 Hello everyone, I can hear myself so I assume you can hear me raise your hand if you can hear me I'm taking a note from Jess's book and Raise your other hands Okay, that's starting to work. We're gonna get started here with the wards two and three NPA meeting. Thank you all for coming Before I get into the official agenda. I just want to take a second to thank our lovely musicians in the back Can we give them all a round of applause? Emma and Maeve did a great job And I'd also like to thank Anna for making it possible for them to be here today. So thank you for the three of you It's been amazing. I'm gonna everyone can reshuffle and I promise you can sit in this middle row I do not bite. I will probably stay behind this table. So you don't need to be scared of me So as everyone is settling in our first step is to adopt the agenda So are there any oppositions to adopting the agenda the agenda is that every table? There is a printed version in the little pile that is at your table There is also a QR code that takes you to digital versions of all of the things that we will be talking about today Including the agenda. So I do not see any opposition. So we will consider the agenda adopted for today So just a brief overview of what we'll be talking about today. This will be a fun technical meeting We are talking about bylaws today and some resolutions as well as funding So I appreciate everyone for being here There will also be some points today that are different between wards 2 and wards 3 which I will be highlighting So we have a smaller group today. I think it would be a great opportunity to quickly go around and introduce ourselves It's great. I see a lot of familiar faces and I see a lot of new faces. So first I will start My name is Lauren. I am a Ward 2 resident on North Ave I'm your facilitator and I am on the Ward 2 steering committee and I'm gonna get a mic and You want to start Molly you can go next? Yeah, sure. Hi everybody. I'm Molly Flanagan. I am I live on the fountain Street I'm on in Ward 2 and I'm also on the steering committee when I'm post I work with CEDO as the NPA public engagement Specialist, I'm here at all the meetings and I also am a Ward 2 resident on Park Street. Hey, I'm rock sand muse I live on Pitkin Street in Ward 2. I'm on the steering committee and I'm taking notes tonight I am Sharon Webster. I live at 169 Park Street. I'm Dave Kavanaugh I live with this lovely lady on Park Street, and I'm in Ward 2 used to be Ward 3 I'm Travis. I live on King Street in Ward 3. Hi everyone I'm Jazz. I live on Grant Street, which I believe is Ward 3. It's my first one. So lovely to me everyone Hi there, my name is Solvee Overby. I live on Walnut Street in Ward 2. Hi, I'm Kurt McCormick. I live in Ward 2 right on the corner of Northmaniske and Decatur Street. Hi, I'm Jeanie. I'm in the new Ward 2 and I live on the corner of Cedar and Rose Hi, Mila Grant, and I live on Crowley Street in the new Ward 2 and I have to confess I'm a little bitter about it Also, your Central District City Councilor. Hey Richard Hilliard. I'm visiting from touring really from Ward 1 Long time member of the Ward 1 MPA Janet and I actually live in Ward 1, but I've been coming to this NPA for 40 years something like that Hi everyone, my name is Erica Faulkner. I live on Decatur Street, and I am a Ward 2 steering committee member Hey, I'm Phillip. I live on Elmwood Ave. South of North, which forget which one that means Hi, I'm Polly Vanderputten. I live on Pitkin Street in what we're now calling the new Ward 2. Hi, my name is Amy. I live on Johnson Street right around the corner I am still in Ward 3 and I'm also on the steering man I'm Gene Bergman. I am I live on St. Louis Street In the traditional Ward 2 I am your city councillor for Ward 2 for all of you who have gotten into my ward and please know I did try very very hard Unsuccessfully to keep the traditional Ward 3 people in Ward 3 because that was important, but I failed It's a lesson I keep learning But that's part of what we do. I'm Mike Chamnes. I'm on Elmwood, and I just found out I'm in Ward 3 Erica Spiegel. This is Jay. We live on Blodgett Street. I think we're in the new Ward 2. All I know is I have to walk farther to vote now Hi, I'm Christopher Aaron Felker. I live in Ward 3. I'm Joe Cain. I live on North Ave in Ward 3 Are you running for something? Yeah, I Chris Christopher is as well. I think yeah, we're both running for city council for Ward 3 I think there's one other person who's also running who I think is not here tonight I'm the progressive nominee. Yeah, Christopher is the Republican nominee So I'm Charlie G and I live on Rose Street almost right across the street. Thank you My name is Andrew. I live in Ward 3 on Elmwood Ave. Hi, I'm Creed. I live in Ward 2 on North Avenue All right. Thank you everyone. I do Thank you for the introductions. I hope you met someone new that might be your neighbor Kind of going off of this in some of the comments I do want to point out that Wards have changed and they will be changed for the election that is happening on March 5th, which is very soon So please be sure to check out what your polling location is before you go to vote because you may have to walk further Than you expected or extra further if you go to the wrong place You also should have received a postcard in the mail from the city clerk's office It does have your polling location on it It also has the important note that while you will automatically be mailed a ballot for the city election You will not automatically be mailed a ballot for the presidential primary So if you do need to vote by mail or if you would like to vote by mail for the presidential primary You will have to go on to the Vermont Website to request that it's very easy I did it today and I'm happy to answer any questions about that either now or after the meeting So with that let us get into public forum So does anyone have anything that they would like to share in public forum and just a note Please state your name and ward and please keep it to two minutes two minutes maximum. Thank you Just raise your hand if you are Hi, I'm Richard Hilliard. I work. I live in Ward one, but I work as a seasonal crossing guard in Ward two or Ward three the corner of Elmwood intervail and North Street and I'm here with a question really The most difficult part of my job or perhaps the most dangerous part is dealing with Helping new Americans who have no English and have Little or no grasp of pedestrian crossings and the signaling system and I wonder who I should contact whether it's the school district or school board or City councillors to find out what sort of orientation there is if any in the city I'm sure the Sun and wonder whether some sort of instruction or direction Could be included in that to help orientate Thank you Do any of our school commissioners or city councillors have C gene has his hand up So Richard there's a walk bike council and there is a new American advisory committee as well as a trusted community voices the Combination of those three Organizations should give you along with maybe some other Resources like through the schools themselves, you know, you're talking about Integrated it was sustainability and