilor Stromberg. Thanks, yeah, I could not have said it better that those were literally all of my thoughts. So I am very satisfied with postponing and just kind of seeing where we're at. And then if we have to postpone again, that's fine. But yeah, it does feel too quick and it feels like we're kind of edging into prioritizing the economy over people, which I know is not the right thing to do here. So yeah, thanks. Okay, anyone else on the motion to postpone? Councilor Hanson. Thanks, yeah, I agree with a lot of those concerns and just to clarify too, I think the data was showing that 51% of people 18 to 29 haven't even gotten their first shot. 49% had gotten one shot and I asked CIO Lowe if there was data on who's been fully vaccinated and he said he might be able to get that during the meeting. So that would be interesting as well. But the fact that slightly over half of this cohort hasn't even gotten one shot and these are many of the folks who are working in retail and who are exposed to dozens in some cases, hundreds of people a day. And these are the folks I've been hearing from who are really concerned about how this would impact them to have a really large number of interactions with unmasked people who they really have just no way of knowing whether or not that person's been vaccinated or not. So I think it's a really precarious position to put people in and especially just given the fact that most of them are scheduled to get their first or second shot just right in the coming week. So they're really close to being protected but to release this sort of right before they are able to get vaccinated seems really unfair versus just waiting a few weeks so that they are able to have that protection because I really don't think it's an issue as much of people needing the incentive. In our case, I think it's more so just people are just waiting because the scheduling only opened up for that cohort a couple of weeks ago. So I think that's really what's holding that age cohort back from the other age cohorts is just that they were last in the queue, not that they need extra incentive is my impression. So I don't have an issue with lifting the mask mandate for outdoor settings or even private residences but for retail and places of work where folks have to be there and folks who aren't fully vaccinated have to be working there. I don't think that's the right thing to do at this time. Thank you, Councilor Hanson. I don't have anyone else in the queue to discuss on the motion. Kelly, go ahead. Councilor Shannon. Okay, sorry, I wasn't sure if you called on me. So I want to be sure that people are clear that I was the lead sponsor on the mask mandate and some of the people who now want to continue it actually pushed back on that and wanted assurances that it wasn't actually enforceable which it is not. It only applies that the thing that we're rescinding only applies to retail establishments. It doesn't apply to bars or restaurants or offices or anything really other than retail establishments. I'm concerned that if the Council is not ready to take this up now, my concern is if the majority of Councillors aren't ready to move forward on this now and we go to the main motion and it's voted down, I don't think we can reconsider that at a later date. And so I just wanted before voting on the motion to table I would find it helpful to understand from the city attorney if we would be allowed to say take this up at the May 24th meeting if it were, I think that's one of our next meeting is if we were voted down tonight, if the vote on the main motion were to be no tonight, would we be able to take it up actually at any other date? Attorney Blackwood, are you able to offer some guidance on that? Well, at your next meeting, generally the Council has worked under the rule that somebody in the majority can be able to reconsider at the next meeting. So that would be an answer to that one. At a later meeting, I would think that we would add language sufficient to make clear that the circumstances have changed between now and then that would make the, that would leave it in a different, make it a different resolution than it currently is. Councilor Shannon, you still have the floor. Okay, I'm going to ponder that for a minute. Thank you. Okay, anyone else on the motion to postpone to our June 7th meeting? Mayor. Thank you, President Tracey. So I just want to make sure that there's clarity. I believe the upshot of what the City Attorney just said is that there would be a way to lift it later both through the reconsideration motion as well as it's a material change to the resolution if it comes back with a different date. I think the upshot of that, maybe I misheard, but I think is that there would be a way to make this decision later. Given that, I would hope we could have a clear vote on this tonight. I'm quite uncomfortable with the idea that the City of Burlington without a public health function is going to make up public health policy. We have the state and federal government public health experts saying it is time to change the, it is trying to change the mask rules and they have enormous capacity to evaluate these decisions and have come down where they are. We have throughout this pandemic succeeded by listening to the experts, by listening to the state and local public health experts, what they are now saying is it's time to lift it and it is uncomfortable to me and I think problematic that we would diverge at this point from the guidance that we've been getting from the others. And I think it is, I think we should see where the council stands on that because I think it is a consequential vote and really a departure from the success that has brought us here to this point to start saying we're going to impose our opinion over the opinion of Dr. Levine and the governor over the opinion of the CDC. It's not something I'm comfortable doing with and I hope the council at least make clear where they stand on this tonight. Thank you, Mayor. Are there further comments on the motion to postpone to June 7th? Okay, seeing none, we will go to a vote. I believe Clerk Bobey, City Clerk Bobey, are you going to be calling the roll this evening or is that CAO Schad? I'm available to take the roll. Okay, CAO Schad, will you please call the roll on the motion to postpone until June 7th? Of course. Councillor Barlow. No. Councillor Carpenter. Yes. Councillor Jang. No. Councillor Freeman. Yes. Councillor Hanson. Yes. Councillor Hightower. Yes. Councillor Mason. Councillor Mason had to sign off. Thank you. Councillor Paul. Yes. Councillor Pine. Yes. Councillor Shannon. Yes. Councillor Stromberg. Yes. City Council President Tracy. Yes. Nine a's to nays one absent. Okay, so the motion to postpone carries and we will have this on our agenda for the June 7th meeting. That concludes that item. So we are now at a, we are now at a motion, we now are in need of a motion to adjourn this meeting. Just wanting to recognize that we do have a budget session immediately to follow that, but that doesn't fit within the structure of this special meeting. So we do need to adjourn the special meeting. So may it please have a motion to adjourn. Okay. Moved by Councillor Freeman, seconded by Councillor Jang. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor of adjournment, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? That carries unanimously and we are adjourned at 6.36 PM. Again, folks, we will go into our budget sessions right now. So we will, in that case, turn it over to CAO Shad for us to get into that session. You can give folks a chance to, if folks need a second to readjust, we could also readjust it. Thank you so much. And also I have a terrible glare behind me. I'm sorry. Okay. And thank you city council for getting us more or less on time to this juncture after that important agenda item. Thank you for joining us for our second night of budget presentations. I am especially pleased to start with the fire department because they always give us great numbers and they always meet their budgets. We love working with them. They schedule half hour meetings and take eight minutes of my time. They're the most efficient people I know. They've added a third ambulance. I could not rave about them more. I am going to turn it over to Chief Locke and his team so they can tell you all about the amazing work they've been doing. Take it away, Chief Locke. Thank you, Catherine. Hopefully you didn't set me up with all those accolades. I hope, my two deputies may be in as panelists, Chief Plant and Chief Libby. And so if they are there, that'd be great. Otherwise I'll share my thoughts. They are here and we're so glad. Thank you for joining us, gentlemen. Share my screen, the presentation and will someone let me know if they see it? We're seeing the fire truck. Yeah, we're seeing the fire truck. Ooh, yeah. Are we close? Are we there? We're there. Okay. We have the pretty picture. Okay, we're off and running. I will, as Catherine says, I want, I like to be quick so we can get to the question part. And so I'll kind of go through these and we'll see, please, wherever you have questions, just let me know. So first, an overview of the department. We are staffed in this budget for 92 personnel as you will, and as Catherine mentioned, as you may remember, this budget fully staffs that third ambulance that we anticipate putting in service in early August. So increases our staffing from additional three personnel of this budget, but a total of nine to staff that. So every day minimum on duty is currently 20 personnel. That will go to 22 when the third ambulance goes in service. We staff out of five stations with about 85 personnel assigned to the, what we would consider the operations division, those who deliver the services day in, day out. Then it's the administrator division staffed with myself, my two deputies. The training division has one person and then the fire prevention division has three personnel assigned. Just, I cannot see if there's anyone raises their hand. I'm having a little bit of a issue there. So just, Mr. Tracy. Okay, I think we'll wait as possible for questions until the end, Chief Locke. Perfect, that makes life easier for me, thank you. And so calendar year 2020, we saw a decrease in calls for service of about five to 7%. Primarily that was COVID related. We in the once everything got shut down as you can imagine our call volume plummeted for a for a little while. And while that is slowly restoring, we did see about five to 600 call volume reduction from previous years. This is the current organizational chart of the department. And as you can see in the history, if you look on that bottom row, you see one shift has 22 firefighters and the other two shifts have 21. Three years ago when we started talking about putting this 30 ambulance in service, we also knew that we were gonna have to have some leadership of the EMS division. And so this is the proposed org chart that you will see before you at Board of Finance in the coming weeks as we bring all shifts to 21 firefighters and create that position of an EMS leadership position. That has a relatively minor budget impact that we've been able to absorb, but it does give us dedicated oversight to really what is the busiest part of our department. So this would be a paramedic level position that would do everything from ensuring quality assurance of our care to credentialing, to training and in supplies, really overall management of the entire medical division within the organization. And so we're excited to see that come to fruition and we'll go on to the next slide, which is the budget. So the budget in the fire department is primarily salary and benefits. So we run on, it's a little over $13 million operation with about 550,000 associated to really the operations of the department and that's their protective equipment, our medical supplies. Our business is very personnel driven. That's what it takes to get this job done. And so we looked at what the accomplished boards were in FY 21 and I say this as someone just we survived the COVID challenges, the initial months or weeks and months of COVID certainly challenged us and challenged us. We changed operational plans sometimes daily as we took to comply with new regulations between quarantining folks. We delivered services every day and never dropped below our mandatory minimum staffing. So kudos to a staff who came to work every day and works through some really challenging times. For the first time, certainly in my tenure here we use the management structure to prepare for pandemic planning and response. And I can remember meeting with the mayor in the first week and saying we really had to identify a structure for him to set the goals and then for us to execute them. And we have used that to stay still to keep him informed. He sets the goals and then we use the processes to ensure they get delivered. This budget time also allowed us to support three more employees to attend paramedic school. That is about an 18 month program. But when they conclude, we will have 17 credentialed paramedics, which is very exciting. And then finally, we were able to replace a couple of administrative vehicles and we added our first fully electric vehicle to the fire marshal's office, which was a unique for us. So what does this FY22 budget sustain? It does increase our level of service. So we're proud to say when we're excited that our department is adding staffing, which is very, which is very good deal with increased demand for services overall that will continue to increase. It reinstates some of all the painful reductions from FY21 and this was and has been a very painful year from a budgeting standpoint and the ability to just, at times I said to someone to try and keep the lights on. And so it does keep our current deployment of fire service resources. And excitingly it adds a little bit of money into our protective clothing plan that allows outside vendor to not only inspect our primary set of gear, but our secondary set of gear in compliance with national standards. And then what it doesn't do and we need to continue to consider for FY23 and beyond and to keep on your radar, we still have two fire stations, one over a hundred years old and one approaching a hundred year old that they have exceeded their lifespan. They're beautiful old buildings, but for when you put modern fire apparatus in these buildings it gets very, very difficult. And we are going to continue to have issues that need to be addressed. And what this budget doesn't do is we still have three companies that are operate with just two personnel assigned and certainly a desire would be to staff those accordingly with three personnel. So