 Okay, so I'd like to call to order the self broken city council meeting special city council meeting on Friday, February 23rd, 2021. Welcome, everyone. First, second item is agenda review. Are there any additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items? Seeing none, we'll move on to three comments and questions from the public not related to the agenda. Seeing none other than people filming us. So look good guys. Okay, we'll move on to number four, the consent agenda. And that the only item is consider and sign the disbursements. I'll move that we approve the disbursements. Second. Okay, any further discussion? Okay, all in favor of approving the consent agenda with one item, signified by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That's unanimous and the consent agenda carries. Item five is the council approval of a resolution for policy makes making to reduce carbon emissions and counteract climate change. Councillor Emery brought this up at Monday's meeting, but it was tabled so that, thank you all, I could have the chance to join you in that vote. So we will, we have a motion by Matt and a second by Tim. Is there any further discussion? I just want to say thank you. So if there's no further discussion, all those in favor please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Great. So we have a resolution for policy making to reduce carbon emissions and counteract climate change. Unanimously. Very nice. Okay, the next item might not have the applause, but we'll see. Item six is setting the FY 22 property tax rates and tax installment due dates. This was mailed to you earlier today. The first page is the actual rates, the back page is the comparison to last year. And the here. Okay. Do you want to just briefly go through it, Martha? Or should we just, I did not get my email this morning, so I haven't read this. Can you briefly go through it, Martha? I mean, maybe just, I'll step back. Move up to the mic, if you would. Thank you. Yeah, exactly. The three due dates this year are going to be August 30th of 2021, November 15th of 2021 and March 15th of 2022. And then the next is just the breakdown for how I did the math to come up with our municipal tax rate, which the 2021-2022 municipal tax rate is going to be 0.4350. And then our two education tax rates are the homestead education rate is 1.3249. And the non homestead education rate is 1.4389, which makes our total homestead rate 1.7599. And the total non homestead tax rate is 1.8739. And then the back is just a comparison so you can see what happened prior to the reappraisal and then the math for how it comes out afterwards. Just as a reminder to the council, this is really a math equation based on what the voters approved to be raised by property taxes and the grand list post reappraisal. So there's no other, there's no policy call that hasn't previously been approved. I do think it's important to note that with the reappraisal, the grand list has increased by 31% and the tax rate is going down from 0.5542 last year to 0.4350 this year. And it also includes new home construction. Yes. Yes. Right. Since that time. Right. Okay. Do you hear a breakdown of commercial or special rain? We have that that we will present to the council on a full report at a regular meeting. Right. This is just important to pass so we can get our tax bills. Okay. Well, so if we delay it, we'll pay the tax bill. Exactly. So we'll go out. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Is there any further discussion? All right. A motion to approve is in order. So moved. In a second. It's been moved and seconded if there's no further discussion. Thank you, Martha and your team. Yes. All in favor signify by saying aye. That's unanimous. So we have approved the 2021-2022 property tax rates and slightly different due dates. Seeing no other business, I would entertain a motion. Oh, you may make an announcement. I just want to thank everybody for coming out today to celebrate the wedding anniversary of Tim and Katie O'Brien. 27 years. This is fantastic turnout, you know, without even invitations. The only thing missing is my wife. Congratulations. All right. Okay. Motion to adjourn. Second. All in favor. The meeting is adjourned. Okay. Well, could we have asked for a better day? My gosh. A week ago, we probably have umbrellas and sweaters on. So while it's warm, it is sunny and it is, I think, a tribute to an effort that has started in 1985. So this is a long time coming. Yeah. Oh, okay. Is this louder? I can also speak louder. I was trying not to get feedback. Okay. I'll speak up. All right. So the community, obviously, has been planning this for decades. And our vision originally, after lots of meetings, was to anchor our downtown in a sustainable building. And that is exactly what we have. With great leadership and skill of Kevin Dorn, who began the process about five years ago, he began that process with me and Jennifer Murray, our librarian, and Jennifer Cokeman and Alana Blanchard and myself. And we went on the road with the dog and pony show to explain the TIF process, the tax incremental financing, because that's how we were going to be able to afford this kind of exceptionally beautiful library city hall and senior center for our town. We made the case to the public and you all answered with a resounding yes. And I'm, yeah, it was 60%. That's a lot for a building that was going to cost $22 million in change. The only person in that dog and pony show that isn't with us today is Jennifer Cokeman. And for that, I am really sorrowful. She died rather unexpectedly