 Thank you all for being here. Welcome to the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport. It is always exciting to be able to say that, always exciting to be able to welcome folks to the airport that we're so proud of. It is particularly exciting to be able to have an event for the first time up here on the second floor of what we call the TIP project, the newest part of the airport that we opened, was it just last fall? 22. All right, that's the thing in this job, but all the dates get a little fuzzy. So a little about 18 months ago. And we have another exciting announcement to make today. So thank you all for joining us for it. The city of Burlington has been the proud steward of this amazing airport for over 100 years and of course you can see images from the past all over the terminal now. Leahy BTV is the place where Vermonters wave farewell to friends and family and where they embrace loved ones who are returning home. And this is also the first impression and the last look that many visitors to our state and our city experience. Here over 700,000 people take off and land each year and see a glimpse of the best of Vermont and Burlington. It is a place where we invest in safety and innovation, where we value local goods, labor and artists, and where we are forging incredible progress toward net zero and where we take pride in creating a warm welcome for everyone who visits. You know, I've always appreciated this airport, always loved it. I've been involved in it for a very long time now. My first kind of public service in Burlington was as an airport commissioner, which I joined in back in 2002. And it's good to see Tim George, who I believe is the current chair of the airport commission with us. Thank you for your service, Tim. And it's pretty exciting after that long involvement. I guess, you know, over 20 years of involvement with this airport now to be able to be here today in my final days as mayor and to be able to share this exciting announcement about the future. Of all of Burlington's stories of recovery and investment over the past 12 years, and there have been a lot of them, none of them have been more dramatic than what happened here at the airport. On the day I came into office, BTV, this airport was one of just two junk-bond-rated airports in the U.S., and we were courting disaster with less than one month's cash on hand. Today, BTV is one of the Leahy BTV, is one of the busiest airports in New England, and is one of the great economic engines of this region, contributing close to a half a billion dollars to the local economy every year. Last fall, we experienced the busiest travel day in the airport's history, with just shy of 69,000 people coming through the building in one day. The plans that we are unveiling today are just one part of a number of new investments that we are making over the next five years, and it's not a small part. It is a $34 million piece of what is a total of $145 million of investment at the airport over the next five years. What we are announcing today is that on Monday I will be going to the city council and asking the council to accept a $34 million federal grant for what we are calling Project Next, which is a replacement of the North Concourse with a compelling new design. If in the program you'll get a chance, you already have seen some of the images of this new and exciting design on the easels over here. Later on the program, we will show a video, a kind of fly-through of the new design, and we do have Craig Randall, who is the representative from Jacobs Engineering who will be able to speak to the design as well. The goals of this project are to enhance operational efficiency for the airport team and our airline partners, is to improve the traveler experience with more room and numerous new amenities. It will add space for the broader community to use and joy. You'll see there's an exciting outdoor space that will be open to the public as part of this, and it will be we think an exciting event space, and this will set the stage for future growth at the airport in the capacities of this new terminal will allow for larger airlines and more airplanes to come in and access the airport at any one time. All of this will be accomplished in the new terminal while this new terminal produces more energy that is needed to keep it running. This ambitious project is not just about accommodating larger aircraft and boosting passenger capacity, it is about securing a vibrant, sustainable future for Vermont's largest and greatest airport. Now, it almost goes with that saying, but I'm going to say it, none of this, none of what I've just talked about, none of what is coming would have been possible without the support of you, Senator Leahy. That has been true of so much of the positive changes that have happened here at the airport in recent decades, and that has happened the way in which you work to support this airport took many forms. You supported this airport in your support for the Air National Guard and for Beta, two of the key partners, the airport's success, and you also played a leadership role, I think understates, a key role in securing this incredible $145 million of investment for the future of the airport. This is after decades in which this is not the first, what is it, nine-figure investment that you have led here at the airport over the decades. I am proud that among the last acts of leadership that we were able to do in our work together, we have been able to put together and fund this plan for a brighter, stronger, greener future for the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport. Welcome, Senator Leahy. Thank you. Well, thank you very much. I also think about