those are conversations that you will continue to hear about and we want you to keep on your radar. And so with that as quickly as I could, I got through that so I can take any questions that you have. And I'm gonna stop sharing. Thank you. I'm gonna try and moderate this. Yes, Councillor Pine. And then President Tracy. Thanks, Chief Locke. And tell us how the department is doing with regard to utilization of overtime. I don't know if that's still as much of an issue as it was historically. It is. We spend overtime every day. The first half of the, we expended our entire overtime budget in January. So our entire overtime budget was gone halfway through the fiscal year. And a large part of that was COVID. So the COVID leave because unlike most other departments, we still have to maintain people on duty every day. So when someone had to quarantine or someone had to travel with their family and had to take quarantine leave on their return, overtime dollars were used. And we've been able to balance the budget through some, we've been able to balance the budget. It's been a, I'm lucky to have a sharp staff who looked at the budget weekly and monitors things. Yes, overtime has been and continues to be a challenge. Would we, will we address that when we, when we had the force that the number of officers or number of members, I should say? I'll say, I think that initially it'll be a little bit, it'll get ebbs and flows. So it'll be a little bit worse at the beginning to be quite honest as we get, we will have 14 personnel with less than a year of service on for about eight weeks. So the first eight weeks of our ambulance implementation is going to be a little bit, we're going to have increased overtime after that, it should settle down a little bit. But one of the things that happens with the fire department in some of our overtime is a result of vacancies. So what we're often able to do is have vacancy savings and the CAO is nice enough not to put a high attrition number in our budget. So then we shuffle those monies basically across the, that helps to balance our budget. It doesn't balance the workforce problem. I mean, you want them to work a lot, but it balances the financial problem. Yeah, last thing we want to do is rely on firefighters who are putting in more hours than they really should. And I know you don't do that if you can, but there are some who end up probably having to work more hours than they really should. Absolutely. We don't want that. All right, thank you. Before we go on to President Tracy, I just want to highlight something that Chief Glock, lost over there, which is that his overtime was expended in January, but he's going to come in on budget. And that's just something that I think deserves some accolades in a very difficult budget year. Chief Glock is amazing, not only because he trained me and gave me this crazy hot potato. So I have some affection for him for that, but because he always meets his budget. He gives us a very accurate budget and always meets it and finds a way to meet it. And I know he has a strong team. So I want to thank his deputies who are here tonight and all the people who support him as well, but that's a very difficult thing to do. So I just publicly want to give you some kudos, Chief and your team, please pass that along. President Tracy. So first thing that I wanted to address, Chief Glock, and we had had an exchange when we were debating at two town meetings ago was the issue of the public safety tax. And so I just wanted, now that we're looking to implement it, just wanted folks to be clear on it because I've heard some questions like, is this tax going to be used for just fire and specifically just for this ambulance or is it being used for other purposes? And if so, what might those purposes be? Because people I think were wanting just to be clear on that and were told that that was going to go towards the ambulance. And staffing that ambulance? Sure. And so forgive me only because I've been out of the CAO range where I was crunching the numbers of the value of the three cent, I think was what the voters authorized. And so we had identified, that generated about 1.3 or 1.4 million. I'm using, I'm going back a little bit fuzzy on the math there. Just a little bit less, 1.2. Yeah, and then so if you take the salary of nine firefighters, you take the equipment and the PPE and all that stuff, we were able to generate right about show about 1.2 million worth of expense to balance out the cost of that public safety tax. So yes, is a short answer. Okay, all right. And then the other piece was one thing that struck me when you gave me a tour of the station was just the deferred maintenance that different needs that you were pointing out throughout that tour. And I know you included that as a slide, but I thought that that was something that was really particularly important given just the amount of equipment that you have that really ages out and needs attention. And so I'm just wondering if you might be able to say more about how it addresses not only those equipment needs, but then also some of these older stations that are also, you know, I think in these just very in need of a parent upkeep. You know, I'll say this, the city is doing a great job with in terms of our apparatus and keeping the 2016 bond vote for help us to get a bunch of new fire trucks. And we have a couple more that are coming up, but certainly there's a plan to address that. So I'd say from an apparatus and equipment standpoint, we're in a good place. We're not there and we're not in a good place for infrastructure. So again, we have two outdated buildings and buildings are expensive to build. And if you look at that downtown station, which is about 20,000 square feet, which we need all of 20,000 square feet. And we're having some positive conversations with the mayor about what is the right strategy going forward to address infrastructure and our deployment of resources. So there are some options on the table that I think that over the next year that we'll continue to have some conversations on. But I do worry that the not addressing, not coming up with a plan to address the down, certainly both that downtown station and the station on Mansfield Ave will lead to perhaps even a catastrophic failure. Our back wall used to be able to drive a pickup down there pretty easily. And now you're faced to pull your mirrors in when you drive a pickup down in there. There's a slope wall back there that continues to have degradation. So the city is gonna face them from some capital investment problems with those stations over the next few years. Yeah, so I know you said you're in conversations, but recognizing that, are you thinking about, like are there, what is kind of the next steps for addressing those capital shortfalls? Cause I feel like I completely hear that and agree with that, but I don't want us to continue to kind of kick that can down the road. Yeah, I think ultimately the mayor gave me some direction to get some information back to him on basically a plan A and a plan B so that he can evaluate that, then we can bring that to you. And so we're still in that data gathering standpoint to get to him. Cause it does impact several things. So I'd say right now it's in my court to get the information that the mayor has asked for. Okay, thank you so much. Mayor, is there something you would like to add? Well, just, I just want to remember, remind the council of the context here. I mean, we've put more money into these fire stations over the last, since the sustainable infrastructure bond and since the creation of the capital improvement position. So over the last several years, we've really changed the trajectory of investment into the fire stations. There definitely is more that needs to be done. I do think there's a big decision that is coming on the future central station. And we, I'll be part of our, it's something the firefighter union is keenly interested in as well. And, you know, I think we're moving on a timeline that coincides with our collective bargaining agreements and possible bonding this fall to, you know, have this conversation teed up further. But just also, you know, we have changed the trajectory here and we'll continue to make investments. It's certainly my intent. Thank you. And also this is a good segue. As you've noted, we have capital at the end of the evening. And while that is not, I don't think I've looked through a lot of these presentations touching that much on fire. That's certainly something we can discuss with Norm and Martha. The immense capital needs we have is an overwhelming theme of that presentation. So not to rush us along, but to move us along. Are there other questions on fire? It's my question. Yes, counselor Jen. Thank you. Thank you, Chief Locke for being here and Deputy Chief Libby and Mr. Blunt. Thank you. So knowing that the two issues that are outlined here over time and also deferred maintenance and also knowing that, you know, raising taxes is always not always the answer. I was wondering if bringing a volunteer firefighting program could help, you know, with the overtime issue and also to save some money for the deferred maintenance. Yeah, I think it's a great concept. Unfortunately, the volunteer fire service in most of America is just going away. I mean, as people have multiple jobs just to survive, you're seeing many, many, many small communities now start to staff with a few people because of the delivery of service. And no longer is this a business that people are in many areas than I would say even in our area or have that time to spend, you know, this is a profession that requires a high skill set with a high degree of time. And so the commitment to train to the profession to be able to deliver service. And so I don't see that as a realistic path forward in a community that's running over 8,000 calls for service in my opinion. All right, thank you. Okay, one more question. If there is one, otherwise we'll wrap up. Thank you so much, Chief Locke and your entire team. Yes, final words? Nope, thank you. Oh, great. Thank you so much. Thank you. We appreciate it. And with that, we are going to move on to the always interesting department of public works. We are joined by Director Spencer and Chief Engineer Baldwin. I think we have others. These two are going to lead us off with an amazing presentation. Look, we have the whole team coming. Thank you, Catherine, for the opportunity tonight. And thanks for the counselors for making time on a gorgeous evening. We heard at your first budget meeting that INT, Brian Lowe said that they were your favorite department. And we just heard from Catherine that this was, BFD was the lowest maintenance department. I'll say DPW has the broadest responsibilities and the hardest working. So thanks for having us this evening. We've got 12 slides for you to show a small breadth of what we... You have the most diverse work, definitely. And you guys are part of my favorite committee. You know it. All right, well, great. Thank you. So I will share the screen here. Get the presentation up and we will go through it quickly to get to your questions. Can everybody see that? All right, great. So DPW general fund budget, you're going to hear from other parts of DPW. This is the general fund here this evening. In this presentation and our mission statement here and our goals. As we discussed, we have an incredibly broad mission and we're talking in this presentation about the general fund budget which is around $8.7 million. You'll hear separate presentations on water, on parking and traffic and the city's general fund capital budget. We have four divisions and about 125 staff. Here are the four divisions and in blue are the programs that are funded by the general fund. And so we'll be speaking to these tonight. The noticeable addition here is parking services. This is parking enforcement that came over from BPD in mid-21. And we also, this is second year of us not having permitting and inspections trades program within public works. Here's a short list of the broad array of assets that we maintain every day. So looking at 22, we have an exciting list of goals for the coming year. I am very pumped about this. Safety is job one and that's right at the top. In addition to that, there's been already a talk at the fire department here about how do we sustain our capital assets? The fire was talking about the buildings. There are many other pieces that are still to be worked on despite our best efforts over the last five years with the sustainable. We have a number of large projects that we are coordinating with multiple partners. That's from the Shelburne Street roundabout to Great Streets at a university place. And then there's the restoration of passenger rail to Burlington first time in decades over 50 years since passenger rail served, inner city passenger rail served Burlington. We are working on the walk bike plan and continued implementation there. And asset management, which for you all, I know we've presented a couple of times is really one of the game changing investments that we can do. So that we have the best tracking mechanism for service requests that come in from the public and asset management systems for us on the back end to track our assets and know optimally when best to maintain them and replace them. There's also an upcoming recommendation on consolidated collection and we're looking forward to moving in that direction should the council support that direction. And there's additional reorganization out of the parking and traffic team that relates to the general fund component of parking services. And wrapping it up, updating the five year capital plan with a new proposed way to move forward with continuing our robust investment in our general fund assets. So the lion's share of the change of our budget, $5 million in revenues and 8.7 in expenses is really the addition of parking services into our budget. That is the majority of the changes you're seeing here. Our net draw on the general fund is around $3.7 million. So the key drivers on the revenues and expense side and the revenue side, parking services revenue is now showing up in public works for FY 22. Norm Baldwin, who's here on this call city engineer overseas tech services. This is the team that a project manages many of the city's most visible projects. Some years there are more general fund unbillable projects than others. And this is a year where there's a number of unbillable projects, which is reducing our revenue by about $270,000. And then last, there is a proposed increase this year on the solid waste generation tax. That's the tax that funds the city's recycling program. We have three issues