the arts. So Yeah, so, you know the combination with that Those would be people local motion is another one that very much interested in pedestrian safety So it's it a single source may not make it, but if you combine those And I'd be happy to try to help with I will try my best. Yes. I was gonna respond to this as a school commissioner with an idea, but I'll wait and I'm While this is happening So I'm the Ward 3 school commissioner right now. I've been representing Ward 3 for four years I am running again, but this time I'll be running for Ward 2 because the districts have changed And I brought my petition with me tonight if you'd be willing to sign it and you are a Ward 2 resident So that I can get my name on the ballot to run for school commissioner. That would be great and also Saja Almagalli was the Ward 1 Yes, representative and she will now be running for Ward 3 Which is where she's living now. We also have Saja's Petition here tonight. So if you could sign that if you live in Ward 3 Specifically and then the other commissioner we have is Jeannie waltz who represents the district both wards 2 and 3 so I just wanted to say that we do have multi-lingual liaisons in the school district and an email to superintendent Tom Flanagan and Victor Prusak who does the community coordination and could get in touch with multi-lingual liaisons might be helpful It sounds like something that every school could benefit from because we have so many Students walking to our schools. So I think your question could go far beyond just the intersection You're dealing with and it's a great question. So thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you everyone. Um, any other public forum Online there's one online Any other public forum All right, thank you everyone So the next thing on our agenda is we have 20 minutes, which will be split evenly between our school commissioners and our city counselors I forget who I told to go first. I think the school commission I see Jeannie is up. So I'm gonna assume I told the school commissioners first So Jeannie and Polly if you want to come on up And we're gonna do a five-minute update and then five minutes for questions for each set of our elected officials Well, I just wanted to let folks know that I put a one-pager about restorative practices in the district on each table as I purely just because I would like for more people to have information about The mission around us adopting and instituting and implementing and furthering restorative practices in the district. So mostly because There are going to be some Cuts to the program Because S for funds are no longer a part of the budget Right now every school had a restorative practices specialist and that Unfortunately is not gonna be able to be sustainable Moving forward and do you want to talk about budget stuff? I say Which is like seriously passing the buck no pun intended. Okay, I'll do my best So we are in budget season We are presenting a budget to city council this coming Tuesday And then we have a full school board meeting that night also for us to approve the budget This year there was an unfortunate kind of Convergence of several factors that has caused the number to be high The main thing is it's not so much Burlington School curriculum and that kind of thing but the bond which we approved in November of 2022 That that is something we're gonna need to now start paying for that's the biggest chunk of the school BSD specific spending Then there is the statewide common level of appraisal which you see referred to as the CLA everywhere and the number for that came in shockingly Low which means shockingly high percentage additions to what we need to put on the ballot and the way I understand it and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it having had many meetings and listen to our Wonderful executive director of finance Nathan. Labor. He's fantastic at explaining it. But anyway It's that we have a housing crisis not enough homes, which is driving up the presumed sale price of those homes and That is affecting What they perceive they can get in terms of their taxes am I explaining that somewhat correctly Market value. That's it. And this isn't this is a statewide equitable approach as in if you if this town's real estate is worth this amount of money What their house may be assessed at would not reflect that right? It's the it's the it's that gap in between the assessment and What it actually would go for, you know on the market. So I think this is super shocking because we just got reassessed in Burlington and Personally, my property taxes went up a hundred and fifty percent in that reassessment a couple years ago And to have this come down as like what it's not at all the number. They were expecting either. Yeah, mine went up 200% yeah, but Fortunately, the market has actually grown that much in this time I don't know if anybody saw on Washington Street to bedroom house sold for over six hundred thousand dollars Yes, it was fully renovated looks great. Happy for the new owners. But yeah, that's actually happening but with that said that means that The rate in which we are being taxed or the rate in which we have to factor in And ask is a lot higher than we even thought was going to be since December 1st so December 1st we get a letter from the state so basically giving us a projection and The CLA at number only just came in a final number. There were four Go-throughs. I don't know if you knew that this basically is the final though Yeah, it's about twice as much as even what we knew of as far as planning since December so all of the work that the district leaders and you know board members have been doing to come up with what is a Way to educate our kids the best way possible with money available actually had to get reconfigured in the last two weeks Yeah, so it's been I don't know. I guess you could say it's just been kind of I Don't want to say depressing well another factor is the weighted per pupil formula which was Act 1 27 and There's been a lot of buzz about that and like well This is what's causing the problem and driving up the percentages neighboring communities have seen similar Percentages, it's across the state. It's not just in Burlington But Burlington is a city that was fighting hard to get this weighted per pupil formula changed Because of the needs of the students we have here and that it costs more to educate them than in a more homogeneous More affluent community, so we're still working really hard to advocate with our legislators to keep Act 1 27 in place Even though there are Signs that they might be kind of faltering because that's been one of the reasons given for the CLA going up There are a lot of numbers Please we have a recording of our last meeting where Nathan explains all of this executive director of finance I don't remember it was late in the meeting the meeting started at 6 and I want to say the budget discussion started at like 8 So if you wanted to fast forward to see his presentation, it's illuminating and really helpful Another big factor is the health care Expenses and this is another thing that was I'm not necessarily Planned for as a state we were encouraged to become one large bargaining unit