 This year is 30 years of resident owned in Vermont. And having people come on in. Good day. People coming in. So if you could all, all of you that are hovering outside of the tent, please come on in and grab a seat. Make sure you get a yellow ballot if you live here at Northgate and you're 18 years or older. These are your resident directors that you want to vote for who give a lot of your time to help decisions that are made here at Northgate. I would like to have Almyr Salvage come up. He is our NRAC board president. And Almyr is going to call the meeting to order. He's going to ask for your votes to approve the minutes and reports. And he's going to give us some opening remarks. Almyr. Do you have to offer? Carol may need to remind me of the steps that you can take. Or do you want to call me to order? So motion. All right. I'll send a motion to approve the minutes for the meeting notes. All in favor? All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. All in favor. When I first arrived, soon after I was invited to serve as the president of the board, it was an extraordinary experience. The folks that are committed to this neighborhood and growing this community and improving the daily business has been phenomenal. I have never witnessed this anywhere else. And the folks that I have met across the country and the world in D.C. for a lovely day, they want to take this model that we have in Northgate and apply it across the other places that are struggling, that are in need of such places as Northgate. So it's been a tremendous experience in changing people's lives for the better. Overall, it's been, how can I say this? It's provided me with potential to grow professionally and personally. So it's very meaningful to me where I am right now. All right, thank you. Happy to introduce our next speaker to give us a few words. Please welcome Mayor Neural Weinberger. A presentation to share on this really special day, remarkable milestone with you. You know, I, I know I spent 15 years, which I can't believe I've been in seven years now, but the 15 years before that, I was an affordable housing developer. And I worked on many projects all over Vermont and Northgate. And the way these projects get built generally, there is some money that's available from the government and people work really hard and agreements get put in place to ensure that for 20 or maybe 30 years, once these communities get built, they're going to serve the function that they're supposed to. They're going to be places that people of all backgrounds can afford to live in. But there's always this moment at the closing table where basically everyone has to acknowledge that we don't really know what's going to happen 20 or 30 years from now. And there's just sort of a hope that at the end of that period, it seems very distant at the construction day, that things are going to work out and these communities are going to remain diverse and inclusive communities. And it often doesn't work. It's sort of the example of what everyone hopes will happen, that there will be a way to, at the end of that 20 or 30 years for the residents to come together to find a way to keep investing in the community and keep it strong and healthy and keep it affordable. And it is really quite an accomplishment that you have been able to do this for 30 years now. I think the origins of this community where there weren't really great models, there's a lot of pioneering work that got done back 30 years ago to make this possible and I know some of the people involved in that at the time are here today and I'm sure you are all feeling great pride with what is where we are now in 2019. And I just want to congratulate you all, everyone who's been involved in this, on this accomplishment, wish you the best. It's great to drive in here, care today and look around and see investment going on. There's millions of dollars in investment to keep these homes in great shape and to keep this community looking as great as it does. And what you've done is a great example for Burlington at a time when we still have housing crisis. In some ways the pressures on housing in this community are greater than they've ever been and we are coming together as a community to ask ourselves, what do we do to remain this inclusive place that welcomes people from around the world that Burlington has long been and aspires to remain. And I think Northgate represents not just your great example to us, not just in that the community is able to direct and lead its own future. It's also a great example of the need and the importance of building homes. We would not be having this celebration today if the community had not supported this 50 years ago. I think in many parts of Burlington and even in Vermont, if we were trying to build Northgate today it would be very hard, maybe impossible to do that. We need to keep working together to ensure that new homes can continue to be built in this community and in Vermont. And we are having a summit in just a little more than a week now that is very focused on that. We're calling it the Burlington Housing Summit. It's going to be an all day event. There's workshops during the day from noon to five and then there's an evening town meeting. And I hope that everyone who cares about the future of Burlington that cares about Northgate State staying strong and there