going on here that are driving that request. One is during COVID residents are home more and purchasing more online. And that leads to a lot more cardboard and other recyclable materials, which is driving our tip fee expenses. Two, we are gonna need to replace a second recycling vehicle. And third, we are working on a multi-year transition to consolidated collection. And we've accommodated that in the budget. Still say we're the best deal in town picking up recycling each week from each resident for under $1.25. So on the expense side, we talked about the increased tonnage of recyclables. We talked about the purchase of a recycling vehicle. We've been restoring, as Chief Locke said, a number of items from our FY21 budget that were cut, including professional development, which is incredibly important. We have modestly increased the overtime for street maintenance team so that we can do more billable work late into the evening as needed and more winter maintenance on our roads. And then there are a few minor items here at the bottom. We've level funded salt and fuel. These are large items, but smartly under CAO rest in many years ago, we've set up a reserve fund in case of significant fluctuations in these lines. So setting up for 23, we've really got to work on this five year, updating the five year capital plan. And we need this multi-year continued investment in asset management so that we can do our job better in serving the residents better at the best possible price and with the greatest level of service. So with that, just finishing up, one of the things that I'm very proud about is how we partner with departments across the city. Chief Locke talked about how the fire equipment is well maintained, public works is pleased to maintain over 300 city, complete vehicles and be available to keep those running 24 seven. In addition, we have helped project manage large capital projects such as city hall park. And we also, as you'll see here, continue to operate the crossing guard program for the Brownington school department. And with that, we're happy to answer any questions. As I now realize that I've gotten myself in the bind of giving adjectives to all of the departments, that is how I wanna describe DPW. Chapin, you and your team have been amazing partners, not just with me, but across the city. And I appreciate that your teams have really been working to break down a lot of departmental barriers, whether it's around our COVID response or as we're helping parking garages, which we'll hear about next. So thank you for that. City counselors, questions for Director Spencer and his team. Yes, President Tracy. So one of the things that I hear about pretty regularly from constituents is a desire for traffic calming in their neighborhoods and speed issues just throughout, primarily in residential streets, but really throughout the city. And I see that work is closely aligned with some of the quick, the implementation of quick build technologies that we're trying to put into place. And I guess my question is, it's often very frustrating for residents when they hear from us or when we get back to them and say that, you know, it's sort of on an, as kind of a first come, first serve basis and we'll put you in the queue essentially, which can in many cases mean several years before we're able to get to them. And so, which means several more years of them experiencing some of these issues. And so I guess what I'm wondering is how we might be able to shift using some of these budgeting resources to a department. Because I think it feels like in many ways it's tied to staff who are in cases where I've worked with them doing great work, really working hard to work with residents, implementing solutions, but there's only so many of them and they have so much need. And so I guess my question is really, how do we more adequately budget for this, recognizing just the tremendous amount of interest at least I don't know if other counselors experience this in other areas, but I would imagine they would. So how can we address that? And then second coming out of that is also when we're, how do we, when we implement things using that quick build, how do we plan for sort of some of those next steps that take us from a quick build solution, which is meant to be temporary to a more permanent solution. So I guess that's kind of the, and this is all sort of in the frame of really wanting to implement a Vision Zero approach where we're really using a, being more responsive to some of these safety issues we see whether on neighborhood streets or main arteries. Happy to respond. And then I'll turn it over to city engineer, Norm Baldwin. First, this is the traffic calming. First, you need to build a more streamlined program. And I'm pleased that the team over the last year has rebuilt a program that is no longer first in, first out President Tracy. It's now based on data collection and data to prioritize. So where a street qualifies, they do not need to wait for the entire line. They now can be rated on the data of speed, volume and other conditions. So that's good. Second, your approval at the council month or so ago about on-call consultants is helpful because then we can tap into other resources as needed when the requests are high. And it is a priority to move more projects. We acknowledge that there are a number of streets in the queue. We have some funds in this budget to tackle a handful. But if we're hearing from the council that we need to do more, then let's have that conversation about how we bring more out the pipeline in FY22. As it goes from quick build to permanent, we have funded notably the transition at five corners that was completed last year for quick build to permanent. And this year in FY22, we've funded the start of transitioning the old North and Greenway to permanent as well. So happy to talk about speed and potential more resource. City engineer Bald, anything to add? Yeah, I have a bullet list here and it seems like you've hit every mark. So I don't have much to offer, unfortunately. Sorry about that. That's not good. And I guess the follow up that I have is would it be potentially more efficient to just take a more holistic approach and actually a proactive approach and go in and as opposed to kind of doing it piecemeal based on resident requests? And what would that take? I guess I would say is given the volume that's already in queue, we're trying to respond to what's in queue and stacked as opposed to what could potentially be something that's maybe not a concern for the neighborhood. So right now I would almost be a distraction from trying to address some of those specific concerns. It could be that the program evolves to that, but for now we're trying to deal with the backlog. Other questions? Councilor Klein. I'm asking this question because I don't have the answer but also just for the public to understand when you say consolidated collection, can you just both explain it and talk about the impact that would have on both the public and on our workforce too? Great, happy to kick this off and division director Lee Perry is here as well who's been spearheading a lot of this work. Consolidated collection is moving towards a model where trash recycling and organics are picked up in one geographic area by either one hauler or by the city itself for a more efficient collection of our solid waste and recycling. So it is something that has been studied. I just re-found a resolution from 2000 that the council passed studying consolidated collection and that actually it's a minority of communities around the country who have a subscription service like we do where individual residents has signed up for hauling individually which just leads to more trash trucks in the neighborhoods at different days, different times in an uncoordinated fashion. So we'll be coming to the TUC transportation energy and utilities committee next week, next Tuesday, I believe, and then we'll be coming to the DPW commission in June and then to the council after that, hopefully with the recommendations to whether or not we proceed with consolidated collection and if so, under what model, municipally operated or through a private franchise? Division director Lee Perry, anything you wanna add? Now you covered it pretty good. Thank you, that's helpful. C.A.O. Shad, I see Councilor Paul or President Tracy. Sorry, C.A.O. Shad was busy with the text. Yes, President Tracy, please. I think it was Councilor Paul who- Sorry, sorry, I definitely did not see the order. Councilor Paul, I never want to offend you. Please go first, you are first. No offense taken at all, I'm happy to wait my turn. So it's sort of funny, I have to confess that when I first got elected, I think the first request that I got from a constituent, sort of funny how you remember those things, the first request that I got was from a constituent who wanted consolidated trash collection. Like this is like a decade ago. And I remember the person who reached out to me and I mentioned it to the person who was the C.A.O. at the time and with all the other things that were going on obviously, we never really got onto that. But one question that I have Chapin is just, because I'm just trying to understand and I will confess that I have not followed this issue. I know it's gone to two, I followed it for a while pre COVID, but haven't followed it as closely. If you're thinking about purchasing another recycling vehicle, which I know is an issue and I know there have been breakdowns and the reason I know that is because I've contacted you when people have concerns about the fact that their recycling isn't getting picked up quickly enough is why are we going in budgeting for a recycling truck that we may or may not need? I mean, unless I'm misunderstanding, I mean, if we were to go with giving, bidding out the entire city to private and if you lived in this area, you had Cassella and if you had this area, you had Meyer or whoever, why are we, maybe you can explain that. Great, it is a good question. And we've been trying to delay the acquisition of these vehicles as long as possible. It's the point now where we can't run a reliable program without upgraded equipment. As counselors have noted, including yourself, we've had to borrow trash trucks from private haulers just to do our city recycling. The answer is this, consolidated collection, if we go with a franchise model or municipal operation is gonna be at least three years away. It is a long development process. And so during those three years, we need the truck. We will purchase it under a lease purchase agreement. And if at the end of those three years that we go to a private model, we will find a way to sell that vehicle at the end of that three years and get out with our skin intact. So that is the plan moving forward. I know it's a little awkward and we've tried to forestall this, but it needs to be replaced. Well, that makes sense. I mean, if you obviously I didn't, that makes perfect sense that it would take a while to implement a program of this magnitude. And in the meantime, as you said, I'm one of the people that have been calling you when people are concerned about why isn't their tract, their recycling been picked up. And then the only other thing I just wanted to mention and I've spoken with you about this and a few others is that when it comes to people who come to Burlington visitors in particular, but also people that live here, certainly for people who don't live here, potentially the only experiences they may have when it comes to parking is getting a ticket. And whatever we can do to make that process, I dare I say a not unpleasant experience, I think just further training and just finding a way so that, yes, you got a ticket, but you're still a good person kind of thing, I think would be helpful. Because I do hear from residents and I've actually had people who don't live here who have said that their experience, they understand that sometimes they have to get a ticket, but they do not appreciate the way that they're treated when they get one. So that's all I'll say about that. Thank you. Great, thank you, counselor. You have made that comment and I will just say that we're really pleased with the opportunity and excited the parking services team is part of DPW. It's still new. We've got a lot of plans. Jeff just hosted a piece of party with the customer service staff over there to really work through how to reorient ourselves even more to a customer perspective. So stay tuned more to come. And that being said, I also add that your front desk customer service people are amazing. So thanks very much. We agree. Okay, president Tracy and then a counselor, Jay. You're also. Thank you. Councilor Jay. Thank you. So I don't know about the customer service, but I know about Ram Goldwin, a great, wonderful guy. Thank you so much for all you do. And I just love the style of getting business done. Yeah. I have to say it to all the departments, people that are close to us. Thank you. Communication and you're doing, going above and beyond. I think it's just amazing. And to you as well, Spencer, I know we don't agree, but thank you for what you do. So, I mean, I think every single year I talk about these two items. And every year I receive basically the same answer. And I think both of them, Councilor Tracy did touch on them. Vision zero is still remaining a question mark. We don't know what is next. And in this budget, there has not been a clear outline about resources needed to move it forward. Right? That's one. The other one is also about the neighborhood speed calming or whatever. I think the fact that we are waiting over four years in order to see action, I think need to be looked at. And I hope that this budget definitely has, you know, resources necessary to not put tax payers of buildings in that waiting timeframe, you know? I think those are comments. Maybe you can touch on them. But the real question that I have for your department are the following. What is the percentage of your budget going to both salary and benefits to the employee? And for the operation budget, what percentage goes to consultants? If I get that right. So yeah, thank you. Those are my questions. Great. Thank you, Councilor Jang. I will say Rob and public information manager, Rob Goulding is a great asset. He is now supervising the front desk customer service folks at Pine Street. So that synergy is really working well to have communications and customer service together. As to traffic calming, I hear your point about Cross Court, which is you've been asking me about. And we will come out of this meeting tonight hearing from the council that traffic calming is a priority. And we will look at our