So all of the employees of every school in all of Vermont Now get one Type of insurance one provider through the state you would think Banding together would give us an advantage when we went shopping for insurance But what used to be something around 8% is now Something like 16.8. Well, it went up 16% Yeah from what it had been and one of those factors was delayed pandemic health visits And now suddenly people are going to seek health care. Yeah, so that's a huge jump That's a huge cost, which is completely out of our hands. This is something we mandated to pay There's no negotiating that number right salary for teachers and paras used to be Negotiated along with health insurance by district. So this took that off the table for the negotiating team, which was great It's negotiated by the Vermont NEA with the state in terms of our teachers in terms of our school district However, that means that we as a school district when it comes to our budget have no control over what those Percentages are when they come to us. We're in a three-year contract right now with teachers, which is absolutely wonderful We had been going year-to-year contracts, which is grueling expensive time-consuming demoralizing To be in a three-year contract is great But it means that we just don't really have any say in this and we have to build it and we have to pay for it All right, so So bottom line What are we talking about has the budget been? It's finalized but not voted on by the by you guys yet, right? Okay, what are you looking at right now is like if what you've got on paper now is What is approved by the school board and sent to the city council? What number increase are we looking at this year? Number scenario to I think yeah, I'm looking for I'm hearing an increase is coming. I'm wondering what percentage of So um at the board meeting last Tuesday the superintendent Presented five different scenarios one was Editions and reductions proposed before the CLA numbers came in on January 2nd that was scenario one Scenario two is the one that he and his cabinet are recommending and then there are scenarios three four and five I'm getting to the number I promise Okay, so The thing that is hard for me to wrap my head around But I heard the same thing where I teach I teach in South Burlington And they're also feeling a lot of pain around these numbers right now is that scenario number two with some addiction additions and reductions Which includes the bond monies the wages and benefits with the health insurance increase the Adding in the CLA appraisal number is 13.97 percent We had a budget number at more like 8% and then with the CLA on January 2nd that number jumped up to 13.97% so that's scenario to the one that superintendent Flanagan is pushing is 13.9% increase this year. Yes now with scenario number three Which has none of the additions that is are included in scenario two and Reductions that number is still 13.97% so what I heard at my faculty meeting yesterday in South Burlington was that if we Changed our budget by a dollar or by 4.4 million dollars, which would be equal to cutting like 50 teachers This is in South Burlington the number in South Burlington wouldn't change and there. It's 18.36 percent or something Here that is the same thing that we have heard and I don't fully understand it I can't sit here right now and tell you why if you have some additions and Then no additions to the budget the number is the same like it makes no sense in my head But it has something to do with that common level of appraisal and that's the number right now I really appreciate you sharing that and expressing that it that you to find it confusing because I feel like It's spinning my head and so I'm grateful that I'm not the only one. I thank you for diving into this for me tonight I think we have time for maybe one or two more questions Any other questions Can you say can you before you leave? Can you just say something that's going really well in a school system? Like something fun or the kids are doing or the teachers we had at Thank You Charlie I Get mired sometimes in that kind of responsibility, especially in budget season personally It's the worst time of year for me as a school commissioner. It's really painful But we had a group of students honored at our board meeting on Tuesday who were all presidential scholars and The description of their work. They were artists and student leaders and multi-ethnic some new Americans in the mix was Absolutely completely uplifting and wonderful all women all young women. So That was a bright spot. It was really amazing to see them sit there confidently Sharing in the celebration of what they had done. I can say the diversity equity and inclusion committee is working on drafting a policy to Protect non-binary and transgender students and that's I think awesome Thank you both. Thank you Charlie for asking that question. I love ending on a positive note All right next up is our city counselors I see counselor Grant and counselor Bergman in the audience and I know counselor McGee is on the line So same set up five minutes for an update and we'll have five minutes for questions questions Hello All right some rapid-fire updates in the past I've talked about the importance of Adopting a city meeting or commission It or a committee In order to be more informed I feel that there's a lot of misinformation Floating around the city right now mainly because people aren't informed so I will say that the Civic Clerk update which is the Software that the city uses to hold all this information minutes agendas Appropriate paperwork related to discussions and the meetings themselves have recently had a fantastic update So that when you go to the city's website and you click on calendar you actually see a Calendar now before you had to scroll Up and down for the dates, but you actually have a calendar You can go back to a specific month See the list of meetings click on the meeting and you are now taking directly to the meeting That's a huge important change. Just makes it a lot easier and faster to get to information There was a front porch forum post that came out today from the Burlington Police Department Containing a report with urine information and statistics It is no surprise that the dramatic increase in certain crimes It's that are directly related to our drug crisis Continue right up to the end of the year. So that is a interesting read. So I recommend that everyone check that out It's also available on the Police Commission meetings and the public safety committee meetings are the city council Big shout out to the Burlington fire department for their community response team, which has continued to do Fantastic work and helping to address the overdose crisis Where they're getting to the end of the pilot? It is definitely something we want to continue So we'll be looking at how that's going to be funded from January through October this year the Burlington fire department Answered 40% over the overdose calls on their own And that's really important because people don't understand how involved they are in this this aspect of care and community safety I Went to an interesting legislative meeting zoomed in and it was talking about bail and