 Thank you Instructions and exiting the building in case of emergency and review of technology options, and we actually have three people in the audience so So good evening for those in the audience if there's emergency you can go out either back door at the back of the room and either left or right out The main doors For those who are participating remotely it would be super helpful if somebody could chat me and see make sure you all can hear us But assuming you can we are monitoring the chat for questions and folks who would like to Have their comments heard, but we are not monitoring the chat for content So if you want to make a content comment, please indicate so in the chat and we will call on you. Thank you Okay, thanks, and they have audio fantastic. Thank you All right item three agenda review. Are there any additions deletions or changes in the order of? Agenda items tonight Searing none searing hearing none or seeing none We'll move on to item four comments and questions from the public not related to the agenda Please come up to the mic if you wish to take your mask off to speak You certainly may and there should be a green light Good, okay. Thank you. That would be fine. That's fine. No, so please tell us your name and reality Now ask for your help in appealing to the environmental court We need help to protect the quality of life of 88 South Burlington households Along the South Burlington roads in the higher ground traffic areas and also our collective gem Which is Red Rock City Park? We hope City Council will commit to a relatively Relatively speaking small sums money and effort and time into this appeal and last push to protect South Burlington streets from being flooded with concert billers by putting guidelines into place and to protect our city park from tailgaters who get turned away pre-show from the higher ground parking lot and I believe many of you know many of the issues we are facing but we invite you to talk to those of us who are Directly impacted by this This is not a plea to shut down higher ground But rather to have them open their doors With the quality of life and safety of their neighbors at the forefront as they say they want to do As much as I too want to grow business in Vermont I would like to know business is growing with the utmost care for the surrounding residents For road safety and for the care of our park I want to make the strong point that I really think South Burlington can be pro-business and at the same time still protect its constituents It's not in either or situation And so my question to you is will City Council participate in this appeal going forward? And I'd really like to thank you for having the conversation tonight. I am a member of our fire district's prudential committee and My neighbors ask repeatedly about If you guys are going to support us and they're expecting it You really are it's sort of a soup that you will support us I can't imagine there's anyone from QCC who doesn't hope for some concessions from Burlington and Burlington To protect our neighborhood night-time noise levels the traffic safety on QCC's single ingress and egress Along with the one lane bridge There was another accident on it Traffic safety entering and exiting with seven pedestrian safety police presence parking on QCC's very narrow streets and on and on You know on it even on anticipated related challenges So again, I ask you to support us By feeling to the environmental court. We are a small group of yourself Burlington citizens relatively speaking But we really need your help right now Thank you very much Thank you very much Are either of your companions wanting to be please come up Okay Alright, so we have Laurie Smith who's on the The meeting the zoom meeting so Laurie why don't you speak now hi Can you hear me we can Super So I'm gonna read a statement too just to try and be succinct and I want to say good evening counselors I want to thank you all for your service and for all that you've done to date To try and sure that the redevelopment of the Burton campus is done in a way that does not negatively impact Queen City Park in the surrounding neighborhoods I'd like to bring to your attention one aspect of the higher grounds Proposed relocation that I don't believe has been discussed South Burlington will be losing significant tax revenues if higher ground moves to Burlington's to Burton's campus in Burlington Those revenues have helped offset the cost of over a hundred annual police responses to the current higher ground venue The new venue will be a location will have at least 50% larger capacity than the current facility Which will surely require a proportionate larger response from the law enforcement Given that the new location is directly on the South Burlington town line Our police force will undoubtedly still be involved in calls and with the new location at the most remote location to the current police department Financial burden on our town will likely still be significant. I Also want to mention that there May be alternative ways to support the ongoing efforts if the city chooses not to file its own appeal of the recently granted Act 250 permit Attorney Jim Dumont requested this the city provide funds to help pay for expert witnesses for the citizen-led effort in the Act 250 hearings Those needs are going to be even greater in the environmental court Providing funds to support these ongoing efforts will help your citizens in the effort to protect not only Queen City Park But also our beloved Red Rocks Park Any way that we can work collaboratively and pool our resources to maximize our efforts Will greatly increase our chances of ensuring that the redevelopment of Burt the Burton campus is done in a way that respects the quality of life of its neighbors and I really want to thank you all for your consideration Thank You Lori We have Doug Goodman from also online welcome Doug Thank you. I just want to I guess Mirror Doug your voice got really low all of a sudden Did it start at how am I now you found sound fine now? Okay, that's weird. Anyway, I just wanted to Thank you for the opportunity to say a few words and basically just say that I am in agreement with what Lori and Wendy have said and They really have covered my thoughts and the thoughts of many other people in neighborhood We appreciate the efforts that South Burlington made has made over the last year or so and the attendance They're the attendance of the cons consul and a attorney at the meeting the walk-through on the Burton campus in March of last year and Your sub your ongoing support is really important to us. So thank you. Thank you Is there anyone else who wishes to speak I do Hello Linda Norris. Hi Linda. Well, there's oh Iris and Linda. Oh I'm getting a very heavy echo of the person who spoke before me But I just want to say that I concur with both Doug and Wendy's statements My big concern is not what they put at Burton at all. Can you hear me? Yes? Okay, so I don't care what they put on that campus The echoes coming through Can you hear me? Yes, we can you don't sound echoey to us? Okay, so I'll talk over my own echo. Okay in any case My concern is essentially the safety of The people in my neighborhood in Queen City Park as well as the people who are going to be attending these Burton concerts There have already been two accidents on the bridge in the last couple of months There's also been beer bottles in the park that have been left on the road You know, it is huge box of empty beer bottles two days in a row my concern for Red Rocks is that it will be abused and Be a huge problem in terms of South Burlington trying to keep it clean and cared for us And the other issue is the noise pollution Myself will not be attending any of these concerts if they come But I would hope That the amount of people and how late they get out is controlled and that there is safe Access to an exit not only the one lane bridge and home Avenue But also on Shelburne Road at that traffic light because that will back up as well Thank you for listening to me and I appreciate the opportunity Thank you very much Iris and now we'll hear from Linda north Hi, y'all I would join him because I for another reason, but I'm listening Intently in this situation with Burton and the higher ground issue and I have to say I walked my dog in Red Rocks probably over 13 years and and do a lot of exercise in there even prior to that and I Have witnessed many many a time that I mean it's a great college place hangout There I've known it since my kids were In high school and finding out about that and would very much encourage my daughters not to be going out there at all And jumping off the rocks like everyone would do and and not being a safe man or a lot It is really I'm very surprised that higher ground is continuing to pursue that location But I guess maybe we have this Burlington South Burlington kind of divide on it But I totally I'm not a Queen City Resident, but I'm hearing what you're talking about a seat in the paper and it's I think you'd behoove all of us in South Burlington to figure out how to Get higher ground you to stay in South Burlington or find a better location. It does not impact the residents With all the traffic that we go in that one lane bridge. It's going to be terrible and the You know, the use of alcohol Either before or after these concerts and going into that park is not going to be a safe safe place Thank you Did you have another item that you wanted to raise as well? I Did it or is there anybody else be ahead of me? No, no, I just wanted to Hell in there, but you put in a commercial for I'm sure that there's going to be some ARPA discussion, but I'm not totally Sure, but I'd like to put in an advertisement for the recreation center and I'll look at that and trying to ignite and start that up again for South Burlington I saw Jesse's very nice presentation at the SBBA meeting last week Did a great job and I was looking at one of the statistics. I think we're 20,000 292 citizens now in South Burlington and When I moved here in 1995, I don't know what that number was But I'm sure we've grown at least 40 to maybe 50 percent from that point in time I think from the year 2000 we were around 13,000. So it's in 22 years or gone from 13,000 or so to 20,000 I started in Y2k, which was your 2000 To coach and volunteer coach in this community and I coached basketball and softball and soccer for My youth here from the K through 12 Classes and I helped start the There wasn't any girls soccer in middle school at Tuttle School back then so I started the girls program and the boys program there with help and borrowing and Begging for uniforms and things but what I also had the big for was a lot of space To try to do practices and at sit down with Tom Hubbard who we all know from Long ago where he was the recreation director and he was very helpful in trying to squeeze any kind of space for us to do practicing and I That was 22 years ago And a lot less kids than we have now And I've seen the pods that the schools are having and I just implore to all of us to You know, it's too late for my kids But I'm trying to pay it forward for the kids that are there that are not representative And you need to play intramurals and we need some indoor space for them that would buy it We're really lacking tremendously. So that is my commercial for tonight And I hope that we can bring it up as a community again. Thank you. Thank you very much Linda Is there anyone else? Oh Yes, please come forward Yes, are there's a Mic and if you if you'd like to take your mask off so we can understand you perhaps better the safety of Our neighborhood for you know, I have two teenage boys. They are young drivers obviously my son who's a senior in high school came home Saturday night and I was waiting up for him. He was coming home from a friend's house told me there had been a crash at the bridge my husband and I went up there the next day to see and Somebody was obviously driving very fast hit the guardrail Flipped around and from what I understand the back end of the vehicle landed up on the other side of the guardrail we ended up speaking with a neighbor who heard the crash and came out and Apparently the guy who was in the car seemed impaired and wanted help getting his vehicle off the guardrail from the neighbors So as a parent who has two teenage boys, I'm very concerned my son who's a senior missed that crash It was just a matter of minutes really