budget and see if we're, you know, ready to really meet what I'm hearing from the council. So we'll do that. As it relates to vision zero, I think that's a recommendation to reduce severe injuries on our roadways. And I feel like we are achieving that through a number of strategies, but maybe we need to be more holistic in pulling more diverse partners together in that campaign. And I'm happy to work with the Transportation Committee on that. And the percent going to salaries, I don't have that exact number. I can tell you that the council that approved the on-call budget for consultants, that a couple of hundred thousand dollars is far less than our annual payroll, but I'll get that information for you, Councillor Cairn. Yeah, the CT office can certainly help pull that together and put together one of like the pie charts that you've seen in other presentations. It's just in a number of programs and we haven't taken a look at it. Yeah, exactly. Just because of the complexity of the DPW budget, it wasn't as easy to do, but we're happy to provide that information. Any other questions, Councillor Jang? So maybe basically just allow me to clarify that after this meeting about the neighborhood traffic calming what did you say exactly, sorry? I said I'm going to go have a conversation with a team, City Engineer Norm Baldwin and the Transportation Planner Nicole Loesch and revisit our funding. And I know I did make sure that there was more construction funding in there, but I believe it's for three or so projects and what I'm hearing from you is, and other counselors, is you want to see more production in this area. So we're going to sharpen our pencils and see how we can deliver that for you. Okay. Yeah, this is, excuse me, Councillor Jang, I would just say this is part of the feedback process of these meetings. And so that may be some of the revisions. As we mentioned, all of these budgets that you're seeing are still being tweaked to some degree. And some of that is based on your feedback and some of that is based on just a couple of last minute changes. And in this case, it sounds like Director Spencer may be making some additional requests based on his meeting. So let's see what he comes back with after his team. We do need to move on. Are there any other burning questions for DBW? That kind of turned into a pun. I didn't mean it, but this is a great group. Okay. Thank you so much, Director Spencer, Chief Engineer Baldwin and everyone else. Director Spencer, you're staying on because now we're moving on to traffic and parking, which has certainly been what I like to call a fun challenge of this year. As we know, it has been hit hard by COVID, but we are very lucky to have Chapin and Jeff managing things. So I think we're turning things over to Jeff. So take it away. Thank you. All right, Chapin, you have any introductory remarks? Who wanted to? Division Director Padgett, thank you. All right, great. So much like Chief Locke, I'm going to try to do five, six minutes and then leave the rest so you can ask questions. But you know, right now my side deck is not as pretty as everyone else has made pictures and lots of words. So I'm going to try to hit the wavetops and give you the gist. This first slide really talks about what we are. The parking and traffic division is a bit of a, it's a very broad department in a broad department. We have three funds. We have 264, 265 and now 53, which is the parking services fund, which used to be in the police department. 264 is the traffic group and they're managed by Dan Hill. 265 is the parking group where operations manager Leonard Dusharm and maintenance manager position is open right now. So we'll spread the word. We could use a good maintenance manager. It's a big challenge. The biggest story for this division and I've been to board of finance meetings and talked about this before and I believe you've heard some of the story but this is a time of great challenge and change. We're making intentional management changes that are intended to create sustainability in our department, both financially and public safety wise, you know, simple things like restructuring how we do our painting contracts so that they are lined up with the fiscal year. So we set up a new one after July instead of before July in the old days that we would have a new contract that would be launched in the spring and it's just got very confusing. So now we're guaranteed that we have money available to us in the next year and we can get on painting just as soon as the roads are dry and as soon as they're warm enough to accept paint. And I'm making a very concerted effort to empower the middle managers and that's why I put them on this slide. These managers are critical. They run the show. There are boots on the ground every day working hard. I got crews underneath them that are all working hard. So I've been trying to really from management perspective empower them. As you know, we're working on a reorganization. We've completed phase one A and one B which were sort of administrative reorganizations. We're headed towards one C which you will start to see coming later in the summer which is more substantive and a little bit more sweeping. But the primary goals of this organization are to improve customer service. I think we've already touched on that and the experience and employee support. However, our division is driven by the economy. We are tied directly to revenues from meters, revenues from tickets, revenues from parking garages. And we're hopeful for recovery. We budgeted hopefully but also plan for the challenge. So with that, I'll flip through these next few slides fairly quickly to give you a little more detail on each of these guys. Maybe if it goes forward, there we go. All right, so 264 is completely funded by the parking meter revenues. They focus on signs, lines and signals but I put graffiti control first because graffiti control is a major, frankly, distraction from them doing signs and lines and signals. This meter funding also funds the crossing guard program and I'll just get straight to that. The crossing guard program is a major challenge for us. Right now, there's about 33 positions and we can only seem to fill between 16 and 20 at any given time. It's just a very challenging position to find staff for. So we've increased the budget for this year to try to pay them a little more to get more bodies in there. And we're also desperately trying to work with the schools to try to find a synergy between their staff and our staff to try to fill this gap. It's a big concern of ours as we carry that program. Another challenge that we see right now is the smart meter technology is sunsetting. The modems and the smart meters are dated and they are gonna go away and we're hoping to use ARPA money to bolster that program. I already talked about graffiti, talked about the long lines and then we're hoping that some of that our projections right now is that we're going to be insolvent. The end of the fiscal year, that's my conservative projection. Hopefully it won't be but ARPA funds will bolster us for sure. COVID-19 was brutal on us. We're 55% of revenues. We're expected to be, we have a gap of somewhere between $300 to $400,000 covered either by ARPA or program. But we're hoping that meter revenues will come back. We are seeing more activity. So we have a smaller budget. We're not contributing to fund balance at this point. We're not letting anybody off. We have very little over time. I think I've covered most of these guys. 265, that's almost a $3 million program. It's all the parking facilities. Again, this is fully funded by lot revenues, marketplace garage, college street, monthly lots, meter lots. Two hours free went away in April. So hopefully we will get some more revenue out of that to help us recover. We do have a free parking program going on for downtown employees. We do need major repairs at Elmwood. I don't know if they've seen that lately, but we are planning for that also. COVID-19 like this, like 264, 55, 60% revenue were off. And, but we expect hopefully with the two hour free coming back or going away at marketplace garage and some creative permitting with the Lakeview College Street, we are hoping to fill up Lakeview College Street garage and that should really drive revenues. One important note is that there is a vote on Wednesday about the DID assessment. Right now it's at four and a half cents. They're talking about one. There's a possibility it might go to zero on Wednesday. That will not affect us because that money that we get from that assessment is just a replacement of revenues that we would have lost for the two hours free. So I'm going to, sorry, I'm going to go kind of fast here. So here's new 53 parking services, John King's group. Right off the top here, John King is retiring in September. So on top of all of our economic financial challenges, we've got some real personnel transition happening. Again, this is fully funded by revenues from citations. We're working on a move to get them out of One North Avenue. And again, we're having a concerted effort to counselor Paul's comment. We did have a pizza party with the crew to about two and a half hours of pizza party. I then met in a leadership team with Legal and Shepin and a variety of other folks to talk about the challenge. And we just had a meeting today an interdepartmental meeting across with parks and water to try and we're going to, I think we're going to do this on like an annual or a biannual basis, get all of the groups together to have customer service and talk to each other and understand how, because everybody's got a unique customer service perspective and I think the one when you're giving somebody a ticket is a very unique one. And it's a very big challenge that we need to solve. Our revenues are expected to exceed the budgeted revenues on 53. And it's expected to stay solvent. So I think the one key thing is all this moving that we're doing, moving out of One North Avenue, we're basically funding this, that the contribution to general fund previously was somewhere around $70,000 this year. We're talking about a contribution to a fund of 50 to 60. So it's about a wash even with additional costs like including continuing ed, the cost of the move and all sort of sundry costs that come with being independent. So, oh, and just the very last thing is I wanted to thank the BBA. We've worked with them for the past five years on the downtown parking transportation plan that is expiring at the end of the fiscal year. There are some funds that we will probably pull forward into 22 via fund balance just to finish out some projects that didn't quite get done due to COVID. Anyway, sorry, I probably went a little long, but that's the sprint. So any questions? Nicely done, Jeff. Thank you. If you could stop sharing your screen, it will be easier for me to see people. Excellent. Thank you so much. I know that question slide is awesome. There you go. Thank you. There's the button. OK, counselors, who has questions for Assistant Director Padgett or his team? Oh, sorry, Counselor Bull. I don't know why I can't see you tonight. Yes, please. Thanks very much. So first, I just wanted to say, I think, you know, traffic is a is a tough, a tough department in the sense of just balancing the needs of traffic, parking enforcement, all of that is, you know, hard work. And I appreciate the work that you and your entire department does. I know it's not easy. And I one thing that, you know, I've I've always wondered about and, you know, over the years, it's come in and out of conversation is the issue of the crossing guards. And, you know, it seems to me that the only reason that we have crossing guards is because we have children who go to school and crossing guards have been around. I am I'd be curious to know if a. You know, in the state of Vermont, if all crossing guards or many cities who have crossing guards, many towns that have crossing guards, if their schools are paying for them or if the city is paying for them. I understand the the argument that it's an issue of public safety and that, you know, it's done by DPW. But, you know, the city always struggles some years more than others on to find crossing guards and on, you know, and yet the schools don't want to take that over on. And so I'm just trying to understand if they're number one, you know, is do you know if in most municipalities crossing guards are done by the schools are done by the municipality and two, if they're you know, it seems as it is a tough job to find people for not so much because of what you're doing, but mostly because of the split shift. And, you know, you have to be in a very, you know, it's hard to find somebody who can do that morning. And then it's not even evening. It's it's morning and afternoon in the middle of the afternoon. So I'm just curious to know how your conversations have been with the schools on that. So I don't know how other communities do it, but I know that on Thursday, Wednesday, I was talking to Dan and I had a little hissy fit. And I said, Dan, tomorrow morning, get in your truck, drive over to the school, walk in the front office and say you need to talk to somebody about the crossing guards because we're we're just hurry, you know, not to discourage them. I'm just saying, it's that urgent to us and it's not an emailing thing at this point. It's a show up on the doorstep. We need to schedule a meeting thing. And I've expressed to Dan extreme urgency because I'm very concerned. I mean, so just a point of clarity. There are 33 positions identified as crossing guard locations, which means they're authorized traffic control devices. And that's the logic that gets them into DPW is that they're traffic control devices of other people. They're in the ordinance, they're devices similar. So that's how I get the logic of how they got into DPW. So anyway, there's nothing in the ordinance that says they have to all be hosted. It just says that these are places where they can be. Nonetheless, they there's a reason why it got into ordinance and we really feel a serious obligation to get them filled. But it's just been very, very hard. So yeah, I mean, it just seems as though in, you know, as they say, I mean, this has always been a conversation. I remember, you know, not that long ago, there was quite the discussion about moving the crossing guards to the schools. And I'm not sure if that's a legitimate cost for the schools that they can, you know, sort of like the same issue that we had with SROs and I'm just not sure how that works. But it does seem as though that should be a shared responsibility. You know, obviously we don't want any, we don't want any intersections that need