How we look at repeat offenders and it was it was very very interesting and Don't have enough time to go into the the full thing, but I'll say that it is a goal I think of all of us on the council to be more involved in the legislative process To make sure that the needs of Burlington are being heard and that Our legislative representatives are on the same page with regards to what we need To help us deal with some of these issues in the city. So Thanks, just on that point in regard to the school tax that we just heard about So we have income sensitivity. It's really really helpful. There is a top house value of $400,000 that If your house is valued over $400,000, you're you don't get that income sensitivity. It's it's crazy and we're about to like Not we're gonna smash the glass that we've shattered during the last reappraisal and although the the legislative Agenda for the mayor talks about the dealing with the 18% Rise in school Costs there's nothing mentioned in that so I'm really happy that the council Related to changing that that cap So one of the things that we did in this legislative breakfast was raised that as a Specific thing that needs to happen because otherwise Regardless of the income sensitivity We are gonna lose out in the city just because of the the housing crisis So it's an example of how the connections with The legislative process and the city need to be improved and I think we're making some steps now Let me just mention two items that are gonna come before the council on Tuesday One it's actually gonna be an executive session, but Relates to the MOU with UVM There are changes that are proposed to the MOU I have not seen them. They're Proposed by the administration. I don't know what they are I weighed in after our last meeting in the middle at the end of the month to say This is not an acceptable MOU. It does not deal with the housing deficit It doesn't commit them to really doing anything. It doesn't eliminate the triples situation There's a host of of issues whether we made some progress on that I don't know but you want to just keep focused on that and I know you're gonna be dealing with it later This evening. It is really important that the the NPA weighs in on the impact of the under housing over enrollment at UVM on housing for regular working people and This is just essential for you to do and to constantly do and to have the city council not just us in the old north end who are I think are Carrying that banner, but the rest of the council and the administration know your position so that's something that's coming up and We're not supposed to vote on it on Monday. So that will mean it would be on the 29th the second piece is that we'll have the first public hearing on police oversight Charter change Proposal that was developed by the joint committee on police oversight it happened in the wake of the defeat of ballot item 7 and in shorthand it is designed to empower the Commission with powers that they are effectively Using right now, but it's not authorized by charter that is in contradiction with charter so There are some changes on that. There is a public hearing coming up on Monday. It's on civic clerk in terms of the actual language It is charters are laws. So it's written like a law and sorry to everybody who is not a lawyer but And if you have specific questions about the proposal Milo and I are happy to do that. I was on the committee as one of the co-chairs But this hopefully will be voted on in March We still have to go through this process and there's some changes that I'm sure that will be made as a result of the Of the public hearings and that's actually the only way that you can make changes. So if you've got Got an interest in it take a look at it come speak at the public hearing so that we can make changes based on comments because if we can't make them just because We think something should be changed and now they have to be directly related to public comments made at public hearing There you go. Thank you counselors counselor McGee. Do you have anything that you would like to add? Thank you counselor McGee. All right. We I know actually I'm sorry The OPC Thank you, I just want to note that I'm gonna try talking again, okay I know there's a lot of reference to different events I did see that Roxanne is putting where she can the links in the agenda So if you have any questions about that, please feel free to look at the agenda And if you have questions after that feel free to reach out to the steering committee and we can get you in contact with Your counselor All right now that I said all that any questions in the audience. I am prepared I Had the first I'd like to recognize our colleague. Mr. Hilliard from Ward 1. I've been over there So thanks for coming to visit us tonight while I was at Ward 1 last night we heard from the The city council candidates and one of them mentioned that depending on which counselor we spoke to That we had somewhere between a seven to nine million dollar projected budget set for the upcoming fiscal year Just wondering if you have any thoughts like and you know what the best way is to try to close that gap and address that Personally, oh go ahead. You're on the finance board. That'd be great. Thank you. I mean for me Chris I haven't heard the the presentation yet and I have consistently Called for Alternatives to the property tax as a way to to get other resources in There there is a an impact fee study which is out there which should raise some more funds from Development, I don't know how much that is and that hasn't come forward. That's something I asked for like two years ago There was this study that was presented at the finance board related to the Undervaluation so-called or the inequality that's based on the the low residential districts the low density districts That's something which is in a way tied to the the neighborhood code and to development that future development that would occur come the the the passage of such a missing middle so to speak zoning code and development that would result According to that we passed south-end zoning last year. You don't have any development on that parking lot So, you know, I mean and then you wouldn't expect that there would be such a turnaround So those things are very long term. I don't know but I I can just tell you and We'll see I try to be a very reasonable guy But it's my position that austerity kills that it is the bane of this the human Societies around the around the world and kills healthcare systems public transit So everything that I can do to figure out a way to do it in that's based on the ability to pay on What I consider to be progressive taxation. I will be looking for I think also I know that there's a review of Fees through the throughout the city such as the fees that are charged for various things at parks and For various programs that the city does the fees to the public that is definitely being examined. I I hope the city at times I get really discouraged because the the state has been very slow to release Opioid money funds. We are getting millions of dollars from that settlement And if you don't have the funds released or have an idea of when you can get them You it's hard to set up