and this is what we have potentially to look forward to with higher ground being there Many nights a week up to 1500 people a night drinking You know, I have nothing I've I've been going to higher ground since they were in Winooski I love higher ground, but it's just a really bad Area for higher ground. So anyway, I just wanted to express my concern with that and And thank you. Thank you very much Okay, seeing none we'll move on to announcements and the city manager's report So Megan want to start with you I'll just announce that I Will report on the airport rezoning task force under the committee reports But I did spend some quality time at the airport last week in particular and I will again be Meeting some of the general aviation folks this week So just trying to do my due diligence and it's been very educational Okay, thank you Matt I'll just report on the GMT during the Afterwards, but just I attended the SBPA meeting and wonderful presentation Wonderful staff that we have that really present our city well with the the new mall owner or one of the members of the group that Oh bought them all was really Really wonderful Setting in but I heard two things that I just wanted to bring to everyone's attention. They both deal with backlog There was a concern about retail theft and I think if anyone is associated with The retail industry knows that that has been a problem last couple of years, especially The chief chief Burke showed us the graph it was What he did a really good job of explaining why we're seeing repeat offenders and he didn't sugarcoat it He described exactly what's happening in the court systems and has to do with the backlog a lot of it has to do with COVID But he did offer his resources so for anyone out there that has a retail establishment that worries about retail theft I can say that our police chief and his department are addressing it They're working on it, but there's no easy fix the other backlog that I heard a lot about is permitting There was a concern from those that want to see as many of us do Changes at the University Mall with this new investment But there's a concern that our staffing doesn't have enough bandwidth to with all the projects that are coming in And I just wanted to articulate that and then the last thing a moment of personal privilege was just to say that Congratulations to the South Burlington Girls snowboard team who are the state champions. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Tim Thanks So I did attend the SBB meeting last week. Thank you very much Jesse for a wonderful presentation. Sorry. I had to leave early Sorry, I asked so many questions in this same auditorium There was a CCRPC public hearing again for the Queen City Park bike-ped scoping that was I think the Wednesday after our last meeting and It took about an hour and that went well a lot of feedback from the public I'm not sure what the next step is but it's coming pretty soon. I think also, I was in Boston over the weekend and I was in Brookline and My wife and I noticed that they have the kind of banner set up that on their street lights that we have What they did was they took two poles and then they created an array of wire and on on each of the wires in the between They attached one of those like a reflective mylar You know materials and they cut them in different shapes diamond circles squares What not and so when we came out of the diner and looked up the Sun was hitting them And they were just like all shimmering and glistening and and kind of like visually vibrating in the wind as they were tilting as the Sun was hitting them So it was a really you know interesting beautiful aesthetic on on their streets on their street lights So I just thought I would mention that so and that's all I have okay, I Had the wonderful privilege and joy of welcoming a new granddaughter To this earth. So I spent the last 10 days in Salt Lake City Helping her mother and welcoming her which was wonderful. So I wasn't here, but I did Listen in and I'll talk about that when we get to our Reports on counselors on committee assignments, but I did want to know I took some What I think is sort of interesting pictures. They're not very good pictures But there were two things that really struck out. We went to some big build a business in a Small strip mall like most strip malls most of it was empty yet one whole section Had been turned into the town. I can't remember the name of the town their city hall So they take in one of these buildings and it just reminded me of how self Burlington had utilized Some empty space in the mall for our library and it actually worked out quite well, and I thought boy there's tons of parking and And it really looked nice But then I did learn later that it's temporary and they're building a new one, but at least for the time being they Revitalized or reuse this mall then the other thing and this is something that Salt Lake is I think known for they don't spend very much on education, but they spend a whole lot on their parks they have just incredible public parks with facilities swimming pools tennis courts pickleball courts everywhere and This one park I went to it was fabulous It had all sorts of amenities But one thing that I did take pictures of and I'd love us to think about it in South Burlington is they had next to one of the numerous kind of climbing swing Gym sets they had A paved area and they had a whole bunch of musical instruments most of them kind of xylophone type things that were made out of wood and just metal poles and they had a series of drums and the kids Were playing it and it was just delightful. It wasn't racket. It wasn't banging and sort of cacophony, but rather even though they didn't probably really know how to play the xylophone with the Into the Sticks and things that they had to strike them it made beautiful music and it was really set a beautiful tone For this lovely little park that had you know attracted lots of families And I just I have some pictures and I thought it would be an interesting thing to think about for Some new parks in South Burlington or additions to the parks that we have Thank you No, I didn't you know I never think of that Because the kids were playing you would have heard the music. Oh, I'm sorry. Well the next time I go I'll do that Okay, so or maybe I have to get their signatures or their parents signatures at least right as it was I Uh, so just a couple of quick updates. Um, also wanted to mention the SBBA me and just thank the business community for coming out We had probably 60 or 70 folks here in the auditorium and joining us for breakfast is a great Great discussion and lots of really interesting questions about city operations Um, also wanted to let the council know that I did present to the school board on the 16th about the charter committee and ask them Encourage them to invited them to appoint there to representatives to that charter committee They've obviously got a lot going on, but I'm hoping they do that in April so we can convene that group in may so more to come on that um I was asked to give you a couple of sentences on It being the season of potholes I gotta say I am very thankful this weekend that we are dealing with potholes and not dirt roads in Vermont So our highway crews have been out filling potholes for about the last two weeks We're obviously doing that with cold patch right now as the Um The paving plants haven't opened yet, but we anticipate them opening in about a month month and a half We do also anticipate having the paving list finalized the spring paving list finalized by the end of this week So I will share that with the council when it's complete The last snowstorm did do some damage around the city was really the road was the land was really Soft because we had had the thawing phase already So we are tracking the plow damage throughout the city and we'll be repairing that And then of course, it's also the season for getting out our street sweepers and line stripers and Dewinterizing them and getting them ready for operation. So folks will start seeing street sweepers out in the next couple of weeks Um, you may all know this but just for the public as well Our city clerk Donna has done an amazing job tracking the reapportionment process at the legislature So it is looking like we will have um, five state representatives for south burlington one to be shared with williston um, and then three senators um for all of south burlington and Shall some one district in burlington shellburn heinsberg jericho under hill and st. George So basically south burlington and cvu you for those senators So more to come on that but thanks to donna for all her great work And then I want to share for those of you who are coming into the building during work hours Tom poon joined our team today as Our new welcome desk staff He is off to a great start. We'll be the front face of city hall for a while. Please stop in and say hello Thank you Oh, he's coming in just don't drop it I don't go to drink is this okay? No out You always push the edges. Yeah, um So with your mouthful, do you have any reports of anything important? I did send an email to uh, jesse and i apologize if you already reported on it I had a car troubles. So that's why i'm late But I received a comment from an individual in barrett street concerned about potholes Did you already speak to our pothole address and clan? My apologies. I'll watch the video Send you some thoughts Okay, they're not alone. I'll add Delaware to the list All right, moving on to item six the consent agenda. We have three items uh disbursements February financials And approve the amended license and storm water agreement with the city of burlington For storm water improvements on airport drive. I'll move to approve Is there a second second? Is there any discussion? I did have a question, but let me just find it just a minute. Sorry I might have to ask I don't want to hold everybody up and I just didn't have the time this To look at this on my hold on i'm i'm almost there It was about storm water on airport drive because we have the wonderful christine here from our team Williston it was Williston road. I was curious about what we've paid for for Williston road I think it I was looking at my computer instead of my ipad where I can highlight things and I cannot find it And that can come to me after I was just curious to know. Yep. Happy to follow up with you all righty So if there's no further discussion, um all in favor of the consent agenda signified by saying I I I so that passes five zero Moving on to item seven consider a resolution condemning the invasion of ukraine Certainly that's on everyone's mind. It's hard to Not have it on your mind. I think um and tim barrett Wanted to offer a resolution and um Megan has some Amendments to that but tim why don't you? Start the conversation So, um, I am wearing my colors Yellow and blue tonight in solidarity with the people of ukraine In the fight that they have with the invasion by the the russian military. Um, I wrote this resolution It it's pretty short Because I I don't think there's much that we can argue with About what it's all about and and what we resolved to you know to say at the end of it Megan had some input, uh, which I've added at the end Jesse had some input that brings in some wording from vlct that kind of Extends the solidarity from at a municipal level, which is also very important. I think since we are the city of south brillington so I if you'd like I could go ahead and read it as it is now or if we'll have copies of it Or you know, this is for consideration tonight and if we agree on wording we we could vote on it if that's okay, but you know It's not you know, I doesn't have to be done tonight, but we at least we have we have a A draft a framework. Yeah. Yeah, we have framework. Um Why don't I read why don't you read it? Okay, and then I think Megan has some additional Suggestions to perhaps make it more powerful. Sure So whereas vladimir putin commanded the russian military to invade the sovereign democracy of ukraine on february 24th 2022 And whereas this invasion was accompanied by missile attacks on civilian targets And whereas over three million and that might be five million now Over three million ukraine inhabitants have been forced From their homes to fleet of poland and other neighboring countries as refugees And whereas the russian military is systematically destroying ukrainian infrastructure