to be, that need to have a crossing guard, not to have a crossing guard, of course. But it does seem as though this, given the urgency that you're right, that it should be more of a shared kind of thing. And I don't know how, I don't know how that conversation went when someone went into the schools. Yeah, well, he did walk out of the meeting, but we are going to have a meeting very soon. Part of the other nice thing is with the high school at Macy's, we have a little tighter relationship with the schools in general, because we had almost weekly meetings or conversations with VHS on the variety of graduated issues, but that's open to door to, you know, we know them, they know us. And so we're going to get this done, has to get done. The only other thing I would just wonder is whether or not there is some sort of program that could be brought forward to, for high school students to do some sort of, and certainly to be compensated potentially for being crossing guards. I don't know if that's something that anyone has looked into, but I think there are municipalities that do that. So that's all, thank you very much. Thank you. Councillor Pine. Thanks, and Jeff, the question I have is really around the sort of financial operations of the garage system and whether you will speak about the capital improvement needs of that system during the capital portion of this meeting or whether now is the time to ask. No, now is the time, because we're fairly insulated, yeah, we're insulated from a lot of that. There are times when we overlap, but we're insulated. Okay, and could you just speak about whether there's sufficient cash flow from operations to cover any capital needs for the garages or if you really are gonna be looking to do something more along the lines of bonding for the 45 year old garage at the marketplace and the 20 year old garage at Lakeview. Right, so we do have some capital, we're replacing some stairs. We have a number of items that I've logged in the budget but then deferred, so they're there. We just don't quite have the money for them right now and the way that I'm approaching this budget season is estimating revenues relatively low and then logging in things like capital that I know are gonna come down the pike at some point and if we start seeing revenues that are stronger, I have no problem going to the CAO's office and doing a budget amendment for my revenues and then pulling in some capital projects. I know they're there, I know we need to do doors, I know we need to do some crack filling and then I know they're there. So I put in the highest priority capital and I'm looking at what I can add. I would dovetail on that and just say straight to the point during COVID, these two funds lost approximately three and a half million dollars. Most of our fund balance that I have stewarded since I took this job when parking and traffic had very little if any fund balance and we've built it up in order to make repairs and we have repaired College Street Garage about three or four years ago with a multi-million dollar repair but to your point, Councilor Pine, marketplace is in need of significant work and we've unfortunately due to COVID lost most of our fund balance. So this is gonna be a challenge for us to tackle in the coming year. But we do have a capital needs assessment and an idea of what that garage needs for investment and we know about what that needs. Yes, Jeff? It's a little complicated to get into here but suffice it to say the amount of capital that we need to put into that to bring it to, completely up to snuff is very nearly what it would cost to replace it. Wow, that's 45 years old, so. Yep, yep, yep, okay, thank you. Okay, we do need to move along. President Tracy, last question, thank you. Yeah, so I just wanted to understand the budget implications of towing for scoff. That's been something that I've heard a lot of constituent feedback on where people are just, they just would like to see changes to the scoff, to specifically towing for scoff and the implications that that has, I think there's a real feeling at least in the old North End that people feel as though that that policy has a really regressive impact on over-income individuals and can really, whereas one person may be able to pay for that towing fee, really has that impact and compounds is kind of the issues of the tickets that may have actually caused them to get into that place. So just really understand what the budget implications of that are and then what kinds of like if we had an additional, if they required like, I don't know, an additional letter or other things, other changes, what that implication might be on the budget because I'm just hearing some pushback from folks saying that they really don't feel like this policy is fair. Right, well, you understand that scoff is not enforced at this point, scoff is not. Yeah, no, this is pre-COVID though. This goes back to pre-COVID times and so I think that we haven't been hearing that from folks because it hasn't been their experience, but I think coming out of it, we'll start to hear that conversation pick up again and so I think it bears, I think re-examination and so just wanting to understand what kind of the budget implications of that are. Right, and honestly, I just adopted this budget so I don't really have that historical context of what it cost in the past, but I know suspending of the scoff has had some impact on us for situations where people get their car towed from one street to another and then they pick up their car and they go and they take it home, right? And then they don't pay the ticket. Well, baked into that ticket is the towing price and we're paying that towing price anyway to the towing vendor. So it's having, so not having scoff is having a negative, I've asked John to give me a report on what that dollar volume is. I'm not aware of it right now, but I know it's something every time they're towing cars under parking vans, they're, they roll their eyes. So I'm trying to get my handle on that as well. And it is the strong opinion of John that scoff needs to come back, but he also agrees that the $80 limit is probably too low. I mean, you're a two violation tow at that point. Yeah. Yeah, that's really what I'm looking at and wanting some a little bit more analysis on what that might, what if you push it up? What that might look like? Cause I just feel like that's something that can quickly become a very big financial hurdle for folks who are already potentially struggling to pay those initial tickets. Right. There is a sweet spot there. And I will be honest, I don't know what it is. The mayor might want to weigh in. I was looking for sort of a next step on that, but let's see what Mayor Weinberger has to say first. I just want to reiterate, I presentry, I completely agree on this. I think it was in my direction that we suspended the scoff law. I think it's unacceptably low needs to be, I don't think we should be telling people. I don't want arbitrationary except the number, but it needs to be much higher and we can't, I will not allow this to be reimposed without a change in the policy here. So I think there's urgency to propose a change. And I hope that's coming soon. Thank you so much, Mayor. Okay, excellent. So, excuse me, it sounds like we will be having a separate follow-up about that. And we will get back to you, President Tracy on next steps. Thank you so much, Director Spencer and Assistant Director Padgett. I know it's been a very difficult year and you have led these funds very well and hopefully there are better days ahead. Next, I am pleased to introduce Burlington Parks Recreation and Waterfront. I used to think of them as Parks and Rec and Director Wright informed me that I was missing one third of the fund which is the waterfront and she's right. And I appreciate her for being relentlessly positive which I need much of the time and especially this time. And we could all use an energy pick me up right now. And I know we're gonna get it from Director Wright. She has an amazing presentation. She has her whole team here with her and I'm gonna turn it over to you. Thank you. You're welcome. All right, it is great to be here. I have to admit I was doing a little energy dance before parking, but so get ready. I'm warmed up and we're ready to go here. So I just wanna start out just by saying what a year it has been. When a lot of things closed down, our beaches, our parks and our open spaces they never closed and the people came. We delivered meals. We supported the homeless shelter. We operated with skeleton crews, adapted our facilities, lend staff, but we did it all with a really open heart and appreciation for our community. But we are now ready for summer 2021. Our marina opened this weekend. The campground is open. Yes, revenue, we're happy for that. And the parks look amazing. The kids are signing up for programs. And right now we just wish for sunshine, gentle rain in the evening to keep everything green and then time for all of us to enjoy it. And that includes the staff taking the time to take that time off to enjoy it along with all of you having that time to enjoy our community. And getting back to the adjectives, we were having a little fun texting when you're doing like most diverse programming but we decided hands down we're the most fun department. 100%. Let me share my screen so we can get right into the final. All right, let's get slide show. So the opening picture, if I can get this slide show start, excuse my slowness from the beginning. So that opening picture is from the Manhattan app project and this is a project Dan Hill, Dan Cahill's taken on. And we really feel like it hits bull's eye of our mission. And so I just wanna thank Dan for his, just sort of a relentless commitment to always incorporating the community and all the work that he does. Quick run through our organizational chart. Most of you are very familiar with the various teams that we have within BPRW. We have our perks, our planning, our recreation facilities and that waterfront cash cow. Thank you, Erin. Starting out with our planning team, there's four members there and they're the ones that take on all the various projects that we have throughout the city. Next is the parks division. Oh, I forgot to say, led by Sophie Sauvay, who's our amazing parks comprehensive planner, spent a really busy, crazy time for her and I'm thankful she has now left us. Next is our parks division. That's our largest by far team that we have within BPRW. There's 33 members and we have our newest formal program under there which is central facilities and we managed to score Kim Blakely from the DPW Capital who came on board to lead that new central facilities division for us. Let's give me central facilities program within parks. Next is recreation and the recreation team has nine members and they had reorg this year along with recreation facilities. So the leddie programmer for recreation is now under recreation which gives us a lot more flexibility in the use of that recreation position. Next is waterfront and Erin has four members of her team and that's the potential home for our urban park rangers program. And last but not least is recreation facilities and that's nine members led by Melissa Kate and as noted with recreation we did have a reorg there and Melissa now is responsible for the core which is what we call the second floor of the Old North End Community Center and it looks like we will be helping to manage the event space downstairs which we're really excited about. So top three fiscal changes for FY 21 to 22. The first one there is this urban park rangers concept. This is the idea of having some more education and interpretation in our parks and we think about it from an education perspective. I have a chart there that's thanks to the fire department for sharing that with me. I think that went to, it was 2021 up until about early May and you'll see this is the unauthorized burnings. It had over 120 fires that they put out at leddie and that's just when they were called. It was pretty phenomenal. There was like some days where they put out around 30 fires on the beach. Drops right off but still significant at North Beach, North Shore Oak Ledge and that last one there represents 29 fires but it was at 28 private locations. So that's sort of an insignificant number of fires that they're putting out at people's backyards. But it's just one of the challenges that we see in our parks and one of the things we might find with the park rangers is they might come up with some creative ideas. You know, maybe we've got a few permitted spots at North Beach where you're able to have a beach fire because it is a pretty special experience. We're able to do that and not everybody has access to a private beach. Next up is our seasonal staff. I have a little Skelly there for talking about this seasonal, our skeleton crew that we had last year and this year not having the skeleton crew. So we are going back up with our staffing. You'll see even a higher rise than what we had in FY 19 or budgeted for FY 20 that includes the seasonal staff of the urban park rangers but also we had some contractor positions that will be seasonal. And my last one there is, oh, Canada. Talk about our waterfront cash cow, we are missing Canada. The slide there is the geography of customers. It was a BTV staff that we did in 2018 is where does everybody come from at our waterfront and excuse me, at the marina and the campground. So that light brown color that extends way out with the campground represents over a third of our campers traditionally come from Canada and approximately 50% of our marina users come from Canada. So while we are anticipating bringing back about $1.2 million of our revenue compared to last year, that's with the opening of the campground and resuming somewhat normal operations at Letty, we do still estimate that we'll be short about $800,000 in revenue. And that is primarily through the loss of revenue with the border still closed. This is a service sustainability strategy. We worked on this over the winter and just wrapping up this spring, still in its sort of draft mode, we'll do the finalized piece with it, but it's kind of looking to see how do we sustain this service that we're providing to the community? We're very reliant on tax dollars. We do have significant revenue, but it's not all revenue covering what we do. And so we need to be really specific on how we use our tax dollars and using it wisely. And it looked at things from the common good, which like the idea that are open spaces, anybody can walk out to them at any time. Your cost recovery there is probably like very little, maybe 0% to maybe 5%. Up into the very