resources. You can't make a plan. You can't hire people So hopefully if we can get through to the governor And the committee that oversees that and get more of that money We can hopefully offset more of the cost around harm reduction We have the police department is very well funded right now We have to start working harder on the harm reduction side Because without getting people into recovery We can't beat this crisis. So That's a huge concern. I also have a huge huge concern. We have so much deferred maintenance We have a huge issue around vehicles For example ambulances and fire trucks that need to be replaced. So we're gonna have to figure that out in some way It's gonna be a very tough conversation And definitely recommend if you can't watch board of finance meetings Live to watch them on the weekend just to be really up to date with what the discussions are Because it's it's gonna be affecting our property taxes for sure Thank You counselors. We're running a little bit behind, but there is probably time for one more quick question if anyone has a Quick question All right That's the that's a no question is a very quick question. All right. Well, thank you three for Sharing that update and answering questions and like I mentioned We'll have the resources in the meeting agenda or the meeting notes All right. I'm sorry. Hi, I grabbed the mic from Charlie. I'm right here I'm so sorry. I Just wanted to put this as we wrap up with the city counselors That I completely forgot To say that we have started pouring foundation for the new high school and tech center so we're almost done with demolition and abatement of the buildings and Building F, which was the tech center was the most polluted. They're still working on abatement there But we're getting really we're in progress with that and having said the bond money It's like no yay bond money is building us a new school. I just wanted to add that. Thank you. That's exciting more good news Really ending on the good news. Thank you. All right So the next meeting or the next meeting Wow the next item on our agenda is that we will be voting on a representative from Ward 3 to Represent Ward 3 on the CDBG advisory board. So that is the community development block grant Group advisory board that votes on those grants So I believe Sam is online Sam if you want to take some time to introduce yourself and Just a note before Sam introduces themselves This is only Ward 3 residents will be eligible to vote on this So this is one of the items that we talked about earlier that will be separate So if you live north of North Street, you are not eligible to vote for this if you live south of North Street This is Sam is your perspective rep that you would be voting on. All right, Sam take it away All right. Thank you Sam any questions? Thank you, Sam. We appreciate you stepping up to fill this position award 3 and I think having served on the committee myself I think you'll get a very broad overview of the various Organizations here in our city that kind of come together to help make it a better place So I'd like to take the opportunity to nominate Sam Powers as the Ward 3 Representative to the community development block grant committee I'll second that All right with that seconded before voting any further questions. I know that kind of breaks Robert's rules I'm just curious as to what kinds of things you are interested in in terms of Places that the block grants might go to any other questions before we go to the vote so Sam feel free to come back to Next the February meeting of the wards 2 and 3 NPA and tell us what the projects are that you've been looking at Once you see them. Okay, great So with the vote a reminder if you live south of North Street, you are voting if you do not live south of North Street You are not voting. So with that in mind I don't this is not normally like a closed vote. Correct. No, okay So with that in mind all those in favor of voting Sam Powers on as the Ward 3 rep for CDBG And all those opposed Any abstentions Seeing that congratulations Sam We will We will see you at the next NPA meeting to give us an update I Am all right so our next item that we have on here is to have a discussion about Funding which is the next item but before that we did miss someone in public forum So I just wanted to take a second to make an announcement real quick Thanks. Sorry. I was a little shy At the public forum and wasn't sure what the protocol is But yeah, I am running for city council and I am here with literature So I'll put some out on the table over there just in case Anyone is interested. I'm also knocking on doors. So you'll probably receive it that way as well and And yeah, my name is Joe Cain and I'm running for Ward 3 city council So there will be literature out over here. I feel free to grab one. All right. So now we can move on So with this next agenda item I would like to just introduce it quickly and this will certainly be a discussion base. This is not voting This is really just a brainstorming session So all NPAs from each ward gets $2,500 from the city to use as they see fit to better their NPA So in the past Jess has done a great job coordinating some grants with our money So we are we wanted to open the discussion to you our NPA members to share How you'd like to see that money spent so I do want to note that wards to and words three have separate funds and have every right and intention to use them either separately or together based on what the Funding would go towards So this could or could not be this right now It's a joint discussion because no decisions are being made but ultimately it could be used separately between the two words So I just wanted to note that really quickly So with that, I don't know if anyone wants to open the floor Chris wants to open the floor Our current bylaws stipulate that decisions regarding steering committee members funding and changes to the bylaws How I have made at the war level and have been I think as long as I've been involved at the NPA I was just wondering if someone has the criteria that the city had put out for the grants I didn't think to print it down. So apologize otherwise. That's all I have to say Where did all my mics go? I feel I'm getting my exercise today Basically the funding can be used to further the goals of NPA. So it can be pretty broad It can be food at your meetings. It can be Child entertainment during your meetings. It could be a social event that you want to build community It could be for lawn signs or posters or other outreach and engagement. You want to do it's pretty broad. So Yeah, thank you post things All right, and you already have a mic go ahead. Yeah, I would like to start the conversation I'd love to propose a community development NPA Advertising initiative and put up sharps containers on locations where there are needles with Ward NPA, you know compliments of Ward two and three NPA the constant refrain I hear from everyone is their needles everywhere, but the Most obvious solution is never appeared I think it would be a great initiative for us to use some of our funds. I don't know how to do that I know we can't pay people individuals. We can buy objects. So we can't Physically provide a wage to somebody