a bit ago, but she really led the conversation and helped the public really agree that the library could also include and should also include a senior center. She and Kevin were really pushing that from the get go. So while she's not here, her spirit certainly is. We broke ground November 13th, 2019. The project budget was $22,100,000 and funded largely by the tax incremental financing. A secondary benefit and on the dog and pony show, this was one of the things that I really pushed was that by building this here and incorporating proper groundwater, that's okay. We had had decades of stormwater runoff from the library, from the school and other buildings. And by building this building, we were able to mitigate that. And so we're no longer polluting Potash Brook, which in my mind is a good thing because we're not polluting any further Lake Champlain. So it was one of those wonderful byproducts that was unintended, but a great one. There's solar panels on the roof. And my understanding is they collect the sun from the bottom and the top. I'm not sure how. Not yet. It will be a LEED certified building. It's heated and cooled by geothermal. And this winter when it's snowing out in front of the library entrance, there won't be snow because thanks to David Kaufman's persistence, we included heating underneath the sidewalk. So people won't be trucking in salt into our new building. The entire structure is a high energy efficiency, all LED lighting in short as sustainable as we could afford. And a sustainable building is a loved building. And we will love this building. It houses the library, a senior center, the city clerk, the city manager's office, and planning and zoning. The auditorium seats a hundred and will be a new home for city council meetings and DRB meetings and other public events as well. It's available to be rented by the public and used by the public. I want you to note the dedication plaque inside the front door. I really want to honor two people that typically don't get their names on buildings, but they really made this happen. And that is Alana Blanchard who is the project director and Justin, and Justin Rabidou who really did all the, I guess, I don't know, all the nitty gritty stuff. Their dedication and hard work really brought this to reality. I mean it literally was figuring out where every outlet needed to go in a really large building. I also want to thank our project partners Engelberg Construction and Weeman-Lampere Architects. They did a fabulous job. And particularly, I mean you know we built this during COVID and it wasn't all that easy. We had hundreds and hundreds of workers who managed to build it with masks and stay six feet apart and work through all those uncertainties. So that's a tribute to them. I particularly want to recognize the TIF program. It was instrumental in moving city center forward and funding a portion of this project. And I must recognize the state of Vermont who provided a grant for electrical vehicle chargers behind the building for public use. And there currently are 12 stations, so good for them. We are going to have a senior center dedication at 530, but we're going to continue with really celebrating the main library and its opening. And you know the last thing I want to say before I introduce some other speakers is it's really a thank you to all of you. Number one you're here and you're celebrating, but you voted for this. You agreed in the process of using tax incremental financing. It's kind of complicated and it's like a 23-year promise that funds will get raised and it's a program I think Kevin Dorn was with the Douglas administration when it was introduced in Vermont. So his leadership on this was really helpful because he understood the language of the program and how to really implement a TIF program. And you know we know we did the park over there and where the geese are and the road and this building. And I think it's, I thank the state of Vermont for embracing that program and allowing us to go forward. So thank you all for believing in that. Okay we also have some dignitaries who some couldn't be here in person, but they sent people to share their congratulations. So we'll first hear from John Tracy, who's representing Senator Patrick Leahy. Good afternoon. I'm the stunt double today. You know the pandemic made us realize how much we need each other, how important, how important community is. Can you hear me now? And I think what is taking place here is bringing a community together. It's great for South Burlington. In fact you have city offices, a library, a senior center. That's all about community. So congratulations on that. The senator is in D.C. So I have a letter I'd like to read from him. Dear Chair, really congratulations on the dedication of the new South Burlington Public Library. This impressive new facility is a shining example how a community can come together to provide needed resources to residents of all ages. It also marks the progress that has been made since the first South Burlington Community Library was established 50 years ago. Marcel and I are proud of the work you have done, the work you will continue to do to serve your community. Sincerely Patrick Leahy. Thanks. Thank you John. And next we have Beth Awady, who's representative for Senator Bernard Sanders. Good afternoon everyone. I'm an outreach representative for Senator Sanders and Senator Sanders sends his regards. He regrets he cannot be here today. He is out in the Northeast Kingdom doing outreach on this gorgeous day. But he does send his deep appreciation and thank