highly individualized levels, like your resale, you should, when we're selling skate laces at Letty Arena and the pro shop, we should be making more than the cost of the laces back. We need to also be thinking about the indirect cost of running an arena. So that's a program that we will be looking at over the course of the year and really trying to guide our decisions on pricing and programming that we continue. Is there any programming that really belongs better in the private sector? So touching on three values of the themes that we have in our master plan, because part of what you've got the financial side is first operations, but then what are our staff doing? What are our staff focusing on? So as far as from the people side, we're thinking about building more partnerships and we're also trying to expand our cultural competency. From the wellness side, we have our next recreation position that we'll be filling. We did have a hiring freeze throughout the year for two of our recreation positions. So we've got one starting up in June and we're working on the final one, is we're really aiming to hire somebody that can connect with the BIPOC community and really ensure that wellness is something for our whole community. And then stewardship is thinking about low and low, normal areas is one of the areas we're looking at, also electric first. And so every decision that we make with equipment, we come for the first mindset of electric and that we can't make electric, then we are looking for gas, but again, thinking about electric first. Two pictures represented there, the one on my left of that by your left too, is B the B. B's our mascot and she is super cute and she was out this weekend at City Hall Park. And that's a picture from July 3rd in 2019. So looks like fingers crossed that we can pull July 3rd off this year and bringing our community together to celebrate. And that picture on the right is Ben Rogers from our conservation team. They were working with the students at Champlain Elementary, which is new partnership that Dan is building with his team. They were re-homing trees from 311 North Ab that we had to move and really teaching the kids about wildlife corridors and the idea that while these trees are being re-homed there, they may eventually move to another space, another park that needs trees, but these trees needed a little, they needed a new home to go to and the Champlain Elementary School was ready for them and the kids really learned a lot through that process. Staffing changes, we've got the two new FTEs we're proposing with our Urban Park Interprogram. And that is it and let me stop sharing my screen. Welcome any questions? Fun word cloud, living up to your adjective. Here you go. Questions from the council please. They're speechless. They're speechless because of how awesome you are. Going once, going twice. Wow, Cindy and team. Oh my God, you guys are batting a thousand. And I did that pun on purpose and you're super amazing. And Cindy, hang tight because you're coming back. Close us out tonight. Thank you very much. Thank you to the rest of the team. You guys have done really so much work tonight. It is my pleasure to now introduce to you I see Martha Keenan, one of my favorite people and chief engineer Baldwin because no one can get enough of our chief engineer and our capital projects are really important and they've come up several times tonight and everyone knows the capital committee is my favorite. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to both of you. Thank you. So thank you, Catherine. I'm going to start off and then halfway through, Martha will take over. Let me start the slideshow here and I'll share my presentation. I can... Would you like me to share it? Yeah, that'd be great, Martha, please. So while Martha's teaing that up, I guess I would start by saying that we have spent a considerable amount of effort to accomplish many things in the last five years. This is the fifth year of a significant capital reinvestment. And as you know, there was $28 million invested in capital of which that work was completed really effectively in this close of this past fiscal year. And so we now have this period in time where we want to continue that effort and we're facing serious financial challenges with that. But that aside, you'll see this slide here represents, I'm representing really kind of a group of people that come together to talk on a two-week basis as a capital committee, both Chapin as a director, Cindy as another director, Catherine as the CAO, Derek, Sophie, myself and Martha as staff that kind of pull all together all the city's interests and needs and come up with solutions to deal with what is in front of us nearly on a daily basis with knowing the balance of things. And I would say that one of the important pieces to understand in making these decisions as a committee and recommending to the administration is to look at a number of things that are important to the city. One is that whatever decision we're making relates to a few things. Either it has, we have legal obligations. We have, the solution is to attempting to address some sort of safety concern. It's avoiding costs and a long run. And it's also potentially leveraging other funds from partners like the federal and state agencies that we work with. So next slide, please. And you'll see, if you can go back to two, Martha, that'd be great. And so you'll see that there's a list of bullets ensuring the alignment of articulate vision and capital budgets. The capital committee really does that. They represent the broad interest of the city. And we all come together as a collaborative to come to the best conclusions we think we'll support the city and the best moves forward with the limited resources we have. And as I mentioned, there was that those four bullet items, this is a systemic solution, simultaneous evaluation of potential new projects. How does the new project relate to what is already in play and what needs to be addressed? And this committee also works to facilitate coordination among units of government. So we may have investment in water resource that is sub-training infrastructure, then we have what's above ground, roads, streets and sidewalks. So that is an example of the coordination that needs to happen to make sure that whatever investment we're making is a sound investment is going to last and save the city costs. Next slide. So to give some of the counselors who may not have the history of capital program in 2008 was in scale of today, very limited was only one million in annual investment. The voters thankfully in 2013 voted to increase that investment to $2 million a year. And then as I mentioned, 2016, 27.5 million to kick off that five year capital plan that really was a 10 year capital plan. And this is the first phase of that. 22 is gonna be a critical year in the respect that we've made use of all those funds. We've completed a number of projects, but now we're at the end of that funding resource and we have to look ahead as to what our next strategy is. We think that a $2 million a year is not sustainable in the future. And we're still addressing some deferred maintenance. You've heard some of that from the chief earlier in terms of fire stations and those sort of things. That is not uncommon. We are making the highest and best use of the money that's available to us, but there's still issues to be addressed. You'll see in this past year, we've as a committee worked very hard to narrow that gap of what the needs are versus what the funding resources are. And even with all the cuts, we're still facing a $2.5 million or $2.6 million deficit in the capital by just to address all the needs. And to continue this, the effort that's been moved forward in the last four years, there is a list of things that dollars assigned to the sidewalk streets, uncalled consultants and facilities and transportation planning that expands that gap unfortunately to $5.1 million. So capital planning, as I mentioned earlier, leveraging of other people's funds to make projects go. Some of those examples are Shelburne Street, Roundabout, Pastry Rail, Parkway, Rail Enterprise, Shiflady Park is another grant project and Washington Berry intersections. Unfortunately, many of these projects come with non-participating costs that relate to soil liability. And that is not an insignificant, as you can see here, Shelburne Roundabout's 500K, Pastry Rail is anticipated to be 700K. So these are things that until you actually advance the product to full design and start to do volume metrics, you don't know exactly what that liability will be, but we are trying to manage this the best we can, working very closely with DEC. Next slide. So from here, I'm gonna hand this over to Martha and she'll take it from here. So you have seen this previous other conversations with the, maintaining the initiative that we had started in 2016. We have a $5 million shortfall. We did come to you all one time previously in 2016. We had a shortfall as well and we worked with you all to resolve that. And we did find a way to fund the capital program at that point. We're hoping that we can do that with this as well. And it does include a number of TIF projects. So the Moran frame is still under work. We'll be, it's still under work. Grace is still managing it and is looking to have it complete by the end of this year. She has about 3.75 left to spend of her 6.3 million. And the contracts are all in place and she feels confident that that will get done. The TIF projects show up in different budgets. So the related costs will show up in the CETO budget and in the CET office and then they come into the capital budget as well. So they're in multiple different places. The BTC improvements, Laura Wheelock spoke to that just recently about moving that forward towards design. And that is also incorporated into the budget. There is the potential for the main street improvements. If we go to bond this coming fall, be able to start that project. Transportation planning has been quite successful over the last five years. She's made great progress on the different goals. 28 miles of new bikeways. She's got 61% of that done to have 65% of a bikeway network. That one is only at 25% but still moving forward. And they have improved 55% of the top 20 intersection. So that's pretty great move forward. One of the things that's helping us as we move forward when we look at these next five years is asset management. As we implement asset management, it provides us with better information and awareness to be able to forecast and create better plans moving forward. It allows us to more efficiently run our assets and use less energy and have them last longer and it streamlines all the processes along the way. Starting in fiscal year 17, we have and continue to deliver on this expanded initiative that we've talked about. We're strengthening all of our asset management, preventive maintenance programs. We with Rob Goulding's help have improved our public relations and engagement. And the thing that I've really enjoyed the most and feel really good about is improving the collaboration across all of the departments. As Norm talked, the Capital Committee is a lot of fun and we have all of the major departments. Before Grace left, she was a part of it. So we included CEDO as well. So that we have all the way from the planning and the beginning ideas of projects all the way through the completion of projects. And it has really felt good to eliminate or minimize the various silos between the departments. It's, to me, that's like the most fun part. As we move forward, there are some potentials for the infrastructure and the ARPA monies. There's potential for monies for facilities ventilation and net zero, some of the ideas that are out there. These are not all of them, but replacing the city hall windows, the second phase of city hall mechanicals which includes the potential for geothermal, replacing the HVAC at 200 Church Street. Miller Center is one of our recreation facilities. Their windows don't open. So it's replacing their windows so that they can open. And then bringing broadband to all of the parks which is one of the actual funding ideas for ARPA as if we can expand broadband to the parks we can also serve the surrounding neighborhoods. And many of them have needs in those areas. As an example, Roosevelt Park is right next to the Boys and Girls Club and is a neighborhood that can use the help, I guess we'd say with broadband. We do hope to come forward and go forward with bonding. We would like to continue the street sidewalk initiatives of $2 million a year. We have a number of fleet items that qualify for bonding, fire trucks, snow plows, sidewalk tractors. The public safety radio infrastructure is in need of replacement. It's close to end of life. There are multitudes of transportation planning projects and then some smaller items that could, we always need to continue doing door access and video and different building items. And so I open it up to questions. Exciting time. And I will stop sharing. I wasn't as exciting as some of you, so. Yes. It's hard, it's getting late. Lots of presentations but capital is amazing. President Tracy. So I have a couple of questions on sidewalks. In the past we've used kind of a combination of outside contractors in-house and just wondering what that breakdown is for this year and when we'll kind of see that happening. And if there's like in the past what I also can recall is that there was a sort of late season flurry of activity where you were able to get in a bunch of things that you thought you might not be able to get in. And so just wondering if you're, how that's all gonna play out over the course of the season. I can explain, Martha, if you want. Yep. Yep, so there's two approaches. One is our own in-house staff, which currently is identified to do 500K worth of sidewalk work within 22. And then there is the potential of having, I forget the exact number, 1.13 million and a contractor to do that work. But it does require some commitments to funding in order to do that. And probably our best scenario would be that we extend the existing contract with SDR Islanders doing that work now as they begin to complete, given they are really kind of the only contractor in town and we can negotiate the price to be within some minor adjustment of costs. So we're hopeful that we can continue the same work that we've done in the past because we realize and recognize there is significant backlog of sidewalk work that needs to be completed. And we're, but it does require funding. Okay, and then a follow-up that I had was also just on the metrics for deciding the sidewalks. I remember