and people's homes And whereas the united states and its allies Have joined together in severe economic sanctions against russia And in supplying armaments to the ukrainian defense forces engaged in a battle for the preservation of their democracy Now be it resolved that the city of south burlington strongly condemns the invasion of ukraine and stands in solidarity with the people of ukraine And be it further resolved That the city of south burlington Stands in solidarity with the city town and village leaders of ukraine fighting to protect their people and their democracy and be it further resolved The city demands complete troop withdrawal of russian forces compensation for all damages And adjudication of war crimes committed And be it found resolved that we sent a copy this resolution to a number of people that are mentioned in the very end here And including our congressional delegation the president The vice president the speaker of the house The chairman of homeland security The chairman of the arm services committee You know chairman of formulations committee a homeland security and governmental affairs and peter welch our rep And also the ukrainian president volodmyr zelensky Okay, thank you Megan you want to Sure Yeah, I I had thought that this was going to be a group resolution. Um, and so I I did Um Provide some amendments on friday Um, including that last therefore clause Um, but I I think that, um There's at least one correction that needs to be made. Um Most specifically which is in the first whereas clause The expression sovereign democracy Is a reference to the russian Um, so not ukrainian, but the russian Plan to include the breakaway territories And and so it in fact is pro russian and not pro ukraine So I think that historical term needs to be taken into consideration And that is why I changed that first whereas clause To whereas volodmyr putin commanded the russian military to invade the sovereign territory governed by the democratic republic of ukraine on february 24th 2022 and I think that, um The other edits that I Or amendments that I would like to suggest um have to do with Uh, what makes this particular war One that we would pronounce make a pronouncement about there are many wars going on in the world The united states is engaged in several And I think that, um This kind of very Short resolution could apply to a different situation That deserves our attention, which is the sudan Um, so I would like us to provide more information In order to, uh, explain specifically why ukraine is is deserving Of this show of support Um to distinguish it from from the different conflicts throughout the world So the other clauses That I include, um I wanted in that second whereas clause to mention families That families who are fleeing are specifically targeted by A russian missile attack, so I have the second whereas clause reading Whereas this invasion was accompanied by missile attacks on civilian targets Including families fleeing for their lives. There is something That is particularly criminal About this action and the third whereas clause I I had included, um Moving his third whereas clause down to the fourth I I think that, um, it's just perfect It could be either way. It was just kind of more, um Let's see more progressive progressive in my mind, uh, to talk about the destruction Uh, their infrastructure is destroyed in every war So what is particular to this war is that the infrastructure is hospitals schools Of course government buildings usually are targeted, uh, but Transportation routes are usually targeted But cultural heritage sites and people's homes are criminal Actions and I think that we need to Specifically mention that as a reason why we would specifically Comment on on this situation Um, then I go to his to tim's third clause Over three million ukrainian inhabitants have been forced from their homes to flee to poland and other neighboring countries as refugees and As my fifth clause, I think it's really important for us to note that there has been conscription There has been a draft families have been separated and that Whereas ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 years have been conscripted in a war not of their choosing This is something that I think is is really key for me. Um, this is not a civil war for the ukrainians This is a war where there is an invader and we are facing A situation of survival or or or not and and we see That there has been the imposition of a draft and men and and women Are also Volunteering which is why I included the next whereas clause many ukrainians have voluntarily left their peaceful civilian lives to courageously take up arms and defense of their democracy Families and country or provide humanitarian assistance. It is really quite remarkable To see how so many people who didn't have to stay in the country Did stay specifically to protect their homeland. This makes ukrain stand apart Um with regard to the the last whereas clause I added on some things the united states and its allies have joined together in imposing severe economic sanctions Against russia oops Against russia and I continued on and in supplying armaments to the heroic ukrainian forces engaged in a battle for human rights And the preservation of their democracy Again, I think it's important for us to note that this wasn't established democracy Um, that is what I find to be quite compelling I also think it's important for us to note that we are supplying armaments To the ukrainian forces that is not the case in every conflict throughout the world um So in the first therefore, let it be resolved clause um, I um I think basically keep it In the second therefore, let it be resolved clause um, I think It's his third. It's tim's third um Therefore, let it be resolved clause um for my fourth um I I instead of um separating the people from the leaders Um, I talked about the city council stands with the ukrainian people and their president I can certainly See why we would include city town and village leaders Some of them have been kidnapped and are being held In undisclosed locations. So that I think makes sense But I would put it with the people um because they are remaining in their posts To to protect their people. I would not keep them separate Um It it again is a real sign of their commitment to their elected positions Um and to to their investment in democracy, which I think sets This this conflict in ukraine apart Um, and that's why I add this clause which comes from john dewey Who is a vermonter who have shown to the world that democracy exists in their minds and hearts um, that is something that I I talk about with my students in my classroom Who are very skeptical about american democracy these days? And I think that ukraine has reminded Americans of all ages about how democracy has is is It's an engagement of the mind where we have to understand how it works But also of the heart where we have to have faith in it And it is it is a blind leap of faith whenever you Put your your ballot in a in a box. It's a blind leap of faith And and they are fully invested in that so that is where John dewey comes into play and I think that my personal Request would be that we support their demand for supplemental capability That I realize is a political statement. I'm willing to take that out to push back the russian offensive and defense civilians and then speaking with Helen this afternoon Um, she thought that scaling back that last resolve to only send it to the president To our congressional delegation and then to president velodomir zelensky would be perhaps Enough and sufficient. So I I took out the remaining Senate and u.s. House leaders who are in charge of foreign affairs military affairs and and homeland security Okay, what's your thinking does does anyone have concerns about these amendments or I I would love for tom and matt and helen for you to feel free to yeah, yeah, I agree to add amendments Well, you accepted mine. I thought sending it to everyone involved I might add the governor of the state of romances. He's been pretty Proactive and strong about this. I forgot, but I think it's it's our people and the two presidents And our and our governor. Yeah, and I like And and you mentioned it and I think that where I would make include Jesse's suggestion from the league of cities and towns Um That we stand in solidarity with the city town and village leaders of ukraine. I think in your One two third resolve that the city council stands with the ukrainian people and their president Thank you then could say um The city town and village leaders of ukraine Who have shown to the world that democracy exists in their hearts and minds I think that would be a good place to put that and I I agree. I think that's important to include Because that's how it really could resonate with This city council. Yeah Tom do you have any thoughts or edits or I don't have any strong objections to what council emory is articulating But I only received it this afternoon and I will say I have a lot of things going on and for me to offer any thoughtful insight as to The specific points raised I would need to take it until the next meeting before I would feel comfortable with Altering any of them. Nothing that you said seemed to rub me the wrong way as you articulate them Articulating them But if we really want to dive deeper into this and commit more of our council time on this important topic I would need more time between now in the next meeting Would it be helpful to have um Well, let's hear from Matt and then tim and then maybe we can Get a sense of what We could prepare for everyone to look at as the final Or the draft for the final vote for the following meeting. I know as as tim said there's No need to do it tonight So we could have that as a addition to the next short meeting. No Matt, I think it was well written and I think the amendments that that you offered council really and council Emery are well well written and I would sign on on Great, tim. Are you on board? I'd like to do is is take Megan's amendments and and look at them closer because I haven't had enough time to do that and then See which ones I'd really like to add in because I think some of them I do and the other ones we could talk One on one about it and then negotiate and that we'll come back with a A combined draft Okay before the next meeting and we'll circulate it first, right? That would be great. Yeah Is it okay Megan? Well, I think yeah, I mean I I still would hope that the council could discuss I mean, I yeah, I don't want to you know But sure we can talk about it first, but I I really think that this is This is the first time I've ever as a counselor spoken out about a war And so this is a solemn moment and and I think that what tom said about needing time to reflect um is I completely agree and I I think that we should all be involved in what the final language looks like because this is this is important we we know is as Americans that our our government enters into many military conflicts and um in various ways and we have a complex history and and so that complexity I think we all need to Have sit with us and reconcile with it as we put forward a statement what's really important to me is to Articulate as clearly as possible the human toll and and and I like some of your suggestions because they They put that in clear language and I left I just didn't word it correctly and didn't add enough to it so to me human toll comes first and then um then the cultural architecture, right infrastructure and um the complete Decimation of their society by causing over not probably exactly five million people to flee the country and leave, right? So this is the destruction of a country a huge country that we're seeing in real time caused by one man and his military And I just want to make a statement on it that we all agree on and can sign off and But the human toll exists in every war and so I I think that there is more than the human toll that That constitutes the crime that's being committed right here before our eyes um, and that's why even though Art museums and schools may not seem important. They're in fact Very important and and to one's identity as ukrainian They they are tragic these losses. I mean for people to show on social media pictures of kiv and mario poll and all these places that Where people didn't even live but that were part of their cultural heritage I mean, can you imagine if the Statue of Liberty