you to you all for coming out on this rather beautiful day. Thank you to all the community members, all the workers who contributed and participated and bringing this to life. This space senior center auditorium is great to have in the community. It really brings community members together, sharing resources. I apologize. This community member senior center much more brings members together and Senator Sanders really appreciates the innovative ideas coming together, bringing community members together throughout South Burlington and across Chittenden County. I'm excited to take a tour here as many of my colleagues have and Senator Sanders himself looks forward to coming here and meeting you all someday. So thank you very much for having us. Okay next is Rebecca Ellis representing Congressman Peter Welch. So on behalf of Congressman Welch, I would like to congratulate the city of South Burlington on the opening of this beautiful new library and municipal office. Congressman Welch visited the site in January 2020 about 18 months ago when construction was just beginning and it's quite a transformation. The congressman looks forward to stopping by again in the near future to see the result and he asked me to convey to you his deep admiration to the municipal leaders and the entire community you for your many years of hard work and the cooperative effort it took to envision and then build this new city center with housing, grocery stores, schools, a senior center and now a library and municipal office all within walking distance of each other. Congressman Welch has long supported arts and culture including libraries because of their important role in building and sustaining resilient communities. Many people and many here perhaps may be surprised to learn about all the services offered in a modern library. During the pandemic the federal cares act supported a variety of digital library services including 24-hour wi-fi, e-books, public health information and even workforce development. As we begin to move out of the pandemic libraries and municipal offices will continue to be important places where people gather to learn to grow and to build community just like today. This library and this municipal center are well timed to provide critical services to the community at a historic moment in our state and our country's recovery. Congratulations South Burlington on a job well done. Thank you. Next up is Stacey Pape. Pape, I'm sorry. She's the vice chair of the public library trustees. It is a great pleasure to be here with all of you today to celebrate this wonderful new building a great resource for our community. The new library will be the heart of South Burlington fittingly in a collaborative space shared with City Hall and the Senior Center. On behalf of the library Board of Trustees I would like to acknowledge the many years of advocacy hard work and commitment that went into making this moment possible. Thank you to past and present trustees who whose dedication kept this dream alive. Thank you to friends of the library who are critical supporters of the library's mission and about and to all the volunteers who have given their time and talents. Thank you to the late Paul Blanchett and to everyone who is stepping forward to support the library through philanthropy. Thank you to our tireless community city staff members and to the architects and builders who brought their skills and fortitude to this endeavor. Endless gratitude to our library director Jennifer Murray and the library's incredible staff members who have taken this on with creativity and open hearts and will continue to innovate and make this library all that it can be. And thank you to this forward thinking inclusive and caring community. You have come together to build a library that will bring joy education and enlightenment to you your families and your neighbors. Your foresight and willingness to say yes to a new library will have enduring impact on the South Burlington community for generations. One of the greatest privileges of being involved in the library is to hear all of the memories people share how a library was their place of refuge as a child a place where they made new friends as a new parent in a new town or a place they learned how to knit use a computer or speak English. For me it is the memory of huge smiles on my daughter's faces every time they approached the checkout desk with loaded down with books and movies that they would keep them entertained engaged and happy for hours. They still love libraries. As we cut the ribbon today we're opening the door for all of that to happen here. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying the only thing that you absolutely have to know is the location of the library. Here we are everyone standing in front of our new library. Let's go make some memories. Thank you. We're now going to hear from our state librarian Jason Broughton. Good afternoon. Can you hear me? Are you sure? Can you hear me? If you hear me I want you to say library's rock on the count of three. One, two, three, library's rock. I got them to say it. Oh my god. I want to bet. Within that thank you for having me. My name is Jason Broughton and I'm commissioner and state librarian of the Vermont Department of Libraries. You might not know that you actually have a state library and yes you do and I represent that. Today I'm here to kind of talk about your success which is seeing all of you here celebrating the opening of a library as if we were about to go on a theme park ride for the first time or a concert. That's quite