 So, I want to welcome everyone to this occasion. This is really exciting, and I also want to thank Allard Square for providing a shelter as we celebrate such an important and long-awaited day for South Burlington. I am so grateful to be inside this lovely meeting room. Not only did Allard Square start the process of realizing our dreams of the city center, but they broke ground first on Market Street with much needed and affordable housing for our seniors. And today it's the city's turn to begin the public investment for our vision of a place we can be proud of, a place for living, working, walking, shopping, recreating, and importantly participating in town government. So again, welcome to this historic event, the ribbon-cutting for the newly completed Market Street and the groundbreaking for our community center, which will house our new public library, a senior center, City Hall, a new city clerk's office, and an absolutely beautiful auditorium. The desire to have our own downtown dates back almost 50 years, and I was alive then. Many thought it would never, ever happen, but we're now seeing that vision coming to fruition, so hooray for us. Market Street, the community center, and city center park, all partially TIF-funded projects are the public investment foundation for our downtown. Over the years ahead, we will see the construction of a high-density, mixed-use, urban environment where people can live, work, socialize with friends, shop, and recreate. Our new Main Street, which is Market Street, will be officially open on Friday at 3.30, well in time for holiday shoppers, and opening a new route to relieve traffic on Dorset Street and Williston Road, not a minute too soon. Today doesn't lend itself to actually walking down along the street and appreciating the beauty of this roadway, but last Saturday, I did walk the road, and I appreciated the beautiful landscaping, checked out the resident geese family, and again marveled at that stormwater feature. A true testament that state rules and regulations can be beautiful and work as intended. So post-Halloween rain, everything still looked perfect. So the road is done, and site work for the community center has begun. We anticipate the grand opening of the community center in the summer of 2021. There are many, many people who should be recognized for their contributions to making these two projects a reality. And we invited several of those people to join us today and to share a few words. Our first speaker is a familiar face and name in South Burlington. Jim Condos currently serves as the Secretary of State, a role he's held for the past eight years. Jim was a Chittenden County Senator for eight years, and began his public service for South Burlington as a city counselor for 18 years, and aid as a chair. Apparently aid is a common theme for him. Perhaps you're lucky, number Jim, I don't know. But during his tenure on the city council, Jim worked hard getting support for this road and the city was awarded the federal earmark for Market Street. He was convincing and persuasive with our federal delegation, and we thank you, Secretary of State Jim Condos, for your visit. Oh! Thank you so much, and this is truly a great day. I guess we've been waiting a while. So to kind of give you a little perspective, my first foray into community service started in 1985, when I was appointed by the city council to be on the city center committee, which was chaired by John Dinklage, and we started a year-long process to put together a concept of what we could do. We were told that it wouldn't happen. It's happening, and that's great. And Chuck, after, are you, where are you? You're somewhere out here. Chuck was our city manager at the time, and there was a time when Chuck, Julie Beth Hines, who was our city planner at the time, and I flew down to D.C. to meet with Senator Jeffords with the plans. We had tubes of plans and whatever that we took down with us. And I remember on the plane, as we're going down, Chuck says, so how much should we ask for? And I said, well, how much is the project? How much do we need to get asked for? And he says, well, if we ask for a million, we might be lucky and get half a million. And I said, but if we ask for three million, we might get one and a half million. And I said, he goes, well, we think we need seven million to get this thing really moving. And I said, well, then ask what we'll ask for. Fast forward about four months. And I get this call from Senator Jeffords' staff. And they said to me, are you sitting down? And I said, yes. And they told me. And I immediately called Chuck and Julie Beth. And I said, are you guys sitting down? And I said, we've just got a call from Jeffords' office. And they said, where do we get a million? And I said, no, we got the full seven million. So it was really a great event for us because now it gave us the work, the money that we needed, that the city needed, to move forward with the planning process, to move forward with some of the permitting and design work. And I hope some of the construction costs. But in any case, it really was a great time. And I'm really, really pleased to see that it's finally happening. This is really a lot of work went into this over a lot of time. And there were doubts that it would ever happen. But we're here. Thank you. Well, thank you for making that faithful plane ride. I next would like to welcome the Secretary of Transportation, Joe Flynn. Secretary Flynn and his staff have been critical to acquiring the funding for Market Street and approving the design. We are so grateful to V-TRANS for their expertise, assistance, and guidance in a rather complicated process. So welcome and thank you, Secretary Flynn. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. It's awful cold for November. I congratulate the city of South Burlington for their long-held vision of developing a city center. This Market Street improvement spanning from Dorset Street to Vermont 116 is critical to that vision. Being of such importance to the city of South Burlington, it contributed funding in excess of what was available from V-TRANS to the federal government. And the project has been underway for well over many years, as Secretary Contos already said. Actual construction of this project started in the summer of 2018 with final completion slated for now. Market Street will essentially act and be South Burlington's Main Street, something which has long been desired by the community in the region. A few project components that we helped work with the city on include a new sub-base and pavement plus drainage improvements, sewer, water, storm water, and treatment ponds, sidewalks, lighting, and landscaping. Completion of the project will pave the way for future development, as has been said here today, which too has been long envisioned by the city, and act as a stepping stone needed to pursue the city's vision for this entire area. V-TRANS and the state workers who helped on this project are very pleased to have done so and enjoyed working with the city of South Burlington and our industry partners on this very important project. Thank you. Of course, it wouldn't be possible without the leadership of our entire congressional delegation. They were instrumental in identifying and securing what turned out to be $5.5 million in the federal earmark for Market Street quite a few years ago. Thankfully, we were able to finally put it to good use. So Chris Saunders is here to represent Senator Leahy. Good morning, everybody. My name's Chris. I work for Senator Patrick Leahy. And we spend a lot of time in the senator's office talking with him about what the future of the state of Vermont looks like. We ask questions as we experience demographic challenges and questions of who is moving in and out of our communities, what's going to make a strong Vermont community. And he comes back to places for people to gather. And if you look at what South Burlington is achieving today with this project, both the completion of Market Street and the municipal infrastructure that's getting underway, that is really achieving that dream. And he is set forth as we deliver an agenda down in Washington of trying to put resources into programs that ensure that Vermont communities will have the ability to create really vibrant communities, places where people can come together and get a book, debate the topic of a town budget, a city budget, and have these places where you can really get to know each other and keep democracy alive. So it's really wonderful to see public resources leveraging a tremendous amount of additional infrastructure that's going to come into play. I know Senator Leahy, Vice Chairman of Appropriations, he sees projects like this that get started with your marks and says, this is something we need to return to. He believes that there's really a place for Congress to say, let's put money towards specific projects because we can see communities like South Burlington putting those dollars to good use and being good stewards of them. So congratulations to the residents of South Burlington. Thank you to Senator Jeffords and his team. We work with a couple of them in our office and I know they're really proud to see this project. And thank you to the city team at South Burlington, Kevin and Alona and the public works folks that have worked so hard to make sure this project keeps moving. Good job. Thank you. And Erica Campbell is here representing Senator Sanders. We can all guess why he understandably couldn't be here in person. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of Senator Sanders, I want to say a huge congratulations to the city of South Burlington and all of the partners and the people who have worked on this project. It's really, really exciting. I think we can all agree that the city of South Burlington and everybody who worked on this project has been extraordinarily thoughtful in the planning and the development and now the implementation. It's really great to see as a former planner just how much has gone into this project. So just huge kudos for that. We were so pleased. Senator Sanders was so pleased last year to see the opening of Allard Square. So important at a time when we have so many issues with affordable housing. And the Allard Square also has SASH services, which are also really essential to our seniors and our community. This new library and city center and senior center will be really, really important. So I just can't thank you enough on behalf of the senator for thinking through this area as a really vibrant and important hub for all residents. So yeah, we really look forward to seeing this area thrive and grow into the future. And again, on behalf of Senator Sanders, congratulations. And Ryan McLaren is here representing Congress and Welch, who is also quite busy with some kind of hearing, as we speak. Yes. Thanks, Helen. Yeah, Peter definitely wishes he could be here. But I wouldn't blame any of you for stepping out to just listen to what's going on down in Washington right now. He's sitting in the middle of that. So I appreciate you having me here on his behalf. And I just want to send his congratulations to Helen, to Kevin, to the whole city staff that has made this moment possible and really congratulate the whole city of South Burlington who voted for this transformative project to move forward. You all have a unique opportunity here. There's not a lot of towns that have this amount of space to really think through what is possible and what you want to see your community become in the future. And like everyone else, I think the people of South Burlington really just want nothing more than to live in a vibrant community and to connect with their neighbors, to be in a place that feels safe and feels like home. And so this project will help build that identity in the heart of South Burlington, provide a gathering place for community members, young and old, and transform the Market Street area into a true downtown. So kudos to you for taking the opportunity that you have and making the most of it. But I think it's really only step number one, maybe, in the building of 21st Century South Burlington. And so Peter's really excited to support you on that journey and can't wait to see what else is to come on Market Street. So thanks. We are also looking forward to see the whole thing work out. So next up is Tim McKenzie. He represents the, he is part of the South Burlington Realty Corporation who used to own this land and the land next door. He's representing the Munson Family Trust and wanted to say a few words. So thank you, Tim. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is a very exciting time for South Burlington and for the city center project. Honored, thrilled to be here, thrilled to participate in this ribbon-cutting event. The long-awaited city center is starting to take shape. And until just recently, it was an exercise in patience and perseverance. But that persistence is starting to pay off at the Market Street ribbon-cutting. I commented that Market Street reconstruction would be the trigger to get city center started. And in the last year, we've seen Allard Street completed. We've seen David Schenck's townhomes at the other end of Market Street completed. And the CHT building now is just being completed. Soon, we'll see the Garden Street built end to end. We'll see the next Snyder-Braverman residential project. I should note that Snyder-Braverman is our development partners. And they're doing the development of the buildings. It will be completed behind Healthy Living. And of course, we're here to acknowledge and celebrate the City Hall Library getting underway. I believe the City Hall Library will be a catalyst for the rest of the city center development. When Garden Street connects to Midas Drive, the business district on Williston Road will have greater linkage to the shopping district on Dorset Street. And when the City Hall Library is completed, it will anchor what the form-based code committee saw as the destination area right in the center of the two districts. So I'm grateful for the city's vision and their shared effort to obtain TIF funding. I'm delighted by the community's support of this project. And I'm especially excited to see the new City Hall Library in the heart of our new downtown. Thank you. In our last special speaker regarding Market Street, I want to welcome Senator Tim Ash. Tim has served on the Burlington City Council, as well as 11 years in the Vermont Senate and the last three as President Pro Tem. He was instrumental in securing state support for downtowns, adding South Burlington as an additional TIF community, which has really allowed us to go forward on City Center. His latest personal achievement is hiking the entire long trail in New York. I mean in Vermont, excuse me. And that's quite an accomplishment. So thank you, Tim, for your leadership and support. I was a little disoriented. I thought it might be in the wrong state for a second. So thank you, Helen. And as a former Burlington City Councilor, I know all too well how long it takes for some projects to come to fruition. And so behind me now is the current crop of city counselors. But as Jim alluded to, this history really dates back 25 years or more. And city council after city council after city council and the management, Kevin and his predecessors have kept this vision alive. And don't take for granted for a second that persistence year after year. I'll just tell you a quick anecdote about how we achieve tax increment financing, which helps support this project. Pretty much the person we had to negotiate with the most was former state senator Peter Galbraith. Peter Galbraith, for those of you who don't know, was a longtime ambassador and spent most of his time negotiating with war criminals and trying to achieve peace and conflict zones. I didn't realize that TIFFs would be one such difficult negotiation. We were able, at last, to prevail upon both the Senate and working with our colleagues in the House at the time, Helen Head and Ann Pugh and others were really helpful because we were able to articulate what that TIFF district would help support. And I think we're seeing it all around us. So I'm really grateful that we were able to get this achieved with our partners here in South Burlington. And I think this is we do a lot of talking about smart growth development. I don't think we need to talk about it. We can just look at what we see around us. So thank you so much and congratulations. So now we're going to talk a little bit about our community center and the marvels that that will provide to our community and really be that focal point for a downtown. We're honored to have our new state librarian, Jason Broughton here, to break ground for the new community center. Jason brings a decade of experience and commitment to libraries and his new role. And in his own words, libraries can play an important role in helping Vermonters access portals to the world's knowledge and information for leisure, labor, literacy, and the love of reading. He will be an excellent partner to South Burlington as we move forward with a new library that will serve multiple needs for our community. Good afternoon. Thank you for having me. It's always a beautiful day when you can celebrate what a community believes it is doing for the purpose of public access and information. That's so unique when you've decided to also include a library. It's unique in the sense because you as a community have to say it, we dedicate ourselves to thinking about what does it mean to provide services to all people at all levels for all things. And that is the most important thing in this age, information. Information allows you to do a variety of new things that can help yourself in a variety of different ways. Life, leisure, labor, and