our ability to continue to generate new homes in this community will come and join us for that conversation in one way or another. So, with that little politicking out the way, let me just say again congratulations to you all. And this is a great day. I wish I could stay with you throughout the morning. I got to go to another community event, but I really appreciate the opportunity to come and say congratulations and good luck. It was representing Senator Leahy today who unfortunately could not be here. Pauline, please come back. It's going to take part in your celebration of 30 years of resident ownership. Senator Leahy wishes he could be here. He has enjoyed partnering with all of you over the past 30 years to help make this project a success and enjoyed working with the residents and the city of Burlington and all the housing nonprofits who helped 30 years ago to bring this property into residents ownership. He well remembers the worry in the community, the fear in the city of losing all these homes, losing the affordability, seeing them develop and privatize. And he heard the need from all of you to really invest in this property and keep it in the hands of residents because Vermont is not a place where we take the homes away from hundreds of residents. And so he went back to HUD 30 years ago and said, HUD, you invested in this property. You said the government thinks affordability is important. You built it 50 years ago. And you still have a commitment to this property. You need to invest in it again so that it can remain affordable. And so HUD was able to provide a grant to help bring this property into resident ownership 30 years ago. What this has done is it's provided a model that the rest of the country needs to hear the mayor speak about of how to create a community that's going to remain affordable. We see housing prices skyrocketing around the country, but here we see what a community can do when it's not paying too much for housing. What other services it can deliver to the children that live here, to the people that live here, what opportunities it can create, and the leaders it can create as well. So this model has shown not only how to preserve affordability, but also how to build community. And Senator Lay, he really just wanted to say thank you to all the residents here today for your partnership through the years. And I have a brief note that he asked me to read to all of you. Congratulations to all involved with the Northgate Resident Ownership Corporation. As you celebrate 30 years of resident owned and controlled affordable housing. I remember well the effort to gain resident controlled Northgate and especially recall the ambition and dedication of those involved. The residents proved to the community that they can reach their goals and successfully manage their housing. 30 years later Northgate is a national model for such efforts. My wife Michelle and I are proud of all of you and we wish you the best for continued success. Thank you Patrick. Our mayor Bernie Sanders was involved in Northgate's start. And evidently it goes, they want to make Northgate into these luxury condos and they want to event everyone who can't afford them. And Bernie said over my dead body. So representing Senator Sanders today. I work for the center which I love, I'm very passionate about it and I'm so glad to be here as his representative. And we all wish he was here. And you know that if he was in the state of Vermont today he would be here and he's in California. So that's why he's not here today. But he sent a letter to you that I'm going to... Dear friends, congratulations to the community of Northgate on your 30th anniversary. I'm sorry that I cannot be there to celebrate this great accomplishment. In the 1980s when I was mayor of Burlington we faced the possibility of losing 336 affordable apartments at Northgate. This was not any housing development. This was the state's largest affordable housing development. Northgate was built many years before with a federally subsidized market which had been paid off and the owner could now sell it on the open market. Of course I was very familiar with Northgate and it did not surprise me that private condo developers were chomping at the bit to get their hands on this beautiful property. In many other cities that's exactly what would have happened. And to be honest, there were plenty of people right here in Burlington who would have been perfectly happy to see the property flip to hide any condos. What makes the Northgate story so compelling is that the residents made the case for preserving this affordable housing. The residents stood up and said, these are our homes and this is our neighborhood. I have long believed that real change happens when ordinary people organize and at the end of the day that is exactly what happened at Northgate. As mayor I was honored to support those efforts not just to preserve the housing for the residents who lived here but also to make sure it stayed affordable in perpetuity. We renovated the property, made the homes energy efficient and no one was displaced, no one. And because of the deal that was structured Northgate is more affordable now than it was 20 years ago. Today Northgate is a great neighborhood and the housing is at 100% resident home and control but many residents have lived here for 20 years or more. I just