amazing to see all of you here wanting to celebrate a library that says something about the community in which this library has been created. Amazing work has gone on from the time I actually met with Jennifer to talk about building plans. Amazing that you guys actually pulled it off and did it efficiently. That is a congratulations to you and your community and what you believe in. I just want to make my comment short to say thank you for having me. I can't wait to see it. And in the closing comment by Neil Gaiman an author who said Google can bring you back 100,000 books but a librarian can bring you back the exact right one you want. Thank you. That's really true. Okay we now have Steve Roy from Women Lampere Architects. Good evening everybody and thanks for coming today. First I'd like to say congratulations to the City of South Burlington. It's been not just a few years but a really long path to get to this point and I think it's a very special time for the entire community. There's a few people I'd like to thank in particular from the design team that work countless hours and really deserve that. If you see them today just let them know how much they're appreciated. Tim Duff, South Burlington resident and Kelly DeRosh, another project manager for Women Lampere. They have spent hours and hours making this just project perfect. I'd also like to thank all of our team members from the design team, engineering services of Vermont, engineering ventures, the SE Group, Humphrey's Poli Architects. There's just so many people involved to make this all happen and it's really important that we thank each and every one of them because I think this is a project that will last for generations and is really something we should be proud of. So thank you all for coming. And now we'll hear from Matt Brush from Engelberth Construction. Congratulations to all of you from South Burlington. We at Engelberth Construction feel so fortunate to have been part of this transformative community project. It's always nice to be involved in a project that is community-based, has a different feeling to it. And from the time we were involved until now that community feeling has been very evident through every part of the process. I'd like to especially thank Kevin, Alana, Justin, Jennifer, Greg, City Council, and all the voters who supported this project from the time it was conceived. The design team at William Lamphere had a wonderful vision for this building, and I think it turned out remarkably. Lastly, I'd like to thank all of our field vendors, some contractors, both local and afar, Engelberth Site Supervision, Gary Gibson, Mark Ty, Dean Lockwood, Bennett Fay, Larry Haskins. We're all wonderful leaders for our company and did a great job out here. I'd like to give them a thanks. Enjoy the accomplishment that you guys have this wonderful building for years to come. Enjoy the evening, and I hope you get a chance to tour the building tonight. Thank you. We're getting close. We're getting close. I just want to recognize some of the other dignitaries who won't be offering remarks through the mic, but you can certainly say hello to them directly. We have T.J. Dunovan, the Vermont State Attorney, right over there, and a South Burlington resident, and Jim Condos, the Vermont Secretary of State, who served on the very first library visioning committee in 1989. Five. Okay. So he's been around a while. And then behind me are my partners in crime, Megan Emory, Tim Barrett, Tom Chittenden, Matt Coda, and we've also asked to have Dave Kaufman join the council grouping. While he's not a council right now, he was certainly very instrumental and active in pulling this all together. So great bunch to work with. We have a number of senators, Chittenden County senators in the audience. I haven't seen everybody, but I believe Senator Ginny Lyons, Senator Philip Baruth, Senator Chris Pearson, Senator Keisha Ram, I did see her, and Senator Michael Sorotkin are here. And our thank you all for coming. And lastly, we have three state representatives here, and Pew, John Kalaki, and Mita Townsend. So it really is a community recognition and effort. And before we close these remarks, I have just two things. I want to brag a little bit because I happen to believe that I have more family here than anyone else. I have 13 family members. So they're right over there. The kids are really interested in seeing a big pair of scissors at work. And the last thing is I'm going to ask you in a moment to have the pleasure of looking into the sun as we have and ask you to turn around and back up a little so we can get a community photo. And you want to be looking at the man in the bucket. So thank you. Thank you for coming. We so appreciate your support for this endeavor. And I think, as we say, we built it for at least 50 years. So a lot of you will be here to enjoy that. So thank you. Welcome to the grand opening. Here we're at the Parks and Rec Tiki Bar with Brett Leonard. What's going on here tonight? It is definitely a party in the street this evening. We've got a bouncy castle, food trucks, some ice pops with cops, the whole nine yards. Awesome. So we can just stop by and enjoy some ice cream or a quick bite to eat. Absolutely. Ben and Jerry's is here. I come grab a taco or a hot dog, walk around, get a slushie, just make the most of the evening. It's a beautiful night to be out. Not only just enjoying the lovely building and touring inside, but just hanging out with community members and family for some lawn games here. Get your face painted. There's a lot going on. Thank you.