was bombed? No, that might not kill anybody, but can you imagine? I mean just think You know what that would do to us psychologically And that's that's a crime Um, and I think that we can't underestimate for the survivors the cost of hospitals schools cultural heritage sites these I mean you listen to people on the news and they say, you know This won't be rebuilt for 40 or 50 years. I mean it's destruction And it's and it's genocide. They're calling it genocide and genocide is the destruction of a culture Not just of lives but of a culture So it goes beyond the numbers which we find in every war Sadly Agreed. Okay. So we'll look for a final statement and I do like the Really connection with the preservation of democracy. Yeah I think we have seen that Attacked even here in the United States. Um, but certainly the diminution of democracies around the world and that's As a strong believer in democracy, um That's that's very concerning and that's Probably why so many of us really relate to this Along with seeing it on social media almost constantly I mean I said to to megan if this had or my husband, you know, if this was If we had social media in 1939 We would be watching the deportation of jews to concentration camps And we probably wouldn't have waited till pearl harbor Um, and that's how this strikes me. It's You're just seeing a destruction of a a culture and a people Every day You know hour by hour So it really hits home. So I think I would like this to be a really good strong statement for all of those aspects, so I think both of you for putting the time in and Yeah, actually in a conversation with helen where we were talking about this About 10 days ago helen talked about What set ukraine any apart for her which was the democracy that it was a was a thriving democracy and that's what Tipped me to say. Okay. I'm ready to sign on so it is It is I think really essential Yeah, okay. Thank you Good enough Okay, moving on to item eight This is the opportunity for counselors in the public to share information and resources on Climate change I know matt there's been a lot of a lot of activity in my pillar if you want to Absolutely But there's two particular items that have not really gotten a lot of press That I think are really important both for our energy committee our climate committee and our planning commission And I'll there's a lot of numbers here, but I'll try to say it as succinctly as I can which is h518 Which is done it's out of the house over to the senate and that's 46 million dollars Again, we have all these outland outland Very large numbers that we haven't seen because of arpa, right? These aren't these aren't typical and it's pretty remarkable to see how much money that's flowing in and out of montpellier But 46 million dollars in federal arpa funds available to all towns for energy efficiency Up to 250k per project So these are these are competitive grants But if everyone got a grant of a maximum amount that's 183 towns So some things that I think the energy committee and the climate committee could consider now Obviously, we don't need 250 000 energy efficiency upgrades to this beautiful building But we do have other buildings non schools campy schools has to be municipal buildings that could certainly use Some upgrades and equipment and insulation Why why can't schools be included in the these funds? They have their own money The answer is just totally separate. It's it's the federal arpa rules But do you know why I don't know why a lot of this stuff is lawyers laws are passed i'm learning Laws are passed in congress and lawyers then have to interpret the laws that the Lawmakers passed in congress to the The people that count the money in the state house. I'm learning anyways, but There's a 250 000 that again is going to be competitive grants. You can't sit on your hands You have to apply for this once it becomes law and it will become law There's no opposition The other is the big bill, which is the transportation bill age 736 And the important thing I think for the planning commission in this respect is the money that's being used money available from arpa That is going to be made available Again, it's not through the senate but It will likely be retained in some manner But 20 million dollars to build out the fast charging corridor and they're specific at least the house bill is could change Specific on where those level three fast chargers can go one mile From any exit on 89 and 91 and that little bit of 93 that we have in the northeast kingdom, but essentially There is going to be grant money available For building fast charging networks Level three fast chargers somewhere on exit 14 So for the planning commission might want to think where would we best put this? And then of course cooperate with the landowner to apply for the grant in order to build that out I don't know where that is. I don't know if it can be put there I don't know if it makes sense there But there's money available if it's in within one mile of 14 And the other is the other state highway corridors, which is four seven two and nine importance for us Of course is seven So where on exits where on shelburn road? Could you put a level three fast charger within 20 miles of each other? So if shelburn gets it South burlington might not this interesting grant making procedure in which They're going to look at all the grants and they're going to want to make sure that they're 20 space 20 miles away All the way from burlington all the way down to Bennington and then on two and then on nine so and how many per 20 mile Well, they they they like to do them in packs of four But these are very expensive, right? So Early on we There were reports of people were saying they were installing them installing two for 175 thousand dollars But because of the global supply chain problem, which is causing problems for everything Um They're now saying 400 thousand dollars for for a two pack I don't know what it will end up being likely the prices will go down as more are made But this money is going for not every state is spending it this way But many states are spending out building out their charging network So the demand on these level three equipment is going to be significant the opportunity for south burlington Again with the money for energy efficiency. That's one pot and then the access to Grants for level three chargers. It doesn't have to be private property could be The state the the city could apply But maybe it will be a gas station or a or a a grocery store or a library I don't know But there's some opportunities that will come up If this becomes a lot and I expect it will And that that opportunity will avail itself in july 1 But what about provisions to help? Um landlords of large Apartment buildings be able to add level two chargers Yes, so there is also a language in the transportation bill To ensure that right because if you don't have a garage, you don't have 200 amp service You rent your property. How are you going to charge your car? And so there is money available for multifamily housings to Access grants for chargers Um, I don't know how well that will work, but there's a pot of money for that as well In addition to this 20 million addition to this 20 million Well, that's that's important for the planning commission to know too I yeah when someone designing a a multifamily they should take advantage of this Largest from the federal government Well, I mean do our ldrs provide for the requirement to at least have the infrastructure to put a level two charger at a multifamily unit now Is that part of what the climate action plan is talking about making sure that every new building has 200 amp service? I mean, isn't that standard now, but I don't know I mean it's something they should consider. Yeah, well, that's another thing that we absolutely should What's 200 amp service committee? I mean the um The climate task force is but right they're working on a lot of recommendations, they're just moving on to transportation now, which I think I mean that's both things. It's you need it for transportation as well as um building What's 200 f service 200 amp service if you're going to plug in an electric car or use a cold climate heat pump You need 200 amp service So in many cases some older homes can't immediately go to an electric car or electric heat until they upgrade their electrical infrastructure And there's actually money for that as well. Yeah, that's pretty expensive, but if there's money for it, yeah Tom oh, are you I'm sorry. Are you done? Is that good tom to the council's armory's point? So the separate bucket of fund is called the esser funds elementary and secondary school emergency relief And so that was 31 million dollar allocation to the state of vermont. It's so little compared to arpa 40 you said 456 million. Yeah, no 46 million for energy efficiency and municipal buildings for one We got 250 million dollars. There were two esser bundles. So that was the first one and there's a second one But for this first one of 31 million 10 percent of it was allocated to the state of vermont and what we Provisioned last year is that that 10 million that 10 percent Of that amount or the three million. Sorry not 10 million The three million is to use to prioritize and inventory all the school buildings throughout the state for asbestos For um pcb's the measurements. So we actually have been taking testimony on that So we're we're doing a good job of focusing the agency of education to really articulate all of the buildings out there So that we can get these monies to where it's needed most starting with our friends in burlington who need a new high school It just it strikes me that the municipal side gets so much more and I don't quite know why this country does not fund It's public education. I I it just is So that was esser one esser two funds which came in december 2020 was a total of 126 million Which is still much less than the municipal side. We got one point something billion the state of vermont and arpa funds I I mean Why it's based on different formulas and then there's the esser three funds which is a total to lea's 256 million There's a lot of money coming to the schools as well So whether or not it's disproportionate to municipal municipal entities. That's the first time I've heard that take But I will definitely dig into a fact of how those were calculated I mean It's it's maybe more of a rhetorical question. I don't know that a state senator needs to get into the workings of congress, but It's an interesting couple want to Okay, well, thank you. That's um, that's good insight and and really helpful and I I'm quite certain the um task force will have this update and and Turn pull that into their um recommendations and sorry just to add up vlct. I'm sure we'll Yeah, do their due diligence Which should make sure every town has access to the information in the grant writing process at the same time So no town takes advantage of But we're pretty good at applying for grants and we're pretty organized. So I think that explodes well for us Well, and we're really talking about it. Yeah So we're I think well poised to Jump on these opportunities And if I may we didn't get a reach out from ccrpc a heads up that efficiency vermont's teaming up with vlct In anticipation of h518 coming through so they're providing free walkthroughs of municipal structures So we've actually have greg and lou kind of on that to kind of get us on the on the list I mean fire department's a great example station one Wheeler house public works. We do have some aged buildings that could use some Efficiency so yeah, great Well, that's good. Yep Super all ready one one comment about energy efficiency. Yes, please when or do we have the solar panels back up on city? Oh, no No, so there's the engineers are still working on the final. Yeah final design. So, um, they're working as quickly as possible More clamps more clamps. Correct. Yes, because the panels are too flexible Because they're bifacial is that part of the problem? There was an engineering defect frankly that occurred with with their their third party So, um, they're correcting that in this design and over engineering Soon it's all under warranty. Yes Yes, thank you and and we're we're tracking any differences in What we're receiving from the from the energy credits as well Okay, oh, and they'll make good on that that difference. We hope we hope Okay, well, you won't know until you ask, huh? All