the fact that if you hadn't come in when you did as mayor and took this out of imminent bankruptcy and let it become what it is today, that, every one of you, everybody flies in now of this, has to thank you for that. And the fact that everybody comes together, you know, this is a remarkable place. Without sounding my age, but I will for a moment, the first time I ever flew, I was a freshman at St. Michael's College, flew out of here, and then you walked down across the grass. I think it must have been a DC-3 because it was looking and standing on his tail. We flew all the way to Albany, and that's pretty exciting. When I mentioned to our kids, our grandkids, when they were right from the time they were able to walk, they had flown, and I didn't do it until I was a freshman in college. They said, Dad, they didn't invent their plane until you were a freshman in college. Well, a long way from then, say, Mike's. But I look at Burlington. I look at this airport. This is more than just Burlington. In the other area, it's the keys to a vibrant Vermont. We're all, if you hadn't saved us from bankruptcy, if you hadn't brought this back, and if all the men and women who are here hadn't spent so much time working on this airport, what a different state we would be. The fact that you have 69,000, one day you have more than the population of the state of Vermont during the year will fly in and out of here. How important that is. It's a gateway for visitors to our state. Look what that supports. Our businesses, our food and hospitality industry. But it's also, for all of us, every single part of the state, there's something there that is touched by the ability of having this airport. I know the years that I was in Washington, that other place, I've been very proud to work closely with Burlington, South Burlington, state of Vermont, the airport authority, many airport managers. I mentioned, say, Mike's earlier, a classmate of mine was a manager for me, nine to two, 2005, J.J. Hamilton. He flew for the National Guard. He was a manager here, died of freak accidents. He was a wonderful, wonderful person. But I think of other managers, Gene Richards, who was last with me, and of course, Nick Longo. I don't, there isn't a single thing I call Nick, and I'll say, hey Nick, I'm writing something, what's the story on, I get boom, boom, boom, boom, every single statistic, every single happen, and tomorrow we're doing this. I thought, I love that. It's not what we did yesterday, Nick, it's what we're going to do tomorrow. And I appreciate that. So this is an attractive area for Vermont. No matter what it's going on, whether we invest in infrastructure such as the advanced instrument landing system, runway improvements, terminal security. I was thinking of that when my son and I drove from something over in Norwich, Vermont today and saw the weather change 20 times on the way. And during the Burlington note, we keep on going, the airport keep on going. And we and our kids and our grandkids will continue to fly in and out of here. So congratulations on this war to further the terminals. It was nice being chair of the Appropriations Committee being able to say, let's slip to sit. And as somebody said, do you have anything left in Vermont? I said, I've got a few weeks left in the Senate. I'll find them. But this, you, you and the city council, the director, all of you have done so much. You make me so proud. I'm sure there's going to be some things that may have gotten money for for the over the years. I wonder, was that the wise idea here? The only the only question I have. Gosh, I wonder if I could have gotten more because this place is worth it. Thank you all very much. And we'll be flying out of here in a few days. Thank you. Well, thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you, Council President Paul for being here. And of course, thank you, Senator Leahy and Mrs. Leahy for all your guidance. And thank you, too, for being here. This project could not have been completed as far as we've gotten so far without you. And mostly I'm talking about the people in the very far pieces of the room. But there's a lot of folks in this room that that really made this happen to get to where we are today, from the funding to the vision and the support that we needed, but also the partnership that we have with the Transportation Security Administration with Chuck Wyatt, who is our federal security director, with our airline partners, our concessionaires and our staff. And please thank them as you walk in and out of the room here for forgetting not just this project done, but as the previous statement said, all the projects that we do every single day. So thank you all. Today is definitely a day of profound significance for LeahyBTV. As we gather here, we stand at the threshold of an extraordinary program, an extraordinary journey, one that promises to redefine the very essence of this airport experience with boundless enthusiasm, which I do have that, in a deep sense of purpose. I am honored, truly honored to share with you the next vision and the promise of Project Next. Today marks the commencement of phase two, if you will, of our ambitious endeavor to transform LeahyBTV into a transcendent beacon of innovation and excellence in air travel and in our community, bolstered by substantial funding opportunities, which help. We now have the resources and the momentum to propel ourselves into the future, setting a new standard truly for airports worldwide. Today, we stand in our newest section of our terminal, the South Wing, abundant with opportunity and already redefining our airport experience through a new security checkpoint. This embodies the spirit of progress that