that you had taken it, shifted towards a data-driven approach by engaging a consultant. Though that, if my recollection is serving me well was maybe over five years ago. And so I'm wondering if you all feel like it might be time to go back and reassess the network and see if there's been additional degradation that's taken place. Yeah, so we have a consultant on board to do that work. They're actually collecting the data in the field but we're also going to be evaluating our criteria of establishing where the priorities are. One of those priorities I think that's important to that is to establish communities that potentially are a disadvantage either financially or by-pod community. Are we unwittingly missing the need to serve their interests? And so that may be one of the criteria but effectively right now as it stands the system is prioritized based on a few things. One is the condition of the sidewalk itself but also what the importance of it is. So for instance, if it was adjacent to a senior housing facility or a route to school, those are important routes to serve first. And so that's where the priority lies but we may be shifting some of those priorities based on that third element that I've just referenced. Okay, yeah, I know that certainly makes sense. Thank you for that clarification and appreciate you applying some different lenses to your decisions there. President Tracey, just to the rest of the board and other counselors, I think President Tracey your question about sidewalks does bring us to an issue that I think we have to grapple with quite soon which is if we want to continue the level of sidewalk investment that we have had in recent years, not only do we have to make that decision to essentially use what ultimately when it all sugars off will mean using some of the federal dollars it may be through a kind of reimbursement if you will but some of the 27 million for that additional million dollar enhancement there. We need to decide whether we want to do that and we need to decide that soon in advance of the full budget process because the contract will need to be approved to lock that work in and make sure it gets done this season and we don't lose a construction season which is to be pretty compelling. We will have to make that soon. So I would, if there's any initial feedback that you or others here can give on your openness to that it would mean basically coming back probably at the meeting next week for an approval of this additional million dollars for the sidewalk. Really it's the same issue with the bike path that you'll hear from Cindy in a moment if we're gonna finish the bike path job this construction season we need that additional $600,000 authorization as well. And I think the picture is less clear with the streets but those two we have a near term decision on us if we want to use and I will just put out there before you and others respond. We have not kind of pulled together all the responses to the survey yet but we will be able to get that to you before the end of the week. My understanding is something like 750 people have responded at this point and there is a clear preference for infrastructure versus like people are bought into the infrastructure needs it seems to me from the initial reading of the survey that's something that has broad consensus. So I'll pause there. I mean, for my part mayor I feel very supportive of taking that course. I think this has been something that has a direct impact on people's daily lives. So I think if that means that we're able to get that work done this season then that seems reasonable. I'd like to see more of the information but I think that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, so we would really need a budget amendment within this fiscal year to be able to advance in near term. Councilor Pyn, if I'm taking back over the... Just since I didn't see you on there. Thank you. It's up to you. I'm not, I don't really want to take back over but since you just said Councilor Pyn. Councilor Pyn. Thank you. So you would have my support for that as well. Sidewalks are a persistent need and issue and really I think ensure that we are living up to many of our values as a community. So I think that's one of the areas where we should find unanimity on the council for sure. What I wanted to hear perhaps from Martha is a little bit of discussion about whether there's energy investments being made. And if not, when would we see some more work going into energy efficiency in our facilities? Thank you for that good question, Councilor Pyn. I'm gonna turn it over to Martha, sorry. As you know, it's a complicated question because of our path. Yeah. Martha. The facilities line is a deficit line. We don't really have funding for it. We do have a number of projects that definitely could help with ventilation such as what I spoke of and we could do some of them are more affordable such as the windows in Miller rather than phase two in City Hall. But we have been working with BED and also the League of Cities and Towns on what is coming down the pike as far as other infrastructural dollars that might be available rather than limiting ourselves to just the 27 million. So there are some other options out there. This budget is lean on doing a lot to be very honest. However, we have a good list if we had funds available to us that we could use to continue our move towards net zero. Great, and then the last thing is just, you're familiar with this, Martha. I don't need to, I'm just gonna mention it just cause I know you're really familiar with the notion of energy performance contracting as a way for the city to get a contractor to come in with financing and provide us with essentially a cash flow neutral financing scenario where basically we make the improvements with their forces and their capital and then we pay them back, but it's a savings to us. So I think I just wanna throw that on that table again. It is an option. We actually are doing one project now with BED. They had some CARES funding that they had 500,000 that was brought forward for ventilation and we are currently replacing the windows at 200 Church Street as a ventilation move and that is in process right now. We just awarded it today and are using that it's being paid back through our utility bill. So it's a 0% loan to us and allowing us to repay it over seven years. So it is a great idea and it's something that we need to look at others as we move forward. Thanks a lot. Other questions? Going once, going twice. Thank you so much, Chief Engineer Baldwin and I made your title and I can't remember it. Martha Keenan and you are so valuable to the city. Thank you anyway, even though I can't remember your title and it's so embarrassing. We appreciate all of your hard work. It's very difficult trying to catch up on capital and this group has done an amazing job. Last but not least, capital parks. We are turning back over to the amazing, high energy director, White. Yeah, it's getting to like 28, 24. So, you know, those of you that know me well know I'm in bed by nine and at my computer at 5 a.m. So if I start to slide down, you know what it's my wavelength time. But I wanted to just comment on that capital committee, just TPW's presentation. It really is just, is an amazing committee that we all, many of us serve on. Sophie and Derek and I from the park side and then with TPW and CEDA when they're there. And it's just an honor to be able to serve on that and people making good decisions for the city. But now we get to the fun stuff. Well, there's stuff's fun too, but we think ours is more fun because remember who's the most fun department? It's PPRW. All right, so from the beginning, let's get this slide show rolling. You guys, everybody sees that, right? Yeah, great. All right, so here we are, PPRW capital budgets opening slide here could not resist adding a picture of City Hall Park. Just recently, the City Hall Park received the Vermont Recreation and Park Association Facility of Mayor Award and the Vermont Public Places Honor Award with the Vermont Planners Association. So award-winning park and this weekend was very fun. We had our startup kids' week. We are at Schwanck Scott Park on Saturday, but on Sunday we were at City Hall Park. And it really was just quite lovely seeing the families under the trees and out in the sun listening to the performers and realizing, whoa, that performance space worked great. And then seeing the kids in and out of the fountains. And if any parents came that day and they thought they'd keep their kids dry, I think they all went home wet because they couldn't resist the fountain. Jumping right into our various funds, we got numerous funds from the capital side. The first one they're very well known is our penny for parks and our park impact fees. So multi-fiscal year projects that'll be continuing into FY22 include the Irms Forest Trail Construction, Perkins Pier Sighting Study and the Callaghan Master Plan. And I want to do a quick plug for the Perkins Pier Sighting Study. We do have our second community meeting tomorrow night and we hope you can join us. The information is on our website with the link to register. Upcoming new projects that we have geared for this year include the Oakledge and Callaghan Playground Replacements. Replacements of mornings at Perkins Pier, restroom renovations at Oakledge Park as far as our larger Oakledge playground program, playground renovation. Adri Berg and Ladi Park Master Plans we're getting into the after eight part. And then it's several community requests. Ship-a-letty softball conversion, bike park design and water at the Bacchi Courts. And all those came through our penny for parks community request form. A bike path rehab. So upcoming new projects there, we have the realignment, which has just been, it's been unbelievable. It still kind of amazes me how like a thousand feet of stretch can be so incredibly complex. And kudos to Sophie Sauve who's leading that for us and consistently staying on top of it. I find sometimes the meetings with the V-Trans and BRS and DPW and parks. I sometimes feel like I'm ready to fall asleep. It gets into a lot of construction details. But fortunately, we have an amazing Sophie who keeps us on track and knows always what they're talking about. We have our Oakledge reconstruction. Excited about that one because that also includes an accessible beach access. We'll finally have accessible beach access in our south end of town as we do at North Beach. Upcoming, we call them special projects because they find a fall off all into sort of a different pot of money as we'll be improving the outdoor access at Letty, including a new pause place and fitness station. A green bell capital and that's led by a VJ Comai, our city arborist. Upcoming projects that VJ has is he's continuing the Emerald Ash Board Management Plan and what they'll be focusing on is finishing those interplantings. And I believe you're familiar with that where they find, wherever there are ash in our right-of-ways and try to plant trees in any open spaces near them so that when the Emerald Ash Board hits Burlington, these trees will have a good chance of getting canopy started. In the fall, they'll be doing plantings in available Ward 8 right-of-way locations. In case you didn't hear about it, he planted, he and his team about 240 trees in wards two and three, which were where we had the lowest level canopy in the city. So he thought he, I think he had had an intern that went out and identified all the available locations a year or two ago and they got them all planted this year. They're piloting a container tree planting where it's not possible to plant a tree on North Street. And the idea from that is at the end of the year, they'll then be able to replant those in our parks. Spring of 22, they'll be filling in planting locations in other wards and then throughout the year, they'll be doing stump, we'll have a contract to do stump removal throughout the city. Cause trees do come down, you know, some by choice and some just by weather and nature. And we do eventually need to remove those stumps so we can keep planting more trees. Our open space and conservation legacy fund, that's the NK Hill overseas that for us. And while most of the money 70% goes to long-term purchasing and acquisition of property, we do have staffing, some staffing that's in there. And Dan will be, and his team will be focusing on that Elk's property and seeing if there's a way that we might be able to purchase that land, continuing to build partnerships. And part of that is through this nature-based solution. So he's trying to make that accessible to the community through the initiatives such as Grow Wild and Burlington Wildway. Nature-based solutions can seem a bit esoteric when you start thinking about that it means just growing more plants in your backyard, you realize, oh, I could do that. And if any of you need any ideas, come look at my backyard. It's looking beautiful these days. Next is focusing on land use, ethics, and opportunities, another area for Dan and his team with the open space. Dan also oversees the bike path maintenance and improvement fund. And we have Olivia that is our bike path maintenance specialist in continued projects that they're working on is crack ceiling of the 127 bike path, potentially getting into Ethan Allen Park, line striping on the bike path for the greenway, I should say. New projects that Dan has going, he's got an emergent volunteer program for the greenway corridor and then some natural surface trail projects, North Beach Arms and then any other emergent needs that come up with our natural surface trails. Martha touched on pretty much most of all of this but we are adding now central facilities in our slides as we are now formally taking on the central facilities with Kim Blakely, the lead for that was of course, Derek Roach our park superintendent overseeing Kim. She touched on most of these projects here already. You don't need to keep repeating them, but there are some multi-year projects they'll be working on at 645 pine and then also FEMA Halloween storm work. Want to touch at the very end on donations and grants that we receive to help make their capital dollars go further on the pause places with fitness equipment on the greenway is funded through the parks foundation and the large fundraising they did about, gosh, that was about three, four years ago now and the money came from from University of Vermont Medical Center. So we're continuing to get those in place. We just poured the pad out at star firm and hope that at some point this summer in the fall, we'll get the fitness station there and then leddie will be next and then following at