so it would have to be staffed But I do know there are volunteer opportunities and volunteer basis to access to help clean them out But it would really show the rest of the city that We identified an issue Current one and addressed it The best we can with our funds Great. Thank you. That's an awesome. I take from the clapping. It's a great suggestion Another suggestion If anybody has met me, you know, I'm gonna talk about the ramble so the ramble is the annual celebration of The creativity and the community of the old north end buy and for old north enders So and in the past we have gotten NPA funds Usually it's half from two and half from three We would appreciate any amount We are just beginning to start we're just starting to look at different grants We know that we're probably not going to be eligible for something like a CDBG grant on our own Anyway, yeah, and if anybody has any leads for an arts and culture neighborhood grant Opportunity, please let me know. Thank you Amy have one I'm not sure how to do this but something that's been bothering me is as some of you know is having half of Ward three on the other side of the city and Just the idea of discussing block grants when I don't have any idea of what is needed or wanted on that side of the city Seems a little crazy and I would like to put some effort into At least transportation to meetings for people down there and Checking on where they're voting if if they can vote in their old Whole place or not. Great. Thank you I saw Jess's hand in the back Thanks, I'd love to see money go towards More outreach to get more people to the meeting and to make the meetings more accessible for a broader range of folks it's been thinking about ways to use interpretation and also Finding ways to meet the goal and purpose of the NPA meetings without having people Needing to come to a two or three out two hour meeting here So thinking about ways to do outreach within the community to get feedback from different groups of folks who just who aren't coming for whatever reason That's my three cents plus Funds to support community dinner are always always welcome and appreciated All right, any other these are all really really great suggestions any other Suggestions from the audience and just to note I do believe when we use the funds They are voted the use of them is voted by the NPA as a whole. So this is not the final decision You won't Not hear about it again until we're like, oh by the way, this is what we're using on you will be voting on it once the The steering committee will provide some sort of outline, but of course we're just steering We are not the final factor. So you will get a chance to vote and decide later I want to second the proposal that we contribute to the community dinner, which we all enjoyed before this meeting And the second thing I wanted to ask is are we using the same procedure where people that have ideas? Can fill out the form and say I would like $500 for this project? And then they all get Proposed you know shared with the group and the vote will happen and then you guys will figure out How to divvy the money out is that procedure going to be the same this year? It may or may not be we so we have until June 30th to use the funds So if if we are in support of continuing to use that form with you know It might be a tighter turnaround since it's January We can certainly take note of that and have that as consideration when we're voting on you know We can allocate X to for that form. I was just trying to think about giving people a heads up on yeah They've got the ideas. We're just coming off the top of our head, but it would be helpful if people really did have proposals Yeah, that they would Have time to to get organized and documented and propose how they were going to do it and what the money would be spent for Whatever the timeline is yeah, yeah We can we can talk about that as a steering committee and share it with the larger group via our email list If you're part of our email list social media and stuff So that way we get out the information and share it at the next meeting as well You could suggest some of the ideas that have been funded in the past that give people ideas That would be helpful to people that have not been to a meeting and seen this whole process happen. Absolutely. Thanks. Thank you Chris okay, I think we haven't had a chance to discuss it yet But I think there would probably be some kind of application process where if the application was say originating out of Ward 3 It would be coming out of Ward 3 funds and whereas if the application was coming out of Ward 2 I would think it would probably come out of the Ward 2 funds But certainly think that the proposal for sharps containers Is definitely something I think that the folks in Ward 3 would get behind particularly folks who live in the downtown core I know that it isn't an idea that has been brought before the Church Street Marketplace Commission before So that it seems like there's some support for that. So I think that would be a Reasonable use of those funds. Thank you Amy. I Just was wondering if it would Help to put The announcement of something like that Once it passes on the front porch forum To kind of spread the word around where some more people would know about it other than those of us were on at the meetings or on the email list Are you saying after an idea after the funds have been allocated like if we Even before just to let people know this is going on and if you have ideas. Oh, yeah Yeah, we you we do typically post Announcements on from a porch forum for like the MPA meeting so that can be a highlight when we're voting on it And as well for gathering ideas because from which form is neighborhood base. So that makes perfect. That's good. Thank you Any other thoughts suggestions? Yeah, these are awesome. I just wanted to build on the the sharps comment in the very beginning of it just maybe allocating funds towards like maybe Classes on how to deal with them safely and maybe equipment to pick them up for volunteers to use potentially Yeah, that's all I got Thank you. That's awesome. I love all this creativity around dealing with Any other thoughts in my corporate job, I say eight seconds of silence means no more thoughts So I think that was eight seconds of silence Speak now forever hold your peace Okay, well, thank you so much for the discussion. We have written these down So what will probably happen next is we'll get together as a steering committee And we'll have a more formal discussion about this to come in a future MPA meeting I would guess probably March, but don't quote me on that And if there's any information that we have sooner, of course, we'll be sure to share it So that way we can solicit feedback as well All right, so We are doing great on time. So we are in the second of our ward specific parts of the agenda So, yeah. Oh, yeah, Shelby. Do you want to sorry? Do you want to share from online? I That's great. Thank you. Shelby. I did see that though. They also posted about that on social media. So thank you for sharing right, awesome Okay, last chance So with that we will move along so as we get into the bylaws discussion So this will be a ward two specific