right, it looks like Ethan Goldman would like to make a comment And he's chair of both the energy committee and the climate task force Um, thanks, and I'm actually I've passed the torch on the energy committee to uh, Tim Perron, but um, okay Yes, and I'm speaking here at my my personal capacity, but thanks for the introduction Helen and I just wanted to make a suggestion about the the ev charger funding and My thought was that um, looking at the increase in the amount of evs that are likely to be In circulation in the next few years the number of ev chargers is going to far exceed what this one grant will do And so I wonder if there are ways that we could use this funding as Catalyzing to get a lot of the business owners around the highway to think about what the benefits for For them would be if they were to have even level two chargers um by their Businesses and so I wonder if there's a way that we could put the word out and solicit proposals from businesses about why their business would be a great place to have a level three charger what the benefits would be to their business if it brought in more traffic and um, you know encourage people to stay longer at their business while their car was charging and things like that And if that process might get them to think about Even if they aren't selected for the grant maybe other ways that they could find funding And justify investments in more chargers. It would be great if we got, you know, five or ten different places thinking about Actually, maybe it is a cost effective investment and they should look for other places to get grants or things like that So I think that it's always great when you've got a great big pot of money like this to get everyone's attention and get a lot of focused thought um Really the chargers, you know, should be benefits in and of themselves that hopefully Don't just require grants to put in and that we can find other sources of funding and other rationales We're putting them in. Um, so i'm just thinking about how we can use this as a way to publicize the need for more chargers Okay, are you also suggesting? That it might be like a match so You apply and let's say four gas stations all decided they do want to Have one and they're willing to put up half the money or you know, whatever Is that something that you can do with the money? Do you think that? I know it'll be a competitive grant making process through the aot but probably the It will may change as it gets to the senate transportation committee to determine how it's spent but That right now it's a competitive grant making process with the agency transportation and the gentleman there is named patrick murphy and he's He's the go-to person that ethan or anyone else on the energy or climate committee would go to about asking details About how they could access those funds through the transportation bill. Should it become law? Yeah, assuming it will well, it might be a good suggestion tom about having that money go further than It would if you just it was a Plain old grant and that's all versus how do you really parlay it into? You know 10 stations not five I think it's really important that I mean there are some Changes going on in the in the in avs and that the range keeps increasing You know like every couple of model years it goes up quite a bit And most cars spend most of their time at night at home That's their dock. That should be their docking station And where people don't have access to even 110 to plug in for overnight if they just wanted to get like 10 or 12 miles, right? That to me is Super unfair so people who live in homes with garages who can who get a free level 2 charger from gmp when they buy A pluggable hybrid or a full electric vehicle, right? The people that live in apartments are at a severe disadvantage And we're going to have a really hard time getting them to buy into the ev concept if they can't even charge it at home so I mean my Point is that the money should not be going so much to fast chargers up and down route, you know 89 93 and 7 and 2 It should be in getting people to be able to charge at home so they can buy their, you know Their vehicle that has a 300 mile range And and maintain that on a daily basis because they have to go to work and come back. Let's say right so And to get more businesses for people so cars normally go from home to work home to work, right? So if you can't charge at home, you should at least be able to charge at work I work at one of the state's largest employers. I have been begging for car chargers at the state's largest consumer of electricity And I can't get them to do anything about that, right? And I mean I can't complain. I'm just saying, you know, there have been opportunities to work with gmp to get grants I've pursued those they haven't happened, right? And there's a number of reasons why it's all about infrastructure and where your power is and where your transformers are and where your parking lot is The point is that, you know, with the right amount of incentive Sometimes people will do those things that you need them to do so. Sure. Really? Well, it's good that your monday night meeting Has this opportunity for you Or offers that So your part-time work allows you to recharge Tom So tim we have that we approved that last year too. We have the multi-unit dwelling electric vehicle charging It's a million dollars within last year's budget and it's up to $80,000 per site $300,000 per applicant We took a lot of testimony on this and we actually had a lot of back and forth And what the requirements for those charging units are and one thing that was a sticking point The industry really didn't want to require swipes because they don't last as long But we wanted to make it as accessible to because it's prioritizing affordable housing to anybody with any Any type of swipe card that doesn't necessarily have a smartphone, but they could have a cash card of sorts So we are working on this if anything you're inspiring me to when we get the t-bill this week Which just got out of the house to ask how many of these grants were actually deployed last year And that will be reported on the coming weeks and that will look to the coming year if we need to allocate more dollars for it Good Okay, thank you Moving on then oh to item nine, but before we go there I just want to acknowledge There are apparently a number of people from queen city park who joined a little late and had wanted to um Make comments and I I guess rather than go back to that item Earlier in the agenda what I will say is We've heard you loud and clear We've taken comments on a number of evenings and We'll be discussing our role, I guess an executive session But we heard you and I don't think We necessarily have to hear Anyone else So I don't mean to diminish your interest in participating But we really have heard you loud and clear and I appreciate all of the You know emails and comments that have been shared regarding that. So thank you So moving on to item nine Receive a recommendation on public engagement as we consider allocating the American Rescue Plan Act ARPA funds so Andrew balduk is going to take us through that Sure. Thank you. Thank you chair really. Um, so back at the february 22nd meeting We kind of had an initial discussion about big picture goals for Expending these funds at that meeting we talked about that there's about approximately four million remaining I think it was a very good discussion council my takeaway from that I identify in the memo in your packets And there are sort of four four main takeaways number one that with these funds we want to maximize community impact What's the biggest bang for a buck going to be? We want to emphasize affordability in the community Um, particularly the council has talked about at least a million for affordable housing being allocated for that purpose Talked about our climate goals and initiatives And also talked about finally, you know, what great ideas are out there that we haven't thought of and what community outreach might look like in the community So I've outlined in the memo sort of some some next steps and some ideas around community outreach Overall, this is not I mean we we have as councils aware over a 50 million dollar annual budget This is not a a huge drop in the bucket for the overall municipal services that we that we provide But this is an incredible opportunity and community outreach is something the council has identified In its policy priorities and strategies session, you know, where how are we doing as a as a government entity? What services does the community need and I think the community outreach for ARPA funds? Is a great opportunity to kind of look at that and get out in community and sort of ask the community where they Where they see priorities where they see these dollars being best spent so I've outlined kind of a community engagement process that Has built in at least four community listening sessions I'm thinking that those could be take place outside of just city hall, but in other areas of the community I shared a Some the survey that the city of Burlington did I think the town of Jericho also had a really interesting model Around ranking priorities sort of if you had a hundred dollars to spend Um, where would you spend that in the community? And to prioritize different projects that we come up with or different goals that we come up with Thinking that that survey we'd come back with Um at a later council meeting for council further input into that And I don't want to end in saying that I don't want this survey Just to be about ARPA funds. I think again, this is a great opportunity for broader community outreach To also talk about, you know, other priorities that community has build this into something a little bit a little bit bigger than that And one other thing I I don't want Committees to know we're still thinking still thinking of them in this process Um We do have and it's the the next item on the agenda The council's policy priorities and strategies, which we'll be starting in april and may going for the fy 23 And I think it be a good idea along with that as committees are building out their work plans thinking about what they've done in the last year Um And providing feedback on what those policy priorities and strategies should be for fy 23 I think to add onto this sort of what are your ARPA ideas with that the framework as we talked about at the last council meeting We don't want to just split this up into 10 different buckets. You know, each group gets 400 thousand dollars Uh committees to actually think about big picture, you know, what's the biggest bang for our buck? What's going to have the biggest the greatest community impact through the lens you have as residents? Um, and in your specialized areas of interest So with all that Engagement feedback coming back to the council sort of this would stretch out through the summer Um coming back to council the first meeting in september to begin to talk about next next steps So those are those are my big picture thoughts How much yeah, I have one question about the neighborhoods That the outreach would happen and I do like that it would be multilingual Survey but yet If it's an online survey, I'm not sure many people who would require multilingual services would actually Go online to fill it out. So I was curious how that survey would be delivered And then I saw the the four main neighborhoods city center gateway lakeshore and ridge line And again, if we're looking to include people who might not Naturally or very easily Come forward to participate. I would go specifically to the feral apartments. I would go specifically to All of our condos And I would also go to some areas in chamberland neighborhood I think that there is Just We need to go beyond Um, you know what calling a public meeting involves to actually go to where these people are and and You know make it easy for them To participate. So yeah Agreed. Thank you. Megan. It's certainly a priority that we have that And there are some some good models that have been built out there that other municipalities On equitable community engagement and that's certainly a priority in this in this process I was talking with the school district Today and they have over 20 languages spoken in the school district Which is really remarkable and jesse shared at the spba meeting the number of Languages or percentage of households that speak something other than english at