talked to two of them over there. I am enormously proud that I had a small part in making this happen but you, the residents are the real heroes. Enjoy your well-deserved celebration. Warmly, Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator. Being Dean from Congressman Welch's office thank you for coming to me. Thank you so much for the invitation. So on behalf of Congressman Welch I'd like to wish you all congratulations in these amazing 30 years and wish you success and well wishes for the next term. Thank you so much. Thank you for the Northern District of Burlington and I'd like to invite President Franklin up here to say a few words. Please welcome Franklin Homino. He's got new faces, so familiar faces so I wanted to come and establish a connection, a face-to-face connection to make sure you guys know how to find me. Carol has all my contact information. I'm on Facebook. Just Google my name. It's pretty easy to find these days but I just want to do that connection for everything that you guys need on the local city issues, sidewalks, roads, anything related to all the infrastructure projects we're taking on. Any updates on progress that you need? I'm happy to be your voice here. I'm looking to bring new energy. I'm at the bagel every morning. I was there this morning before council meeting. I'm at the bagel, I post the agenda. I'm here on Facebook or on porch form. So I'm looking to build on that and I look forward to working with you guys. The North Bank was built to freeze in the cabinets and allowed our electric bill to be as high as your rent. So 20 years after that, when the residents took over, we had to hire a new property management company and we were so blessed to find Maloney properties. I'm delighted to introduce, I don't think she needs any introduction, Kathy Lewis from Maloney Properties. This speech because I thought 30 years has been one of the joys of my career. So I'll try not to get too weepy here, but I am a bit sentimental. Selected through a process led by the residents of Northgate back in 1989 and I have been the person at Maloney Properties that's been your person for 30 years which I feel blessed to be there. What we did in 1989 was we joined this vast number of professionals, residents, leaders in this community, politicians, everyone. There was this amazing expansive team of people and we were part of that team once the closing happened. It was to really help that vast array of people to rebuild Northgate, physically, financially and socially. It was a transformation, truly a transformation. It became clear that one of my commitments to this community would be to ensure that resident control and resident decision making was in the forefront of everything we did. This resident directed approach has prevailed for 30 years. Give yourselves a round of applause. It's really something to celebrate that is so unique. Working in partnership with the various Northgate boards and committees over the years and there have been many. Together we implemented successful management systems, strategies and resident policies that helped to create and sustain the affordable, stable, diverse and unique communities that Northgate is today. So just a few highlights. One of our most proud accomplishments at Northgate has been our success in recruiting and hiring residents for jobs on site. This was a commitment we made to the Northgate residents board and GRRA back in 1989 and we took it to heart. We're very proud of our track record. During the past 30 years, over 35 residents have been hired and trained for positions on site. Many have moved on to jobs with increased responsibilities or started their own business. And two extraordinary successes are sitting right in front of us here. Our co-managers, Donna and Sarah, both of whom have worked at Maloney many, many years ago now while they were still living on site. Currently, of the 13 on-site management and maintenance positions, 10 are held by residents or former residents of Northgate is our focus on working positively with resident owners. We have found tremendous success at Northgate by establishing a true working partnership with NROC. Ours is a strong 30-year relationship built on trust, hard work and genuine respect for each other. While NROC and Maloney share the common purpose to be responsible stewards of this remarkable real estate asset and community, I think the values we hold are the foundation of the work that we do together. Those values include humanity. Together, we show kindness and empathy for all. Diversity. Together, we cultivate inclusiveness and create opportunity. Equity. Together, we remove barriers to ensure equal access. Quality. Together, we reach the highest standards of excellence. And finally, collaboration. We work together as a team for the collective good. Sorry. It's pretty awesome. Resident ownership and success at Northgate. You should all be so very proud. And on behalf of the entire Maloney team, on site and across New England, thank you for making us a part of this beautiful community. It is one of our community directors on the NROC Board of Directors, and Ryan is going to present our Youth Awards and the Anne-Marie Dennis Community Service Award, and I'm going to assist you. Please welcome Ryan. The amazing past of Northgate, I'll just confess that at age 23, I was recruited by a college