defines LeahyBTV and we want to keep this momentum moving forward. Our airport is more than just a point of departure or arrival. It is a nexus of human connection and exploration, if you will. With each passing day, we welcome a new generation of travelers, our next adventurer, our next dreamer, our next seeker of new horizons, and it is for them, our passengers, and for all who pass through these gates that we undertake this grand endeavor. At the heart of Project Next, which you see on the sides here, lies a commitment to re-imagine the airport experience from the ground up. Our expanded, modern North Wing design is more than a structure. It is a testament to our dedication to providing unparalleled comfort, convenience, and aesthetic delight to all who traverse its halls. But our vision really extends beyond more than aesthetics and comfort. With a keen eye towards our future, we have embraced sustainability as a guiding principle in every aspect of Project Next. From the innovative use of mass timber to reduce our carbon footprint as we build this project, to the harnessing of geothermal underneath to heat and cool the building in the integration of solar expansion technologies, we are pioneering a new era of environmentally conscious aviation infrastructure at this terminal. And we have the huge thanks to Jacobs Engineering for doing that, as well as Engelberth for partnering in this endeavor. In designing Project Next, we have not forgotten our responsibility to our communities, to our next generations. By keeping the city, the airport, and the needs of all humans at the forefront of our planning process, we are ensuring that our airport remains a source of pride and prosperity for generations to come. Whether you are embarking on a journey to distant lands, returning home to loved ones, experiencing this beauty of Vermont for the very first time, know that Project Next is designed with you in mind. It is a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, sustainability, a promise to deliver an airport experience that is as memorable as the destinations that we connect you with. So as we stand on this threshold of our historic moment with the funding made possible by Senator Leahy and your team, let us embrace the spirit of adventure and the possibility that defines this Project Next. And Mayor Weinberger, it's truly an honor to join you in this remarkable space that you've nurtured throughout the years as your tenure as mayor. Together, we stand at another pivotal moment in time and I couldn't be prouder to share this momentous amount announcement with you, hopefully not for the last time, but for this time. Together, let us embark on this journey with optimism, determination, and a sense of shared purpose. For today, we lay this foundation for a brighter tomorrow, one that is built upon the dreams and aspirations of all who come to Leahy BTV to connect to the gateway of the world. This is Project Next and you'll see that in this video in the images and throw on a virtual reality experience to walk through that later on. And I'm also extremely humbled, proud, honored to invite and welcome our Burlington President, Burlington City Council President Karen Paul, again an honor to be with you too. So as you probably have guessed, we're all huge fans of the airport around here. I'm thrilled and honored to stand here with all of you on another special day for the Burlington Airport. There is an amazing sense of community pride in our airport that I've witnessed over all the years that I've been on the City Council. There's a great amount of pride in this community in honoring the past. It was over 100 years ago and I can't imagine what the effort must have been to have forged the first runway. We welcomed the first aircraft to the airport which is really just an airfield in August of 1920, which sure seems like an awful long time ago. There have been so many improvements since then. The first terminal building, the terminal improvement project that we did just a few months ago, all that has happened with Beta and the other airport partners that we have, the future of air travel, it all brings us to this day. For me, when I walk into this building and I was here yesterday, I flew up and back to New York for a meeting, so I was here at 4 a.m. and I left at 11. And the most exciting part of me coming back at 11 was I said to myself, well, in only 15 hours, I will be back here again. This building never gets old to me. I feel when I come in here like I'm going somewhere, even if I'm not going somewhere, I feel like I am. There is, yes, that's true. There is a wonder and a magic to air travel. And as I say, no matter how many times I come here, this never gets old to me. It is a place that links the community to the world beyond our borders. It was 350 days ago today that Mayor Weinberger announced the city's intention to have our airport, which is a treasured asset to many of us, take on the name of another treasured asset. Our then Senator, and honestly, Senator Leahy, always Vermont Senator, Senator Leahy. Today we celebrate another milestone in our airport's journey, a milestone that absolutely, as others have said, would not be possible without the work of many led by Senator Leahy and with the support, loving support of his wife, Marcel, their work over 48 years to strengthen the endless horizon and connection to the world that we have with our airport, both for today and for the many tomorrows to come. I knew that the mayor would talk about the finances of the airport, so I decided to leave that out. And I will only talk about two things, and that is, the first that I wanted to highlight is that there is a tremendous amount of planning and