home It's a huge percentage in south brunington. So So absolutely point very well taken Oh tom, I'm sorry I want to echo what councillor emory just said I I go to burlington npa neighborhood planning associations And that are all over the town and I just love how cohesive they are for the smaller areas of each of the city And it really creates community and I would I love the notion of maybe looking at our districts The new districts or the new census and trying to think of ways to engage them on as a as a cohesive neighborhood Be at the chamberland neighborhood the orchard neighborhood or so on I definitely support that. I also want to add with surveys I I just would strongly encourage us to not require identification But ask for it because otherwise I have had bad experience in the past where some advocacy group Will just start bombarding with anonymous responses in order to persuade the dialogue So I will give credit to more that identify who the the the feedback is from Then just a thousand or 500 anonymous entries all calling for the same thing So I'm not a fan of anonymity again getting to the equity issue a lot of immigrants don't want to put their names down So I I would prefer that we not give weight to I mean, we can certainly say optional But I would not want to give weight to as long as we ask for the name That's all I asked for and it doesn't have to be required. So if they want to keep it anonymous, that's fine Any other thoughts from the right side My right to my right the public's left. So you're you get to sit in both spots Okay, good. Yes underline a point Andrew made which was a great point. I just want to elevate a little bit You know, I think our vision for this is we are going to get a huge amount of feedback through this process Hopefully that we don't use in an ARPA decision, right? We're going to fund Two to five things and we're going to get thousands of ideas and and really wanting to set the Expectation from the start that this is part of a larger conversation about how we're building community and Our plans for the future and it lines up actually really well with kicking off the comprehensive plan update So thinking that all of that data can also flow into What we're prioritizing moving into our next comprehensive plan Matt How Jesse, how do you plan to staff the listening sessions? Andrew This was his idea. He's got two ears. Yeah Facilitating is a very important job and and I know you know that but I yeah, but I just yeah, absolutely Yeah, I mean, certainly me. Um, I also think yeah, we have we have experts in city hall that that do this work. Um Yeah, I think involving especially because this is Yeah, the comp plan will be on the heels of this involving planning and zoning to some degree I think that'll be important as well. But I yeah, I know there's another committee that's considering sort of a facilitator for facilitated discussions and a professional and I don't necessarily know if we need that but We can we can talk about it. Yeah, I I don't know either But I do know having been to so many of these things that's really important that that the facilitator is not the note taker So bring your friends. Yeah I also You know, our city has an incredible amount of very talented Professionals who may very well be professional facilitators who but who would also be willing to um donate their time to To do some of this not every single one of them But you know one or two sessions in their neighborhood or something or another neighborhood if they don't want to Have to interact with their neighbors um So that might be another way to get um A number of facilitators that are really talented One more idea on that that I've heard Andrew talk about is um You know Yes going into neighborhoods and finding those where folks are is really important in how you Hear from all voices and also using those informal formal and informal leaders to help facilitate So, you know if we hold a listening session at the mosque getting the imam to help with that facilitation So it's not just us going in but it's us building up those formal and informal leaders across the community to Help provide us that feedback as well And and it's really important to say at the outset that You know, this is a visioning that this is not a request that will lead to anything tangible So because when people ask and they don't receive there can be huge disappointment So just really making it clear from the outset that Like you said, there are going to be four to five things that this is going to lead to we're going to receive a thousand ideas And so we're really just trying to you know Get an idea Of where those thousand ideas lie in order to determine what the four to five So this is step one and when we start sifting that we would like also for them to come and Express their their viewpoint Yeah, I thought on the survey would be fascinating to Ask one question with you know a hundred arpa dollars What are priorities and then the second a follow-up question with a hundred Increase in tax dollars Where would you like that money and where the differences might might lie I think that Part of the setting expectations a little bit right. Yeah free money versus your money. Yeah Yeah Yeah changes your choices sometimes Okay Any other comments or thoughts? I just have to I have to put a plug out there for Hamilton the musical something I saw and when we're talking about you know arpa money and You know that's he put together this kind of national banking system Um and just our discussion about democracy Earlier with regard to the war in Ukraine I just have to say that I recommend it very highly. It's it's an amazing musical Disney plus made it possible to see it from the comfort of your house And and this is this is an amazing thing and it's maybe thanks to Hamilton You only got one shot Only got one shot And when and when Andrew and I were talking about this today, we started the conversation talking about are we Hamiltonians or are we Jeffersonians? Look at there. We were on the same wavelength. There we go. That's so funny Ethan did you want to make another comment or question? Yeah, I have a I have a question well sort of a question or comment on the The process for gathering ideas on on how to allocate the arpa money and it it was already mentioned that There's some sustainability and efficiency goals that will be on the list But I know when we look at energy efficiency and sustainability projects It's sort of a common practice there to try to quantify the benefits Together with the costs and and sort of see the money as an investment that that brings back You know continual benefits to the community, you know in various different ways And I wonder if there is already some thought going on about how to look At the wide range of different proposals that may come in in terms of what their benefits may be So that certainly things that are popular. Um, I understand that you know that there's going to be a strong affinity for those But it um, it would be great if there was some kind of structure for Trying to not everything is quantifiable But trying to quantify or at least get a sense of the magnitude of the benefit that will flow throughout the community And over the longer term from this initial investment so that we can really understand How the priorities will benefit That's good. Can the survey asked, you know, you You're asked to um, identify three choices or something and then you're also asked to Articulate, um the benefit Or the larger community benefit for supporting is that what you're kind of saying? Well, I I think it's great if the person who's suggesting the um, the spending idea has a Structural structured idea about how to quantify the benefit But I suspect that this might be a place where we'd be better served by getting some some expert advice To to come up with some kind of a framework and try to quantify these things. I mean, I think the the public You know information gathering is a great way to sort of open up our ideas, but the Quantification of benefit is sort of part of the funneling down of trying to figure out which ones are the the best ones And I think that um, probably we have some resources I don't I'm not going to point it to who they are or how we get them But I think you know getting some expert Support in coming up with that kind of scoring rubric would probably be the best way to do it in a Consistent fashion Andrew shit. Yeah Yeah, I mean, I think when we bring forward the results and something we can we can think about a lot is That'll absolutely be you know Sifting through it all and coming up with a scoring system that work is yeah That's going to be how we're going to get to a decision a final decision point Right and there are other communities out there that have there are some some frameworks that we can we can pull from And or if it's you know if council feels like they want something a little bit You know bigger than that we can look at resources through the league or Any of our various other partners Okay, thank you Good enough Okay, moving on to item 10 if everyone's ready Um, we're going to receive the fy 22 policy priorities and strategies report number two So this is our um Second report to you of the policies and strategies you adopted in november um as Andrew said this is uh A process that we hope to kick back off with the council and the committees and the leadership team Um towards the end of april for a another retreat another pulling together in june Um, there's a lot of information here. We have included anything that has changed since our last update and read So you can kind of scan down and see those new things Um, my intention was not to read through this or highlight anything specific I talked to you about a lot of these things a lot anyway But I think it's helpful to have one resource that you can go back to and pull Updates from if you are so inclined. So I'm happy to answer. Andrew and I are happy to answer any questions you have about specific um updates, but really this is meant as a ongoing resource for you to use over time Just just feedback. I didn't know the red was the update And so I just figured this was what we had put together last you know last summer So I just just maybe some note with a cover sheet just saying the red is what have You know the the items that have been implemented or It says updates in red text at the very top the first page. All right. See so it's just my eyes. I can't see that I'm sorry. Yes, that's true, but you have to like kind of know to look there. Well, yeah This is great. Love it. But it was great. I loved it. It was pretty Impressive, I think in many ways about how much was accomplished I thought and um You know clearly you read through some of them and you know They're gonna take a lot longer. It was one on the airport that Had made too much progress, but we're working on that and um To me that's part of the strength of this process is um All tasks are not created equal some you can kind of see success on right away And some are kind of moving in the background So it allows us to not lose those things that are moving in the background So you hear some sentences about them, right? Yeah, I'm just glad to know that the red is the update I wasn't quite sure I thought it was going to be verbal. Okay And I'm how if you go back tonight or next week and have questions feel free to just Has there been any follow-through then about uh the youth center and the outreach to to dr. Travia Childs I know that um having spoken with andrew haze Of the east real estate group that he is keen on keeping the youth center In whatever the you mall property becomes which I think is wonderful But i'm just curious if there was any feedback from The youth that she's working with with regard to the library No, that would be on the sheet if there were Um, I think those conversations between jennifer and dr. Childs are pretty nascent still I know they've connected a couple times via email And they have a real interest in working together. I think that the relationship has been established But I don't think there's a specific outcome of those conversations yet Yeah, what just having been in touch with with dr. Childs What I would say is that she is a workforce of one And the task is immense um and she is really building something from the ground up and so I think that any support that the library or Holly could provide to dr. Childs even in terms of advice She's