friend who said, why don't you come to a meeting at Northgate and you can learn about what's going on. It was 1985, and we met at Anne-Marie Dennis's living room and Ellie Blaise was there, and Lynn Winter, and I think John Romeo actually was there. I can't remember every year, but it was really the beginning of my education. And I want to say, throughout that 33 years ago, so throughout the last 33 years, Northgate has been part of my learning and my entry into the affordable housing world, the community development world, and really what it's about is building and sustaining and nurturing healthy communities, healthy families, healthy neighborhoods, and it has been part of my life in a very meaningful way for all that time, so I'm just incredibly grateful for that. Now we're going to look ahead at our future and recognize the young people who will be the leaders of tomorrow to help us get a little bit older. I have a birthday in a couple weeks and I'm not as young as I was when I started, so... All right. So our first award recipient is Khalil James. Khalil? Khalil's like, I'm going to read a little bit about Khalil. The nominations for these awards come from the guidance staff and the principals at the local schools that are serving the Northgate community. So... This year's nominee for the Northgate's Successful Student Award, I think we call it youth leadership, but the successful student sounds great to me. From C.P. Smith Elementary School is Khalil James. Khalil is a very hard-working and dedicated student in Ms. Spinner's first grade class. Khalil is a polite young man who is popular among his peers and is always willing to help when there's a job to be done. He's always eager to help out when there's a job to be done. Khalil is also a very good sport on the playground who does very well as sports but is always willing, always brings a fair approach to the games he plays with his peers. And some, Khalil is a very nice young man who's deserving of having his good work and positive attitude recognized by Northgate. So, congratulations. I mean, though he's not here. They're busy. These are busy kids. Amani Kayam Damina. I think I got it. From Flynn. Amani is a dedicated student who takes his work seriously and is always willing to help his friends. He has recently been working on a project to design a smart toilet and smart fridge, which will be useful in Northgate, I think. Through this project and many others he shows great student leadership. Congratulations to Amani. It just makes you feel bad. It just makes you just a little smile just a little something to boost you up. For me that person is Jeremy. Jeremy is always, always has a smile on her face no matter the type of day she is having. Additionally, she always asks how my day is going or how my weekend was. Sometimes this gives me just the boots that I need. Jeremy genuinely cares. Not just about herself, but about others. She's just a kind person additionally, when Jeremy sees something going on or someone treated and shouldn't be treated, she lets an adult know what is happening so the adult may not be in the situation and support the students. Jeremy is very involved with her family taking care of her younger sister and helping out at church no matter what is going on. He takes care of others and always wants to do her best. The board is the Christian Kababu Memorial Board. As most people know Christian tragically died in the lake I think two years ago in 2017. In fact, my family and I have a younger son with a friend of his and it was devastating for everybody I know. Hopefully there will be some positive outcome as a result regarding school safety, I think there's some programs that I'm watching so that every kid coming out of Burlington Elementary School will know this one. That's actually one of the outcomes. Irwin Medlock Medlock, sorry, Medlock. Irwin is quiet, kind, soul, and a loyal friend to others. He's a hard worker and does great in school and we know he'll reach the star a great leader by example. Congratulations Irwin. You've been here for the face, the spokesperson as she had such tough grip that when Bernie said over my dead body I'm sure he was motivated by Anne Marie constantly telling him what would happen to families if Northgate was sold so I got to know Anne Marie she was a real role model for me personally and I just give me a lot of pleasure to give this award to Steve Gerebilla. Steve received three separate nominations, none of them came from Carol. I'll just say that he literally the van driver at Northgate but also goes to the store on a regular basis for homebound neighbors delivers meals to neighbors for events and the good food truck. Steve is just there for people when they need him the most and he doesn't expect any remission that's why he was probably embarrassed because he was standing up there thinking of what to do. We're actually at the point where we're just waiting for our lunch so there are appetizers over here to help you get through the crew, the caterers are cooking furiously out there and when it's ready we're having some roast turkey roast beef and all the fixed things so it will be placed on this and our wonderful DJ Ron is going to help us with some music and this is a dance space so if you feel someone coming to come up and dance away thank you all for coming and just enjoy the day.