conversation. So now we're flipping. So if you're north of North Street This is your conversation, but I do want to point out for our friends in Ward three Please listen to the conversation. There will likely be amendments to your bylaws There could potentially be amendments to your bylaws in a future meeting So you can use the discussion that we as Ward two residents are having To kind of guide the discussion that you would have with your Ward three So with that if you look on your table, there are a couple different things Roxanne did a really great job of highlighting what these changes are so what I wanted to do first So we as the steering committee propose these changes you as the NPA And we we are also part of it have every right to propose more changes to say no to these changes to say more So we just wanted to provide an outline for discussion and then we can build off of it Keep it whatever you as the NPA are looking for So this there is a stapled form on your table. This is also available digitally through our website On the link tree of the different changes and Vaska has them on the screen. So I'm gonna get out of the way So our bylaws are available on our website if you would like to look at them So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna walk through them Would anyone in the audience virtual or sitting in the audience like me to read them verbatim? Or would you prefer to read them off of the screen? Raise your hand if you'd like them verbatim Raise your hand if you'd like it off of the screen raise your hand if you're a Ward two resident Okay, so I'm gonna assume since no one likes them verbatim that you will read them off of the screen I'll provide a summary So I highlighted in yellow if it's a change so we're reviewing this today's January 11th. That's the first change The next change if you're following along in your own copy is on page two So what is highlighted in yellow? Change to this is the change due to the redistricting So updating the description here of what has changed within the Ward two district and also updating the link to the map So that way you can always check The next one is on I think page well, there's a the I added a the The next one is on page four So this one is actually quite timely because we are we have a resolution after this agenda item but we added some language into the meeting section about introducing Resolutions and how the voting process would work And it also includes like providing warning of the resolution before the meeting so for instance with the resolution with this meeting we did provide it in the Emails and it was available on civic clerk ahead of the meeting I'll pause to give everyone a second to read this and this is green because it is an addition This was not in our bylaws previously Can you basket? Can you edit? Sorry, the yellow is hard on my eyes I almost did pink so I'm glad I didn't do that that would have been brutal Okay, is that is that better with it highlighted like that? Thanks And it is also for those of you in the audience in the physical audience It is also in front of you And if you scroll down a little bit There is also an addition regarding the process to add steering committee members So there is a part about their eligibility as well as the process of joining the steering committee And this is a two-part so we'll pause here for a second And then we'll get to the make an effort to and if you're in Ward 2 and reading along if you could just like look up At me when you're done reading so I can So you can scroll up. Okay. I see some eyes And just to highlight this process really allows the Prospect the interested party and kind of learning about what the steering committee does and allows the steering committee the active steering committee to share What the process is outside of the physical NPA meetings themselves again, just look up at me when you are Are there any questions so far? Well, some of you are finishing up reading Any changes that you've thought of well, it's fresh in your mind specifically to these or anything else in the bylaws Wait, there is one more section. I believe I wrote this all down and I walked away from my notebook. I think it's on page 57 And anything that is not highlighted again is already in our existing bylaws, but feel free to suggest changes to that Okay, so this last part is updates to the inclusion I don't even want to call it criteria because I think that's too harsh of a word but adding some of the non-discrimination Groups as well as including the city of Brailington's declaration of inclusion directly in the bylaws So some of this was if it is not highlighted It was previously included if it is highlighted that would be the addition All right, and that is the final Suggested addition from the steering committee. Are there any other Suggestions from those in the audience today So with that if someone would like to make a motion to adopt the Changes as they have been outlined to someone from Ward 2 specifically. I think that is the protocol for this Molly you make the motion. Do we have a second? Yes. Thank you All those any any questions any Last last chance forever now and these can always be before we vote I just want to say like just because we're editing these we're doing amendments to these now does not mean we can't do it next month if someone Speaks out about it and feels strongly about adding something. These are something that can be edited So please, you know know that they can continue to Change Okay, so now Ward 2 Residents those north of North Street all those in favor of the changes as outlined in the highlighted text to the Ward 2 bylaws All those in favor all those opposed All those abstaining I Don't know what an abstention would do anyway, but the motion passes. All right. Thank you everyone and for those of you That are in Ward 3 Be will be sure to kind of announce it in a similar process if there are any changes that will be made to the Ward 3 bylaws But for now the Ward 2 has been amended as outlined All right, and I just want to note for we only have one agenda item and we are running well ahead of schedule, which is great So anyone that had looked at the agenda ahead of today We did have a change. We are only looking at one resolution today And for those of you that have this on the table or are looking at the agenda online There is a note about why we removed the last agenda item And that was because we had found that it was already in place. So it's great when it is already happening And there is information Counselor Bergman did share it was about the MOU with the city and UVM and having enough time So if there is any There is still time for feedback. So please City Council is voting it on it on the 29th So if you have any feedback, please share that with your City Councilor and the meeting will be on January 29th alright So now we will be considering a resolution that was drafted by our neighbors in Ward 1 and we even have a Ward 1 resident as Considering this which is exciting So this resolution would be calling on the city to establish conditions under which City Council must consult with MPAs before making decisions So for those of you that are here, the resolution is on your table It