really She's really building from the ground up and she doesn't have a blueprint And so and she gives time she she stays longer She opens when high schoolers say we want to use the space for this. She says, okay. I'm coming over. I'll open up So she is accessible. She may she's really You know very generous with her time but Yeah, I think any support that we could provide So that center and the director of that center Can be sustainable Would be welcome And she has a whole nother almost full-time job at this point. Yeah, that's right. Yes. Yeah so She's put out sos but You know people who do this for for a living Might be able to help her not have to reinvent the wheel Okay, can I just ask a question? Yes, you certainly may just see that I I love this point and I'm glad it's there the city Owned spaces for community use focus on events at the city center and that we've had Baby showers bridal showers birthdays and HOA meetings in the senior center in february march Are we it says we're charging are we charging just for cleanup or are we just a money-making enterprise? What are we? There's a whole fee structure associated with the senior center and our upstairs spaces That's primarily based around what it costs to staff The building to have somebody here while it's open. It's covering costs. It's not it's not it. Yeah, that makes sense Yeah, the goal. Yeah, the conceptual goal behind it was that we would it would fund itself the senior center Yeah, thank you. Okay Thank you for appreciating the document Okay, can I just make one comment? Yes. So the thing that worries me a lot is I mean where I work we were warned recently of an uptick in cyber attacks coming from Eastern Europe and so I worry about the city's IT infrastructure and all the employees that use email And the degree that they're fully educated on being careful about clicking links that come from external sources and how to you know Are they well educated in how to check and look at the source of the email and the source address and be suspicious and then you know I identify Fishing emails and stuff like that and be able to forward it back to the IT people So because the last thing I want to see is a piece of malware You know affect these city operations. It's so critical. It's already affected hospitals and cities and municipalities all over the country right power stations hydro dams, you know, so vigilance So anyway, thanks. Great document. Yeah, what is advantage? Oh, sorry You are going to respond Yeah, I I agree tim. I think a refresher with with staff just on some of the some of those kind of low-hanging fruit things That can be done to avoid cyber scams, but just from a bigger picture We are contracted with sim quest right now and we're going through office 365 implementation And that includes multi-factor authentication for both remote and administrator users in the city across all departments, so That process will be completed in mid april It's something that the industry as a whole is seeing a huge uptake tick in this level of compliance And it's driven largely by insurers of all things who so yeah, so we we have a rider on our A short-term extension on our cyber security policy that will be renewed again once we're fully compliant What is it? Oh, go ahead. What is advantage tennis? for the tennis courts At the samanshee park I believe you're looking I am on page 46 of our packets under affordable and community strong Yeah, my understanding is that they're a Construction company a surfacing company that specifically specializes in Updating tennis courts, okay, not just a regular paving and they may also offer some connection to programming And that would add pickleball I'm specifically asking because we have community members who are very eager to have their pickleball courts become Did the other people hear that pickleball courts are coming? Right I was just gonna suggest I'm just wondering I'm I'm not very tech savvy But I have developed a little bit of a sensitivity to Weird emails that I get that I you know, I just delete but I'm just wondering if there's a list of I don't know six common things to look for if we could publish that um in the month the bimonthly Um You know information sheet or maybe have it posted on the website so that People who aren't very savvy, but um have heard about this and don't really know what to look for Because that some of them come in and use the library You know computers so I just think that's computer literacy that might yeah be helpful given This increase in cyber activity by Russia That's in North Korea. That's that's a good good point. There's a club at the high school My son used to be part of it and they do outreach For computer security You know what to click on when not to click on what looks suspicious And I wonder if they would you know looking at how do we have Teenagers and youth more active in our library if they would come and do some kind of Community forum for for people and library users. I think that would be really useful My son would go to retirement villages. Was that part of technology for tomorrow? Yeah, I think so. Okay. Yeah Yeah, and then by ec Is that the economic committee or is that something else? The on page 47 of our packet under opportunity oriented Develop metrics for fiscal and economic development. Do we have a tax-based goal? What do we need to be financially sustainable? How do we support? A grand list growth that enables this and I is that the economic development committee? Yes easy. Okay Okay, okay great, so let's move on to um Excuse me Item 11, which is convening as the south brolington liquor control commission to consider A whole bunch more of liquor licenses in our city I'll move that we enter the liquor control board second All in favor I Okay, so I don't know how many we have I'm not going to read them um I would just observe we certainly seem to have a lot of liquor licenses in this community I remember way long long time ago when my husband was when we lived in and burlington and he was on the city council It was on the liquor commission or some they have and there was always conversation about how many um Liquor licenses could certain um Communities have and all of four corners that you didn't really need four in Certain areas and downtown Burlington that had some Reprocussion, but I don't know that's an issue for us But it seems like we do have a lot It is very helpful of our local options tax Oh, it is for sure But it also carries with it some Consequences, I suppose So I haven't heard it very many from the police chief. So Since we're doing okay on time may I ask a question related to that? Yeah So I got to say as I've been on the council now going into my eighth year I've always reflected that these liquor licenses seem to be rather perfunctory They I don't really dig into them to much extent I'm and I've always wondered if we would be better served by having a separate liquid liquor commission board And I might ask if you recall did ted when he was on that liquor board Or do you know of other communities do those boards actually Walk the properties and just sort of like get a feel for the environment because I mean in a way We're we're signing off on them serving a a substance that affects decision making Is there was there any aspect where they would actually do site visits to just to ensure that it's An establishment we want to be purveying of alcoholic beverages, you know, I don't recall I do believe that they received Um information from the police department Concerning certain establishments that had a lot of issues And then sometimes the conversation probably soon knows more about this than than I sometimes the conversations for Do we really want to grant a new license? Um, you know in an establishment next door across the street or how many is enough In a particular neighborhood I don't think that's an issue for South brongton particularly I would hope that Chief Burke would let us know if there were hot spots That we needed to think about So I do agree just talk about that for a minute. So I think you're absolutely right becomes the kind of perfunctory for councils What I will say is every single liquor license that comes to you is reviewed by The health officer and the police chief And I believe fire planning is only and fire just to make sure they're in compliance with everything And we haven't seen an uptick of calls If there ever is one that one of those professionals is concerned about we will elevate that to you before you vote on it In my experience and also department of liquor control does do site visits So they so anyone who has one of these liquor permits is also getting A similar permit from the state and they do site visits What I will say in my experience is while it's can be seen as very perfunctory by councils The power really comes in when something goes wrong So you grant a license Something goes wrong somebody's abusing that privilege And then you still hold the power for us to come back to you and say we need to rescind this permit So while it feels perfunctory in their approval it in my experience it holds a lot of power When something goes wrong and we can come to you as the policy makers and have you course correct for us Matt, I just want to say it also provides an open forum for anyone in the public to comment and say The situation at this establishment is not right and we can listen to that and though that hopefully that can be adjudicated And that's that's happened in the past anyone from the public, but I agree with you This is an opportunity. Yeah, and it has happened in the past Is it oh, yeah, people that have come forward. Yeah, yeah with regard to outdoor consumption. Oh, that's right for noise and things Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. Don't forget the liquor commission, right? It processes its own complaints and does its own investigations and can revoke the state license You know for a suspension or add drop of a hat and I can think of several establishments and Burlington have had that issue for for various reasons underage drinking um drinking by the staff You know after closure lots of things like that. So You know, it's pretty tightly regulated. Okay, so to be Yes to be clear on that point. I'm not saying we shouldn't have a liquor control board What I was asking is would we be better served with a separate designated body? Um, I think counselors do a ton of work We all have too much work and so part of that is to you know as a self preservation technique One less set of things for us to look at is where my mind was going to but I'm not advocating for a separate liquor board This this is not too much work for me. But yeah, I don't I don't think this if we started having a lot of issues and had to revoke licenses that might be But we seem not to and I trust our trusty, um Chief of police will keep us informed Okay, so do I have a motion to approve the various liquor licenses? Um before us tonight So moved second. Okay. Is there any further discussion? Yes May these businesses be blessed with lots of customers and lots of help so that it it fills up our rooms and meals Taxes, thank you very much Amen, brother. Okay Um, all in favor signified by saying aye. Aye. So that's five zero And a motion to come out of the liquor control moved second all in favor. Hi, right. Thank you item 12 Reports from counselors on committee assignments. So we have quite a few Who would like to start The number six I I've received complaints about the number six line That's the one that gets you from shelburn all the way to shelburn road Into burlington and if you work in burlington and live somewhere in south burlington in shelburn, it's really important to you And that's one of the cutbacks that went to effect in march and will remain in effect until june This is gremountain transit authority. There's other cutbacks as well that are significant We'll we'll look at look at it in may and determine whether or not that is restored in june But that's that's a situation until june Why would you restore it after all the students and professors don't have to go to campus because I hear it on my Lister A lot of people are upset because they can't get to campus and they have to find alternative means of transportation and in june They will not be coming to campus. So i'm not sure that that timeline makes sense Well, the timeline was forced on itself because the lack of bus drivers We hope to restore service