love. I'll keep my comments brief, but I think summing up the new library will kind of be like this by a poem from Niki Giovanni. The library. A library is a place to be free, to be in space, to be in cave times, to be a cook, to be a crook, to be in love, to be unhappy, to be quick and smart, and to be contained and cautious, to surf the rainbow, to sail the dreams, to be blue and just stew, to be wonderful, and to simply be in a place for you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Our next speaker needs little introduction. Patrick Lidoux has been a dedicated and lifelong supporter of education and has long held a community vision to have a real public library. He currently is the CIO and vice president for career and education outreach for VSAC. He served on the South Burlington School Board and was chair at one point, and now is chair of the library board. He's also a founding member of the recently open food shelf. Patrick's energy and enthusiasm for the library and community center has been huge. He has given countless volunteer hours to South Burlington and provided terrific leadership to the library board as they transition to the mall and plan for the future next door, a real public library. Thank you. I don't know what's worth following the introduction or that beautiful poem, my goodness. What a great day for our community. This is awesome. My talk will be short as well. Community's public library is a powerful gathering place that holds tightly to the values of books, information, opportunities to learn, share, and grow together, strengthens our community. You've heard this message already today. It moves us all forward regardless of our background, our political leanings, or any other way that we choose to separate ourselves. The shared and free access to information and programming, the ability to engage in civil debate and discussion in the light of that knowledge is a key part of what our South Burlington Public Library is all about. We're so excited to be breaking ground today on this new hub of our burgeoning city center with the combination and power of a strong and expanded public library, connected with a robust senior center where we'll have both the written word and programs from our library and the stories, learnings, and benefits of our seniors' oral history all together. And as you know, right outside of this is one of our three elementary schools and just a short walk down the street is our middle school and high school. I can just see the connections between what the public library can offer with our learned seniors right with us and our youth, all connected in new and exciting ways, powerful stuff. You have to admit that this is also our city hall where our elected officials will come together to debate important issues from our community and hear from our citizens. Again, I'm just so delighted to have the center of our local democracy connected to our seniors, our youth, and the knowledge and programming that we offer to all of our citizens. And our community is clearly excited as well when we put this bond to the voters, 70% of our community say, yes, this is what we want. Personally, I wanna offer my thanks to the entire library board of trustees who are sprinkled out here, both those that are currently trustees and those that were trustees. It's been a long road for many of them, a lot of advocacy and effort to build this where we are today. I also want to acknowledge the city for its leadership in so many ways from all the community forums that we've hosted to the debates and discussions and the evolving designs of the library. You all just kept moving us forward, thank you for that. And on behalf of the library trustees, the friends of the library and all the patrons, we offer thanks to the community for their support. And in closing, and on behalf of the entire library trustees, again, I wanna offer my sincere gratitude to our amazing library director, Jennifer, and all of her staff. Without the collective knowledge, experience, and alertedness of all of you, we would not be here today. So thank you, God bless. So as you all know, our community center will provide important and dedicated space to our seniors, of which I am one. And we are a very important demographic in this community. The new space will be both a tribute and a thank you to all who have shared in the growth of South Burlington for many decades. I'd hope to have Katie Langrock here to share her the perspective of the Parks and Recreation Committee. And she couldn't be, but I will say that their enthusiasm and efforts to make this, including a senior center in the community center was phenomenal, and I hats off to them and I really thank them. In closing, I can't overemphasize the importance of having a real downtown. These public facilities will be in place for generations to come to enjoy, gather for meetings, speakers, events in a fabulous auditorium, participate in civic activities, all the things that create a vibrant community. Foundational to realizing this moment is the importance of the public investment through tax and criminal financing and South Burlington taxpayers. Together we made this possible. And lastly, while there really are two too many people to thank, there are two members of our staff that really deserve recognition for both the Market Street and the community center projects. First, our community development director, Alana Blanchard, who's right over there in the back. And our public works department director, Justin Rabadou. He's way in the back. Without the almost daily work on these two projects by these two important members of our staff, it's unlikely that we would see these projects coming forward. So really thank you. Now bundle up and let's all go outside. First to cut the ribbon right across the street and then to do the groundbreaking and it won't take long. Thank you all very much for coming in again. Thank you, Allard Square.