is also available via the QR code and via our link tree for those of you that are online And I believe I want to see Is Chris still in here somewhere? Okay, I just want to make sure he is here because he is the one that Proposed the resolution or proposed considering the resolution today But this will give if everyone can take a minute to read over it in the meantime All right, and Fosca is going to share it on the screen Is there any desire from anyone in the audience virtual or in person to read this verbally? Otherwise I will open for discussion, but Chris do you want to say anything before I open the floor for discussion? so this resolution originated from the folks over in Ward 1 and I brought it over here in a show of solidarity To support the work that they did and if I recall correctly the intent that this resolution came most recently out of the All-Words NPA where there seems to be Some confusion about the relationship between the city and the neighborhood planning assemblies and I think the intent here is to Bring everybody together to the table and to work through some of the issues and to develop some some clarity here, but also to Assert that when there are big issues before the city council It would be nice for the counselors and the school commissioners to bring them back here And unfortunately, I also know that way the agendas are set at those two bodies Sometimes that's not always possible if the meeting falls on a certain day and we've got time constraints So I think the intent here was really just to try to clarify some of the procedures here and I think it's pretty straightforward So without further ado, I'm gonna yield the mic. Is this is it on? Yeah, so I really appreciate the intent of this resolution and I think clarity in terms of relationship and Process is really really important. I do have a concern about an unintended consequence of relying on Feedback from groups that might not be representative of the broader community in city decision making So for example, how many people are we here in this room today? How many residents of wards two and three are there? So if there's a requirement that this body provides Substantive feedback on city issues We would be we'd be hard-pressed to do our job properly to make sure that we're really Representing the communities that we that are part of the wards and so I think in spirit this makes a lot of sense and It would also mean that all of the NPAs would need to do a much better job at inclusion and making sure that Everyone's voices are being heard and there are different ways to solicit information within these bodies So I just wanted to add add that additional comment Thank You Jess any other feedback discussion thoughts. I Saw Chris's hand first and then Now everyone's pointing at each other Okay, Milo Thank you so as a counselor, I've been really frustrated because a lot of what gets to the public and Is really controlled because what gets to the city council is really controlled and sometimes it's out of the city council's hands It's the way that the mayor does things and I don't know if the resolution addresses that Because there's many times where we're given information and then we're like you've got a vote on it now and and Where the representatives For people who live in the city, but at the same time some of our comments are not always taken seriously So it would be helpful To know that there's been community engagement, especially with the example of the UVM MOU There were With the counselors We did have some opportunities to talk in executive sessions and to meet with UVM, but UVM's enlargey sheltered from the public and So if they decide that know what you're saying isn't good enough and they haven't heard from the public And now they're asking the public after they negotiated it and they said This is all you're gonna get but go ahead and talk about it The process is not what it needs to be. Thank you Thank you, Chris. Do you still want it? I agree with with both with what Jessica had said and what Councillor Grant had said about the process. I think that The NPA is a great place to kind of ascertain the diversity of opinions The array of opinions and kind of take the pulse of the community, but I don't as to Jessica's point I don't know that taking a vote at the NPA You know 40 people out of 5,000 something it's really representative But I do think at the very least it provides a good opportunity For the counselors to get some feedback and idea and at least discuss the breadth of opinions that are of even if it's Hard to ascertain what the majority or minority may be so that I think is kind of why we're trying to have the Process here so that we can have it be a little more meaningful Thank you, and just a note and any of the attendees who maybe know better than I do I believe we can amend this before we vote on it if there is any strong feeling towards Adopting but amending it so if anyone feels strongly about that, please do share I didn't see anyone shake their head that that's not possible So any other feedback thoughts considerations Should have done this first But I'd like to move to adopt the resolution to establish conditions under which the city council must consult with the NPAs before making decisions and Just before I forget and before we vote on that. Is there any feedback from those of you online and While Fosca is checking this is both words So every everyone in words to and words three is eligible to vote on that I know we're giving everyone a little bit of whiplash today with which words. We're talking about I'm gonna introduce a motion to divide the questions so that the two words can be vote separately so that we know Which Ford voted which way in case there's any question So combining two words fully I just ask if everyone is in favor or okay Well, I can also do okay Ward 2 residents If all those in Ward 2 who are in favor of adopting this resolution as outlined Please raise your hand if you are in favor Ward 2 residents, please raise your hand if you are opposed Motion passes Ward 3 residents, please raise your hand if you are in favor Ward 3 residents, please raise your hand if you are opposed Okay, and the motion passes by majority for both words to and three to adopt to this resolution Thank you everyone for discussion and voting we had I think this is the most voting we've ever had at a meeting I've attended All right, we are that was our last agenda item, so our next meeting will be February 8th. Oh The raffle, thank you that we had a lot of people say today, so Jess is going to choose someone from the raft. I'll hold it for you. You choose Yeah, has that has everyone who is in attendance put their name in the raffle. All right. Oh Anyone else need to put their name in the raffle you can win free stuff. Who doesn't love free stuff? Yeah We do have a question online, so everyone in the room, please do not leave We're gonna do the raffle quickly and then we are going to take our question online Travis is there a Travis in the audience? Yeah, awesome on the first try. All right So I am going to let Shelby close out our meeting with a question Oh, okay Well, we're still we're still letting you close out the meeting. Thank you everyone