completely June was determined to be the most likely time where we could think about restoring service, but the The challenge that john and and the other everyone that does a great job for gmt has is If you don't have enough bus drivers to cover when someone's sick or out or has a doctor's appointment Or as covet or whatever the reason is and you leave people stranded without a ride at all In many ways, it's worse than reduction in services. At least that was the That's the working theory and I Came around to thinking that that was true that rather than have people say this bus never comes It's not coming on time To cut back services to what you can You can assure our timely trips And that's the that's the challenge In the direction that that gmt went Is there any hope of State dollars federal dollars to There is but without without Without expressing an opinion one way or the other especially in front of a Member of the senate transportation committee But but the transportation bill has this money plus a federal match for to extend zero fund fairs But we have to prepare As if it's not going to arrive because you can never assume as you know that things will happen even there If they're likely to occur you can't assume they are so we have to prepare for zero fund fairs zero fairs to end While we're also expecting this money to come So from a communications standpoint, I really feel for the people who are Both communicating the service reductions plus the end of zero fund fairs, although it may come back in the form of of a transportation bill In the end I I mean, I don't I don't know what I'm learning. I'll be quite honest with you. I don't know at all, but But in many ways I would rather have a full service, right? So you didn't have those people complaining about why can't I get to school on time? Or why do I have to get to school really early because yeah, it's all school at all I would rather have more service With fairs rather than having the fairs be reduced but service fairs be zero but service be reduced, you know I'm saying I don't know how quite how it all gets Yeah, but we need jobs. Is there a line from Montpelier that was reduced? Yes, the Montpelier link. I think that's also some professors who can't get here from Montpelier. Yeah It's it's it's really affected A lot of people Yeah, yeah, is there an alternative like Ride sharing the state has go vermont, right, which is a ride sharing app for the phones Does that and then that includes um Car sharing right and uh in carpooling So does gmt are they advertising that hey during this this flux time when we don't have enough drivers Here are some alternatives you could try to organize yourself, you know, so if you If you you know people that live in Down Shelburne road that need to get to uvm. They could you know get together and it was somebody who had does have a car and self-organize I mean in many ways, it's the competition right but yeah those those devices do exist and I Maybe you have friends or family in more urban areas where they have those apps That they utilize that you can pick up a Essentially hitchhiker And and they work. Yeah, they really do work. Yeah gmt isn't hasn't Promoted those or or thought those but right right well, this seems like something the state might want to do just in terms of Cutting down emissions Yeah, and and really it in many ways these micro what microtransit is such an interesting concept And you know if you have a diesel bus with a With someone that that seats 12 With a commercial driver because they have to have a commercial driver's office license But there's only two people in the bus microtransit doesn't exactly achieve what you want You're better off paying for an uber and a Prius from a mission standpoint than you are A diesel bus that seats 12 No, I was thinking of so the professors who live in Shelburne Or Montpelier or Montpelier might have a colleague With whom they could carpool. I mean when I was in the legislature, I always carpooled We usually had about four people in the car But you're you're you have a similar schedule whereas professors We have all the kinds of different schedules and we have meetings and we do different kinds of work Where are some people go? Well, I know and sometimes you have to Adjust your work to fit that so that you you know I mean, I know you can't always make every meeting or It's a pain in the neck because you want to just stay late for a hearing or something And you don't have a ride home. So right you have to carpool, but it's just an option that Can work But anyway Okay, any other reports? Okay. Oh, I yes for the airport rezoning task. Oh, yeah, we met last thursday and um, we Looked at three options that our consultant brandy saxon had put together for us to consider as a response to the airport's request to Change the zoning of roughly 11 acres of land in the chamberland neighborhood from residential to airport And the first one was to delay Uh defer is the word to defer that decision until The comprehensive plan could take into account all of the noise lands and That would come before us in 2023 with passage in 2024. So to defer until the planning commission Had time to think through How all of the noise land should be used? The second option was to deny because of lack of compatibility With the neighborhood and the third option was to allow for Buildings at a certain setback with tree plantings and green roofs And again, this would be part of the 2000 the 2024 comprehensive plan update where they would Again consider the noise lands after discussion All there were five of us that were present one person was missing all five were unanimously Opposed to allowing the request to go through One of the members was in favor of deferring and the four other members denied So the next steps Is to hear From the public again through a public meeting on april 7th And then possibly on april 21st The task force will actually lay out the reasons for the the denial And I can just give you a synopsis and I might not capture them all But the synopsis includes The concern that the comprehensive plan identifies that part of the airport as something that should be compatible with the residential neighborhood Whereas what we call the valley which is on the southeastern side of the airport is where industrial uses should be located And the airport's request is in effect moving industrial uses towards the neighborhood side of the airport Um, something that I Brought into the meeting because I have been meeting with a lot of people at the airport Is that there is in fact enough land in the general aviation Area, which is called the valley on the southeastern side of the airport With some planning in fact all of the needs that the airport director Um expressed when making his request could be met And it just requires More more coordination Um There's also the concern on the part of neighbors that once Some of these acres are are allowed to be rezoned that Anything could happen on those acres even if now people Are saying that the the uses would be fairly innocuous and and not not noisy That could change without having any local control over that And the I would say Majority of residents And it's also a sentiment on the part of of some task force members I would say the majority of task force members is a lack of trust in in in the airport Um that there has Not been enough of a display of giving to the neighborhood If they truly would like to have their request Considered that there should be more Offered to the neighborhood in exchange So I'm sure there are other things that we could add to that list and we're going to be working on that Again towards the end of april and then passing along that Conclusion to the planning commission And they will take it from there and then we will take it from there Okay, the climate change task force keeps meeting I got thrown off I was in utah and I was trying to Join it in and my my son-in-law didn't realize I was on a conference call He started moving stuff around in the house So all of a sudden so I didn't hear the whole whole meeting, but they are really moving ahead with Really following along on the state action plan and have gotten through Most if not all of the kind of building Construction concepts and we'll be moving on to transportation so that Eventually soon. I think there'll be a list of recommendations for the community for south burlington for us to really look at and As always, I'm just impressed with The caliber of individuals on that team And how many articles they send and they're really connected well connected This is a passion that they all seem to have they're not just Kind of like yeah, I'm so interested and I'll sit in so it's a very impressive team Are there any other committee reports pension? All right, is there any other business? I do have something Okay, so nothing for debate or discussion or action because it's not warned but Helen and Jesse are aware of this and this is wearing my state senate cap But uh, we are not this week, but next week going to be hearing from Deputy mayor Duncan from Winooski. I'm hoping Chair really a mayor or a Weinberger charlie baker and others on a bill that it made of towns and has introduced in two sessions now h52 which takes action on What was called for in june 2013 by the burlington international airport strategic planning committee To work with the state and other potential regional partners to explore a regional authority model to be implemented as financial goals Are realized direct quote from their recommendations This is a bill that that made of towns and has introduced a few times the senate transportation committee seemed supportive of adding it to the t-bill We have right now are allocating about $50,000 of planning money to for consultancy I did ask Helen really to thank you chair really for responding back already with some thoughts on how the bill could be better So I hope that you will be finding time coming in and I don't know if jesse Okay, uh would offer any thoughts on how to also make it so I don't think we need an official position as a council But I encourage you if you have time to look at h52 It's uh, it's just a study study group with a composition of members from winooski burlington the ccrpc and others And made of towns and has been advocating for this for some time. So i'm optimistic I'm hoping that chair really will be supportive of it But it seems like the transportation committee is very ready. You don't want to speak for them But I have no reason to believe that there's an objection to this and I'm hopeful that this will happen over the next year Great, thank you No, I think it makes a lot of sense. Um, so I'll be happy to share my wisdom Such as it is Any other business Yes, I I feel like maybe I said this in city of blades last week and I am forgetting it I just wanted to make sure all knew that congressman welch got us 750 thousand dollars through the federal omnibus bill for regional dispatch Which is a huge one. So I just wanted to make sure that was still out there Thanks, and it was on the work that was on your update. That was one of those things that Yeah, it said well will work to coordinate or you know collaborate and then it said 750,000 so I'm sorry guys. Yes, that is okay All right, so item 14 Which will end our session. We will not come back into session following The executive session if we agree to move into that. So tim Sure, I move that the council make a specific finding that premature general public knowledge of the Burton corporation higher ground environmental court appeal and other civil litigation to which the city is a party And confidential attorney client communications made for the purpose providing professional legal services of the council would clearly place the city At a substantial disadvantage I'll second on favor Hi And I now move that the board enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing Burton corporation higher ground environmental court appeal and other civil litigation To which the city is a party and receiving confidential attorney client communications made for the purpose of providing professional legal services to the council inviting in jesse baker Andrew bullduck and collin mcneil in the session with the council and there is Mr. McNeil and I will second that Okay, all in favor Okay, so we will move in and we will not go back come back. So Thank you public for joining our meeting tonight Jordan are you