execution that goes into this project. It's an ambitious project, but it's important to know that while the improvement is vital and it will accommodate larger aircrafts and it will boost passenger capacity, I think what's also incredibly important is that it's ushering in the future with modern amenities. And to that end, I just want to highlight that as someone who just a few hours ago was in the North Concourse, the difference between what we see today and what we see in the future is going to be like night and day. And that is a very big deal for the traveling public. This project is aimed at achieving a forward-thinking vision and the mission of Leahy BTV. And along with it, I am incredibly impressed with the fact that the plan has prioritized sustainability at the core of its development. What we are creating here is not just an airport. And yes, it is the next step, but what I see it as a center of aviation that will benefit our community and our region for many generations to come. The other point that I wanted to make was about how I think it's so important and I think it's incredibly important that the public know that what this airport team has done is that they have brought together urgency and transparency. And there is a well-deserved thank you to Director Longo and to your entire team at the airport. Yes, there is great urgency. We need this improvement. And you can't understate, we cannot overstate that. However, throughout this process, Nick, I know and I'm grateful for the fact that you have strived to really keep stakeholders informed at every step of the way. You have actively solicited feedback. You haven't just done it for the sake of asking for it. You have incorporated those valuable insights into the shape of the vision of what we are going to see in a year and a half or so to come, maybe sooner. You have recognized and acted upon the importance of transparency and collaboration in such a monumental endeavor. And I think it's really a credit to you and to your team that you have committed to really fostering an environment of open communication and partnership, which is the very essence of great governance. I have no doubt that this project will bring us one step closer to delivering a world-class terminal that meets, actually exceeds the expectations of the traveling public. And just many thanks to you, your staff, our senator, who once again has brought Vermont the funding. You know, you can have a vision and you can have a plan, but you do have to have the way to make it a reality. And you have done that for us. One last point that I wanted to make, just wanted to close with one other thought, and that is to our mayor, as a few people have already alluded, I'm not sure if this is going to be your last press event. You've got a dozen days to go. Okay, but I think it'll be your last at the airport. And you've got your start in politics with the senator, and you've got your start in city governance as an airport commissioner. So I think it's really very appropriate that this should be your second to last press event as mayor. And yes, I did count it's a dozen days. The city, I just want everyone to under, to appreciate, and I've seen a few, I've seen a few mayors I've served with, I've served with two mayors on that there is no mayor who has shown a greater commitment to this airport than you have. I know that your work for this airport will be long remembered by many of us. Many of us who appreciate your efforts and will honor your commitment to our city. I will look forward to the press event on when the ribbon is cut on this transformative project, and yet another celebratory chapter in our amazing airport's history. Thank you very much. So it's an absolute honor to be able to come up here and speak about this project after such wonderful speeches. I really appreciate the opportunity. I stand before you to, in representation of our larger group, David Ducker here, the project architect with Steve Moncrief, the project manager, and all of our aviation studio. I can say it's been a just an absolute pleasure working with Nick and Larry and the entire BTB team on this project. When we started to meet with them initially, this was simply about adding, simply about adding some additional gates, some mainline gates for the airport. And so as we started to draw things out for them and started to have conversations and meetings, it became about much more. Knowing that the tip had just been completed and as successful as it was, it was more about thinking about the entirety of the journey and connecting both the north expansion with the tip in a way that would unify the passenger experience. So from a design perspective, when we approach a project, we like to think about functionality. Functionality for the airport because airports have to function, right? We all have to get to the places we want to go and that's paramount. But also functionality from the passenger perspective. What does it feel like to navigate the airport as a passenger or as a daily user, as an airport employee? And so we try to bring those together in a way that makes sense for the airport. And then clearly when you have beautiful scenery like we have here, it just makes things and an amazing client, it makes things that much easier. So when we started to think about this, we thought about it as, you know, hey, I'm going to drive up to the airport. I'm going to park my car in the parking garage. What does that journey look like? What does it look like to get out of my car, navigate the parking garage, walk across the bridge, make my way downstairs through security, and then ultimately to end up at a mainline gate opportunity like we have here at the