REDISTRICTING THE NORTH END:
Ward 4 and Ward 7 are being redrawn by the Redistricting Committee. Representatives Jim Holway, George Gamache, Jason L'Ecuyer, and Alternates Mannie Lionni and Nancy Ellis are hard at work creating an intelligent design of wards that keeps neighborhoods with common interests intact within compact, contiguous areas. The challenge is to achieve this in wards that are of equal number allowing no more than a 10% deviation. If you ever played Sim City, you should offer to play the game with these folks. Generally they meet on Thursday morning at The Bagel, and at NPA meetings, fourth Wednesday of each month, 7pm, Miller Center.
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| CITY BUDGET LEVEL FUNDED. HOW WILL THAT IMPACT SERVICES AND PROGRAMS? |
MAYOR'S BUDGET: The Administration is working to craft a budget that maintains vital services while also avoiding a general City property tax increase for the second year. The budget is following a similar, transparent process to the one undertaken last year. Each department head is presenting a draft budget at one of approximately eight full City Council work sessions starting this week and ending the first week in June. You can find the full schedule here, though please note it is subject to change: http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/
Most of these work sessions will be held in Conference Room 12 of City Hall (the May 9 session will be held in the Department of Public Works Conference Room). These sessions are open to the public and there will be a comment period at the end of each one. Further, resident Phil Lavigne has generously volunteered to tape all of them so they can be posted on the Channel 17 website (cctv.org) within a few days of their occurrence.
In addition to these public work sessions, the Mayor is available to discuss the budget and other matters at his open coffee in the New North End at the Bagel Café every Wednesday from 8-9 am, at Handy’s on April 29 at 9 am, at Nunyuns on May 3 at 8 am, and at The Spot at an upcoming date and time to be determined. Please check the Mayor’s Office website for details: http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/
PLANNING AND ZONING DEPT will be join us, to talk about the Open Space Protection Plan update, and other issues related to development in the North End. Comments on Open Space Protection from previous outreach efforts will be distilled into specific findings to use as the basis for updated goals and objectives to be articulated within the updated Open Space Protection Plan. Preliminary findings will be presented, and staff will solicit comments that will be used to further improve the findings prior to putting together the final draft of the updated Open Space Protection Plan. Questions? Contact Scott Gustin, AICP, CFM Senior Planner, Department of Planning & Zoning, 149 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401 Phone: (802) 865-7189
More information will be available regarding future uses for the Flynn property on Starr Farm Road. A large solar field was suggested, as well as recreation trails and conservation areas. Contact Frank VonTurkovich (802) 229-3431, fvonturkovich@fvtlaw.com .
More information will be available regarding future uses for the Flynn property on Starr Farm Road. A large solar field was suggested, as well as recreation trails and conservation areas. Contact Frank VonTurkovich (802) 229-3431, fvonturkovich@fvtlaw.com .