Oakledge. The redstone cottage renovation at 311 North Ave. We did have a donation early from a donor to help us renovate that cottage and it really has been quite the fun project. We've been working with an architect on that and they found, he found with help from UBM. I think it was 1909 article that was kind of, they redone, re-published it and it talked about a bungalows of that time and the most amazing part of it all was that the house that they described in intimate detail in that article, it was not just a Vermont, it was a nationwide article was on the bungalows. We now have all the fine details of what the bungalow looked like back when it was originally built. So that was really exciting find with our architect. We also receiving money with the Oakledge Universal Playground. We had a substantial lower $400,000 federal grant that we received the Land Water Conservation Fund plus Oakledge for all raised money through various fundraising that they've done over the past two to three years. And then the bike park design at Letty while it's not the big dollars of $400,000 when it's a $25,000 bike park design and in the group, the Burlington bike park group did a successful Penny for Parks application for $15,000, but then they also raised $10,000 with their own to help get that design. And then once we get the design for the bike park they'll be ready to do some significant fundraising to help make that happen. But that is it on BPRW Capital. And I apologize for the slurs. I tried not to slur, but it's like 8.30 and brain starts going down. Okay, we know you're like a 5 a.m. or like me. It's getting late. Okay. Last questions of the evening. These are interesting projects. Anybody have questions? Katherine, could I make one final plug before? I don't wanna be tone deaf in this time of people being worried about their taxes. So my comment on making is not being tone deaf with that but just something to be thinking about probably not likely for this year but hopefully you'll consider for future years. And that is the full and complete funding of Penny for Parks. It is not funded at its full amount. It makes a significant difference in the lives of our Burlingtonians. We're talking about people's neighborhood parks that we're improving. And without that full funding we're not able to do the backlog of work that we need to do in those parks. So again, I don't wanna be tone deaf in this time. There are people that are really stressed out with all that's going on but I would feel remiss if I didn't bring that up. Yeah, I appreciate that, Cindy. I'm gonna turn it over to you just in a second, Councillor Pine. And also I appreciate that one of the things you've done during COVID I know is spend some of your own time attending some conferences aimed at increasing equity and improving access of our parks. And so I think that's something that I just wanna commend you for during this time. And even though we are trying to be very attentive to the needs of our constituents that is the balancing act as we are also trying to be equitable. So thank you for that. Councillor Pine. Thanks, Catherine. I just wanted to know if either you or the mayor could speak to whether or not any federal infrastructure dollars would be whether we know more about where that's at and whether any of these capital projects could be funded or if our list could be expanded slightly if we were to see some dollars or if it would not fit any of the stuff we're talking about. We are certainly hoping so and I'm gonna turn it over to the mayor for more specifics. Yeah, I just think it's not at all bankable at this point, Councillor Pine. It's hanging in the balance, the ability to get this through. It's, you know, most, I've seen little hope of it doesn't look to me like that there's likely to be some kind of bipartisan bill. So this is hanging on the ability to push another bill through with this 50 vote reconciliation strategy. And it's not at all defined in anything I've seen yet what, how, you know, of the road, of the relatively, you know, of the piece that is dedicated to traditional kind of bricks and mortar infrastructure. I've seen no breakdown at this point as to, you know, what would be going to municipalities and what percentage of that would be eligible for parks and recs projects. So I think we're just in the dark at this point. And I had seen talk that may, it's possible by the time we pass this budget we'll have some updated information there. We'll certainly come back to you if we do. You know, I know at one point it was put out there that President Biden said he hoped to make substantial progress by Memorial Day on this. So perhaps around then we'll get some greater definition. I don't expect the earliest estimate of something actually passing has been 4th of July. So I think we're going to have to make decisions for the next year without really having more information about what, what, if anything more is coming and how we'll be able to spend it. Thanks, that information is helpful. Yes, Councillor Chang. Thank you, Cindy, for being here, Sophie and Tim. I was wondering if you can maybe paint me a picture as to what is wrong with Colorhand that requires that park to have a strategic planning or something. Yeah, I can touch on that one. So we have coming up, we had set aside funding to replace the playground which is in dire need to be replaced. So we'd scheduled money for that one in FY22 and then FY23 we had scheduled to replace the basketball court. And we figured with these two big projects coming up with substantial funding. And then we also knew there's a lot of stormwater issues that it was a good time to do a master plan for that park. And so DPW stormwater has been involved in those discussions. And that way we ensure is the playground in the right spot is the basketball court the right size. And through these community discussions we'll make those informed decisions and spend those dollars wisely. And then also we might just in that process get some ideas for other smaller improvements that we can make to Colorhand park that just make it a better space for everybody. And so I don't know if you have anything that you'd want to add to that. Just was thinking, but thank you. The other element when we talk about parks is, eternal park, I think the top of it like the people express some concern around safety. You know, I think we've been shared emails from constituents and was just wondering, is it, what's a plan to bring about some safety at eternal at the tower around the tower? I guess I'm not sure, Councilor Jenga, they safety of like falling off the tower or safety of just indiv or falling items from the tower and fears of maybe even people or kids to fall from, you know, not specifically the tower, but around it. I haven't heard the concerns there. So I'll have be, I'd love to know more if you want to share with that. I know we'd had some concerns up at the pinnacle as far as that there is some drop offs up there. So we made some changes with some fencing there that seems to have worked well, a natural look but it also has held up better than some other things they've done. Excuse the cat. He's like, mom, I haven't been in your lap all evening. And then, yeah, and then first throwing things from there, I'm not sure, but again, it's one of those ones that, you know, with that proposed urban park ranger program, that's one of the things that will have people out in the parks. And, you know, maybe if there's times that things are happening, if you know other people are throwing things off the tower that might be something they can, you know, you're checking by, stopping by there and giving it a look. Thank you. It's probably the pinnacle then because I do remember exchanging email with you on this. But now this is a question for both you and the mayor. And I was wondering if, you know, we have a clear plan about accessibility to beaches. That's not what, that's not the North Beach, you know, all the areas. And also to the mayor, do we have a specific department or specific committee or commission looking into ADA accessibility in general in the city of Wellington? I could touch on the beaches part. And so for, as far as, let it goes, actually Derek and I were just talking today a little bit about Letty and with the fact that right now that we're working on the stairs and they'll be done next week and they'll be a vast improvement to what was there as far as the previous stairs, but they're not a ramp. You know, it's not a ramp down to the beach where there. And Derek talked about how in the Platt past they've made some improvements on the North side to it, which for, but more from like a trail aspect. And that's the South side is what we had identified as probably the closest you could get to accessible beach access, but it's quite a challenge of the drop from there. And my understanding, and I'm not an expert in ADA access is that providing accessible beach access at North Beach and then we'll be adding the accessible beach access at the South end that we do meet the intent of the accessibility that we're providing accessible beaches in our community. And again, Letty when those stairs are replaced is just going to be a real change, game changer. And I know it's hard right now because we're in the process of constructing them and they won't be ready until I believe Max noted it's next week that they'll be wrapping that up. As far as the accessibility committee, I think counselors may know we've made several attempts or a couple of attempts at this over the last decade. I think there was an accessibility committee in some prior decade as well that lapsed, that ceased to meet. And I don't know a lot about that, but Councilor Busher raised it with me early on in my time as mayor. And so really at her suggestion and strong advocacy, we created a committee, that first committee had a lot of momentum and did a number of things in the early years that energy didn't last in that there was initial group disbanded. We created another committee with a different staffing plan and a more attempting to sort of being great more kind of focus as to what they would focus on because it is a challenging element of the accessibility committee. And that the city works on accessibility is required work on accessibility in so many ways as I think kind of Cindy's answer just alluded to everything the city does has to meet ADA requirements and any project that comes before the private sector project that comes before the city also has to meet very serious ADA requirements. So what to do, it's a very aggressive law already and what to do that goes beyond the law has, there's definitely work that can be done, but it has been challenging at times to galvanize clarity and focus on that. So there was a second committee that created that and we could give you an update on their current work at a future meeting. It's been a little while since I've gotten an update Councilor Jayne. Yeah, so and to finish this, I think Wednesday the new North and city councils would be meeting with a group of people who are definitely concerned about accessibility in general. And I think it is about time maybe for the city to revisit that element, because their concerns are not only about beach access, it's about also playgrounds and it's just about the geographic of accessible parts that they don't, they are not surrounded by them. They are elsewhere in the city and it's hard for them. Maybe it's a good time to revisit this conversation and thank you again Cindy for the presentation. Yes, Councilor Carpenter. This, not to prolong this, in the budget, I thought you mentioned you're adding an ADA coordinator or did I, this is for the mayor, I guess. And then just for Cindy and she's aware of this, we do need to look at some sort of universal better access onto the beach at Letty and I understand the ADA things, but I'm gonna continue. I can hardly get down to the beach. So I think it's an unanswered need, but did I see the mayor added an ADA coordinator or am I, did I imagine that? You did not imagine that, I'm gonna turn it over to him in a minute. Technically, I am the ADA coordinator as the CAO. What you have seen is, I don't know, this may be too strong of a word, a resuscitation, a revival of the committee and I see that Martha is still on and I think she is one of the representatives of this committee. So not to put you too much on the spot, but I'm a little putting you on the spot. And we received a request from the committee that is, I think led by Vanessa from our HR department, and they had asked for some staff support as well as some budget support. So we met all of that and as Martha appears not too mad at me and has turned on her camera, I'm gonna turn over to her first for details and then to the mayor for any big picture that he would like to add. So yes, we're actually really excited that Vanessa is taking part in this and rejuvenating it. I have been on the committee for about five years. I took over for Ned Holt when he resigned from it and we have gone, as the mayor spoke, we have gone through ups and downs and we fell onto some tough times with a lack of citizen involvement. And we have just recently gotten to new members and we wrote the letter to the mayor and the CAO asking for the staff help and funding, which we have. And so we are looking forward to being able to bring some new ideas forward for the coming year. And one of the challenges we had in the past was CEDO ran the committee in the beginning and Keisha was our chairperson and Keisha was awesome and really did a lot. And when she left, it sort of went without a home for a little while. And so we have Emma from Parks on the committee, Vanessa and Human Resources myself and we have a woman from University of Vermont Hospital. So we're getting some other people involved and I think that you will see some new things so we can bring you an update after the beginning of the year. Thank you so much for that on the spot update. Mayor, is there anything you would like to add? No, I don't really have anything to add beyond quite on what's just been shared. Thank you. And I did approve that request for additional funding in the budget. Yes, thank you so much for that. Any other questions, Councillor Carpenter? Oh, thank you. Any other questions on any of this? Okay, it's been a long night. It's a marathon, not a sprint. So I think I need a motion to adjourn. So moved. Great. Thank you, Councillor Prime. Thank you, Councillor Jang. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Yes. Is anyone opposed? Please say nay. Great. That's unanimous. This meeting work session is adjourned at 8.52. Thank you so much. We will see you on Wednesday night. Yeah.