tip. What we wanted to do is we wanted to make sure that when we built this building that we were able to connect it. So a big portion of what we started to talk about was kind of a renovation and making sure that we could take, you know, the Vermont Maple that we see on the ceiling here, the concrete, and honestly the simplicity of the beautiful views. And we could connect that all the way through. Another big portion of this was thinking about one, having sustainability be the foundation. That was paramount with everything that came out of the meetings that we had was that that was a foundational element of anything that we would do. So we started to look at things like geothermal. We started to look at mass timber. We started to think about embodied carbon and photovoltaics to make sure that every decision was sort of backed by what are we doing that will benefit the community and benefit the airport. And then ultimately, it came about pulling this maple, this concrete, and these views all the way through the airport into the new project which will have, or as we're conceptualizing now, will have mass timber, will have geothermal, will have photovoltaic capabilities, as well as kind of reinventing this, what everybody used to be able to experience in the historic tower. We're also bringing a kind of a rooftop deck that will be available to the public of Burlington to be able to come and watch the aircraft land and take off. I mean, really it's the excitement of what we all love about airports, right? It's always great to travel, but even when we're not traveling, when we're at an airport and never going anywhere, which is what my plight is, it's just fun to feel the environment, like the energy, to see the activity out on the airfield and to be able to connect the passengers here in Burlington by opening up views in the remodeled section so that you're able to see your mountains, you're able to see that apron activity. It's just going to be transformational for the airport and again we're just really excited to be partnering with Nick and his team with the entire city and all of the supporters to be able to make this happen. Thank you. So people will probably notice we have this loop playing now of a walk through of the new terminal and right at the end is the section that Greg was just talking about about the outdoor section that will be relaxed. Without going through security, it'll be open to this area here that's coming up that will be open to the public and we think will be something of a bedside as well. So with that, I'm happy to take questions or other speakers that think are happy to take some questions if there are any. Nick you want to speak about the timing? U.S. when the project breaks ground. So right now we're at 80 percent of the design angle berth is going to be submitting bids for subcontractors and our hope is by mid to late summer we will be shovels in the ground. Approximately 18 months later so end of 2025. So the grant is a 90% federally funded grant through the FAA's airport improvement program specifically through the congressionally directed spending bills. The remaining 10% is going to come from other federal programs like passenger facility charges and then there's some ineligible pieces but they're a minor section of the total project which of course has to follow federal guidelines regulations. So it's largely federal funds? The vast majority of it will be federal funds. And what the expansion will allow or airplanes to come or people to travel just like briefly like the scope of what this actually is going to mean for the growth of the The way I talk about the airport we really had three challenges. We solved the first challenge which is our capacity throughput through the security checkpoint when we had two checkpoints we saw solved challenge number one. Challenge number two and three are related to aircraft size and the hold room capacity both on the exterior of the building the size of the aircraft coming in and the amount of seats that we had available for the interior of the building. So this solves the final three challenges that we had by allowing larger aircraft to pull up to this building more passengers to be on a single aircraft which inevitably means more passengers that can wait in the terminal. We are at that challenge point now that tipping point now where the majority of our planes are so large that our existing terminal was designed for 50 passenger planes. We don't see that anymore. The majority of our planes are much larger across all airlines. Okay so it doesn't look like there's more questions Nick can you explain to people who understand this a virtual reality possibility for people who want to kind of walk through the terminal? Do you want to explain how that's going to work? Yeah there is so of course we have the video right next to the mayor here we have poster boards that have the still shots of this video just further along on the blue seats we have virtual reality which will have various locations throughout the projects to visually look at this building 360 degrees and we also offer a tour to to walk down the hallway which will have we also have various pictures along the way as well. So everyone here there's a simulator that you paint for over there somewhere for that. In addition I want to there's another kind of emergent matter that's come up that I'm going to address that has to do with the homelessness crisis we're facing so anyone who would like to members the media that would like to speak to me about that I'm going to take some questions over here on that may have a statement to make about that but everyone else enjoy the the what everything that's that way so thank you everyone